I walked into the office in one of Conall’s shirts, no underwear. “Was that your brother?”
He nodded, leaned back in his leather seat.
“You’ll tell Trey to be close by?”
Conall shook his head. “He’s my brother, Leo. He won’t do anything.”
“He’s a drug addict. Drug addicts do crazy things.”
“We stood up for each other as kids. We got each other through. He won’t try anything. That bond runs deep.”
My legs were losing strength.
“Come here,” Conall said.
I did. I sat on his lap and he stroked my hair. “You still keen for a wedding ‘Deep South’?”
“You were being serious about that?”
“Of course. Besides, I think I’d like to open up some branches of my business there. We could go on a few safaris and check it out, and then I’d do some business on the side.”
Fear grabbed me thickly, like a dry hand around my heart. “Baby.” I pulled a hair out of his eyes. “Please ask Trey to be nearby.”
Conall saw the fear in my eyes. “Fine.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
-1-
I also called Trey, but I had no “brotherly love” to sweeten the story about Francis with. I didn’t tell Trey about Alex and Francis, but I did tell him that I saw Francis skulking in the back of an alley on the night of Kayla’s bachelorette party.
That seemed to get his attention. “Oh, Conall,” Trey said to me, “always so bloody trusting. We’ll be there, Leora, don’t you worry.”
-2-
Conall caught the train with us for at least part of the way. He got out earlier and then caught a connecting train to Hyde Park.
Perhaps it was the buzz of anxiety in my stomach that did it, but while Kayla and I made our way from the terminal to Fabiano’s, I had my eyes mostly on the ground, thinking, thinking, thinking.
I was thinking so much that I didn’t catch the hand that grabbed me by the elbow.
I turned. And there was Edmond Williams.
-3-
“Mizz Caivano,” he said. He was wearing a top-hat, believe it or not, actually carried a frickin cane, and had a trench coat so dark and long that I could swear he looked like a vampire! He also had on black gloves. If I’d seen what was underneath them, I might not have gone with him.
But, alas, we always know what we “should” have done when looking back.
He looked at wild Kayla next to me with an air of palatable disgust.
“Shall we...take a little stroll...?” He stuck his arm out to me, turned his back to Kayla slightly. I could tell she wanted to knee him in the balls.
It probably wouldn’t help my cause a lot.
We were running early. I had some time I could kill. “Go on,” I said to her. “I’ll be fine.”
She hesitated a second. When Edmond had finally turned his back, she gave him the finger. Then she mouthed, Call me!
She gave him the finger secretly again. Somehow I got the idea that he’d get wind of that somehow. Like, maybe he had spies everywhere, or maybe every camera in London was quietly hooked up to his basement and all his banker secret society cronies—
Whoa! Stop!
My mind was in overdrive. I was freaking out about Conall. And now this!
I grabbed Edmond’s arm. It was bony and frail. But determined. And we walked...away from Kayla.
It turns out my mind’s overdrive hadn’t been so far from the truth. But that’s just another regret that there’s no point moping about over.
-4-
The “conversation” started off mundanely enough. We weaved through the throng of London walking traffic and spoke about...you guessed it...the weather.
He turned off into a quieter street. I didn’t recognize it. We were walking a little away from the crowd, weaving through different roads, smaller ones, back-roads. The noise became quieter and quieter. The buildings seemed to close their hands around me. I started feeling claustrophobic. The walk seemed random enough, but I got the distinct feeling that I was being...guided...somewhere.
My heart caught in my throat. But what did I have to be worried about—this was Conall’s father for fuck’s sake!
I played along with his banal conversations, being polite. Then, ahead of us was a small park. I saw a sign as we entered it: Lord Reynolds Park and Walkway. Est. 1721.
The park was dark.
It was cold today. Cloudy. Thunderclouds loomed above. But that doesn’t mean shit in England—in a matter of minutes they could all clear up and we’d have blue skies.
I hoped that would happen, because the clouds played shadows against the trees which made me feel even more uneasy.
The park had trimmed hedges in the center of it, like a little maze. A few bronze statues—one of a man with a trident. We walked on a small paved walkway to the side of the greenery. Evergreen trees shaded us, making the black day feel even blacker.
We sat on a bench. I was freezing my ass off. There was no one else around.
We stared at the hedge-maze in the center for a while. I could feel my ears going red and brittle from the cold.
Edmond Williams’s skin on his face was beyond wrinkled. It’s as if I could see his skeleton in all its defined and chiseled form just below his cheeks. He looked much older than he really was. His skin had a tinge of blue, green. And dead gray. He wore spectacles, and his eyes behind them were dusty and somber.
He looked straight ahead, not at me. His cane was on his side now. He hadn’t needed the cane, I’d noticed as we’d walked. It was purely for show. Its handle was gilded, with some type of gemstone lining the side of it. He took a gloved hand and eased it into his pocket. He pulled out...a checkbook?
With his other hand, he pulled out a pricey looking pen.
My phone began to ring. I reached to grab it—
His hand was suddenly on mine! His checkbook on his lap! His eyes were honed in on me, and he was clenching his jaw. “Don’t,” he warned.
I frowned. “Mr. Williams—”
“Don’t!”
“If it’s Kayla, I’ll need to answer it. Otherwise she’ll get suspicious.” Kayla and I have this rule that we always answer the phone for each other. I’ve run into many an embarrassing phone call with her and Brad because of that rule. But it also saved her from disaster once.
“She can wait.”
Asshole. Fine, I’d make her wait...but, damn, I was only doing this out of respect for Conall and so that Conall wouldn’t get heat from his father because of my “unacceptable” behavior or some crap!
I took out my phone and put it on silent. It was indeed Kayla. I saw that I’d been gone fifteen minutes already. Edmond and I had barely spoken a word of consequence in all that time.
He reached for his checkbook again. “Mizz Caivano, don’t think I don’t know what is going on here. Don’t think I was born yesterday. I assure you, I wasn’t, as is apparent by the lines on my face. You are not the first to have come along and courted my son. You are not the first to want a piece of his family’s fortune—a hefty fortune at that. And you will certainly not be the first—”
“I beg your pardon!” Damn, I was in character again. But I was also incredulous at his accusations! I could see clearly where this was going.
“Please, Mizz Caivano, don’t interrupt.”
I stood up. Furious! “I will indeed interrupt—”
And that’s when I was pushed back down, by my shoulders. Huh? My butt fell back onto the park bench. I turned to look behind me. There was a guy that looked like he was made of steel and rafters there. Arms crossed.
When I faced forward again, there was now another man in front of me! Also massive.
Another at the entrance to the park. I looked to my right—another one! Each man was the approximate size of a house. And they each looked like CIA or FBI or...some other scary abbreviation!
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I said to Edmond.
He said noth
ing, just stared straight ahead.
He obviously wasn’t kidding me...
“Do I have your attention, Mizz Caivano?”
I took the high road. Better to live and fight another day, is what I say. “Yes.”
“Good.”
-5-
“So, your price. What is it?” He held his checkbook poised to be written in. “No figure is too small. I admit, the earlier girls were a little younger than you, not much. He was also a teenager then. But you are a little more matured than Conall’s other girlfriends. Maturity makes one more conniving, not simply less naïve.
“I don’t believe you are naïve. Not at all. But I know indeed what you are. Your maturity only makes you more able as a foe. But all foes have their price. So, what is yours?”
I was beyond shocked at what I was hearing! It took me a moment to realize I wasn’t in the twilight zone and that the father of the man I loved was truly, factually, actually trying to...buy me off!
I hesitated before I spoke, still letting the dreaminess of it all sink slowly in... Finally, I said, “I have no price. I don’t want Conall’s money. I love him. And he loves me.” The guy in front of me—blond—just stood there. Not so much as a blink, or a breath. Maybe he was a newer version of RoboCop—only bigger. Much bigger!
Edmond gave a sardonic laugh. “Everyone has a price, my dear. It’s always only a matter of finding it.” I sensed a double-meaning in that, but couldn’t put my finger on what it was.
“Mr. Williams, if you’ll excuse me, I really must go. I think this conversation is over.”
I stood up. The guy in front of me pushed me down hard on the seat by my shoulders! I began to shiver...
“Don’t bother screaming, Mizz Caivano, you know it would be futile.”
Mr. House in front of me folded his arms again, looked down at me.
Four men. No amount of Krav Maga would get me out of this situation!
“You’re a gangster,” I said to Edmond. “Nothing but a modern-day gangster.”
He scoffed. “Choose the words you wish, I am only trying to protect what is mine, what is my family’s!”
“I’ve already told you, I don’t want your money.”
“Like I said, Leora, everyone has their price. I only insist that you stay here and hear me out to the end. I promise you that Philip and his team here won’t harm you beyond keeping you here to finish this conversation. And I give you my word that you will walk away here unscathed. But we will finish our conversation.”
Is this really happening?
It was. And I started to see the hard cold truth of it—Edmond meant business. “How do I know you will keep your word?” I actually believed, in that moment, that the man might indeed...hurt me.
His answer was deadly clear—and this time I knew there was a double meaning: “Oh, my dear, I always keep my word. And by the end of this conversation, I will show you just how much I do.”
-6-
“I care about one thing, Mizz Caivano: The name and respectability of my family. Unfortunately, your wedding to Conall does not fit within those plans. I’ve stood by and tolerated it long enough, but I will tolerate it no more. Barfights, school fights, our name sullied in the press!
“It’s simply unacceptable.
“I will make it worth your while. This is the way the world works. I know you have put much aside, that you have lost a lot of time, and so I will not send you off without compensation. Conall will probably have learned a few lessons as well, so I do not believe that his time with you was a waste. It is a good learning experience for him. We all have to get love out of our systems when we are young so that we can focus on the real things of life.”
This dude was making me sick.
“So...you want to pay me for...my ‘services’...is what you are saying.”
“Yes. You have understood clearly.”
Uh-huh. Clearly.
I was so stunned I couldn’t even insult the guy! “I think we’re done here, Mr. Williams.”
“Oh, no dear. But it won’t be much longer. I promise.”
I looked up at King Kong in front of me. This meeting would come to a point where I would scream! How far was this guy really willing to take this thing?
And then he hit me with the first in a series of bombs which would convince me, without a doubt, that I needed to leave England, cut ties with Conall, and never see him again. Either that, or have everyone I love die in a mysterious “accident” or crucified publicly for all their misdeeds.
He showed me a photo. Of my mother. In bed...with a woman. And two other men...
-7-
I shifted my eyes away. “Look at it, Leora. It is important you understand where all this is going.”
“I get the point. I don’t want to look at it.”
“Oh, but you must—because it gets better.”
“Like I said, I get the point!”
“Look at the bloody photos!”
I did. My mom had been caught in various embarrassing sexual positions with numerous people. “I’ve seen enough.”
“Oh, no, you haven’t. Look closely at this one.” He showed me one. I glanced at it briefly, already feeling my food rising. “Do you recognize the man in those photos, dear?”
I looked more closely, trying my damndest not to look at my naked mother in it. “No, I don’t.”
“He is a married man with three children. A politician. From what I have heard from certain...friends...he is also a tad...ruthless in his dealings with people.” Edmond waited a beat. “Now I cannot be held accountable for what someone else might do should they, say, receive a copy of these photos in their mailbox... I certainly would never lay a violent hand upon anybody, but I cannot say the same for...oh what is this fellow’s name?...Congressman Norman.”
I swallowed.
Edmond flipped through more photos, naming names, mentioning—in passing—some of the rumors surrounding some of those names and how they got into power: freak accidents of their competition, sexual assault lawsuits that mysteriously disappeared. All rumors, of course.
“So, you’re blackmailing me...”
“Oh, dear, nobody said that. I know you are cold—I see you shivering—but we will be done shortly, I promise you. Now have a look at these...”
He pulled out more photos. Kayla’s mom. And there was a whole lot more material there. I suddenly understood that Priscilla Mitchell definitely did a lot more than just “escort.”
But it was the next shots he showed me that really got to me: They were shots of Maria, nothing implicating in them, just her shopping, catching the subway, sitting with her kids. “There’s nothing in those photos,” I said.
“No, just a Hispanic woman walking around, living in New York City. You know, Leora, in today’s world, if it isn’t in a computer, it isn’t true. Is she a legal resident of the United States?”
“Of course she is! She’s a citizen in fact!”
“Hmmm. Since the Patriot Act, if it isn’t in a database somewhere then it isn’t fact. Or, shall I say, if something else were to be entered in a database, something not in the interests of the United States, shall I say, then a person could be put on a no-fly list, or be brought to the attention of Immigration. My goodness, the way the American government is working these days, the president might even order a drone to fly over American soil and have a potential terrorist target murdered—all in the national interest!
“You absolutely must love the Americans!”
My blood was at my ankles. My hands had gone numb. I could feel my body shivering so violently that I was amazed I wasn’t developing frost bite. But it was the fear that was making me shiver, not the cold. “You can’t possibly expect me to believe you have that kind of influence in the world. That seems a little...far-fetched.”
And then he did it. He took his gloves off. First the right, and then the left.
And that’s when I saw the ring.
He hadn’t worn it at the time of our lun
ch. I know that for a fact because I notice rings on a man. The ring was huge, pointing straight at me, gold.
And the engraving on it was the letters DL.
He made a point of holding his hand there for a second, ring facing my way, so that I could clearly see it.
“We are everywhere, Leora. And do you really want to risk testing what I can and cannot do?”
I didn’t.
All I wanted to do now was run, and save my friends, and my family!
-8-
But Edmond Williams wasn’t done yet.
He showed me shots of Alex with Francis, Pedro with Francis, Alex when she was younger, some of Conall’s old girlfriends, Carlo.
My my my... Carlo had had some parliamentary men in his time as well. Also some actors. “Powerful people,” Edmond said. “Some of them would go to the ends of the earth to ensure these photos would not see the light of day. And although it is far beyond my method of operation, I would assume that, in their efforts to hide this evidence, some people might even go as far as...murder.”
He let the word hang in the air.
I’d seen enough.
But he made me look at even more!
He showed me photos of Dani, Freckly Troy, Jackie—the young waitress who’d held my shifts at the Jolly Roger and then started sleeping with Dorian Brant later.
He lingered on that one. “A pity about this girl,” he said. He waited for me to bite.
My lips were trembling so much, the words barely came out of my mouth when I said, “Wh—what...pity?”
“Oh, you haven’t heard?” He seemed elated, filled with joy. “Why, let me show you!”
King Kong Number Two (behind me) handed me a Seaford newspaper.
Seventeen-Year-Old Seaford Girl Dies in Apparent Suicide
My heart did a little gallop of fear. Which seventeen—
Oh, no.
Cold sweat crept out of every pore on my skin. The paper trembled in my hands.
Deep South (Naive Mistakes #4) Page 15