Mafia Secret (20 page)

"She is dangerous to you and this family." Lucia's voice drew closer.

Lessa looked around in momentary panic and tip-toed ran to the doorway of the library. She hid in the doorway once she had determined the room was empty. She couldn't hear what Lucia said next, but her voice rose after a few words and traveled easily into the library.

"She isn't one of us."

"Yes, she is," Jio's voice was firm and closer. "You don't have to like her presence, but she is a part of this family now."

Lessa shrunk back against the library's wall. She had no desire to be caught eavesdropping, again. It was silent for a moment and footsteps clicked down the hall away from her hiding spot. She waited and listened. The hallway was silent. She peeked her head out to find it was as empty as it had been earlier.

Biting her lip, she hesitated before edging out of the library and walking silently to the study. Her stomach jiggled. She didn't know for sure that Lucia was gone. It could have been Jio she had heard walking down the hallway.
Don't be a ninny
. She forced herself forward and cautiously stepped into the study. Her fears eased. Jio was alone.

He looked up from where he sat behind his desk. "Lessa?" He rose to his feet. "Can I help you with something?"

Might as well get it over with. She stepped into the study and tried to smile. He gestured her to one of the chairs in front of his desk. Déjà vu. But she sat anyway. "I've made a plane reservation for the morning."

"I see." Jio looked at her with the guarded expression she'd come to expect. "You can use the family plane."

She wasn't comfortable with the idea of going back to Florida on that plane. Marc would find out. "Unrefundable flight, it leaves at six in the morning. I've called a cab to pick me up."

Jio shook his head. "We've a car to take you to the airport. A taxi won't be necessary." His tone made it clear he wouldn't accept no for an answer."I'm sorry you're cutting your visit short."

"I think it's better for all involved if I do."

"You're welcome to come back."

Lessa hesitated on the question she had to ask. "I have a favor."

"What can I do?"

"Don't tell Marc about this until I leave."

Jio frowned, then said slowly, "As you wish . . . Do you want to talk about what happened between you two?"

She nearly laughed at the idea of Jio giving her brotherly advice. "No, thank you. Despite what ended up happening, I'm . . ." she tried to think of the right word, but couldn't find one, "glad I got the opportunity to meet the family."

"Give it some time, and you might find you want to visit again. I'll have a couple guards take you to the airport." His eyebrows came together as if a thought had just occurred to him. "Which brings up the necessity for guards."

"What do you mean?" she asked warily.

"We need to assign a couple of guards to you in Florida."

Oh, no, she didn't want that. "Why?"

"Because you're a Tazio."

"But no one knows I'm a Tazio." She didn't need guards following her like they did Nina and Clarissa. "Besides it'll draw too much attention. I don't live your lifestyle, Jio. I'd probably lose my job if I showed up to work with a bodyguard every day. Image is very important to my employer."

He didn't look convinced. "People know you're a Tazio."

"Not in Florida. Besides, I'm only half Tazio." She felt desperation rising. There was no way she could live her life with guards following her everywhere, especially now she knew the true reason behind the necessity. "I appreciate the gesture, but I just can't live like that."

"All right. I'll agree with you." Jio smiled. "For now."

Suddenly worried Marc would walk in on their conversation, Lessa stood. She fell back on manners to cover her nervousness. "Thank you for your hospitality."

Jio rose with her and walked her out of his study. "Safe journey…Sis."

She gave him a small smile then went toward the kitchen. If she didn't see Marc lurking around she'd try to say goodbye to Nina and Clarissa.

T
he air inside Lessa's townhouse was stagnant. Sighing, she shut and locked her front door. Only then did she move to open the sliding patio door to allow some humid evening air to wash in and clear the stuffiness.

She watched the light fade as the sun set, thinking about all the messages her mother had left on her cell phone. With nothing better to do on the first leg of her flight, she'd listened to every one of her voice mails and read the backlog of text messages. They hadn't been encouraging.

Would listening to her mother's warnings have made any difference in what had happened over the past few days?

A cool breeze began to blow, and her growling stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten anything all day except airline crackers. She shut the slider and locked it. The air was still a little stuffy in the kitchen, but she'd deal with it.

Lessa forced down a power bar and drank half a glass of water before acknowledging that, despite her guilt at leaving her mother wondering for so long, she wasn't ready to call her back yet. Sleep first. Figure out what she was going to say. She'd call her in the morning.

Decision made, she headed upstairs to her bedroom and climbed into bed fully clothed. Pulling the cover over her head so she was safely cocooned, she willed herself to sleep. But her mind wouldn't stop spinning. Thoughts of Marc kept rotating to the front despite her efforts to push him away. What had his reaction been when he discovered her gone? Would he be relieved she was finally out of his hair? Upset? Would he come after her?

Pulling her cell phone out of her pocket, she set it on the pillow next to her head and stared at it. With a deep sigh, she reached over and pushed the power button. It vibrated for a second under her finger before powering on.

She rolled onto her back and waited for a connection. It would alert her to any new messages since she'd checked that morning. The ding signaling voice mail made her jump, but she froze in indecision. Should she listen to see if he'd called? Just because there was a message didn't mean it was from him. Did he even know her number?

Was she even ready to hear his voice? Closing her phone, she set it on her bedside table and pulled the covers more securely over her head. But after a moment, she threw them off in disgust and sat up to grab her cell.

One push of a button called her voice mail, and she sat tensely, listening to the automated voice saying she had five messages. The first two were hang-ups. The third was Marc.

"Lessa, I . . ." He breathed heavily. "I'm sorry."

The line clicked. The forth message was Nina.

"Hi Lessa, it's Nina. Just wanted to make sure you got home safely. I'll understand if you don't call me back, but we'd like to keep in touch."

The line clicked. The fifth message was Marc again.

"Listen, I know why you ran. It was the smart thing to do. I just wanted to tell you I won't bother you again." A pause. "But if you change your mind and want to talk, I'm here."

The line clicked a final time and the mechanical voice stated there were no more new messages. Lessa slowly returned the phone to the table. Just as she'd feared, hearing Marc's voice had made her more confused.

Again, she slid back down and pulled the cover over her head. He wouldn't be coming after her. Not that she wanted him to, she assured herself. He hadn't even sounded mad. More resigned, and something else she couldn't quite put her finger on. But this is what she wanted, she told herself firmly. She wasn't one of them. He had scared her. Feeling safe under her covers, she finally let herself admit it. Having his barely-controlled temper directed at her had certainly opened her eyes. Despite what he'd told her last night when he'd apologized, she wasn't stupid enough to think it wouldn't happen again. People like Marc were used to bullying other people to get what they wanted.

Lessa continued the tirade, assuring herself she had done the right thing by leaving. She hadn't been running. She'd made travel arrangements and left, not run away.

T
he bright sunny Florida morning did nothing to cheer Lessa's lousy mood. She glared out the window at the green grass and crystal-blue sky. It should be rainy and miserable just like her mood. Sometime during the night she'd started to cry. Her head and heart were not in agreement and were wrecking havoc with her. Now she had a crying hangover.

She tapped her toe as she dialed her mother's cell phone number. Anxiety flowed through her veins. The phone rang once.

"Are you all right?"

Hearing her mother's voice made her want to cry, and Lessa suddenly wished she'd gone over there instead of calling. "I'm fine, Mom. I just wanted to let you know that I'm back home."

"What happened?"

She hesitated, recalling her mother's warnings that she'd ignored until it was too late. "It was just time to leave."

Erin made a soft humming sound. "I know you, Lessa. You wouldn't have left early if something hadn't gone horribly wrong."

Trust Mom to see right through her. "Okay, something did happen, but I'm fine and—"

"You don't want to talk about it." Erin sighed. "I'm glad you're home safe, honey."

"Me, too." Now that she'd started talking to her mother, she didn't want to stop, but what would be a safe topic? There was too much still unresolved between them.

"Listen, honey," Erin said, her words coming slowly. "I'm sorry you learned about who your father was the way you did. I figured we'd cross that bridge together if it ever became necessary. But Peter was your father in every other way. He loved you so much."

She knew she should say something reassuring in response to her mother's pause, but the words wouldn't come. "Why did you lie in the first place? Did Peter know?"

"Peter knew I was pregnant, but didn't know who your father was. He was a good friend who was there for me when my family kicked me out for getting pregnant."

Lessa closed her eyes. Her mother had told her all of her family was gone. She supposed she hadn't exactly lied. "They knew about Jiovanni?"

Erin laughed softly, but there was no humor in the sound. "No. They would've been horrified and shamed. I think they guessed it was someone from the country club I worked at, but they probably thought it was one of the other servers. Not a guest, and especially not a married gangster guest."

Lessa jumped on that statement. "That's how you met?"

"Yes, to a young, inexperienced girl, he seemed very exciting and debonair. I had stars in my eyes, but didn't think he was really interested. I just knew he was handsome, funny, and a huge tipper." Erin paused. "It didn't take long for the affair to start. At first glance, danger makes everything so much more exciting, but when reality hits the excitement quickly turns to fear."

"Did you see something?" The words spilled out before she could stop them.

"No, I didn't see anything. But as time went on I realized there was more to the business than I wanted to know. You saw something?"

Lessa didn't answer right away. "Yes, but I don't want to talk about it."

Surprisingly, her mother didn't push, but changed the subject. "His wife found out about us a week before I discovered I was pregnant. Did you meet her?"

"Yes, didn't like me much. We steered clear of each other."

"Smart. You don't want to get in her range when she's on the warpath."

She wondered how much of Lucia's warpath her mother had witnessed. "I met my half-brothers and sister. Did you know Clarissa and I are the same age?"

"Your half-sister?" Erin asked, surprised.

"Yeah, took me by surprise when . . ." she almost said Marc had told her, "I first heard about it."

"Huh," Erin grunted.

"I met my nieces and nephew." She hadn't considered them being anything but Nina's children, but if she claimed the family tie, they also belonged to her.

"Okay." Erin said something else, but her voice was mumbled and Lessa couldn't hear.

"Mom?"

"Sorry, I was just informed my coffee break is over." Irritation seeped out of every word her mother uttered. "I'll call you back as soon as I get a free minute, okay, honey?"

"Sure, Mom, I understand." She didn't want to hang up, but she did. Tapping her fingers on her phone, she glanced at the time display. She should go in to work and touch base with Sharon.

L
essa jumped out of her car and hurried to the large glass doors of the cheerleaders' training facility. Her home away from home. It wasn't a practice day, but she recognized a few cars. Many of the girls worked out on off days. She'd just reached the doors when she heard her name called. Turning, she spotted Sharon jogging toward her down the trail along the road.

She headed to meet Sharon at the grassy spot where they always stretched out at the end of their runs. Focused on Sharon's approach, Lessa didn't notice the white work van cruising behind her until it was nearly on top of her. Leary of cars since her near-miss incident, she scooted to the other side of the walk and paused to let the van go past before she crossed to the grass. It jerked to a stop right in front of her. She stepped back again. The van's side door banged open.