Page 54 of Lawbreaker

“You bet!”

He watched the younger man head down the sidewalk, his dark eyes narrow and assessing.

Back in her apartment, Odalie had changed into sweatpants and a soft T-shirt for sleeping. The ballet had been wonderful. But she had this odd feeling that she’d been watched in the theater. That was silly. Tony had assured her once that he had all the bases covered. She had nothing to worry about from Phillip James.

Just the same, it was an odd feeling.

It had been a surprise to run into Rudy. She knew he was one of Tony’s people, but she had no idea why he’d been at the ballet all by himself. She had wondered if Tony might be there as well, but there had been no indication of his presence. As if he’d want to be around her, anyway, she thought with resignation.

Tony avoided her like the plague whenever he could. There were occasions, like when the snake had almost bitten her, or when they’d been on the dance floor at the ranch, when he seemed to care about her a little. But those occasions were quickly covered up. He’d made his position clear. Odalie wasn’t his type.

That was just as well. She wanted a career in opera. It was why she’d remained heart-whole all these years. So just as well not to start anything. Except that her stupid hormones all went wild when Tony was anywhere around, and her stupid stomach started churning every time she pictured a stage.

Now that Stasia was staying close to home, there wasn’t much opportunity for interaction with Tony in New York. That was a blessing and a curse, she supposed.

She still wondered why Rudy was at the ballet. He didn’t seem the sort of man to appreciate it. But that wasn’t her business.

She was on her way back to her apartment a few days later, by way of a high-ticket department store, when she ran into Tony’s cousin Connie from New Jersey.

“Odalie?” she exclaimed, laughing as she hugged her. “What an incredible coincidence!”

Odalie hugged her back. “I know! What are you doing in New York?”

“I came up with Angel to do some shopping. I told you about Angel—this is him,” she said at once, pulling a muscular man in his late twenties toward Odalie. “Angel, this is Odalie that I was telling you about. She had the run-in with that Donalson reptile at the Long Island house. Remember what I said?”

“Yeah.” Angel had jet-black hair and dark eyes and olive skin. He wasn’t handsome, but he was very masculine without being overbearing about it. “Hi,” he said.

Odalie smiled back. “Hi.”

“She’s from Texas,” Connie added with a grin.

Angel smiled slowly. “Oh, yeah? Well, where’s your big hat and your boots?” he teased.

“In my closet at the ranch,” she returned, laughing. She eyed him. “Where are your tights?”

His eyebrows arched.

“I heard you used to wrestle,” she persisted.

He chuckled. “Yeah, I did. One tombstone too many and I had to give it up,” he added.

She knew what a tombstone was—another wrestler picked you up and dropped you on your head. The taller the wrestler, the farther the drop. “Ouch,” she said.

“Ouch is right. Now I do less strenuous things,” he added.

“Come have lunch with us,” Connie said. “I had to get Mama a new coat. She got that stupid virus and lost thirty pounds, so nothing fits. And she had to have just the right coat from the right store...!” She rolled her eyes.

Odalie laughed. “Did you find it?”

“Yeah. I had them send it. I hate carrying things on a plane. We didn’t bring the car this time. What’s your fancy? Italian, Indian, uptown, downtown...?” Connie probed.

“Sushi,” Odalie said with big eyes.

“Fish bait?” Angel exclaimed.

“You stop that,” Connie said, and hit him. “Listen, he once almost closed a Japanese sushi shop because he ordered so much to-go stuff. He loves it.” She wrinkled her nose. “Me, too,” she laughed.

“And we know where the best sushi is,” Angel added.