A Bookie's Odds (12 page)

That evening, when he arrived to pick her up, he appeared surprised when she handed him a gift-wrapped box. She reminded him about the party, and his mumbled, “Yeah, right,” indicated he had forgotten about it. She initially gave him the benefit of the doubt. Between his job, the work he was doing to make his presence known in the community, and the boys he mentored in the neighborhood, she could not expect him to remember everything. When he pointed his car in a direction opposite of Gracie’s, she realized he was deliberately ignoring her wishes.

William finally saw the light as they stopped for a red light and Georgia opened the door to climb out of the car. When he demanded to know what she was doing, she stated she was going to the party if she had to walk there. She was certain his decision to back down had more to do with Pastor Peters and his wife pulling up next to them than with what she had said. It would not have looked good for him to have an argument in public. Georgia did not care about the reason behind his change of heart. Seeing her friend was all that mattered.

Taking his hand, Georgia walked up to the front of the club. Because of the party, the venue would be closed to the public. A doorman she had never seen before turned patrons away. She waited until the couple in front of her walked off before she stepped up to the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” the young man in the ill-fitted uniform asked when she reached for the door. With the pimples dotting his cheeks, he reminded her of a kid playing dress up.

“I’m here for the party.”

His upper lip curled in disgust. Thanks to the lights in front of the building, she clearly saw the disbelief in his eyes. “I don’t think so.”

“Will you please get Mr. Santiano? He’ll tell you I’m invited.”

“Who?”

“Marco Santiano, the owner of Gracie’s.”

“Ain’t no Santiano owns this club.” The young man snorted. “Mr. Gianni Acardis is the owner.”

“Then can you please get his wife.”

“I don’t answer to her. I only do what Mr. Acardis tells me to do. He said this was a private party. Only family allowed.”

Georgia felt her heart break. The only explanation she could come up with for the exclusion was her big mouth. She had gone sixteen years without voicing her suspicions about Gianni. Why couldn’t she have kept quiet?

William touched her arm. “Come on.”

Despite the overwhelming urge to break down and bawl, she refused to let anyone see the tears in her eyes. Instead, she allowed him to lead her away from the club.

“And don’t think about returning. No spades allowed.”

Georgia froze. In all the years she’d visited the club, she never thought she would hear that vile statement.

“I’m not surprised,” William mumbled.

She looked up and saw the mocking in his eyes.

“Your friend got her husband. She doesn’t need her little doll to play with.”

Georgia squared her shoulders and held her head high. “Never mention this night again.”

The patronizing gleam in his eyes said he was happy she had been taken down a notch. She suspected he would not abide by her wishes never to speak of that night again. But, at that moment, he wisely kept his mouth shut as he waved her forward.

****

Nicholas did a double take at the brown coupe that cruised by. He would have sworn the woman in the passenger seat was Georgia. Yet that was impossible. It was Celeste’s birthday. Georgia would head toward the club…not away from it.

As the car turned the corner, he squinted in an attempt to get a better look at the woman. She turned her head, and he noticed the single braid hanging between her shoulder blades. No, that was definitely not Georgia. She had stopped wearing braids when she started high school, claiming the hairstyle was too childish.

Figuring she was probably inside the club already, Nicholas put his convertible in park and stepped out of the car. He glanced around for the valet to get his keys. When no one stepped forward, he walked up to the door.

“The club’s closed for a private party,” a pimply-faced punk said.

“I’m aware of that. It’s my sister’s party.”

“Let me check the guest list.” The kid reached in his pocket and pulled out a wad of paper that looked like it had been pulled from the trash and stomped on several times before it had been crumpled into a ball. He unfurled the sheet and ran his finger down a list. “What’s your name?”

Nicholas was too shocked to reply. Who the hell had put this kid at the door? He was not the greeter people would expect at a classy restaurant. A dive, maybe…a slophouse, definitely…but not someplace that bore his mother’s name.

Disgusted, Nicholas walked around the kid. He was reaching for the door when a large man stepped out from the shadows and into his path.

“He asked you a question.”

Nicholas glanced up at the skyscraper with feet. The man folded beefy arms over a chest so wide that off-the-rack shirts could be considered a handkerchief.

The attempt to intimidate him nearly had Nicholas doubled over with laughter. Did the man really think he could not be taken down?

Nicholas did not have time to deal with either man. He needed to get inside and speak with Georgia. In the past, they’d had their share of arguments, but never anything that lasted more than two weeks like this one had.

Before he had the chance to demonstrate skills he had learned from years of watching over Georgia and Celeste, the door swung open and slapped the giant in the back. The man growled. His frown shifted to a leer as Celeste stepped outside.

She wore a sleeveless silver evening gown with a violet scarf around her neck. And, though Nicholas would agree she looked like a starlet, he did not appreciate the way the other man stared at her.

“Where have you been?” Celeste pushed past the big man in her way.

Nicholas shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

“What are you doing? It’s not that cold out here.”

“I’m preventing a fight.” He nodded toward the goon.

Celeste glanced up at her admirer and rolled her eyes. “Forget him.” She turned back to Nicholas. “Where’s Georgia?”

“I assumed she was here.”

“How could she be? You just got here, Nicky.”

“I figured her man would bring her.”

“Georgia’s not seeing anyone.” Her eyes widened. “Is she?”

Nicholas took Celeste by the elbow and led her back inside Gracie’s. The punk and the goon were too busy staring at a buxom blonde to harass them. He escorted her to the office, where they’d be able to talk without being disturbed.

Celeste sat on the edge of the sofa. “So, who’s this guy Georgia’s seeing?”

“Someone her father set her up with.”

“You’re wrong. She’d never go out with someone her father set her up with. He tried it once before, and the man bored her.”

“There must be something about this guy. I’ve seen her with him more than once.”

“When?”

“Two days after you ran off with Gianni. I’m surprised Georgia didn’t tell you.”

Celeste glanced at her hands in her lap. “We haven’t actually spoken since right after I got back.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Nicholas could not believe his ears. The two women had never gone that long without communicating. When Georgia visited her relatives in the country, Celeste and she wrote so many letters, posts were still being delivered days after Georgia returned.

“No, you’re wrong.” Celeste shook her head. “Georgia’s at home, waiting for you to pick her up.” She shot off the sofa. “I bet if you call her, she’ll not only answer the phone, but she’ll fuss at you for being late.” She reached around him and picked up the handset. “Go ahead, call her.”

Though Nicholas suspected otherwise, he prayed Celeste was right. Georgia fussing at him would be better than the alternative.

Nicholas reached back and dialed the number to the Collins apartment. As the dial rotated back to its original position, he took the handset his sister held to her chest.

After twenty rings, he shook his head. Celeste reached around him and disconnected the call.

“That doesn’t mean anything. She’s probably waiting for you in the bar.”

Before she could beg him to, Nicholas dialed the number to the bar. The phone rang twice before he heard the murmur of voices rising to be heard over Sammy Davis Jr. “Sugar’s.” He recognized the voice of Raymond Torres, who tended bar part-time.

“May I speak to Georgia?”

“Hey, Nick. She left out of here an hour ago with her date.”

“Did she say where she was going?”

“I overheard him mention a church social to her father.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“You want me to tell her you called?”

“No, I’ll get in touch with her later.”

Nicholas dropped the handset onto its base. He would never have thought Georgia would take her objection to Celeste’s marriage that far. It was one thing to distance herself from Gianni, but another to turn her back on her friend.

“She’s not coming, is she.” Celeste’s voice cracked. Her bottom lip trembled and tears gathered in her eyes.

Nicholas pulled his sister to his chest. The last time she had been that miserable was her sixth birthday party. She cared nothing about the elaborate celebration their father had planned or the expensive presents the guests had brought her. All she wanted was to spend the day with her friend.

He wanted to hate Georgia for the slight, but his heart could not let him. Instead, he needed to find a way to repair the rift in the relationship…for Celeste’s sake and his.

Chapter 10

Everything about the house was wrong.

Nicholas’s ears were not assaulted by high-pitched giggles. The aroma of spicy meats and sweet pastries did not drift from the kitchen. And bodies were not sprawled across the furniture. Instead, the scent of pine cleaner hung in the air, the tick from the second hand in the grandfather clock broke the silence, and the furniture was void of bodies that made the house a home.

He caught the door before it collided with the frame. A lively entrance felt out of place.

“Anyone home?” he called out as the door softly closed behind him.

“Who’s there?” his father’s voice drifted from upstairs.

He jogged up the steps, two at a time, to the second level, shared by his father and grandmother. He strolled down the carpet-lined hall and stopped on the threshold of the master bedroom.

“It’s your son.”

“I forgot I had children.” The older man glanced at Nicholas’s reflection in the mirror before refocusing his gaze on himself. “Happens when no one visits me for a month.”

“I called you.”

“A thirty-second ‘Hey, Pops, just calling to see what’s up’? At least your sister has a good excuse. She’s adjusting to marriage. But you—you’d think you could pull out and zip up long enough to visit your old man.”

“I also work.”

“Taking bets and breaking bones? When are you gonna get a real job?”

“When you do.”

The older man faced him. “Don’t look down your nose at what I do. I’m in the business of helping people.”

“For twenty-five percent interest or fifty percent of the profits. Whatever’s greater.”

His father’s eyes narrowed. “Watch it. I can still beat you.”

Nicholas sighed. He woke up that morning feeling as if something was missing. Whenever he felt out of sorts, a trip to his childhood home brightened his mood. For the first time, however, it was not working. Instead of arguing with his father, he needed to get things back to normal.

“Listen, Pops, I’m here now. Why don’t we go to the kitchen, and you can fix some sausage and peppers. I’ll knock on Nonna’s door and tell her you’re cooking.”

“You can knock all you want, but she won’t answer.” His father turned back to the mirror. “She went out with a couple of women from her church.”

“So it’ll be the two of us.”

“No, it’s just gonna be you. I’m going out.”

Nicholas took in the other man’s suit and for the first time recognized the aftershave his father only wore on special occasions.

“You’re dressing kind of fancy for a poker game with the guys.”

“I’m not playing tonight.” He adjusted his tie. “I’ve got a date.”

“You have a date?”

“Whaddaya think? I’m too old to go out?”

“No, I just never thought about you dating.”

“There’s nothing for you to think about. It’s none of your business.” His father reached for the jacket lying on the foot of his bed. “Instead of standing there interrogating me, why don’t you go out there and find a decent dame and make an honest woman out of her?” He shook his head. “What am I asking? Why should I be lucky like James?”

A flash of red clouded Nicholas’s vision. His father did not need to elaborate. He realized the older man was referring to the guy Georgia was seeing.

“By the way, do you know why Georgia missed your sister’s party?”

As with his uncle, he did not want to discuss the woman. However, feeling he had already antagonized his father enough, he decided to give him the bare details.

“Georgia and I had a misunderstanding.”

“Meaning someone said something he shouldn’t.” His father shrugged into his jacket, then turned back to the mirror to smooth the lines. “What did you say?”

“Why does it have to be my fault?” He hadn’t been the one making accusations about others.

The visit was not turning out the way Nicholas had expected. Maybe he needed to take his father’s advice…or at least part of it. He was not ready to marry, but he could find someone for the night.

After wishing the older man well, Nicholas drove to Gracie’s. He hadn’t been to the venue since Celeste’s party two weeks earlier. Every time he thought about that night, he got heated. How could Georgia skip her friend’s party? Even if she did not like Gianni, she could have avoided the man.

Nicholas had meant to confront Georgia about her slight. With Gianni no longer working with him, he could not easily get away during the day. By the time he was free, it was too late to visit her. Deciding the argument had gone on too long, he made a note to get to her apartment before she left for the diner in the morning.