“What? I didn’t see it.” Catherine grabbed her by the arm. “Are you sure? There are a lot of stones in that thing.”
“I know. I couldn’t see it right away either, but it’s there.” Alicia kept her voice low. “I can feel it. Only a small section shows. Most of it is buried in the cement. But the stone that pulled at me was the same red tone. When I shifted, light danced across its face. It shone with the same brilliance the others do.”
“Just like the other ones? So you could be wrong?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think I am.” Alicia stood and looked down the hallway to make sure the manager wasn’t coming back. “There’s only one way to be sure and that is to bring it home and get the stone free.”
“So we must offer enough to make sure we can do that.” Catherine leaned back in the chair. “This is going to be fun.”
“And the moment we showed a little interest he had a greedy gleam in his eye. Don’t let him take advantage.”
“So you don’t want to bring it home?” Catherine asked.
“We do need to bring it back,” said Alicia. “We sure don’t want gossip of a botched purchase to make it to the wrong people, but I don’t quite trust the man. He took one look at you and I saw dollar signs in his eyes.”
The manager came back in with a smile on his face. “I have some good news and a little bad news. I can sell the mosaic, but it did cost me a pretty penny.”
Alicia touched Catherine’s arm. She knew the man was getting ready to take them for all he could.
“That’s great,” said Catherine. She stood so she could look the man in the eye. “So how much did you pay for it?”
His eyes glazed over while she spoke to him.
Alicia watched in amazement when he walked to a file cabinet and pulled out the receipt. “I bought it about twenty years ago.”
Catherine took the receipt from him. She gave it a quick look before handing it back to him. Once he took the paper back she pulled out her checkbook. “I’m going to write you a check for the amount you paid plus interest on that for the last twenty years. You should be quite happy with the total.”
He took the check and put it in his pocket. “Thank you very much. Would you like it delivered?”
“No. We’ll take it with us, if that is okay with you?”
He smiled at her. “I’ll have my men load it into your car.”
“Thank you.” She gave him a bright smile.
***
“I don’t know how you did this.” Alicia stared at the mosaic resting on the car seats opposite them. “You’re just like Max.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” said Catherine. “You needed to examine the stone to see if it’s what you are looking for, right?”
“Yes.” Alicia inched forward to study the piece closer. “But the best way to see the stone is out of the sculpture.”
“So you need to break that up to see if it’s the real thing?” She placed her hand on the mosaic. “Too bad.”
Alicia looked at Catherine. “I know. I hate to break that up and find out we’re wrong, but it’s the only way.”
Catherine tapped on the glass separating them from the driver. The car pulled away from the curb. “I’ll need the right equipment.” Alicia touched the mosaic. “I’m sure you guys don’t want me to take this thing back to my office.”
“Maximilian probably has everything you need. We’ll go to his house.”
“Of course we will.” No matter what Alicia did somehow she always ended up at Max’s side. She sighed and nodded her ascent. Arguing wouldn’t get her anywhere anyway. “You know I left him in the middle of a fight. He might not be happy to see me.”
“He likes to argue. I’m sure by now he’s madder at me for spiriting you away than you leaving.” Catherine knocked on the glass. The window rolled down. “Take us to Mr. Santos’ home.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The window rolled back up again.
He stood on the front lawn waiting for them. Arms crossed and looking pissed. “Did you two enjoy your little visit?”
Alicia felt her anger boil once again. How dare he.
“Of course, Maximilian. We even bought a little trinket.” Catherine gestured toward the driver who pulled the huge mosaic out of the limo at that moment. “Alicia believes it holds another Tear.”
“You’re kidding?” He forgot all about his anger as he walked up to it and looked. “Where?”
“I don’t know. She’s not shown me which stone.”
“I can talk for myself.” Alicia wanted to shout the words, but kept her cool. She really hated it when they talked about her like she wasn’t there.
“Of course you can.” They spoke in unison.
“And in stereo, too. Look, the stone in question is the big red one in the center. I’m sure of it.”
“Is it talking to you again?” asked Catherine.
“Don’t make fun of this.” She jammed her hands on her hips. “The only way to be sure is to take it out of there, like I said earlier.”
“Then let’s get it out of there.” Max took a step closer to it.
“No.” Alicia grabbed his arm. “Not out here in the middle of your lawn.”
“I’ll get Jacob then.” Max walked into his house as the driver wrestled the mosaic into the house.
“I hate the way he just takes over.” Alicia retrieved her purse before following Max into the house.
“Get used to it. He’s like that all the time.” Catherine walked behind her. “But if you know how to handle him he’s like a big puppy.”
“Puppy? We can’t be talking about the same person. The one I know is more like a dragon.”
Catherine laughed. “He blusters better than most, but I promise he’s a push over. Max is very protective of everyone. That’s why he growls so much.”
“I wish he didn’t. It makes me growl back.”
Catherine released a quick bark of laughter. “And I think that’s why he’s so drawn to you.”
Alicia looked at Catherine. “Are we back to that?”
“Most women are either frightened by his hard personality or put off by it. Overall, they don’t want to have anything to do with him.” Catherine touched her on the arm. “You’re the first one who has put up with him and put a smile on his face. Personally, it’s the best thing that has ever happened to him.”
“I haven’t done that much,” said Alicia.
“More than you realize.”
She nodded even though she didn’t know how to react. She barely knew the man let alone met that many of his friends, yet Catherine was telling her she had made a big change in Max’s life. If that was true they were going to treat her like she was royalty, and she wasn’t sure if she liked that.
Max came back at that moment. “Let’s get it downstairs.”
Jacob came out with a dolly. After everyone helped maneuver the tiled mosaic onto the dolly they followed Max down to the vault.
“Jacob?” shouted Max.
“It’s on its way down now, sir.”
“Thanks.” He stepped over to a small door and waited for something.
“Don’t tell me, you have a dumbwaiter too.” Alicia couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her voice. All she got from him was a raised eyebrow. She wanted to growl, but forced herself to just glare. What did she expect from him anyway? Alicia turned her back from him in a huff. A loud clang made her turn around.
The mosaic lay across the metal table Max had. Wow, how did it get it up there without any trouble? Max couldn’t have lifted it by himself but she didn’t see anyone else in the room. “How did you do that?”
Max looked at the table and shrugged his shoulders. He aimed his high-powered magnifying glass at the stone in question. “Come on, we need your expertise.”
And once again he changed the subject.
“I hate it when you do that.” Alicia walked up to the table and pushed her way in front of Max so she could get a good view. “It would be nice if you’d get out of the way when you want me to do things like this. Makes it easier for me.”
“You really didn’t give me a chance to get out of the way.” Max hadn’t moved an inch.
“Will you children please cut it out?” Catherine crossed her arms over her chest. “We have serious work to do. Your squabbling isn’t helping.”
Alicia shot her a frown before focusing her attention on the red stone. It sure looked like a Tear. Right color. Light danced across the face of it the same way.
Max brought out a small camera. He took several pictures of the mosaic while Alicia hovered nearby.
“I need some of my equipment. I have a—”
“I have it.”
“How do you know? I didn’t even get a chance to tell you what I needed.” She wanted to punch him.
“Alicia!” Catherine’s single word stopped Alicia from saying anything else. Then she grabbed Max by the arm and dragged him away. “What is wrong with you?”
“I don’t know. Ever since our fight earlier I can’t seem to think straight around her.”
“Then you two need to work this out.”
“I know,” said Max. “But I’m not sure how.”
“How about telling her the truth?” she said quietly.
He shook his head as he silently went and retrieved a small scanning device. In three steps he stood next to Alicia and held it out.
She had continued to study the stone, even though her anger rolled off her. When his hand came into view she snatched the scanner from him. Although she wouldn’t look at him directly, she watched him through her peripheral vision. Someone’s hand pulled him back before he could make some sort of comment, which made her smile. Good. He was getting a little taste of his own medicine.
The scanner was a lot like the ones she used at work. It would do the job nicely. She passed it over the spot where the stone rested. “Is this hooked up to a monitor?” She knew the answer before she heard it.
“Yes. The one over your head.” Max’s voice held a hard edge.
She wanted to stick her tongue out at him. Instead she looked up at the monitor to see what the scanner revealed. What she saw confirmed her suspicions. “It is a Tear.”
Max handed her a small saw. “Then I think you deserve the honors.”
She looked at the extended hand. A sigh escaped her before she took the saw and started to work on the tile. In a short while she had the Tear in her hand. She looked at Max then heaved the stone at him. “Here you go. That makes three for you.”
Max caught it with one hand. “Thank you. I’ll add it to my collection.”
Catherine slipped around them. “I’m going to get something to drink. Does anyone want anything?”
She continued to walk. Alicia assumed she really didn’t want to bring back drinks since she wouldn’t be able to hear their requests anyway.
“We need to talk.” Max stood in front of her with his arms crossed over his chest.
“I’m not talking to you if you’re in some sort of snit. That’s how we left it earlier.”
“I wasn’t in a snit.” His chest puffed up a little.
“Oh?” She imitated his posture.
He grinned when he realized how she saw him. “Okay. I’ll try to keep my cool, but you must listen to me. You can’t blow me off because you don’t like what you hear.”
“I don’t do that.”
This time Max did posture with his arms crossed against his chest again and one eyebrow cocked. “Excuse me? I did my research on you before I hired the company. You ignoring things because they don’t suit the way you want things to go is well-documented.”
“Good Lord. Documented?”
“Yeah.” Max dropped his arms to his side. “A Mrs. Bolinoski was one who mentioned it the most.”
“She was a little wacko. She wanted me to be at her house at six a.m. each day we were to meet. Why? She had to come to my office most of the time and our building doesn’t open until about eight a.m.” Alicia didn’t like the fact he knew so much about her.
“And she thought the world of you because you still did what she asked. But she wasn’t the only one. Your boss went out of his way to tell me about that little personality flaw.”
She sighed. He was right. She did have a tendency to block out anything she didn’t like. “What is it we need to be talking about?”
“Your conversation with Sonora. The tattoo?”
“Oh, right.” She moved to the other side of the table. Alicia needed to put space between them. “Catherine and I talked about it. I’m your mate because I repeated some words. Is there anything else I need to know?”
“I hadn’t planned on it happening. Being with you brought something out of me.” He had been working on this while she was gone. She could see it on his face. “I felt overpowered to say the mating words.”
The slight scent of fear in the air surprised her. He was worried about how she’d react. It humbled her a bit. “Catherine explained that the mating had to be a mutual thing. You didn’t trick me into anything. I know that.”
“But this wasn’t something you expected. Not being able to date, fall in love, and tell your parents you found the one.” Max ran his hand through his hair. “I messed that all up.”
“All right. You did.” Alicia felt the anger bubble up again. “I have no idea how I’m going to explain any of this to my family or my friends. I’m suddenly married and sporting a tattoo I can’t hide. Why couldn’t it be in a place where it could be hidden better?”
“It is easy to hide so no one can see it.” Max brought her to a highly reflective surface.
“I’m not putting a pound of makeup on it.” Max touched her shoulder and she watched in amazement as it disappeared from sight. “Oh my God, how did you do that?”
“It’s part of our mating. Only key people can hide it or reveal it.”
“So you hid it when it first happened and Sonora revealed it. That’s why I didn’t see it right away?”
He nodded.
“How could Sonora reveal it? This was something between you and me.”