Park Avenue (Book Six in the Fifth Avenue Series) (38 page)

But she knew by the way
he cracked a smile that he had caught that look on her face.

“Would you like a glass
of wine?” she asked.
 
“Something
stronger?
 
A martini?
 
Scotch?
 
I have everything.”

“How about if we just go
to the bedroom?”

“That’s not why I asked
you here, Parker.
 
I plan on paying
you for your time, but this meeting is about something very different.”

“I told you that you
don’t have to pay me anymore.
 
I’d
like to be with you, Pepper.
 
I
think we could have a go of it.
 
You
know I went to a good school.
 
You
know I’m trying every day to find a decent job in a rotten economy.
 
I only do this side thing of mine
because I need to eat and pay the bills.
 
I’m not proud of it.
 
I’m
actually ashamed of it.
 
But I think
a lot of you.
 
I think of you all
the time.”

So do I.

“Why don’t we go into the
living room?” she said.

“How about this
first?”
 
He leaned forward and
gently kissed her on the lips.
 
“And
this?”
 
He kissed her again.

As difficult as it was to
resist him, she did.
 
“Parker, I
need to talk to you.
 
Please?
 
Let’s sit over here.
 
You in that chair and me in that
chair.”
 
She smiled at him.
 
“That way there will be no funny stuff.”

“Will that come later?”

“We’ll see.
 
After what I’m about to say to you, you
might never want to see me again.”

“I can’t imagine that
happening.”

She felt unusually
nervous because she knew that might be the case.
 
They each took a seat and she looked at
him for a moment before she spoke.
 
He was smiling at her in anticipation.
 
Was she willing to risk losing him over
this?
 
Penelope wouldn’t.
 
Penelope would never give him up.
 
But what about Pepper?
 
How much of Penelope was still inside
Pepper?
 
She wasn’t sure.
 
She was beginning to think this was a
mistake when she heard her uncle’s voice telling her that she essentially was
off the biggest project of her career.
 
The one project that would
seal
her career.
 
And that she’d be answering to
Leana.
 
That was almost as bad.
 
That, in fact, was a slap across the
face.

But maybe there was a way
not to involve him directly.

“I’m in a situation,” she
said.

His smile faded.
 
“What kind of situation?”

“It’s not good.
 
I’ve been threatened.”

“By whom?”

“Parker, do you trust
me?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then please understand
that I can’t divulge too much about this.
 
I want to involve you as little as possible.”

“Do you know who
threatened you?”

“I do.”

“Is it life threatening?”

My career is my life.

“It is.”

“Have you gone to the
police?”

“I can’t.
 
It’s too dangerous.
 
I’ve been warned that if I do, anything
could happen to me.
 
It doesn’t take
a genius to know what that means.
 
And I’m not stupid enough to challenge them on that.”

“How can I help?”

“I need to know if you
know of anyone who might handle the situation for me.”

“What do you mean by
‘handle’?”

“You and I both know what
I mean.”

He sat on that for a
moment.
 
An uncomfortable silence
stretched between them.

“You mean killing
someone?”

Did she?

“I don’t know.
 
But the threat is real.
 
I guess I need someone to talk to and see
how they would take care of the situation.
 
A professional.
 
Someone who
could put an end to it.
 
I’m
frightened.”

“What’s this about?”

“I can’t tell you.
 
I don’t want to involve you any more
than I already have.”

“And you think I’d know
such a person?”

“I don’t know who you
know, Parker.
 
But I’m
desperate.
 
I didn’t know who else
to turn to.”

“I don’t hang around
thugs, Pepper.
 
I might be an escort
and that probably comes with low expectations when it comes to my character,
but my friends aren’t thugs.”

She felt herself
flush.
 
“I’m sorry,” she said.
 
“I didn’t mean to offend you.
 
Just forget I said any of this.
 
I’ll find a way to take care of it on my
own.
 
I’m sorry—”

He held up his hand.
 
“I said I don’t hang around thugs,
Pepper.
 
But that doesn’t mean I
don’t know of a few of them.
 
In my
line of work, you meet all sorts of people—the best and the worst.
 
When would you need to speak to
someone?”

“As soon as
possible.
 
They’d need to be very
discreet.”

“Is tomorrow too late?”

She shook her head and
was surprised when he got up from his seat and came over to her.
 
He held out his hand; she took it and
stood.
 
She tried to read his face,
but it was difficult.
 
What did he
think of her now?
 
She could have
just lost him, and now, she realized that was something she didn’t want.
 
Not because of Penelope, but because she
knew there was something between them.

“I’m staying the night,”
he said.
 
“If you’ve been
threatened, I don’t want you here alone.
 
That’s not debatable.
 
OK?”

She leaned forward, clasped
his face in her hands and kissed him hard on the mouth before lowering her head
to his chest.
 
His arms embraced
her.
 
“Thank you,” she said.

“I understand you’re in
the public eye.
 
I assume this has
something to do with the exposure you’re receiving?”

She didn’t answer.

“All right,” he
said.
 
“I won’t press.
 
How about that glass of wine and we sit
down and watch a movie?
 
I’ll make a
call in the morning and we’ll see if we get a response.
 
I can’t make any promises because I
don’t have any kind of relationship with this person.
 
But I know what he does, and I can
try.
 
Does that work for you?”

Leana flashed before her
eyes.

“It
more than works for me,” she said.

CHAPTER
FIFTY-THREE

“So, you and I have some
catching up to do.”

“Why would you want to do
that?” Mario said.
 
“Catching up
will only ruin this pizza, which is delicious.”

They were sitting next to
each other in their dining room.
 
Neither wanted to cook, which was an indication that each had had a
tough day because normally they enjoyed cooking together.
 
So they ordered a pizza from Mario’s
restaurant on Third.
 
After Mario
hung up the phone, he let a moment pass and said, “After today, one pizza is
hardly enough pizza.”
 
And so he
ordered another, this one loaded with the works.
 
They had arrived ten minutes ago and
since then, each had been eating in silence, which also wasn’t like them.

Leana decided to get the
ball rolling.

“Talking about our day
isn’t going to ruin your pizza.”

“I disagree.”

“Your pizza can stand up
to anything.”

He took a bite.
 
“Don’t be too sure about that.”

“Tell me about your
meeting with your brothers.
 
How did
it go?
 
Since you haven’t brought it
up, I can only assume it didn’t go well.”

Mario lifted his glass of
wine.
 
“You assume correctly.”

“Let me guess.
 
Your father isn’t exactly thrilled that
we got married while I was in the hospital.”

“That’s an
understatement.”

“What did Miko and Tony
have to say?”

“Just what you’d
expect.
 
My father is angry.
 
He feels betrayed.
 
He doesn’t understand why we did this
without asking him to be part of the ceremony, if you even want to call it
that, especially when he’s using his resources to figure out what’s happening
to you now.
 
In my family, what we
did is an offense.
 
But I knew that
the day we got married, so I’m the one to blame here, not you.
 
That said, he wants us to have a proper
wedding at his estate in Todt Hill.”

That surprised her.
 
“You’re joking.”

“Afraid not.”

“How do you feel about
that?”

He shrugged.
 
“Part of me would just like to move
forward with my life without him and all the baggage that comes with being his
son.
 
But I know he could be helpful
to you, so I don’t know what to say.
 
He does have the sort of connections that could pinpoint what’s
happening to you now.
 
I think if we
gave him and the Family some time, they would nail the son of a bitch who’s
doing this to you.
 
We have to
consider that going forward, or we’ll lose it forever.”

“Mario, the last thing I
want to do is cause trouble between you and your family.
 
I’ll do what I need to do, especially if
he’s willing to drop his stupid belief that a woman shouldn’t have a
career—which I plan to have regardless of what he thinks—and if
he’ll help figure out who’s responsible for the shooting, what was written on
the tarp, the texts, and if any of it is connected to the deaths that took
place on Anastassios’ ship.
 
But you
know what?
 
That’s not even my main
goal because others are working on that.
 
What’s critical to me is that you have whatever relationship you want
with your father.
 
If you want to
sever it, I’ll stand by you.
 
If you
want to get it moving in the right direction again, I’ll do whatever it takes
to support you.
 
I’ll even agree to
a little ceremony if he wants.”

“Have you seen the size
of my family, Leana?
 
It won’t be
little.
 
Nothing my father does is
little.”

“Then it is what it
is.
 
Of all people, I know how
important it is to have a father’s love and respect.
 
I would never do anything to rob you of
that.
 
Just know that if you want to
have a ceremony, I’ll do it.
 
But it
would be helpful if we could do that after the hotel is open.”
 
She took a bite of her pizza, a sip of
her wine and stared at the wall ahead of her.
 
“That and this other project I’m working
on.”

“What other project?”

“I’m glad you’re sitting
down.”

“Why are you glad about
that?”

“Because you’re not going
to be happy about what I agreed to do today.”

“What did you agree to
do?”

“Work
for my father.
 
Help him make sure
that his high-rise on Columbus Circle opens on time.
 
I begin tomorrow morning at five.
 
And the bonus?
 
I’m now Pepper Redman’s boss.”

CHAPTER
FIFTY-FOUR

“So, that’s what this
really is about,” Mario said.
 
“You
being Pepper’s boss.”

“Partly.”

“Mostly.”

“Partly.”