Stay with Me (The WITSEC series Book 1) Read online

  “Luca, we haven’t put anything away. Shouldn’t we…?”

  Every morning the employees came in an hour before store opening and pulled out all the jewelry from the safe, placing it in the cases. The same routine was followed at night. Just before closing, the pads with jewelry were pulled from cases and put into the safe. The only jewelry that remained outside the safe were the window displays and those were surrounded by shatterproof glass which Luca had been told was unbreakable. Luca glanced at the two guards and then Mr. Auerbach, indecisive.

  “Leave it, Tracy. These men will stay until morning when the workers arrive to start repairs,” Mr. Auerbach said.

  She smiled and nodded, following Luca and Mr. Auerbach to the front door. Outside the store, parked at the curb, was a shiny black Rolls Royce Limousine. Mr. Auerbach’s driver was standing at attention, dressed in full livery, black hat and all. As he tipped his hat at his boss and then bent to open the door for them, Luca was pretty sure he was walking around in a dream state. As he got into the limo, he realized he still had glass clinging to him in spots. He really wished he’d kept a spare set of clothes with him. He didn’t even have his gym bag with him because he’d taken it out of the car so he could wash his workout clothes. He felt really bad knowing that the handsome limo driver would be cleaning glass out of the car.

  “Don’t worry about the glass, Luca,” Mr. Auerbach said, reaching out and squeezing the back of Luca’s neck as if he’d read his mind. The squeeze felt good, familiar, even though the man had only ever touched him a few times before—handshakes, and the comforting way he’d cupped his cheeks. He settled back onto the seat as Mr. Auerbach massaged the back of his neck with his long, gentle fingers. Maybe dating a man like his boss wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all.

  When the limo dropped them off at Cedars Sinai hospital, there were nurses already waiting for them at the main entrance, not the emergency room as he’d expected. They whisked their small entourage off to a massive private room and handed Luca and Tracy a bag tied with a bow. Luca looked at it strangely, lifting his gaze to Mr. Auerbach.

  “I got you both a set of clothes to change into after your showers,” Mr. Auerbach said. “I think your clothes are ruined from the glass but I’ll have them cleaned just in case they’re salvageable.”

  Luca was flabbergasted. New clothes were the last thing he was expecting but the thought was appreciated more than he could possibly say.

  “That’s very kind, sir, but you didn’t have to do that,” Luca said.

  “Nonsense, Luca. I’m so sorry this happened to both of you and by the way, you need to call me Stephen. Mr. Auerbach was my father,” Mr. Auerbach said, smiling in that indulgent way he had. The deep dimples in his smooth cheeks made him look like the kindest man in the entire world. “Now, go into your bathroom. There’s a private shower in there.” He turned to Tracy. “Come with me, dear. Your room is next door. The doctor will be in to check on both of you as soon as you’re washed.”

  Tracy just bobbed her head. As she was following their boss out the door, she turned and sent Luca a roll of the eyes and a huge smile. Luca smiled back and then took the bag into the bathroom. He’d never seen a bathroom the size of this one in any hospital he’d ever been in before. It was large with marble countertops and a massive shower with a plastic stool and grab bars. He figured these rooms had to be reserved for only the wealthiest of Cedars Sinai patients.

  After his shower, where he gingerly washed the last of the glass out of his hair, he stepped out and toweled off with a huge soft bath sheet which had been left on the marble counter. He opened the bag which had been tied with a blue ribbon, only then realizing that the clothes inside—a butter soft T-shirt in forest green and a pair of stonewashed blue jeans with a Hugo Boss label—fit him like a glove. Somehow, Mr. Auerbach knew the exact sizes which would fit him, all the way down to the navy-blue Calvin Klein boxer briefs. He pulled on a clean pair of white socks and slipped into the soft moccasins which fit his feet perfectly before stepping out of the bathroom.

  Luca was surprised to find a doctor waiting for him, wearing a long white coat. Embroidered across one pocket was the name Dr. White. He smiled at Luca and reached out a hand to shake.

  “Hello, Luca. I’m Dr. Cleveland White. I understand you had a scare today. Let’s check you over.”

  Luca shook the man’s hand and then climbed onto the hospital bed as the door opened. Mr. Auerbach stepped into the room and smiled.

  “Good, they fit,” he said, giving Luca an up and down sweep of his gaze as he looked at the clothing he’d provided. “I wasn’t sure of your sizes when I gave Mike instructions.”

  “Mike?”

  “My driver. He’s also my valet and he’s been with me for ten years. We stopped at Bloomingdales before coming over to the store.”

  Luca looked down at the clothes and then back up at his boss. “Thank you, sir. It was very thoughtful of you.”

  “Stephen,” Mr. Auerbach said.

  “Okay, Stephen.”

  The doctor glanced at Mr. Auerbach and then back at Luca. “Is it okay if this man stays while I examine you?”

  Luca blushed as he looked over and smiled shyly at Stephen. He turned to the doctor and gave him a small nod.

  “Yes, it’s fine.”

  “Okay, then.” The doctor began by shining his penlight in Luca’s eyes before asking him to remove his shirt as Stephen hovered near the bed. Luca pulled off his T-shirt and let the doctor look his chest and neck over, checking to make sure none of the flying glass had damaged his skin. He felt the weight of Stephen’s stare on him as Dr. White finished examining him. When he was done, he told Luca he could put his shirt back on and Luca complied.

  “You look as though you came through your ordeal without a scratch,” the doctor said, reaching out to squeeze Luca’s shoulder as he smiled into his eyes. “How do you feel? I can prescribe something to help you sleep tonight.”

  Luca shook his head. “That’s okay, Doc. I don’t take anything if I can help it. An occasional Tylenol if I have a hangover but that’s it. I have a sensitivity to most pain medication and I can usually fall asleep without a hitch.”

  The doctor smiled at him again. He was very nice. “That’s good, Luca.” He turned to Stephen. “He and Tracy seem to have come through without any injuries. I have no doubt he’ll be feeling a 100 percent by tomorrow.”

  Stephen reached for the doctor’s hand. “I’m so relieved. I was worried. Can I take them home or do you recommend they stay overnight?”

  “They’re free to go.”

  Stephen smiled. “Excellent.” He turned to Luca. “Why don’t you grab your clothes and put them in the bag so I can get them dry cleaned for you, Luca? Then, I’ll see you to your apartment.”

  “Of course, sir.”

  “Stephen,” Mr. Auerbach tisked as Luca hopped off the bed.

  “Stephen.” Luca had forgotten that fast. He walked to the bathroom and picked up his clothes, folding them neatly before shoving them into the cloth bag with his shiny dress shoes. When he walked out of the luxurious bathroom, the doctor was gone and Mr. Auerbach and Tracy waited patiently. She was dressed similarly to Luca in blue jeans that hugged her narrow hips and a pink T-shirt with rhinestones that spelled out Pretty over her small breasts. Luca had seen a similar shirt at one of the luxury boutiques on Rodeo Drive where he’d gone with a girlfriend who wanted something special to wear to an outdoor picnic in Griffith Park. The price tag had been a cool one hundred eighty dollars and Luca remembered how his eyes bugged out of his head when she’d read the tag to him.

  “I’d like to feed the two of you unless you’re in a hurry to get home,” Stephen said as soon as Luca was standing in front of them.

  “I’m starving,” Tracy said. The way she bugged her eyes at Luca made him want to laugh. If he refused, she was going to kill him, he just knew it. They both knew Stephen Auerbach would take them to the nicest restaurant in town. He smiled at them bo
th, ignoring Tracy’s expression, and nodded.

  “I guess I could go for a burger or something,” he said.

  Stephen chucked as he put his arm around Luca’s shoulder and squeezed. “I think we can do better than a burger, Luca. How about steak and seafood? I know a wonderful place and the executive chef is a friend of mine.”

  “Oh, yay!” Tracy said before Luca could reply. He grinned as Stephen dropped his hand and followed them both out of the room.

  ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

  Kane turned the page and growled. He looked up sharply as he heard Murphy chuckle. She was sitting at her desk which faced his, with her head resting in both hands as she grinned at him. She really was pretty but even her wide smile wasn’t consolation to all the paperwork he was busy filling out. He frowned at her.

  “What the hell are you laughing at?”

  Kelly cackled. “You. Do you know you’ve been sitting there growling for the last hour and a half? I think I even heard a moan, Delancey.”

  “Yeah, well, I happen to hate filling out forms.” He leaned forward and looked side to side for a second before lowering his voice. “And besides that, I should be able to skip all this shit. I mean I’m not really working for the LAPD.”

  “Since part of your cover is that you transferred up here from San Diego, you have to fill out transfer paperwork,” Kelly said, losing some of her smile. “If you didn’t, it might raise a red flag. Just suck it up and try not to sound like a wounded animal, okay?”

  “It’s still bullshit,” Kane said with a sigh. He really hated paperwork but it came along with the job. He should count himself lucky though. When they’d come in that morning, Kelly had spotted the giant envelope stamped Personnel Department on his desk and offered to file the report from the jewelry store robbery the day before. At least he didn’t have to relive every detail of his conversation with Luca Price. He didn’t want to think about how haunted the man’s icy-gray eyes had looked when they’d talked about the robbery or what an ass he’d felt like afterward when Kelly had pointed out how harsh he’d been with him. Kane wasn’t really sure what had gotten into him.

  The truth was, he’d interviewed a hundred people who acted just as tough as this guy but behind his façade, he could see the fear. Price hadn’t flinched once when he’d told his story about the robbery. It was a very brave thing to do for one so young. Kane hadn’t behaved like himself with the kid. Once again, he realized it had to be the fact that he’d recognized the guy who’d sung to him. It had been embarrassing.

  He knew it wasn’t really that. Not at all.

  Luca Price intrigued Kane and that was what was bugging him. Those silver eyes that looked like ice with blue chips and that perfect skin that had glowed equally golden under the lights of the club or the bright spotlights over the destroyed diamond cases… were just stunning. When they’d been in the club, the man had been wearing some sort of makeup around his eyes—liner or whatever—but even without it in the jewelry store, the man had some eyes. Kane was pretty sure he could look at them all day and not get tired of it. When he’d talked to him, the man had fiddled with the stretchy key ring on his wrist. It drew attention to the black leather strap with a single silver ball that Kane had noticed in the club. It looked sexy as hell.

  And that’s what bugged him more than anything.

  Kane had never had that kind of a reaction to a guy before. It was freaking him out just a little. He was thirty-two years old and he had dated a lot of women. In high school he’d never had trouble getting tail. When he’d joined the Corps, he’d never had a problem finding comfort while on leave. When he was a cop, there wasn’t a woman who turned him down. He’d had a lot of women but no long-term relationships and as he got older, he began to feel like maybe time was slipping away. He honestly hoped he’d find someone in the next few years. He wanted to have sons while he was still young enough to throw a ball around, take them to a game, or… whatever fathers did with their kids.

  The absence of that knowledge hurt too much to think about.

  Kane was startled out of his dark thoughts when Kelly’s phone rang. She reached for it and then stared down at the number before swiping it.

  “Detective Murphy…”

  Kane watched her, distracted by the way she stared off into space and listened to someone talking on the other end of the phone. When she smiled, he relaxed.

  “Yes, that would be fine. It’s okay really. My partner and I will be here at the station most of the day and if we’re not, ask for Detective Williams or Detective Ryan. One of them will set you up in a room with the mug books. Thank you for calling to let me know. Goodbye.” She hung up the phone and glanced over at him.

  “That was the jewelry store manager. He’s coming in this afternoon.”

  “He was supposed to come in yesterday afternoon,” Kane said.

  “Yes. He apologized and said his boss insisted he and the girl both go to the hospital to be checked out so that ate up their day. He said he’ll be in sometime in the next couple hours.”

  “What about the girl—Tracy whatever?”

  “She said she didn’t get a look at them at all. Luca is the one who got a good description,” Kelly said. She frowned slightly and then the corners of her lips turned up. “What the hell, Kane? Every time we talk about this simple case, you look like you could chew glass and enjoy it.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  Yes, I do.

  Chapter Five

  When Luca finished closing the fifth book filled with mug shots, he sighed. His eyes were beginning to blur. He’d been searching the faces of criminals for hours and though he’d had to take a second look at a few of them, he’d ruled them out. He pushed the thick book aside and rubbed the heels of his hands over his eyes. He looked up when the door to the small room opened and Detective Ryan poked his head in. He smiled at Luca as he walked inside.

  “How’s it going?” the detective asked.

  Luca sighed and shook his head. “Who knew there were so many criminals in Los Angeles?”

  “No luck, huh?” Detective Ryan looked at the pile of books he’d gone through. “Well, I can bring in some more or you can come back and try again tomorrow.”

  “There are more?” Luca asked, feeling his eyes widen. He must have looked at ten thousand faces already.

  Detective Ryan smiled and Luca noticed his deep dimples for the first time. The man was stunning. He had bright green eyes and blond hair that was graying at the temples. When he smiled, laugh lines appeared at the corners of his eyes. The man had to be at least forty but when he smiled, he reminded Luca of a Ken doll.

  “There are a lot more but you’ve been in here a long time.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s almost 7:30.”

  Luca felt his jaw drop. “Oh shit. I had no idea it was that late. I’m supposed to be somewhere.” He’d completely forgotten that he’d promised to meet Corey at a club in WeHo for a mutual friend’s birthday party. He glanced at his watch, realizing there was going to be no time to stop to buy a present. He still needed to go home and change since he’d come to the police station wearing washed out old jeans and his favorite T-shirt with a faded Superman logo. No way was he dressed for a party. He stood up.

  “If it’s okay, I can come back tomorrow. Is that okay?”

  The handsome detective nodded. “Of course. By the way, Detective Delancey said you were going to bring a list of all the inventory that was stolen from the store.”

  “Oh, darn it. I completely forgot. I swear, I’ll bring it by tomorrow when I come back,” Luca said, walking around the table, anxious to leave the cramped room behind.

  “That’s fine,” Detective Ryan said. “We really appreciate you coming down and taking the time to identify the robbers. Maybe we should have you sit with a sketch artist instead of looking at more mug shots. Do you think that you can remember most details of the robbers’ faces?”

  Luca nodded, smiling. “Yes, that would be better. I have
a snapshot in my head and after looking at all those, they begin to look the same, you know what I mean?” He pointed to his dome and the detective chuckled.

  “I do know what you mean.” He stopped as they walked out of the room. “Do you have a parking ticket that I can stamp? You’ve been here a long time and parking is expensive here.”

  Luca smiled. “That’s really nice of you but I don’t drive. I took the bus.”

  The detective looked slightly surprised. “You don’t drive? In LA? Who doesn’t drive?”

  Luca grinned. “I don’t. It would be bad for the environment if everyone drove, don’t you think? Besides, buses in LA are convenient.”

  “And dirty,” Detective Ryan said, smiling.

  “Not dirty!” Luca said with a laugh. “Don’t be such a snob, Detective.” He was flirting but it came naturally with this handsome man standing in front of him. He was helpless to stop it.

  “Where do you live?”

  “West Hollywood. Why?” Luca asked. He glanced down at the man’s left hand. He was wearing a very shiny ring on his third finger. Damn, maybe Luca’s gaydar was just off.

  “I’m just getting ready to go home. Why don’t you let me drop you off so you don’t have to ride the dirty bus tonight,” the detective said.

  Luca smiled. “That’s really nice of you but won’t your wife be waiting on you for dinner?”

  The detective laughed as they strolled toward the elevators. “My husband is waiting but West Hollywood isn’t that far out of my way and I really don’t mind.”

  Luca grinned. “Thanks, Detective Ryan. I’d appreciate it then.” They stopped in the lobby and the detective pressed the button to call the elevator car.

  “You work at Auerbach’s Jewelers, right?” the detective asked.

  “Yes, have you been there?”

  “No. That place is too pricy for me,” the detective said.

  Luca looked the man up and down. The suit he was wearing was Italian and he was pretty sure his shoes were Salvatore Ferragamo. When he glanced back up, the detective was watching him with a grin on his face. Luca lifted a brow as he stared at him.