Page 8 of A Breath of Life (Shadowy Solutions #4)

Diem

T allus placed a hand on my chest, preventing me from barreling through the front door of the jewelry store like a bull in a china shop.

“Whoa. Hold your horses. We aren’t racing in there, guns blazing.

Considering the establishment, you should let me do the talking.

Feel free to browse, in case we end up with a stinkingly huge reward and you feel compelled to buy your boyfriend something beautiful.

I’m a size nine point two five, by the way.

” He waggled a specific finger on his left hand, adding a wink in case I wasn’t catching his drift.

I narrowed my eyes. “Ambitious much?”

“What? It could happen.”

“Which part? The stinkingly huge reward or my desire to buy you something,” I glanced at the hand in question, “symbolic?”

“Both. It doesn’t have to be… symbolic , per se. I wouldn’t say no to a bracelet or a watch. A nice chain would look amazing with an open shirt, but alas, a ring would be my first choice.” He stared longingly at his empty fingers.

I frowned, trying to figure out if he was teasing or serious.

He wanted a ring? A specific kind of ring, by the sound of it.

It was way too soon for proposals, wasn’t it?

I wasn’t exactly the marrying type. Tallus knew that.

Didn’t he? Good grief, I could barely express my feelings on a good day, and he wanted me to fucking propose?

No, I was reading him wrong. It was a joke.

Tallus chuckled. “Wow. Don’t look so panicked, Guns. I’m a decent catch. Any man would be lucky to snag me.”

I arched a brow. “ Any man?”

He dragged his finger down my chest. “I’m just saying. Don’t drag your feet. I’d help you pick it out.”

“I’m… What are you… Can we talk about the card again?”

Tallus patted my cheek. “You poor thing. It’s too easy to rock your world off-balance. Come on. Let’s do this. We’ll let the commitment train leave the station for now, but you should know this conversation isn’t over. I’m not getting any younger.”

He turned and sashayed into the building, leaving me struggling to catch up both physically and mentally. I hated when he talked in code, but if the subtext meant what I thought it meant, I was content pretending I didn’t know what the fuck was going on. Stupid was a shield I could get behind.

Echo had joined us that morning and bounded up the stairs beside me as I followed after Tallus. The instant we entered the classy establishment, a snooty woman behind a glass display case gasped and pointed at my furry companion. “Oh, no. We don’t allow dogs in here. ”

“She’s a service dog,” I mumbled, not for the first time and with an edge of annoyance. It happened everywhere we went. Despite Echo’s vest, I was continually forced to explain her position.

Usually, announcing Echo’s role shut people up, but some, like the posh woman behind the counter with the fancy glasses and too much perfume, felt themselves in a position to pose questions like they were the authority on service animals and entitled to my personal tragic backstory.

“And why do you need a service dog?” She huffed. “You’re clearly not blind or maimed.”

“No, but I’m a diagnosed sociopath with a tendency to fly into fits of rage when people ask me stupid questions. Echo reminds me not to kill them.” Then I stared at the woman without blinking, the dead-eyed look enough to emphasize my claim and drop the temperature in the room by ten degrees.

The woman stammered and flapped a hand near her chest, clearly at a loss for words and likely contemplating how quickly she could get to the nearest phone and if she had time to call the police before I scaled the counter and went after her.

“Oh, good god.” Tallus grabbed my arm and drew me against his side, singsonging sotto voce from behind a tight, fake smile. “You have to stop telling people that.”

“When people stop harassing me about Echo, I will.” I continued to glare at the woman, letting her sweat and think the worst of me.

“You aren’t a sociopath. He’s not a sociopath,” he told the woman.

“The rest of it’s true,” I informed her.

“Diem.”

“What? It is. I’m prone to fits of rage. Echo helps.” I held up my right hand, flexing and fisting my fingers. “Broke my hand punching a car in the spring. True story. See this scar? Tore the skin open. ”

The woman’s eyes widened as she shifted her attention from me to Tallus and back.

“Tell her,” I nudged Tallus. “Go on.”

“Are you trying to get us kicked out? I don’t know any other appraiser in the city who might do us a favor on short notice, and I’m pretty sure you don’t want me to go crawling back to Memphis to ask if he knows anyone else.

He was agreeable enough the first time, but round two might take… convincing.” Tallus smirked.

The bear, whom Tallus was convinced lived inside my chest, awoke with a growl.

“That’s what I thought. Now behave.”

Echo bumped her face against my leg, and I reached down to scratch her ear. “I’m fine, girl.” To the distraught woman, I added, “Calm as a cucumber. Echo here is doing her job, and my blood pressure is about as normal as it gets. Not a threat.” To Tallus, I said, “Who’s the guy we’re meeting?”

Tallus found a placating smile for the terrified woman and pressed his hands together in a pleading gesture.

“So sorry about that. Ignore my partner. He’s…

being funny, believe it or not. It’s a new thing.

He’s not very good at it.” He chuckled as though backing up his claim.

“It’s hard to tell most days, but that’s what humor looks like on Diem.

Anyhoo, we have an appointment to meet with Joshua Stroud. Is he around?”

With a pinched expression and a clearing of her throat, the woman said, “A moment. I’ll find him.” Then she hastily disappeared into a back room, but not without giving me a wary glance over her shoulder before departing.

I glared right back with a semi-maniacal grin I was sure made her question Tallus’s claims .

The heat of my boyfriend’s animosity burning the side of my face made me turn. Doing all I could to temper the smirk wanting to form, I asked, “What?”

“You’re a pain in my ass.”

I shrugged and focused on scanning the store. “That’s hardly fair. I was careful last night to be sure you were prepared, knowing my… girth is a lot to take, but you kept begging me to get on with it, so if your ass is sore today, that’s on you.”

Tallus punched me in the shoulder, and I couldn’t help the laughter that snuck free. “Diem Krause, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I like it. Carry on.”

I liked it too, especially when my poor attempt at humor made Tallus smile. It might annoy the rest of the world, but not him. Before I could lean in and steal a quick kiss, Joshua Stroud emerged from the back room.

He was exactly the kind of man I expected to see in a high-end jewelry store. Refined, with a perfectly tailored suit, coiffed hair, and enough glimmer and glitz adorning his wrists, neck, and fingers to make Tallus drool.

The cool look in Joshua’s eyes radiated superiority. Remembering he was one of Memphis’s fuck buddies, I hated him instantly. Joshua was one of those men who thought they were above you, who looked down on you like you were a slug. He might dress like a million bucks, but he lacked personality.

When he held out a hand to Tallus, saying, “You must be the fella Memphis was telling me about,” his voice came out laced with a hint of condescension that made him sound ridiculous, and I didn’t like the way he suggestively scanned my boyfriend, either .

They exchanged handshakes of the variety that appeared too delicate and intimate, and my hackles rose enough that I had to bite my tongue to avoid snapping something inappropriate.

“Tallus Domingo,” Tallus said with the sultry smirk I thought was reserved for me alone. Apparently not. “This is my partner, Diem Krause.”

Joshua didn’t offer me his hand to shake—I was clearly beneath him—but he did eye Echo with an edge of disdain.

Echo, for all the dirty looks she was getting, sat obediently at my feet, tongue lolling and wearing a smile—or rather, the expression I perceived as a smile. Who could hate that face?

“Memphis said something about an appraisal. Is that correct?” the man asked Tallus.

Tallus handed Joshua the leather pouch. “Yes. We were wondering what you could tell us about this item. What is it made of? What is it worth? Anything, really.”

With long, delicate fingers, Joshua untied the strings and drew the card from within. He immediately flinched, a stunned expression lighting his face. It was the same look Tallus had worn the previous day when he’d removed it from the bag for the first time.

The pair of them saw dollar signs.

Joshua darted his attention to Tallus. “Where did you get this?”

“Not important,” I interrupted. “Is it worth anything, or is it junk? That’s all we need to know.”

The man glanced warily between us. When Tallus stayed quiet, Joshua pressed his lips together and nodded. “Okay. Um… Let’s have a look. This way.”

He moved along the length of the display counter to a place at the back of the room, waving for us to join him.

Tallus and I followed .

Joshua withdrew several items from a drawer: a scale, a loupe, calipers, and several other instruments I didn’t have names for. He lined them up on the counter beside a silky black swatch of cushioned fabric.

Setting the card in the middle of the fabric, he flicked on a high-powered light and angled it to shine on the item.

Donning gloves, Joshua used a specific type of cloth and spray to buff the card to a shine.

Then, after glancing cautiously from the front door to his business partner—who was occupied—he began the examination.

Using the magnifying glass, he inspected the card thoroughly without saying a word. Tallus had explained about markers, but with the naked eye, we hadn’t been able to find any. Joshua had more success.