Chosen (Partners in Crime Book 1)

Chapter 3

Dominic flopped on the couch when he got back to his apartment. How could he be so stupid? Asking her out when he'd only known her for two hours. He was an idiot. Now they were in an awkward position.

His phone buzzed. Grace.

"Hey sis."

"Hi. Are you busy?" She sounded flustered.

He sat up quickly. "No. What do you need?"

"I'm on my way to your place."

"Grace. What is it?"

"I'll tell you when I get to your place."

Three minutes later, she showed up at his door. When he opened it, she ran into his arms and started crying. She got a lot of this from him because she was the youngest.

"Grace?"

She wiped her eyes with the tissue he gave her then started to speak, "The negotiation took forever. A woman held a gun to her three children. I talked and talked for ages before she let the older two go. She kept the four year old with her. She caught sight of the SWAT team and pulled the trigger on her son. He didn't make it." She let more tears pour down. She would be frustrated and angry at the crime scene, but break down at home.

"That's terrible."

"Olivia is at the scene now."

"Is Jack?" He asked flatly.

Grace let out a laugh. Everyone in the family but Olivia knew how attracted Jack was to her. "No. At least I didn't see him."

Dominic squeezed her shoulder, "It wasn't your fault Grace. You did everything you could. She made the choice to pull the trigger. You didn't make it for her."

"But I could have convinced her to let the child go or something."

"No. You did the best you could. Let God handle the rest."

She nodded.

"Want to stay with me tonight?"

"Please."

"Sounds good. How about we watch a movie?"

She threw away her tissue, "Okay. How about a classic?"

"Just not a musical."

Grace laughed, "I know you hate those. Hey, how was your showing today?"

He ignored the question and went to find some popcorn in the pantry.

Grace followed him and picked up Chloe's card she had given him. "I asked how the showing was today."

Dominic grunted. "Fine."

A wide grin spread across Grace's face. "Is she pretty?"

"How did you know?"

Grace giggled, "I don't. Your body language gives it away. I take it you spent more time looking at her than you did the house."

"Hey! Did not!" He said over the sound of popping popcorn.

"Did you ask her out?" Grace smirked.

He threw popcorn at her face, "Drop it."

She just wiggled her eyebrows, took the popcorn from him, and sat down on the couch.

Dominic rolled his eyes and sat down next to her.

                                                                                     ~~~~~

Chloe sat on her sofa and flipped through the channels on her TV. Nothing good was on. She could settle for a Hallmark movie, but she wasn't in the mood. Thoughts of Dominic drifted in and out of her mind. What would she be doing now if she had taken him up on his offer for dinner?

"Chloe. Knock it off. He's your client. Not your boyfriend." She reprimanded herself.

Her phone buzzed. A text message from an unknown number. Probably another client.

                        Hi Chloe.

                                 Hi. This is Chloe Sinclair

                                 from Realtor's America.

                                 How can I help you?

                        It's me, Chloe.

Recognition dawned on her. He was out of jail? No, this couldn't be. Not now. She ignored the text and sat staring at the wall. Why, of all times now? She was just getting over it. The little dots from the other number proved he was typing something. She didn't want to know what it was, so she chucked her phone across the room. She closed all her windows, shut all the blinds then headed to bed for a not so restful sleep.