Tricks (Take It Off #6)(38)
Author: Cambria Hebert

24

Charlotte

Muse was located in Manhattan in an old building that was completely rehabbed on the inside. It had soaring ceilings, exposed brick walls, glossy hardwood floors, and beams running overhead. The artwork on the walls was abstract and oversized; the tables were all chic and dark wood with real leather padding. Soft jazz music flowed through the surround system in the walls, and there was a giant, round freestanding bar in the center of the establishment that was comprised of mostly glass.

Cavalli Overcraft had been a serious business major for several years, with aspirations of working with the stock market. He even graduated with honors. Max and Cavalli were on the fast track to becoming corporate stars when Cavalli decided that the pressure and stress of the corporate world wasn’t what he wanted out of life.

So he quit his job and went to culinary school to study his secret passion: food. Once he was finished, he put his business knowhow and connections he made while working in New York to good use and opened up Muse, where he was not only the owner, but the head chef.

The upscale setting yet relaxing atmosphere had people flocking to this place, and the food kept them coming back.

Most people thought Cavalli was completely insane. Secretly, I admired him.

Even though Max continued on with his career in the corporate world, he and Cavalli remained friends, and I would go as far as to say that Cavalli was probably the only real friend Max had.

Besides me, of course.

So when Tucker asked me if there was anyone Max would trust with the flash drive, I immediately thought of Cavalli.

“Nice place,” Tucker said as we walked inside the building.

“Remember, you’ve been here before.” I reminded him. Now that I knew he wasn’t really Max, it was so completely obvious I couldn’t help but worry someone else might realize.

“Should I have called ahead for a reservation?” he asked, leaning over to whisper in my ear. His breath brushed over the outside of my ear and I wanted to groan.

You’d think an entire night of nothing but sex would satisfy me for a good long time. It only seemed to make me crave it more.

“It’s still early enough we shouldn’t need one,” I said, pushing aside my cravings to focus on the matter at hand.

We didn’t have to wait long when a hostess dressed completely in black escorted us to a table on the far side of the room, behind the bar. She handed us each a menu and then went off, leaving us alone.

“Cavalli always comes out of the kitchen to talk with the guests. He’ll see us and come over, and we can find out if he has it then,” I told Tucker.

“I’m starving,” he complained, looking over the menu.

I was hungry too. I hadn’t eaten a thing all day. “We’re here. We might as well eat.”

After we ordered (a fresh green salad with shrimp for me and a steak for him), we sat there in silence, not really knowing what to say. It seemed like we’d already experienced a lot together, yet I hardly knew him at all.

“Max never talked about you,” I blurted, because clearly I couldn’t think of a more polite way to be rude.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Tucker said, acting like my abrupt statement was normal. “We haven’t been close for quite a few years.”

“But why?” I questioned. “I thought twins were inseparable.”

He half smiled. “We were as kids. But kids grow up. And Max and I were nothing alike.”

“You’re in the Marine Corps?” I asked, thinking about the tattoo on his arm.

“I was. I just got out last month. I was in about six years.”

“Why did you get out?”

“I felt like it was time to move on. I was tired of being told where to live, what to wear, what to do.”

“Sounds stifling.”

“No more stifling than the life you’re living.”

His words cut into my chest and caught me by surprise. “My life isn’t stifling.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “If you say so,” he said, picking up his glass of iced tea. After he swallowed, he made a face at the glass. “I can’t wait to get down South.”

“You’re going down South?”

He nodded. “Should be there now.”

“Where?”

“Jacksonville, North Carolina. My buddy Nathan just moved there with his wife Honor. He used to be in the Corps too. We’re opening up a private investigative firm. We already have some work the Corps hired us for.”

“I’ve never been to the South before.”

“It’s warmer, the people are friendlier, and they know how to make a glass of sweet tea.”

I could tell he was anxious to get there, to be in a place he really wanted to be. For some reason, that left me with a hard feeling in my stomach.

“So what happened between you and Max?” I asked.

He shrugged. “It’s mainly my fault. He went off to college, became a big shot here, and I joined the Marines. He was always the golden boy out of the pair of us. The one who was going to be the most successful.”

“I’d say serving your country is pretty impressive.” I refuted. He almost sounded like he thought Max was better than him. Max never acted like he was better than anyone; he always treated everyone equally.

“It wasn’t always easy.” He got this faraway look in his eye.

“Did you ever go overseas?”

“Twice. Both of them war zones. I saw more than I cared to. A lot of good men died. Some of them my friends.”

The waitress arrived then, causing us to halt the conversation. I couldn’t help but sit there and think about the horrible things he’d likely seen. I didn’t expect him to keep talking when the server walked away, but he did.

“Our convoy was attacked one day while en route to a new base. They blew the hummer in front of us right off the ground. Ripped it all apart. The guys inside died instantly.”

I gasped and automatically reached across the table and laid my hand across his. He looked down at our joined hands silently for a moment and then glanced up.

Thinking I did the wrong thing, I began to slip my hand away. He flipped his over and captured my retreating fingers, slipping his through mine and giving them a squeeze.

“The driver of the hummer we were in stopped and the three of us got out, looking for the threat, for the men who killed our brothers.”

“You got out!” I demanded. “Why didn’t you speed away?”

He gave me a level look. “We don’t leave men behind.”