Chapter 4

4

She was curled up in the jungle swing, in her beautiful silk couture dress. It shimmered like fairy dust in the lights, all pink and purple and silver. Her shoes were off. Her head was pillowed on one hand on the arm of the swing. She was asleep. She looked like any man’s vision of the perfect woman.

Her beauty wasn’t blatant, but it was stunning. Her mouth was like a perfect bow, soft and pretty and palest pink in a complexion that seemed to be aided by nothing more than a light dusting of powder. Her eyes were closed, graced by long blond eyelashes that curled and contained no messy mascara or shadow, and the eyelashes were real. Her cheekbones were high, slightly flushed from sleep, not from any artifice. Her fingers were long, tipped by silver glitter nail polish on a pink background. She had pretty hands. He recalled that she played the piano. So did he, but he’d never shared that skill with her. Nor another that he kept secret even from Stasia. He was very private about some facets of his life.

This was intoxicating. He never had the luxury of just looking at her, because he didn’t want her, or anyone, to see how fascinating he really found her. He was too old for her, too much of a bad influence. Their backgrounds were incompatible. But she was like a fairy, lying there in the quietness of the room. His eyes drifted down to her breasts. They weren’t large. They were small, but firm and perfectly shaped. He ached looking at them. Her hips were wide. He thought about babies and hated himself for it. He was sterile. He could never have a child. Her legs were long and elegant, outlined under the dress that fell almost to her ankles when she walked.

She was a picture that would linger in his mind until he died, and he knew it. If only, he thought sadly. If only.

She stirred and grimaced, as if she was feeling the discomfort of such a position. He wondered how long she’d been in the swing. He looked around. There was Rudolf, curled up by the potted palm.

Had she seen his pet? he wondered.

Her eyes opened. When he turned back around, those beautiful pale blue eyes looked straight into his black ones, but vacantly, as if she wasn’t quite awake.

“Hello,” she said softly.

“Hello,” he replied, his voice as quiet as hers.

“I fell asleep.”

“I noticed.”

She drew in a breath and stretched as much as she could, pulling the dress tight around the luscious curves of her body. Tony felt himself go tense all over, and he fought the sensation.

“What are you doing in here?” he asked as she started to uncurl herself and lower her hose-clad feet to the floor.

“I was escaping,” she blurted out, and flushed, because she hadn’t meant to tell him.

He drew in an angry breath. “Donalson. Well, I moved him downstairs, so you won’t be running into him in the hall anymore.”

“You did?” she asked, and helpless delight flickered in her eyes.

He averted his. “The Mannings needed a double bed. He’s got arthritis. Donalson switched with them.” He didn’t want her to think it was concern for her that had prompted the change.

“Oh. Of course,” she said at once. She felt around for her shoes. They’d scattered.

Tony saw her looking and went to pick them up where they’d been shifted several feet away.

“Does Rudolf like shoes?” she asked whimsically, smiling at the big reptile. “I’m afraid mine won’t fit you, old dear,” she told the snake. “You’d need a snake sock.” She laughed.

It was like hearing wind chimes. He loved the sound and grew somber, fighting his desire.

“Here,” he said, going on one knee. He slid her feet into the high heels one at a time, and the feel of her skin against his fingers, even through the nylon, sent shivers of pleasure down his spine.

She was vibrating all over at that touch. His hands were big and lean and beautifully masculine. She loved the way they felt on her skin. She wondered helplessly how they’d feel higher up. She forced herself to stop thinking about it. “Thanks,” she said. Despite her best efforts, she was flushed, and her heart was going like an overwound clock.

Tony knew that, but he pretended not to see it. He stood up and gave her a hand to hold on to to pull herself out of the swing.

She came up close to him, too close. She could feel the warm strength of his body, smell the spicy, clean scent of him. She didn’t want to move. He still had her hand, and she tingled all over at just its touch. She wanted to move closer. She wanted to feel him against her, all the way up and down. She wanted his hands to go around her, his arms to go around her. She wanted...him.

He was feeling the same sensations. The room was quiet. Too quiet. He could hear his own heart beating. He could hear her quick breaths. God, she was beautiful, and that body was like something out of a fantasy. She was the most gorgeous woman he’d seen in his life, and he couldn’t, didn’t dare, even touch her. It would lead to catastrophe. He had to get a grip on his fraying emotions. Ridiculous. He could face down armed men without a hair out of place, but this young woman turned his knees to jelly and made him ache.

He let go of her hand and moved back. “You knew Rudolf’s name,” he said after a long, tense silence.

It broke the tension. “Yes,” she said, with a breathy laugh. “Stasia introduced us. He’s gorgeous!”

His eyebrows arched. “You aren’t afraid of snakes?”

She shook her head, her pale blue eyes twinkling. “John, my brother John, had an albino python when I was just about eight years old. He and I would take the snake out to the barn and chase poor old Billy Tanner with it. He was terrified of snakes! Dad caught us, and we had to give up video games for two weeks as punishment.”

“Video games. Snakes.” He shook his head. His black eyes twinkled. “You’re not what I used to think you were when Stasia brought you up to visit. I thought you were a snob.”

“Me?” she exclaimed.

His eyes narrowed in thought. “You don’t mix well, do you? You’re an introvert, and you’re shy. It makes you look stuck-up. But Connie’s wild about you.” He chuckled. “She called me from the airport. She’s got a brother, Angel, and he’s single. She said she wanted to bring Angel up to meet you because you’d be the most wonderful sister-in-law in the family.”

“Oh,” she exclaimed, beaming. “That’s the nicest thing anybody’s said about me in ages!”

“Not so much,” he replied, smiling. “Angel’s no pinup boy. He’s got scars and an accent thicker than yours, and he’s a semipro wrestler.”

“I love wrestlers,” she said. “I watch movies that the Rock is in, and I never missed Monday Night Raw when he was in the ring.”

“Damn!” he burst out. “You weren’t joking? You really like wrestling?”

She grimaced. “Well, there’s nothing wrong with liking wrestling,” she said defensively, even while remembering that he loved it. “Lots of women do. I thought Eddie Guerrero was a dish, and I bawled when he died. I loved the Hardy Boyz and Lita and Triple H...”

He was still trying to contain his surprise. “You like wrestling,” he repeated. He chuckled. He’d have to tell her about Big Ben’s background one day. “And those are my personal favorites. Especially the Rock. I’ve got all his movies. But my favorite is Moana .”

Her whole face lit up. “Mine, too, but I love it just as much for the music. The score is beautiful.”

He nodded. This was terrible. They loved the same things. He was getting in over his head and they hadn’t been talking more than ten minutes. He shook his head, as if to clear it.

“I was afraid Rudolf would scare you to death,” he said after a minute.

“I like snakes,” she said simply.

He just shook his head. “You are the oddest damned woman I’ve ever known,” he said slowly.

“I come from an odd family,” she pointed out.

“No, you don’t,” he replied. “Your people are down-to-earth and perfectly normal.” He studied her. “I’ll bet you were spoiled rotten in school by every teacher you had.”

Thinking about school broke her heart. She’d been so mean to poor Maddie Brannt when they were in the same class. It had taken a near-tragic wreck that she’d caused to patch up years of torment she’d given the woman, who was now her best friend next to Stasia.

“You closed up,” he said. “What did I say?”

“It wasn’t that. I was a bad girl in high school,” she confessed, looking at the spotless white shirt over his broad, muscular chest under his jacket. “I almost went to jail once.”

“You?” he exclaimed.

She looked up at him. “You never really know people,” she said. “I mean, you can be around them for years and talk and go places together, but you don’t really know them. People hide the dark places so that they don’t show.”

He grew more somber as she spoke. His black eyes narrowed and grew sad. “Yes, they do,” he replied quietly.

One big hand was toying with a button on his jacket, and she frowned, looking at it.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I wanted to ask, but it seems a little, well, personal,” she began, nodding toward the very obvious scar on the back of his hand.

He drew in a breath. “I was in a gang when I was fourteen,” he said, his eyes with a faraway look in them. “There was a rival gang. I got careless, and they caught me out. Took me to a warehouse that was deserted. It was where they hung out. The gang leader smiled and said they were going to give me a nice tattoo before they killed me, so everybody would know who did it.”

He studied the scar. “This was their sign. He carved it into my hand with a knife. Then he put the knife against my throat and told me to say my prayers, if I did that sort of thing.”

She was listening intently, her breath suspended, hiding horror at what could have been.

“There was a rattle at the door that diverted him, just long enough.”

“What happened?” she asked when he didn’t continue.

He searched her pale, innocent eyes. This wasn’t a story he could share. “He got a lesson in manners and went home on a stretcher, so to speak. His gang broke up.”

“You could afford to have the scar removed. But you didn’t,” she said softly.

He nodded, his face somber. “I kept it because it reminds me to never get careless, never puff myself up with false pride. I thought I was one tough guy, invincible. I wasn’t. It was a life lesson I never forgot. This—” he indicated the scar “—is a talisman, of sorts.”

“I’m glad he didn’t kill you,” she said with simple honesty. “But how did you get away?”

“I had a gang, too,” he replied with a smile. “My guys were a little tougher than his. My best friend missed me and guessed what had happened. They came after me. That’s all. But there’s always somebody bigger, stronger, smarter, more dangerous. That’s why you never let your guard down, with anybody. You can be sold out by the best friend you ever had.”

“I guess that’s true,” she said sadly.

His eyes were ancient as they met hers. “It is. Did you ever read about the former head of the criminal organization in Chicago, what they call the Outfit?”

She nodded. “I have this book about painting houses, except it doesn’t have anything to do with painting houses...”

He scowled. “You read that stuff?”

“I read everything,” she said simply, smiling. “I like true crime stories and mystery novels, that sort of thing.”

He was fascinated by her and trying very hard not to betray himself. “There’s a story in that book about how one of the leaders died. Remember it?”

She nodded. “They said his best friend killed him. That was true?”

“It’s like this,” he told her. “People who get high up in those circles are suspicious of everybody. Nobody outside can get close enough for a hit. So you pick a close friend and you say either you do him, or we do you and him, and he’s still dead.” He shrugged. “That’s how it works.”

Her lips fell apart. “I thought it was just a story.”

He searched her eyes until his body began to ache. He pried his away. “No.”

“Goodness.”

He glanced at his watch. “It’s late.”

“Yes.” She turned to Rudolf and bent to pat him on the head. “Thanks for sharing your space with me, sweet boy,” she said gently.

The big snake just looked at her with his big red eyes, but he moved restlessly and blinked at her.

“Somebody told you that Donalson hates snakes, I guess,” he mused.

She chuckled as she stood up. “Yes. I couldn’t get by him to go back upstairs because he was heading right for me. So I thought about Rudolf and I came in here.”

“I warned him...”

She moved a step closer. “Don’t do anything because of me,” she said softly, meeting his black eyes. “I minored in art history in college. I don’t want to be the cause of priceless paintings being destroyed. I’ll just keep away from him. Honest.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Donalson won’t have that protection any longer. I not only got Tom to promise them to me, we set a price and I had an attorney downstairs go get his notary seal and notarize it for me and two witnesses to sign it. I wired half the money to his account, with the rest on delivery. All tied up with a bow. So Donalson is now fair game.”

Her eyes twinkled. “Listen, Lita used to do this incredible toss by jumping off the ropes, wrapping her legs around a wrestler’s neck and throwing him...!”

“I don’t have ropes, you can’t jump in that dress and Donalson would get slime all over you.”

She laughed. “Excuses, excuses.”

He drew in a long sigh and smiled at her. She was a breath of spring in his lonely life. If only she was older, less honest, less...everything.

“I’ve rented horses for tomorrow,” he said. “I know some pretty trails around the property. Not all the guests ride, but several do. Want to come?”

“I’d love to, but it depends on Stasia. I don’t think she’ll be able to, and I did come to keep her company and look after her. I promised my brother. He said to keep my cell phone where I could get to it, and not let her go anywhere alone.” Her face became solemn. “He said that James man who almost killed him is hopping mad and looking for revenge, that Stasia was a soft target and that’s the kind of attack that would come, if there was one.” Her eyes were cold. “He said that was the kind of man James really was. Big with a gun in his hand. An ostrich unarmed.”

“The world’s full of those,” Tony told her.

She nodded. She looked at him with helpless appreciation. His face was leonine, broad and tanned, with a chiseled mouth and long nose and square jaw. His hair was black as night and wavy, with a few silver threads. There were some small scars on his face. He was so handsome that he made her senses come alive. Just standing close to him made her hungry for something she didn’t really understand.

“Stop that,” he muttered.

Her pale blue eyes widened, and she gaped at him. “I beg your pardon?”

His eyes narrowed. He bent just enough that his eyes pierced straight into hers. “I don’t start things I can’t finish,” he said, emphasizing every word. “And don’t pretend that you don’t know exactly what I mean.”

Her heart stopped and then ran away. She stepped back. Her eyes were now throwing sparks at him. “I was not... I didn’t... I never have...!” She grasped for the right words to express her frustration.

“I know you never have,” he said flatly. “But if you plan to, don’t look in my direction. Maybe nobody told you, but I keep a mistress. I don’t need any imported talent. Capisce?” he added in a tone that dripped icicles.

Her lips trembled. It embarrassed her that he saw through her so easily. There she stood, quivering with anger and embarrassment and rage and no way to express it. Her hands clenched at her sides.

“Come on,” he said imperturbably, pausing to pat Rudolf on the head. “I’ll walk you up, in case Donalson’s still around.”

She would almost rather face Donalson than have this conceited man go anywhere with her. But she was intimidated by Donalson, and she couldn’t admit it, or turn down Tony’s offer.

She brushed past him and opened the door.

Donalson was at the drink table. He spotted her and took a step in her direction until he saw Tony come out after her.

Tony saw that. He looked at the man and smiled. The smile sent Donalson to a nearby whiskey bottle.

Odalie noticed it and stifled a laugh.

He heard it. “He’s a piece of work,” he muttered.

She went up the staircase ahead of him, still bubbling with indignation complicated by her amusement at Donalson.

“Concrete overshoes...” she muttered to herself.

“Concrete galoshes,” he corrected. “If you plan to off somebody, at least learn the terminology.”

“Snob,” she said under her breath.

“Amateur,” he muttered back.

She went ahead of him to her room, opened the door and turned to him. “Thank you for saving me. I think.” She didn’t look at him.

She was almost trembling with pent-up emotion. He looked at her mouth and wanted to throw his head back and rage at life for putting her off-limits. He could have made a banquet of her soft mouth. Just thinking about how it would feel under the crush of his made him go rigid.

She didn’t dare look up at him. She knew he could already see everything she felt. She didn’t have the experience to hide her hunger. It was humiliating to have him know it.

“Lock your door tonight.”

“I always lock my door,” she said. Then she added absently, “I hate earthworms.”

He blinked. “Are we having the same conversation?”

That tricked her into lifting her eyes. “Earthworms. When I graduated from high school, I had a little too much to drink at my graduation party and spilled a pitcher of lemonade on my brother John. He swore vengeance. So I had a shower and put on my gown and turned out the lights. Then I screamed so loud that everybody in the house, including my parents, came running.”

His eyebrows arched in a simple nonverbal question.

“John had gone to a bait shop and bought every container of worms in the place. He washed off the dirt, dried them a little, and put the whole kit and caboodle in my bed under the sheets. I didn’t know it until I climbed in.” She smiled sheepishly. “In the dark.”

He started chuckling and then laughed out loud until his stomach hurt. He could picture it. “My God, what a thing to do,” he blurted out.

“Oh, I got even,” she said. “I went hunting. I found ten bullfrogs around the stream behind the house, and I put them in his bed two nights later.”

“What did he do?”

“He stood outside my door waving a white flag he’d made out of his old baseball bat and a white undershirt.”

He shook his head. “I could have sworn your family was normal.”

“Parts of it are,” she confessed. “John and me...not quite.” She studied him. “Didn’t you ever put something in your family’s bed?”

He smiled sadly. “After my grandparents died, my father was never home. I only had my mother. She was the sweetest woman I ever knew. Nobody would have thought of doing anything like that to her. And my wife...” His face closed up. “She was like Mama. She never hurt a soul in her little life.”

She grimaced. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned...”

“It was a long time ago,” he interrupted. He smiled musingly. “Do I look that sensitive to you?”

She searched his eyes and shook her head, very slowly. “I think it would take a bomb to dent you.”

“Dead right. Good night.”

She nodded. “Thanks again.”

He stared down at her with conflicting emotions, aching all over. The bed was visible in the background. She was beautiful. She wanted him, he knew it. He could...!

He cleared his throat. “Good night,” he said again.

While she was working through an equal set of milling emotions, the door down the hall opened and elderly Mrs. Manning came out, holding a vase of flowers. She saw Tony and Odalie and winced as she approached them.

“Oh, I hope I’m not interrupting,” she began quickly.

“No, you aren’t,” Tony replied with a smile. “I was escorting Miss Everett to her room.”

“I had sort of a problem downstairs,” Odalie began, flustered.

“That Donalson man, I guess,” Mrs. Manning said, and her eyes flashed. “If he were my son, I would thump him so hard that he’d be unbuttoning his shirt to eat!”

They both laughed. She looked so sweet and innocent.

She handed Tony the roses. “I’m really sorry, but my husband has asthma and although these smell so delicious...!” Her voice trailed away.

He took the vase. “No problem,” he said gently. He handed the roses to Odalie.

They were gorgeous. The bouquet had yellow and white roses, baby’s breath, and several other varieties of blooms including tulips. “They’re glorious,” Odalie exclaimed, burying her nose in them.

“Consider them yours,” Tony said, and he smiled at her.

That smile made her toes curl up in her shoes. She smiled back, shyly. “Thank you. Good night, then,” she said, including both of them, then she went into her room and closed the door.

Tony walked Mrs. Manning back to the room she now shared with her husband. She turned to him, glancing around. “I suppose you know that Donalson has ties to New York?” she said with meaning. Her eyes were like gray steel.

“I do know,” he replied. “Steps are being taken.”

“Of which I know nothing,” she said with an icy smile. “But certain people, including my husband, will be grateful. There may be retribution, however.”

“If it comes, it comes,” Tony said easily. “I’ve got everybody covered who might be in danger.”

“There’s another complication. In DC,” she added quietly.

“Known and attended to,” he said. He smiled. “But thank your husband for the heads-up. I’ve had some issues with New York in the past. I’d hoped that we’d settled whatever differences existed.”

“There’s always a newcomer trying to spread his wings. You know that. This one has aspirations, but he’s foolish and he talks too much.” She cocked her head. “There are so many ways to deal with these little problems. I’m certain you’ll have no worries there.”

He chuckled. “None at all. I’ll just run my business and wait for the problem to come to me. They always do,” he added on a sigh.

“Be careful that they don’t come to the wrong person.” She indicated Odalie’s closed door. “She looks like an angel,” she said softly. “What does she do?”

“She’s a soprano, trying for the Met soon.” There was faint but unmistakable pride in his voice.

“Is she good?” she asked.

“I’ve never heard better,” he said flatly. “She sang ‘Un bel dì,’ and I actually felt pins in my throat.” He shook his head. “She has an incredible talent.”

“Does she come from musical people?”

“Her mother is Heather Everett. She used to perform onstage, but she just writes songs these days. Two of hers were performed by Desperado, and won Grammy Awards.”

“My!” she exclaimed. She smiled secretly. “About the Met—I might have a word with a friend of mine.”

He smiled back. “I’d be grateful. Her sister-in-law is trying to prod her into an audition. She’s afraid she won’t be accepted, so she’s delaying it.”

“We can do something about that, when the time comes. I’ll let you know.”

“Martha, are you ever going to stop jabbering and come to bed? You’ll wear Tony’s ear out,” her husband called through the open door, but affectionately.

“I’m coming, Teddy, honest,” she called back, laughing. She smiled up at Tony. “Well, good night. Sorry about the flowers.”

“They went to a person who loves them. They’ll be happy,” he teased.

She reached up and kissed his jaw. “Take care.”

“You two do the same.”

He went back downstairs. Big Ben was standing near the drink table, not drinking, but looking around constantly. He had two burly security men with him here, unobtrusive, but watchful.

Ben’s eyebrows rose. “Something, boss?” he asked under his breath.

“Something.” Tony nodded. “Let’s step outside.”

The night air was cool. Stars were out in a clear sky, diamonds on a black canvas. Tony stuck his hands in his pockets. “We’ve got another possible intrusion from the New York bunch on our turf in Jersey.”

“Did you talk to Mr. Manning about it?”

He shook his head. “I talked to Martha. Teddy’s gone to bed.”

“Teddy can handle it.”

He shrugged. “Maybe.” Tony was deep in thought.

Big Ben’s eyes narrowed. It wasn’t like the boss to be absent-minded. “Something bothering you?” Ben asked.

“Donalson,” he said through his teeth. “He’s getting too aggressive with Stasia’s sister-in-law. She wouldn’t admit it to me, but she’s spooked.”

“You backed him down.”

“Yeah. But he’s the sort of vermin that doesn’t pay attention.” His chin lifted as he turned his head toward Ben. “I want him gone. I got a signed contract for the paintings from his boss, so I’m going to suggest that they leave in the morning. You get Donalson to one side before that and tell him what it is. Just in case he has any ideas about getting even with her afterward. You know what a sneaky son of a toad he is.”

“I do. And he’s got an apartment in town not far from hers that he uses when he comes down from Vermont to do business,” Ben reminded him.

“Tell him he’s already had more leeway than I’m used to giving. There won’t be any more warnings.”

“I’ll tell him.” He paused. “Miss Everett is a sweet woman. She doesn’t deserve to be treated like that. He was following her down the staircase when she went into Rudolf’s turf.” He chuckled. “Most women won’t even go in there. She wasn’t scared?”

Tony grinned. “She likes snakes. And wrestling.”

“Really!”

Tony nodded. “Odd woman.”

“But beautiful.”

Tony shrugged. “Beauty is relative. I’ll take brains and talent over that.”

“She’s got both.”

“Yeah.” His face tautened. “She’ll end up with some rich guy in Texas when she’s tired of singing. If that ever happens.”

“She sings good, does she?”

“Like angels do,” Tony said quietly. “I’ve heard sopranos all my life. I’ve never heard one with a voice like hers. Clear as a summer day, every word enunciated, every pause perfect and she never flats a note.”

“Maybe we can go hear her at the Met one day.”

“Maybe.”

“When do you want me to talk to the weasel?”

“Wait until morning. Oh, and keep an eye on Rudy, will you? He and Donalson almost came to blows earlier. I don’t want him involved in anything right now. Don’t let him give Donalson an excuse to take him to court.”

“I’ll do my best, boss, but Rudy’s a hothead.”

“Yeah. But we need him not to be, at least for the time being,” Tony replied. He looked up. “No sign of rain. I’m glad the weatherman got it wrong this time. I’m taking my guests horseback riding in the morning.”

“Not all of them, I’ll bet,” Ben chuckled. “Miss Stasia is going to be too sick to go, and Teddy and Martha don’t like horses.”

“It will be a small group,” Tony agreed. “One more thing. Put somebody on Miss Everett’s apartment, will you?” he added.

“Because of Donalson?”

“Her brother’s worried that the James man in DC is looking for revenge and lining up soft targets. Stasia will be safe up here and at home, but Odalie doesn’t have protection at her apartment. Right now, she’s the most available soft target because Tanner Everett is her brother.”

“I’ll get somebody good,” Ben agreed.

“Get two guys, split shifts.”

“Sure.”

Tony sighed. “Connie likes her.”

Ben’s eyes widened as they started back into the house. “Connie doesn’t like other women.”

“Yeah.” Tony smiled to himself. “I know.”