Gambler's Folly (Bookstrand Publishing Romance)

by Mellie E. Miller

  Chapter 16

  The next two weeks were fairly relaxed. They’d got everything sorted out with the kitchen, with Dante still on the job. Karianna got back to her workouts with Carl, and Damiano to his daily meetings. Evenings were spent together watching the gaming tables and eating fabulous food at various of his establishments. Karianna was getting used to being the center of attention wherever they went, and this pleased Damiano to no end.

  “I knew you would enjoy being a celebrity,” he teased one evening. “You just had to get used to the idea. Me? I have always loved it. Besides, you can have your public image for when you are out, and then, when you are with friends, you can relax and enjoy life. It can be a secret kind of life, if you want.”

  “Why would I want that?” she asked.

  “Cara, don’t you have a secret side to your life here? You are still an unknown to everyone. Where did you come from? How did we really meet? What is the attraction which brought us together?”

  “Well, I suppose. But I thought you answered those questions.” She was still unconvinced.

  “I did answer them, yes, as vaguely as possible. And just as I planned, nobody believed a word of it. It makes you an item, a bit of a mystery. It is fun.”

  Eventually, Damiano had to leave town again. While she was upset at having him away, Karianna wasn’t worried.

  “I just miss you when you go,” she told him. “There’s nothing to be afraid of, especially with Marco and Dante here. I’ll be fine, as long as you come home soon.” And she really did mean that, she’d discovered. He was so loving and attentive to her, how could she have resisted him?

  Yes, he was the head of his house, and about half the world apparently, but he was also a true romantic at heart. Part of the attraction was his strength, she decided. There could be no doubt about who was in charge, no matter where they were.

  “I know, cara, but I will still be a little worried about you, after last time. And then, when you are actually fine, I will feel a little silly, perhaps, to have worried about you.”

  He left fairly early in the morning for his trip and planned to be gone five days, as the meeting was off-world again.

  “About a day and a half to get there, two, maybe three days of meetings, and then a day and a half back,” he’d told her. “I’ll be home before you realize I’m gone, cara,” he teased.

  “I know. It’s just lonely, Dam.”

  She had some coffee and then went to work out. Since their trip, she’d asked Carl if they could design some workouts specifically for skiing. Her muscles had been sore for days, even after they got home. He had done as she’d asked, and the new workouts were absolutely sadistic, but would prove effective for their next trip to the slopes.

  Showered and dressed, she called Dante and ordered some lunch. Karianna had discovered this wonderful bocconcini salad, which was really a meal all by itself. The marvelous flavors of the tomatoes, cheese, and basil were exciting, and topped off with a slice of crusty bread, it was filling as well.

  She watched a news program on the viewer after lunch, practiced her recorders a little bit, and then caught a nap. The rest of the day was uneventful until her call from Damiano came through. They talked for nearly half an hour before he had to go, leaving her sad and lonely, all by herself in the huge suite.

  The next day began the same way. Coffee, workout, lunch. About halfway through the afternoon, she called down for a pot of tea and some mineral water. While the water in the hotel was potable, she preferred the bottled water for drinking.

  Dante came up with her tray, made sure she was fine, and then went back to the kitchen. She sipped at the tea while she read a book she’d been meaning to get to. It was supposed to be all the rage, and she was soon engrossed.

  Nearly two hours later, the tea had been gone for some time, and she poured some bottled water over ice, in a tumbler from the kitchen. Even though most people here drank their water at room temperature, she preferred hers icy cold. She sipped as she read, still glued to the book, until she noticed her stomach starting to cramp a little.

  Well, it was probably nothing, she thought. The water had been really cold and she’d drunk it too fast, that’s all. But a few minutes later, the cramping was back and worse. As she tried to decide if it was worth calling the doctor, another wave struck which left her doubled over, her book fallen to the floor. Straining to reach her communicator, she was able to dial the emergency number and waited, curled up on the floor, and scared half to death.

  A trip to the hospital was not in her plans, but the doctor said otherwise. Marco and Dante went with her for safety. Safe from what she couldn’t tell, since obviously something had happened in spite of their vigilance. The medics had started an IV as soon as they arrived, and the drugs were beginning to help by the time they arrived at the emergency entrance.

  After her IV was started and her stomach pumped, Karianna was admitted to a private suite, which Marco and Dante guarded in shifts. Of course, they had called Damiano immediately and told him of the incident.

  “No, Damiano. There’s nothing you could do if you were here,” she insisted. “I’ll only be here overnight and then I’ll be home. There is no need for you to worry. I’m sure they’ll find out what it is and take care of things.”

  Damiano wasn’t convinced, but he relented eventually, after some very terse instructions to her bodyguards.

  The remnants of the tea and water had gone to the lab and, by morning, the report was in. Someone had tampered with the bottled water before sending it up. What it had contained would not have killed her, but it did make her violently ill.

  “Why are they doing this?” she asked Marco. “What do they hope to gain by making me sick every time Damiano leaves?”

  “I’m not sure, Signora, but we will find out. Rest assured, we will find out.”

  The limousine came to take her back to the suite. Apparently the ambulance the afternoon before had alerted the media. Reporters with cameras lined the sidewalk in front of the hotel, trying to get a glimpse of her.

  “What should we do, Marco?” she asked.

  “Let me take care of it, once you’re inside. I know how Damiano would like it handled.”

  Tucked up in bed by a private nurse, Karianna was going crazy before too long. “No, really I’m fine,” she tried to tell everyone. “I just need a little rest this afternoon. Honest. I’ll take care.”

  Not that it did any good. The nurse stayed, Marco camped out by the door, and Dante went to raise hell in the kitchen. Karianna did finally go to sleep, in spite of the crowd, and felt much better when she woke.

  “No, really, Damiano, I’m fine,” she complained again. “Send the nurse home. Marco and Dante are doing a fine job.”

  The nurse stayed for the rest of the week before Damiano finally allowed her to leave. He would be home the next day anyway. Marco and Dante were fidgety waiting for him to get back so they could plan their course of action.

  * * * *

  “I don’t care how it happened, Dante. It happened right under your nose.” Damiano was furious over the situation and was being unreasonable.

  “Signor, I watched the food, I watched the preparations for the tea. I watched the tea while it was steeping. I never thought about bottled water,” Dante countered.

  “Well maybe you’ll think about it next time!”

  Enough is enough, Karianna decided. “Dam, leave him alone. It wasn’t his fault. Nobody sane would even consider the water. It comes purified, bottled, and sealed. Why would he look at it?”

  “Stay out of it, Karianna. It’s none of your affair,” he countered.

  “Actually, it is my affair, Damiano Leone. I’m the one who got sick. Or doesn’t that count?”

  He strode over to her in a fury and she thought he might slap her. “Go ahead and hit me, if it’ll make you feel better. But if you don’t calm down and lay off Dante and Marco, I’ll slap the living shit out of you.”

  Damiano stopped in mi
dstride, looking completely astounded. People rarely stood up to him or contradicted him. “I wasn’t going to hit you, cara, but stay out of my business.”

  “Your business is now my business, Damiano. When it concerns my health and welfare, I have a say in what happens. Now stop shouting at everybody, and stop arguing about whose is the largest.”

  “Largest?” he asked, confused.

  “Yes. You know, who’s got the biggest dick?”

  A few seconds later, his ears turned red. “And now who is angry, cara?” he asked. “You stoop to insults?”

  “If that’s what it takes to get your attention, yes.”

  “Okay, fine. Let’s all sit down and have some coffee, maybe some biscotti, and take a break. Maybe you are right, cara. I might be overreacting, just a little.”

  “I think so, Damiano. Yelling at Dante isn’t going to accomplish anything, except to upset him even more than he has been. What’s done is done. We need to figure out how and why.”

  “I know why, cara, or at least I believe that I do. The how is the puzzling bit,” he added, shaking his head. “I thought, after the first time, we had got rid of the problem. Maybe the problem is a little bigger than I thought.”

  The five of them, Dam, Karianna, Paolo, Marco, and Dante sat down for nearly an hour and went over everything. Karianna got quite a lesson on what goes on in a hotel.

  “There has to be an informant somewhere. Nobody in the kitchen staff could know when I was going to be gone, unless someone was watching.” Damiano was fairly certain about this.

  “Well, that leaves the cleaning and maintenance staff,” Paolo said.

  “Not necessarily,” Karianna interrupted. “If you think about it, the only time I order room service is when you’re gone, Dam. Otherwise, you’re usually home for lunch, or at least for dinner. We have coffee or tea, but it’s for two.”

  “So it could still be the kitchen or wait staff,” he answered. “We’ll have to arrange a little charade for our friends. Let me think about it.”

  Chapter 17

  Just before the weekend, Damiano told Karianna he would need to be away for four days. They had checked the suite for any kind of transmitting device and had found nothing. All the same, there was no way to be one hundred percent sure, given the size of the suite.

  Later, when the cleaning staff came in, they “happened to discuss” his plans for the weekend and what she might do while he was gone. They did the same when they were having dinner in the restaurant.

  As the staff members left, various of Damiano’s people from other locations kept watch to see where they went and who they talked to. Then Damiano and Karianna went back up to the suite to meet with Marco, Paolo, and Dante.

  “So, do you think it will work?” Karianna asked. The room had been checked for bugs again and they were confident everything was secure.

  “We won’t know until we either have an incident or somebody reports suspicious activities. In the meantime, I need to pack and get ready for my ‘trip,’” he told her.

  Since the trip was planned for the next day, they spent their time as they would have done were the trip real. She complained about the time he would be gone. He consoled her and told her not to worry.

  The following morning, Damiano got dressed for an off-world trip, gave his bags to an attendant and kissed Karianna good-bye, assuring her he’d be back soon. She saw him to the lift and then returned to the suite for her workout.

  Workout finished, she called down to the kitchen for some lunch. As usual, Dante came up with it, having checked it before delivery, just as he’d been doing. But once the door was closed, out came the sample containers, and little bits of everything were collected for the lab. The rest of it went into the refrigerator, in case they needed it later.

  And for lunch? Karianna had some cheese and bread they had bought away from the hotel. Bottled water from another source made her coffee to go with it. After that, she sat and read a book for a while, sipping the freshly brewed coffee.

  Damiano slipped back to the suite late in the afternoon. He had gone all the way to the airport and back with a double who had gone on a trip for him. They talked quietly and had a snack while they waited for the lab results.

  As it turned out, lunch would have been fine. Nothing was found which would have harmed her. They threw it away anyway, and ordered up dinner for one, with tea and bottled water. Again, Dante came up with the waiter and watched her sign for the meal. Again, samples were taken for the lab, and with the same results.

  “Damiano, maybe it’s over and they’re not going to do anything else,” Karianna said over soup and a sandwich from their own kitchen.

  “Maybe,” he agreed, “but maybe not. We’ll wait another day or two and make sure.”

  The next day was the same. All the food from the kitchen went out for testing, and everything was fine. Marco had gone to the grocery for them and brought items to cook in the kitchen, so they didn’t go hungry. But the food from the hotel kitchen was so much nicer and more convenient.

  “I told you I couldn’t cook, Dam,” she told him that evening. “Is this just a ploy to see if I was telling the truth?”

  “No, cara,” he said, laughing. “Let’s give it one more day. If nothing happens by then, we’ll assume everything is fine.”

  On the third day, Karianna and Damiano went to work out, showered, and ordered lunch for Karianna again. It was nothing much, just a salad with cheese, garlic bread, coffee, and mineral water. About half an hour after they placed the order, the doorbell sounded. As usual, Dante came up with the waiter, saw the meal placed on the table for her, and watched the waiter leave.

  “Dante,” Damiano started, “if you had to pick one person in the kitchen or waitstaff as suspicious, who would it be?”

  Dante thought for just a moment and then named one of the young stewards. “I haven’t actually seen anything out of order from him, but there’s something about his attitude which is not quite right.”

  “Has he talked with any of our maids or waiters under unusual circumstances? Anything at all out of the ordinary?”

  “No, though he talks to a lot of people during the day. It’s really just a feeling I have, nothing more.”

  They took samples of everything again and then fixed something on their own. All in all, it had been a particularly slow and boring week for everyone. Damiano had felt certain that something would happen while he was “gone.”

  Late in the afternoon, they had the results back from the lab. Everything checked out except for the coffee, which had a powerful tranquilizer added to it. The bitterness of the coffee would have masked the taste, and it would have knocked her out for twelve to sixteen hours. If, for some reason, she was allergic to the drug, she could have died from it.

  “Alright, everyone, it’s time to act,” Dam said. “Marco, go downstairs and call up to this room. Act just like you are calling Karianna and she isn’t answering the phone. Proceed as you would if she’d actually drunk the coffee. Dante, go to the kitchen and see what there is to see there. Paolo, go out front and watch for anything out of order.”

  Everyone took their places and the show began. Marco called the room and let the communicator sound until Karianna was about to answer it, just to get some peace and quiet. He called again, just as he would have done normally. A few minutes later, he rang the bell and then pounded on the door before using his key to enter the suite.

  Next he waited a few minutes, talking with Karianna and Damiano for a reasonable amount of time, and then called Dr. Martin.

  “Alright, what’s the problem?” he asked, seeing that everyone appeared to be fine. “Signor Leone, I see you’ve returned from your trip.”

  “We are trying a little experiment, doctor, and I hope you will play along,” Damiano explained.

  “Ah, I see. So we’re going to need an ambulance to take her to the hospital? Very well. After last time, it is believable.”

  Dr. Martin called for an ambulance
, and when it arrived, they loaded Karianna into it for her trip to the hospital. Dr. Martin rode with her and took charge once they were there. Like the previous time, she had a private suite arranged for her.

  “Now if anyone asks about you, Dr. Martin can answer any questions believably, so our little friends will think they’ve succeeded.” Damiano seemed quite certain their ruse would work.

  Karianna would spend the evening in the hospital, while Marco took Damiano to the airport. They would arrive at the hospital the next morning, concerned for her welfare. In the meantime, Paolo and Dante had the hotel and casino covered with Damiano’s men, watching for anything amiss.

  At least the food was decent, Karianna thought, and it was unlikely that it would be spiked with anything harmful. She and Dr. Martin had a good talk after dinner, and when he left for the evening, she had bodyguards at the door.

  Damiano’s homecoming was incredible to watch. Karianna rather thought the film industry had lost out on a great talent. He came bursting through the door and rushed to her bed, apologizing for having left her alone and so forth. She consoled him, telling him it wasn’t his fault. How could he have known?

  When she was finally released, on Dr. Martin’s recommendation, they made quite a spectacle leaving. Damiano was ranting and raving at Marco and the body guards about letting her come to harm in his absence. Thinking about it, she decided she must be a pretty good actress herself. Otherwise, she never would have kept from laughing at the performance. Once they were in the limo and out of sight, she nearly rolled in the floor, tears in her eyes at the hilarity of it all.

  “Cara, what do you find so amusing?” Damiano asked.

  “Oh, Dam, that was great. How did you do it? You were so convincing.”

  “I just imagined how I would feel, if you’d actually drunk the coffee, and let it happen, cara. It is the only way.”

  “Have we found out anything yet?”

  “I’ve had a call from Dante indicating they have a couple suspects. We’ll see when we get back.”