She’d found respite in an hour of sleep within the haven of Marc’s arms, but her churning stomach had woken her. She’d stared at the dark ceiling until she acknowledged that sleep would not return. She’d shifted and replaced herself with a pillow, pausing to appreciate the outline of Marc’s muscular shoulders and back in the dimly lit room.
If she were looking for a relationship, which she wasn’t, a man like Marc would hit almost every criteria on her perfect match list. He was intelligent without being socially insecure. Strong without being threatened by her own strength. And flawed. Thank God for his flaws. She certainly had a good share of her own.
A man like Marc could accept her as she was while still pushing her to be better—no different from the way he pushed himself. Unlike any man she’d been with in the past, the more time she spent with Marc, the more she respected him. He was honest, blunt, and he genuinely seemed to want her to be happy.
Alethea swallowed hard. She didn’t want to fail here today. For Lil. For herself. And, remarkably enough, for Marc. She wanted more than anything to tell him she had navigated what was sure to be a minefield of temptation, held her tongue, and left this meeting with a workable truce. They may never be friends, but they could find a civil middle ground. One that allowed her to be close to Lil without the friction it presently caused.
Taking a deep breath, Alethea rang the bell and braced herself.
The door swung open and Lil pulled her through and into a tight hug. “You came, Al, I knew you would.”
Tears welled and were successfully contained. Alethea hugged her friend back, then said, “I will always come when you call, Lil. Always.”
Lil met her eyes and gushed, “When you weren’t answering your phone I thought you were angry with me about springing Marie and Nicole on you. I honestly thought it would make it better, not worse. I feel awful about how that went down.”
Calm. Peace. Control. Truce. “I was just as much at fault as anyone else. You know how I get when I lose my temper. But I wasn’t ignoring your calls. I lost my phone for a bit and things got a bit crazy. Know that no matter how bad you feel, I am just as sorry.”
Lil held her friend’s hand and said, “And here I am again, asking you to give them another shot. I wouldn’t blame you if you turned tail and ran, but Abby promised she’d be in your corner. She wants to work things out between the two of you.”
Alethea nodded. “I want the same thing. I want to be standing next to Abby at your wedding. I know how much that means to you and I’ll do anything to make sure you have that moment.”
Lil bit her lip with worry before she said, “Just one thing. Don’t bring up Stephan or your theories. Keep to safe topics. If they ask you, tell them that you were wrong and thought you’d found something but you haven’t.”
Oh, Lil. “I’m not a good liar.”
“For me. Just this once. Let Dominic and Jake deal with their business issues—issues you wouldn’t even know about if you weren’t so paranoid. I know what you said you found, but you could be wrong, couldn’t you? People make mistakes. Things look one way, but they turn out to be totally different when you look closer. Let this one go. Don’t cloud today with possible apocalyptic scenarios. Let them see the side of you I love. Just be you today.”
Lil sounded so much like Marc that Alethea fought back emotional tears again and hated herself for the weakness. Just be me. I don’t know who I am when you remove what I do. Like Marc, Lil was asking for what felt like the impossible.
Don’t expect things to get better if you do what you’ve always done.
I can do this.
I can be the friend Lil needs.
I can smile and keep my mouth shut.
“I won’t let you down, Lil. Don’t worry. I’ll play nice.”
Lil linked arms with Alethea and walked through the foyer with her.
Abby met them halfway. Her smile looked a bit forced, but she gave Alethea a kiss on the cheek. “Welcome. Everyone is already in the atrium.”
“Everyone?” Alethea asked, her mouth suddenly dry.
Abby stopped and turned. Her expression changed, becoming more sympathetic and open. “Only Marie and Nicole. The house is empty. Dominic’s mother is watching Judy and Colby.” She paused, then said, “I’m glad you came today, Alethea. Sincerely. I know we’ve had our issues, but I’m hoping we can find a way to start fresh today.” She looked away and then back. “You’ve been a good friend to my sister and that is what I want to focus on. You love Lil and so do I. It’s time for us to find a way to get along.”
Say as little as possible.
With a tight throat, Alethea nodded. “I’d like that.”
She followed Abby into the atrium. Marie and Nicole stood when she entered. A tense silence filled the room for a moment.
Marie crossed the room and gave Alethea a kiss on the cheek. “Alethea.”
Alethea almost laughed as a clip from an old mafia movie flashed through her mind. Kiss of welcome or of death?
No jokes.
No sarcasm.
Be good.
I should hug the old bitty just to see what she’d do.
No, behave.
Maintaining what she hoped was a friendly smile, Alethea said, “Nice to see you again, Marie.”
Nicole walked up to her, hands clasped tightly before her. “What you said about Stephan really hurt me.”
Alethea took a calming breath. This was about a truce, not the truth. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intention to hurt you.” That much was true anyway.
White-faced, Nicole asked, “Do you still believe that Stephan is trying to sabotage my brother’s company?”
I never said . . .
Doesn’t matter.
“No, I don’t.”
Not letting up, Nicole pushed, “So, you were wrong.”
Alethea glanced at Lil, who was practically wringing her own hands as she waited. Lie. It doesn’t matter what she thinks of me. Not being able to get along with her hurts Lil. Put aside your damn pride and just fucking lie. Face tight, Alethea said, “Yes, I was.”
With an audible breath, Nicole relaxed a bit and covered her mouth with one hand as she said, “Oh, my God, I knew you were, but I needed to hear it.”
Abby stood beside Alethea and said, “Why don’t we all sit down?”
They sat in a circle around an antique table while Abby served tea and passed a plate of scones.
Alethea took her cup obediently and placed it before her. Unlike the other women, she didn’t reach for sweetener or lemon.
Marie asked, “Not a tea drinker?”
Instantly defensive, Alethea sat straighter, but bit back the first five responses that came to her. Finally she said, “Not really, but this is a nice treat.”
Lifting the teapot from the tray, Marie said, “This particular blend is from Ceylon. They say it teases the palate with a hint of ginger and is best with a slice of orange. Milk does not complement it.”
“Thank you,” Alethea said, and reached for an orange slice. “I appreciate the tip.”
Abby said, “I hope you’re here long enough to see Judy when Rosella returns with her. She’s getting so big so fast. Colby will be happy to see you, too.”
Don’t ask.
Don’t get involved.
“So Rosella took them out?”
Abby nodded. “Yes, they needed the fresh air. She took the double stroller and is walking them both at Central Park.”
“With security?” Alethea asked before she could stop herself.
Abby’s face darkened a bit with irritation. “Of course with security. Look at this place, it’s a virtual prison with all the men Dominic has patrolling it. It was bad before Judy was born, but thanks to your little hospital stunt, I can barely move without tripping over a bodyguard.”
Lil said, “Abby, that’s not really fair. Alethea saw a potential problem and she exposed it. We’re lucky it was her and not a rabid fan or reporter.”
Abby si
ghed. “Alethea, I know you did it to help, but you upset everyone the way you did it. From now on, please pick up the phone and tell me, or Dominic. I can give you Marc’s phone number. He’s Dominic’s head of security. Call him with your concerns next time and I promise to be grateful for your help.”
Bite your tongue.
She obviously has no clue what’s going on.
But that’s okay, because it’s being handled.
Nicole said, “I don’t know how you put up with this side of Dominic, Abby. It’s too much. He tried to give me my own security detail and I turned it down.”
Lil laughed. “He did the same for me when we first met. I had to threaten to call the police, remember, Abby?”
Abby smiled at the memory. “I do. You accused him of being worse than me.”
“He was,” Lil said. “Thank God Jake isn’t like that. We have a regular home security system and that’s it. I couldn’t handle living like you do, Abby.”
Marie interjected, “Dominic does it because he loves her. He lives a high-profile life. Even more so than Jake. That level of celebrity comes with a cost. He’s just trying to keep his family safe.”
Alethea said, “Lil, a bodyguard might be a good idea for you and Colby, too.”
Lil shook her head. “No way. I’m careful about where I go and that’s good enough for me. For special events, yes, I can see how we need it to deal with the press, but I don’t want to live with a constant shadow.”
The hair on the back of Alethea’s neck went up at the knowledge of how unprotected her friend was. She wanted to demand that she do more for herself and her child. She wanted to spill the details of everything she knew. But she didn’t.
All she knew so far was that Stephan’s IP address was involved in the coding errors and someone had sent a photo of Judy through his email.
Neither was enough to convince anyone present they were facing a potentially lethal threat. They wouldn’t believe her. Nothing would be gained, and Marc would never trust her again.
Abby put down her tea and said, “The reason I asked all of you here is because things have gotten rocky between us lately and I believe we’ve lost sight of what is important. We have a wedding to plan. Lil, stop putting off the date and pick one. We’ll all be there.”
A huge, hopeful smile spread across Lil’s face. “There is nothing I want more than to have the people I love the most at my side that day.” She looked back and forth between Abby and Alethea. “I love you both so much. I couldn’t plan a wedding while you were at odds. But seeing you here together, I know we can work this out. I want to drag all of you wedding dress shopping, cake tasting, make you listen to a slew of possible bands.”
Abby hugged Lil. “You deserve to have your big day without worrying whether we can get along or not. The past is the past. All that matters to me is whatever happens from this day on.”
Lil reached across and took Alethea’s hand in hers. “I couldn’t have said it better than Abby did. A fresh start sounds good to me.”
Nicole joked, “And the sooner the better. Stephan and I would love to be next.”
Marie looked across at Alethea and said, “I’ve judged you harshly in the past, Alethea. I’m protective of my boys and I adopted Jeremy the moment I met him. Jeisa, too. I can’t say I agree with how you treated either of them, but I can agree to let the past be the past. You impressed me today. I didn’t know what to think when Abby suggested this meeting. But I can see that you genuinely want this to work out as much as we do. You’ve done a lot to help those I care most about, and I hope this is the start of a friendship between us.”
The next two hours passed quickly as they chose days to get together, possible locations for Lil’s wedding, and in general laughed over fun ideas they tossed around. Alethea didn’t mention the challenges each proposed location faced when it came to security. She didn’t share what all those days would mean to her work schedule and projects. No, she smiled, laughed, and did her best to avoid saying anything that could rock the boat.
She excused herself to go to the bathroom and Lil came with her, hugging her all the way. “Al, today worked out better than I dared dream it could. I’m getting married. I’m actually getting married, and you’re going to be there.”
She hugged her friend back, fighting the voice within her that screamed to be careful. Abby was right. The past doesn’t matter here. I bring it to every encounter I have. Is that why I can’t be happy? I find ugly everywhere because I look for it?
Just for today, I want to see the world the way Lil does.
She hugged Lil and gave in to an enthusiastic bounce. “You’re getting married. You’re really getting married.”
They giggled together just as they had when they’d been much younger, and it felt good.
They returned from the bathroom, both smiling and laughing.
Abby’s phone beeped and she checked it. She smiled and then frowned. Holding the phone so everyone could see the photo, she said, “Stephan just sent me a photo of the babies and Rosella at the park. That’s weird. He’s never sent me a text before. It doesn’t look like they even know he’s there.”
She looked at Nicole, who shrugged and then at Alethea—who froze.
Chapter Fifteen
Across town, Marc placed his list of names on Dominic Corisi’s desk. “With Alethea’s help I went through every name you gave me. There is a brief summary next to each. We used every source we could to learn what these people have been up to and determine if they have the skills needed to pull this off. I wish I had good news for you.”
Dominic looked over the list quickly and then handed it to Jake. “Jeremy, tell me you found something.”
“I found a network of dummy IPs that lead backward from Stephan’s. The good news is that Stephan’s not doing this. The bad news is, whoever is doing this—he’s good. Real good. I hate to say it, but I think Alethea is right on the money with this one. Someone put a whole lot of effort into this . . . over a few years. If we stop looking at the coding errors as the problem and think of them as a taunt, we’re dealing with one sick bastard.”
Jake said, “But one that Stephan may have met. If he worked for him, there has to be a photo of him. Or surveillance video. Something.”
Jeremy said, “There is no record of Stanley or the other alias at Andrade Global. They store their surveillance videos digitally, and those files have been wiped clean. I guess we could have Stephan work with a criminal sketch artist, but other than that, we’re at a dead end.”
Marc looked at Dominic. “Can I use your computer?”
Jeremy’s eyebrows rose. “No offense, Marc, but if there was something to find here, I would have found it.”
Jake agreed. “I’ve gone through every possible online database we have. Nothing. It’s like this guy never existed. If we’re even hunting for the right guy. There is nothing that says the man who worked for Stephan and the guy who is doing this are the same person.”
Undeterred, Marc walked behind Dominic’s desk and took his seat. He stopped and looked at Dominic. “Password?”
Dominic told Marc and then shrugged. “I don’t know why I use one when apparently everyone can access everything regardless.”
Marc accessed the internet and followed his hunch.
“What are you hoping to find?” Jeremy asked.
Marc answered, “Just give me a minute.”
Dominic looked around the room angrily. “Where the hell is Stephan?”
Jeremy pointed his thumb at the window in a vague reference of location. “He’s working with Jake’s parents to secure his server. It’ll take time to find and close every access point.”
Dominic growled, “I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all. Who would go this far just to fuck with me? What could they get out of it?”
Marc spun Dominic’s monitor around and asked, “Dominic, do you recognize anyone in this photo?”
Dominic walked over, flanked by Jake, and bent to look
at the photo of a man looking irritated by the birthday cake on his cubicle desk. “Who is it?”
Marc straightened. “That’s Jack the first year he worked for Andrade Global.”
Jeremy nodded in admiration. “Social media. You’re a genius, Marc.”
Shaking his head, Marc said, “Not a genius, just savvy to the fact that everyone posts everything online and I figured the coding department at Andrade Global wouldn’t be anything different. You can wipe databases clean, but try getting someone to take down an embarrassing photo of you. This one even had him tagged. I bet it meant nothing to him at the time and he forgot all about it.”
Jake said, “Dom, we know him.”
Dominic looked closer. “It can’t be Kurtis from college. It looks like him, though.”
Jake straightened and explained. “Dom and I met at Harvard. We planned Corisi Enterprises over pizza and some serious beer. But we weren’t alone. Kurtis Vine was involved at first. At least at the very beginning, when we were still writing everything on napkins. He was brilliant and for a while we thought all three of us would take over the world together.”
Marc asked, “What happened?”
Dominic frowned. “He and I didn’t share the same vision.”
Jake smiled. “You know, the one where Dominic gets all the glory and everyone else is grateful to go along for the ride.”
Dominic glared at his friend. “You want to be the face of Corisi Enterprises, Jake, just say so. It comes with this great desk and all the blame for anything that ever goes wrong.”
Jake raised his hands with a placating smile. “I’m perfectly happy to take the copilot seat.”
Marc said, “But Kurtis wasn’t. Why didn’t you mention him last night when we were generating a list of possible suspects?”
Dominic shrugged. “It was a long time ago. When we split ways, all we had was a vague business plan written on napkins and scrap paper. He didn’t contribute anything of value.”
Jake continued. “We designed our first software interface after he left. We didn’t screw him out of anything.”
Marc turned the monitor around and did an internet search. Failed company. Failed company. Then nothing. He dropped off the map just about the time Jack Mineoff was hired by Stephan. “Looks like he had some good ideas but couldn’t pull them off. He failed at everything he’s tried since college. He probably resents the fortune you’ve made, Dom. It has to be him. He disappeared from the record just about the time Jack was hired by Stephan.”
The Legacy Collection Box Set Page 92