Crazy About You (27 page)

He withdrew his hand from hers and began fiddling with the silverware on the table. “Is that your heart talking, or the Jaegermeister?” Her eyes widened at his casual tone. He caught the shocked look on her face, and the wolf grin reappeared. “Come on, babe. That kid is barely out of diapers. If you’re going to dump me, at least find yourself a real man. No one’s gonna believe you’d give me up for a frat boy
stunad
like him.”

Emma’s mind raced. Tony assumed she meant Todd, just like the FBI agent snapping the incriminating photos. Either Tony saw her in the bar, or… “You saw the photos.” It was the only thing that made sense. If he’d been there himself, he’d know the truth. Unlike Agent McKay, Tony possessed excellent powers of observation. It’s what made him so skilled at hooking donors during fundraising events. But if Tony saw the pictures, it meant either he was working with the FBI or someone there leaked the images to him. Neither option made a whole lot of sense.

He acknowledged her statement with the briefest of nods. “I know I asked you not to date, but I realize this week put you under a lot of stress. I’m good with you blowing off steam.” He patted her knee. “I forgive you.”

Confusion and frustration bubbled up inside her. “Forgive me? No, Tony, that’s not what this is.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice to a hiss. “I want out. I’m not going to spill your secrets but I can’t be part of th-this thing that’s going on. Someone tried to burn my Mom’s house!”

He frowned. “I told you. I’m taking care of it.”

“It’s
because
of you this happened in the first place!” She realized she’d gotten a little too loud when the woman at the next table glanced over at them. She lowered her voice to a fierce whisper. “Someone thinks I’m your girlfriend and they threatened me in order to hurt you. We both know you have a weakness, but it’s not me.”

His dark eyes grew calculating. He stayed calm, leaning further back in his chair and speaking soft and slow. “You are safer with my protection than without.”

“Why can’t I simply break up with you? I don’t understand what’s going on…”

He snapped forward, elbows banging on the table, hands clasped together. “Don’t play dumb with me, babe. I know the FBI filled your head this morning. I also know you didn’t spill anything. For that I owe you. So I will say again, you are safer with me than not. Trust me on this.”

“And here we go.”

Emma looked up to see Kallie hovering next to the table with Tony’s sandwich and a side plate piled high with the café’s famous sweet potato fries. Trying to charm him, no doubt, even after Emma warned her he was trouble. “He doesn’t eat fried food, you know.”

The waitress’s smile faltered.

Tony patted Emma’s hand a little rougher than necessary. “It’s fine, babe.” He winked at Kallie and her smile returned. “I’m sure they’ll be delicious.”

She deposited the plates in front of him and placed a fresh glass of iced coffee in front of Emma. “Can I get you something to drink, sir?”

“Water.” He peeled the top piece of rye from the sandwich and his top lip curled back in disgust. “Can you do me a favor, sweetheart? Find me some spicy brown mustard. This yellow shit is a serious crime against pastrami.”

Kallie giggled. “Coming right up.”

Emma watched her friend head back to the kitchen with a spring in her step. She glared at Tony. “Can you stop turning on the charm?”

“What?” Tony spread his hands, palms up like he was innocent. “I chat up that cute barista every Sunday and it never bothered you before.”

“Fine. Flirt all you want. Knock yourself out.” Emma grabbed four more sugar packets, viciously ripping off the ends and dumping it all at once into her coffee, grumbling at him. “Why do you need me hanging around, cramping your style?”

He looked affronted. “I protect my friends.” He glanced at the tables nearest to them before focusing on Emma, choosing his words with care. “Monday’s announcement created…discord. My cousin was supposed to meet people to discuss a way forward.”

“And they killed him instead.”

He nodded sharply. “A message for the Don.”

“And the fire?”

“Another message, this one for me personally.” The pained expression on his face looked genuine. “I regret your name got mentioned.”

“Tony…”

“End of discussion.” He looked up and smiled. “And here is my angel to make things better.” He took the jar of brown mustard from an eager Kallie, grabbing her hand and giving the back a playful kiss. “It’s the little things that make life worth living. Don’t you agree?”

Kallie actually blushed. “Totally.”

Emma rolled her eyes but kept slurping her sugary drink. He wanted her to keep up the pretext of dating, but she had to put up with this outrageous behavior?
As if!
She slammed her glass onto the table with a little more force than she intended, making Kallie jump before scurrying away. Tony ignored the outburst and calmly spread the mustard over his pastrami. He slid the top slice of rye back into place and took a bite of the sandwich.

He closed his eyes as he chewed, a little moan of happiness escaping his throat when he swallowed. “Now this is what I’m talking about.” He sounded more like the Tony she thought she knew, which made her realize she didn’t know him at all.

She twirled the straw through the ice cubes, curiosity getting the better of her. “Was it ever about the environment? Even a little bit?”

He cocked his head, putting down the sandwich and wiping his hands with the paper napkin. “Would it make you feel better if I said yes?”

“Maybe. If it was true.” She wanted it to be true. She remembered Chase dissecting the science behind Eco Dawn’s premise. “Will the project work?”

He speared the dill pickle with his fork, taking a tentative bite. He made a sour face before putting it back on his plate. “Definitely not from a kosher deli. Why can’t you get a crunchy goddamn pickle anywhere but New York City?” He looked her in the eye, his face still unreadable. “I’m not a scientist, babe. Angelo swears he’s seen it all work and the Don trusted him enough to send me in to help make it a reality. No one makes money if the plant doesn’t work, right?”

The tiny hairs on the back of her neck prickled at his words. “It was no accident we met at that party.”

“There are no accidents in this world.” He took another huge bite of the sandwich to signal the end of the discussion, not noticing the hot tears suddenly welling in her eyes. She looked away and pressed her palm to her forehead to quell the hurt. The fact he knew nothing about her past didn’t lessen the sharp sting of his words.

She tried another approach. “What happens to all the money we raised if the plant doesn’t get built?”

Tony shrugged, taking another bite and talking around the mouthful of pastrami. “What’re you talking about? The city signed contracts. The plant breaks ground this fall and the company stock is soaring. The project will be up and running by this time next year. New York takes one giant leap forward as bleeding heart liberals around the world rejoice.”

Something bugged Emma about the whole mess. She jabbed her straw at the remaining ice cubes lying at the bottom of the glass, trying to work it out. “I never understood what’s in all this for you.”

“Respect.”

She looked over at him, puzzled by his hardened tone. “What?”

He finished the sandwich and carefully wiped his hands with the napkin. “My father taught me a man’s standing is a reflection of many things. His actions, reputation, respectability, discretion, and so forth and so on. Each piece takes years to build, through the making and keeping of promises and, above all, showing no weakness. No one respects you if they think you’re weak. Doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. A man is only as good as his word.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The foundation for being a respected part of the organization is being a trusted one. The Don trusted me with this project. I’ll do everything in my power to see it become reality. To fail is to lose respect.”

He sounded both calculating and insane. The man sitting next to her was virtually a stranger, the Tony she’d gotten to know over the last six months an illusion, dissolving before her eyes. She opened her mouth to argue just as her cell phone rang. Her pulse raced when Chase’s name lit up the screen. The sudden craving for his warm embrace left her shivering. “Excuse me a minute. It’s my mom checking in.” She stood to take the call, not wanting Tony to know Chase even existed. The least she could do would be to keep gangsters from ruining his life, too. Before she could leave the table, Tony grabbed her arm, jerking her back to her chair. She frowned at him.

“Sit. I don’t mind.” His stony face allowed no room for argument.

She swiped her finger across the screen, answering cautiously. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me.” Tears sprang to her eyes at his friendly voice. She wished she could reach through the airwaves and hug him tight. “Emma are you there?”

She choked out a one-word answer. “Yep.”

He paused. “Are you all right?”

“Everything’s fine, Mom,” she managed, this time more smoothly.

“Is Tony with you?”

Her eyes darted to Tony at the mention of his name. “I’m still at lunch, uh-huh.”

She heard a muffled curse before he asked, “Can you get away from him?”

“I don’t think so, not right now.”

Voices argued in the background as she nodded and rolled her eyes for Tony, pretending to listen to her mother. “Mom, I don’t have time for this.”

“Emma?” Jim Wilton’s voice filled her ear. “It’s Jim. Listen to me carefully. We think you and Lenzi are being set up to take a big fall.”

She glanced at Tony again. He leaned back in his chair but still eyed her curiously. “Who would do that?”

“Don Lenzini.”

Her eyes widened, not believing what she heard. “Could you repeat that?”

“Do you think you could get Tony to come to the station and talk with us?”

She thought about Agent McKay leaving the interrogation early, and how Tony saw those photos. If McKay was somehow involved, he could very well be working for the Don. “I’m not comfortable going there, Mom. If you want me to meet your artist, I could do it at your shop.” She hoped Jim understood the police station wasn’t a safe place to talk.

“Fine, we’ll see you both there.” The line went dead as he disconnected.

“Love you too, Mom,” she said before clicking the End call button. She looked over at Tony, still watching her carefully. “Mom needs me to help out at the store.”

He nodded. “And how’s your brother? You didn’t ask about him.”

Her breath caught for a moment, thinking he’d caught her in the lie. But he looked at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. “He’s the same. Stable. The doctors think he’ll be able to leave the hospital tomorrow and finish his recovery at home.” Which was the truth. Her dad had said it the other night. She huffed out a sigh. “I guess you’ll be coming with me to the bead store?”

“You betcha, babe. Give those feds something to take notes about.” He chuckled darkly. “Look at it this way. I’m watching over you, they’re watching over me, nothing bad’s gonna happen to us, right?”

She hoped at least that part was true.

Chapter Thirty-One

Chase rolled up the sleeves on the fresh Oxford button-down. Jim’s shirt fit well enough except for the arm length. Luckily, the borrowed khakis looked tailor made for him. “Are we meeting her at the police station?”

“No. She’s not comfortable going there. We’ll meet at her mom’s bead shop.” Jim frowned and handed the phone back to Chase. “I wonder what happened to upset her at the station.”

“Oh, gee, I don’t know,” Chase mocked. He hated the whole idea of Emma mixed up with Lenzi and some twisted mob plot for revenge. “Could it have been the part where you told her Don Lenzini is out to get her? Or the part about FBI agents following her movements for the last few months? That might creep her out.”

He nodded, lost in thought. “Yeah, but I was there during the interrogation with Agent Roth. She didn’t seem to care about the FBI photos, aside from being annoyed. She obviously has nothing to hide. Why would the police station not be a safe place to meet?” He pulled a navy tie from a hanger in the closet and handed it to Chase.

He took it and grimaced, thinking of agents following Emma and photographing her every move. He slipped the silk around the shirt collar, hating the idea of pretending not to know Emma when he saw her. He wanted to reassure her everything would be okay, but that wasn’t the plan. “I’m not okay with men keeping tabs on her. Huge privacy issues at stake, whether or not she has anything to hide.”

“Regardless, now that you look like a respectable scientist again, we need to go. Remember, she worked to keep your name out of all this, both from Lenzi and from the FBI. Honor that and stick to our plan.”

With one last look in the mirror to adjust the collar, he followed Jim. “What—just the two of us? Shouldn’t you call for back-up or something?”

“Leave the back-up to me, Doc. I’ll give my partner a quick call, and we already know the FBI surveillance team won’t be far. You focus on how to convince Lenzi that Eco Dawn is a scam, where he’s going to be the only one left holding the bag. Once we get him on our side, we call in the FBI and they get the whole WITSEC thing going.”

Chase smirked. “Oh, how Emma loves those government acronyms.”

Thankfully a sea breeze kicked up as they walked toward the wharf. Chase tugged at the constricting tie around his neck, loosening the knot a fraction. Why did Jim’s idea of respectable include uncomfortable clothing choices? Anything to keep Emma safe and dig her out from under the house of cards about to collapse on her head. Even if it meant wearing a silk tie in eighty degree weather.

They reached the turn for the wharf, where the line for Louie’s Luscious Snow Cones stretched half a block. The door to Baubles and Beads sat propped open with a brick to let in fresh air and shoppers. He remembered the shop had air conditioning, wondering why she chose to leave the door open to the heat. They stopped on the sidewalk for a moment while Jim phoned his partner. A group of several brightly dressed older women walked into the store ahead of them, laughing and chattering at high volume.