by C. D. Gill
Her entrance coincided with Xander’s as he debuted a navy polka dotted shirt and slim-fitting yellow trousers. He looked straight out of a men’s magazine.
She blinked again.
Xander sauntered over to her, clearly enjoying the attention. “Like what you see, anjo? Me beija.”
Couldn’t turn down a request like that. Pulling him to her, her lips collided with his in an emotional upheaval. Her sadness, exhaustion, happiness, and love mingled there. His hands skimmed her back where the dress had an oval opening. His fingertips sent chills skittering across her skin. He moved his lips a fraction out of reach, so she could see the heat in his eyes.
“Can I keep this outfit, Judita? I think Gia likes it,” he murmured. “Also, Gia would like to keep her dress.”
“Her dress is dry clean only. Do not get your drool on it. Come into the light, so I can see you better,” Judita said.
Trance broken, they held hands into the family room.
“Arms up.” Judita immediately went to work on Xander tucking the shirt further into the waistband and pinning the waist so his lean abdomen was accented. Xander watched her, mouth open, as Judita fluttered around him tucking pins here and there. Finally, she stood back. “Good. Head into the photographer. Oh, Gia. I love this color on you. Your skin tone is perfect. Forget architecture. Come live in Rio and model for me full-time. Most of the models for my upcoming show are going to be your skin tone or darker.” Her eyes sparkled. “We’re going to annihilate the fashion world’s norms by having a largely black and biracial lineup of models. It’s divine.”
A few more pins and Judita nodded her off to the photographer. As she walked through the front hall, a faint orange light glimmered through the decorative front door windows. The white light from the photographer exploded again and again, snagging her attention. The poor photographer shouted directions at Xander which might have been second nature to models, but was probably infuriating him. She grinned, peeking around the corner.
A huge light setup swallowed the formal living room whole. It almost never got used, so this was as good of a use as any. The white backdrop draped from a black stand. His case with cameras and accessories sat on Ma’s expensive glass coffee table where coffee mugs were hardly allowed.
Instead of going into the front room, she tiptoed over to the dark library across the hall to look through the telescope at the stars. It’d been a really long time since she’d stared at the skies.
Except the library wasn’t dark.
A bright orange light danced over the furniture.
Fire.
She ran to the window. The front lawn was on fire.
Sprinting to the door, she slid into the hall. “Fire in the front yard. Call 911. Fire.”
Flashbacks to her bedroom going up in flames shot a spike of terror through her heart. Was Bronc seeking revenge from behind bars? She wouldn’t put it past him.
Family emerged from everywhere, rushing past her to the open door where Xander stood with his phone against his ear. Ma and Daddy pushed out the front door. Xander hung up the phone and announced the fire department and police were on their way. His gaze locked onto hers.
She made her way to his side, gripped his hand, and followed her parents outside. Everyone stayed on the front steps. The grass wasn’t on fire as she’d originally thought. Four large piles of rock sat on the grass. Something lay atop each one, burning. The stench was ominous. What was that?
When the police pulled in, Daddy met them on the driveway. They talked with gestures and hands on hips. As Daddy walked back to the house, the officers unrolled crime scene tape around the area.
Daddy shooed everyone toward the door. “Everyone, inside. Police are going to investigate the area. No one’s allowed in the grass until they’re done.”
He had that look in his eye—the deadly serious one that meant something major was happening and he was trying not to alarm everyone about it. And when he cast a worried look her way, she lost it. As soon as they stepped inside, she pulled him into the library. Xander came in right behind them.
“Is it Bronc? Is this him trying to get revenge on us?” she whispered. Her stomach rushed toward her throat. She was going to be sick. This on top of everything else was far too much for her to handle.
Daddy took her arm. “It’s not Bronc or Grant. They are securely put away and monitored.” He scratched his neck. “Baby girl, you know Ma and I have gotten a lot of threats in our lifetime. People who don’t even know us hate our marriage. They hate my skin color or Ma’s Brazilian upbringing. They hate our business. They hate our success. They hate that they don’t have what we have.” He licked his lips. He was nervous. “We’ve tried to shield you from a lot of that, especially since most of it were baseless claims. What Joey didn’t tell you before he left was that he’d been the target of a variety of attacks and threats recently.”
“Like the picketing at Tia’s funeral.” Xander shifted closer as she spoke, but didn’t interrupt.
Daddy nodded slowly. “Someone is very upset about the new resort in Rio that you’re designing, saying it’s flattening a vital part of Rio’s ecosystem and endangering the species that live there. I don’t know for sure the display outside has anything to do with it, but if it does then you need to know that you are now the target.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Why does no one tell me these things until I’m in serious danger?”
“My head of security, Amos, and I hoped the threats might go away when Joey left town. We have kept it under lock and key that you transitioned to lead, but of course there is only so much privacy when you’re contacting the other team members to get the project done.”
Her teeth snagged the inside of her cheek. Daddy had never put her in danger nor worried her without reason. If he kept things quiet, there was a good reason. That truth deflated the annoyance rising up inside her.
“Let me talk to Amos when the police get done investigating and we’ll see what needs to happen. Your safety is my first priority, baby girl.” Daddy kissed her forehead and walked out of the room with his phone in hand. “Amos…”
The door closed behind him. Xander leaned against the back of the couch, his gaze intense leaving her shifting uncomfortably.
“More drama,” she said with a small laugh. “My life was not this chaotic before…”
Xander tilted his head.
She groaned, letting the fatigue wash over her. “Okay, my life is endless chaos.”
“I’m going to call Maddox and let him know I’m not coming back Sunday. He’s going to have to proceed without me.” Xander crossed his arms over his chest.
Her heart twinged, but she couldn’t tell if it was panic or adoration. “Babe, I love you for suggesting that, but you can’t do that. This settlement is too huge. It’s potentially the start of a brand-new life for you, not to mention clearing your name.”
His shoulders shrugged. “What is a new start if you’re not around to enjoy it with me?”
She met him in the middle and wrapped her arms around his torso, her head laid against his heart. “Please. For me, will you go back and settle this once and for all? Daddy can afford trained security. Amos recruits the best.”
“Listen. You don’t need some washed-out military has-been protecting you. I learned a lot in prison. I can be what—”
She pressed her finger to his lips. “You are what I need as my boyfriend. Let someone else have the anxiety and pressure of watching my back, okay?”
A low grunt reverberated through his chest.
“Gia?” Judita’s voice called from the hallway.
She was still wearing Judita’s dress. With a lingering kiss, Gia attempted to project her confidence in Amos and his guys. Her fake smile and glower at the camera masked the questions running through her head.
She slept hard through the exhaustion, but not without bad dreams.
The next morning, Xander met her in the kitchen. He looked like he’d been up for a
while. He had a steaming cup of something in a mug. Probably that heavy metal cleansing drink that Ma made every morning—cilantro and lemon. She scrunched her nose.
The edge of his eyes crinkled in a smile just for her. He tilted his head toward the front door. She nodded and followed him out. Might as well get this over with. She’d thought of nothing else.
The crime scene tape sagged under the morning dew. The grass laid trampled under lots of feet. The investigators would likely be back soon to look at things in the light of day to see what they missed.
Four piles of rocks sat parallel to each other. One pile had a sign with GREED written on it. On top lay branches that didn’t completely burn. The second pile was labeled SELFISHNESS. On top were dolls with burned middles. Gia inched closer. A doll’s head hung off one side of the pile and the feet off the other.
“Human sacrifices?” Xander said.
The third pile was labeled FAME with animals on top. And the fourth was more like a pyre with a doll that looked remarkably like her. The sign read: STOP THE DESTRUCTION OR THIS WILL BE YOUR FATE.
Was it a scare tactic? Or did someone truly believe they’d burn her alive on a stake? All this for designing a building that she had no control over what land it sat on or who entered its doors? Someone must have seen her as a more vulnerable target than the leadership team of Venha Hotel and Resorts who had put the project in motion.
“Gia.” Daddy’s call snapped her from her thoughts. She twisted to see him in the front door “I’m glad you’re still here. Amos will be here in a minute.” He motioned her inside.
Xander walked in beside. “It might have been my imagination, but one of those dolls looked like it had been wearing a soccer jersey.”
Did that mean someone would target Xander? Uncle Ronaldo? Breno? It was the detectives’ jobs to uncover intention or coincidence. Worrying about it wouldn’t change anything.
She pulled a breakfast smoothie from the refrigerator and sat in the library as Amos walked in. Xander finished speaking with Daddy in low tones and touched her cheek on his way past to the door. He hadn’t smiled or winked, a sure sign of his deep concern.
“Good morning, Gia, Burley.” Amos unpacked a document from his briefcase and handed it to Daddy. His kind gaze met hers. “You have to get to work, so let me make this quick. Our front lawn decorator flexed a bit last night. Security has been a tad more difficult than usual since family is in and out so much right now. We will be upping the staff with eyes on the grounds so nothing goes unseen. We’ll be talking to family and making sure they have identification on them in case they get stopped. It’s inconvenient, but for everyone’s safety. We also have wristbands with tracking and health checks wired into them. They look like fitness tracking watches so they can be inconspicuous.”
Daddy nodded.
“Burley, we can go over more detail in a minute, but Gia, I wanted to introduce you to your new bodyguard, Andivo. He’s former military with extensive security training. Not only will he be monitoring your watch personally, but he will also be physically within reach any time you are outside of the house.”
Andivo walked from behind them where she hadn’t even known he’d been and stood next to Amos. He was tall, toned, medium build, black, and had a warm smile. He looked safe.
“Thanks for taking this on, Andy,” Daddy said from behind his desk. “You come with outstanding recommendations. We’re taking all precautions until we can catch whoever is sabotaging things.”
Gia sat forward. “Daddy, is a bodyguard really necessary? I’m slammed at work. Does Andy need to be sitting at the office for hours every day watching my door?”
No one moved a hair. Daddy just smiled. “Yes, we’re confident this is the right call.”
“Whoever it is has access to the office.” Well, that did not make her feel any better.
“Andy is and will remain fully briefed on possible suspects. Rest assured, he will not be staring at your door all day, bored. You can go about your life as usual and forget he’s around until he needs to check something. We’ll be introducing him as your new personal assistant.”
How long would it take before the rumor mill assigned her a boyfriend and a side piece?
She sighed. The people who mattered would know the truth. Xander would understand.
Chapter 8
Of course, Xander understood Burley’s decision to assign a full-time professional bodyguard to Gia, but it ruffled his feathers more than he would have liked. In prison, Jerry had taught him a lot about how criminal minds worked. And the thought of losing Gia to a psycho who watched her every move and planned his accordingly like a twisted dance of fate made Xander furious and—most importantly—helpless.
He’d had years of experience with the target painted on his back. Now, the best he could offer the girl he loved was long-distance moral support. The words from the horrible woman at his New Orleans’s workshop echoed in his mind. Was he good enough for Gia? Or a placeholder until she found someone more put-together?
How put-together was Andy?
Private security paid pretty big bucks. Xander slapped his expense receipts into a folder in his office. More money than a startup with trash. Overhead costs were low, but sales were lower. He needed a fresh angle to get a handle on this.
After the hearing though.
With his keys stuffed in his pockets, he closed up the office for lunch and headed to Lucy’s to collect his mail. A line curled around the inside of her shop. Lucy and her new-hire Edith weaved around each other as if they’d been working together for years. Mother Hen featured a new full coffee shop setup with all the syrups and whistling machines and the display case had every tray full.
He’d been gone a little over a week. It felt like months, because everyone’s life had picked up its pace or reached a new level of success while he floundered in frustration.
“Xander, come on back.” Lucy waved him behind the counter. Edith nodded and smiled as she dished up baked goods with both hands. He wanted ask about her granddaughter, but he’d have to wait for rush hour to be over.
On the prep tables, balls of dough on tin pans waited to be shoved into the oven. Pastries and sweet breads filled the cooling racks. It wasn’t the same mess he’d seen in the past. Edith’s influence, perhaps.
“You look swamped, Luce. Business is really going well for you.”
“Don’t jinx me, you fool.” Yet she beamed at him. “Things couldn’t be better right now. Tucker is around the most he’s ever been and we’re really happy.” Her expression softened into something more vulnerable. “This doesn’t make up for all the junk that’s happened in my life, but it’s a start.”
Xander nodded. Gia hadn’t gone into much detail as to what difficulties Lucy had endured, but her flouncy flirty side wasn’t all there was to see.
“Your place seemed really quiet.” She unburied a plastic bag and handed it over. Propping her hands on the table, she leveled a look at him. “Now, tell me in detail how Gia is.”
His murmured thanks bought him a few seconds to think over what he should say. “She’s as strong as ever.”
Lucy’s eyebrows shot up, unamused.
“Her grief has been set aside in order to care for her family and finish out her work for the year.” And now to also avoid an outside threat of a stalker.
“Of course, she’s putting herself aside.” Lucy thumped the table with a fist. “That’s who Gia is at her core. I knew she would.”
A fact that Gia would likely dispute, because she didn’t see herself like that.
“She’s underwater at work trying to help Joey out, so if you don’t hear back from her right away, don’t panic.” Lucy was the queen of panicking on a dime. With current events, he was going to be in the same boat as her. “And you can remind me of the same thing.” He continued before Lucy got a question in. “I need to get going to my meeting. Mind if I grab a sandwich on the way out?”
She nodded. “See you on Thursday. Last workshop
of the year, right?”
He hadn’t thought that far ahead this morning. Nevertheless, he offered her a salute, grabbed a couple sandwiches on the way out, and stuffed a few bills in the tip jar to pay. After the meeting this afternoon, he’d hit the planning hard.
At a stop light on his way to the mediator’s office, he leafed through the mail. Bills, ads, mail for Gia, a coupon booklet for services he’d never use, and a plain white envelope with his name handwritten on it.
A car honked behind him. No time for that now. He focused on the road and swung into the parking lot a couple of minutes before the hearing. His heart raced at the sight of the brick building. Five years ago, he said if he never saw a law office again it’d be too soon, yet here he was voluntarily pursuing a settlement in hopes of avoiding a lawsuit. He stuffed the envelope into his bag, in case he had a second to look at it.
As he walked to the building, he shrugged on his suit coat. The moment he stepped inside someone ushered him to the conference room where his lawyer and the mediator waited for him. The mediator wore a suit. The middle-aged man shook Xander’s hand. Maddox introduced him as Chris Hudson.
All those years ago, he’d imagined being on the offensive came with a hurricane of more confidence in the outcome than he felt right now. While his entire life’s direction didn’t dangle on the sharp cliff of this mediator, the weight of desperation pressed in on his sternum. His reputation, his exoneration, his exhumation relied on a rescue mission to move the mountain off of him.
Even if this case didn’t clear him, he’d never stop trying to move the mountain himself.
They settled into the well-depressed leather chairs.
Mr. Hudson leafed through the papers in his thick folder. “Mr. Reinerman, I’ve reviewed the details of your case and former conviction. Since this is the first meeting in this settlement case, I would appreciate it if you told me in your own words what has brought us to this point. Feel free to include the mention of any evidence you have submitted or may submit.”
Maddox nodded his permission. Xander wiped his sweaty palms on his trouser legs as he recapped his life and the jobs he’d had and lost, then moved on to the player and staff interviews Tommy and Joey had done on his behalf after his release. Finally, he addressed Coach Randall’s interview and confession.