The Forbidden Mountain Man

by Bonnie Paulson

  My sister’s voice filled with worry left me even more heartbroken than Carter’s betrayal had. Combined, they flattened me. I hung up the phone and rolled to my side, curling my arms around the pillow closest me.

  Instead of holding in my pain, I let it out. Sobbing and crying, I let myself actually feel the hope and happiness with Carter as it washed away. I couldn’t even go back to my family like I’d suspected would happen. Nothing was as it should be and I had no way to fix it.

  All I could do was go to the trial, do what I’d promised, and then hopefully disappear.

  If I could survive the next few nights, maybe I could survive the rest of my lonely, miserable life.

  I stared at the curtains; my eyelids heavy as I sniffed. Nothing to do but wonder if Carter had ever meant to go through the things in my bag or if he’d had other reasons to keep the evidence away from me.

  What if he hadn’t known? What if I could still save him? I owed him for saving me, even if he hadn’t known who or what he was hiding, he’d still done it.

  I drifted off into sleep, exhausted from the last couple days and more than anxious to escape the longing calling for Carter from my heart. Who knew I could crave someone so much after only a few weeks of being together?

  Chapter 18

  Carter

  Sleeping in the room next to Stephenie’s made it hard to sleep with a clear conscious. She cried herself to sleep every night which haunted me well into the early morning. I stayed in the motel room while she explored the town, careful to make sure I wasn’t seen – by her or anyone else.

  The morning of the trial dawned with more rain and clouds. Stephenie checked out, climbing into a cab that I watched drive away from the motel moments before I followed. I’d purchased more clothes from the store across the way and made myself as presentable as I could considering my thousand-dollar suits were at my condo in north Seattle. Well, I hoped they were still there anyway.

  Who knew at that point?

  As we got closer to the courthouse, I pulled out the burner phone I’d been given by Dave and dialed the number we’d agreed on. A man’s voice, different from Dave’s answered. “Agent Thompson.”

  I swallowed, thrumming the fingers of my free hand on my thigh as I stared out the window. “Agent Thompson, this is Carter Johnson. I’m almost to the courthouse. US Marshal Woodsall wanted me to alert him when I was arriving.” I closed my eyes for a brief moment as I realized that the only reason Dave wouldn’t answer the phone was because he couldn’t.

  Agent Thompson cleared his throat and spoke gruffly. “I’ll meet you around back. There are full security cameras and I’ll be holding my credentials in front of me. Trust no one else.” He hung up and I slipped the silent phone into the side pocket of my backpack.

  “Can you pull around the back?” The cab turned off the street and into the parking lot that curved around the large brick building of the courthouse. He pulled in front of the rear doors and a man with close-cut silvering blond hair approached the cab with his ID held firmly in his hands. He pressed the card against the glass of the backseat where I sat and I read his name clearly.

  Nodding, I pushed open the door and climbed out, yanking my backpack onto my shoulder as I followed Agent Thompson into the building.

  Once we were inside, he motioned for me to follow him to a side chamber off of courtroom B. “You’ll wait in here until the trial starts in…” He checked his watch and grimaced. “Seven minutes. We’re still waiting for another witness.”

  Worry compounded my stress. What if Stephenie hadn’t made it there? Was she the witness he spoke about? I nodded, careful not to phrase my concern. He couldn’t know I knew her or about her. All I could do was hope she’d keep her mouth shut and let me implicate the families and take the brunt of vengeance upon myself.

  Agent Thompson shut the door and reached out to shake my hand. He nodded his head solemnly. “Dave was a good friend of mine. He gave me the burner phone you called and told me to safeguard it and keep it charged. If any one called that number, I was supposed to help them in anyway I could. I’m glad to know you were alive on that end of the phone. Dave was… gunned down in a sting.” He shook his head and glanced at his watch again. “Stay here and don’t let anyone in. I’ll come for you before it starts. You’ll be in the front row beside me.”

  I nodded, unable to speak. I didn’t want to think that Dave had died. It was easier to think he’d been on vacation over the last few weeks when he’d missed his visits and then some. Not thinking of what could have happened had helped me stay sane.

  When Agent Thompson returned and led me into the courtroom, I scanned the occupants of each row as I passed, hungrily searching for a familiar head of dark curls and pale, ethereal beauty.

  I slid into the seat beside Agent Thompson and sat, twisting and turning to see if I’d missed anyone. But she wasn’t there.

  A knot tightened in my chest and I couldn’t breathe. Had something happened to her? Had she been found out? Rage warmed my skin and I realized I’d have to be convicted of something or someone was going to die from revenge. Working with crime families had taught me how to enact vengeance.

  The doors opened again and in strode Giovanni Rossi followed by his wife, his son Angelo, his daughter Mia and her husband Leonardo Capone, and then Stephenie in a twitchy little gray pencil skirt and soft cream blouse that showed her curves more than the sweats and flannels she’d borrowed from me. Her hair had been pulled demurely back into a French braid while her makeup enhanced her eyes.

  She scanned the courtroom, her search ending when our eyes met. Something in her face softened and then she looked away from me, tightening her jaw and avoiding me altogether.

  I loved her. I couldn’t believe I’d been so dumb as to deny it. I loved her and I was willing to do whatever it took to make sure she wasn’t banned from her family or from Little Italy. She deserved so much more than the backlash of trying to do what was right.

  I could help her with that. I had to. I owed her so much more than she knew. She’d given me a purpose again. Protecting her.

  Would that I could tell her I loved her before I went away. Would that she would know how much she saved me.

  Maybe after I spoke, she wouldn’t doubt my feelings. I loved her and I needed her to be safe and happy.

  Agent Thompson glanced at me and then at the judge who entered the courtroom. “Are you ready?” He whispered as we rose to respect the presiding judge.

  I nodded, glancing once more in Stephenie’s direction. “I’ve never been readier.”

  Chapter 19

  Stephenie

  At any moment my family would know what I had done. They would know that I’d betrayed them and that I’d abandoned the Italian teachings of loyalty from my childhood.

  It took everything in me not to stare longingly at Carter. No one would understand why. When I’d joined my family in the foyer just before the trial started, my father’s face had paled and he’d glanced hurriedly at the rest of my brothers and sisters who had made it. Adele had wrapped me in a hug, patting my cheek and smiling.

  No one acted like I had risen from the dead. Maybe because they knew… they knew nothing had changed and there was nothing they could do about it.

  How would everything play out? Would Carter be called on to testify? I had promised I would do everything in my power to help him and then I’d found out he lied to me. He had to assume that promise was off.

  And yet, was it? I couldn’t be sure. The things I had to report didn’t need the validation of a lawyer. I could stop everything right there, if I would just turn the file over to the lawyer. I could save the Rossis and the Capones, Carter, and anyone else about to take the fall for the Bianchis activities simply because they were a part of Little Italy’s community.

  If I did that, I would incur the wrath of the community for turning in our own. I was doomed if I did and doomed if I didn’t.

  I glanced at my brother Alessandro sitting beside
me with his hard Italian jaw and muscles that defied the suit he’d worn. My little brother had so much potential and all of that would rush down the drain, if I didn’t stick up for him. All of my sisters’ happiness would be put in prison for an indeterminate amount of time. And for what?

  Loyalty to a family that had long lost its interest in the Italian way of honor. You could do illegal things with a family business, but you didn’t have to put the integrity of the Italian community on the line to do it. Wasn’t that the history wrapped around Little Italy for over a century? The Bianchis had lost sight of that.

  Maybe it was my time to remind them.

  I wasn’t listening to the proceedings, but I stood, gripping my bag tightly in both hands and wended my way from the pew-style seating. My father’s face deepened with a redness I didn’t want to inspect too closely.

  He had to know what I was about to do. All eyes turned toward me as I moved forward down the aisle, coming up behind the bench where Carter and the defense attorney sat.

  Taken aback, the judge cocked his head to the side, light reflecting off the semi-circle eyeglasses perched on his nose. “Can I help you, young lady? We’re in the middle of a trial.” Amused tolerance knitted his eyebrows together, probably because of the way I looked. Not a lot of men got mad at me easily. I took my appearance for granted, always had.

  I withdrew the folder from my bag and ignored the slight shake of Carter’s head as I handed the folder over to the lawyer in charge. I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Your Honor, I just realized the defense didn’t have everything they needed for this case.” I wrinkled my nose and winked, making the judge blush and the rest of the courtroom gasp at my words.

  Looking at Carter wasn’t an option. I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t have him know how much I hurt or how much I needed him. Being away from him for the last few days had highlighted just how much I’d grown to need him over the last few weeks. He was an important part of my life and he hadn’t taken up much time as it was.

  Turning back to claim a seat, I froze when Carter wrapped his fingers around my wrist, stopping me. I finally glanced at him, my eyes wide and pleading. He couldn’t stop my choice. He shook his head, his eyes a reflection of my own pain.

  I pulled away, returning to the back of the courtroom, but not to the benches my family had commandeered as theirs. Staring straight ahead, I tried not to cry, blinking back tears as I essentially cut myself off from my loved ones with my actions.

  The defense lawyer stayed hunched over the table and the documents I’d delivered for a full minute. He soon requested a sidebar and both lawyers approached the bench. They glanced back at me a couple times while pointing at various pages of the folder. I knew what was in there. They’d be frustrated that the evidence wouldn’t be in there of Rossis and Capones committing illegal activities, but they had enough evidence on the Bianchis to put a lot of them away for a long while.

  My evidence combined with the case Angelo’s FBI agent had gotten on the Bianchis should return Little Italy to the families who wanted to make things right. Maybe that would get me points with my family, maybe not.

  All I could do was sit there and wait to see just how far I could get with a broken heart and an empty spirit.

  The lawyers walked away from the bench, returning to their seats. The defense attorney leaned behind him and muttered something to Carter and then turned back while the prosecuting attorney spoke in a whispered conversation to his assistants.

  Carter stood and turned, his enigmatic blue eyes searching for mine. Our gazes connected and I swallowed, certain that was anger at me. He knit his eyebrows together, pain in the lines around his mouth.

  “Why?” His voice boomed across the whispering crowd and everyone fell silent as their attention jerked to the standing man. They followed Carter’s gaze, seeing me and then their gazes volleyed between us as they waited for the drama to unfold.

  I wished I could focus on the drama instead of being smack in the middle of it. I gently shook my head and then looked away from him, trying to ignore the torment on his face. I hadn’t been trying to hurt him. I’d only been trying to help as many people as I could.

  Most of the crowd belonged to Little Italy in the places many of us had grown up loving like Giovanni’s Italy, a restaurant that belonged as its own haven in the territories of town. They scowled at me as they slowly put two and two together.

  The whispered words of traitor, Rossi scum, and more swirled around me and I realized that my time was up as a Rossi princess. I would never again be treated like Little Italy royalty or even accepted in that part of the country. How far would my exile reach?

  Carter glanced around the courtroom, holding up his hands and waiting for everyone to quiet down. The judge behind him watched curiously, motioning for the security guard to stand down. Great, even the judge had a vendetta against me.

  “I don’t know if any of you know what just happened, but let me clarify.” Carter took in the room as a whole with an encompassing glance before training his gaze on me. He continued, “Ms. Rossi just delivered evidence that exonerates almost all of Little Italy families. I say almost all because as most of you don’t know, the Bianchis have been in the process of undermining the Capone and Rossi attempts to go white, bringing Italian organized crime to an end in Washington. Their efforts should be commended, not stunted by another family who would only benefit from the same attempts.”

  I clenched my hand into a fist, pressing the curve of my knuckles against my lips. What was Carter doing? He wasn’t Italian. He would have no idea what kind of damage he was doing for me. Was he trying to deflect the damage my folder had caused? It was too late.

  “Not only were the Bianchis trying to kill Ms. Rossi a few weeks ago, but a few lives have been altered and also lost because of their attempts. I know all of this because Ms. Rossi has been in hiding with me for the last three weeks after she had to fake her own death to get away.” He narrowed his eyes and glanced around the Italian families gathered on the benches, taking us all in – one by one. “Did you hear what I said? To be safe, Stephenie Rossi had to fake her death and come hide with me.”

  He softened his tone and stepped into the aisle, moving toward me with slow deliberation. “She saved my life. If I hadn’t fallen for her, who knows where I would be.” Had he just said fallen for me? Was Carter Johnson saying he loved me?

  I stared at him, unable to look away as each step he took carried him closer to me.

  Some of the women in the room sighed and I didn’t dare look away from him, but I wanted to lean over and say he was even more delicious than he looked with hypnotic eyes and masculine features.

  His steps slowed even more as he approached the bench I sat in. I held my breath, uncertain what to expect or even what to do. He held my gaze and it was like the room melted away. No one else mattered. All I could do was focus on controlling my breathing which picked up a brief whiff of his cologne which reminded me of our time in the cabin together. Tears pricked my eyes.

  His whisper reached every corner of the courtroom as everyone had frozen to hear him better. “I love you, Stephenie. I don’t want to go another day without telling you. If Little Italy turns her back on us, we’ll go away together and be happy anywhere that wants to celebrate our loyalty and take advantage of it.”

  Was he asking me to be with him? Stay with him? Knowing Carter that would mean marriage. He didn’t commit to anything lightly. Hadn’t I learned that the hard way?

  “Come on, baby. What do you say? Can you love me?” Carter’s eyes begged me to respond, begged me to say something, anything.

  Standing, I moved closer to him, letting him take my hands in his as he pulled me even closer. I nodded, staring up into his eyes. “Yeah, I can love you. But I’m going to be a handful, just giving you fair warning.” I winked at him, my lips curving into a side smile.

  He threw back his head and laughed, wrapping his arms around me and murmuring, “I wouldn’t have it any ot
her way.” Then his lips lowered to mine and there was a sudden thundering of applause all around us.

  I didn’t care if a bomb had gone off. As far as I was concerned, everyone in that building could be cursed. I didn’t need them as long as I had Carter. He held my hand as we sat together in the back, tucking me against his side with his arm wrapped around me, exactly where I belonged.

  In mere minutes, the judge excused the lawyers and jury for a recess and Carter and I made our way to the large foyer with restrooms off either side.

  “Do we have to stay? Maybe we could go back to the cabin?” I bit my lip and watched him, anxious for the chance to spend some time with him. It had been a few days since I’d left him at the train car. We didn’t need to apologize. I didn’t care what was behind us. I just wanted what was ahead of us.

  “If you want. I was thinking we could go back to our places and see if anything is intact and then maybe dinner at Giovanni’s tonight.” Carter glanced down at me, smiling like everything in the world was made right.

  “Stephenie Rossi.” My father’s voice boomed across the lobby, bouncing off the marble floor and plastered walls. His thundering steps followed us and I wished we could snap our fingers and disappear.

  Instead of running, though, I stopped and turned, lifting my chin. I wouldn’t be ashamed of my actions. I couldn’t be. I’d put too much thought and worry into them. When I’d finally decided on my course, I’d accepted the consequences as they would be – whatever they would be. “Father.” I studied him and realized he’d aged some in the time I was gone, as silver in his hair had stretched from the sideburns by his ears to spread more fully up along the sides and around to the crown.

  He stopped three feet from me, studying me, his face impassive.

  I didn’t look away or back down in intimidation. There was nothing he could do to me that I hadn’t already suspected him of or thought out in my mind. I’d planned for everything.