“What did Gracie say? And why didn’t her father know about this woman?”
Wade threw his hands up. “Gracie’s all ecstatic. Wants to meet her.” His voice turned hard. “And Gracie’s family tree is so crooked, who knows if Gracie’s dad even knows about Catherine.”
Jonas scowled. “Damn, Wade, if this woman turns out to be some nutjob, Gracie’s going to be crushed. Why didn’t you stop her?”
“Christ, I didn’t know about the woman’s phone call until after the fact! When I told Gracie we’d need to run a background check on Catherine, she went ballistic.” Wade slumped into the chair across from the desk. “I might be sleeping on the couch tonight.”
Jonas hit the power button and watched as Wade’s computer came back on without any trouble. “Bummer, man. Good news, though, your computer is working.”
Jonas stood and went to his own computer and booted it up. He took the business card out of his shirt pocket that had Valdez’s information on it and stared at it. It looked so innocent. Jonas could understand why Deanna would think the man was an upstanding guy. A regular businessman. Jonas knew better. He’d seen Valdez’s type too many times to count, and if there’s one thing he’d learned, it’s that dirtbags rarely actually looked like dirtbags.
“Thanks,” Wade said as he took his seat back. “So, how’d the weekend with Deanna go?”
Jonas chuckled. “Took you long enough to ask. Afraid I corrupted her, are you?”
Wade glared at him from across their desks. “Don’t be a prick. That’s my sister you’re talking about.”
Jonas winced. “That was a dumbass thing to say. Sorry.”
Wade waved the apology away. “Yeah, yeah. So ... ?”
“The weekend was great. Hell, better than great. She was great. We were great together. But I’m pretty much in the doghouse with her right now, which isn’t so great.”
Wade sat back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head. “Did you do something I’m going to have to punch you for?”
Jonas rolled his eyes. “Nothing like that. I pretty much told her to drop her latest client because I think he might be bad news. As you can imagine, she didn’t really care for that highhanded idea.”
Wade shook his head. “Deanna doesn’t like to be told what to do. Dad used to have a hell of a time getting her to mind him. Stubborn as hell from the time she could walk, he used to say.”
“Stubborn and smart and sexy and funny and sarcastic.” Jonas let out a breath. “She’s the whole package.”
Wade quirked a brow. “Sound
s like you’re serious about her.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m in love with her, which is why it sucks that she’s so pissed at me right now.”
“Deanna doesn’t hold a grudge. You two will figure it out.” He frowned. “But this client. What makes you think he’s bad news?”
Jonas glared. “His name.” He got out of the chair and handed the business card over to Wade.
Wade took it. A few seconds later, he cursed. “You’re joking. Tell me my sister isn’t anywhere near that motherfucker.”
Jonas shook his head and sat back down, then started to run a search on Catherine Michaels. “She’s waiting for me to check him out first. But she’s excited by the design she did for him. I feel like it’s partly my fault that she’s going to have to scrap the whole thing.”
“It’s not your fault that Valdez is the scum of the earth. If she’s promised to stay away from him until you can get her some answers, then get her some answers.”
Jonas continued searching. “I intend to,” he vowed. “The only thing that matters is Deanna’s safety.”
“Agreed.” The front door chimed, signaling someone’s arrival, and Wade frowned. “Were you expecting anyone?”
“No.” Jonas stopped what he was doing and stood. “We need a receptionist.” He frowned at Wade. “Why don’t we have a receptionist?”
Wade shrugged. “Hell if I know. Maybe we should put out an ad.”
“Good idea.” Jonas headed for the front room. “In the meantime, I’ll go see who that is.”
“And I’m going to check a few of my sources and see what I can find out about Valdez.”