Early to Bed

by Cara Summers

  "That's not true," Pamela said. "Jerry has a stellar future at McNeil Enterprises."

  Giles's 'brows shot up. "Then why did Jerry find it necessary to have someone tamper with the company plane in Tahiti?"

  "You bastard—"

  Jerry's leap forward out of the chair was blocked when Sam stepped into his path and shoved him back into his seat.

  "We were partners," Jerry said, glaring at Giles. "Delaying Lily's arrival was all your idea." He turned to the others. "I agreed to help keep Lily in Tahiti. That's all. Giles wanted to make his offer before she arrived at the hotel."

  Giles sneered. "And you bungled even that."

  J.R rounded on Jerry, a mix of fury and disbelief on his face. "You betrayed this company. You were actually working with Giles?"

  "Yes," Jerry said, his jaw stiff with anger. "Yes, I betrayed your company, just as it betrayed me." "Jerry." Pamela's voice was sharp. "No, Mother, I'm going to tell him. Giles offered me a vice presidency if I could help him get Henry's Place. That was the position that I was guaranteed before the merger fell through."

  "You fool." Pamela took a step toward her son, but J.R.'s hand on her arm stopped her.

  "You could have had a vice presidency at McNeil," J.R. said. "It was just a matter of time."

  "Too much time," Jerry said. "I've been working for ten years. And Lily comes back—the prodigal daughter returning—and you give her a job that I was supposed to have, a job that would have finally earned me the vice presidency you've been dangling under my nose for the past two years. If she'd been able to get the hotel for you, you'd have moved her right into a VP slot, and you'd have continued to stall me."

  "So you killed Lily." Tony shot out of his chair and took two steps before his brothers grabbed him. This time he wasn't acting as he struggled to break free.

  "No." Jerry threw up his hands as he cowered in his chair. "It wasn't me."

  "Lily came back to the company and as a surprise birthday present, your stepfather gave her the job you believed was yours, and so you decided to get rid of her once and for all."

  "No," Jerry said. "All I did was take a job with a rival company and make sure Lily was delayed in Tahiti. That's all. I swear it."

  "You fool." Pamela's voice was shrill. "All you had to do was wait."

  "Sit down." Sam spoke the words into Tony's ear. "Let Drew wrap this up."

  It took all of Tony's control to clamp down on his fury as he allowed himself to be drawn back to his chair.

  Pamela moved toward her son, but once more, J.R. stopped her. "Let him finish."

  Jerry's face twisted into a sneer. "I figured I would eventually be welcomed back to the family with a vice presidency after I'd held that position for a while at Fortescue. But I didn't kill her." He pointed a finger at Giles. "There's the man with the motive. Ask him why he wanted this two-bit, fleabag hotel. He's the one who would have done anything to get it."

  "Jerry's got a point," Drew said as he turned to Giles.

  Giles raised his hands, palms out and said, "Ah, but I don't want the hotel as much as J.R. does. He's got a little revenge thing going, too. Henry Romano stole a woman away from him years ago." He shot a smile at his rival "We're a lot alike, J.R. Too bad the merger fell through."

  All eyes turned toward J.R. His face was flushed, his eyes angry. "All right. I did vow revenge on Henry Romano when he convinced Isabelle Sheridan to break off our engagement. And when the opportunity to buy Henry's Place came up, I was only too happy to take it. But I wouldn't kill to get that revenge. I certainly wouldn't kill my own daughter. You on the other hand—"

  Nick and Drew both blocked J.R. as he lunged toward Giles.

  "You're knocking at the wrong door, J.R.," Giles said. "If you want to know who hates your daughter enough to kill her, look in your own executive suite and ask yourself who's been hell-bent on keeping Lily out of it."

  "Stop it!" Pamela screamed the words, and they stopped everyone in their tracks. There was fury in her eyes, ice in her voice. Every eye in the room was on her.

  "You're fools, all three of you. You," she pointed her finger at Giles, "because you'd rather play little games of revenge than run your company. You," the finger shifted to J.R., "because you treat people so callously. If you'd just recognized Jerry's talent, his potential, he'd have had Henry's Place signed, sealed and delivered by now."

  She was breathing hard, her hands were fisted, and there was nothing of the cool control that Tony had seen earlier.

  "And you," she pointed her finger at Jerry, "You're a fool because you couldn't wait. You've always been too impatient. And now you've ruined everything. Another twenty-four hours, and I told you that I had everything arranged. We would have had everything. You just had to wait."

  Pamela's voice had grown shriller as she spoke. Her face was red and her eyes were flashing. Everyone's gaze was fastened on her.

  "What arrangements did you make?" Drew asked. "Did you hire another hit man?"

  There was a beat of silence as Pamela turned toward him.

  "You wanted both of them out of the way, didn't you?" Drew asked. "That way you would almost certainly get your hands on the hotel and you could tie up your deal with the city planning board, and Jerry would get the vice presidency you promised him two years ago."

  "You don't know what you're talking about," Pamela said.

  Tony saw that she was struggling for control. Then with some pride he watched Drew close in on her. "You were so close to everything you wanted two years ago. It must have been quite a setback when Lily canceled the wedding. All those stock options gone, Jerry whining that he wasn't being appreciated. And maybe J.R. held you responsible because you promoted the engagement and the merger. Then two years later, you've made amends by acquiring the real estate on this entire city block, which will make the acquisition of Henry's Place much more than revenge. It will restore the board's faith in you, and get your son the position you've promised him. Then comes the monkey wrench. On the fifteenth of March, Lily comes back on the scene and it's déjà vu. She's going to ruin everything again."

  "You?" J.R. turned toward his wife. "You killed her?"

  "No," Pamela said. "I didn't bring those chocolates. And no one in this room can say that I touched them."

  "But you did hire a hit man," Drew said. "We've identified him, and he's been arrested. It's only a matter of time before he gives you up."

  As Pamela's face whitened, Tony started to rise. Only the tightening of Sam's hand on his shoulder kept him in his chair.

  "I don't think it will bother the jury that you didn't bring the chocolates," Drew continued, "or that no one caught you slipping a poisoned one into the box. I think they'll be more than happy to find you guilty."

  "I didn't kill her." Pamela's voice shook as she glanced around the room. Her husband and son were staring at her, their disbelief clear on their faces.

  "And you've always called me callous," J.R. said as he stared at his wife.

  Tony found himself staring at all three of the McNeils. This was Lily's family. A father who hadn't shown any interest in going to his daughter even though he believed her dead, a stepbrother who hated her, and a stepmother who wanted her dead. Fury slapped into him so hard that he wasn't sure what he would have done if Lily hadn't chosen that moment to rise from the "dead."

  Fear replaced anger in a heartbeat as he watched her streak down the stairs. This wasn't part of the charade.

  "No, you didn't kill me, Pamela." Lily pushed past her father to stand toe-to-toe with her stepmother. "But you did hire someone else to do the job for you."

  "You lying little cheat. You were just pretending."

  "Lily, what's the meaning of this?" J.R. asked.

  Tony rose and gripped J.R.'s arm. "Wait." Now that the first flash of fear had settled, he'd decided to play along with Lily's improvisation. Sam and Nick had moved so they were flanking Pamela. Drew was standing between Giles and Jerry. They had everyone guarded.

 
"Yes, I was pretending," Lily said. "This was all a little April Fools' joke, and it worked. It flushed out a would-be killer."

  Tony inched a little closer. So did Nick and Sam.

  "All day today, I've been trying to picture first Giles and then Jerry as killers. But neither of them has the passion. You do."

  "Lies," Pamela said. "You're making up lies." "No. You tried to kill me. For the moment, we'll let that slide. The mistake you made was trying to kill

  Tony. That's unacceptable." Lily's fist came up and connected with Pamela's jaw.

  Hard. Nick and Sam caught her as she fell.

  The Romanos were eating again. And talking all at once.

  Total chaos, Lily thought as she let the shouted bits of conversation flow around her. A.J., Grace, and Nick were theorizing strategies that Pamela's defense lawyers would take, and then coming up with counter moves that the prosecution could make. Sam sat on the arm of A.J.'s chair, keeping his hand on her shoulder to prevent her from leaping up when the arguments heated up. Tyler was feeding her baby and supporting her husband's ideas each and every time he voiced one. Except for Drew who was pacing, his cell phone pressed to his ear, the rest of the family had formed a semi-circle around the lawyers, cheering one or the other of them on. Alistair and Vera had retired to the bar, celebrating the end of a case in true Thin Man fashion with martinis.

  Lily sat on the couch in the middle of the noise and confusion, amazed that she was getting used to it. Not that she was joining them. She hadn't been able to eat a thing since that piece of chocolate. And she didn't have much to say. Any sense of relief that she felt watching Drew's men drag Pamela off had been tempered by the knowledge that a member of her own family had tried

  very hard to destroy Henry's Place and kill Tony. Then, to top it off, her father and Giles had lingered in an attempt to talk business with Tony.

  When he'd refused to speak with either of them, they'd each taken her aside. Giles had merely taken her hand and repeated his offer of a job. That had, of course, infuriated her father who'd countered by assuring her that a vice presidency at McNeil Enterprises was hers if she could just bring the Romano hotel deal home. No goodbye. No hugs.

  As she'd watched her father leave, she'd faced one reality head-on. No matter how she "visualized" him, her father was just not ever going to be the way she wanted him to be. The only person she could change was herself.

  Her biggest concern right now was that Tony was angry. She could see it in the tensed muscles of his jaw and in the gestures he made, and whatever he was saying to Drew wasn't diffusing it.

  Of course, he had every right to be angry. First of all, she hadn't followed the script. But surely, he could see that she couldn't just lie there and continue to play dead. She'd had a right to confront Pamela. There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that Pamela was guilty. She might not have confessed, but Sam had discovered that it was Pamela who had bought up the entire block surrounding the hotel, and she'd put McNeil Enterprises into a lot of debt doing it. Her deal with the city planners and, indeed, the very bright future she wanted for McNeil Enterprises, depended on McNeil getting hold of Henry's Place. The one thing she hadn't planned for was that Tony would refuse all offers.

  Of course, Pamela had wanted her son to make the deal, but barring that, she was prepared to do anything to ensure that the Romanos took the offer that McNeil was .presenting. After all, if McNeil profited, so would she.

  Lily could almost feel a bit sorry for the woman— and Jerry too. She'd never before realized that her father had treated them in the same cold and businesslike manner that he'd always treated her.

  One thing she knew for sure. She wasn't going back to McNeil Enterprises. Glancing down, she saw that she was gripping her hands together so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. Taking a deep breath, she drew her hands apart. The truth was she wasn't worried about her father or her next job. What was bothering her was the fact that deep down she knew that Tony was angry with her. He hadn't come near her since the police had dragged Pamela away.

  "You'll feel better if you eat something," Dropping down on the couch beside her, Drew lifted a tray of stuffed mushrooms and offered it to her.

  Lily stared at him. Those had to be the first words he'd ever spoken directly to her. "I can't eat right now."

  He shrugged. "You'll have to work on it. Eating is how the Romanos get through every kind of crisis."

  When she said nothing, he continued, "You have a nice right cross."

  "Thanks."

  "Look. I was wrong about you." He smiled then, and Lily saw that he had his own share of the Romano charm. "I hate it when that happens. Tyler and A.J. told me what you've done to save the hotel for Tony and for all of us." Then he held out his hand. "Welcome to the Romano family."

  Lily's heart skipped a beat and then sank. Those were the words she wanted to hear from Tony.

  Tyler chose that moment to hand her sleeping infant to Nick and raise her voice above the still-arguing lawyers. "Counselors and future counselors, 1 call for a brief recess. I have an announcement to make."

  As if it were another well-rehearsed scene, Alistair and Vera set their martinis down and moved to pull down a movie screen on the upper level. Lucy raced up the two steps to the kitchen and rolled out a cart complete with a slide carousel.

  "We're moving fast on this one," Drew said in a tone only Lily could hear. "Tyler decided a sneak attack would work best. Are you with us?"

  "With you?" Lily asked.

  Drew put a hand on her arm. "Shhh. She's going to present your plan to save the hotel. Just watch."

  Lily did just that as the lights in the living room were turned off and the first slide lit up the screen. It was her plan all right—all mapped out with the modifications they'd discussed on the airplane. But Tyler had brought it to life. For ten minutes, there was only the sound of Tyler's voice explaining the flow charts and graphs. When the screen finally darkened and the lights in the room were turned on, Tony was frowning. Lily's stomach fluttered as silence lengthened in the room.

  "This is Lily's idea, right?" Tony asked.

  "Yes," Tyler said. "And the beauty of it is that it's so simple really. We form a family company, each of us invests according to our means, and you run the whole thing as CEO."

  "We're not taking no for an answer," Nick said. "We appreciate the job you've done running the hotel. But we all own a share of Henry's Place, so it's only fair that we all contribute to keeping it up and running."

  "We'll all get to share in the profits," Sam pointed out. "And there will be profits," AJ. added. "Did you see Lily's projections?"

  "Time to surrender gracefully, bro," Drew said.

  Tony rose from his chair. "I need to speak with Lily. Privately."

  "Hey, if you're upset about this," Drew said, "take it out on us. All Lily did was come up with the idea. We're the ones who want to implement it."

  "It's all right." Lily had to push the words past the tightness in her throat. "I want to talk to Tony, too." Not that she was going to be given a choice since Tony already had her hand and was pulling her toward the bedroom.

  As he closed the door, she moved to the bed and then turned to face him. He was pacing, his shoulders and jaw tensed, his hands fisted at his sides. She'd never seen him this angry.

  "There's something I have to say."

  His words sounded a death knell in her ears. Had he dragged her in here to dump her? She couldn't feel her knees anymore, but she managed to climb up the steps to sit on the bed. Everything had started here. It might as well end here.

  "It's... it's not going to work." Tony dragged a hand through his hair.

  Lily's chin lifted. "I guarantee that what Tyler just outlined will work."

  He waved a hand. "Of course it will. I'm not talking about the damned hotel. I'm talking about us."

  Lily pressed a hand to her stomach. He was going to dump her.

  "Dammit!" The word exploded into the room. "I wanted to
do this right. I wanted to find the right words."

  Her gaze flew to his face. Fury crackled around him. And suddenly, she was angry too.

  Rising to' her knees on the mattress, she fisted her hands on her hips. "Now wait just a minute. I just saved your hotel. And your life."

  When he opened his mouth, she raised a hand to stop him. "Maybe you don't have the right words, but I do. And you're going to let me finish. I saved your life, Romano. Twice. First when the shooter fired at you—and again tonight because Pamela wouldn't have stopped at killing just me. Okay, maybe I saved my own life, too. And your family helped a little. A couple of crack PJ.s and a police detective are nothing to sniff at. But it was my plan that flushed Pamela out."

  "Lily, I—" Tony moved to the side of the bed.

  This time she cut him off by poking a finger into his chest. "And you're angry at me. You have the nerve to be angry just because you can't find the right words to dump me?" She poked him again even as a look of complete stupefaction appeared on his face. "If you think that you can just toss me away like a piece of—"

  Tony grabbed both of her hands. "You think I brought you in here to dump you?" The laugh started deep in his chest and filled the room.

  She jerked one hand free and punched him then— one good left jab in the stomach. Surprise and delight filled his, eyes before he grabbed her shoulders and pinned her beneath him on the bed. "Get off," she managed to huff. Tony just grinned at her. Oh, she was a fighter all right. "Get off."

  "Not until we clear a few things up. First, I'm not angry with you. I'm furious with your father. It was all I could do to keep my hands off of him. He's a stupid man not to value you. And I'm angry with myself. Because I have something to say to you, and I wanted everything to be perfect." She stared at him, not struggling anymore. He took a deep breath. "I came in here to ask you to keep that ring on your finger. I want the engagement to be real. From the moment we made love in this bed, I knew you were right for me." His chocolate-brown eyes, soft with tenderness, wandered over her face, then met her gaze. "I want you to share my life."