Temptations - The Complete Series

by Annie Jocoby

  "Thank you, Mr. Garancino," I said. I squeezed Slade's hand, and he smiled at me.

  "I would like to invite you to stay for dinner," he said, pointing to a long table by the pool. "I have an enormous spread, and I hope that I can provide anything that you would like. I do like to make that my guests are happy."

  "We'd like that," Slade said, looking at me. "If you have vegan options."

  Gianni smiled and chuckled. "Vegan options, gluten-free options, you name it. Living out here in Southern California, you have to be prepared for anything. So, let us go over and toast to one another and enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful food."

  That night, we talked, laughed, drank wine and ate great food. Gianni was charming, Miguel was a great conversationalist, and Slade and I couldn't be closer. The evening was beautiful, albeit cool, but Gianni turned on some heat lamps as the night wore on.

  Slade and I were finally in a good place. I hoped and prayed that we would stay there.

  Chapter 18

  Serena - Six Months Later

  Luke was down to visit, and so were Mark, Amy, and Christopher. My father and Caroline were as well. They were all here in San Diego to finally see Slade and I join together for eternity. I never thought that it would happen. There were some really, really dark days. But, after that magical evening with Gianni and Miguel, everything started to fall into place.

  It started with the imprisonment of Charlotte. Turned out the murder of Rachel, Santino's teacher, was covered up by Gianni. Murder doesn't have a statute of limitations, of course, and, when Gianni found out that Charlotte was a rat, he set about to make her pay.

  And pay she did. She could never be tried again for the other murder, because she was tried and convicted for that one. Granted, she only served a short time in a juvenile detention for that other murder, but the law was the law, and trying her again for that one would be double jeopardy.

  Ah, but the murder of Rachel...that was a different thing. Gianni called off the dogs that were protecting her, and, suddenly, there were numerous witnesses who were found and ready to roll all over Charlotte. The prosecutor got the ball rolling, and, before anybody knew what had happened, Charlotte was arrested.

  The publicity that surrounded her arrest was unlike anything I had ever seen. Ever. It surpassed the publicity for Slade's trial by a magnitude of 10. Charlotte was on top of the Hollywood heap, ready to conquer the movie world. She even was nominated for an Oscar, and won, even though she couldn't attend the ceremony because she was in prison at the time.

  So, yeah, she was an Oscar winner and was going to prison, maybe for life. And the tabloids and 24-hour news channels had an absolute field day. Her life was trashed, day and night, night and day, all over every channel and Social Network you could think of. Every time I logged onto the computer, her face would come up. There was story after story after story about her, because, suddenly, everyone wanted to tell what they knew.

  And she was still awaiting trial. Everybody knew that she was guilty, and, now that she was no longer protected by one of the wealthiest and most powerful mafia network in Southern California, nobody was afraid to say what they knew anymore. It was a feeding frenzy unlike anybody had ever seen. And, considering that Southern California also had the privilege of being the epicenter of the OJ trial, to say that the Charlotte feeding frenzy was unlike anything anybody had ever seen was saying a lot. There were no nightly "dancing Itos," but that was coming, I was sure about that.

  The upshot was that everyone now knew that Charlotte was absolutely psychotic. Everyone knew all the drugs that she did, how many people she screwed, and how many people she screwed over. Men who dated her came out to the press and told all. Women she dated did the same. On and on and on, until even I finally got tired of reading it. It was all schadenfreude for awhile, because, after all, she destroyed an innocent life in Slade and attempted to destroy my life as well. She deserved all the trashing that she got. And if she went to prison for life, oh well.

  But, there came a time when I finally got over my hatred for her and just felt pity. How awful it must be to have to live with such seething resentment and deep insecurity, so much that you want to ruin everything that you touch. I wouldn't wish her mental state on anybody, and, well, I started to feel compassion for her.

  Slade, on the other hand, did not feel compassion for her at all. He wanted her to rot, and I really didn't blame him.

  But, that was all really besides the point. After the whole Charlotte threat went to the wayside, Slade and I made up for lost time. And we got engaged.

  He popped the question to me when we took a trip to Northern California to see the redwood trees. Looking at these trees, which have been around since pre-historic times, I knew how small and insignificant I really was. To think that, long, long after I passed into the earth, these trees would still be around, was breath-taking. The redwoods can live up to 2,000 years. I wished that they could talk.

  In the middle of the redwood forest, Slade got down on one knee and presented me the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. It was a canary yellow diamond, princess-cut and perfect. I said yes, of course. As if there was any other answer.

  Now, today, was my big day. I wasn't going to have a major shin-dig like Dalilah. After all, this was my second marriage, so I really didn't want to make a fuss. I wasn't much for fusses anyhow. It was pretty much going to be me and Slade on a private beach, about 50 of mine and Slade's closest friends and family in attendance.

  The close friends and family included Miguel, and a getting-better-every-day Marguerita. Mandolina would also be in attendance. Slade and Mandolina had become close, as Slade made good on his promise to introduce her to the power players he knew, and the producers who saw Mandolina were impressed. She was already getting a few movie parts – mainly as an extra on horror movies - but some of our greatest actors started their careers in that same way.

  But Marguerita was the real marvel. True to his word, Slade got her into some major clinical trials, and they were really helping her. He also devoted millions and as many bright minds as he could hire to find a cure for the disease. He was coming up with breakthrough after breakthrough, which he would excitedly tell me every evening. Finding a cure for Huntington's had become his passion, and it was wonderful to see.

  I walked to Slade, my feet bare, wearing a simple white dress with no veil. I just let my hair flow. Slade was standing at the end of the beach, wearing a white tux with no shoes. He had never looked more handsome. As I took his hands, and looked into his eyes, I knew. I knew that when I said "til death do us part," that I meant it. We would truly be together until one of us died. When he looked at me, I knew that he knew it too.

  I sighed as we said our vows and the minister told Slade to kiss the bride. He kissed me, long and passionate, and everyone cheered and threw rose petals as we made our way on the carpet towards the other end of the beach.

  Afterwards, everyone gathered in one large tent and good food and great alcohol flowed. Pictures were taken, everyone had a great time, and the live band was excellent. This was the most magical night of my life, and I never thought that anything could be better.

  Of course, Bella and Gigi were also in attendance. They ran around the beach, their tiny little bodies running around and around until they were exhausted. Now, in the tent, they went around to the different tables and begged for scraps. Everyone loved the little dogs, and I posed for more than one picture with them in my arms, with Slade wrapped around me from behind.

  "I love you, Slade," I said to him. "And I always will."

  "I love you Serena," he said, "And I always will."

  And, with those few words, I knew that my life was complete.

  Chapter 19

  Serena - Ten Years Later

  It was time. Slade was going to Oslo, Norway, to pick up his Nobel Prize. He had finally isolated the right gene to edit, and had finally, after years and years of 20 hour days, and countless false starts and frustrations, fou
nd the cure for Huntington's Disease. Suddenly, getting a diagnosis for Huntington's was no longer a death sentence, but was curable. Nobody thought that it could happen in a lifetime, but Slade showed what persistence and genius could do.

  In the process, Marguerita was cured, and Miguel had become a life-long friend. His daughter, Mandolina, had also become a major player in Hollywood. Her small roles in horror movies got the attention of some independent directors, who cast her in supporting roles in various movies. Then came her big break in a romantic comedy that was the sleeper of the year, much the way that Pretty Woman was – something that nobody saw coming, and revitalized the genre. And she suddenly became A-List.

  Slade was responsible, at least in part, for both of these triumphs, and Miguel could not be more grateful. True to his word, he had long since quit the drug-dealing business, and was living a relatively quiet life on his sprawling ranch. He had actually opened a restaurant in Ciudad, and it was thriving. But he didn't spend much time there, after he got it up and running – most of his time was spent with Marguerita, for he knew how valuable time with her really was. True, she wasn't dying anymore, thanks to Slade, but nonetheless, Miguel knew how important she was. He showed her every day how much she meant to him.

  As for Slade and me – we had three children. The twins came about a year after we were married, and I named them Olive and Margot. Olive was named for my mother Olivia, and, since Luke already had a little girl named Olivia, I decided that Olive was a better name. And Margot, of course, was named for Slade's late mother.

  The third child, a boy named Luka, named after Luke, of course, came two years later. All the kids were a handful, but I somehow managed them. I kept my law career, as a partner, of course, but I tried to work as few hours as possible so that I could spent as much time with the kids as I could.

  Life was as perfect as I could have ever imagined.

  And I could imagine a lot.

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