Chapter One
1570 Words
Beauty & The Beast
"You"ve got to be kidding me!" Emily Prentiss exclaimed as she closed the folder and threw it on the desk. "No one has seen hide nor hair of the infamous David Rossi in over ten years, and you expect me to find him in two days?" She leaned back in her chair and looked at the handsome man leaning over her desk.
"Honey, you are the best private investigator in Virginia. If anyone can find him, it would be you," came Nicholas Keating"s low drawl. Dressed in an expensive, navy blue, tailored suit, his hair brushed back smooth and sleek, with a Rolex on his left wrist, he was every bit the cool, suave millionaire businessman who seemed to have stepped off the cover of a GQ magazine.
Emily shook her head. "You"re asking the impossible, Nick. He went off to write a book ten years ago and literally fell off the face of the earth. Even his editor hasn"t heard from him. He"s…he"s…gone!"
Nick"s blue eyes held fast with Emily"s brown ones. "I don"t think so."
Emily threw up her hands in frustration. "He had a contract to write two books. Legend has it that he supposedly went to his cabin to write them, and then he disappeared. For good. It"s possible a bear got him." Or something else. Really, that was none of her business. Her business was to find actual missing people who didn"t have a reason to evaporate off the face of the earth. She was supposed to find the hidden lovers of cheating spouses, or the missing purebred dog. But not a rich, pompous author.
A sly smirk danced on Nick"s lips. "Urban myth, babe."
"Nick, it"s been ten years! No one goes missing for ten years! Hell, after seven you"re declared legally dead," she informed him of the legal statute.
"No one has filed a petition to request it, so he has to be out there somewhere."
"Why is that?" Emily asked as she c****d her head inquisitively.
"Because no one wants him. He"s an arrogant, narcissistic, playboy who only cares about himself. He uses people then throws them away after he"s done."
Emily gave a short laugh. "He sounds like a real prize. Wouldn"t it be better to let him stay gone?"
"This is all the more reason to look for him."
"What if he is dead?" She wasn"t sure if it was true, but she had to put it out there as a possibility.
"He isn"t; I can feel it." Something in Nick"s demeanor changed, and his blue eyes became cold. But the cool under pressure smile stayed.
"He could have been kidnapped by aliens," Emily weakly joked. There was something different about Nick, but she couldn"t put her finger on what it could be.
"I doubt it. They wouldn"t want him. Besides, once they found out what a horny bastard he is, they will send him back. Though leave it to David Rossi to nail an extra-terrestrial and put another notch in his belt."
Emily tried to suppress a giggle. "What if one of his ex-lovers finally caught up with him and shot him?"
"Plausible, possible, but highly unlikely. If you had the chance to shoot David Rossi wouldn"t you put a big front page out and brag about it?" Nick asked logically.
"True." Emily placed her elbow on the armrest of her chair and rested her chin on her palm. "Why is it so important to you that I find him?"
"I owe him some money."
Emily scoffed. "After ten years? Forgive me if I don"t believe you." Too many clients trying to lie and be underhanded by withholding the truth--plus her years in the FBI, had taught her to read people and trust her feelings. Nick sighed. She could read him too well.
"I want to make sure he gets the justice he deserves."
Emily furrowed her brow. "What did he do?"
"He murdered my father."
Emily jumped up from the chair at the revelation. "Wait! What do you mean he "murdered" your father?" How had she missed that little fact in the author"s bio?
"It was twenty years ago. He had an affair with my mother and wanted her to run off with him. When my father found out, he confronted David Rossi who drew a gun on him and shot him in the back," Nick replied with such coldness that Emily felt herself involuntarily cringe. She looked at the man she loved and swallowed hard. Was it possible she didn"t know Nick as well as she thought she did? No, she told herself. She needed to clear her mind and stay focused.
"Why didn"t he go to prison?"
"He claimed self-defense, got an expensive lawyer, and after a long trial, the jury ruled in his favour. He got off scot-free. My mother never got over my dad dying and died of a broken heart five years ago."
"Oh, Nick, I"m so sorry. So you think he"s hiding?"
"The man is the lowest form of coward who shot my father in cold blood." Nick took a deep breath. "All I want is justice." He swallowed convulsively and looked away. He wouldn"t cry in front of Emily, he vowed. His hand brushed at his eyes.
Emily watched his eyes carefully. Sure Nick was her boyfriend and they had been dating for a while, but that didn"t mean she knew everything there was about him. The news about his father and mother threw her for a loop. And who was behind Nick"s heartbreak was even more shocking. Now finding and locating David Rossi was not only a job, but a mission. And now that mission was personal.
Standing up, Emily reached out and cupped Nick"s cheek lovingly. "Okay, you talked me into it. I will find Dave Rossi so you can have justice."
Nick took her hand in his and kissed it. "Thank you, Emily. I owe you." His smile was warm, but not his eyes. But Emily didn"t notice. She had a client and a job.
"Yes, you do."
"Name your price."
Emily grabbed her pen and started scribbling. "Well, there"s my standard fee for investigating. Then there"s per diem, gas, extra necessities, etc… And since you want a rush on it, that"s going to be a lot more than what I normally charge." She added quickly and handed the notepad to him. "Think you can handle this?"
Nick looked over the figure. "Wow! That"s not at all what I was expecting." He grimaced.
"You wanted me to rush it."
"That, I do." He set the notepad down and reached into his pocket. "Does the price include your usual fifteen percent retainer fee plus collateral?"
"Twenty percent," she corrected. Nick raised his eye brow. "Inflation."
"Will you take this as a retainer and collateral?" Nick handed her a small black box.
Opening the lid, Emily gasped. "Is this what I think it is?" she breathed as a one carat flawless cut diamond twinkled at her. Her heart was doing flips, but not the kind she had expected or read about in romance books.
"It"s yours. If you want it."
"Want it? What"s the catch?"
"You have to marry me."
"Nick. I-I don"t know what to say!" Emily felt tears brim in her eyes. Nick took the box from her and pulled the ring out. Slipping it on her finger he watched her face.
"Say yes. Then I can make you my wife and whisk you away to my mansion on the hill where we"ll raise a half a dozen kids. All boys of course." He winked at her.
"I…" Emily bit her lip. Something in his tone put her on edge. She pulled back. This was too much too soon. "Nick, we haven"t even talked marriage or family or anything. And now I"m going to start a job for you… I don"t think…"
Nick crooked a finger under her chin and raised her eyes to his. "You think too much, Emily. Say yes, then go look for that scumbag David Rossi. After you find him and he"s been eliminated – er, brought to justice," he amended quickly, "then we will get married and live happily ever after."
Emily tried to listen to her gut, but it was tied up in knots, churning violently like her thoughts. Something Nick said didn"t sit right, but she couldn"t figure out what.
"Say yes, honey," he coaxed. "Say yes and make me the happiest man on earth." Swallowing down the butterflies flying around inside her stomach, Emily nodded. "Yes."
"Now go find David Rossi."
"Okay." Emily went to move away but found herself trapped in a steel embrace. "What are you doing? I thought you wanted me to get on this job."
"First things first. I want to kiss my fiancée."
Emily gently pulled back. "Nick…really. Anyone could walk in and see us."
"So?"
"I have a reputation for being a by the rules, by the book, hard-charging, no holds barred, private investigator who gets her man and gets the job done in a timely matter," she recited the slogan given to her by clients and fellow PI"s.
Nick pulled her closer. "It"s just that I don"t know when I"ll see you again."
"Two days."
"Really?"
"I promise."
"Two days," he repeated. And then he kissed her.
- Writer
