A Madaris Bride for Christmas

by Brenda Jackson

  Carly chuckled softly. “No one is praying that prayer as often as I am.”

  * * *

  “Yes, our paths crossed again,” Lee said, leaning back in his chair.

  Angelo’s brows drew together in curiosity. “When?”

  Lee tossed a paper clip on his desk. “When I found out that although she was a guest here that night, she’s also an employee of the hotel.”

  “An employee?”

  “Yes.” Lee could see Angelo’s mind at work. He wouldn’t ask, but there was no way he wasn’t curious. So he decided to tell him. “Her name is Carly Briggs.”

  He watched Angelo try to remember where he knew that name. Lee decided to come to his aid. “You probably remember her as Chef Briggs.”

  Angelo’s eyes widened. “The pastry chef from Peyton’s Place? The one who prepared that delicious dessert last month?”

  “One and the same. When we met before that night, we’d only exchanged first names. I had no idea who she was and she had no idea that I was the owner of the hotel. Can you imagine our surprise when she walked out of the kitchen and we discovered the truth?”

  “I can imagine.”

  Lee didn’t say anything for a minute as he remembered that night and the shocked look in Carly’s eyes. “Let’s go back to the day I asked you about your attraction to Peyton,” he said.

  Angelo smiled. “The same day you said I was giving too much information?”

  “Yes. Now I need information. None is too much. I want you to help me understand something.”

  “If I can.”

  “How can a woman you’ve never seen before suddenly come into your life and turn it upside down with an attraction so strong that nothing else matters?”

  Angelo didn’t say anything at first, then he said, “All I know is how it was for me. I saw Peyton and it was like getting hit with a cold blast of air. There was something about her that drew me in. For years I thought it was one-sided. It wasn’t until just before we married that I discovered she’d been attracted to me as well and, like me, had been fighting it.” He paused. “Is that what you’re doing, Lee? Fighting it?”

  Lee shook his head. “No. In fact I’ve asked her to marry me.”

  Angelo’s lips parted in absolute surprise. “Marry you?”

  “Yes. In a way it’s a blessing...or it could be, that fate thing you and Justin believe in. What are the odds of me meeting a woman I’m extremely attracted to at the same time I’m desperately in need of a wife?”

  “Are you desperately in need of a wife?”

  “Yes. I meant what I told you at your wedding after you threw that garter at me.”

  Angelo laughed. “I didn’t throw it at you. You caught it.”

  “Whatever. Anyway, Mama Laverne thinks she has my future all figured out with the woman of her choosing. But like I told you that day, I intend to beat her at her own game.”

  “By getting married?”

  “By picking the woman I want to marry without any help from her. Nolan informed me last month that Mama Laverne and some other woman are talking, making plans to marry me off to the woman’s granddaughter,” Lee said.

  Angelo stared at him. “You don’t have to be a player in your great-grandmother’s games, you know.”

  Lee shook his head. “We’re talking about Felicia Laverne Madaris, remember. The woman who’s gotten more stars in her crown for putting marriages together than anyone I know. She has three generations of them to boast about, including your own...although you might not have known it at the time.”

  Angelo drew his lips in thoughtfully and then he chuckled. “Forget about what I just said about not having to participate in her games.”

  The buzzer on Lee’s desk went off. He pressed the button. “Yes, Phyllis?”

  “Your ten-o’clock appointment has arrived, Mr. Madaris.”

  “Thanks, Phyllis. Please escort Mr. Maxwell and the men accompanying him to the executive conference room.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Both Angelo and Lee stood. “We’ll finish this conversation later,” Lee said.

  Angelo nodded. “I guess now we’ll find out what this meeting with Alex is about.”

  Chapter 12

  “So there you have it,” FBI agent Preston Gause said. “If you think I’ve deliberately painted a grisly picture, trust me when I say it’s justified.”

  Lee rubbed his hand down his face. Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that he’d been thinking about how perfectly his life was going? Now to be hit with something like this.

  He’d known something was wrong the moment he and Angelo had joined the men in the executive conference room.

  He had known Alex a long time, namely because Alex’s oldest brother, Trask, had been best friend to his cousin Clayton while growing up. And because he knew Alex had been a federal agent before going into private practice, there had been something about the other two men’s mannerisms that let him know the two were federal agents.

  “Do either of you have any questions?” the other agent, named Woodman, asked.

  “Yes, we have plenty,” Lee said. “Are you absolutely certain the Grand MD will be their target?”

  It was Agent Woodman who spoke again. “According to our informant, the answer is yes.”

  “But we’ve been here for several months,” Angelo said. “Why hasn’t someone approached us already?”

  Agent Gause shrugged his shoulder. “Not sure. My guess is that they were trying to give you time to settle in, check things out here, see how much money your casinos are bringing in to determine if you’re worth the risk. This hotel is doing very well.”

  Yes, Lee thought, the Grand MD was doing very well and he was proud of what he and Angelo had accomplished in such a short time. He refused to accept that a group of thugs thought they could come in and ruin things.

  “I was under the impression that the state of Nevada, the Las Vegas Gaming Commission and the federal government had joined forces to keep organized crime out of Vegas,” Lee said. “So will someone tell me how organized crime returned to Vegas?”

  No one in the room said anything as it was obvious Lee was not in a jovial mood. When neither of the two men answered his question, Lee said, “I’m waiting on an answer.”

  Agents Gause and Woodman exchanged uneasy glances before Agent Woodman spoke up. “Everyone assumed things were under control. And it is, as far as Nevada is concerned. As we said earlier, the East Coast mob is spreading into new territory.”

  “And you’re just finding this out?” Angelo asked.

  “No,” Agent Gause said. “But we haven’t been able to get in and implement a sting before they made contact. If what we do here is successful, we can get rid of them for a long time.”

  Lee noted the man didn’t say forever. As long as there was greed, there would be crime, organized or otherwise. Lee crossed the room and looked out the window at Sin City below. He was a Madaris, and he had an ingrained natural instinct to protect what was his. This hotel was his.

  He turned back around. “If we go along with what you’re proposing, how can we be sure your operations will be successful, that there won’t be a backlash?”

  It was Agent Gause who said, “There are no guarantees. We will give you a script that needs to be followed. And we will have several of our men working here undercover. They will be put in place immediately. We will be on top of this, Mr. Madaris, I assure you. And one of us will keep you in the loop so there won’t be any surprises. Our goal is simple, although it won’t be easy, and that is to close the East Coast Connection down as soon as possible.”

  What a mess.

  Lee could just imagine what his friend was thinking. He looked cool on the outside but Lee knew Angelo, like him, was fuming on the inside. This group of punks didn’t know who they were messing with.

  It was rumored that Angelo’s great-grandfather and his brothers were widely suspected of having ties to the Mafia, especially since they were Sicilians—every
last one of them. It had taken years for Angelo and his family to outlive that bit of history. Both the Di Meglios and the Madarises were proud families and neither Lee nor Angelo would engage in illegal activities that would bring shame to their family names.

  “So are the two of you in?” Gause asked.

  Instead of answering, Lee looked at Alex, who hadn’t said a single word during the entire meeting. “What do you think, Alex?”

  He valued Alex’s opinion. And it wasn’t because Alex was a family member. Alex had a brilliant mind when it came to solving crime.

  “I honestly don’t think the two of you have a choice but to work with the bureau. However, keep in mind that if you do work with them you’re taking a big chance. Everything has to look as if you’re going along with the program. If the mob suspects you’re not on the up-and-up, you will be placing your life in danger. And I say your life, Lee, mainly because you, and not Angelo, are the one running the hotel here.”

  The room got quiet. Eventually Gause said, “Because of the nature of the operation and the ruthlessness of the people we’re dealing with, neither of you can tell anyone what’s going on. Doing so will place their lives in danger as well. It’s imperative that you tell no one. If word gets out in any way, it could compromise the operation.”

  Lee didn’t say anything for a moment, knowing Angelo was leaving the decision to him. He refused to let any organized-crime group think they could muscle their way into his profits. If his hotel had been targeted, like Alex said, he didn’t have much choice.

  “Okay,” Lee finally said. “Let’s do what we need to do to take them down.”

  * * *

  Carly turned off the stove. She had prepared a feast fit for a king. She leaned against the counter thinking in a way she had prepared it for a king. Her king.

  What she’d told Heather was true. Things were going so well between her and Lee that at times she wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. How could there be so much goodness in one man? He’d shown her things that Nathaniel had not—and in ways that took her breath away.

  Lee hadn’t asked her about his proposal lately. She figured he was giving her a chance to make a sound decision. His offer wasn’t one with a time limit. Lee was looking at forever. But could she marry a man who didn’t love her and probably never would?

  Maybe this was her destiny. Maybe things were meant to be this way for her. She had to admit that Lee was a good catch.

  Just a few days ago, one of the cooks had ridden an elevator with Lee. Most of that evening, all the woman had talked about was how good he looked, how nice he smelled and how she would do just about anything to jump his bones.

  Instead of feeling any degree of jealousy, Carly had hidden her smile. She of all people knew how good he looked, how nice he smelled and she had jumped his bones. More than a few times. Adrenaline hummed through her bloodstream at the thought that she would be jumping them again tonight. He was offering her an entire lifetime of doing so.

  So why hadn’t she made a decision yet?

  Most women would say they wanted more than sex. In her case, it was all about sex...or passion, as Lee liked to call it...but it was all she had and all she would ever get.

  She would go for it.

  That quick, that sudden, she had decided. And she wouldn’t turn back. She would tell him tonight over dinner and let him make all the plans.

  There would be only one condition. She wanted to keep the marriage secret for a while. At least until they went to his home for the holidays. That would give her a chance to keep her coworkers out of her business. Most didn’t think she was seriously dating anyone and a couple had even discussed fixing her up on a blind date. If she were to pop up married to the man who owned the hotel, she could just imagine the gossip.

  Carly hoped he went along with that condition. Once the property Lee was giving to her as part of their agreement was hers, she would make plans to build her own café. Then she would turn in her resignation at the hotel before going with him to Texas. After the holidays she would start advertising and promotion while the café was being built.

  The ringing of her phone startled her. She picked it up off the table and answered it even though she didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”

  “Did Shundra call you?” a frantic voice asked.

  Carly frowned, not recognizing the voice. “Who is this?”

  There was a pause. “This is Gail.”

  Surprise made Carly’s brow rise. Gail? That was truly sad when a person couldn’t recognize her own mother’s voice. Her thoughts drifted back to what her mother had asked. Shundra was the sister who wasn’t supposed to know Carly was her sister. “Why would Shundra call me?”

  “Because she heard Sid and I arguing. He threw you in my face. About me having you out of wedlock. We thought she was away at college and hadn’t known she’d come home unexpectedly. Shundra heard everything and said some mean and hateful things to me and her father. Then she got into her car and sped off. She didn’t come home last night, and Sid is out now, trying to find her. It’s awful that she’s found out about you.”

  Carly had to fight to keep from gritting her teeth. Her own mother thought it was awful that one of her children had found out about the other one?

  “Well, she hasn’t called. She wouldn’t anyway. I haven’t seen her or talked to her in years. She’s nineteen now, right? I believe she was five the last time I saw her, if you recall. You and Mr. Thrasher made sure I was not a part of your children’s lives.”

  “You are so selfish,” Gail snapped. “My child is missing and all you can think about is yourself?”

  Those words were worse than any slap, but Carly rebounded quickly. “Yes, Gail, I guess I am. I’m sure your daughter will find her way home. And when she does, tell her to chill because finding out about me isn’t that big a deal. Goodbye.”

  She then hung up the phone.

  * * *

  Lee had kept his cool during the meeting, but as he entered his suite anger and frustration exploded within him. None of what the two agents had said seemed real, but he knew that it was. And he and Angelo were duty bound not to tell anyone about the sting operation.

  But Alex wasn’t duty bound to anyone. Lee knew if push came to shove, Alex wouldn’t hesitate to inform anyone he felt needed to know. But still...

  Lee was bothered by the thought that he would have to pretend he was intimidated by a group of thugs. His performance had to be convincing. He couldn’t seem too anxious or they might get suspicious.

  Once he had agreed to go along with the sting operation, Gause and Woodman had outlined how things would go down. Once he was contacted by someone from the East Coast Connection, he now knew how he was to act, what he was to say, as well as the special equipment that would be installed on his phone and in various conference rooms.

  It was Lee’s hope that the agent’s informant had been wrong, that he wouldn’t be contacted, that this was all a big mistake. But just in case it wasn’t a mistake, he had to cover all his bases, especially with people he cared about. He wanted to make sure they were kept out of harm’s way.

  He immediately thought of Carly. Should he withdraw his marriage proposal? The thought of doing so had his stomach in knots. That wasn’t what he wanted, but—

  His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door. He knew it was Angelo, but he still checked the security video camera to be certain. Hell, already he was getting paranoid. He opened the door and Angelo walked past him and went directly to his bar.

  “I need a drink.”

  Lee closed the door. “Pour me one while you’re at it.”

  He sat down on the sofa. He could feel Angelo’s Italian anger radiating from him all the way across the room. Angelo didn’t like the fix they were in any better than Lee did.

  “Here,” Angelo said, crossing the floor to hand him his drink before plopping down in the chair across from Lee. Angelo took a sip and then said, “I don’t
like the thought of you or I having to pretend we’re selling our souls to the devil.”

  Lee grunted before taking a sip of his own drink. “If the feds are on it like they say they are, then it shouldn’t take long to wrap things up.”

  “Yeah. It sounds like they want these guys pretty bad. One of their own is missing for close to six months now and is presumed dead. That alone has them driven to bring these guys in.”

  Neither said anything for a long moment. Finally Lee spoke up. “I thought about withdrawing my marriage proposal until all this is over. But I know what Carly’s going to think, especially when I can’t tell her the real reason for doing so.”

  “What is she going to think?”

  “That I’m just another person who doesn’t want her.”

  Angelo didn’t say anything for a moment as he stared at Lee. “And do you want her, Lee? That bad?” he asked.

  Lee, who was staring down at his drink, lifted his gaze to Angelo’s. “Yes, I want her. That bad.”

  He didn’t care what Angelo might be reading into his words.

  “Then take it from someone who’s been there and felt that,” Angelo said in a thoughtful tone. “Don’t let anyone or anything stand in your way of having her. Do whatever you have to do to make it work while keeping her safe. Personally, I think that as long as you’re doing what those thugs think you should be doing, she’s of no significance to them.”

  Lee thought on Angelo’s words. “You do have a point there.”

  “Besides, how many people know the two of you are involved? I sure as hell didn’t.”

  Lee couldn’t help but smile. “So far, only you. Since she works here she’s not comfortable with everyone knowing our business.”

  Angelo chuckled. “I’m sure it will make some of her coworkers uncomfortable to know she’s having an affair with the boss. No doubt there would be gossip.” He took another sip of his drink. “So if the two of you are keeping the affair a secret, how were you going to explain the sudden marriage?”

  “We weren’t.”

  “Then there would be even more gossip. When people don’t know details, they have a tendency to make up stuff.” Angelo stood. “Well, good luck on whatever decision you make. If you need me to change my schedule to be here more than in Dubai, just say the word. Then those thugs will have the two of us to deal with.”