St. Helena Vineyard Series: Promise Me Forever (A St. Helena Thriller) (Kindle Worlds Novella) (The Belmontes Book 1)

by Natalie Middleton

  He did this on purpose. Look at those eyes. He’s enjoying this.

  She picked up her clothes and dashed out of the room. I’m going to change somewhere else. She almost walked into the room and then smacked her forehead. I forgot the water. Let me get it now.

  With a water jug in hand, she walked in the room and swallowed. Alex was on her bed, and he looked so good, it hurt her to stand there and not do anything about it.

  “Come here, you,” he said, looking at her. Arianna felt a dull ache in her chest. Alex was so sweet, she wanted to spend all her time with him. She kept the jug on the side table and slid into the covers. Alex put his arm out to her, and she came in to snuggle.

  This feels so good. His arms feel so familiar.

  A random thought popped into her head and she frowned. All the euphoria she felt a minute ago drained out.

  “Alex, tell me about the Moretti’s. Tell me everything you know. I want to help with the investigation. I want to, no, I need to give it back to them, for hurting my sister.” Her eyes flashed.

  Alex was stroking her back. He stopped and looked at her. There was no surprise or judgement in his eyes, only understanding. And so he told her all that he knew about the two men the Seattle PD was tracking. He told her all about his almost year-long efforts with the Fraud Investigation department.

  “I...I was suspended before I came here, Arianna.” His eyes lost their shine. “Please believe me. They suspect I leaked information to the Moretti’s and they covered their tracks. I had nothing to do with it.” His eyes pleaded.

  “I believe you. But is your firm investigating the data leak? Even though the data leak happened from your computer, it is possible to find out if the computer was remotely accessed or not. That means the person responsible may not have necessarily operated from your computer while leaking the data.”

  Alex was stunned. He had not considered this possibility at all. Had his firm thought about it?

  “Judging by your surprised expression, you didn’t think about this at all.” Alex shook his head. “It’s something your team can find easily, if they want to, that is.” She looked at him. “This whole episode reeks of sabotage, and if it is, then your firm has no reason to be impartial in their investigation. Chances are, they’re looking for a scapegoat. It happens so many times. A cover up,” Arianna said.

  Alex gulped. Is my company using me as a scapegoat to hide something else going on?

  Arianna was deep in thought. “It’s so weird that you found a connection to your case back in Seattle to a sale here in St. Helena. There must be something your team missed entirely. I’m going to help you clear your name,” she stated.

  She said it so simply, but her open support to Alex warmed his heart. He sighed. The whole situation kept getting trickier and trickier. There were so many questions to which they had no answers. The deeper they dug, the more questions that came up unanswered.

  Arianna distracted Alex’s line of thought when she softly kissed him on his cheek.

  “Let’s sleep? It’s been a long day.”

  Alex nodded and closed his eyes, hoping the beautiful woman in his arms would decide to stay there for as long as was humanly possible.

  16

  Alex woke up to a beautiful morning and felt the other side of the bed. Empty. His spirits plummeted. She left already? A knock sounded on the door and he opened it to find Arianna with a tray in her hand.

  “Hey, good morning, sleepyhead. I let you sleep in. Now I’m not as good a cook as Sophie is, but I scrambled some eggs and made toast. Let’s have breakfast together. You freshen up and then tell me if you prefer the balcony or the bed.”

  Alex had the goofiest smile on his face seeing her. She raised her eyebrows and entered. Alex quickly freshened up.

  “The balcony or the bed?” Arianna called out.

  “You’re not making this any easier,” Alex replied. I can’t control my thoughts around the bed, Arianna. “The balcony,” he called out. Then, realizing she’d brought the tray here for him, he peeped out and said, “Sorry about that. We’ll have it here. You brought the tray all this way to serve me breakfast in bed.” Arianna smiled at him, her eyes shining. Alex’s heart melted.

  He joined her on the bed and dug into the eggs. Arianna had scrambled eggs with bell peppers, bacon, and mushrooms, and they smelled amazing.

  “You’re kidding, right? This is not good per you? It’s delicious. Is there some more bacon?”

  Arianna nodded, her mouth full.

  “It’s in a pan. Get some more eggs for me, please.” Alex nodded. There were a few strips of bacon still sizzling in the pan, which he slid onto his plate, and served a spoonful of eggs on to Arianna’s plate. He turned around and almost bumped into Arianna.

  “Your phone was vibrating so I brought it here. I checked the name, sorry. It’s someone called Buzz?” Arianna handed him his phone. Alex kept the plates on the table and answered the call.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “Alex, I’m in St. Helena. We have to set up base as soon as possible to ensure we catch this Moretti connection before it disappears. Where are you? Let’s talk over breakfast.”

  “Can I invite him here for breakfast? Where’s Antonio?” Alex mouthed.

  “Papa is not at home. I searched for him when I woke up. So we’re all alone. Invite him over.” Arianna’s lips stretched into a thin line as she thought about her father.

  Alex nodded and shared the Belmonte Estate location with Buzz. Arianna started cooking eggs and bacon so Buzz would have it fresh and hot when he arrived.

  “So, tell me one thing,” Arianna said, turning bacon strips over. “Why is his name Buzz? Who names their child Buzz?”

  “Buzz’s name is Malcolm Hughson. He’s one of the sharpest minds I know. There’s very little that he misses. I’d heard of him before I got assigned to the Moretti’s case, and now we’ve become good friends. Or so I like to think.”

  “You like to think? Now that’s a lie if I ever heard one.” A booming voice came from the door, followed by a series of yaps. Inspector Malcolm Hughson walked in with Oreo following him everywhere he went. ‘Buzz’ indulged Oreo for a while and walked to the table. He held out his hand.

  “Malcolm Hughson, ma’am. At your service. You can call me Buzz. Nobody calls me Malcolm.” Arianna grinned and shook his hand. “Arianna Belmonte. Have a seat. Coffee, black or with cream?”

  “Those eggs look good. I’ll have black coffee.” Buzz served himself a generous portion of the eggs and a side of bacon. Alex caught his eye and a look passed between the two men.

  Buzz is tall and handsome for a police officer. And he seems very jovial, not intimidating at all.

  “Right, so I was telling her why you were called Buzz, but you jumped in right when I was getting to the good part. Why don’t you explain?” Alex stared at Buzz, who was stuffing food in his mouth.

  “Garner, let me eat. This is real good stuff. I’ll tell you the story of how I got the nickname Buzz,” he said. Buzz took his time savoring the meal and sighed contentedly. Arianna smiled and cleared his plate.

  “This was a good meal. Now, back to my name. It all happened when I was a junior, working the streets. One of my first jobs as a cop was to save some children stuck in a dilapidated building. One of them was very upset when I left him, because he had misplaced his Buzz Lightyear toy. I managed to locate the toy in a corner and get him out in time. When we came out, all the kids crowded around this one and his toy and they went crazy. That’s when the kid whose toy I rescued called me his personal Buzz Lightyear. That news spread around the station, and soon they all called me Buzz. Somehow, that name stuck.”

  Alex and Arianna were completely caught up in the story. There was admiration and respect on their faces when he finished.

  “Wow, that’s a great story. You’re very brave,” Arianna commented.

  “Not at all, ma’am, I just did my job.”

  “Don’t call me ma’am; I’m just
Arianna.” She laughed. Buzz nodded. Alex cleared his throat to get their attention. Time was in short supply and he wanted to get this case solved as soon as possible.

  “Buzz, what do we know about second generation Morettis? Any sons?”

  Buzz frowned. “Franco has two sons. Marco, I believe, has a daughter. Franco’s sons are ‘businessmen’, he says. But we know they operate everything behind the scenes. I don’t think we know anything about Marco’s daughter. What happened?”

  Alex stared at Arianna. “Is it okay if I share what Antonio shared? It could be an important breakthrough.” Arianna thought it over and nodded.

  “Antonio, he’s Arianna’s dad.” He pointed at Arianna. “He mentioned how he got involved in ‘bad activities’ and his son was kidnapped. His daughter, Arianna’s sister, was left behind. So that got me thinking. Is Antonio’s son one of Franco’s sons? What do we know about his sons?”

  “Hmmm, that's an unusual twist to the case. All the intel we have on his sons are that they operate in two corners of the country; Mario operates on the East Coast and Luigi on the West. But as far as I remember, Franco has always been seen with Mario and Luigi, and they’re carbon copies of their dad. I’ve never heard about a third son. I’m going to call this in.”

  Buzz excused himself and got on call to report this new finding.

  “All this time, we’ve been working on nabbing Marco because of his ties to Wall Street. But now, because we’re looking deeper into Franco, perhaps there will be something we missed,” Alex said.

  “How long have you been working on this case?” Arianna asked.

  “Around three years?” He smiled at Arianna’s shocked expression. “What, you thought investigation cases were solved quickly? There’s a lot of needles in different haystacks, and as lawyers, our firm helped decode every document with the PD. It’s a lot of work but I love it.”

  “Is this all you do? Work with the investigation team?” Arianna was curious. She was so far removed from this world, and Alex’s work sounded very interesting.

  “Oh, no, no.” Alex shook his head. “I also work on tax and bankruptcy cases from time to time. In fact, I’d been working on a few very stressful cases before...” He paused.

  “Before you met me?” Arianna completed. A rush of gratitude flooded Alex. She knew the circumstances of his suspension, yet she didn’t rub it in. He placed his hand on hers and smiled. A look passed between them and his chest tightened. Before he could lean over and kiss her, Buzz returned with someone else. His face was grim.

  “Arianna, what is this? Who is this and why is he here?” Antonio was gruff as usual. Arianna stood up, determined to not let Antonio dictate terms.

  “Papa, meet Inspector Malcolm Hughson. He is looking into Sophie’s assault, as a part of another case they are investigating.”

  “I’m not talking to the police without my lawyer present. How dare you allow officers to enter our house,” he thundered. “Where is your warrant?” He spat at Buzz. Arianna admired how calm and collected Buzz was.

  “Mr. Belmonte, I would just like to ask you a few questions. And then I shall leave. There is no search being conducted here. All I want is for you to answer a few of my questions. I would prefer not to do this in the Sheriff’s office.” His grave tone quieted Antonio’s belligerence and he nodded.

  “We can sit here,” he said, pointing at the sofa.

  Arianna marvelled at Buzz’s ability to keep her father in check. Papa is not the one to be intimidated by people. Well done, Buzz.

  “Mr. Belmonte, have you heard of Marco Moretti? Do you know anyone of that name?” Immediately, Antonio stiffened and his face became blank.

  “I have not heard of anyone by that name.” His look was deadpan, his voice even.

  “Perhaps a Franco Moretti?” Buzz questioned. There was a fleeting expression of fear on Antonio’s face, which was replaced by his deadpan stare.

  “That name is not familiar to me, Inspector. I don’t know these men. Now.” He stood up. “If I have answered your questions, I would very much like to be left alone,” he said.

  “Sit down, Mr. Belmonte. You will not be advised twice. I am not finished. If you say you do not know Franco or Marco, why do you have a threatening note saying ‘Franco doesn’t pardon debts’?”

  Antonio shot a dirty look at Arianna. She involuntarily took a step back.

  “That has nothing to do with these Moretti people you’re talking about. Franco is an old friend and his son played a prank on me, it is nothing else.”

  “Is it? Perhaps I am mistaken. I’ve been told the winery is being sold off. May I ask the name of the buyer?” Buzz was calm. Antonio’s face was reddening.

  “This has nothing to do with you. How dare you enter my house and ask me questions? Can’t a man sell his property in this country anymore?” Antonio was fuming.

  “By all means, Mr. Belmonte, sell your property. The police have no problem with that. The problem comes if…” He stared at Antonio. “If you’re hiding something from us. We certainly have a problem with that. You see, if we find you’re in possession of information that may be relevant and vital to us and you do not help, we will be, how do I say, forced to take you in for obstruction of justice.”

  Antonio spluttered. “Jail? You will throw me in jail because my daughter was imagining things? How dare you.” Buzz took a step towards Antonio and he shrank back. But Buzz did nothing. He put his hand in his pocket and took out his card and handed it to Antonio. “If you think of anything, let me know.”

  Giving Alex and Arianna a look, he turned and left. Antonio sat down on the sofa, his eyes wide. The experience of being interrogated had shaken him up. He sighed and looked at Arianna.

  “You’re not going to let this go? Even if your Papa tells you to?”

  “You forced me to make that decision Papa, when you put everything above us, and above our safety. I’m sorry, those skeletons you’re hiding will have to come out.”

  Antonio’s face turned from somber to determined. “We’ll see how much you find out.”

  17

  Alex and Arianna left for the hospital once Antonio retired. He had refused to see his daughter, and Arianna had no interest in arguing. They went in Alex’s car, rushing to make it in time for visiting hours.

  “Does it feel weird to be arguing with your father? These are big issues.” Alex noted Arianna was very quiet.

  “Hmm, in a way it does. We’ve never argued so much. But then again, I’ve almost always done what he wanted. I pushed to become better, I got into a great college, I got in on scholarship, by the way.”

  “Congratulations, Arianna. I was a scholarship student too. It’s so special when the effort you put in pays off.” Alex’s eyes shone with respect.

  “That was special, yes. It really mattered to me that I did something so huge all by myself. Now, in retrospect, it doesn’t seem like much. But it seemed very significant at that time. At least Papa had a lot of respect in his eyes for a while. You know? Like I finally proved that women can do well in their lives.” Arianna’s eyes misted. She quickly wiped her tears.

  “I know that feeling. What do your other two sisters do? Valentina and Giovanna, right?” Alex shot her a glance before focusing on the road.

  “Uh, Tina works with wildlife in Alaska. I think she used to work in Denali. I think she’s working in Anchorage now on a few projects. Vana, to be honest, I’ve never ever spoken much to Vana. We clashed every time we spoke. So once she moved out, I hardly ever spoke to her. But she was Papa’s girl. And she’s the one who hurt him the most. I think he still nurses that wound to this day.”

  “What did she do to upset Antonio so much?” Alex made a left turn to enter the hospital parking. He looked out for parking spots.

  “There’s a parking spot by that blue Toyota. Vana ran off with a motorcycle biker. I think she was in Milwaukee, but I’m not sure. It hurt Papa so much to see his favorite girl do something so radical.” Arianna unbuckled
and got out of the car.

  “I can imagine Antonio blowing up. It’s funny, that’s the only emotion I’ve seen coming from him.”

  Arianna sighed and shook her head. “Let’s not talk about it. I hope Sophie is better.”

  They walked up to the nursing station and asked about an update.

  “Sophie Belmonte, she’s asleep right now. All reports so far are normal. We’re waiting till she gets up to find out if the concussion has any further repercussions. You can go visit her now,” a nurse replied, looking at Sophie’s chart.

  Arianna breathed a sigh of relief. There would be a long road to recovery, but so far, it seemed like Sophie had come out of the whole incident relatively unscathed. She slipped her hand into Alex’s. His fingers curled around hers and squeezed. Arianna’s heart jumped.

  “I’m going to sit with Sophie for a while. You coming?” she said, waiting for an answer. Say yes. Say yes and stay longer, Alex.

  How can I say no to you, Arianna? But I have to check if we’re safe.

  “Let me just call Buzz once, and then I’ll come in.” Arianna had the widest smile he’d ever seen. She put her arms around him and hugged him tight. Alex stood frozen. His heart started beating fast. Before he could put his arms around her and pull her even closer, she had gone inside. Alex’s arms felt her absence immediately.

  I want you in my arms. I want you, Arianna.

  It tore his heart to walk away from her that moment, but he wanted to find out what Buzz knew.

  “Hey, any updates from the Sheriff’s office?” Alex got straight to the point.

  “No niceties this time around, eh?” He cleared his throat. “Right, so we’ve got an alert for Brian, but I still can’t figure out what his motive is. I can’t find anything to tie him to the Morettis, but my guys are running a background check. It seems he became a Brian Trellis about five years back, because there’s no information about any Brian Trellis before that. In the meantime, I suggest you stay cautious. Brian could be anywhere by now. You need to make sure he doesn’t come near you. Those documents on the Belmonte family were pretty detailed; he knew what each person was doing, and he even had financials.”