Dangerous Kiss (36 page)

They'd arrived that afternoon on a flight from Rome. Neither of them had ever been on a plane before, and the boy had been sick, throwing up all over her dress. She'd cleaned up as well as she could, but she knew she was not looking her best.

It had taken a while to get through Customs, until eventually she'd convinced the official sitting behind his high desk that they were staying with her aunt in Bel Air and would only be in the country for a few weeks.

He'd nodded and stamped their passports, imagining what it would be like to make love to such an earthy-looking woman. Her smouldering eyes alone would keep him happy for the rest of the day.

She'd felt lost at the airport - it was so big and crowded and noisy. Her son had clung to her leg while she'd tried to discover how they could get to a place called Malibu. She'd had no idea if it was near or far. Fortunately, her English was passable and her looks so appealing that she was able to find out the cheapest way to get there by asking around.

A friendly black porter had given them a lift into the city, dropping them off on Wilshire. From there they'd got on a bus to Santa Monica.

Once off the bus, she'd stopped at a fast-food place and bought a hamburger, which she and her son had shared, then they'd got on another bus, which took them along the Pacific Coast Highway.

As the bus progressed, she'd gazed out of the window, filled with wonderment at the odd array of houses lining the edge of the ocean and the tall cliffs towering over the other side of the road. Her stomach was churning with the daring of this adventure she had embarked on - an adventure she had dreamed about for five years.

America. She was in America.

The thought made her weak with excitement.

Chapter Sixty

'Hi, Lucky,' Brigette said, finally arriving at the house.

'And about time too!' Lucky exclaimed. 'I was beginning to think you'd flown back to Europe!'

It was meant as a joke, but Brigette didn't seem to get it. Neither did she apologize for arriving so late, which pissed Lucky off.

'This is my husband, Carlo,' Brigette said, her normally exuberant tone strangely flat.

'Where's my hug?' Lucky said, sussing out the situation. She'd immediately observed that Brigette was thin and jumpy, with blank eyes and a slack expression, whereas Carlo, a tall, good-looking man with arrogant features and long, blondish hair, was glowing with health.

Brigette gave her a perfunctory hug.

You're too damn skinny, Lucky immediately wanted to say. But she didn't, since obviously this was neither the time nor the place. 'Nice to meet you, Carlo,' she said, with a pleasant smile. 'We've all been looking forward to this.'

He took her hand, brought it to his lips and gave it one of those barely there kisses.

A bullshit artist, she thought. I can recognize 'em a mile off. A bullshit artist, wearing a five-thousand-dollar suit and a twenty-thousand-dollar Patek Philippe watch. Damn! He was spending pretty good.

'Where's Bobby?' Brigette asked.

Lucky took another close look at her goddaughter. The once vivacious and adorable Brigette was a shadow of her former self. Something was definitely not right.

'He's gone to see your mutual relatives in Greece,' she said. 'Something you might think about doing in the future.'

'Maybe,' Brigette said vaguely.

'We have no plans to visit Greece,' Carlo said.

Who asked you? Lucky thought, as she looked around for Lennie. Where was he now? She couldn't wait to get his take on the situation.

'So,' she said cheerily, 'what's with the sneaking off and getting married bit? You know we would have given you a sensational wedding. Everyone's disappointed.'

'Brigette and I did not require one of those lavish Hollywood weddings,' Carlo said, with a touch of disdain. 'We preferred to be married at the palace. It has been in my family for hundreds of years.'

'How nice,' Lucky said, with an edge. 'If we'd known, we would've flown over.'

'Sorry,' Brigette said, a touch sheepishly. 'We didn't plan it… we just did it.'

'And what exactly is it that you do, Carlo?' Lucky asked.

'Investments,' he replied, staring at the exotcally beautiful dark-haired woman with the dangerous black eyes. She was not to be charmed, he knew that instinctively. He had to tread carefully with this one.

'Sounds interesting,' Lucky said, deciding that he was an arrogant prick.

'It is,' he replied.

By the time Lennie came over, there was simmering animosity in the air. 'Lennie, meet Carlo, Brigette's husband,' Lucky said.

'Congratulations,' Lennie said, sweeping Brigette up in a big bear hug. 'How's my favourite golden girl?'

'Married.' She giggled, feeling somewhat light-headed.

'Oh, yeah, we know that,' he said, with an affectionate grin.

'Where's Maria and little Gino?' she enquired.

'They've gone to bed,' Lucky said, 'but Steven's around somewhere. And I know big Gino is longing to see you, so why don't we go find him?'

'I'll be right back,' Brigette said to Carlo.

'I'll come with you,' he said quickly.

'I think she's safe with me,' Lucky interrupted, leading Brigette away from her husband. 'So,' she said, as soon as they were out of earshot, 'how are you?'

'I'm fine, Lucky. I told you on the phone.'

'You look a little pale to me.'

'I do?' Brigette said, filled with guilt, because if Lucky knew the real truth…

'Yes, you do.'

'Too much travelling,' Brigette explained. 'I have major jet lag. It's a killer.'

'How about just you and I have lunch tomorrow?' Lucky suggested. 'That way we'll get to talk.'

'We can talk now.'

'Not with your husband hovering a foot away,' Lucky said. 'I know what Italian men are like - possessive isn't the word for it!'

'Carlo's not possessive,' Brigette said, springing to his defense.

'Oh, yes, he is,' Lucky said. 'I can tell.'

'No, he's not? Brigette repeated.

'Ah, there's Gino,' Lucky said, refusing to argue with her goddaughter. 'Eighty-seven and still kicking butt.'

Gino jumped to his feet as they approached. 'Hey, kiddo!' he said to Brigette, tapping his cheek for a kiss. 'You went an' got yourself married, huh? An' I was lookin' forward to bein' best man.'

Brigette kissed him on both cheeks, she'd always had special feelings for Gino.

'You're my best man anyway,' she said, adding a warm hug.

'Yeah, yeah, sure,' he said, chuckling. 'Betcha say that to all the guys.'

'Of course I don't.'

Suddenly Lina crept up behind Brigette, placing her hands over Brigette's eyes.

'Surprise!' she yelled.

'Oh, wow!' Brigette said, wriggling free. 'What are you doing here?'

'Bitch?' Lina said, with a happy grin. 'How come you ran off an' got hitched without me? I thought we were planning a double wedding?'

'Sorry!' Brigette said, laughing.

'An' look at you,' Lina added. 'You must've dropped twenty bleedin' pounds.

What's up with that?'

'It's the new me,' Brigette explained. 'I decided it was time to dump my puppy fat.'

'Puppy fat, my ass,' Lina shrieked. 'You're thinner than a stick. Jeez, what's your agent gonna say?'

'Nothing, because I've given up work.'

'You've given up work?' Lina exclaimed. 'You?

'Yes, me.'

'I don't get it. Why? Are you pregnant?'

She hadn't planned on telling anyone, but this seemed like the perfect opportunity. She took a long deep breath and plunged right in. 'As a matter of fact I am.'

Once again Lucky was shocked. If Brigette was pregnant, how come she didn't look more healthy?

'How pregnant are you?' she asked quickly.

'Only a couple of months,' Brigette replied vaguely.

'Way t' go, girl!' Lina hooted, obviously delighted for her friend. 'Bags I'll be the godmother. Y' know, the black godmother. I like it!'

'So do I,' Brigette said, and suddenly she felt like bursting into tears. She didn't know why, but seeing her friends and family seemed to bring back only good memories. Carlo had kept her isolated for so long that she'd forgotten what it was like to be with people she genuinely loved.

I'm doing heroin, she thought. I'm in a drugged-out haze most of the time. That's how he keeps me under control. I've got to get away from him. He's sucking the life out of me.

Oh, God, what had happened to her? Was she repeating her mother's pattern?

Before she could think about it any further, Carlo strolled over, placing a possessive arm around her shoulders.

'Well,' Lina said, wagging a finger at him, 'aren't you the sneaky one? Daddy.'

'Ah,' Carlo said, with a satisfied smirk. 'So Brigette has told you.'

'It's fantastic news!' Lina said enthusiastically. 'Does Fredo know? He'll freak!'

'No, this is the first time we have told anyone,' Carlo said. 'It is indeed wonderful news. I wanted Brigette to share it with the people she is close to.'

Lucky watched him as he spoke. There was something very devious and cold within those icy blue eyes, something she didn't trust. Abruptly she walked away and sought out Lennie to ask him what he thought.

'It's not good,' Lennie said, frowning.

'Why do you say that?'

'I gotta tell you, Lucky, I think she's doing drugs.'

'You mean smoking a joint? What?'

'No. She's on something. Take a look at her eyes. Then notice how thin she is.

This isn't our Brigette.'

'Well, here's the big news,' Lucky said, hoping Lennie was wrong. 'She just announced she's pregnant.'

'You'd better have a serious talk with her.'

'We're having lunch tomorrow. I'll find out everything.'

'That's good.'

'What's your take on him?' Lucky asked.

'He's not exactly Mr Warmth. What do you think?'

'A good-looking con man with a big dick,' she said flatly. 'I can smell 'em at twenty feet.'

Lennie nodded. 'So, Lucky,' he said, trying to appear casual, but obviously bothered, 'have you made a decision about Alex?'

'What decision?' she asked innocently, although she knew exactly what he meant.

'You're not doing the movie with him, right?' he said, obviously uptight.

'Why are you on about Alex?' she said, exasperated. 'We're friends, that's all.'

'Friends, my ass.'

'Don't push me in a corner, Lennie. If I say we're friends, you'd better believe me.'

'Who's pushing? I'm merely asking you not to work with him.'

'That's totally unreasonable,' she said angrily. 'I have a project I want to do, and it happens to be attached to Alex. Big fucking deal. Get over it, Lennie.'

'So you're telling me that, if there's a choice here,' he responded heatedly, 'you'd choose Alex?'

'Are you forcing me to make a choice?'

'Jesus! You're really starting to piss me off.'

'Oh, like you're not pissing me off?'

'I never do anything to piss you off. I'm the perfect faithful husband, and I ask you one little thing—'

'Lennie, can we talk about this later? Now's hardly the time.'

'Whatever,' he said. 'As usual, it's you calling all the shots.'

Over dinner Brigette was quite animated. Lucky had surrounded her with the people she was closest to, including Lina, who was all over Steven.

Watching the action, Lucky noticed that the more lively Brigette became, the more withdrawn Carlo seemed to be. She made an attempt to engage him in conversation. 'Where are you two planning to live?' she asked.

'Perhaps we buy a house outside Rome,' he answered restlessly, one eye on Brigette.

'Wouldn't that be lonely for Brigette?' Lucky said. ' 'Y know, her being in a strange country where she doesn't speak the language. Stuck outside the city with a baby to look after.'

'Brigette does not need people around her,' Carlo said shortly.

'I think it's very touching that you seem to know so much about her, when in point of fact you've only known each other for - what? Three months?'

'Lucky,' he said, fixing her with a malevolent gaze, 'I realize you have Brigette's best interests at heart, but it is time for you to let go. She is not your daughter.

She is my wife. And I will see that she is happy.'

'I'm sure you will,' Lucky murmured. 'There's only one small thing - she doesn't look happy.'

'You are ridiculous,' Carlo snapped. 'And rude.'

'Really?' Lucky said, thinking what a pompous asshole he was. 'I was Brigette's mother's closest friend, and since Olympia is no longer with us, I look out for Brigette. So you'd better treat her right, Carlo, otherwise you'll have me to answer to.'

'Is that a threat?' he said, arching an aristocratic eyebrow.

'No threat, Carlo,' Lucky replied calmly. 'I'm merely telling you the way it is. You might have had her to yourself for the last few months, but in future I shall be watching what's going on. Oh, and by the way, I spoke to Brigette's lawyers in New York. There's no necessity for you to interfere in the way her trust is being run. She does not inherit the bulk of her estate for another five years, so I suggest you lie back. In five years, if you're still married, then I'm sure Brigette will be only too happy for you to take over.'

'I resent the way you talk to me.' He bristled, livid that she would have such nerve.

'I'm sorry, Carlo, but that's the way it is. So here's what I suggest.' Her black eyes hardened. 'Get used to it.'

'What kind of music are you into?' Lina asked, toying with the stem of her champagne glass as they sat at one of the round dining-tables set out next to the pool.

'Al Green, the Temptations, Aretha. Y' know, classic soul,' Steven said. 'How

'bout you?'

'Soul's cool,' she said quickly. 'Keith Sweat, Jamiroquai…'

He smiled. 'You like to dance, don't you?'

'How can you tell?'

' 'Cause you've been jiggling around in your chair all night.'

She grinned. 'I have?'

'You have.'

She took a sip of champagne. 'Y' know, Steven, you're a really nice guy.'

'What makes you say that?'