Page 22 of Barristers & Bones

“Sounds delicious, but it’ll take us an hour to even get a seat.”

“I thought you said you aren’t picky? By all means, you throw out a few ideas.”

“How about Luna’s kitchen at the lovely Palm Desert Oasis Mortuary, and we eat chicken curry and sautéed veggies?”

He glanced at me and shrugged. “Sounds good. Your apartment it is.”

“You told Sylvie you know her grandfather.”

“I do.”

“Can I invite him to lunch? Sylvie is out of town, and he’s probably lonely.”

Roman eyed me carefully. “You want to invite Ezra Spade to lunch with us because you think he’s lonely.”

“Yeah.”

He wiped his hand down his face and sighed. “Luna, how well do you know Ezra?”

From Roman’s tone, I knew what he was asking. “I know him, and the rest of the family, well.”

“How well?”

“They’re my foster family, and if you say anything bad about them. I’ll make sure you regret it.”

Roman’s eye seemed to twitch. “Alright. Let’s go eat lunch with Ezra Spade.”

A half-hour later, Ezra buzzed the doorbell and walked in. “I brought homemade lemon bars. It’s quiet at the mortuary without Sylvie and Alexa around, so thank you for the lunch invite.” Holding up the plate of goodies, he smiled then stopped short when he saw Roman. I’d just laid out the food on the small kitchen table.

Ezra’s eyes narrowed. “Hello, Roman. I didn’t know you knew our sweet Luna.”

“Nice to see you, Ezra. She’s doing her law school internship with me. I haven’t talked to you in a while. How’s business?”

Ezra’s eyes flickered, and I saw protectiveness and a warning in them. Then he smiled faintly. “We own a funeral home, so my business is guaranteed. You know what they say about death and taxes.”

“The mortuary is just one of your family businesses, and enough people cheat on their taxes, so I’m not sure how accurate the second part of that statement is,” Roman murmured.

Ezra inclined his head, and we sat down to eat.

“This is delicious, Luna.” Ezra smiled at me then turned to Roman, his smile sliding off. “How’s your law practice doing? Are you still buying up business interests?”

“Yes. And you? Have you had any of your business accounts trigger AML lately?”

Ezra’s hand tightened on his fork. “Nothing like you dealt with a couple of years ago, from what I hear.”

Sighing, I put my water glass down and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Are you two done slinging white-collar crime accusations at each other? You’re giving me heartburn.”

Roman leaned back. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I rolled my eyes and ate a bite of chicken. “I’m taking federal tax law right now. And AML stands for anti-money laundering. Just stop.”

Ezra cleared his throat and straightened. “I apologize. Why didn’t you go with Sylvie and Alexa to Oceanside for your fall break?”

Glaring at Roman, I answered. “Because my mentor decided I needed to shadow him all week and had no problem ruining my vacation.” I shoved a piece of carrot in my mouth and continued to glare.

Ezra picked up his fork again and studied Roman carefully. “Let’s just hope that’s all he plans to ruin.”

Chapter 7

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