Hearts and Aces (Kelsey's Burden Series Book 7) Kaylie Hunter (books to read this summer TXT) 📖

“Here, take mine,” Katie said. “I think I prefer beer.” Katie slid her glass to Bridget and pulled a beer from the basement refrigerator. “What’s the plan? What’s next?”

“There’s a meeting tonight at Donovan’s after dinner. You both should be there, along with Wild Card, Tyler, Tech, and Bones. I’ll go over everything then.”

“Sounds good,” Katie said, looking toward the stairs. “I know you’re juggling a lot, but Anne and Lisa are hoping to talk to you about the prostitution case. I think they found a lead.”

“What kind of lead?”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to steal their thunder. They’ve been working hard trying to solve the mystery.”

“Fair enough. I’ll make some time for them tonight.”

Bridget snapped her fingers, shaking her head. “There goes that half an hour I scheduled for you to have a personal life.”

“We both knew it was never going to happen,” I said, grinning.

“What are you two talking about?” Katie asked.

“Shipwreck said I needed to schedule time to sort out my feelings and shit.”

“Yuck. It’s bad enough to have emotions, but he expected you to think about them on purpose?”

“Yes, Katie,” Donovan said, coming down the stairs. “Emotionally stable people actually do that from time to time.”

Katie stuck her tongue out at him.

He walked over and checked the bottle of cognac before grabbing a glass. “We’re drinking the good stuff tonight. What’s the occasion?”

I smirked, shrugging.

Donovan poured his drink. “This is one of those female fuck you’s to Grady, isn’t it?”

I couldn’t help the smirk. “We might’ve been saving the bottle for a weekend getaway.”

Donovan lifted his glass, saluting me, before taking a sip. “Hmm. You and Grady need to break up more often. This is good.”

“At three thousand a bottle, it better be,” Bridget said.

Donovan and I looked at each other, then looked at Bridget.

“Seriously?” I asked.

“You didn’t know?”

“No. It was a present from Mickey.”

“I really need to meet this guy,” Katie said, laughing.

Donovan’s eyes narrowed. “Did you and Mickey ever...”

“I’m not a slut!”

“Who said anything about being a slut?” Donovan asked.

Bridget poured more cognac into my glass. “Shipwreck put his foot in his mouth earlier about the whole Bones, Wild Card, and Grady thing. Kelsey didn’t react well.”

“How angry was she?” Katie asked, leaning toward Bridget.

“Steam was hissing between her eyelids. It was epic.”

“I’m right here,” I grumbled.

“Our little dragon.” Donovan chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re not the first one to sleep with all of them. Hell, most of us spent time with Sebrina before she and Grady got hitched.”

“Including you?” Lisa asked from the bottom of the stairs.

“Uh,” Donovan answered, eyes wide with surprise to find Lisa standing there.

“Dinner’s ready,” Lisa snapped as she raised her chin, jaw set in anger, and climbed the stairs.

Donovan scrubbed a hand down his face. “Oh, shit.”

“Relax,” I said, picking up my glass and walking toward the stairs. “Lisa will get over it in a month or two.”

Bridget and Katie laughed as they followed me up the stairs.

~*~*~

Dinner was divine. It wasn’t fancy, but the table was filled with all my favorite comfort foods: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, scalloped corn, dinner rolls, and even cheesecake for dessert.

“The boys and kids are in charge of cleanup tonight,” I said, standing and carrying my plate into the kitchen. “The girls and I need to go over a case I have in Miami. Rumor has it they found a clue.”

“It might be nothing,” Anne said, doubting herself.

“Yeah,” Lisa chimed in. “It’s not like we know what we’re doing. Maybe we're imagining it.”

“You’re not,” Tech said, clearing his plate. “You both should be proud of yourselves. You found a needle in a haystack.”

“Now I’m really curious,” I said. “Let’s meet in the atrium. Team Kelsey only.”

“Team Kelsey?” Donovan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s a thing now,” Bridget said. “I even had shirts made.”

“Are they pink?” Bones asked, smirking.

“Of course not. They’re for the paintball tournament this weekend. They’re camo green with pink glitter.”

I walked down the hall to my bedroom before the guys saw the smile on my face.

Tech carried his computer, following me. “Bridget is an extraordinary liar.”

“The trick is to keep part of the lie true, so you can focus your mind on the truth part, which was that she really did have shirts made.”

“I can’t wait for the paintball war on Sunday. Team Kelsey’s going to own that trophy.”

The atrium, now functioning as Abigail’s nursery during the day, was cluttered with toys, books, diapers, and other baby essentials. Tech and I scooped everything up from the couches, dumping it into a play pen.

“Are you sure you don’t want Abigail and her nanny to be at my house during the day?” Lisa asked as she and Anne walked into the atrium.

“It’s safer to keep the kids under one roof,” I answered, tossing Abigail’s baby blanket to the side as I sat on a couch. “It’s fine. It’s only until we straighten out the cartel mess.”

“You make it sound like an audit,” Bridget said, walking in with my laptop. “Just show a few documents and the death threat will be over.”

I tilted my head, focusing on the coffee table. Was it that simple? Charlie described Miguel as a cold-hearted businessman. Would he go so far as giving up his own brother to protect his companies? “Tech, I need everything you can access on Miguel’s companies. Financial reports. Tax filings. Employee lists. Focus on the companies in the U.S.”

Lisa, Anne, Bridget, and Tech grinned at me.

“Sit! We need to go over the Miami case. What did you find?”

“It might not be anything,” Anne said, sitting beside me as she handed me a folder.

“What might not be anything? Talk