Chapter Ten

Laura had never believed in fairy tales. Even as a child, she’d been suspicious of perfect princesses and fairy godmothers. But if Sleeping Beauty had really existed, this must have been what she felt like when she awoke from her long nap. Laura felt beautiful and strong and bold—all the things she’d always wanted to be but wasn’t. Making love with David had transformed her, and she was ready to enjoy more of the same.

She rolled over to tell him—or more importantly, show him—but the bed beside her was empty. She sat up, expecting to find him standing across the room or to hear water running in the shower, but the room was silent. Empty.

Fighting panic, she jumped out of bed. Not that standing in the middle of the floor naked was going to help matters, but hiding under the covers didn’t seem the appropriate response to a crisis. She headed for the closet, and she saw David’s suitcase on the floor. He hadn’t completely left her. So where had he disappeared to?

The snick of the card key in the lock sent a flood of relief through her. The door opened and David stepped in, phone in hand. “Well, hello.” She felt the heat of his gaze as he took in her naked form. He crossed to her in three strides and wrapped his arms around her. “I had to make some calls and didn’t want to wake you.”

Who did you call? she wanted to ask, but that really wasn’t her business, was it? “Have you heard from Tommy?” she asked. “Or from Victor or Charlie?”

“I’m still trying to get together with Tommy.” He slipped the phone into his pocket. “Seeing Victor and Charlie with me spooked him. He’s getting cold feet.”

“What will happen if he doesn’t testify against his father?”

“We won’t have much of a case—just lots of circumstantial evidence. Probably not enough to convict.”

“Why would he want to betray his own father? I mean, has his dad done something specific to make Tommy want to get back at him?”

“I don’t know. And I don’t really care. Being a mob boss responsible for the deaths of who knows how many innocent—and maybe not so innocent—people is enough. Maybe Tommy doesn’t have the stomach for the violence anymore.”

He looked away, but not before she glimpsed the sadness in his eyes. Her parents weren’t perfect—she sometimes thought they took her for granted—but she knew they loved her and would always be there for her when it mattered. His own father had been involved in that violent life to the point where David had grown to hate him. How horrible would a father have to be to separate himself from his child that way?

“It’s a little after ten,” he said. “Do you want to order breakfast?”

“I promised Rachel I’d meet her at eleven at the spa at the Hard Rock for brunch and a massage and stuff.”

“You should go. It’ll be fun for you. I feel guilty that you’re here on vacation and you haven’t had much time to enjoy yourself.”

She’d certainly enjoyed herself earlier this morning. The sex had been incredible, and it was tempting to blow off everything else for a chance to repeat the experience.

But she wasn’t some ordinary newlywed reveling in closeness with her beloved; what she and David had, no matter how wonderful, wasn’t meant to last. The more she indulged in the fantasy, the more the reality would hurt.

“What will you do while I’m gone?” she asked.

“I have some errands to run.”

“Nothing dangerous?”

“Not any more dangerous than taking my suit to the cleaners.”

That sounded innocent enough. “Be careful,” she said. “Charlie and Victor are still out to get you.”

“You be careful, too.” He released her. “Now go on and get dressed before I change my mind about letting you go.”

She debated encouraging him, but he was right. If she didn’t show up at the spa, Rachel would probably come looking for her. Besides, this was a good opportunity to step back and try to gain a little perspective.. She showered and dressed. She was brushing out her hair when David moved in behind her. “You look nice,” he said, and kissed the back of her neck. “We’ll go somewhere tonight for dinner.”

“A real date?”

“Yeah. Maybe even take in a show, if you want.”

“The only show I want is to see you naked again.”

“That can be arranged.”

…

David insisted on walking Laura downstairs and seeing her safely into a cab. While the driver waited, he pulled her into his arms and gave her a long kiss. “Wow, what was that for?” she asked when he finally released her.

“I didn’t want you to forget me while you were gone,” he said.

Her smile said more than words, letting him know she wasn’t likely to forget the man who’d turned her world upside down. She slid into the back seat of the cab and turned to wave as the car drove away.

He let out a sigh and stepped back from the curb. He hated having to lie to her, but if he’d told the truth, he’d have never gotten her safely out of harm’s way. His errand wasn’t taking a suit to the cleaners but meeting with Tommy. After a lot of cajoling, he’d persuaded the young man to meet him at the nightclub on the second floor of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

He checked his watch. Twenty-five minutes until his meeting with Tommy. He set out walking in the direction of the hotel, deliberately taking a long, roundabout path, crossing through hotels and casinos on one side of the street, then another, just another random tourist attracted by the sights and sensations of Vegas. He stopped in the Mirage to pump a handful of quarters into the slots, his money vanishing without a single payoff. As he played, he studied passers-by in the machine’s shiny chrome trim, watching for the familiar bulky figures of Victor and Charlie. Obviously, they’d caught up with him earlier. Was it because they’d figured out where he was staying, or were they roaming the Strip in search of him?

Outside again, he paused to look in shop windows, again checking the crowd for the two thugs. A dress in one of the displays distracted him. Stylishly cut, the dress was a deep shade of blue that would be perfect with Laura’s dark hair and eyes. She’d look great in that dress, the soft fabric gently draping over her figure. He moved on to the next store window. This one displayed the wares of a jeweler, diamonds glittering under the bright lights. Laura would look stunning in that necklace, the jewels glowing against her peachy skin.

He forced his mind back to business…But completing his business here meant leaving her. If he persuaded Tommy to come with him, he might not even get a chance to say good-bye to her.

Guilt and regret squeezed at his heart.

He had to focus on the job. Putting Zacolli and his people behind bars was more important than anything else—more important than Laura or his own happiness. He’d worked toward this for years. He had to remember that.

The Vanity Nightclub wasn’t open this time of day, but in classic mob fashion, Tommy knew someone who knew someone who would open the doors for him, then disappear. David contemplated the darkened entrance. As soon as he stepped into that foyer, he’d be backlit, the perfect target for an ambush. Not that he thought Tommy had anything like that in mind, but it was always better to stay a step ahead of your enemies and plan for the worst.

So he walked on past the entrance to a hallway that ran behind the space. He found a door marked Employees Only and pushed against it. He wasn’t surprised to find it unlocked. They probably made liquor and food deliveries through here.

He eased open the door and slipped inside. The space smelled of stale cigarettes and floor polish. The cigarette smell intensified as he moved toward the front of the club. Tommy sat at a table near the bar, smoking despite the No Smoking placard behind him.

“That cigarette’s going to draw attention you maybe don’t want,” David said.

Tommy’s chair scraped against the floor as he whirled to face David. “Shit! Sneaking up behind a guy like that will get you killed.”

He didn’t reply but merely joined Tommy at his table. Tommy stubbed out the cigarette. “You want a drink?” He gestured toward the bar.

“No thanks.” He spread both hands flat on the table between them, hoping to put Tommy at ease. The young man practically vibrated with tension. “You having any luck at the tables?”

Tommy’s fleshy face sagged downward. “No luck. And the old man is riding my ass. He keeps arranging dates for me with showgirls and hookers, and he gets furious when I tell him I’m not interested. He’d have a heart attack if I told him I’d rather meet up with one of the male dancers in the shows.”

“That would solve some problems,” David said. “The heart attack, I mean.”

“I know what you mean. But he’s probably too mean to die. As soon as he got over the shock that a son of his swung the other way, he’d shoot me himself.”

“Come back to Chicago with me, and nobody will care who you want to date,” David said.

“What’s in it for you if I do?” Tommy asked. “You get a promotion or something?”

“I get the satisfaction of knowing Frank Zacolli will be locked away for a lot of years to come.”

“They won’t try to get the death penalty, will they?” Tommy patted his pockets as if looking for more cigarettes.

“No.” He had no idea what the prosecutors would do, but he doubted the death penalty was on their agenda.

“Okay. I hate the old man, but I don’t want his death on my conscience, you know?”

David nodded. He resisted asking again if Tommy would come with him to Chicago. It didn’t pay to press too hard.

“So tell me about this girl you’re with,” Tommy said.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He didn’t like the idea of Laura being on Tommy’s radar. “My wife,” he said. “She doesn’t know anything about any of this. She thinks I’m a businessman.”

Tommy laughed. “And my dad is just one of your associates? I heard he had her up to his place last night. After meeting him, if she thinks he’s some innocent grandpa, she must be dumber than she looks.”

Laura wasn’t dumb, but he had to let Tommy think what he wanted.

“How did you two meet, anyway?” Tommy found the packet of smokes and shook one out.

“We met in Chicago.”

“Where?”

“None of your business.”

Tommy held up both hands, as if to ward off a blow. “Hey, I’m just curious. She just didn’t strike me as your type.”

“What do you mean?”

Tommy grinned. “Hey, I know you’re straight, but that don’t stop me from noticing—you’re a sharp looking dude. You could have any woman—or man—you wanted.”

“I want Laura.” The words came out without thinking. His stomach tightened as the truth of that simple statement hit him. He was one messed-up guy, that was for certain.

“Got a thing for chunky girls, huh? Like a little extra meat on the bone?”

He made no conscious decision to hit Tommy, but there was his fist, shooting out and popping the smirking young man right on the jaw.

Tommy howled, then lunged and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. He made a vicious jab for David’s eye. Tommy might look like a wimp, but damn, he could fight. David only managed to dodge about half the blows aimed his way, landing about the same percentage of his own punches. He planted a good punch to Tommy’s chin, and caught a corresponding jab on his own jaw.

Tables and chairs tumbled as they battled their way across the room. He landed a satisfying smack on Tommy’s nose, and blood spurted. A woman screamed, his first indication that they’d attracted a crowd, and he realized they’d stumbled out into the open foyer of the club.

“Apologize, and I’ll stop hurting you.” He spoke through swelling lips.

“I didn’t say your girl wasn’t a looker—if you like cows.”

This earned Tommy a black eye, and David barely missed having his own nose broken.

Then rough hands grabbed him and dragged him away. “Break it up!”

He looked up into Charlie’s scowling face. “You got a death wish?” Charlie asked. “’Cause I could make it come true.”

…

Laura was half asleep on the massage table, lulled by the soft music of flutes, the lavender and sage scent of the oils the masseuse used, and the gentle kneading of her muscles. This was heaven. She’d have to be sure to thank Rachel for thinking of it.

Then screams shattered her peace. She sat up, grabbing at the sheet to wrap around her. “What is going on?”

“I don’t know.” The therapist, a short, sinewy woman named Lin, headed for the door. Laura, barefoot and wrapped in the green cotton sheet, followed.

All along the hallway, doors opened, and women in various states of undress appeared. Rachel, her cheeks slathered in green mud, peeled a cucumber slice from her eye and blinked. “What is all that screaming?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” She hurried past her sister toward the spa entrance. A deep male voice urged everyone to stay calm. Was this some kind of a terrorist attack? Or was someone merely hysterical after having won a big jackpot?

She pushed her way to the front of the crowd and gaped at the sight of two men rolling around on the marble floor, arms flailing—two men she recognized. Blood streamed from Tommy’s nose, and David’s right eye was swollen almost completely shut.

“I told you he was a thug.” Rachel had worked her way up to Laura’s side. “Anyone with any kind of upbringing wouldn’t brawl in public like that.”

“Maybe it was self-defense.” She flinched as Tommy landed a solid punch, snapping David’s head back.

“What did he do to warrant an attack in the middle of the day?’ Rachel asked.

What, indeed, since he’d told her he intended to run errands. To take a suit to the cleaners. She wasn’t the violent type, but if she had been, she might have yielded to the temptation to step in and land a few blows of her own. Men could be such idiots.

Her anger dissolved to dread, however, when two familiar dark-suited figures waded in to separate the brawlers. The muscles of Charlie’s back strained his suit coat as he hauled David to his feet. Across from him, Victor had hold of Tommy.

She wrapped the sheet more firmly around her and made her way over to David, the excess fabric dragging behind her like the train of a ball gown. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” He kept his eyes on Tommy, who was trying to staunch the blood flowing from his nose.

“What were you fighting about?” she asked.

David gingerly touched the cut at the side of his eye and winced. “Nothing.”

Charlie punched David’s shoulder, none too gently. “I want to hear the answer to that question, too.”

“I said something about his wife he didn’t like, and he let me have it.” Tommy cradled his nose with a blood-soaked handkerchief. “Guess the honeymoon isn’t over yet.”

She clutched the sheet with both hands, though it didn’t really make her feel less naked under the scrutiny of all those eyes. “You were defending me?” she asked David.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Two uniformed security guards joined them. “What’s going on here?” one demanded.

“It’s over now.” David moved away from Charlie and took her arm. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Maybe there’s some ice in the spa for your eye,” she said.

He grunted in answer. Apparently a few punches and a little blood turned guys into cave men.

“We’ll be talking to you later,” Charlie called after them. His words sent a shudder down her spine. She didn’t like to think of what Charlie might have to say to David, or if he’d let his fists or a gun do his talking for him.

…

How was he going to explain this? David wondered, as he tried to wash the blood from his face in the spa’s tiny bathroom. The sink was a shallow pink shell that sat on top of the marble counter—pretty, but impractical. He was getting more water on the floor and counter than in the bowl.

Apparently, the fact that Laura was legally his wife had been enough to unlock the door on some fantasy of closeness and partnership he hadn’t even realized he’d harbored. What had started as a ruse to fool Zacolli’s goons had become all too real, and in making it real he’d let his feelings get in the way and jeopardized years of work. Stupid.

A knock on the door interrupted these dismal thoughts. “David? Are you okay in there? I brought you some ice.”

Opening the door, Laura, dressed once more in a sundress that flowed over her curves, handed him a plastic bag of crushed ice and a white terrycloth hand towel with the spa’s logo. “They said we can keep the towel. You should probably go back to the hotel and lie down for a while.”

“I need to find Tommy and patch things up with him.”

“Don’t you think you both ought to cool off a little first?”

Cooling off took time. Time he didn’t have. Victor and Charlie’s patience was running out, and Tommy was no closer to agreeing to come back to Chicago to testify against his father. David had spent the last year of his life cultivating Tommy, and with one rash punch he’d probably lost him.

A door down the hall opened and Rachel, wearing a short terrycloth robe, swept toward them. “What are you doing dressed?” She spoke to Laura, obviously ignoring David.

“I needed to look after David.”

“I can look after myself.” As if to demonstrate, he pressed the ice against his swollen eye. Ouch! “Go back to your massage or whatever.” Go back to your normal, safe life.

“Men who brawl in public like school boys deserve to suffer by themselves.” Rachel looked at him the way she might look at a smashed bug on her windshield.

“Rachel’s right,” he said. “You go on and enjoy yourself. I’ll be fine.”

“As if I could enjoy anything, knowing you’re hurt.”

Go, Laura. I don’t want you around me anymore.

If they’d been alone, he might have been able to say the words, to send her away for her own good. But he couldn’t do it in front of Rachel. He couldn’t make things worse for her than they already were. “Let’s go,” he said instead, turning away.

“You don’t have to go with him,” Rachel said.

“I’ll talk to you later, Rachel.” They exited the Hard Rock, and Laura hurried her steps to keep up with him as he took long strides, the soles of his shoes hitting the pavement hard. If it wouldn’t have attracted more unwanted attention, he would have broken into a run, trying to burn off the nervous energy that was coursing through him.

“If you’re trying to run away from me, you can stop it.” Laura grabbed his arm and held on, forcing him to slow his pace. “You can be mad at yourself all you want,” she said. “Don’t pretend you’re really mad at me.”

He stifled his automatic denial. “How did you know?”

“Turns out dealing with four-year-olds and husbands isn’t so different.”

His laugh surprised him. He wouldn’t have thought he had any laughter left in him. “Are you going to tell me to go sit in the corner and think about what I’ve done?”

“No. But when we get back to the hotel, we need to talk.”

Right. But first they had to get to the hotel. He hadn’t seen any signs of Victor, Charlie, or anyone else following them, but he wouldn’t take chances. Spotting the entrance to the Excalibur, he dragged Laura inside, took the elevator up to the third floor, then the stairs down. They wound through back hallways and ended up in a parking lot. A short dash through a row of idling buses and they reached their hotel.

“Whew!” Once inside the room, Laura collapsed into a chair and fanned herself. “Being with you I’m certainly getting a lot of exercise. I’ll be Rachel’s size in no time.”

“You look good the way you are.” An echo of the rage he’d felt when Tommy had called her a cow shuddered through him. He’d spent a lifetime reining in his emotions, but Laura had wiped out all his self-control. Everything he felt for her was so intense. But losing control like that could be suicide for both of them.

“You’re sweet to say so. Sit.” She patted the table across from her.

He sat and held the ice pack to his eye. The swelling was going down a bit; he could almost see a little on that side.

“So is taking a suit to the cleaners some FBI euphemism for talking to an informant?” she asked.

He grimaced. “I didn’t want you involved. You already know too much.”

“But I am involved.” She scooted forward until she was perched on the edge of her seat. “I’ve been thinking. Tommy probably isn’t going to want to talk to you right now.”

“No.”

“Why don’t I talk to him?”

“No!” He jumped up. The thought of her alone with slime like Tommy filled him with rage.

“Why not? I mean, can you think of anyone less threatening than me? And guys will sometimes open up to a woman in a way they won’t to a man.”

Deep breath. Forbidding her to have anything to do with Tommy wasn’t going to work with her. She had a stubborn streak beneath all that sweetness. He took a deep breath. “If you think you’re going to lure him with your feminine charms, forget it—he’s gay. That’s part of the problem he has with his father.”

“I’m still someone who isn’t a cop. That maybe makes me more sympathetic.”

“It’s not going to happen. Do you realize the kind of trouble we could both get into if I exposed a civilian to something like this?”

“I’m already exposed. I was exposed when you pulled me out of the crowd and asked me to marry you.”

“Look. Laura.” He set down the ice pack, struggling to find the right words. “Whatever happens in the next few days with Tommy, you need to go home soon. Back to Davenport. Back to your real, safe life. You know this thing between us can’t last.”

She stiffened. “This thing between us?”

“This marriage. You know it was never meant to be real. It’s my fault. I never meant for things to get so out of hand.”

“You never meant for us to get emotionally involved.”

“Right.” He tried for a light-hearted tone. “It’s crazy, right? We’ve only known each other a couple of days. However strong our feelings are right now, they can’t be real.”

She nodded. “You’re right. It is crazy. I’ve never done anything like this.”

“Me either. And I’ll never forget you. But you don’t belong in the kind of ugliness and danger I deal with every day. I won’t rest easily until I know you’re safe at home again.”

“What will we do about the marriage?”

“I’ll have one of the Bureau’s lawyers take care of it. Or you can contact someone if you like. We’ll get an annulment or a quickie divorce or something. When the real guy comes along—the one you’re meant to be with—you don’t even have to mention me.” Saying those last words hurt worse than any busted eye or lip.

“Oh. Sure.” She wrapped her arms around herself, as if she was suddenly cold, and looked away. “And you won’t have to mention me to any of the other women you’re with. We’ll just forget any of this ever happened.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He pulled her into his arms. “I’ll never forget you,” he whispered. “Never.” He kissed her cheek, then the side of her mouth.

She turned her head and responded with a kiss that bruised his swollen lips all over again, but he didn’t really care. The kiss gave him permission to stop thinking, to stop beating himself up over what he couldn’t change, and give up worrying for a while. The kiss reduced his world down to what was really important right here at this moment, and that was being in her arms and gratefully accepting all she offered.