by Lara Hunter
Everett grinned, his cheeks turning red. “I’d like that very much,” he said. He leaned toward Michael, asking a final, nervous question. “And I was hoping you could teach me to code someday. I think it’s awesome!”
Michael’s eyes lit up. He nodded earnestly. “I’d be honored to assist you with your computing career, nephew. Maybe we can teach a thing or two to your aunt, as well.” He winked at Grace, who gave him a playful smack on the elbow.
After dinner, Grace and Michael stood next to their stunning, multi-tiered, Christmas-decorated cake. They slid the knife through it and Michael wiped a glob of frosting on Grace’s nose and mouth, causing her to laugh uproariously. Around them, the people she loved the most joined in on the laughter, clinking their glasses together. The atmosphere was one of love, family and untethered emotion.
With her frosting-covered mouth, Grace leaned toward her new husband and kissed him, coating him in lipstick and sugar. He chuckled, feigning annoyance. “I don’t know what that was for,” he breathed. “But you’re going to pay.”
Around midnight, Michael whispered in Grace’s ear that their plane would be taking off within the hour. He held up his hands and shared the news with his new family.
“We’re about to set off for our honeymoon,” he announced, as the laughter and music died down around him. “And we would love for all of you to walk us to the limousine. I know, I know; it’s absolutely terrible weather out there, but I also know that most of you are from Maine, and you believe that feeling cold is for the weak.” He winked. “Grace hardly wears a winter coat when it’s snowing outside. So, perhaps to all of you, this is spring weather.”
The family followed the happy couple, still laughing and brimming with drink, toward the limousine that purred in the snow. Grace’s father kissed her on the cheek, and her mother wrapped her in a tight hug, a few tears falling upon Grace’s shoulder. Michael shook his in-laws’ hands before tugging at the back door of the limo and helping Grace fit her skirt into the backseat. She was a flurry of fabric, of lipstick, of happiness. She waved blissfully to her family and friends, realizing that the magic of Christmas had completely enveloped her. She didn’t want to let the feeling go.
As they drove away, still waving, Michael wrapped his free arm around his wife’s shoulders. He watched her face as it changed, growing thoughtful as they drove further away. Her lips parted, searching for words.
“What is it?” he finally asked. “What are you thinking?”
Grace’s eyes searched his. “I think I finally get it,” she whispered. “I finally understand the beauty of Christmas. All that you wanted to show me when we were teenagers. I felt the magic of it tonight, with you, and all of my family and friends.” She smiled, shaking her head and kissing him once more. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I want to bottle this feeling and have it under the tree every year, waiting for me.”
Michael nodded. “As long as we have each other, we’ll keep it bottled within ourselves. You bring out the magic of Christmas in me, Grace. And I couldn’t thank you enough for that. I developed a Scrooge heart, but now, I’m free.”
They cuddled together in the backseat, whispering sweet nothings to each other as the limousine drove toward the airport. Pierre and Theresa awaited them on board the private jet, preparing to whisk them off on their honeymoon.
Of course, they really only had one option for a destination. With their coats tight to their torsos and their gloves pushed up over chilly fingers, they journeyed quickly to the place where it all began: Vermont.
The End
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And now, as promised, are the first few chapters of my previous novel, The Brazilian Billionaire’s Blackmail Bargain
ONE
I sighed in deep satisfaction, closing my eyes to the sounds of the surf gently hitting the shoreline. The chatter of happy sunbathers mixed with the crashing of the waves creating a sort of symphony. My favorite symphony. The smell of salt water and sunscreen filled my soul as very little else could. Life had definitely been worse.
I adjusted myself on my lounge chair, making sure the sun had access to every bit of skin that wasn’t covered in a skimpy bikini. That was how it went on Copacabana beach. The skimpier, the better.
Hearing giggling from a towel not far away, I turned my head, opening my eyes behind the big, dark shades I wore. A girl and a guy were flirting, with him squirting her liberally with sunscreen. She was trying her best to get him to behave himself, but it was a waste of time. He must be a little over stimulated, I thought, thanks to the many bodies walking and lounging around in varying degrees of undress.
God, what a beautiful day. I looked up at the nearly cloudless sky, smiling at the deep blue color. I had always wanted eyes that color instead of the dark eyes I’d inherited from my mother. The only clouds hung around the peaks of the mountains in the distance. Otherwise, the day was tailor-made for fun on the sand.
I didn’t particularly like sand, but I loved being near the ocean. It always did something to my soul, calming me in a way nothing else could. I felt most at ease when I was near the water, or even watching it from far away. It refreshed me. It spoke to something deep inside me.
What was it saying just then? That I was safe, that I had found my home-away-from-home. It had been three weeks since I’d arrived in Rio, three weeks of relaxation and recuperation after some tense times back home. I could start a new life. I had more than enough money to take care of myself, not to mention money to send home to Mom and Dad. It was time for me to reassess things. What better place to do it in?
I only wished the crystal-clear ocean waters could tell me what to do next. I was never one to rest on my laurels. One thing my boss had always enjoyed about me was my energy. It came right after my tenacity as the two qualities that had made me his best employee—and the one most likely to get into trouble.
No. I couldn’t think about that just then. I was too busy enjoying myself.
I shook my head, intent on observing the people around me, instead. Many of them looked a lot like me—something I had used to my advantage on first arriving. I could blend in seamlessly with the dark-haired, dark-eyed Brazilians thanks to Mom’s Portuguese heritage. For once, I was glad not to be blond-haired and blue-eyed; I would have hated fleeing to Sweden in the middle of winter. My body was a lot like theirs, too, thanks to the time I’d taken to work out and stay physically sharp. I saw a lot of high, firm butts and perky breasts in barely-there bathing suits, skin darkened by genetics and the sun.
Yes, it was the perfect place to get away, and I couldn’t have been luckier to be able to escape just when things had gotten a little sticky back home.
My phone rang and I frowned. Nobody ever called me. Nobody even knew where I was. I fished around in my beach bag for it, groaning when I saw the familiar number on the ID. What the hell did he want? I went back and forth between wanting to ignore him and wanting to find out what he needed. Why would he take the chance of calling me when he knew what was at stake?
The phone rang again. And again.
Finally, at the end of my patience, I answered.
“What is it, Frank?”
He chuckled. “Not the greeting I expected, Selena.”
I scowled. “What did you expect? And how the hell did you get this number? I got a new phone and everything.”
“You know me, babe. It’s my job to find out things like that.”
My eyes darted back and forth as I made sure nobody was listening in. “How many times do I have to tell you I’m retired? I don’t do that sort of work anymore. You have to forget I exist. Got it?”
“No can do, babe.”
I gritted my teeth. I hated when he called me that.
“And exactly why can you ‘no do’?”
He chuckled. I could alm
ost see him in his little office. I’d only been there once, but once had been enough. For a man who made as much money as Frank did, he sure liked to play it off like he was poor. I guessed that was his cover. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought he was a sleazy, down-on-his-luck lawyer. The place was a hoarder’s dream come true, files everywhere. The calendar on the wall was three years out of date. It was his image. In reality, he was a high-priced mover and shaker in our world.
“No can do because this is an opportunity you won’t wanna miss.”
“I’m about two seconds away from hanging up on you, Frank.” I sat up, arms around my knees, phone between my ear and shoulder. Suddenly the day didn’t seem so beautiful. It seemed chilly, actually, even with the hot sun beating down on me. An opportunity for what? To get arrested?
“You do that, and you’d be shutting the door on one of the biggest opportunities of your life. One last job, babe. That’s it. With the money you’d make off of it, you wouldn’t have to work another day in your life.”
That got my interest.
“How much money are we talking here?”
“They wouldn’t say, but they assured me it was high six-figures.”
I gulped. “How high?”
“You can find that out on your own.”
“I really wish I didn’t have to do this again, Frank.” I lowered my voice to a whisper. “I already had too close of a call last time. It’s only been a few weeks.”
“It’s cooled down now,” he assured me.
“You’re not very convincing.”
“Trust me, babe. You have nothing to worry about here. If there was really an issue, I’d be out of the country, too.”
“You weren’t the one doing the dirty work.”
“Yeah, but I’m sure they could trace me if they wanted to. Besides, you won’t even have to leave Brazil. That’s where the company’s located.”
“Sure, but if somebody finds out a girl worked at a Brazilian company taken down the same way one was back in the States, they could put two and two together.”
“I didn’t know you could be such a chicken.”
His words made it sound like he was joking, but I knew better. I’d worked with Frank for far too long to have any illusions about him. Besides, he would get a hefty commission off of my work. His ‘finder’s fee’. If I said no, he’d lose out.
“So? You in?”
High six figures. Who wouldn’t be in? I didn’t need much money—I’d been debt-free for over three years and lived a simple life. It was my parents I was most concerned about, always. They needed my help. If I could put away half a mil, it would be enough for them to retire on in style and still leave some for me.
“All right. I’ll meet with them, but this is just a discussion. I’m not trying to commit myself one way or the other until I find out everything I need to know about the job.”
“No can do,” he said again.
I rolled my eyes, holding back a groan of frustration. “Why not?”
“They don’t wanna meet in person. They made a big point of telling me that—must have repeated it three, four times.”
Hmm. I narrowed my eyes behind the big, round sunglasses, looking out at the waves as they came into shore. Over and over they came in. Even if they’d wanted to stay away, they couldn’t. Just like I couldn’t seem to stay away from my not-strictly-legal profession.
“That sounds a little sketchy.”
“The way I see it, they’re just trying to be careful. I mean, if they can afford your services, they’ve got a lot riding on this.”
I could see his point.
“Don’t send me into this with no idea what’s happening, Frank. You’ve gotta have something else for me. Anything.”
“Babe, they didn’t give me any more information than what I just shared with you. Not for lack of trying, either. I did my best. You gotta believe me.”
“Right, right.” I sighed, wishing I had a choice. The fact was, I’d started to wonder what I was going to do about Mom and Dad around a week into my forced vacation. I had money saved up, earmarked for them, but that money wouldn’t last forever. I had to keep it coming in somehow. After that, with them squared away, I could move on with my life and do things that didn’t involve skirting the law.
“You still there?” he asked.
“You know I am,” I smirked. “I’m sure you can hear my skin crisping in the sun.”
“I heard a lot of bouncing bodies, actually.” His nasty chuckle curdled my blood. He was old enough to be my father.
“Now that I’m completely grossed out, okay. I’ll give them a call.”
Frank rattled off the number, which I added to my contacts before ending the call.
I left the beach with a heavy heart. Not that I didn’t like the idea of the money—money being the only reason I got into that business in the first place—but I hated the thought of putting myself at risk again. Just when I thought I was out of it for good, too.
It seemed like there would never be an end to needing more, more. More money. More security. And at the end of the day, it was the easiest job in the world when put up against the amount I made for it. A few weeks or a month at a corporation, learning their secrets, before using those secrets to take the company down. Well, I didn’t do the actual taking down. My client did, once I gave them the status reports I so carefully crafted. I was one of the best, or so they told me. I knew how to find things out, just like Frank did.
Had it really been four years since I’d started? I thought back over that time as I walked across the white sand, finally reaching my hotel after what felt like forever. Probably because of my mood, I guessed. Anything would have seemed like a major inconvenience with the state of mind I was in.
I took a minute to rinse off under the shower behind the hotel, getting rid of the sand that always seemed to stick all over me no matter how careful I was to avoid it, then retreated to my room.
Yes, it had been four years. I’d been so disillusioned back then, losing my first and only job as a journalist only six months after landing it. There I was, thinking I’d work my way up at the news station. What a cruel wake-up call that had been. I shivered as I remembered the feeling when they’d fired me. “Cutbacks,” they’d said.
I dropped my bag on the floor once I reached my room, with its white curtains billowing in the sea breeze that blew in through the balcony doors. I went out there, soaking up all the sun and salt air I could. I wouldn’t be there much longer.
Sure, the work I’d done had gotten me out of debt—a good thing, since three months without a job had been murder on my credit cards, not to mention the tens of thousands of dollars in student loans hanging over my head. It had helped me provide for my parents. But it had also left me unable to look myself in the eye sometimes when I brushed my teeth. The people behind the corporations were just that. People. And I helped ruin their lives.
I turned away from the view of the beach, suddenly chilly again.
TWO
I stared at my phone, wondering if I should wait to call or jump right in.
After a shower and a change of clothes, plus some ceviche from room service, I felt better. My mind was a little clearer. I could think.
It only made sense, taking the job. If I did it well, I could get in and out of there in no time. Frank had assured me there were no problems with the law. Could I trust him? I prayed I could, because otherwise, I could be signing my own warrant.
No way. Everything’s going to be all right. I had to keep telling myself that if I had a hope of pulling off one more job. I couldn’t let fear get in the way any more than I could allow sentiment or sympathy to stop me. It never had before. No matter how badly I felt for taking down something somebody had worked hard to build, I had never stopped.
It had been easy in the beginning. That first job had been a piece of cake, an obvious good guy/bad guy sort of thing. I was a hero, taking down a greedy, lying, swindling CEO who’d fleeced t
he public and his employees for years. Getting the evidence together and handing it over to the client had almost been a pleasure, and when I’d seen the news reports on his trial I’d just about jumped for joy. I’d done that. I’d made it possible to take him down.
If only the entire world could be that black and white. If only there weren’t people who did bad things for good reasons. Sort of the way I lied and spied and made people trust me so that I could help destroy them at the will of the highest bidder.
I shook my head, clearing the memory. I needed to be on top of my game if I was going to gain the client’s trust. I’d already decided to take the job. I didn’t have much of a choice. I needed to be sharp, quick-witted, and able to ask the right questions.