Undefeated

by C. D. Gill

  Laughing, Gia stood and collected her purse. “Your plan is perfect. I hope for Tucker’s sake that he kisses you earlier in the evening so he gets that final thank you text.”

  With a huff, Lucy propped her hands on her hips. “You’re laughing at me. When was the last time you were kissed, missy? I bet it’s been months.”

  Gia tensed at the thought. “Saturday night when Grant tried to force himself on me.”

  Lucy gasped and ran around the counter. Her arms constricted around Gia’s waist but compassionate Lucy trumped sassy Lucy any day. “Gia I’m so sorry. I will kill that —”

  “Don’t worry. I got him off me and obviously we’re not going out again. He’s the jealous type which is why I need you not to say anything about Xander’s presence, okay? Grant will get the wrong idea about me helping Xander.”

  With a sniff, Lucy released Gia and wiped her cheeks. “Got it. Grant Harrington is public enemy number one. We could picket in front of his shop or egg his house or graffiti his walls.”

  The weight pressing on her spirit lifted. Lucy was on her side and that was a force to be reckoned with in this town. You do not mess with Mother Hen.

  “No pickets, egging, or paint. We’ll stick to the silent treatment for now. I’ve got to get to work, but we’ll talk more later.”

  As Gia strolled out, Lucy mumbled something about no more muffins for Harrington and with Mother Hen’s no starvation policy, that said something about the level of warfare Lucy was ready to engage in for Gia’s sake.

  Gia’s phone belted out O Sole Mio which meant one of her favorite people was calling her. “Joseph Angelo Ignatious Ferra.”

  Joey sighed, but his words betrayed his smile. “Gia, it’s Joe. Just Joe.”

  “I’ve missed you, you know. And you don’t scare me. I have special rights to call you whatever pops into my head at the moment. Perks of putting up with your whiny own-the-world complex for twenty-two years of life.”

  Joey chuckled, his voice low and comfortable like a pair of broken-in jeans. “I must say, when you get into a mess, you really drop yourself in it, don’t you?”

  “I dogged that news station to tell me who the source was for that story. The arrogant journalist was like a preening peacock, so pleased with himself that he couldn’t reveal his source. Must have been the biggest story of his career so far.”

  “Well in this case, it was a good idea for him not to tell you. Otherwise, we’d be fielding calls about incarceration instead of your lineage.”

  Gia groaned. “People called the firm?” She opened the front office door and closed herself into her personal space. Xander would be back soon.

  “The firm, Annabelle and her pack of PR yogis, your parents’ boards and employees are trying to figure out who to harass about this story.” Joey let out a bark of laughter. “As if businesses and nonprofits tied to millionaires is news anymore.”

  “So business is booming at the firm then?”

  Joey grunted. “It is. Gia, you can come home. No one blames you for Angelo’s death. You didn’t have to exile yourself to the middle of nowhere. No one would have given you a hard time after what happened.”

  Gia pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers, willing the tears to stay at bay. “I blame myself for what happened to Uncle Angelo. The others would too if they knew what happened. And it’s not exile, Joey. It’s a fresh start. A chance to be someone worthy of owning a nonprofit without the stigma of being the Carter and Ferra heiress. No one takes me seriously when they find out my parents are worth millions.”

  “I’m calling a truce for now. You and I will talk about this more when I come spend Fourth of July weekend with you next month, okay? Get my room ready.”

  “Am I supposed to believe there will be no special lady friend coming with you?”

  “Ever hopeful, eh? No, there’s no lady friend. I might bring another friend who I think would be a good match for you despite your hermit ways, but that’s undecided. All right, down to business.” Papers rustled on Joey’s end. He was probably in his office with his feet propped on his desk staring out his giant windows at an unbeatable view of Canal Street and the Mississippi River. The office that should still have been Uncle Angelo’s.

  “Tell me you’ve found Bronc.”

  “We’ve found Bronc.”

  Gia gasped. “Really? Where?”

  “Well, we technically didn’t find Bronc. You know how he is about privacy, but we were able to trace his jet to...”

  Please be somewhere in Asia.

  “Havana. He has some money tied up in range of shady business ventures there as of last week. You know how Bronc is.”

  Gia rolled her eyes. She’d been so blind to how much Bronc loved money and himself. “Where his money goes, he follows. I dodged a bullet with that one.”

  “More like a nuclear explosion. Speaking of, are you going to tell me about the guy you went on a date with when this whole Bronc thing started?”

  “Not unless it’s absolutely necessary. Heard anything about Alexander Reinerman from Salguod yet?”

  “The media outlets and self-righteous freedom-wielders of America had lots to say about Alexander Reinerman, but I asked our private investigator to dig deeper and see what was flowing in the underground stream especially within Salguod. It’s hard to manufacture that much evidence in a lawsuit. Sounds to me like Alexander has a basement full of skeletons he’s not showed you yet.”

  Gia exhaled hard. If Xander did have a history with selling steroids and drugging athletes, then she was running straight into the public relations biggest sinkhole she’d ever seen. She could kick him out or stick with him and summon her legions to deal with it. “He’s only been here a couple of weeks. I have no doubt there are skeletons buried in his basement.”

  “PI says to cut this guy loose and stay out of it.” Joey cleared his throat, his voice softened. “You have a history of cheering on the wrong underdog.”

  Wasn’t that the truth. “I’m housing him.” How was it right that her generosity was a bad thing?

  “As your cousin, I know your heart can’t handle leaving people to fend for themselves, so I beg you to call me the second you suspect something is going to heat up. You left the life of constant meddling and oversight. You know your parents are watching and if they think you’re repeating the mistakes you made by dating Bronc by connecting with Xander, you know the full force of your family will come yo-yoing back into your life to save you.”

  Her heart pumped into overdrive. Helping a male criminal get on his feet did look a lot like turning a blind eye to his sins, to some. It definitely would to her parents who chased Bronc out with a bolt of lightning after they found out how abusive he was to Gia. Leaving New Orleans had been her best chance at never having to scrub bloodstains off her skin and heart again. Maybe Xander was a sign that she’d never be free and that she was naive for entertaining the thought that her past would stay behind her. Bowing out would be leaving Xander flopping around like a fish out of water. He didn’t deserve this any more than Uncle Angelo deserved to die.

  Joey let the silence linger. He’d done his job. He’d softened the blow as best he could. In the end, she made decisions for herself. She liked Xander a lot but she’d known him two weeks and could already tell there was more to his story than he shared. In most friendships, sharing came with time. Lucy didn’t open up to her for thirteen months after they became friends. But Xander didn’t have time if he wanted his life back. They’d made a pact to have each other’s backs but didn’t that include some level of honesty?

  Heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs leading up to the second floor.

  Xander was back.

  “You always get stuck with the short straw when it comes to me, don’t you, Joey?”

  Joey laughed. He’d been a brother to her in every way. They’d been inseparable since they could walk. “That’s what family is all about. It never feels like the short straw if you love someone. You talked me of
f more ledges in high school than I can remember so don’t think I’d jump at the chance to repay that debt. And with you, flowers and a puppy would never cut it.”

  Gia grinned. “A tee time at that luxury golf course you take your clients to might fit the bill though.” A knock came at her office door. “I’ve got to go, but tell Cara and Tia Ferra I send my love.”

  “They miss you, Gia. Think about visiting soon. Ma would really love to see you again before she…”

  Dread snaked down Gia’s spine. “Before she what, Joey?”

  “Before she turns sixty which is in two years, so get your act together.”

  He lied to her. Straight up lied. Something was wrong with Tia Ferra. But he knew she knew he had lied, so she didn’t call him out on it. He had his reasons. They said their goodbyes and hung up. Gia grabbed the door handle and walked out. Xander sat on a desk waiting for her, his arms casually crossed looking as devastating as ever.

  “We need to talk,” they both said at the same time.

  Xander’s eyebrows shot up as he studied her. “Sounds important.”

  The back door slammed open. Male shouts filled the room. Gia flinched as Xander dove at her and tackled her to the ground. His weight forced the air from her lungs. She lay gasping on the ground. Her partial inhales didn’t drown out Xander’s shouts.

  “Don’t shoot. Don’t shoot!” His body still covered hers. “We’re unarmed. Don’t shoot.”

  She caught a glimpse of officer uniforms behind the black handgun barrel in her face. A whimper escaped her lips. What was going on?

  “Don’t move.” One cop yanked Xander’s hand behind his back and another, then hauled him off of her. The other officer lowered his gun to cuff her as well.

  “What is going on? Why am I being handcuffed?” Gia had the urge to kick him and curl up in a ball at the same time.

  The officer finished cinching the metal too tightly around her wrists before answering. “We received an anonymous call that two matching your descriptions ran into this building after beating a man unconscious out back by the dumpster.”

  Beating a man?

  “We didn’t beat anyone. We’ve been inside for the last hour and a half.” Xander growled from the corner as an officer fished through Xander’s pockets. His hair stuck up in every direction. He’d protected her.

  “You have alibis?” The officer over Gia asked. He’d just upended her purse onto the floor and picked up her wallet. He handed her ID to the officer who promptly disappeared outside to check them in the computer.

  Gia nodded. The anger gave her voice back. “I was on a call with my cousin for the last forty-five minutes and Xander was upstairs hammering on something making a lot of noise.”

  The officer looked unimpressed. “And before that?”

  Unbelievable. “I was at Mother Hen’s bakery and came in through the front door. I dropped Xander off before that.”

  That earned a grunt from the officer as he walked around her office ruffling papers on her desk, toeing papers on the floor aside.

  “You need a search warrant to go poking around here,” Xander said. His face was dark and menacing.

  Officer Pokey smiled and laughed. “Oh, you’d know if I was searching the office. Just looking around while my partner runs the background checks. You work in this office?”

  “Yes, I’m an architect. I’ve rented this office for three years. Never had a late payment on my rent. Never had a domestic disturbance. There’s nothing to see here.”

  Officer Pokey laughed. “That’s what the criminals always say right before we hit the motherlode.”

  The other officer walked in. “Alexander Reinerman has a felony on his record. Fresh out of the pen. And Giovanna Carter is a—well—claiming to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. We’re going to have to take you two down to the station for questioning.”

  “About what?” Gia yelled.

  The officer stood back and held up his hands. “No reason to get upset. A man died outside your office. We need to talk to the two people who were inside the building he died next to.”

  As the officers pulled them out the door in handcuffs, Gia got a good look at just who was lying dead outside her office. She swallowed the bile rising in her throat. Bob’s face was shaved and his hair cut, and he had a massive gash on the side of his head that had drained into a puddle underneath him. In his right hand, he had a crowbar. Next to him was a little bag of white stuff. Her heart broke.

  The questions echoed through her mind and sent anger and grief in stabs through her chest. What if they had shot first, asked questions later? If her skin color hadn’t been so brown, would they have treated her like this? Would they have barged into her work like they were criminals? Would the guns be out? Or would they have knocked and casually questioned them?

  It wouldn’t be the first time she’d been treated with suspicion with no cause, and it sadly probably wouldn’t be the last.

  Chapter 13

  The police questioned Xander endlessly about his alibi starting from the previous night. The whole process gave him flashbacks to his first experience with criminal interrogations. They’d separated him from Gia to interrogate them individually, as if they might turn on each other. In the car ride to the station, she’d mumbled something about there being suspicion over her race. He’d heard it many times in prison and it made him just as angry now. He had experienced a level of injustice at the hands of the system, but not over his skin color.

  Xander ran through his morning with the interrogators at least nine times. He suggested they check any building cameras for surveillance. At last, they told him he could go since Gia had offered to have the surveillance footage from the cameras at her house and office to them the next day. Why wouldn’t they suspect the guy fresh out of the pen? Once you’re put away for one thing, they assume you’d commit almost any crime. He didn’t understand why they’d suspect Gia so much. Her alibis were solid with witnesses. Yet she looked much worse for the whole ordeal than when they went in.

  When they got back from the station, Xander spent the rest of the day building more toys, tucked away feeding his anger into the toys he was building. More than once, the police asked why Xander was at Gia’s house and if she knew he was a convicted felon. She’d be better off telling him to leave.

  But after a full day of work, Gia still carried the stools into Carlos’s shop with no complaint. In the car, she handed the wad of cash over to Xander with a small smile.

  “Congratulations on your sales. You’ve earned it.”

  Xander stared at the outstretched cash. “Are you sure you shouldn’t keep it for food, gas, clothing, rooming reimbursement?”

  Gia grabbed his hand, slapped the cash in his palm, and closed his fist around it. “This whole project was for you to get on your feet. Put it in the bank or your wallet and use it for when you need it. I’m sure you’ll come up with something to do with $285.”

  In two days, he’d doubled his net worth from five years. Xander grinned at Gia and stuffed the money in his pocket.

  “There is one thing I promised myself on the inside that I would get if I made it out alive.”

  Gia nodded, urging him to continue. “Which is?”

  “A comfortable pillow.”

  She laughed, but bit her lip to stifle it. “As good of a promise to yourself as any.”

  After they arrived home, Xander went to his room to shower and change clothes. When he let himself into the kitchen, Gia met him with a plate of raw chicken and tongs. “The grill is warmed up out back. Would you mind being the grill master tonight?”

  He hesitated. Did he remember how to grill? Couldn’t be that hard. Xander grabbed the plate and tongs, whistling on his way. Two weeks was all it took for him to be completely comfortable in Gia’s house. Cooking her food, raiding the pantry and refrigerator at will, washing his clothes in the machines. Life surprised him all the time, only this one wasn’t so bad. With the chicken on the grill, Xander carried t
he plate into the kitchen.

  “What did you want to talk about before the cops showed up?” Xander slipped onto a stool on the opposite side of the island.

  Gia’s face darkened as she sighed, searching the counter for the answers. “I talked to my contact this morning about Salguod.”

  His breathing quickened as he leaned in. “What did he say?”

  “He said it’s hard to fake so much evidence against you. How did the person who set you up have so much to put you away?”

  Emotions clicked across the screen of his mind like an old-school projector. “I have thought about it so much. There was steroid residue in my gym bag. A stash hiding in the back of my work locker. Envelopes of money with my fingerprints on them hiding in my desk drawer. My girlfriend sat with me for hours several nights in a row and ran through every possible person that had any access to that much of my life.”

  “What about your girlfriend?”

  “She was once a team physical therapist at our university but had been working with a minor league baseball team while we were dating, so she didn’t have access to my office on campus.” His heart didn’t twinge anymore when he thought of losing her. “She had to cut ties with me completely when things really started looking bad so that she wouldn’t be dragged into my mess and ruin her career.” He’d loved her, but she was right. And he couldn’t ask her to put her life on hold for him to get out of prison. He’d always have the felony attached to him.

  “None of the athletes knew they were being drugged? They didn’t notice changes?”

  He shrugged. “Investigators picked through all the people involved in the soccer program with a fine-tooth comb from the athletic director down to the water boy. Everyone was cleared and all the signs pointed straight to me.”