I chew hard, swallowing as fast as I can. “Nearly died, but I’m all right. Where did you go?”
“Had to make a call. It’s done now.”
“What is?”
“Might be best if you sit down.”
I take the chair behind the counter, smiling as he passes me my coffee. “What’s going on?” I ask him.
“My father was going to kill me unless I took him the box so I took it to him.”
“You did? You promised you wouldn’t.”
“I had to do it. We’d both be dead otherwise.”
“I can’t believe you did that.”
“I have a plan.”
“You keep saying that, but I’m not sure I believe you.”
“I want you to come to dinner at my father’s house tonight. I want to introduce you to him.”
“Why would I agree to that?”
“He’s got a woman lined up to marry me and I want to show him I already have someone. We pretend we’re loved up and on the cusp of getting married. I get her off my back.”
“How romantic.”
“Look, Natalie. I like you, as in really like you. But before I can even think about making any of this work, I need to resolve this situation and I’m on a tightrope right now. I think I can find a way out, but I can’t tell you too much in case it doesn’t work.”
“So let me guess. I’ve just got to trust you.”
“Exactly. You tell my father he can keep the box as long as we get left alone. He’ll take the deal. He’s got too many debts to turn it down. We give him the contents of the vault, but we get to be together. How does that sound?”
“It sounds like your father gets the best part of the deal there. He takes my family’s money and we get nothing.”
“We get to keep our lives. Come with me tonight and we’ll persuade him to take the deal.”
“What about Jasmine? I can’t just leave her and swan off to Chicago.”
“Could Eileen look after her? I promise it’ll be the last time I take you away from her.”
“I’ll ask, but I’m promising nothing. Tell me you’re not going to fuck me over, Angelo.”
“I’m not going to fuck you over.” He crosses to the blind and pulls it down over the window. “Might fuck you though.”
Chapter Eighteen
Angelo
* * *
“Who are all these people?”
I look around the ballroom, remembering the last time it was this full. It was the night I took Natalie through to the study. Back then, it was still Derek Mason’s house. So much has changed since then, but the room looks the same. Men in suits, women in dresses, all of them masked.
I turn to look at her. “I guess when he said dinner party, the emphasis was on the word party.”