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him sideways as he turned the corner into Swan Street. "Besides,
I thought you knew."
    O'Connor flushed to the roots of his
hair. "Well, not exactly."
    "What does that mean?"
    "Nothing. Just forget it."
    Gladly. And he'd sure like to forget Lucy
too, but he couldn't. At least he knew now that O'Connor was all bluff. But
that didn't mean all the others weren't telling the truth.
    ***
    Blood pumped through Lucy's veins as if
she'd just run a marathon. When Nick disappeared down the stairs, she closed
her apartment door and burst out laughing. That had been so much fun. The look
on his face when she'd gotten close was priceless. The man wanted her so bad he
was almost in agony when she'd scooted across the couch. The slight flushing of
his cheeks, the bead of sweat at his hairline and the nervous tapping of his
finger on his knee were all classic signs of a man tortured by his passions. If
he hadn't shown those signs, she'd never have taken the risk of asking him on a
date. But he'd even turned down that less dangerous route. Nick was definitely
not like other guys she knew.
    That made her want him even more.
    It would also make the moment when he did
crack so much sweeter. Oh yeah, never had teasing someone given her such a
high. Usually it was too easy. No man had ever resisted her when she set her
mind on seducing him. But Nick did.
    Who'd have thought a hard-nosed cop had
such high morals. Well, she was going to have one hell of a great time toppling
them by making him want her so much he'd burst. Now that she was his witness,
she had every reason to stay in touch, and the more contact they had, the
better. His willpower was so strong she'd have to use every moment of their
time together to shatter his defenses, but she would do it. Just for the
challenge, just to see him eat his words and swallow that high and mighty
opinion. He'd choke on it by the time she was done.
    Oh yeah, getting to Nick Dante was an
adventure she couldn't wait to embark upon.
    But she had to wait. Until tomorrow at
least because she wanted to wait until Janet Mollino was over her shock. Lucy
didn't think she'd be grieving exactly, but turning up on her doorstep right
after she'd been told her husband was dead was a little harsh.
    But as much as she tried to concentrate
on paperwork, she couldn't get Nick out of her head. She even lay awake half
the night staring at her ceiling, thinking about how she'd handled the
situation.
    She drifted off to sleep around three and
got up when her alarm beeped at eight. After a jog and breakfast, she dressed
in black tailored pants, a matching jacket and conservative ankle boots. She
stood in front of the bathroom mirror and applied some lipstick and eyeliner
then rubbed her hands through her hair. She styled it into a sleek do and
fluffed out the ends. Back in the bedroom, she picked up a leather shoulder bag
and placed her purse, a notebook, pen and pepper spray inside, then checked the
result out in the mirror. She looked like a businesswoman, exactly the look she
was after for a visit to a grieving widow and client.
    Janet Mollino probably wasn't grieving
too much but she'd need to keep up appearances, especially around her late
husband's extended Italian family. Lucy wanted to pass along her condolences
and if Janet just happened to give her some information that might help Nick's
investigation then that would be a bonus. No doubt Nick had already questioned
her, but for some reason people found Lucy easy to talk to, especially her
female clients, and she couldn't imagine any woman relaxing around Detective
Dante or his jerk of a partner.
    Lucy locked her apartment, took the
stairs two at a time and hopped into her Honda. She took Swan Street and the
back roads to MacRobertson Bridge then zipped up Grange Road, past all the high
security fences that hid Bellerae mansions to the Mollino house.
    The long gravel drive was lined with
BMWs, sports cars and Mercedes'. Lucy parked her Honda at the end of the queue
and