He squeezed her hand and nodded. “I’ll be in the other room if you need me.”
The only thing Chloe could think about was the way Hunter made her feel, and how she would give anything in the world to have that feeling back.
Chapter 58
Matthew was in a heightened mood, elated with the knowledge that his plan to use his daughter to force David to step down and appoint him boss could be expedited and completed in a matter of days. Happiness was finally just around the corner.
Mr. Crescent answered a knock at Matthew’s door and followed David into the suite as Matthew came out of his bedroom, adjusting his bowtie. “David. Come in. Can I get you anything?”
“Just a few moments of your time before the party,” David said, dismissing Crescent with a definitive look. Once Crescent was gone, David said, “I understand Renee is healing well.”
“The doctor assures me that she will be just fine. I had a conversation with Mr. Crescent about what happened and you can rest assured it won’t be an issue again.”
“He still breathes, and that tells me the conversation didn’t end as it should have.”
Matthew knew now was not the time to lose his temper when he was so close to getting what he wanted. “It will not happen again.”
“I know Mr. Crescent has been a devoted and trusted man with the Family for many years, and you wouldn’t be where you are right now if it weren’t for his enthusiasm. However, twenty-eight years ago, you and I made an arrangement whereby she would be forever protected and not unduly touched by anybody. This is not the first time Mr. Crescent has crossed that line, yet there has been nothing done.”
Matthew could see where this conversation was going. “David…”
“We have rules and expectations that we must follow; a conduct of behavior that is pivotal to our way of life. So I have to ask myself, why do I allow you be an exception to that rule? I’m sure that if I really think about it, the answer is simple: our relationship changed when Renee was born. She is the one thing in this world that has been a common interest for us, and always will be. I love her more than you know, Matthew, and she’s done being punished without consequences to the offender.”
“Meaning?”
“Changes are coming, Matthew, and I need to make sure you are ready for those changes. The first of which will be to extinguish the problem between Renee and Mr. Crescent. Since you have done nothing about it, it appears I will have to take it into my own hands. I expect to see Mr. Crescent in your office after the meeting, and just so there is no misunderstanding, we will be meeting behind closed doors.”
Matthew knew David would be expecting Crescent to be waiting in the Red Room after the meeting, and if he wasn’t there, a contract would be issued to hunt him down. Until Matthew had been officially sworn in as the boss of the Family, there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Matthew nodded with one thought in mind: You pompous, arrogant son of a bitch. “He’ll be there.”
“Now, I have something else for you.” David motioned for Matthew to take a seat in the living room while he inserted a disc into the laptop on the coffee table. “Please sit.”
A feeling of unease was steadily creeping over Matthew as he sat down and watched David poise his finger above the keyboard to play the disc. “David, we really don’t have time for any of this right now. The party starts in thirty minutes and Renee and I have to be downstairs to greet our guests. Can this wait until later?”
“No,” David said with a hard and deliberate stare, “it cannot. I’ve been doing quite a bit of thinking over the past few months, Matthew. I think about how I got started in the business and everything I have gained, while, at the same time, I think about how much I have lost. It’s the losses that are weighing heavy on my heart. I have lost close and dear friends. My beautiful wife of forty years, who, to be honest, was the love of my life. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss her. We had such a beautiful life together, and she gave me a son.” David turned on Matthew and faced him with hatred. “God decided it was time to take my wife, but my son was taken too soon. Now all that matters is what he left behind and the truth.”
Matthew could feel his heart beat a little faster and his eyes widened in horror as the picture came to life and he heard a voice from the past ringing in his ears.
“Your boss didn’t like this guy he was partners with. I mean, he really didn’t like him. Apparently, he had been stuck with him because he’s the son of someone important, and your boss was sick of his friend fucking everything up. So, your boss paid us a little extra—two hundred and fifty thousand each—to take this guy out to the desert and make him disappear. We roughed him up a little bit but I got bored, so I put two shots in him. Afterward, we went to the casino and I won a grand at the blackjack table.”
It was the video Sasha died for, and finally he knew why. Matthew couldn’t concentrate on one single thought in his head; there was too much chaos to sort through. The only thing he knew with complete certainty was that his fate was sealed. Matthew placed his hand over his chest, willing his heart to stop racing.
“I expect now I know why Sasha never came home,” David said calmly. “I’ll see you at the party.”
David left Matthew alone, giving him very little precious time to think about what just happened. As if in a dream, Matthew slid his jacket over his shoulders and reached for the doorknob, when a thought suddenly hit him. He could save himself, but he would have to act fast.
Chloe. Renee. Whatever her name is. He smiled at the irony; the last person on the planet he would have expected to be his savior was someone he was hell-bent on destroying.
Chapter 59
Matthew stepped off the elevator on the second floor with only Mr. Crescent to greet him. Crescent could instantly tell something was wrong simply by the paleness of Matthew’s face.
“Everything okay?” Crescent asked.
“No,” Matthew replied, looking around him. “Where is my daughter?”
Crescent inclined his head toward the lobby where guests filed in as quickly as they could to be greeted by Chloe. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, exchanging hugs, handshakes, and greetings, all with a smile of jubilation on her face. She was the picture of elegance in her floor-length, shimmering violet dress and the soft curls of her hair falling down her back. While shaking hands with politicians, judges, doctors, and any other acquaintance Matthew could squeeze in here, nobody would ever have been able to tell that her relationship with her father, and her life, had drastically changed.
While greeting the newly appointed district attorney with a warm hug, she followed the gaze of another guest and locked eyes with Matthew, giving him a hard, defiant look and a grin that asked him what he was going to do about her brazen disregard for Parnell party etiquette. Matthew had to step back from the view of the guests, fists clenched in a tight ball, trying to get his anger in control.
“Our plans for this evening have been altered, Mr. Crescent. Come find me in one hour.”
Crescent gave an obedient nod. “Yes, sir.”
Matthew straightened his jacket and turned toward the stairs. Through clenched teeth he said, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go join my daughter.”
***
“Governor,” Matthew excitedly said, extending his hand as he walked forward. “So glad you could make it.”
Shaking hands with Matthew, the governor replied, “I wouldn’t have missed it. Happy birthday, my friend.”
“Thank you,” Matthew said with as much humility as he could muster as he kissed the hand of the governor’s wife. To her, he said, “Always a pleasure to see you, Eleanor. You look radiant tonight.”
Eleanor tried to hide a bashful grin as the blood began to rise in her cheeks. “You are so sweet, Matthew. Thank you.”
“Not just a birthday party,” the governor said with a jovial smile, “but a celebration. It must be wonderful to have your family back together again.”
Chloe stifled an amused grin wh
ile she watched Matthew keep himself composed. “You have no idea. The food smells intoxicating and the music is inviting. Please help yourself and I’ll see you inside.”
As the governor and his wife began ascending the stairs to the ballroom, Matthew turned to face Chloe, but she kept her eyes on the guests and spoke to him quietly while faking a happy smile. “Now is not the time, Father. We have guests.”
Infuriated with her insolence and smugness, Matthew composed himself as more guests approached and received the same welcoming greeting from father and daughter. Matthew’s agitation quickly accelerated as Madeline approached them with a victorious smile on her face. Chloe’s behavior, however, didn’t change at all.
“Matthew!” Madeline cried as she gave him a kiss on his cheek. “Happy birthday, darling.”
Matthew solemnly nodded as he pulled back from her embrace. “Thank you, Madeline.”
She turned to Chloe, who stood poised and gracious, taking a small step back as Madeline leaned in to hug her.
“Madeline,” Chloe said coolly.
Madeline gave a nervous laugh. “Well, it certainly is good to see you again. It is so wonderful to have you home.”
“Yes,” Chloe replied. “I understand you profited well from it.”
Like a rat caught in a trap, Madeline froze for a few seconds and gave Matthew a questioning look, but Matthew either didn’t hear the comment or was pretending he didn’t.
“Well,” Madeline said, “I will see you inside.”
“You most certainly will. We have quite a bit of catching up to do,” Chloe said as Madeline gave her a wary look and began climbing the stairs.
It took another twenty minutes for the arriving guests to thin out before Matthew was able to gracefully pull Chloe aside, out of view and earshot of other guests. He turned on her with fire in his eyes while she stared back at him with indifference.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? How dare you—”
“How dare I? What? Defy you? Disrespect you? Disobey you? Embarrass you? Let’s get one thing straight, Father. You have done everything in your power to destroy me and have made it painfully clear what your intentions are and what you expect from me, but I haven’t needed you to tell me what to do for the past eight years and I don’t need it now. I am no longer a child you can order around. I will do what I want, when I want, no matter what you have done to me in the past or plan on doing to me in the future. It’s been too long since I’ve danced, laughed, and had a good time. I’m going to enjoy myself tonight. Rest assured, I will be pretending, but then again, I was raised to pretend I was somebody I’m not. That’s not going to change tonight simply because you order it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, we have guests.”
Matthew watched her walk away in complete shock, vowing that after he got what he wanted from David, this would be her last social gathering ever.
Chapter 60
Chloe couldn’t help but smile as she watched how festive the guests were as they mingled and danced without a care in the world. The band she had chosen played an array of music, alternating every few songs and encouraging different cliques of people to enjoy their own tastes in music. After a few hours, she found that this was the first party she had ever attended where she was genuinely having a good time despite the fact that it would not be ending on a cheerful note, but would be a damn good story for all who wanted to hear it.
Chloe happily mingled with the guests while keeping her eyes on everything from Matthew’s location to what food the caterer was serving at specific times. Crescent and a few of Matthew’s associates were cleverly placed for security purposes and each visiting underboss had an associate with them at all times. Mr. Tempest brought Mr. Schedler with him, and when Chloe was able to acknowledge them both from across the room, she and Mr. Tempest shared a smile.
As far as Madeline was concerned, Chloe was keeping a close eye on her and found it amusing that she had a certain amount of nervousness about her that kept her from leaving her table, preferring to have others approach her. Chloe also didn’t miss the fact that Madeline was doing everything in her control not to look in Chloe’s direction.
Dr. Michaelson seemed to be having a good time visiting with old friends and colleagues, seeming to be finally at peace with the torturous nature of his past and the uncertainty of his future. He was enjoying himself and allowing himself the pleasure of company and laughter. It had been far too long since she had seen a genuine smile on his face.
She spotted David at a table with some of his guests in deep and discrete discussion. While she didn’t know each of his underbosses personally, as a child it had become habit to refer to them by the city they represented unless she knew their name. None of them ever seemed to mind, and David, for some reason, thought it humorous. She knew that habit would need to be broken sooner rather than later.
Chloe’s eyes swept the room and found Matthew in a discrete conversation with Mr. Crescent, and noticed Matthew’s tense body language and carefully controlled animation. She wasn’t particularly worried about Matthew and Crescent at the moment, there was somebody more important she was concerned about as the five men at David’s table stood to greet her as she approached to say hello.
“Gentlemen,” she said with a smile as she hugged each one of them in turn. “Thank you for being here. I’m sorry I haven’t gotten a chance to visit with any of you until now.”
“Not to worry,” said Kansas City, “we understand how busy you’ve been.”
“You’ve done wonders with this party,” said Detroit, who Chloe only knew as Paddy, but had no idea if that was his name or just a nickname.
“Thank you,” she said while casting a questioning glance at Jack. “I hope you all enjoy yourselves. Is there anything I can get you?”
“Would you care to dance with an old man?” Jack asked as he stood from the table.
“Find me an old man first,” she replied, and got a hearty laugh from the others at the table.
The band switched tempo from swing to slow as Jack took her hand to lead her to the dance floor. “Tony Bennett. Say what you will, but nobody can make romance dance with words like Tony Bennett.”
“I don’t know how much longer I can fake this smile, Jack,” Chloe said once they started moving to the music.
“Not much longer, I’m sure.” Jack smiled as they danced to the slow rhythm and couldn’t help but see the despair on Chloe’s face. “He’s fine. Cabin fever is taking over, but he’s fine. Mostly, he’s frustrated because he feels like a caged animal.”
“Can you blame him?”
“No.”
“What about the others?”
“I put Fowler back to work, and Dennis…” Jack said with a smile, “…lucky bastard got a retirement offer he couldn’t refuse.”
“When you go back, could you tell him…”
“I’ll tell him,” Jack said as he let out a soft sigh. “I’m not going to pretend like I know everything. David is keeping whatever plans he has close to the vest, but I can tell you that everything will be okay. You are in no danger.”
Chloe cast a glance at Matthew as he played host and laughed with guests. “He looks worried.”
“He should be.”
She searched Jack’s eyes for some kind of deception but found none. “Thank you for everything you’ve done.”
Jack smiled and gently kissed her forehead. “No thanks necessary.”
Chapter 61
Matthew’s eye caught sight of Chloe and Jack moving toward the dance floor and it made him scowl. He glanced toward the table and saw David staring at him, unable to read his thoughts, which made him nervous.
“You need to find out everything you can,” Matthew spat at Crescent. “I need to know exactly what’s going on so I can plan accordingly. I’ll be damned if I’m going to go down. I have worked too hard to get this far.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as I know something,” Crescent replied.
“You will also e
liminate anything you deem a threat to me. Go take care of this and let me know when everything is in place.”
As Crescent walked away, Matthew tried to keep his composure despite his quickly rising adrenaline and anxiety. While he tried to focus on the party, he couldn’t stop thinking about the video. He knew his heart was beating faster than it should, and he also knew there was a chance his plans could fail. Paranoia began to sneak up on him while watching Jack and Chloe dance together. What were they talking about? And what was David so intently talking to the others about over at his table? Matthew decided not to give in to his own irrationality and stopped short when he caught a shadow moving across the back wall of the room. As he watched the figure glide along the way, his eyes slightly widened when he caught a glimpse of the owner of that shadow; the man stopped, pausing for only a second before disappearing back into the crowd. Just for a moment, Matthew thought he knew that man, but his brain told him it was impossible.
Matthew turned to scan the crowd. His blood froze as he saw James and Lawrence Garafola enter the ballroom, each with a Parnell girl on their arm and laughing at something apparently hilarious.
There was no letting go of his paranoia at the sight of the Garafola brothers. If Matthew was going to get what he wanted, it had to be before the brothers caught David’s eye. Matthew searched the room for Crescent and saw him standing in the opposite doorway, watching him. Matthew casually nodded to the brothers as they continued to move through the room, and made it known to Crescent these two needed to be removed immediately.
“Hey! There he is!” James shouted as they made their way to Matthew.
Shit! Matthew thought as he watched James and Lawrence approach him with their escorts in tow, Lawrence kissing Matthew soundly on the cheek.
Lawrence gave a raucous laugh. “This is quite a party you throw.”
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