Green-Eyed Envy by Kasey Mackenzie Read Free Book Online

do that was to (A) limit the number of people they told about it, and (B) tell those they considered at highest risk of endangering it as little as absolutely possible.”
    A grunt, and then his hands settled on my shoulders to caress absentmindedly. “I think I like the way your mind works, baby. ’Cause in this equation, her telling Vic the Slick as much as she did actually means she likes me more.”
    I rolled my eyes. Leave it to a ridiculously alpha-type Hound to reach that conclusion. Still, if that’s what it took to get him out of his whiny funk, it sure as heck worked for me.
    “Fortunately for us, Trinity commandeered our newbie detective to help inform Bryant Wilkins’s next of kin about his murder before the two of them start digging into Bryant’s activities over the past few days. Harper’s e-mail said she’s planning to go along with them for moral support. That leaves you and me the task of interviewing and offering protection to the highest-risk of Harp’s exes.”
    His eyes lit up with that avaricious gleam that didn’t bode well for the MCU’s bottom line. “Gonna take more manpower than the PD boasts to handle that job.”
    What he meant was more arcane manpower. Which, right now, consisted of exactly three official officers— moi , of course, and the remaining two permanent members of the MCU: a husband-and-wife pair of nightowls. Literally. Kale and Mahina shape-shifted into humongous predatory owls who owed their abilities and existence to the Hawaiian goddess Hina. My recent hiring of those two to handle the night shift so I could sleep most nights through was hands down one of the brightest moments I’d enjoyed since forming the Magical Crimes Unit.
    Though moving closer to the coffee machine still ranked pretty high up there.
    “And I bet you know just the right people for the job. Who just happen to be related to you by blood.”
    “Well, not all of them are related by blood.”
    Yeah, those are the ones who married in to the family. Like I will someday. Wow. Where the hell had that thought come from? We’d only been in the on-again phase of our relationship for a few months and were taking it slow. He came over to my apartment some nights, I went over to his others, but neither of us had permanently moved belongings to the other’s place like during our passionate eighteen-month relationship. Nothing was yet set in stone.
    At least, that’s what my brain said. My heart, on the other hand? Not so much.
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah, Murphy. I see your ultimate plot. Ensure job security for your never-ending assortment of relatives by sleeping with the head of the MCU.”
    He shot me a sexy wink and an even sexier grin, white Hound’s teeth gleaming. “Seems to be working so far.”
    I laughed at that, because he did have a point. “Come on, lover boy, we’ve got people to see, things to do, and asses to protect.”
    And for once, those asses to protect didn’t include either one of ours.

CHAPTER FIVE
    HARPER HAD THIS ON ME: EACH OF HER EXES was hotter—and more successful—than the last. Unintentional on her part since she’s so not the gold-digging type, but true nonetheless. Take the first two victims, Carlos Mendez and Simon Xavier, her high school boyfriends. Both had been fairly average in looks and subsequent careers: Carlos a lower-level CPA in a mortal-owned firm and Simon a dental hygienist for the area’s first arcane dentist. Both lived low-key lives from an arcane point of view. Neither would have inspired fireworks-inducing passion at first glance. Bryant Wilkins, however, seemed a step above in areas both physical and financial. A fitness guru, he’d double-majored in business and physical education, and later opened the first of what would become a regional chain of fitness centers. I’d been able to pull publicity photos of him off his company website and whistled at the tall, well-built hottie staring back at me. Dark blond hair, deep blue eyes, and a perfect