A Bookie's Odds (19 page)

“I remember,” Celeste whispered.

“So, if anything is going on—”

“Why should you care?” Celeste’s voice rose, attracting the attention of the diners at the next table. “You couldn’t even bother showing up for my party.”

Georgia shook her head. “I did show up, but I was told it was a private party.”

“That’s impossible. I told them to let you in the moment you arrived.”

She opened her mouth, then quickly snapped it shut. They could go back and forth all day in a he-said-she-said debate and never resolve the problem. It wasn’t what Georgia wanted. She preferred them to put everything behind them and be friends again.

“I don’t want to argue anymore.”

Celeste dropped her head, but not before Georgia saw her unshed tears.

****

Neither woman looked like the reunion had been a joyous one. Celeste appeared ready to burst into tears any second. Georgia was tense and seemed like she would snap at the first person who looked at her wrong.

“Is everything all right?” Nicholas asked.

“Everything’s fine,” Celeste mumbled as she walked around to the other side of the bed. She leaned over the bed and gave Mr. Collins a kiss. “I hope you feel better soon.”

“You’re leavin’?”

“I have to get dinner ready. Gianni likes to eat before he goes to the club.”

“In that case, I’m glad you stopped by.”

“Do you mind giving Celeste a ride home?” Georgia asked Nicholas.

“Let me know when you’re ready,” he replied.

Georgia stepped up to the bed. “Daddy—”

“Go do what you need to do.”

“Thank you.” She placed a kiss on his cheek. “Behave yourself and don’t give the doctors a hard time.”

He snorted. “She thinks she’s grown enough to tell me what to do.”

“Till you’re out of that bed, yes, I am.”

Both women walked away from the bed. Nicholas gave the older man a curt nod before following them out of the room.

“Thanks for the ride,” Celeste said as they waited for the elevator. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to get home in time to get dinner on. I hope you’ll excuse me for not inviting you over, but I’m still trying to learn my way around the kitchen.”

“Is everything all right…you know, moneywise?” Nicholas asked.

His sister chuckled. “Of course, why wouldn’t it be? Gianni said the club’s doing fine.”

Yes, business was fine, if the club was supposed to cater to a seedy crowd. Their father had envisioned a more upscale venue, and though Nicholas had not been interested in taking over the business, he did not want to see his father’s dream dissolve.

“When was the last time you were at the club?”

“My birthday. Gianni prefers me to take care of the house. He handles the club.”

“Since you haven’t started dinner, why don’t we stop by the club? We’ll head back to my place. You can call Gianni from there and tell him to meet us there.”

“I’m not dressed for going out,” Georgia replied.

“I think I saw a blue dress in the back of my closet.”

“I’m missing a blue dress.”

Celeste gave her a weak smile. “I thought the color looked good on me.”

“So, whaddaya think?” Nicholas asked.

“I think I need to go through your closet.” Georgia sighed as she stepped off the elevator and marched toward the door.

Chapter 16

Georgia stopped short as she stepped into the dining room at Gracie’s. She had thought her plain blue dress would be too casual. Yet a quick scan of the crowd told her she was overdressed.

The majority of the women wore dresses more suited for standing on the street corner, while the men reminded her of guys one could not pay a woman to be with.

The once pristine establishment looked like the cleaning crew had quit. The tables were bare and the linen napkins had been replaced by dispensers that stored paper products. She took sparse breaths so as not to gag on the stench of cheap perfume, watered-down liquor, and tobacco smoke.

Gianni stood in front of the band, conversing with two large men who gave Georgia the chills. Both looked dangerous, the type she would not want to bump into on a well-lit street, and she suspected they were packing. A woman wearing a tight, low-cut dress and gaudy jewelry stood, in Georgia’s opinion, much too close to Gianni. He apparently forgot he was a married man and reached around and groped the woman’s derriere.

Georgia glanced at Celeste. The other woman’s face turned red, yet Georgia suspected her friend would not say anything to her husband about his habit of groping other women.

After a second, one of the men glanced in their direction. His eyes locked on Georgia. Her skin crawled as he leered at her. It felt like he was not only undressing her with his eyes, but imagining what he would do to her once she was rid of all her clothes.

Without a word Nicholas’s hand closed around hers and he pulled her behind him. The man’s leer turned to a scowl. He silently challenged Nicholas. When her companion did not back down, the other man leaned in and whispered to Gianni.

The man who had vowed to forsake all others slowly glanced in their direction. He then turned back to the men, his hand moving only an inch up from his companion’s rear. Once the goons walked off, Gianni’s arm snaked around the woman’s waist. He leaned over and whispered in the hussy’s ear. She stared at Nicholas, her lips twisted in a mocking grin.

Nicholas squeezed Georgia’s hand as if trying to get the strength to keep from flying across the room and laying into someone. However, she did not think he would get what he needed from her. She wanted to step forward and wipe the grin from the woman’s face before laying into Gianni.

How could they carry on in front of Celeste like she didn’t matter? Her friend was a good person and did not deserve to be treated with such disrespect. She should be with a man who not only had enough class not to flaunt his women in front of his wife but didn’t have other women to begin with.

Before Georgia could snatch her hand from Nicholas’s and start across the room, the other woman pecked Gianni on the cheek and sashayed over to the bar.

“What are you doing here?” Gianni asked as he stepped around the tables to get to them.

Celeste squirmed when his gaze fell on her. After a second, he turned his attention to Georgia. She, however, did not cower at the flash of the disdain in his eyes.

“We were at the hospital, visiting Georgia’s father.” Nicholas glanced from Georgia to Gianni. “I figured we could have dinner here tonight. Maybe get to know one another.”

Gianni’s face went blank when he looked at his friend. “Celeste was with you?”

“I went to the hospital to visit Mr. Collins,” Celeste said. “I took him flowers.”

Georgia noticed the tick in the man’s chin. Instead of replying, he waved them to a table in the shadows.

As they walked through the room, she realized she was the only person of color not waiting tables. Though the establishment had been an upscale Italian eatery, when Mr. Santiano ran the club it was integrated; it had not been unusual to see coloreds dining as well as whites.

Once they were seated, Gianni raised his arm and snapped his fingers. Across the room, the bartender reached under the bar and retrieved a bottle. A waiter grabbed the drink as another picked up four glasses. Halfway across the room, the two men were joined by a third carrying menus.

By the time they reached the table, the waiters had filed into a single line. The first waiter placed a glass in front of each diner. He stepped to the side and the next waiter poured the drinks. Once he was finished, the last waiter stepped forward and passed out the menus.

As he handed Georgia her menu, his eyes locked with hers. She saw his disapproval and wondered if he considered her a traitor for dining at the establishment.

“I’ve made a couple of changes,” Gianni announced as they opened their menus.

“A couple of changes” was an understatement. Patrons had once been able to enjoy filet mignon, oysters, and a variety of Italian dishes prepared from the recipes passed down from one generation of Santianos to the next. The menu they stared at had the same fare offered in the hospital cafeteria.

“Whaddaya think?”

“Quite a lot of changes you’ve made,” Nicholas stated. “It’s not exactly what Pops was going for when he opened this place.”

“I’m taking the place in another direction.”

“I think I’ll just have a slice of toast and tea,” Celeste announced. She closed her menu and laid it on the table.

“Live it up a little.” Gianni wiped at his nose with the back of his hand. “I promise you the cooking here’s better than yours.”

Celeste flinched.

“Cooking’s not easy,” Georgia said.

“It’s all right. I know I’m not the best cook.”

Georgia shook her head. She would stand up for her friend, even if the woman refused to do it for herself.

“It’s not all right. No one’s born knowing how to cook. It takes time and practice.”

“She’d get better if she wasn’t so busy running around town, socializing.” Gianni sneered at her. “Celeste needs to remember she’s a married woman.”

How dare he talk about someone remembering she’s married? From what they’d witnessed when they arrived, he was the one who needed the reminder.

Before Georgia could voice her opinion, Celeste reached across the table and touched her hand. With her eyes, the other woman silently pleaded for her not to make an issue of the statement. Though it bothered her to keep quiet, Georgia decided to drop the subject for her friend’s sake.

Having once again lost her appetite, Georgia closed her menu and placed it on top of Celeste’s.

“I’ll also have a slice of toast,” she said.

Once Nicholas made his selection, Gianni placed their orders. The men then reminisced about the antics they’d pulled when they were younger, while the women sat quietly, each lost in her own world.

****

Celeste’s head dropped forward until her chin touched her collarbone. It then snapped back so hard Nicholas’s neck hurt watching her. He glanced at his watch. It was eight o’clock, much too early for her to be dozing off.

Ignoring his wife, Gianni started to tell a story that involved him and another woman in an alley across the street from his Uncle Joey’s diner. Nicholas remembered the incident and felt the story was inappropriate for the company they were with. As he opened his mouth to change the subject, Georgia reached across the table and tapped Celeste’s arm.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Gianni stopped midsentence and glared at his wife. Celeste’s eyes popped open. She glanced around the table and her face turned red.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to nod off.”

“Lounging around the house has made you lazy,” Gianni commented. He lit a cigarette and blew the smoke in her direction.

Celeste coughed and waved at the air in front of her. “Could you put that out, please? I’m not feeling well.”

“Then go home, where you belong.”

“I’m not feeling too well myself.” Georgia pushed back from the table, scraping her chair on the floor.

That made three of them. Since they walked into the club, two hours earlier, Nicholas had not felt the same peace he used to experience when he visited Gracie’s. Instead he felt tense, his stomach turned and his head throbbed.

“Maybe we should call it an evening.” He stood. “I’ll drive you home.”

“I’ll take the bus,” Georgia replied.

He shook his head. Though it was not late, there was no way he was going to let Georgia or Celeste take the bus.

“What’s the big deal?” Gianni leaned back in his chair. “The dames can take the bus home. Sit. Have a drink.”

Nicholas wondered what his friend had to drink before they arrived. His behavior had been progressively crasser during the evening. Figuring he should take Gianni up on his offer and stick around to talk to the other man, Nicholas reached in his pocket and pulled out his keys.

“Take the car,” he said, passing the keys to Georgia. “I’ll get a ride.”

She hesitated before she grabbed the keys. For a second he feared she was going to toss them in his face and insist on taking the bus. But after a quick glance at Celeste, she walked off without acknowledging either man.

“Remember the time we banged that dame underneath the boardwalk?” Gianni asked, once the ladies were gone.

Nicholas dropped back in his chair. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Whaddaya mean?”

“Your wife walked out of here, she didn’t look good, and you’re sitting there talk about screwing another woman.”

“What’s the big deal? It’s not like I’m talking about the woman I banged last night.”

For his friend’s sake, Nicholas assumed the man was joking. If he even suspected otherwise, he would be obligated to make sure Gianni was unable to have sex with anyone, including his wife, ever again.

Gianni wiped at his nose and sniffed.

“What’s up with your nose?”

“Nothing,” Gianni insisted before he wiped his nose again. “Probably have a cold.”

“Maybe you should’ve gone home with your wife. You could’ve taken care of each other.”

“I got a business to run. You think keeping a roof over her head is easy?”

“I’m sure it’s not.” Nicholas leaned forward. “So tell me. You’re not having problems, are you?”

“Why d’you ask?”

“You seemed a bit harsh with Celeste.”

“She knows I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Even so, you might wanna lay off.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Gianni refilled their wine glasses. “How’s the business?”

Nicholas sat back and shrugged. Though the money was coming in, he was getting a little tired of things. Especially looking for places to set up shop and looking over his shoulder all the time, wondering if the next person he took a bet from would be the one to slap the cuffs on him.

“We should work together,” Gianni muttered.

Nicholas glanced around the restaurant. Though he’d never wanted the place, he wouldn’t mind restoring the business to something he’d be proud to have his mother’s name on.

“Doing what?” He lifted his glass to his lips.

“I was thinking of setting up a couple of tables downstairs…you know, bring a little more action to this joint.”