The Playboy's Fugitive Bride (36 page)

From the living area of her penthouse suite, Nia looked down on the moving mass of twirling skaters of all ages—some graceful and some not so—as they glided across the ice in Wollman Rink.  In a couple hours, New York would light up and the sky would be teeming with millions of twinkling stars transforming Central Park into a magical, enchanted oasis of excitement, adventure, and romance.

She’d lived in this city—the most exciting in the world—for the past four years, but she’d never been able to fully enjoy it.  How could she, when she’d been living as someone else and always on the alert that her past would catch up to her?  She’d been afraid of so many things.  That Maine’s child welfare services would find her, take Aaron away, and put her in jail for kidnapping him.  That the hospital would catch up to her and start garnishing her wages to pay off her father’s medical bills.  Little did she know that those two problems were the least of her worries, that there was a greater, more evil force lurking in the shadows.  A force by the name of Edward Wallace.

Nia shivered and tightened her arms around her midsection.  It wasn’t from fear, just stark realization that if it wasn’t for Eddie, she might not have sought out Massimo Andretti.  In fact, she knew she would never have done it.  There would have been no reason to.  Any hope of ever seeing Massimo again had died when he’d voided the contract between their fathers.  But Eddie’s threats had rekindled that hope.  Eddie had inadvertently given her back her life, a chance to resurrect Shaina Norwood.

Nia took a sip of her herbal tea as her mind swam in a haze of conflicting emotions.  Yesterday morning, as she’d basked in the rapturous aftermath of Massimo’s lovemaking, her fear of Eddie had transitioned into a debt of gratitude toward him.  She’d even thought that he deserved his one million dollars for sending her into Massimo’s path, his arms, his bed, his life, and hopefully, one day, his heart.

So far removed were her anxieties that before Massimo left for his trip to Asia, she’d told him she was coming to New York to take care of some business.  He’d looked at her expectantly, but when she’d offered no further explanations, he’d simple told her that his pilot was at her beck and call to fly her anywhere she wanted to go.  He’d also told her that since he would be away for a few days, she should extend her stay, go shopping, catch up with her friends, and such.

Nia had needed no convincing.  She did have to spend a couple days in the city since she had to settle Aaron back into school and make some kind of living arrangements for him until June when he graduated.  She couldn’t share the details of her trip with her husband, not just yet, but she did tell him she would stay a couple nights, at which point he’d promised to book her his favorite penthouse suite at one of New York’s finest five-star hotels.

It was comforting to know that he trusted her to come back home to him.  And as if to remind her of what she would be missing should she harbor any thoughts of running again, he’d made slow, drugging love to her before reluctantly pulling himself out of their bed.  Nia had followed him into the shower and made love to him under the warm sprays—just to remind him of what would be waiting at home for him, should he be tempted to stray.

She wasn’t forgetting that Massimo was an Andretti and that Andretti men had wandering eyes.

After Massimo left for the airport, Nia had spent the day preparing for her trip to New York.  She’d called to tell Aaron to pack his bags for home.  She hadn’t told him that he would be flying first-class from Puerto Rico to JFK.  He would have asked too many questions that she preferred to answer in person.  Her intentions were to give him a taste of the new life he was returning to.  Maybe if he saw how the other half lived, he wouldn’t be so hard on her.

The first thing Nia had done when she arrived in New York this morning was make Eddie’s drop.  After handing over the money, she’d been asked to wait while they counted it in a back room of his check-cashing establishment.  A short while later, a woman had come to the front and handed her an envelope.  With shaking fingers Nia had opened it to find a hand-written notarized letter from Mr. Edward Wallace, stating that her father’s debt had been paid in full and that she and her brother were safe from all further threats from him and his associates.  He’d even apologized for his insults to her.  He’d written that his change of heart had come about when his wife discovered the sort of business he was mixed up in.  His wife was appalled that a man who had children would treat another man’s so despicably, especially his daughter. He was trying to change his ways, and wished her all the best in life.  He hoped she could forgive him.  At the end of the letter, he’d listed the names and contact information of some local charities where he was planning to donate portions of the money in her father’s name.

It had taken Nia over an hour to get over the shock of the contents of that letter.  She must have read it half a dozen times just to make sure she hadn’t imagined it, and once the reality had sunk in, she’d broken down and cried in relief.  She could bring her brother home and not worry about leaving him alone in the city.

She’d spent the rest of the day looking at apartments—happy that she could now afford an upscale one.  She would love to take him back to Granite Falls with her, but it would be foolish for him to change schools when he was so close to graduation.

She’d found a one-bedroom apartment within walking distance of his school.  It was in a secured building, fully furnished, and equipped with a washer and dryer, and surrounded by good restaurants and a supermarket, so she wouldn’t have to worry about him wandering the streets too much.  The three-month lease cost more than a year’s rent on their old apartment, but she had the other million dollars from Massimo and had deposited half of it into her old bank account.  Tomorrow, she would take Aaron to the bank to add his name to the account and get him a debit card with spending limits of course.  She didn’t want the access to so much money going to his head.

She’d spoken to her old landlord who’d told her that her boxes were still at the apartment because he hadn’t had time to transport them to a storage facility.  Nia was elated he hadn’t moved them and had made arrangements to truck them to Granite Falls.  That is after Aaron took what he needed to get him through the rest of the school year.

As her heart fluttered away in anxiety, Nia left the window and sat down on the sofa near a roaring fire.  She checked the time on her Smartphone as her anxiety began to grow.  Aaron would be arriving at the hotel very soon, and she still had no idea how she was going to tell him about her marriage to Massimo.  Even thought he’d said nothing when he’d called to let her know he’d landed and was in the car she’d sent to pick him up, Nia was certain that he’d already figured out that a lot had changed in the short time he’d been away.

She would have to explain that change tonight.  They’d suffered through many over the past six years—each one as challenging as the last, and they’d survived because they loved and trusted each other.   She was banking on that love and trust to get them through this final, but most difficult change of all—the change back to themselves, to the people they used to be.  The most challenging of all would be their change of attitude toward Massimo Andretti.

If Eddie could change, so could they—all of them—she, Aaron, and Massimo.  They could learn to live as a family.

She hoped.

* * *

Massimo glanced at his ringing cellphone, and when he saw the identity of the caller, he let it ring a little longer before setting aside his copy of the report he and Bryce had been discussing—over breakfast—before their first meeting for the today.  It was Wednesday morning in Bangkok and Tuesday evening in New York City.  He picked up the phone and pressed it to his ear.  “Andretti.”

“Good morning, Mr. Andretti.  It’s Eddie.  Mr. Wallace,” the wooly voice on the other end said.

“Good evening to you, Mr. Wallace.  What can I do for you?”  Massimo sneered when Bryce rolled his eyes at him.  He knew full well why Eddie was calling, but he had to keep him in his place.  Not for a minute did he want Eddie to get the idea that they were equals.

“You told me to call when your wife made the drop.  She did this morning at which time she received the letter.”

Nothing he didn’t already know
.

“Also,” Eddie continued without prompt, “her brother just got to the hotel.”

He knew that too.
  “Just make sure he remains that way, Eddie.”  Massimo walked to the window of his hotel and looked out at the spectacular network of Bangkok’s streets and sois, bristling with skyscrapers and mega malls, and further in the distance the Chao Phraya River lined with ancient temples clashing against a modern skyline.  It was truly a unique city and he wanted to bring Nia here sometime in the near future.  More urgently, he longed to take her to Bellagio and Kenya, show her the world he’d originated from.  “Anything else to report?” he asked Eddie.

Eddie cleared his throat.  “She rented an apartment for her brother.  It’s close to his school and in a really nice neighborhood.  He’ll be safe there.”

“Of course he will be safe, Eddie.  Do you know how I know?”

“I’m gonna make sure of it.”

“Good, Eddie.  Remember if anything happens to him, anything at all, your wife will become a widow and your children will be fatherless.” 

“Nothing will happen to him, Mr. Andretti.  You have my word on that.”

Bryce was shaking his head and grinning when Massimo hung up and turned around. “You’ve definitely made a puppy dog out of that man,” he told Massimo.

“Yep,” Massimo said, walking back to the dining area of the elaborate suite he was sharing with Bryce.  “Edward Wallace is now my bitch.”

“And a fine bitch he is.”  Bryce burst into laughter.  “That’s what I should have done with Kaya’s ex.  Turned him into my own personal bitch.”  He took a sip on his coffee.

Massimo sat down and looked at his friend.  “You were going through a tough time last year Bryce, and you had to deal with it alone.  Now, if Erik, Adam, and I were home, we would have happily turned him into your bitch for you.  It’s what we do.  We take care of each other’s problems.”

Bryce shook his head.  “You’re right.  The only thing on my mind this time last year was the welfare of my godchildren, helping them cope with losing their parents.  Plus, after my experience with Victoria and Pilar, the last thing I would have wanted was Kaya’s ex hanging around her.”

“My point exactly.  Our situations are different, but I still don’t want Eddie Wallace anywhere near my wife.  I don’t even want her to know what he looks like.  I don’t want his image in her thoughts.  Her business with him is done, and she’ll never have to see him or think about him ever again.  Her brother is a different story, though.  He will be safe—ironically—
from
and
with
Eddie as his own personal invisible watchdog.”

“When are you going to tell Nia that you know who she is?” Bryce asked.

“When I get home.  I thought it would be best if she told her brother about me first.”

“That’s good.  You don’t want to prolong it.”  He paused.  “We have three meetings set for today, but I can handle the one tomorrow by myself if you want to go home a day early, you know.  You’re a newlywed and must be missing your bride like crazy.”

Massimo sighed.  “I do miss her.  I’ve never missed a woman in my life before, Bryce.”

Bryce smiled.  “You’ve got it bad, brother.  Welcome to Love.”  Bryce stood up.  “I’m gonna go video chat with my wife, check on my family before we leave for our meetings, and they go to bed.”  He picked up his laptop from the table.  “Maybe you should call Nia.”

“I can’t.  She’s with her brother now.”

“Oh yeah.  I forgot.  Later, man.”  He walked across the floor toward his bedroom.

Massimo leaned back in his chair and locked his hands behind his head as he thought of the reunion Nia and Aaron were having at the moment.  He knew it would be difficult for her to explain why she’d married him, and Massimo wished he could be there to share her burden.  But he had every confidence in her.

She’d caused him, a man she’d hated for six years, to fall in love with her.  He was certain she could convince Aaron, a boy she’d loved all her life, to forgive her.

Massimo prayed they would both forgive him, not for causing their father’s death, because he had no hand in it, but for not being there to prevent the sale of the mill, which ultimately led to his death.  He should have been there to prevent so many things, but he’d let another of his father’s mottos keep him in hiding.

If your enemies know your weakness, they’ll attack it.  Never let them know when you’re down.  And if you’re ever down, call your most trusted friend and have him fight on your behalf
.

And he’d been weak—physically, emotionally, and psychologically.  If Maurice Spencer had known he was incapacitated, Massimo would have lost Andretti Industries for sure.  So he’d called Bryce, his most trusted friend and asked him to fight for him until he was well enough to fight for himself again.

Looking back now, Massimo realized that he should never have gone on that lone safari in such a fragile state of mind.  But after learning about Galen, and what he had to do to gain control of his inheritance, he’d wanted to bury his father in the deepest part of the jungle he could find, in a place where his ashes would never cross paths with his mother’s.  She’d had no peace in life.  He was determined to give her some in death.

He’d been so engrossed in his internal turmoil that he’d been paying little attention to his external surroundings, and by the time he’d noticed the injured rhino charging at him, it was too late.  A month later, he’d awoken on a cot in a Masai village fighting for his life, only to learn that during his drifts in and out of his coma, Maurice had made a move to dismantle Andretti Industries by selling off a number of companies, claiming the orders had come from an absent Massimo.  And to make matters worse, Massimo had discovered that huge chunks of his most recent memories had been lost.