Chapter 8

8

Three weeks passed, during which Odalie spent time on voice lessons and wandering aimlessly around the shopping district, looking for bargains that she never bought.

Ballet season was over, but there were occasional performances outside the season and one of her favorites was playing now at Lincoln Center: Swan Lake , by New York City Ballet, along with two other ballets choreographed by the late Balanchine. She bought a ticket online and had a limo come to take her to the Met, where it was playing. A lot of people didn’t dress for such occasions, but many did. Odalie loved to.

She had a gold lamé dress, very extravagant, strappy and elegant, which she wore with high-heeled gold sandals and a gold-sprinkled shawl. Her hair was up in a coiffure that dripped curls around her ears, where diamond earrings sparkled, matching the diamond necklace she wore and the diamond watch on one wrist. She looked young and beautiful, and she drew eyes all the way down the aisle.

She didn’t pay attention to the frankly admiring stares she was getting from men as she went to her seat and settled in. At least, not until a familiar face loomed up beside her.

“As I live and breathe,” a familiar voice intoned. “The goddess Diana herself!”

She glanced up into the dancing eyes of the man she’d met at Tony’s last party on Long Island.

“Miss Everett, I believe?” he added with a warm smile.

She smiled back. “Yes. Rudy, wasn’t it...?”

He nodded. He was wearing a dark suit with a red tie and handkerchief. He looked very cosmopolitan. “You like ballet?”

She nodded back. “All the arts.”

“Me, too. But I think ballet is the most graceful... Excuse me,” he said, moving back to let the couple with seats in Odalie’s row slide past her with apologies. She smiled and moved her skirts aside, oblivious to a pair of angry black eyes pinning her from the back of the theater.

“The seat next to me is vacant,” he said. “Why don’t you come and sit with me?”

She hesitated. “I don’t know...”

“It’s not a hanging offense,” he whispered at her ear with a chuckle.

She shook her head and laughed softly. He was incorrigible. She hadn’t forgotten that he’d saved her from the overbearing man at Tony’s Long Island house. “I guess it would be okay,” she said.

“If anything’s said, I’ll take the blame, no worries,” he replied easily, and escorted her out of her seat and over to the one next to his. Actually, it had been for his date, but the woman had come down with a virus and couldn’t use her ticket. He’d never been happier about being stood up.

In the dress circle, Tony was livid. He hadn’t known that Odalie was coming to this performance, although Rudy had alerted him that he’d be here so they could talk later without arousing too much interest.

“You’re very quiet tonight,” Mauve, his mistress, muttered. “And I bought a new dress just to impress you!” She was staring at Odalie, who was letting a man help her out of her seat. “Would you look at that gown?” she asked on a sigh. “What a beautiful couture piece! I think I’ll go tomorrow and see if they can make one for me.”

He had to choke back his thoughts. It didn’t matter how attractive Mauve was, she would never hold a candle to Odalie in her couture.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” Mauve was whispering. “That man she’s with looks familiar. Doesn’t he work for you?”

“He works with me,” he said, and in a tone that didn’t invite further comment.

“What’s the difference?” she murmured. She looked at her program. “I hate ballet. Why are we here? There was a fashion show at the Red Mill this afternoon. You could have taken me to that instead.”

He was only half listening. His eyes were on Odalie’s laughing face. He didn’t like her palling around with Rudy, who was ten degrees off-center and on the outs with Tony’s people at the moment because of a bad error in judgment. It was one of the reasons they were meeting tonight. Rudy was a loose cannon. He didn’t want the man around Odalie.

He’d had his guys deliver the so-called colleague from the motel to the appropriate office in DC during lunch hours week before last, where he was left tied to a chair.

To say that Phillip James had been upset was an understatement.

“What the hell did you do?” he asked his idiot operative.

“They made me,” the man muttered as he was set free. “And I don’t know how! I was playing it perfectly!”

“I almost had him,” he muttered, “except for your stupid foul-up!”

“He knew all about the guy who was supposedly whacked,” the man said shortly. “And the guys I hired turned out to be his guys.”

“We could get him for kidnapping,” James murmured.

“How?” his operative asked curtly. “They didn’t abduct me. Well, not at gunpoint. And there were no witnesses when I got tied up in here!”

“He’s like an eel,” James said, smoldering. “Just when you think you’ve got him dead to rights, he slithers right out of your grasp.” He glared at the man he’d untied. “All right, get back to work on those amendments I want changed. And not a word about this assignment.”

“I’m not stupid,” the man said. “I don’t want to go to jail.”

“See that you remember that!”

“Sure. Sure.”

Phillip James stared after him until the door closed. Then he picked up one of his burner phones and called his son.

“How’s it going?” he asked.

His son yawned. “Fine. What time is it?”

He frowned. “Didn’t you have a class today?”

“Yeah, but it was just social studies. I wasn’t in the mood.”

He ground his teeth together. It was costing him a small fortune to keep his son in school. He’d hoped for a better attitude about his studies.

“I can always retake the course if I have to, Dad,” he added. “It’s no big deal. I went to this great party last night. We didn’t get home until after four.”

“Oh.” He took a breath. “I thought you said there were some underworld types at that bar where you and your buddies hang out,” he added.

“Yeah. They’re always talking about stuff they get into. They’ve got some really hot girls they hang out with, too.”

It didn’t occur to him that real underworld types wouldn’t be advertising it at a public venue.

“I see,” he murmured, his mind still on the fiasco his employee had unleashed. Now Garza knew he was trying to pin some stuff on him. It wasn’t going to help his situation.

“I’m going back to sleep. Talk to you later, Dad.”

“Are you coming home this weekend?” he asked.

“Maybe next weekend. There’s this great party...”

“I see,” he said again.

“Bye.” The boy hung up.

James sat down heavily in his chair. It had been one lousy day.

The ballet was gorgeous. Rudy tried to put his arm around Odalie, but she removed it with a blithe smile and he got the idea.

Tony, watching from rows behind them, was doing a slow burn while his mistress played solitaire on her smartphone—minus the sound effects that he’d had to remind her to turn off before they were barbequed by the patrons around them. Glares didn’t slow her down. She didn’t even notice.

He wondered why he’d even had this idea. He loved the ballet, but he usually went during the season. It was just that Balanchine’s choreography was his favorite, and he’d looked forward to this. He hadn’t realized that Odalie would be here, although he knew she loved the ballet. Stasia had told him once that Swan Lake was one of her favorites.

He was glad that he’d come now. He’d have a chance to tell Rudy to keep his eyes off Odalie. He’d find some logical excuse that wouldn’t sound as if he was burning with jealousy.

At least she could see through Rudy. It had made him feel good when she removed Rudy’s arm from her shoulders. She wasn’t attracted to the man. Not that it mattered to him. He was only protecting his own turf. Rudy didn’t need to mix himself up in the Everetts’ situations. He was an outsider, and he was going to remain one.

He tried to picture Rudy on Cole’s ranch trying to keep up with the cowboys during any sort of roundup.

Rudy was a city boy from the floor up. He’d never fit in. Tony, on the other hand, had fit in very well. He liked Odalie’s relatives.

Beside him, Mauve was yawning pointedly. He groaned inwardly. This had turned into an ordeal.

Ben drove Tony and Mauve to a coffee shop down the street from the Met while Tony waited for Rudy to join them. He’d remarked pointedly in a text that he’d expect him as soon as he got out of the building.

Rudy came sauntering up as soon as Tony had ordered their cappuccinos. He paused and ordered one for himself with a pastry before joining them at the table.

“Hi, Rudy,” Mauve drawled. “That was a gorgeous girl you had with you.”

“Thanks,” Rudy said, intercepting Tony’s quick and covert shake of the head.

“Ben, take Mauve home and come back for me,” Tony told his driver.

“Sure thing, boss,” he said.

“But I haven’t finished my coffee...” Mauve protested.

“You can have another one next time we go out,” he promised.

Ben was already hustling her out the door to the limo.

“Well, that’s one way to get rid of a date,” Rudy chuckled as Ben drove off.

“Works every time. What did you hear?” he asked.

“James called his son. He was upset that the kid took another boy’s brags for one of our guys.”

“As if we’d go out and advertise who we are,” Tony sighed, sipping cappuccino.

“He decided that he couldn’t afford to prosecute us for kidnapping.”

“Good thing.”

“But he hasn’t given up on your adopted daughter’s family,” Rudy added quietly. “He called another subordinate in after he hung up with his kid. He’s sending somebody up here to see what he can dig up about Odalie’s schedule.”

That caused Tony’s dark brows to meet in the middle.

“He thinks she’s his best soft target,” Rudy added. “The rest of the family, down in Texas, is too well protected. And he doesn’t seem aware that you’ve got Odalie covered.”

“I haven’t advertised it,” he replied, with a pointed look at the other man.

“I haven’t said a word about it,” Rudy said defensively.

“Good. Don’t. If he makes a play for her, we’ve got all the bases covered.”

“There was a guy watching from the shadows when I saw her walk out to the car tonight,” he added. “Not one of ours, either. Too young and too obvious.”

“Judging by the goon he sent to set up the scheme on me, he isn’t too wise about how we work.”

“He needs to watch a few more old movies, I guess,” Rudy chuckled.

“He’s about fifty years behind the times and doesn’t seem to realize it,” Tony agreed. “Unless,” he added, “he’s trying to throw us off the scent by acting stupid.”

“Could be.”

Tony finished his drink. “I want you to go see Teddy. Tell him what’s going on and ask what he wants to do about it.”

“I thought you already had.”

Tony shook his head. “I don’t like to involve him until things get really hot.” He met Rudy’s eyes. “He won’t like having James hit on Odalie. Civilians aren’t part of this.”

“I know. He gets nervous if his people start hitting on outsiders. Especially ones with rich parents.” He frowned. “Are her people that well-to-do?”

Tony nodded. “Not only that, her father’s a power in regional politics.”

“Ouch. Not the guy to make an enemy of.”

“Plus, his son’s got the goods on James. He could put him away for good.”

“No wonder he’s trying to get at you.”

“So far, it’s just hints.” He met Rudy’s eyes. “If he tries anything on Odalie, it will be the last thing he ever does.”

The threat in those black eyes was enough to make Rudy’s insides churn. “Private stock, is that it?” he asked very quietly.

The eyes narrowed. “That isn’t your business. At least, it isn’t as long as you keep your hands off her,” he added in a soft, menacing tone.

Rudy put both hands up, palms out. “I was just helping her get the shawl off her shoulders, honest,” he said at once. “She’s gorgeous, but I like living.”

“Good. Consider that keeping her at arm’s length will guarantee that for you.”

“You bet, Tony!” He finished his coffee and got up. “I’ll phone you when I talk to Teddy.”

Tony handed him a slip of paper with a number on it, plus a spare burner phone, already activated. “No slipups,” he cautioned.

“You bet!”

He watched the younger man head down the sidewalk, his dark eyes narrow and assessing.

Back in her apartment, Odalie had changed into sweatpants and a soft T-shirt for sleeping. The ballet had been wonderful. But she had this odd feeling that she’d been watched in the theater. That was silly. Tony had assured her once that he had all the bases covered. She had nothing to worry about from Phillip James.

Just the same, it was an odd feeling.

It had been a surprise to run into Rudy. She knew he was one of Tony’s people, but she had no idea why he’d been at the ballet all by himself. She had wondered if Tony might be there as well, but there had been no indication of his presence. As if he’d want to be around her, anyway, she thought with resignation.

Tony avoided her like the plague whenever he could. There were occasions, like when the snake had almost bitten her, or when they’d been on the dance floor at the ranch, when he seemed to care about her a little. But those occasions were quickly covered up. He’d made his position clear. Odalie wasn’t his type.

That was just as well. She wanted a career in opera. It was why she’d remained heart-whole all these years. So just as well not to start anything. Except that her stupid hormones all went wild when Tony was anywhere around, and her stupid stomach started churning every time she pictured a stage.

Now that Stasia was staying close to home, there wasn’t much opportunity for interaction with Tony in New York. That was a blessing and a curse, she supposed.

She still wondered why Rudy was at the ballet. He didn’t seem the sort of man to appreciate it. But that wasn’t her business.

She was on her way back to her apartment a few days later, by way of a high-ticket department store, when she ran into Tony’s cousin Connie from New Jersey.

“Odalie?” she exclaimed, laughing as she hugged her. “What an incredible coincidence!”

Odalie hugged her back. “I know! What are you doing in New York?”

“I came up with Angel to do some shopping. I told you about Angel—this is him,” she said at once, pulling a muscular man in his late twenties toward Odalie. “Angel, this is Odalie that I was telling you about. She had the run-in with that Donalson reptile at the Long Island house. Remember what I said?”

“Yeah.” Angel had jet-black hair and dark eyes and olive skin. He wasn’t handsome, but he was very masculine without being overbearing about it. “Hi,” he said.

Odalie smiled back. “Hi.”

“She’s from Texas,” Connie added with a grin.

Angel smiled slowly. “Oh, yeah? Well, where’s your big hat and your boots?” he teased.

“In my closet at the ranch,” she returned, laughing. She eyed him. “Where are your tights?”

His eyebrows arched.

“I heard you used to wrestle,” she persisted.

He chuckled. “Yeah, I did. One tombstone too many and I had to give it up,” he added.

She knew what a tombstone was—another wrestler picked you up and dropped you on your head. The taller the wrestler, the farther the drop. “Ouch,” she said.

“Ouch is right. Now I do less strenuous things,” he added.

“Come have lunch with us,” Connie said. “I had to get Mama a new coat. She got that stupid virus and lost thirty pounds, so nothing fits. And she had to have just the right coat from the right store...!” She rolled her eyes.

Odalie laughed. “Did you find it?”

“Yeah. I had them send it. I hate carrying things on a plane. We didn’t bring the car this time. What’s your fancy? Italian, Indian, uptown, downtown...?” Connie probed.

“Sushi,” Odalie said with big eyes.

“Fish bait?” Angel exclaimed.

“You stop that,” Connie said, and hit him. “Listen, he once almost closed a Japanese sushi shop because he ordered so much to-go stuff. He loves it.” She wrinkled her nose. “Me, too,” she laughed.

“And we know where the best sushi is,” Angel added.

“Okay!” Odalie replied, laughing.

They did, in fact, and Angel spoke Japanese, something that fascinated Odalie, who loved languages but drew the line at trying to learn most of them.

“I was stationed in Okinawa,” Angel told her as they worked their way through a platter of freshly made sushi. “I loved the people, and the language.”

“I’ll bet you stood out,” Odalie teased, noting his height.

“I did.”

“My brother John drew crowds everywhere we went on our last trip to Osaka,” Odalie noted. “He’s even taller than you, and he never goes anywhere without the boots and the Stetson.”

“Wow,” Angel chuckled.

“Don’t you have another brother?” Connie asked.

She nodded. “Tanner. He had some real trouble not so long ago. Tony helped us get him out of it.”

“Out of some of it,” Angel murmured. “Not all. The guy causing the trouble is still looking for ways to make more.”

“Rudy will settle that, when he’s let loose,” Connie said.

“Rudy, who was at the party on Long Island?” Odalie asked. “He was at the ballet with me last week.”

“Rudy, at a ballet?” Angel asked, with eyes like saucers.

Odalie frowned. “Doesn’t he like ballet?”

“No. He hates all that stuff. If he was there, Tony sent him.”

Connie was giving her brother a glare that would have stopped traffic.

“Rudy works for Tony,” Connie said. “But he does like some classy stuff. Just occasionally.”

“I wondered,” Odalie said, missing the expressions on her companions’ faces. “I mean, it was like the expression my brothers wear if we drag them to a fashion show,” she added on a chuckle.

“Exactly,” Connie said. She swallowed a sip of hot tea. “Wasn’t Tony there, too?”

Odalie blinked. “No. Well, I mean, I didn’t see him.”

“He likes ballet, and he’s crazy about opera,” Connie said. “Me, I like hard rock and heavy metal.”

Odalie laughed. “Me, too,” she confessed.

“And that would be because your mom writes songs for Desperado,” Connie teased.

“Say what?” Angel asked.

“Her mom composes,” Connie told him. “She won Grammys for two of her songs that Desperado recorded.”

“That’s my favorite band!” Angel remarked. “And your mom composes for them? Wow!”

Odalie grinned. “Mom used to be a recording artist, too, but then she married my dad and gave it up.”

“That’s some background,” Angel mused. “Cowboys and heavy metal.”

“I told you she was unique,” Connie teased. She finished her tea. “We’re coming back up next weekend for the musical on Broadway,” she said and named it. “We’ve got tickets. Want to go with us?”

Odalie hesitated.

“Now, it’s not nice to be a musical snob,” Connie teased. “Just because you favor opera doesn’t mean you should turn up your nose at a nice musical, and it’s even got cowboys in it.”

Odalie burst out laughing. “Well, I guess you’re right. I would like to come,” she added, noting Angel’s warm smile.

Connie, sensing comradeship, smiled to herself. She’d gotten some firm vibrations from her cousin Tony about Odalie. He was fighting tooth and nail not to get attached to her. Angel here might be the straw that broke the camel’s back. He wasn’t exactly Odalie’s type. But Tony was.

“So, Saturday night?” Connie prodded.

Odalie smiled. “Saturday night.”

They exchanged cell phone numbers and Odalie went home by herself. She liked Angel. He really wasn’t her type, but he was a lot of fun and she’d recognized him when he told her his stage name from when he’d wrestled. They had enough in common that they could get along. After all, Tony had warned her off. It wouldn’t hurt to show him that she wasn’t sitting alone on the shelf pining for him.

Rudy sat back on the sofa while Tony spoke to him about Teddy’s instructions. The James man was getting a little too nosy about their operation in his quest to put down Tanner Everett. Teddy had been unsettled by vague threats and he was ready to take action.

“We’re limited in what we can do,” Tony reminded him as he leaned back against his big oak desk with his hands in his pockets. “We don’t want to draw any unwanted attention. On the other hand, we need to shut him down before he becomes a problem.”

“That’s what Teddy said,” Rudy replied.

“Why did you switch Odalie’s seat?” he asked abruptly.

Rudy blinked. The question had startled him. “She was all by herself. I didn’t think it was a good idea under the circumstances,” he added. “She shouldn’t be out on the town without protection.”

“I’ve got two guys on twelve-hour shifts,” Tony pointed out, “with nothing to do except follow her around.”

“I know that, but neither one of them was in the theater.”

Tony glowered at him.

“And this weekend, they won’t even be needed. Well, not for Saturday night, at least,” Rudy murmured.

Tony scowled. “Why not?”

“Don’t you ever talk to your relatives?” he replied. “Connie and Angel are taking her out to a Broadway show Saturday.”

Tony was so still that he seemed not even to be breathing for a few seconds. “Excuse me?”

“Connie and Angel are taking her to see the revival of that cowboy musical.”

“When the hell did she meet Angel?” Tony asked abruptly.

“He and Connie came up to buy Francesca a new coat. They ran into Odalie and the three of them practically ate out a sushi restaurant.”

“She likes sushi?” he asked blankly.

“Apparently.”

Tony’s eyes narrowed. “Angel is out of her league,” he said shortly. “He’s got his fingers in too many rackets.”

“She isn’t marrying him, for Pete’s sake, Tony,” Rudy reminded him. “They’re just going to the theater, and Connie’s going with them.”

Before Rudy finished getting the words out, Tony was punching in numbers on his cell phone. It rang two, three times.

“Connie?” he asked abruptly.

“Yeah. Hi, coz!”

“Hi, yourself. What’s this about you and Angel taking Odalie to Broadway?”

“Now, Tony, it’s just a date...”

“I thought it was just a threesome,” he said curtly.

“Oh, it was, but you see, I mean, I can’t actually go...”

“Neither can Angel,” he said at once. “You get me? You call him off it right now, right this minute, or I’ll make your worst nightmares seem like Saturday at the amusement park!”

Connie’s breath caught. “Now, Tony...”

“Now nothing! You hear me?”

She let out a breath. “But she likes him,” she muttered. “And he likes her. They got along like a house on fire!”

“She’s going to be an opera star,” Tony shot back. “She is no way going to get mixed up in any sleazy business with Angel! You know what he’s into—I don’t have to tell you why it’s a bad idea. She’s got enough problems with that idiot who’s after her older brother. I’m not letting you put her in the line of fire with Angel!”

“But she’s nice and I like her. Angel’s not bad...”

“Angel is bad,” he corrected. “And shame on you for shoving them together!”

“She’d make the nicest in-law,” she argued.

“She wouldn’t. I mean it. If I see Angel within a city block of her apartment, I’m coming down there. And I’ll tell Odalie he’s seeing someone already.”

She groaned. “Oh, all right! I’ll call and tell her something came up. It will break her heart! She likes Angel!”

“I like Angel, too, as long as he’s in Jersey. And you keep him there!”

“All right, spoilsport,” she muttered. “I love you anyway.”

“Yeah. Me, too. Stop interfering in things you don’t know about.”

“Angel is going to be very disappointed.”

“I’ll send him a sweepstakes card. He’ll get over it. Now, goodbye!”

He hung up in the middle of her next word.

Rudy pursed his lips. “So, she liked Angel, huh?”

Tony glared at him.

Rudy got to his feet. “Well, I guess that puts your two-man detail back on the job.” He paused. “I could take her to see the show on Broadway...?”

Tony’s eyes started to glitter.

Rudy threw up his hands. “I’m going, I’m going. I’ll be in touch.”

Tony glared at him all the way out the door.