Dante's Ultimate Gamble

by Day Leclaire

  He didn’t give her an opportunity to reply. Didn’t dare. It didn’t pay to give women like Téa too much room to fully exercise their vocabulary. Not when they wielded each word with the precision of a marksman and could slice and dice a man with the skill of a master chef.

  “I have some associates who can help with our problem. They can take over as your temporary bodyguard.”

  He couldn’t have shocked her more if he’d slapped her. “And us? What about The Inferno?”

  “As I mentioned, I have four cousins who described the sort of instant lust that we experienced and every last one of them ended up married. That’s not going to happen to me. I don’t do commitment. And I sure as hell don’t do marriage.”

  “Neither do I,” she retorted. “I have more important priorities.”

  “Excellent. Then we end this before it has a chance to get out of hand. Agreed?”

  She opened her mouth to reply, when a muffled voice began to call, “Answer me. Answer me. Answer me, me, me!” Her eyes widened in horror and without a word she darted to the foyer and dove into his closet. She emerged a bit more tousled, but with her briefcase and shoulder bag in hand.

  She took up residence on his couch and pulled out her cell phones, lining them up with military precision on his coffee table. The ring tone on the first phone—a shiny black one covered in neon pink kisses—switched to “Here Comes the Bride.”

  Téa flipped it open. “Hel— Yes, Jules. Yes, I know. I was in a meeting and couldn’t be interrupted.” She actually blushed at the lie, then listened for a moment. “Did you check out Divinity for your wedding gown? It won’t? Why—” She listened silently for several more seconds. “No, no. I understand. It’s just that I arranged for the owner… Okay. If it won’t work, it won’t. I’ll get back to you with an alternative. I’ve got to speak to Vida now. No, she’s not more urgent than you. But there’s nothing else I can do about your wedding gown until tomorrow. I’m sorry, but that’s the best I can do.”

  She pushed a button with smooth precision and started a new conversation. “Davida, what—” Pause. “Listen up. If you fail that course, you’ll be on academic probation. No, I can’t get you off again. You’ll have to go in and speak to your professor. Well, why did you miss the exam? Oh, for— Yes, that was exasperation you heard in my voice. Recovering from a frat party is not an acceptable excuse for… I don’t intend to argue the point. If you can’t work it out with your professor, you know the consequences.” A fraction of a pause this time. “Oh, really? Well, let me spell it out for you. Colleges no longer offer BS degrees in Flirting. If you get kicked out, there’s a job waiting for you in the mailroom at Bling. Why, Vida, that’s brilliant. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me to suggest you speak to your professor and throw yourself on his mercy.”

  She flipped the phone closed. It immediately began its “Answer me!” chirp.

  “Téa—” Luc began.

  She held up a preemptory Wait-A-Minute finger which he would have found amusing if it had been aimed at anyone other than him. “What did you do this time, Kat?” Téa asked the instant she answered the shrill summons. “Again? That’s the third time you’ve been in detention this month. It’s also the third time I’ve had to speak to the principal this month. Listen, I have to go. Madam needs me. I’ll see you later tonight and we’ll discuss it then.”

  Luc winced at the way she said “discuss.” He didn’t envy Kat that particular conversation. Téa hesitated, her hand hovering over the lavender phone that had caused them so much trouble earlier in the day. She caught her lower lip between her teeth, but didn’t pick it up.

  “Well?” Luc prompted. “I thought you said you took her call anytime, no matter when or where.”

  “Yes,” she confessed. “But I really don’t want to answer this time.”

  Amusement filled him. “Afraid she’ll know what you’ve been up to?”

  She fixed her startling blue-green eyes on him and nodded. “She can read minds,” Téa answered, perfectly serious. “There’s no point in trying to lie to Madam. She knows.”

  “She won’t know.”

  “Yes, she will. You’ll see.” The response came out in a “we’re doomed” tone of voice. Bracing herself, she picked up the lavender phone and flipped it open. “Hi, Madam. What’s up?” she asked, sounding a shade too casual.

  “It’s not that she can read minds,” Luc offered helpfully. “It’s that you don’t know how to lie.”

  She scowled at him over the phone and mouthed, “Shut up,” gesturing to give the demand added emphasis. Then she froze, her eyes huge. Guilt stormed across her face like an invading army. “Nothing. No one.”

  Luc snorted. “Give it up.” Crossing to her side, he snatched the phone out of her hand. “Hello, Madam. It’s Luc.”

  There was a brief pause and then Madam said, “Luc? Are you and Téa still together?”

  “Just ironing out the final details over dinner.”

  An almost girlish laugh came across the airwaves. “I’m so relieved you agreed to do this. Nonna was just saying she wouldn’t trust anyone else with my granddaughter’s welfare, and neither would I.”

  “Nonna’s with you?” So much for palming the job off on his associates. Even if he could get Madam to agree, Nonna would put a swift end to that particular dodge.

  “She’s right here. The two of us made a day of it. We’ve been shopping. Visiting. You know…” He could almost see her airy wave. “Right now, we’re sitting in Primo’s garden, enjoying the night air over a glass of wine. Do you want to speak to your grandmother?”

  He froze, hoping guilt didn’t decide to invade his face now that it was done with Téa’s. “No, no. That’s not necessary.”

  “It’s been hours since lunch. And no one’s been able to reach Téa all this time. That’s so unlike her. We were starting to worry.”

  Luc couldn’t help himself. It must have been the alcohol that gave the devil access to his tongue while preventing his guardian angel from curbing it. “She insisted on turning off her cell phones while we put our differences to bed,” he explained in a bland voice.

  Téa made a choking noise.

  “Very wise,” Madam approved. “I’m just surprised it’s taken you so long to settle everything.”

  “You know your granddaughter,” Luc replied smoothly. He fixed Téa with a hot, hungry gaze. “She’s very thorough. Likes to examine every inch of whatever you put in front of her and make sure she’s intimately familiar with each and every detail.”

  Téa closed her eyes with a groan and sank back against the couch cushions.

  “She is a bit of a perfectionist,” Madam conceded.

  “I noticed that. And then the minute you think you’re finished, she wants to start at the beginning and go over it all again.”

  “Well the two of you keep at it until you have it just right.”

  “I’ll be sure to tell her you said so.”

  With that the connection went dead, leaving Téa staring at him with death and dismemberment in her eyes.

  “Well?” Nonna prompted. “Luc is still with Téa?”

  Madam nodded slowly. “Interesting, yes?”

  “Very.” Nonna’s expression turned crafty and she tapped her finger against her lower lip while she considered the possibilities. “They could not have been discussing the job every minute of all this time, could they?”

  “No.” Madam drew out the word. “I didn’t get that impression.”

  “So? What do you think they were doing?”

  Madam peered carefully around to make certain Primo was out of earshot. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “I think they were having the sex.”

  Nonna fought back a grin, while struggling to appear appropriately shocked. “Well, we thought we saw signs of The Inferno all those years ago when they first met at the lake as children. Little baby fizzes that suggest at what is to come. The same thing happened between Lazzaro and Ariana and look how happy the
y are together. This simply confirms our suspicions and means we did the right thing when we set this up.” A hint of satisfaction crept into her voice.

  “You were right,” Madam conceded. “But then, you always are.”

  “Once The Inferno strikes there is nothing they can do but give in to its demands. And maybe, if we are very fortunate, it will keep them too busy to ask uncomfortable questions.”

  “What questions?”

  “You have to admit, that story about Téa needing a bodyguard will not hold up for long,” Nonna said. “Luciano will soon discover that she is absentminded and when preoccupied prone to walk into walls, but is not in any real danger. We are lucky she had that little accident today or we might never have convinced him to help out.”

  “Lucky!”

  “Now, now. It could not have worked better if we had planned it. No one was hurt and it added credibility to our story.” Nonna patted Madam’s arm in a reassuring manner. “Luciano is a good boy. Do not worry about your Téa.”

  “I have always worried about her.” Madam’s dark eyes glistened with tears. “No one else does. She takes so much on her shoulders. Ever since her parents died. She blames herself, you know.”

  “Luciano will ease her burden.” Nonna’s hazel eyes narrowed in thought. “So, step one is complete.”

  “Step two will be far more difficult,” Madam warned.

  Nonna lifted a shoulder in a shrug that spoke volumes. “There is always a way to get caught in the act, especially if nature is busy taking its course.”

  “And once caught?”

  Nonna’s smile grew cat-swallowing-canary smug. “Why, step three. A wedding, of course.”

  Luc winced at the expression on Téa’s face. She stalked in his direction and snatched the cell phone from his hand. “I can’t believe you did that.”

  “I’m sure she didn’t catch the subtext.”

  Téa lifted an eyebrow. “And if she did?”

  Luc felt dull color inch across his face. “Hell.”

  “You think?” She marched to her handbag and carefully began reorganizing it. “You were right earlier,” she said as she arranged.

  “Of course I was.” He paused a beat. “What was I right about?”

  “I also vote to end things right now. Two ‘yes’ votes…that makes it unanimous. The motion carries. As of this minute our relationship is strictly business.”

  He didn’t bother commenting, since ending the relationship was what he wanted, as well. Though why he had a sudden urge to argue the point, he couldn’t say. Instead he frowned as the cell phones vanished into her shoulder bag. “Just out of curiosity, why do you have three phones instead of just one?”

  “I tried that. There were so many messages, my cell exploded.”

  His mouth twitched and he found himself relaxing. “Cell phones don’t explode.”

  “Mine did.” Her graceful fingers continued sorting and arranging, dancing over her possessions with all the skill of a concert pianist. “After just twenty-four hours the poor thing whimpered like a baby. Then this mushroom shaped cloud erupted out of my purse and the phone melted into a puddle of electronic goo all over everything. It made a terrible mess.” She paused, a wistful expression creeping across her face. “A shame really. It was a pretty little thing. I quite liked it.”

  He folded his arms across his chest and propped his shoulder against the wall. “That’s when you bought the individual phones?”

  “Oh, no. Then I switched to one of those all-purpose PDA phones.”

  “And?”

  “It’s recovering nicely at the sanitarium. The doctors have high hopes it can be retrained as a dictionary or address book.”

  Luc grinned, unexpectedly charmed. “And then?”

  At long last she appeared satisfied with how she’d packed her shoulder bag and flipped open her briefcase. It was one of those with endless little cubbyholes and slots and zip sections. “Organization is important to me,” she said, stating the all-too obvious. “So, I assigned one phone for each need. My three sisters on one, my grandmother on the second and—”

  “And?” he prompted again.

  She shrugged, burying her head deeper in her briefcase. He suspected it was to avoid looking at him. “And a private line just for me.”

  “Ah.” His focus narrowed, his hunting instincts going on full alert. “Who calls you on that one?”

  For a moment, he didn’t think she’d respond, wouldn’t tell him whether there was someone special in her life. Then she admitted, “Sometimes work.” For a split second she appeared intensely vulnerable and self-conscious. “I’ve been meaning to cancel it. There’s really no point in keeping it since I rarely use it.”

  For some odd reason it took a moment to respond. “Don’t,” he insisted gruffly. “Don’t cancel it.”

  Now she did look at him, all ruffled and defenseless and clinging gallantly to her dignity. “Why ever not?”

  “That one will be our phone.”

  “Our phone?” She frowned. “We don’t need a shared phone. We’ll be together often enough that you can just tell me whatever you need to in person.”

  “There may be times over the next six weeks when we’re not together and I’ll have to get in touch with you.” For some reason he found himself speaking gently. “If you’d rather not give me the number, I don’t mind sharing with your sisters.”

  She dismissed the suggestion out of hand. “No, that won’t do.”

  “What about my using Madam’s line?”

  “Not a chance.” She sighed. “No. I guess it’ll have to be my private cell.”

  He searched his pockets until he unearthed his phone. “Give me the number.”

  Reluctantly she relayed it and he punched it in. “Once I turn twenty-five I’m going to cancel the service,” she warned. She couldn’t have made herself any clearer if she’d announced, “In six weeks I’m deleting you from my phone, my work, my life…and my bed.”

  “Understood,” he said, the word ripe with irony.

  She stood, and he could tell she was intent on leaving. “Could you call me a cab?”

  “Sure. Just as soon as we clarify one thing.”

  “Which is?”

  “This.”

  He crossed to confront her, his arms closing around her. To his surprise, she didn’t attempt to slip from his grasp. Instead her curves settled against his, fitting like a key to a lock. Only this key and this lock were filled with heat and demand. Even more important, this key and lock opened a treasure beyond compare, one he’d never believed existed. One that tempted and seduced.

  One he wasn’t quite certain he could walk away from in six weeks…though he’d find a way.

  “We weren’t going to do this again,” she protested.

  “We weren’t going to do this again once we started working together,” he corrected. He swung her into his arms. “Our working relationship doesn’t begin until tomorrow.”

  “Your leg!”

  “My leg will survive.” His lips curved into a wry smile. “It’s the rest of me that’s questionable.”

  She teetered on a knife’s edge between resistance and capitulation and he waited to see which way she tipped. Then her expression softened into exquisite surrender.

  “Well, guess what?” Her arms crept upward and wrapped around his neck. Her lips nuzzled into the hollow at the base of his throat. “Some things may be questionable for you, but I believe I have the answers. Shall we see if I’m right?”

  He eyed her with amused appreciation as he carried her to the bedroom. “If you insist.”

  “Oh, I do insist. In fact, I demand.”

  “A demand is it?” He deposited her on his bed. “I guess a man has to do what a man has to do,” he said with a gusty sigh, and reached for his belt buckle.

  Four

  Luc wasn’t the least surprised when he woke the next morning to find Téa long gone, no doubt with her briefcase, shoulder bag and cranky cell phones in t
ow. Some bodyguard he was, allowing his assignment to slip away with such ease.

  The apartment felt strangely empty and silent, qualities that until a few hours ago he’d not only prized, but actively sought. He glanced toward the bedside table where he’d stashed his cell phone. He was tempted to try the number she’d given him, but since he’d see her soon at work, there wasn’t much point.

  He rolled over, planning to get up and shower and make tracks. But something stopped him, the faintest of scents. It sweetened the air next to him, coming from the indentation that was all that remained of Téa. He snagged the pillow and breathed her in.

  Her light, crisp perfume saturated his lungs and made him hungry for her. Hungry to repeat the excesses of the night before. But there was another reaction he hadn’t anticipated, one that was far worse. His palm throbbed and itched and he found himself rubbing at the sensation just as he’d seen Dante men do their entire lives.

  As much as he wanted to deny it, he could feel The Inferno stirring like some great dragon waking from a deep sleep. Flames sparked and crackled, surging through his veins and heating his blood. Not good, he realized in alarm. Not good at all. Somehow, someway, he’d have to return the dragon to its eternal rest. Because if there was one thing he intended to avoid experiencing, it was The Inferno.

  He refused to consider that it might be far too late.

  Luc arrived at Billings less than an hour later. It was an impressive place, he decided. Thick pearl-gray carpet sucked up all peripheral noise. Not that there was much. The few people he saw spoke in hushed undertones. The furniture was all heavy wood, stained a deep, somber shade of brown. A jungle of plants sprouted from every corner, dense enough to hide a tiger if one wandered in by mistake.

  It was all a bit on the stuffy, pretentious side, especially when compared to Dantes. Still, if the purpose of the decor was to give the visitor the impression of wealth and prestige, it succeeded.

  The attractive, impeccably tailored receptionist seated behind an intimidating fortress of wood and electronics assured him that not only was Ms. de Luca there, but expecting him. After making a discreet phone call, she examined his identification and presented him with credentials that would allow him to breach the upper echelon of the company’s executive offices.