Side by side with my father, holding his arm, we lead the family up the stairs. As we enter the reception room, I wish we could be going anywhere but here, and doing anything but this. I love Daddy so much, and I seem to get fewer hours to spend with him every year that passes. I thought about adding the time up last year, but I was afraid it would be more like minutes than hours, and I decided I didn’t want to know.
The reception area is decked out with a bar. Through another set of doors, a huge table is set for a feast. I doubt if I can eat a thing. Both the rooms have massive crystal chandeliers. And, of course, no windows.
At least as Daddy introduces me to Josey Markowicz, I can feel a glow of pride in his voice and the swell of his chest. Josey bows and takes my hand. He may be old, but he’s courteous. His quick eyes sparkle, and he’s as sharp as a tack. As we talk, I get the sense that he is a widower.
Daddy, I think angrily. If you had to sell me off, the old man is a lot nicer than his over-fed son with the greedy eyes. I spotted Todd as soon as the door opened. Shiny and sleek. Nose in the air.
But my job here is to charm. And to be the sacrificial virgin for Josey’s kid. Josey asks me about myself and we chat before he beckons Todd over to introduce us.
When Daddy takes Josey aside, Todd looks me up and down. He makes an appreciative nod.
“You’re the pearl that’s going to clinch the deal with my dad, right? Get that fucking albatross of a casino liquidated so I can at least get a piece of what I’m due.” He has high sculpted cheekbones, teeth like a row of floodlights, and a jaw you could use as an anvil. I can tell at a glance that he spends way much on clothes and the ones he buys mark him as a rich kid trying to act tough.
“Your dad knows what he’s about with the business.”
He gives me a pitying look. “I read the figures, trust me. He’s bleeding us dry, trying to keep a sinking ship afloat.”
“Your father is trimming profits to fund the staff and keep the business alive.”
“Dad knows nothing about business. It was a cakewalk when he started up.”
“Well, he knew enough to keep the lights on through thirty tough years.”
Todd smiles indulgently. “What do you know about it?”
My eyebrows raise. “I know that I’m on the buying side of the negotiation, and every word you say hurts your price.”
He’s easy company and definitely easy on the eyes, but I’ve had bathtub toys that were smarter. If I have to listen to him across the breakfast table every day, he’s going to wake up one morning at the bottom of the pool.
And I’m aware that I’m not playing the pliant and simpering little girlie like I should. In his eyes I can see that I’m not the fluffy eye candy bouncing with fun that he had been hoping for.
The big double doors burst open.
I hear someone shout, “Where are Massimo and the others?”
Then the reply from outside the room, “They’re all stuck in the two elevators.”
A loud, guttural laugh is followed by a deep voice with a definite brogue. “Your muscle should have taken the stairs, don’t you think?”
Four men fill the doorway.
“The O’Malleys!” someone behind me says.
The oldest of them in the center has the unmistakable bearing of a high-powered gangster.
“That’s Liam O’Malley,” the voice behind me says. I never saw them before, but the O’Malleys have been bitter rivals of my family for years. My heart is in my mouth.
Not because of the raid. And not because we’re cornered in a room and under attack. Not because our bodyguards have been trapped in the elevator, either.
Because of the man standing on the left side of the door.
The man I was in bed with last night.
My emotions are suddenly a swirling storm. My family has been ambushed. The man who told me all those sweet, tender lies last night is part of the ambush. Damn him! My mind races to think if there’s any way that he could have lured and seduced me as a part of this.
And the most treacherous part of me is so thrilled to see him, he can probably smell it from across the room.
Liam strides up to Josey Markowicz. He tells him in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, “You want a real family firm to take over your casino. All the Morettis want is the location. They would implode the place before the ink dried on the contract.”
Well, he’s right about that. All Daddy wants is the corner. Daddy steps forward. “Wait a…”