by Suzanne Rock
“Camille?” Dante asked.
“Yes, that’s the one. She should know where our sister is hiding. You call her.” Leo pulled out his cell. “I’m going to call Roberto. He had been greeting wedding guests and parking cars. Perhaps he saw something.”
Dante looked up from the computer screen. “I located the phone at a diner in Southie.” He shook his head. “Why would she go to South Boston?”
“I’ve no idea, but we’re going to find out.” Leo lowered his phone and glanced at his brothers. “Come on.”
Dante closed up the laptop and he, Marco, and Leo strode toward the elevators.
“I’m coming with you.” Karin grabbed Leo’s suit jacket and handed it to him.
“You can’t.”
“Why not?”
Leo reached out and brushed his thumb down the side of her cheek. “Because I don’t know what I’m going to find in that diner. It could be dangerous.”
Karin stiffened. “I can handle it. We’re partners, remember?”
“Of course we are.” He smiled and kissed her forehead. “But you’d be too much of a distraction for me. I don’t think I could handle worrying about you and my sister’s safety at the same time.” He stepped away. “Besides, I need someone to stay here in case Ari comes back. I don’t want her to be alone, and Gianna has already left for the West Coast.”
“Gio’s here.”
“He’s taking care of Mamma. Please, Karin, for me.”
Karin saw the sincerity in his eyes. Leo was truly frightened about what he was going to find at that diner. His words weren’t coming from a need to control, but concern for her welfare. The knowledge made her uneasy. “Okay, but you owe me.”
“Of course.” Leo brushed his lips over her cheek.
“Just be careful.”
“I’ll keep you posted.” The elevator doors opened and Leo and his brothers stepped inside.
“I’m counting on it.” Karin let her smile fall as the elevator doors closed. She had only spoken to Ari twice, but both times she had come across as a smart woman, much too smart to go to a seedy diner in Southie by herself. She walked over to Dante’s computer and ran her fingers over the map where the signal was coming from. Something wasn’t right, but for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what it was …
Chapter 4
“What are you doing here?” Jason grabbed the sleeve of Deacon’s bomber jacket and pulled him to the side of the foyer.
“Good to see you too, little brotha.” Deacon chuckled and tugged his arm from Jason’s grasp.
Jason glanced around the foyer and relaxed his shoulders when he realized that they were completely alone. He turned back to his brother and realized that not much had changed since they’d last seen each other. Deacon looked like an older version of himself, just a little less polished. They had the same sandy hair, but while Jason’s was trimmed close to his head, Deacon had let his grow out into soft layers around his face. He wore day-old stubble and still had the same blue eyes and lopsided grin that had left a trail of broken hearts in his wake. Deacon wore a bomber jacket, white T-shirt, and jeans. The ensemble had become his uniform and all Jason could think of was that he looked just like he had when they’d had that terrible fight that had ended their relationship ten years ago. The only difference between them was the way they spoke. While Jason had worked hard to lose his Boston accent, it seemed as if his brother’s had grown thicker with time.
The man could charm the panties off a nun, and yet his easygoing nature was all an act. Underneath his casual exterior, Deacon had secrets, secrets only he and Jason shared.
“What are you doing here?” Jason said. “The last time we talked, you told me you never wanted to see my face again.”
“Yeah, about that.” He pushed back his hair from his face and averted his gaze. “You know I didn’t really mean it, right?”
“Could have fooled me.” Jason stepped back in disgust. “You seemed to be rather passionate about that point, just like you were passionate about calling me a selfish asshole.”
“Selfish asshole.” Deacon snorted and shook his head. “It wasn’t you who was the asshole, but me.”
He’s after something. Deacon was only nice when he wanted something from him. Jason had learned that lesson the hard way. Jason inched forward and lowered his voice. “What do you want, Deacon?”
“To bury the past.”
Something wasn’t right. “It’s been a decade. Why now?”
He held his hands out to his sides. “I miss you, bro.”
“You do?”
“We used to have a blast together. Remember the time when we—”
“Shh.” Jason glanced around to make sure no one could hear them. “That was a lifetime ago,” he muttered.
“Yeah, it was.” Deacon dragged his gaze down Jason’s body, making him hyperaware of his expensive Armani suit and loafers. “You’ve come a long way from our fostah home roots, little brother. I’m proud of ya.”
“Thanks.” Jason wanted to believe that Deacon was on the up-and-up, but there was so much between them. Could they really start over after everything that had happened?
“You really want to reconcile?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“And this has nothing to do with revitalizing our former business arrangement? Because I’m telling you right now it’s not going to happen. I’m a different person now.”
Deacon’s eyes sparkled with mirth. “No more sleeping with rich widows for money, eh?”
“For companionship,” Jason corrected.
“Sure, companionship.” Deacon chuckled. “A dinner here, a charity function there … It’s nothing like your gigolo past.”
“It isn’t.” Jason glanced around to make sure no one was listening. “You know I’m not that person anymore. I’ve moved on.”
“I see.” Deacon lifted his chin and studied him for a moment before continuing. “So all of your investas wouldn’t care if tomorrow morning the trending article on the Internet was called ‘Jason Stone Seduces Lonely Women for Money.’”
“Keep your voice down.” Jason pulled Deacon deeper into the shadows.
“Or maybe it should read ‘Jason Stone Financed His Acquisitions with Sex.’”
“I didn’t finance anything with sex.”
Deacon crossed his arms. “You sure about that?”
Okay, maybe he’d financed a little of his empire with the money he’d gotten from those women. He wasn’t proud of his past, but it was the only way he and Deacon could make ends meet at the time. Jason had seduced those unsuspecting women, but he never truly enjoyed it like Deacon did. In the beginning he didn’t have to give them much—a little conversation here, a dinner there—but then things got more intense, and before he knew it, he was in over his head. It was a miracle that he’d been able to get away from it at all.
“Why did you really come here, Deacon? If you think that throwing our past in my face will get me to forgive you, then you’re mistaken. I’ve moved on.” Jason had worked hard to forget that dark time in his life. He’d always altered his personality and past for those women, becoming whoever they wanted him to be. With practice, a few hundred dollars turned into a few thousand. Soon, lying became second nature, and he didn’t know where the fake Jason ended and the real one began. He wouldn’t go back to that place again. He couldn’t.
Deacon held up his hands in mock surrender. “I’m not here to argue, little brotha. Honest.”
“Really? Could have fooled me. That part of my life is dead and buried, Deacon, and there’s nothing you or anyone else can do to change that.” Jason had never parted on bad terms with those women. As far as he knew, they all still adored him … all except for one. Fortunately, that one had done a short stint in a mental institution, so anything she said wouldn’t have much merit.
“Sorry. Look, it’s just…” Deacon rubbed his neck. “It’s been a long time, you know? And you’re all the family I’ve got.”
Jason sighed with resignation. “Okay, stop playing games with me. What happened? Are you in trouble? How much money do you owe?”
“There you go again, always thinking the worst of me.” Deacon chuckled and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Although, now that you mention it, I got laid off a few months ago from that factory job, and it’s been hell trying to scrape enough money togetha for rent.”
“You got evicted.”
“Yeah.” He chuckled. “Can you believe it?”
And there it was, the real reason why Deacon had ended up on his doorstep. He didn’t know why he was surprised. Even when they were together, Jason was always bailing him out of trouble. Deacon had never liked to work hard, and it appeared as if his laziness had caught up with him. Again.
“I thought, maybe, I could hang out here a little while until I find anotha job. We could talk and—I don’t know—maybe start ova.”
Start over. While Deacon was frustrating, he was also family. Perhaps this visit was nothing more than it seemed on the surface. Reconciling would be like a dream come true. He was jealous of Leo and his army of siblings willing to support him. Perhaps with a little effort, Jason could have that support system, too. It wasn’t as if Deacon was a total deadbeat, far from it. With the proper motivation, his brother could become a huge asset.
Jason saw a lot of himself in his older brother. They both loved the rush of adrenaline, and would do anything in order to get it. Jason collected fast cars and enjoyed sparring with the paparazzi, and his brother searched for that rush in different ways. Gambling, bar fights, and racing motorcycles were only a few of Deacon’s vices. While he hadn’t made the best life choices, Jason understood his brother’s need to chase that high. For both of them, routine and stability were like a death sentence. Perhaps if Jason could prove to Deacon that running a business wasn’t all routine and pencil pushing, he could get his brother excited about something other than scamming people for money.
“I’d like that,” he said.
Deacon let out a long breath. “Thanks, Jason. You won’t regret this. I promise.”
“I hope not.” He motioned one of the receptionists behind the kiosks to come over. “Please give this man one of our best rooms.”
“Of course, Mr. Stone.” She started to walk away, but then hesitated. “Oh, I almost forgot. A courier came by earlier with a large envelope for you. He said it was really important.”
“Did he say what it was about?”
She thought for a moment, then shook her head. “Just that it was important and that you should read it right away. It couldn’t wait. I left it in your office.”
Jason glanced down at her name tag. “Thank you, Kiera.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Stone.”
Jason nodded to his brother. “I’ll check in on you later to make sure you’re settled in.”
“Sure thing, Mista Stone.” Laughter twinkled in Deacon’s eyes as he pressed his lips together and bowed.
“Shut up.” Jason tried not to laugh, but it was difficult. Ten years ago, no one would’ve called him Mr. Stone. Now it was unusual not to hear it. Respect was something that had been hard to come by in his younger years, and no one understood how much that lack of common decency had hurt him better than Deacon.
Jason grinned as he clasped his brother on the arm. “Catch you later.”
Perhaps this wouldn’t become the disaster he’d envisioned when he first saw his brother in the lobby. Perhaps this could mark a new page in his life, one where forming relationships became more important to him.
Just as long as the past stayed in the past. As Jason headed back to his office to check his e-mails and fetch the envelope, his thoughts turned toward Ari waiting for him upstairs. Ari was so different from Deacon, so different from him. He made a mental note to remind his brother not to talk about their childhood or escort business with anyone. He couldn’t afford to let his checkered past come to light. Ari wouldn’t understand his crazy, messed-up childhood, or his reasons for doing what he did. Hell, he wouldn’t understand it either if he hadn’t lived through it. If word leaked out to the media, they’d probably assume that she was paying him to be with her. They wouldn’t care about the truth, only what sold papers and magazines. If his past leaked out to the public, not only would he suffer, but she’d suffer as well.
* * *
Arianna kicked off her shoes and settled into the lounge chair situated by the large bay window of the suite and glanced at her watch. Almost an hour had passed since Jason had left her to meet with her brother. Surely his conversation with Leo couldn’t last for too much longer. She smiled to herself as she thought of Jason trying to get rid of her brother downstairs so that he could come back up and be with her. She needed another sex-therapy session. The bliss she’d felt down in the laundry room had long since given over to jitters.
It had been one heck of a day. She supposed she should tell her family where she was, but she lacked the focus and mental agility she would need to deal with her brothers. The entire experience had been exhausting, and there was nothing more that she wanted to do than to take a long nap—but not until Jason returned and updated her on her family.
She scanned the Boston skyline through the large picture window in the hotel room and then focused on the street below. She searched for something to calm and center her, but found nothing. In fact, she was surprised at the lack of activity outside of Stone Suites. The Palazzo was constantly buzzing with reporters and fans, but this hotel was eerily quiet.
Too quiet. It felt weird not having the media taking her picture, or peppering her with questions about her brothers. It was because of the reporters that Leo kept her under his thumb. He had seen what bad media coverage had done to their father, and then was the center of some bad press himself. He didn’t want her to experience the self-loathing or outrage at seeing a private moment in print, so her every outing was planned as part of some grand design to make her life seem uninteresting and to keep the family company alive.
Everything in her life was monitored: how she dressed, what she ate, who she hung out with. The only freedom her brothers allowed her was her charity. In recent years even that had been restricted. Once Leo had learned that the CFO she had picked out was embezzling money from Ari’s Kids, his faith in her decision-making had hit an all-time low. Her name was still on the letterhead, but all of the major decisions had to go through her brother. Sometimes Ari felt she served no other purpose than to be a pawn in her family’s war with the media.
But that was about to change. No longer did she want to be under her brother’s thumb, or have to worry about how some random comment would end up in a tabloid the next day. Thanks to Jason, she knew what it was like to be free from worry and just enjoy herself. She wanted to meet the paparazzi head-on and control them, not hide from them like her family. She knew that she had so much to give, not only to her family, but to her charity and society at large. She just needed the freedom to live her life the way she wanted, not how her family expected.
Not only did Ari want to make decisions about what to do with her life, but she wanted to choose who to be with as well. If she wanted to have fun, no-strings-attached sex with Jason Stone, then her brothers should let her do it and trust that she wouldn’t jeopardize the family business or get her heart broken in the process. She wasn’t a child, but a grown woman, and it irritated her that Leo couldn’t see her as anything more than the high school kid who’d shoplifted cashmere sweaters and Jimmy Choos to cover up the pain of her best friend’s death.
Jason saw her as a grown woman, and that was a big part of his appeal. As Ari started to remove her stockings she rubbed her fingers along her inner thigh and remembered how Jason had smoothed his hands along her skin. Tingles of desire raced through her as she thought about him walking through the door and taking her into his arms once more. Arianna loved his spontaneity and the rush of excitement she got whenever she was around him. Could that rush between two people last? She want
ed to find out, because the alternative, living a life that was not her own, was unacceptable.
* * *
Jason jerked his head up from his desk and glanced at the clock on his office wall. It was almost seven in the morning. Had he really fallen asleep in his office? After he had read the contents of the envelope, he’d lost track of time. He must have dozed off while waiting for some e-mails.
After rubbing his face with his hands, he grabbed the pictures and leafed through them once more. All of them were grainy black-and-whites of him and Ari enjoying a passionate moment in the laundry room.
“Fuck.” He tossed the pictures aside and picked up the note. It was made of newspaper cutouts, the letters in odd sizes and fonts so it looked as if it had been put together as part of a kindergarten project.
Someone will be by to collect the money. Settle your debts with him, or the world will learn how you stay one step ahead of Perconti Enterprises.
Included with the note was an invoice from a loan shark in Las Vegas, totaling in excess of ten million dollars.
“This is ridiculous.” He didn’t owe anyone any money. In fact, he had worked quite hard to stay out of debt with his business ventures.
Someone must have stolen his identity, but Jason had been up all night searching for a way to contact this loan shark and straighten things out. He’d made little progress in exchange for a lot of frustration. No one knew of this guy. It was almost as if he didn’t exist.
But he had to exist, because the pictures were legit. The fact that someone had been watching him and Ari was unsettling. He’d had no idea that there was someone with them in the laundry room. If he had, he never would have asked to meet her there.
Jason got up and paced once more, wearing down the Oriental rug in front of his large, immaculate desk. He had taken great pains to keep his life in order and not let any secrets come to light. The fact that some jerk was trying to hold this over him made him physically ill.