Making You Mine (45 page)

After fast forwarding for a while he slows at another image of Melissa spiking yet another shot then she put something away in her purse, picked up the shot glass and walked out of the camera’s view. He typed in something else and a different camera picked up her image. Melissa walked across the bar with the shot glass still in her hand and she went straight to a very wobbly looking Sal and handed it to him.

“I don’t remember that at all.” He thought hard and remembered being handed shots but not who handed them to him. He assumed it had been Jason or the waitress.

“You’re lucky you were so wasted you spilled half that shit or she may’ve killed you!” Alex fumed.

They watched several more videos of Sal walking through the casino and to his room hanging on Melissa the whole way. There was no video of what actually happened in the room. But Sal knew without a doubt nothing had happened, especially not after seeing just how out of it he’d actually been. The only other evidence was that she hadn’t even spent the night. She walked out of his room twenty minutes after walking him there and didn’t return until the following morning.

Her spiking his drink made total sense now. No wonder the memories of that night were so damn choppy.

“Are you calling the police?” Sofia asked. “or are you going straight down there to file the report?”

Sal shook his head still staring at the video Romero had now rewound to the part where she spiked his drink. “I’m not doing either.”

Both Sofia and Alex spoke at the same time. “Why not?”

“First of all,” he said turning to face their stunned faces. “This tape would never be admissible in court. Romero could even get in trouble for having it.”

“Actually there’s ways around that,” Romero smirked.

Sal was adamant. “Even if there is. I’m not.” If this girl nearly took her own life because she thought he hated her, he could only imagine what she’d do if he ruined her. This would get her debarred for sure. Sal took a deep breath and explained briefly about Melissa overdosing and what Kat had told him. “She’s unstable but having this evidence against her could be enough to keep her away for good. I don’t even wanna have contact with her again but I could pass the word through Jason that if she so much tries to contact me or Grace I’ll go to the police.”

None of them seemed content with his decision, least of all Sofia. “What about Grace? Are you going to show this to her?”

Oh he certainly planned to. “Yeah,” he turned to Romero, “but I need another favor from you.”

For some reason what he needed to know now outweighed any worry he’d had in past weeks about clearing his name. Unbelievably something that had actually made him start questioning his desire to have Grace back in his life.

*

The next morning Sal got two calls: the first one was a relief; the other one his worst nightmare. Kat called to thank him again for coming to the hospital and told him Melissa had woke up just hours after he’d left. As much as a relief that it was to hear that news he still had one not so pleasant thing to do when it came to Melissa. He asked Kat if he could speak to Jason. First he apologized again for not making it to the wedding.

“Don’t worry about it, man. I get it now. I wouldn’t have wanted to be there either if I was in your shoes. But you gotta know I would’ve never pushed for you to go out with her especially a second time if I had known about all this.”

“Of course I know that,” Sal said. “But believe it or not there’s more. Can you put me on speaker because I want Kat to hear this too?”

Sal told them everything. About the Vegas stunt to the fake pregnancy and then dropped the big one about her spiking his drink. “Don’t ask me how but I have it on tape. I just want to make sure you guys know that I’m not going to the police with this
yet
. When she’s better I need for you two to make sure you tell her that I’m willing to overlook this. Let it go and we all know this is huge.” The thought of it was beginning to piss him off again. “But I’m willing to not ruin her career and possibly throw her ass in jail so long as she stays the fuck away from me and my family. I don’t want her anywhere near my house, the restaurant, anyone I know and I don’t want her contacting me in any way.”

After the initial shock of it both Kat, but even more adamantly Jason, agreed they’d make sure Melissa had it straight. And Kat thanked him repeatedly for not going to the police.

Sal sat back in his chair when he got the second call. It couldn’t have come at a worst time. Once again he had a meeting that day with the investors. He was just waiting for Alex to get out of class and come relieve him so he could leave and meet with them. But Romero threw a wrench in those plans.

The night before Sal had asked him if he could find out a little bit more than what Vincent was giving him about Grace and this Laughlin guy. He’d remembered a part of the conversation he had with Grace the day they left the hospital when the twins were born. When he asked her why she’d come back to the restaurant even though she was so adamant about not being hired as a bartender she’d said “sometimes necessity makes people do things they might not otherwise.”

Without a job, Sal knew Grace must be in a bind. She’d told him she wasn’t attracted to Frank in any way. And she’d told Rose she wasn’t interested in him either. So if she was sleeping with the guy now—the thought alone made him squeeze his eyes shut so hard he saw stars. But if she was it was for one reason only—money. Sal knew no matter what he could never respect someone like that. Grace said she wasn’t like her mother but... necessity. She sure as hell hadn’t wasted any time after they broke up to take a
vacation
in Laughlin.

Sal knew there was no way this guy would be buying her a house and going into business with her if there was nothing else involved. As much as it killed him he had to know.

He answered Romero’s call on the first ring. “Hey, man. I don’t have much yet except one little, yet very significant, thing that’s gonna piss the fuck outta you. But I thought you should know.”

“I had a job near Chula Vista early this morning. I got here a little too early so I thought I’d drive by her place, you know to check out what might be a good place to get the best angle if I decide to stake it out.” He paused for a second before continuing. “The car was there, man. And if I had to guess because it was so early, we’re talking just after five, it was there over night.”

Sal bolted out of his chair in reaction to that news. The guy was there all fucking weekend and he’d spent the night at her place? He ran his hand roughly through his hair. “And you’re sure it was Nevada plates?”

“Yep, I mean it could be a coincidence but—”

“Nah, it’s no coincidence that’s his car.” Sal couldn’t believe he could be so wrong about her.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so either. So whatta ya want me to do? I could still look into it but I mean… this pretty much says it all.”

Sal stopped pacing and shook his head. “No. Don’t waste anymore time on her. I don’t need to know anything else. But thanks.”

The second he hung up Sal picked up the coffee mug on his desk and flung it across the room. Hearing it smash into a million pieces was what he needed at that moment. But it did little to calm him.

Oscar rushed in the room. “You okay in here?”

Sal could barely breath straight much less talk. He nodded and pointed at the door. “Just close the door will you? I need a minute.”

By the time Alex got there Sal had done nothing but obsess about Grace with that guy and even though he’d told himself he’d want nothing to do with her if she was sleeping with him he needed answers or he was going to explode.

Alex stopped and stared at the coffee stain on the wall and then the shards of coffee mug all over the floor. “What the hell? What happened?”

After hours of trying to figure out how best to handle Grace’s latest
dilemma
she finally had to change the subject. She was so drained from this topic already.

“Yesterday after she got home—mind you she spent Friday evening with him and most of the day yesterday—she asks if it would be okay if he picked her up from school instead of taking the school bus. So I told her no. Three days in less than a week is a bit much, don’t you guys think?”

Taylor made a face and she knew he would. He, as always, was on Rose’s side. God, he loved spoiling her. Before he’d start stating why he didn’t agree with Grace, she lifted her hand. “Remember, Taylor. She’s only fifteen.”

“But if they’re just hanging out and if you know you can trust her, and you know you can Grace, then I don’t see the issue.”

Joey shook his head. Finally someone was on her side. “I think you’re forgetting, Taylor, what it’s like to be a sixteen-year-old boy. Too much time together could be trouble. Not to mention that his own cousin warned Grace about him.” Joey turned back to Grace. “So she’s mad at you, sweetie?”

Grace nodded a bit saddened. “I hate for her to be mad at me but I told her it was for her own good. I knew the time would come when she would rebel even against me. I just didn’t think it would be after only a couple of times of hanging with him.”

“You really think she’ll rebel? Like maybe get sneaky?” Joey asked.

Grace hadn’t thought that far ahead but the thought was alarming. What if she did? As if she really needed more to worry about.

The knock at the door was loud and severe, making all three of them turn at once. “Grace? You here? I need to talk to you.”

Sal’s voice was ominous—demanding. Rose was the first thing that came to mind. School had been out for over an hour and she hadn’t checked in like she normally would when Grace wasn’t home at that time. Grace assumed it was because she was mad at her but with Sal banging at the door she wasn’t sure what to think. She jumped from Joey and Taylor’s kitchen table where they’d all been sitting the entire time.

Without even thinking she hurried to the door and swung it open, her heart at her throat then feeling the all too familiar rush of emotion at the incredible sight of him. She barely managed to say the words. “What happened? Is Rose okay?”

With the relief of knowing this had nothing to do with Rose, suddenly the anger and hurt that she’d worked so hard to keep sedated over the past month began to emerge. The front she had to put up for everyone else’s sake, out of fear of worrying them she could no longer contain. “You have
got
to be kidding me.”

Sal didn’t back down instead he stood even taller, every word more looming than the last. “Is he here?” Sal eyes searched the small apartment. “I saw his car out front. Are you seeing him now, Grace?”

He took one step forward cupping her face in his hands weakening her resolve just like that and she went speechless, staring into his frightened eyes. “I didn’t sleep with her, Grace. I swear to you. She concocted the entire thing. I have proof for you. But I need to know what the
fuck
is going on with you and this guy? Why is he here with you? And why’ve you’ve been with him all weekend. Are you…”

His words seemed to catch while Grace tried to make sense of what he’d just said. “You have proof…” She almost allowed herself to believe it but caught herself. “No!” She pulled his hands away from her face. She wouldn’t fall back into this. “You said you did. You can’t just take that back now.” Feeling what she’d known all along she’d feel if she ever had to be around him she could barely speak now. “You need to leave. I told you I want nothing to do with you anymore.”

“Just tell me. Is he here?” He looked around again eyeing the hallway to the bedrooms. “Is he fucking hiding?”

“No!”

“Then what’s his car doing out front? I
know
I can prove to you I didn’t do a damn thing with Melissa, but you’ve been with this guy all weekend.” The fire in his eyes was ever blazing and she knew she should be mad but he sounded so determined when he said he could prove his innocence it gave her mangled heart an ounce of hope.