Nightclub Surprise

by Michelle Love

  “Hey, remember, no hunches,’ Kate reminded him. “Where was Maceo when Viola was killed?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Okay, so that’s another thing to check. There’s another theory. Maybe he hired someone to kill Ori?”

  Lisander rubbed his eyes. “But why? He adores her. Absolutely worships her.”

  “To the point of obsession?” Kate wondered, then shook her head. “No, if that were the case, he would have stabbed her himself. No, I tend to agree. Maceo would never hurt Ori. But what if someone was seeking revenge on Maceo for Viola? Eye for an eye?”

  “Which brings us back to …”

  “Alex.”

  They stared at each other and then Lisander groaned. “I don’t want to think what I’m thinking.”

  “But we’re all thinking it,” Kate said softly. “When you were in that room, when Maceo said what he said, I’m willing to bet you all thought the same thing. Alex has the motive. Is he capable? Do you think he is capable of killing his own fiancée, of trying to murder Ori, the woman who resembles her so much?”

  Lisander stared at her with despairing eyes. “God help me … I think he is.”

  In the bar of the hotel, Alex Milland swirled the last of his scotch in the bottom of his glass then drained it. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Seth and Netta. His friend and half-sister sat on either side of him. “I don’t want to talk,” Alex said.

  “Alex …” Netta’s lovely face was creased with worry, but Alex shook his head.

  “Maceo thinks I did it. We all know that’s what he meant. He thinks I stabbed Ori; he thinks I killed Viola.” He looked at a silent Seth. “You think so too.”

  Seth shook his head. “No.”

  Alex gave a humorless laugh. “Say that like you mean it, brother.”

  He saw Seth and Netta exchange a look. “Don’t worry, I’m not freaking out. Yet. Just … I know it looks bad and I admit, Viola sleeping with Maceo did upset me. But who wouldn’t be? Doesn’t mean I killed her. And Ori? Why the hell would I hurt her? I …”

  “Am in love with her,” Netta finished in a gentle voice, and Alex nodded, looking up at her with desolation in his eyes.

  “I didn’t want to be. I don’t want to be. When Maceo called and said she’d been stabbed, I thought I would go crazy.”

  “Alex,” Seth said, his voice quiet and calm. “Just answer this. Where were you when Ori was attacked?”

  Alex sighed, rubbing his eyes. “In Venice. And no, no one can corroborate that. Hell, I almost wish I was guilty because I feel like I’m responsible. If I had found out who killed my Viola …”

  Netta, tears dripping down her face, wrapped her arms around her brother. “I’m so sorry, Alex.”

  Seth put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Maceo will calm down. As soon as Ori comes out of the coma, as soon as she’s back with us, he’ll see sense.”

  Alex sighed. “Seth … what if she doesn’t make it?”

  Seth had no answer for him.

  Later, when they had persuaded Alex to get some sleep, Netta and Seth sat together in Seth’s room. Netta was exhausted. She leaned into Seth, who put his arm around her.

  “Seth … how is any of this going to be okay?”

  Seth sighed. “I don’t know, sweetheart. I think we just have to concentrate on hoping Ori pulls through. Then we can deal with the rest of the crap.”

  “Alex is spiraling down,” she said, her voice breaking and Seth hugged her tightly.

  “We’ll get him through this too.” He pressed his lips to her temple. He had always been the closest to Netta out of Alex’s friends, and she smiled at him gratefully.

  “You are a good guy, Seth Cantor.”

  He rolled his eyes but couldn’t help grinning. “Shucks.”

  Netta chuckled. “Irina is a damn fool for letting you go.”

  Seth’s smile faded, and he gazed at her. “You think?”

  The atmosphere in the room had changed unexpectedly. Netta smiled slowly. “I do. I really do.”

  Their eyes locked and Netta leaned in and pressed her lips to his. Seth kissed her back but then pulled away, his eyes amused and wary. “Netta … is this a good idea?”

  She smiled, looking up at him through her lashes. “I don’t know. I just know I want this. The question is, do you?”

  In reply, Seth pulled her into his arms. Netta slid her arms around his broad torso, feeling the hard abs beneath his blue shirt, his mouth firm on hers. She got up and offered him her hand and led him to the bedroom. She pulled the straps of her dress from her shoulders and let it slither down her body to the floor. She knew she had a great body, athletic and strong, and she saw the desire ignite in Seth’s eyes and smiled.

  She removed his shirt, kissing his rock-hard pecs, and slid her hand down to cup his cock. She felt it thickening and lengthening through his pants. Seth’s fingers popped the catch on her bra, removing it, then slid into her panties, caressing her. Netta moaned as he swept her onto the bed. “Don’t wait, Seth, don’t wait … … .”

  Seth’s cock, huge and throbbing, plunged into her as she clamped her legs around his waist. She grinned up at him as they fucked. “If you knew how long I’ve thought about this.”

  Seth, his face serious, buried his face in her neck. “God, Netta …”

  They drove each other to orgasm then lay, panting. Netta looked over at him. “Mr. Cantor, that was better than I ever dreamed.”

  Seth laughed softly. “And was probably a big mistake, Nets.”

  She rolled onto her side and gazed down at him. His body was finely honed—the result of working out twice a day, but it had still surprised her with its hardness, its fierce masculinity. Seth Cantor was strong not just in mind, it seemed. Netta pressed her lips to his nipple, teasing it with her tongue. Seth smiled down at her.

  “Nets, seriously. We should keep this between us for now.”

  “Oh, I agree,” Netta said, not at all stung. “But we should keep it.”

  Seth laughed out loud then. “You are insatiable.”

  He rolled her onto her back, shaking his head as he smiled. “Where did you come from?”

  Netta’s eyes were suddenly serious. “Seth … are you really telling me you didn’t know I’ve had a thing for you for years?”

  “I really didn’t,” he admitted ruefully. “I wish I had known.”

  She kissed him. “Let’s not waste any more time then.” And they began again where they had left off.

  New York City, five years previously.

  The Museum of Modern Art was packed with guests for the charity gala. Alex scanned the room for Maceo and saw him talking to a beautiful woman across the room. Alex grinned to himself. He nudged Seth who was standing by his side. “Look.”

  Alex nodded at Maceo and Seth rolled his eyes. “Of course.”

  They made their way over to their friend, who grinned widely when he saw them, embracing them both. “Alex, Seth, allow me to introduce Viola Redman. Viola, Seth Cantor, Alex Milland.”

  While Seth was talking to the woman, Maceo nudged Alex. “I brought her for you, Alexander. She’s 26, a Brown graduate, and a junior partner in a publishing firm.”

  Alex sighed. Maceo was forever trying to fix him up, but he had to admit, Viola Redman was stunning with long dark hair that fell in waves to her shoulders and large brown eyes the color of honey. As Maceo very unsubtly steered Seth away from the couple, Viola smiled at Alex. “He’s quite a character.”

  “He’s something, all right,” muttered Alex darkly, then laughed. Viola really was beautiful, her smile gentle, her eyes friendly. He found it easy to talk to her and before long, he realized he had been chatting with her for nearly an hour.

  “Viola,” he said, snagging her another drink from a passing waiter, “would you like to have dinner with me later?”

  He took her to The Palm, where they had lobster and talked late into the night. Alex was smitten. Viola was funny, erudite, and s
weet; she gently ribbed him about his “boys’ club.'

  There was no question that they’d spend the night together. The moment Alex unzipped her lavender dress and let it fall to the floor of his hotel room, he knew he had met the love of his life. Viola wasn’t shy in bed; as he plunged his cock into her, she cried out his name, raking her nails down his back, spurring him on. They fucked all night, and in the morning, she’d gone, leaving him a note with her phone number on it.

  He hadn’t waited to call her. Viola moved in with him two weeks later and everybody, everybody knew they’d be together forever.

  Until Viola was murdered and Alex fell apart …

  “Mr. Bartoli?”

  Maceo looked up to see Ori’s surgeon smiling at him. Maceo had been gently sent away from Ori while they did some tests on her and now he was in the small relatives’ room, cold, exhausted, and drinking some very weak coffee.

  “Mr. Bartoli, why don’t we sit?”

  He’s going to tell me she’s not going to make it. “Okay.” He steeled himself as they sat. The doctor nodded to him.

  “We think Ori’s coming out of the coma.”

  Maceo’s heart began to thump hard against his ribs. “Really? Oh my god, I mean, really?”

  The doctor held up his hands. “Now, this is good news, but she still has a long way to go. It could take a while for her to regain consciousness and we won’t know until she does if she’ll suffer any long-term effects. She lost a lot of blood, a lot, and if her brain was starved of oxygen … well, we’ll just have to see. But this is a step in the right direction. I’ve checked her abdominal wounds, and I think we’re out of the woods as far as the abdominal artery is concerned. She’s a fighter.”

  Maceo, tears in his eyes, nodded, half-laughing. “Yes, she is.”

  Lucia was waiting outside the relatives’ room when the doctor left, and she hugged Maceo as tightly as she could when he told her the good news. “Oh, thank god, thank god,” she kept repeating, and he laughed.

  “I know, I know. Look, let’s go sit with her and see if we can coax her awake quicker.”

  Lucia laughed, but when she saw her friend lying so still in the bed, her smile faded. “She doesn’t look more awake.”

  Maceo stroked the hair back from Ori’s face, his gaze taking in every detail of his lover’s face. “Her color is better,” he said softly, and bent to kiss Ori’s cool lips. “Come back to me, mio amato. Come back to us.”

  Lucia’s heart ached for her boss, her friend. At that moment, she knew the depth of his love for Ori; they truly belonged together. She began to cry softly and Maceo, noticing, came to hold her hands.

  “It’s not fair,” Lucia said through her sobs. “She had years of unhappiness and abuse and now this. Just when you found each other.”

  Maceo wrapped his arms around her. “I swear to you, Lucia, she will come through this. I swear it, and when she does, I will give her the best, the happiest life anyone could ever have.”

  Lucia hugged him back. “I know you will. I know.”

  “Without her, I am nothing,” Maceo said in a low voice. “Nothing. If the worst should happen …”

  He didn’t continue, but he didn’t need to. Lucia pushed him away and made him look at her. “I never want to hear that from you, Maceo Bartoli. Ori would be furious and heartbroken. She’s fighting, I know it, and if she loses, it won’t be because she hasn’t tried. So don’t you give up on her, on me, or on yourself, Maceo. I won’t permit it.” Her voice was shaking so much he could barely understand her, but the pain in her eyes was unmistakable.

  “Perdonami, Lucia, I’m so, so sorry.”

  She let her hold her before wiping away her tears. “Ori would kick your ass all the way out of heaven.”

  Maceo smiled, his green eyes tired but soft. “Come on. She’d try, but then she’d look at all this hotness and forgive me...” He exaggerated a swagger to make her laugh.

  “God, Bartoli, you never change.” But she squeezed his shoulder. “How about I go track us down some decent coffee?”

  Outside, she slid her phone from her purse and called Benoit. “I think Maceo’s close to cracking up, I really do. I don’t know what to do.”

  Benoit listened to her patiently. “Lucia, don’t worry, we’ve got this.”

  Lucia sighed. “Thank you, Benoit. Listen,” she hesitated, “It may not be the best idea for … I mean, no offense to him, but …”

  “It’s okay,” Benoit’s voice was soft. “Alex won’t come near the hospital.”

  “Thank you, Benoit. I’m so sorry.”

  Maceo, standing at the door to Ori’s room, listened as her friend ended the call. He felt conflicted; right now, he needed his brothers, his rocks. But after what he’d said to them, he was surprised they were still speaking to him. His rage that day … he still felt it, but only towards Alex. He had never been so sure as he was that Alex had done this to Ori. The police had called him in to watch the gas station’s security footage. God, he would never get those images out of his head.

  The black-clad masked stranger getting into the car; Ori’s surprise, then shock … the way the man had stabbed her, so savagely, without mercy. Maceo was grateful for the graininess of the video that he couldn’t see the stabbing in detail, but he saw the blade catch the light as the killer plunged it into Ori’s belly again and again. Her hands uselessly clawing at him. The man bending over her for a long moment, then leaving her to bleed to death.

  Oh god, Ori … I’m so sorry. He returned to her bedside and sat down, taking her small hand in his, raising it to his lips. “Il mio amore, la mia bella amore.” He wished he could go to sleep and join Ori wherever she was, hold her, kiss her, just the two of them, in a world without danger, or fear.

  Ori’s fingers twitched, and Maceo froze. “Ori?”

  Nothing. He sighed and placed her hand flat against his cheek, trying to warm it. Her thumb moved, sweeping along his cheek. Maceo’s eyes widened as he saw her eyelids flicker. “Ori? Mio amore?”

  Her fingers moved, cupping his cheek and her eyes opened just a little, trying to focus on him. Maceo leaped up, calling for the nurse, but never taking his eyes off Ori’s lovely face. “Ori? That’s it, try to focus on me, oh my love, my love …”

  Netta was stepping out of the shower when Seth knocked on the door. She grinned at him. “Why are you knocking? Get in here.”

  Completely uninhibited she went to him, naked, and kissed him. “You’re smiling.”

  Seth laughed, indicating her still-damp body. “Any red-blooded man would be, but for once, you’re not the only reason. Ori’s coming out of the coma.”

  Netta felt a rush of relief. “Oh, thank god … did Maceo call you?”

  Seth nodded. “He asked me to call Lisander and Benoit.”

  Not Alex. Netta felt the sting, but nodded. Seth studied her, reading her mind.

  “Give him time, Netta. He’ll come around.”

  Netta swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. “Does he want us at the hospital?”

  Seth shook his head. “No, he doesn’t want her overwhelmed with visitors. Lucia’s there, of course, and Maceo said she would call when he thought it was a good time.”

  Netta started to wrap a towel around her body, but Seth caught the end of it and pulled it away. “I thought we could celebrate,” he said with a lazy smile, and Netta laughed. She stood back against the cool tile.

  “Then you had better strip for me, Cantor.”

  Seth pulled his tie down with a flourish, which made her grin. God, his body. As he undid the blue dress shirt he wore, she marveled at the planes of his chest, the firm abs, the slim hips.

  “I love your cock,” she said as he removed his underwear, “I love the curve of it, the silky feel of it … the taste of it.”

  Seth fisted the root of it. “You like this?”

  “Oh yes … I like to watch you as you get yourself hard, I like it when you do that and look at me just like you are right now.” />
  Seth, his cock standing proudly against his belly, came closer. “I’d like to come on your skin.”

  Netta smiled, a soft, sensual curve of her mouth. She stepped forward and pressed her belly against him, stroking his cock with her fingers. She helped him climax, reveling as he shot creamy cum all over her belly and her breasts, then, as he picked her up easily with one arm, impaled herself onto him, her cunt enveloping him completely.

  “Why did we wait so long to do this?” Seth murmured, his lips at her ear, then her neck, then biting down on her shoulder as they fucked. Netta laughed, gasping as he nailed her back against the wall.

  “Hell knows, but let’s keep doing it.”

  Alex knocked at his half-sister’s door. He’d been to the police, them having asked him to come in and talk to them about the stabbing, and now he just needed to vent to someone. He could hear voices from inside and frowned. “Nets? Sis? You in there?”

  After a beat, Netta, wrapped in her robe and definitely looking disheveled, answered the door.

  “Hey, bro,” she said way too casually, and Alex’s eyes narrowed.

  “What the hell’s going on?”

  Netta hesitated, then sighed, opening the door to let him in. Alex stepped into the room, only to rock back when he saw Seth, shirtless, standing at the far end of the room.

  Seth nodded to him.

  “Alex.”

  Alex stared at him, then Netta. “Seth. Well, this is … um … ”

  “Not at all awkward, seeing as I’m an adult,” Netta said firmly. Alex felt an argument brewing inside of him but suddenly felt exhausted and shrugged.

  “Fine.” He sighed and sat down as Seth found his shirt and slipped it back on. Alex looked up at him. “Any news from the hospital?”

  Seth and Netta exchanged a glance, then Seth said softly, “Ori’s coming out of the coma.”

  “That’s good. That’s good news.”

  Netta sat down next to her brother. “Alex …”

  “Maceo doesn’t want me there. That’s okay, whatever he needs, he gets. Whatever Ori needs.” Alex’s voice was steady, but Netta could hear the heartbreak in it.