If The Shoe Fits (22 page)

What had been was that his house which, until
that moment, hadn’t seemed particularly empty, suddenly had. He’d
stared at the four walls that made up his living room, and later
those of his bedroom, and acknowledged that he needed more in his
life than what he’d been living with. The looks Luke and Staci had
been giving each other, not to mention the sexual awareness he’d
almost been able to touch, had grabbed him by the throat, and Bella
looking stunning in the glow of the candles, her eyes sparkling,
the breeze brushing her hair across her skin, her soft laughter
wrapping around him like a caress hadn’t helped matters.

Sending her home to The Husband had only made
things go downhill.

He wanted to punch something just for the
sheer frustration of not being able to have her.

Luke strolled up his front walk just then, his
usual morning-after swagger making Reese want to punch
him
.

He yanked open the door before Luke had the
chance to knock. “What do you want?”

Luke, damn him, smiled. “Sleep
well?”

Reese swiped a hand over his chin, then raked
it through his hair. “Is there something you need or are you
purposely trying to sabotage your chances of getting back in my
good graces?”

“
Oh, I don’t know.” Luke looked at
his fingernails, the pompous prick. “I thought I was doing you a
service last night by trading my signature to a lucky couple for
their table so Bella wouldn’t leave.”

Reese checked the fist he wanted to swing.
Luke had one warped sense of humor. “Remind me to thank you
sometime.”

“
I’ll take it now, but do we have
to have this conversation on your front porch? How ‘bout a cup of
coffee?”

Sadistic bastard. But Reese let him in anyway.
Luke wanted to brag. He always did. Staci was just one more in a
long line of notches on a bed post.

“
Going somewhere?” Luke’s toed the
suitcases stacked in the foyer.

“
A conference. Is there something
you need, Luke?”

“
I came by to drop off your
change.”

“
You could have kept
it.”

“
And give you reason to distrust
me more than you do now?” Luke dumped the cash on the end table.
“No way. I told you I’d be on the job and I plan to prove it.” He
tapped his shoe. “Uh, any chance of that coffee? From the looks of
it, you could use some, too.”

“
Gee, thanks.” Yeah, he had been
up half the night—and he didn’t mean just being awake.

Shaking off the memory—and the erotic dreams
he’d had once he’d finally fallen asleep—Reese headed to the
kitchen. He grabbed a bag of coffee beans from the fridge, poured
them into the grinder, then turned it on, the harsh whir of the
motor combined with the remnants of last night’s wine and lack of
sleep giving him one hell of a headache.

Luke sat at the breakfast bar and drummed his
fingers on its surface. “So, how’d it go with Bella?”

Like shit
, but Reese opted not to say
it as he poured the grounds and water into the coffee maker and set
it to perc. Luke didn’t need to know his feelings toward Bella—not
that the fact that she was Vincent Casteleoni’s wife would matter
to him; marriage had never stopped Luke before.

Reese grabbed two mugs from the cabinets above
the breakfast bar sink and placed them on the granite countertop.
“She accepted my apology. We’re good.”

“
Yeah, what was with
that
?
You sure clammed up in a hurry. I mean, hell, snagging Vincent
Casteleoni for the event was a brilliant idea.”

“
That, surprisingly, came from
Staci.” From another cabinet, he pulled out a sugar bowl and a
cardboard cylinder of non-dairy creamer, then handed them to Luke.
“I don’t know how you can use that stuff.”

“
Hey, a guy’s gotta have a few
vices. Mine just happens to be for something sweet in the
morning.”

Reese could think of something sweet he’d like
to have as his vice in the morning.

“
So. You and Staci.” Anything to
take Bella out of the conversation.

“
Hey, don’t get on my case. She’s
not really working with Bella. We both know that. I’m just keeping
her busy and out of the way.”

“
Regardless, Luke, the problem is,
you always pick the ones who think they can be the exception to
your no-involvement rules.” He filled Luke’s mug.

“
Yeah, but Staci’s different. I
made one move, and, bam, she was out the door of my car like
lightning. Shocked the shit out of me.” He took the coffee from
Reese. “I think there’s more to her than she lets on. I mean, did
you see what she was wearing last night? Totally
unexpected.”

Unless she was trying to keep Luke off-kilter
enough to intrigue him. Reese wouldn’t have thought Staci smart
enough for that, but then, looks could be deceiving.

“
I mean, yeah, she comes off all
brassy and tacky, but once you start her talking, you see she’s a
real person. Not some ditzy chick with no brains and a great body.
We went to a coffee shop after
The Midnight Maiden
and had
an interesting conversation. There’s actually depth to
her.”

Surprising words coming from Luke; normally,
the guy was as shallow as a puddle two days after a rainstorm.
“Depth, huh?”

“
Yeah. For instance—” Luke drained
his mug and motioned for another. “Did you know she graduated at
the top of her class in college?”

“
Yet she remains
unemployed.”

“
She admitted that was due to not
wanting to look for a job. She took some time off to enjoy
life.”

“
And, who, exactly, is paying for
this decadent lifestyle?”

“
She said her stepfather left them
comfortable, so she doesn’t have to work.”

“
Yet Bella is working her tail off
at the restaurant.” And had a family with one very lucky SOB. “Now,
why do you suppose I find Staci’s story hard to believe?” Reese
shook his head. “How much longer are you going to be gullible for
something in tight pants, Luke? Didn’t Tanya teach you
anything?”

Luke slammed the mug down on the counter,
coffee splashing over the top. The handle cracked off and he tossed
it into the sink. “I don’t need a lecture from you, Reese. At least
I haven’t let myself turn into some freak, with nothing else in my
life but a bunch of parties I don’t get to enjoy.” He grabbed a
napkin and mopped up the mess.

“
You know, you used to be fun. We
had some great times in our playing days. Now, you’re like the
suits we used to make fun off, all tight-assed and
number-crunching. Sometimes, Reese, you actually have to take a
chance and go outside your safe little world.” The napkin followed
the mug handle into the sink. “And, yeah, it’s not always nice out
there. Tanya may have been a mistake, but having Jared never was.
So, stay off my case about Staci. What I have, or don’t have, going
on with her won’t affect your precious auction.”

He stood up and poured the contents of the mug
down the drain. “I can’t believe I thought you might be interested
in Bella. I can’t believe I thought you might bend your ironclad
rule about fraternizing with the help to go out with her.” He set
the mug on the counter. “Do you know I was almost going to
volunteer to babysit today so she wouldn’t have to take her little
sister Sophia out so you two could go do something? That’s how nice
I was trying to be to you. I’m really glad now that I didn’t waste
my time.” He shot a disgusted look at Reese. “Have a good day,
Reese. A good,
lonely
one.”

Luke punctuated his departure by slamming the
front door hard enough to knock a picture off the wall while
Reese’s world shifted, turned sideways, and dumped him off the edge
with it.

Little sister? Sophia was her
sister
?

Then who the hell was Vincent
Casteleoni?

He grabbed his iPad, finally allowing himself
to do the search he’d been wanting to do all week—

Her uncle. Vincent Casteleoni was her
uncle
.

Jesus. He was an idiot. A stupid, blind,
lovesick moron.

He sat down and read the article about her
parents’ accident. Saw her father’s obituary, listing Sophia as her
sister.

His damn nobility had put him in hell for a
week.

Well no more.

He grabbed his cell. She was taking Sophia
somewhere today. He wanted—no,
needed
to know
where.

***

Staci hung up Bella’s cell phone, a smile on
her face, then brushed her hands together. There, that was her good
deed for the day.

She turned around and came to an abrupt
halt.

Mother stood in the doorway, her eyes
narrowed.

Staci knew that look. And had recently learned
to fear it.

“
Why did Reese Charmant want to
speak with Bella?” An icy chill followed Mother’s words.

Staci gulped and suppressed a shiver. Now that
her eyes had been truly opened to Mother’s scheming, she realized
she did not want to get on her bad side. “I don’t know. I didn’t
ask.”

“
That was your second mistake.”
Mother folded her arms over her chest with military precision, her
starched white collared shirt crinkling like cellophane. With the
pencil-straight charcoal skirt, her black hair sleeked back into a
French twist so severe it looked as if her cheekbones were going to
be pulled to the back of her head, and black pointed heels, Mother
could be commanding an army. Or terrorizing a town of defenseless
Munchkins.

She whipped her hands to her pointed hips so
fast Staci thought the air whistled. “Honestly, Anastasia, must I
think of everything?” Her mother advanced upon her with all the
deadly grace of a big cat stalking its prey. “I suggest you call
the man back and ask him what exactly he needs, and tell him you’ll
get him the answer. There is no need to encourage a meeting between
them.”

“
I don’t know Bella’s pass code
for her phone. And he was calling from his car and I don’t have his
cell number.”

“
Then I strongly urge you to march
that well-wiggled derriere of yours down to the zoo and catch him
before he finds her.” Mother’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t have to
explain any further, do I?”

Oh no. She came through loud and clear. But
Staci had other plans for the day. Plans that would be futile
unless she did what Mother wanted. “Fine. I’ll try to find him
before he finds her and Sophia.”

She was almost past her when Mother’s hand
shot out and caught her arm. “Don’t
try
, Anastasia.
Do
. Remember, Salvatore’s money only takes us so far. We
cannot buy our way into the country club scene. However, if I
become a member of the Board of the Arts Center, our entrée is all
but guaranteed.” Her grip got tighter. “Unless you want to be
second rate all your life.”

Staci yanked her arm out of the vise. “I get
it, Mother. Say goodbye to Luke and play nice-nice to Reese in
exchange for helping you out. Gee, I’m so glad I get something out
of it. Do the words ‘world’s oldest profession’ mean anything to
you?”

Fury rushed into Mother’s face. “Don’t you
ever speak to me in such a manner again, Anastasia. I’ll not have
it. I’ve given up the best years of my life trying to do better by
you girls than that slob who sired you ever did! I put up with
enough of his garbage to last me a lifetime, and then, when I was
finally able to land a good prospect, I had to play second fiddle
to a ghost!” She wagged a long, pointed finger in Staci’s face.
“I’ve done what’s necessary to keep you in the tight clothes you so
enjoy and a decent roof over your head, and this is how you repay
me?”

Staci took a step back as Mother came closer.
She’d never seen her like this. Usually Mother’s
words
spoke
volumes, not her tone.

“
I struggled to claw out of the
slum where I was born. Do you have any idea what it’s like to be so
hungry you’ll eat other people’s bread crusts?” Mother was beyond
stopping. She backed Staci against the foyer wall, jailing her in
place by planting her hands on the wall beside Staci’s
head.

“
I swore I’d never do that again,
that I’d do whatever it took to get out of that hell and rise to
the upper echelons of society.”

Mother’s face was so close Staci had a hard
time focusing. But Mother’s tone got through and it frightened her.
She’d never seen Mother so out of control.

“
And what happened once I worked
and saved and struggled just to get beyond Fifth Street? I find a
man who promises to be everything I need him to be. Your father.
Only his promises turn out to be gin-soaked.”

For a brief second, Staci swore she saw the
glint of a tear. But only for a second. Mother never
cried.

Mother turned away and straightened her
shoulders. “A man who saw a young girl and swept her off her feet
by pulling the rug out from under her. As he continued to do with
any pretty girl he met. Five years and two kids later, I was right
back where I started. But at least then I had smarts.” She spun
back around. “And a plan. No man was ever going to take advantage
of me again. And when Sal came along, it was just too perfect to
pass up. A financially well-off man who was completely dependent on
me. Who was I to pass up the gift that’d been dropped into my
lap?”