“He wants in on the jaune.” I’d turned this over in my mind a thousand times since Angelone had come to me. Why would he show up now after all these years, and how the hell did he know about the diamond? I could not make those pieces fit any explanation that made sense.
Donato hesitated, though he resumed his pace immediately. “Is that what he called it?”
“Exactly.” I looked out over the water to a barge loaded down with cargo. “What I can’t figure out is if it’s someone on our side or the owner’s who betrayed us.”
“Could be the buyer,” Donato reasoned.
That was a definite possibility. The man wanted the diamond, but if it was him who spoke to Angelone, it wasn’t a smart move.
“Do you think we should move forward with this deal? It’s getting too complicated.” I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Angelone claims I owe him for the time he spent in prison, and this is how he wants repayment.”
“If I were him I’d want revenge too. One thing for sure, the man is patient and never forgets.” Donato’s mind had shifted into high gear. His eyes always squinted a fraction when he was deep in thought.
“I keep asking myself why now. We haven’t had direct contact with Angelone in years. Now, he just appears from nowhere to collect his due?”
Donato shrugged. “We’re all watching each other all the time. He’s found the opportunity he’s been waiting for. It’s not that surprising.”
My irritation ratcheted up a notch. His knowledge of this deal wasn’t surprising. It was shocking . Only the most trusted in the family were in on this. We were talking black, black market stuff here. I didn’t know exactly how the current owner had come into possession of this diamond, but I didn’t think she’d picked it up at Tiffany’s.
“I don’t believe in coincidence. It’s too convenient that he shows up when the other shit is going down,” I argued. “He wants half. And if we don’t let him in on it, he’s threatened to make you suffer. And my family too. He knew about Vivian, by name.” I balled my fists, getting angry all over again. If anything ever happened to Vivian or Muriella because of me…the thought alone had me desperate to lay eyes on both of them, now.
“I’ll make sure nothing happens to your girls.”
“Can either of us really do that?” I looked toward the sky. “We’re not invincible. If Angelone wants any of us dead, he can do it any time he pleases. Just as we can to him.”
“There are ways.” Donato stopped walking and faced me. “I won’t let him near either of them.”
“What about you?” I challenged. “Angelone also said he can make your ‘situation' go away. Do you think he’s got anything to do with your other problem?”
“Possibly, possibly not. He can do his best. I can handle it.”
We strolled along the cracked concrete pathway in silence for a few minutes. I shoved my hands in the pockets of my overcoat to stave off the cold. A woman bounced past, giving me a once over. I turned my head away from her.
Donato chuckled. “Another disappointed lady.”
“There’s no comparison.”
“Why don’t you marry her?” Because I’ve left her.
I ignored the pain in my gut and sidestepped the question.
“Maybe have your guy on the inside check it out. Angelone has the motive, after all.”
He let out a long breath as if worn out by the whole situation. “True. I’ll see what I can find.”
“I’ll let you know if he contacts me again.”
“He will. Make no mistake about that.” Donato started in the direction we’d just come from. “I must go. We’ll talk soon.”
He cut across the grass, his steps determined. I leaned against the railing and watched until he became no more than a black speck in the distance. Everything was building to the point where I didn’t know if I could stop the explosion. Vinny was behaving worse than usual. Angelone had appeared after years of radio silence. The threats to Donato kept mounting. Worst of all, I’d had to give up Vivian. What more could I lose?
“You’re overdressed for a stroll in the park.”
My body immediately came to life at the sound of her voice. I was surprised I hadn’t sensed her. Do not engage. Do not engage. “Do I look like I’m walking?” I couldn’t stop myself; falling back into our way was so easy with Vivian.
She stepped in front of me, head tilted back to meet my eyes. They slayed me the second I looked into them. I was lost. Desperate. And a fool to believe I could ever resist her for any length of time.
For the first time since I’d last seen her I could breathe again. Yet I could hardly catch my breath at her beauty. Her raven hair shimmered in the afternoon sunlight. I itched to run my fingers through the silky strands. Instead I clutched the lip gloss she’d left in my pocket until my knuckles ached.
“More like stalking.” The corner of her lips lifted, and for a fraction of a second, it was just us again, with none of the shit that I’d heaped on top of us. Then a thought I was certain I wouldn’t like caused her mouth to flatten and hurt to shadow those eyes. “How did you do it so fast?” she whispered.
My chest constricted, and if my hands hadn’t been planted in my pockets, I would have reached to comfort her. “I don’t know what you mean,” I said impassively.
“Move on so quickly to someone else.” Vivian wrapped her arms around her middle. To protect herself. From me.
The urge to roar up at the sky to the gods who undoubtedly didn’t give a shit about me or what I wanted became overwhelming. When I started this, I knew I would hurt her and that it would kill me. I had no idea it would feel like metal blades constantly grinding my gut.
You have to do this. For her.
“She’s lovely, isn’t she?”
Vivian shrunk in on herself, and I wanted to jump over the railing into the river.
“You love me. I know you do.” I couldn’t ever remember hearing her sound so uncertain despite her words. My love was the one thing she should never doubt. Except I couldn’t correct her.
“We had a good thing. But this is better for you.”
“Better for me?” She straightened, her voice rising. Relief filled me at seeing some of her fight back.
I sighed and cut my eyes to the side. “We’ve already been through this.”
She stuck an unmanicured finger into my chest. “Don’t act like you’re bored.”
“Vivian.” Muriella’s soothing voice came from behind her, a hand on Vivian’s shoulder in support. “Everything okay?” Regret instantly filled Muriella’s eyes at the question.
“No. Everything is not okay.” Vivian fired a pointed look in my direction. I know it’s my fault, Princess. I know.
Muriella’s lethal glare focused on me. “Aren’t you supposed to be out of town?”
“Yes.” I didn’t elaborate. Everything else that was going on was bad enough, but my attorney requiring I meet him in Connecticut and then rescheduling on short notice because it ‘wasn’t a good time’ for his wife was just more shit luck. “My meeting was cancelled,” I finally admitted, unable to stand upsetting either one of them.
We stood there in an awkward silence, Vivian folded in on herself, and Muriella looking a half a second away from killing me. “Haven’t you done enough?”
“Dinner at seven?” I glazed over her furious question. Both of their mouths parted slightly.
Muriella stepped toward me, crowding me against the railing. It didn’t matter that she had to tilt her head back to see me. The woman was looking down on me, making me feel about two inches tall.
“Your dinner is at seven. Do not bring that girl into my home. And if she’s at yours expecting me to feed her, forget it.”
I fought to keep my eyes from growing too wide. It was easy to forget Muriella had a bite to her, even though I’d been on the receiving end far too often lately.
I plastered a serene smile on my face. “Then I guess we’ll be going out.” I pushed off the railing, forcing Mu
riella to step back. “And that girl has a name. Giselle. You will treat her with respect.”
“I will have nothing to do with her. Nothing. Am I clear?”
“She’s not going anywhere.”
Vivian staggered back, and Muriella caught her by the waist. “Stop this nonsense, Daniel. Make this right. Don’t take away the only family any of us has.”
I had to get away. I couldn’t take both of them coming at me. “You need to accept my choices,” I said levelly.
“And you need to listen when the people who love you warn that you’re making a mistake. The biggest one of your life,” Muriella said with authority.
I strode away from them without another word. No one needed to tell me the gravity of my mistakes. I knew better than anyone. A valuable lesson had been learned today. I needed to avoid close contact with Vivian at all costs. Or I was going to do more damage than I could repair.
Chapter Twenty
Vivian
Present
“Fuck.”
I walked past the address I’d found for Donato Salvatore and discovered it was a well-secured apartment building on Central Park South. There was no way I would be able to go inside and ring the bell to his front door.
“Double fuck.”
What other choice did I have? I’d looked for a phone number, but that had led to a dead end. Seeing Daniel earlier today had only strengthened my resolve. Every day that passed without him was another he slipped further away. As I was strategizing how to charm my way past the doorman, a man exited the building and walked to the curb as if to hail a taxi. He drew my attention immediately. He wore a very elegant designer suit, and had a strong build and handsome features. But there was something about him that was a notch or two short of distinguished.
As he looked down the street, his gaze pulled to mine. His eyes were hard, and they filled with recognition upon seeing me. He strode over to me. “I have been waiting for this day a long time.”
I took a step back, instinct telling me to get this man out of my personal space. “I’m sorry I can’t say the same,” I returned, and he grinned, though it was wolf-like.
“You have no idea who I am, Vivian?”
A chill ran down my spine as I struggled to recognize him. I didn’t know this man, of that I was certain. “I think you’re mistaken.” I started past him, uneasy. I’d gone looking for trouble and found it.
“Daniel and I have an unspoken agreement that you’re off limits, but seeing as you’re on my turf…” He motioned to the building.
Could this be Donato? It seemed impossible that the very man I’d come for had materialized. Definitely Italian. Up close, he was intimidating. Sharply dressed. But there was something about him I didn’t trust.
“Donato?” I asked, and his smile broadened.
“You do know who I am.” He sounded surprised, yet his eyes were victorious. I’d always pictured Donato as an older man, but perhaps that was my way of imagining him as a father figure for Daniel.
“Yes,” I said shyly. I understood why Daniel didn’t want me around him. But if he thought Donato was one of the good guys, I was going to have to take a risk and trust him. “Actually, I was just coming to see you. About Daniel.”
His eyes held more interest than concern, but I was thrown by him. He simply wasn’t what I was expecting.
“Why don’t we go have a cup of coffee?” he offered. “I know a good place around the corner.”
I had the feeling I was expected to agree, but suddenly the meeting I’d come here for didn’t seem like such a great idea.
“Or do we need something stronger?” he asked when I didn’t answer right away.
“Stronger. Definitely stronger.”
The bar Donato selected was a quiet Irish pub. He ordered whiskey for both of us after we settled into a booth away from the few other patrons.
He took a sip of his drink and relaxed in his seat, waiting for me to open the conversation. Since I was the one who’d come looking for him, I obliged, though it felt like a power tactic.
“Has anything happened lately? With business?” Dark eyes narrowed as if I’d already stepped over a line. I held up a conciliatory hand. “I don’t mean specifically. Just something that would upset Daniel.”
Donato’s gaze warmed. “Lots of things upset him,” he returned vaguely, and for a second, I thought I heard a twinge of bitterness. “What’s happened that would make you come looking for me?”
I hesitated. Go for broke. It was a motto I’d embraced all my adult life. “He’s left me. I don’t know why.”
He leaned forward. “Left you?” Donato cocked his head as if he hadn’t heard correctly.
“Yes,” I whispered as pain lanced through my chest.
“And he gave no reason?” His eyes held intrigue, not the worry I’d expect from a man who considered Daniel like a son.
“No.”
“But it’s finished?”
I pressed my lips together. Hadn’t I made that perfectly clear? Yet he seemed to want a solid confirmation.
“So he says.” I refused to admit defeat. In my heart, Daniel and I would never be finished.
Donato sat back and took a long swallow of his drink. I shifted uncomfortably against the hard wood of the bench seat.
He tapped his glass a few times, that discerning gaze focused on me. “You need my help.”
“I hoped you’d have some insight.”
One side of his mouth curled up in the semblance of a smile. “I suppose this explains his mood of late.”
“Is there anything? Something that would make him act this way?” I asked in desperation. I’d come to find answers. I didn’t know if there were any here, but I was determined to get something.
Donato traced the rim of the tumbler, deciding just what he would tell me.
“There are some things from the past,” he said vaguely. “Old business. New business.” He waved his hand in the air as if this explained everything.
“Is he in trouble?” My mind immediately sharpened on the worst.
He looked at me lazily. The man knew something. “Information comes at a price,” he finally said.
“I’ll pay it. Whatever the cost.” I realized it was a mistake to lay my desperation out, but my mouth opened with the truth before I could stop it.
“It’s unfortunate Daniel doesn’t appreciate your loyalty.” He tossed the rest of his drink back, and slammed the glass on the table. “Tell me what you know of his father’s death.”
I straightened and clamped my lips shut while I controlled my surprise that this subject had come up and considered how to handle it. Daniel would hate that I was here discussing this with his friend. But if this was the key to what was happening, I had to do it. For him. For us.
I cleared my throat. “He committed suicide.”
“Is that what Daniel told you?” I didn’t like the insinuation in his voice. Like Daniel had lied to me. “Because the cause of death most definitely wasn’t a suicide.”
I downed a large gulp of my whiskey, my senses heightened. This essentially confirmed what I’d seen in the autopsy, but that report had been hidden by Daniel for years. “How do you know that?”
He looked as if he expected better of me but indulged me anyway. “I watched it happen.”
My brow pinched, and I gripped my glass with both hands. “Who?”
Donato again looked disappointed, like I should have been smart enough to answer that question.
“You’re an intelligent girl, with that accounting degree. I know you can put two and two together.” I stared, willing him to say more, something that would immediately halt the path my mind had gone down. “Don’t look at me like I’m to blame. Truthfully, the world is a much better place without that cocksucker.” He cleared his throat and gave me an apologetic smile. “Pardon my language.” It was as disingenuous an apology as I’d ever heard.
This man was a master at talking yet not really saying anything. He’d steered
me to the conclusion that Daniel was involved in his father’s murder. I couldn’t help but follow the path, despite my instincts screaming at me not to.
My stomach churned with the possibility that Daniel had carried this burden for all these years. He was rightly sensitive about anything related to his father, and I hated the thought of him shouldering this alone when he could have confided in me.
I looked at him incredulously. “So he is in trouble?”
“Ever heard less is more, as in the less you know the better?” He was too calm, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on me.
I leveled him with my gaze. “Not when it comes to Daniel.”
He grinned and inclined his head toward me. “You’ve got fire. I like that.” His phone interrupted with a text. “I have to go.” He slid out of the booth and stood, gazing down at me. “Remember that information comes at a price. If I need you, I’ll be in touch.”
I sat in stunned silence for a moment after he left. He hadn’t come out and said Daniel murdered his father, but he’d sure as hell implied it. And the autopsy I’d found clearly indicated that someone did.
I didn’t know why, but maybe after all these years Daniel had had a crisis of conscience. That had to be the catalyst for his unusual behavior. But what did that have to do with me?
I shoved up from the booth, fumbling in my haste to grab my purse. My steps were wobbly as I rushed toward the exit. I pushed the door open and squinted when the sunlight hit my eyes, temporarily disoriented.
When my vision cleared, I saw that Donato stood down the block with his back to me, hand waving beside him as he spoke on the phone.
“…Not protected anymore.” I overheard as I approached. He was silent as the person on the other end of the line spoke, then he continued. “Oh, he gives a fuck. Trust me, we can use this. He’ll have no choice but to cooperate.”
He spun, and I froze, trying to keep a guilty look off of my face. His was absolutely sinister. “I seem to be the one solving all the problems,” he continued into the phone without taking his gaze off me. “If you want this partnership to continue, do something useful.”
It's Not Over Page 14