Deadly Embrace (33 page)

"Whatever you say, my darling. I'm all yours."

The day before the wedding, Dani moved out to the ranch with
Vincent to spend the night. She couldn't believe it had all happened
so fast. One day she'd said yes, and now, six days later, it was the
eve of her wedding. She'd purchased a dress, given her notice at the
Magiriano, sold her car, and leased her house to a nice young couple
from New Orleans.

Soon she and Vincent would move to Houston to live in a house she
hadn't even seen. It was crazy. Or was it? Dean was kind and caring,
he genuinely loved her
and
Vincent, and if all went well, they
would be extremely happy.

Vincent was
not
happy about leaving Nando, the ranch, his
school, and all his other friends to go live in Houston. Dani assured
him they would visit often.

Morgan decided to spend the night in town with Dean. "I'll leave
you girls alone to plot and plan devious women things," he boomed.
"Weddings are the damnedest events. A person has to
prepare—especially the ladies."

"You just want a night of freedom," Gemini teased, smiling
affectionately. "Remember, you can look—not touch."

Morgan adjusted his Stetson and beamed. "I married a
smart
woman who understands men. That makes
me
a very smart
man."

An hour after he left, Moralis phoned. Gemini took the call,
although Dani advised her not to.

"He doesn't frighten me anymore," Gemini said, a determined thrust
to her chin. "There is
nothing
he can do to me."

"You should find out where he is and have Morgan call him back,"
Dani suggested.

"No," Gemini said firmly. "He has to hear it from me. He cannot
take Nando, and that is final."

Dani shrugged. She had problems of her own. Vincent was refusing
to try on the suit she'd bought him to wear at the wedding. He was
behaving like a brat, and Nando was encouraging him. Maybe a break
from each other would be good for both of them.

Gemini stayed on the phone for some time. When she emerged from
the bedroom, her face was streaked with tears.

"What's the matter?" Dani asked sympathetically.

"Nothing," Gemini said, close to tears again. "It's so damn
difficult."

"What did he say?"

"Everything's fine," Gemini said. "He's agreed to go away."

"Then why are you so upset?"

"Well, you know, the past and everything. We did experience a
passion that is very difficult to forget."

"Mommy!" Vincent yelled. "Come see Nando's dog. It's got
huge
fleas. Can we get a dog, Mommy? Nando says
his
dog
eats
fleas. I wanna dog that eats fleas."

She hurried outside to inspect the flea-ridden mutt Nando had
rescued from the pound.

The dog was enormous, with a big shaggy coat. Vincent had draped
himself all over the panting animal.

"Get
off
," Dani ordered. "The poor dog is not a horse."

"You can ride him, Mommy," Vincent said encouragingly. "I do."

"Off," Dani repeated.

"Piss." Vincent giggled.

"What did you say?" Dani asked, quite shocked.

"Piss off," Nando said, screaming with laughter.

"Get it, Mommy?" Vincent said, giggling uncontrollably.

"No, I do not get it," she said sternly. "That is not nice
"language, and I do not expect to hear it again."

"Piss off," both boys shrieked in unison. "Piss off! Piss off!
Piss off!"

"Inside! Now!"

They followed her into the house.

Mrs. Braxton, Morgan's longtime cook, was busy in the kitchen
preparing hamburgers and french fries for the boys.

The manicurist Gemini had arranged for was in the dining room
setting up her equipment. Gemini had also booked a masseuse, a
facialist, and a hairdresser. They would all be arriving any
minute.

"It's the night before your wedding," Gemini had said. "I am
making sure you are thoroughly pampered."

"Where's Gemini?" Dani asked Mrs. Braxton.

"She asked me to tell you that she had to pop out."

"Did she say where she was going?"

"She mentioned she'd be back soon."

Dani didn't start to worry until an hour had passed. Then two,
then three. By that time she was seriously worried. All the
beauticians had come and gone, and it was almost eleven.

Had Gemini "popped out" to meet Moralis? Where else would she have
gone?

Dani picked up the phone and called Dean. Neither he nor Morgan
was at the hotel, so she left a message for them to call her
immediately when they returned.

This was supposed to be a happy time for her, and yet she felt
exactly the same as she had the night Emily disappeared. Sick and
apprehensive.

She sat in the front room, her eyes shifting from the clock to the
front door. Midnight came and went. She tried to reach Dean and
Morgan at the hotel again. Still no answer from either of their
rooms. They were out celebrating, while Gemini was ...

She didn't know.

She only knew that the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach told
her that once again something bad had happened.

Something really bad.

The news that he'd probably shot the wrong man did not sit well
with Michael. Although, when he thought it through, he was able to
accept it, because all three of them eventually had to pay the
price.

He'd killed a man in cold blood. It didn't seem real to him, and
yet he'd done it. And he would do it again if he had to.

For his mother.

Fer the woman he'd never met.

For her honor.

Bone must've figured that by getting him to eliminate Roy, the
truth would never come out. The scumbag hadn't reckoned on Marnie and
her big mouth.

Another thought. How
had
Marnie heard it was him who'd shot
Roy? Bone was a dangerous bastard, and he probably had something else
in mind. The problem was— who knew what that something was?

What should he do now? Switch sides and move over to the Giovanni
family?

Maybe. Vito Giovanni understood what revenge was all about.

It was almost midnight when he arrived back at the house.
Catherine was sitting in the front room, knitting a sweater. Like her
sister, Catherine was quite beautiful and very young, only she had
none of Beth's fire. "Hi, Michael," she said, holding a finger to her
lips. "Shh ... Madison's asleep."

"Where's Beth?" he asked, looking around.

"She went out with friends."

"What time's she comin' home?"

"
You
know Beth," Catherine said, putting down her knitting.
"I can't control her, and neither can you. Neither of us should
try."

"I don't want to," he said pointedly.

"Yes you do."

Sometimes Catherine got on his nerves. "Did she happen t' tell you
we were talkin' about gettin' married?" he said, thinking that would
shut her up. "No, she didn't mention it."

"Didn't mention it, huh?" he said, aggravated. "Gee, she must've
been really excited."

"Michael," Catherine said in a sanctimonious, annoying tone, "Beth
adores you in her own way. But you have to understand that when our
father was arrested and taken off to a political prison, it kind of
put her out of control."

"How's that?"

"She's always been a little wild, but after that... well, you
do
know you're not her first man?"

"You're lucky she already told me," he said sharply, " 'cause if
she hadn't, you'd be
way
outta line."

"Sorry," Catherine said, quickly getting up. "Shall I give Madison
her bottle when she wakes, or do you want to?"

"What I want t' know is where my fuckin' girlfriend's gone. The
mother of my child," he said, full of frustration. "Who are these
friends she's out with?"

"People from the fashion institute."

"Girls? Boys? What?"

"A mixture."

"If I ever catch her with another man," he said ominously, "I'll
kill her."

"Don't
say
things like that, Michael."

"I mean it."

"Anyway," Catherine said crisply, "she's not with another man,
she's merely having fun."

"Fun, huh?"

"It's not easy for her, Michael. She has a baby to care for, a
house to run, and—"

"C'mon, Catherine," he interrupted. "Cut the bull. You do
everything around here Beth gets dressed up and goes off to some
fancy school with her fancy fuckin' friends, an' now she's out all
night with them."

"I'm sorry I told you."

"Yeah, well, I needed to know the truth."

"How was your father?"

"The same old loser " he said restlessly. "Look, I'm not sittin'
around here waitin'—I'm goin' out."

"I'm sure Beth will be home soon."

"Hey, she wants to do her thing, that's okay—I'll do
mine."

He left the house filled with anger, drove around for a while, and
eventually went to a neighborhood bar, where an attractive girl with
huge breasts sat down next to him.

"I'm a lingerie model," the girl informed him with an inviting
smile. She had pearly white teeth, curly auburn hair, and a snub
nose. "How about coming back to my place for a nightcap?" she
suggested. "I promise I won't bite. Not unless you ask me to!"

The invitation was there, staring him in the face.

He simply wasn't interested. Beth was the only woman he
wanted.

After throwing down another couple of Jack Daniel's, he went home
alone.

Beth was still out.

He lay down on the bed, switched on the TV, lit a cigarette, and
fumed. Eventually he fell into a restless sleep.

In the morning Beth was asleep beside him, her dark hair spread
out across the white sheets, one long leg stretched out and
exposed.

He was angry and turned on, all at the same time. Without saying a
word, he got on top of her.

"Michael," she murmured, half opening her eyes. "What're you
doing?"

"Fucking you," he said forcefully. "Is that okay?"

"No, it's
not
okay," she said, beginning to struggle.
"Get... off... me."

He was having none of it. Pinning her arms back, he pounded into
her until he came.

Afterward, he was regretful. He'd just committed a purely selfish
act. It wasn't
her
fault he was jealous. Jesus Christ! She had
him out of control. He glanced over at her. She'd moved away and was
lying with her back toward him.

"We're announcing our marriage this week," he said gruffly.
"That's the way it's gonna be."

"I hate you," she said, rolling over to face him, big brown eyes
flashing undisguised anger. "No you don't."

"Yes I do. You ... you
rapist
!"

"Sorry, baby," he muttered. "Dunno what came over me."

"Ha!"

"Miami stunk, an' when I got back you weren't home," he said,
making excuses.

"I
told
you I'd be out."

"I know that."

She moved a little closer to him. "I suppose seeing your father
upset you?"

"
No
," he lied.

"Yes, it did."

"Okay," he admitted. "It made me crazy."

"I knew it! Told you I should've gone with you."

"You were right. You're always right," he said, nuzzling close to
her. "How come for someone so young you're pretty damn smart?"

"Just lucky, I guess."

"Sorry if I was rough with you. I didn't mean it. It's... I dunno
. .. guess I missed you."

"Did you, now?"

"Ain't
that
something?" -

She sighed and cuddled closer. "I like it when you miss me,
Michael. It means you «are."

He sat up and reached for a cigarette. "I never felt this way
about anybody before, Beth. Never. You're it."

She flashed him her seductive smile. "Good." -—You'd better
believe it," he said. And to make up for before, he began caressing
her breasts the way he knew she liked.

"That's nice," she sighed. "Umm ...
very
nice."

He slid down the bed, spread her legs, and began tongu-ing her the
way she'd often asked him to, though he'd declined, because going
down on a woman didn't seem a very manly act. And yet... if you loved
that woman, and she did the same for you—why not give her
pleasure?

Her excitement and her smooth, firm thighs turned him on again. He
resolved to stop with the jealous crap and start treating her
better.

A few nights later he drove down to the fashion institute to pick
her up. He planned to surprise her, take her to dinner at their
favorite restaurant, and present her with the ring he'd gotten
her—a five-carat diamond direct from Tiffany's via a friend of
Warner's in the jewelry business.

Beth emerged shortly after five—his beautiful, soon-to-be
child bride.

She was arm in arm with a young guy, not much older than her. They
were so busy talking and giggling that she didn't even see him
waiting patiently in his car, like dumb schmuck of the year.

Beth. His Beth with another man.

A black fury overtook him. He could barely see straight. He wanted
to smash the asshole's brains in.

Instead he did nothing. He watched them walk out of sight, and
then he went home.

* * *

Catherine had gone to stay with a girlfriend for the weekend, leaving
a baby-sitter in charge of Madison. As soon as Michael arrived home,
he paid the girl and told her she could leave.

"Where's the baby-sitter?" Beth asked when she got home, two hours
later, and found Michael sitting in the kitchen bouncing a gurgling
Madison on his knee.

"Sent her away," he replied. "Figured we didn't need her."

"You
know
I need help when Catherine's away," Beth
complained, shrugging off her short, embroidered jacket.

"Got a hunch you'll manage for one night."

"Damn, Michael," she complained, opening the fridge. "I wish you
wouldn't do things like that without checking with me."