The Fifth Favor by Shelby Reed Read Free Book Online Page A

secret.”
    “But with the material I have, I can only describe a robotic, two-dimensional figure.” Her words quickened, pushed forth by some nameless urgency. “You need to tell me something personal about yourself. Something about your past, or…or what’s in your heart. What do you love? What do you hate? Are you an insomniac? Do you like ice cream? Ever had your heart broken? Republican or Democrat? Boxers or briefs?
    Something besides just…the shadowy figure that these notes create.”
    The reporter in her had drifted away, and God, how gauche the woman sounded who pleaded with him in her place. Certainly now he would wave her off and depart, and she’d never see him again.
    Adrian, who’d been listening with a frown of mild confusion, shifted his weight and folded his arms across his chest. “I’ll have to think it through,” he said, all traces of humor gone from his lips. “What I want to tell you, how I want to say it. I’m private, Billie. My privacy is my most valued possession.”
    She nodded, face hot with relief and anticipation. “I wouldn’t strip you of it, no matter what kind of reputation reporters carry. As someone who…who has come to like what I know of you, I wouldn’t twist your truths or try to expose you.”
    He watched her, emotions hidden behind the dark lenses. Then, simply, “I believe you.”
    “Good.” Her breath drained from her, taking a modicum of tension with it. “When can I meet with you again?”
    “It has to be at Avalon this time.” His jaw hardened almost imperceptibly. “And if an hour is all your magazine can afford, I’m afraid we’ll have to make do.”
    “I understand.”
    “Also, you’ll have to go through Azure to schedule this last appointment. And don’t mention that you met with me today.”
    She didn’t ask why, only extended her hand, willing it to be steady. “I’ll see you soon, then.”
    His warm fingers enclosed hers, sealing some sort of pact she didn’t yet understand. “I’ll look forward to it, Ms. Cort.”
    30

    The Fifth Favor

Chapter Four
    Adrian paused in the doorway of his condominium’s kitchen and considered the black Labrador gazing mournfully back at him. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
    The dog, Rudy, blinked and huffed.
    “Where’s your banana?” Adrian patted him on the head as he moved by to grab a bottle of beer from the refrigerator.
    At the mention of his favorite stuffed toy, Rudy whined and leaped up as quickly as his ninety pounds would allow, then circled and stared at his master, ears perked.
    Adrian bumped the refrigerator door shut with his hip and frowned as he twisted the bottle cap off a Heineken. “You threw it off the balcony again, didn’t you? Damn it, Rudy.”
    With the dog anxiously leading the way, Adrian crossed the spacious living room to the French doors and stepped between the filmy sheers fluttering in the night breeze.
    The balcony overlooked the city’s lush tree canopy, a velvet carpet of blackness punctuated by sparkling lights.
    Grasping the balustrade, he leaned forward and squinted at the sidewalk fourteen floors below. There it was. The faded, thoroughly chewed and well-loved stuffed banana, lying forlorn on the concrete in front of the building.
    “I’m not going down to get it this time,” he told the dog, who sat at his feet and gazed back with an eerily human plea in his cocoa brown eyes.
    Five excruciating minutes passed while Rudy followed him around the apartment in silent protest of his master’s decision. Finally, with a weary sigh, Adrian set aside his beer, stepped into a pair of running shoes and grabbed his apartment keys.
    “I’ll get the banana,” he said, eyeing the dog, “but this is the last time. And you’re losing your balcony privileges.”
    Tail wagging, Rudy settled on the cool teak floor of the foyer and watched him flip open the locks. As Adrian started to twist the knob, a low sound emitted from the dog’s throat, a warning, soft