Anger flashed in her golden eyes. “Do you have any idea how much I hate that?”
Before I could reply, she went on.
“I’m so sick of the whole blue-blood world. Shit, it’s like the Westminster dog show. The breeding pool is getting smaller and smaller. Pretty soon the only way to maintain pedigree will be to marry siblings or cousins!”
“Patrick did give me a suspicious look this morning.”
Her anger simmered. “He’s not really my cousin. Other than the fact that he’s gay, we could marry.”
“He’s not?” My back straightened. How many fake family members was she going to claim?
“Not by blood. He’s Alton’s nephew—his sister’s son. I tell anyone and everyone that I’m not related to Alton Fitzgerald. I wouldn’t want that man’s blood in my veins.”
“So Patrick is your stepcousin?”
“Yes.”
“Back to your earlier question,” I said, “after Jo was gone, I didn’t talk about it. I never told the Matthewses the whole story. If they’d come to me, I might have, but they didn’t. Instead they made accusations. The only one who knows everything is Deloris. She knows because she worked for us then.”
“Isaac?”
“Yes, but not all the details. He didn’t work as closely with Jo. Deloris filled in as Jo’s family when they turned their back on her.
“Were… are her parents well-to-do?”
“No.”
Charli shook her head. “I don’t understand why they thought you were so bad, why they’d accuse you?”
“Because with me she lived a life they didn’t understand. They wanted her to meet a nice lawyer or doctor and settle down in a small town and live the perfect life behind a white picket fence. They never imagined her in New York City in a high-rise apartment, flying here and there. It didn’t make sense to them. If she didn’t call, they assumed it was because of me. If she didn’t attend her great-uncle’s eightieth birthday, it was my fault.”
Silence hung heavily in the air as I waited for Charli’s response. When I didn’t say more, she did.
“Thank you.” As she spoke, she lifted my left hand and kissed my palm.
“For?” I asked.
“For talking to me. I still don’t know what happened, but…” She turned my hand and swiped the pad of her finger over the mostly faded line where my wedding ring had been. “…I believe you loved her.”
She looked around the park—Were those tears in her eyes? Why would she be crying?—before she continued, “I wish I could have met her, but then again, if I could, you wouldn’t be here with me.” She brushed a tear from her cheek. “I told you before that I trusted you. I’ve tried to show you that, by giving you a part of me, a vulnerable part, and you’ve never hurt me. This morning, this talk, I feel as if this time you’re giving me something. I promise to do my best to care for this sliver of your past as you’ve cared for me. I’ll treasure her memory, as much as you’re willing to share.
“She’s a part of who you are, Nox. And for helping to make the man who holds my hand and my heart, I thank her.”
I let go of her hand and pulled her toward me. This wasn’t where I’d intended to go during our walk. I’d said more than I’d ever said and still there was so much to say. As our lips came together, I marveled at Charli’s understanding.
She was right. I was the man I am today partially because of Jo. No one lived through that kind of love and loss and walked away without scars. I’d read somewhere that scars served a purpose. They created tougher skin. They became a shield and made a person stronger. Jo had done that. Loving her and losing her had made me strong and unbending.
Not until Charli had I even had a desire to bend.
When our kiss ended, words continued to flow. I rarely spoke without thinking, yet this morning it was as if I had no control. My voice was strong yet quiet. The words didn’t come from my lips but my heart. They were words I’d never thought I’d say again, but I wanted to. The need was too great to suppress. She needed to know the truth.
My world dangled on a string as I spoke and waited for her reply. “I love you.”
THEY SAY THAT men fall in love faster, but women fall harder. I didn’t know if that were true. I didn’t know much of anything as leaves swirled and danced about Nox and I in the late summer breeze. Beyond the small world of our park bench, people carried on their daily routines completely oblivious to the declarations being made. Some ran while others walked. Mothers pushed babies in strollers with wheels large enough to be upon a bicycle, and others walked dogs of all sizes, tethered to leashes and unimpressed with the other canines that they passed.
As Nox’s words registered, my mother’s expectations crashed down around me.
The pressure in my heart and chest was crippling as everything multiplied.
Love.
Duty.
Legacy.
Nox.
Had I ever been loved—truly loved?
The unfamiliar emotion lifted me above the colorful trees and my own mayhem. I wanted to believe that his declaration wasn’t a whim or the result of being apart for one night. It wasn’t how I interpreted it. I didn’t believe that a man like Lennox Demetri made casual professions of love.
Love was the way Nox made me feel like his princess, whether we walked the paths of the park or the sidewalks of New York City. It was the trust I had in him to bind me helpless, yet to know without a doubt that he’d never harm me. It was my desire to take away the pain of Jocelyn’s death while at the same time leave space for the memories of his first love.
My lips smiled as tears fell from my eyes. Sleep deprivation did that to me—made me emotional—but so did a declaration of love from a man like Lennox Demetri.
“I love you, too.”
The words weren’t said to pacify him or as an expression of gratitude for his honesty. They were real and with everything inside of me, I wanted to show more than tell him. I leaned closer.
Again our lips united and his hand went to my neck pulling me towards him. The breeze and birds disappeared. The morning chill was replaced with liquid warmth washing through us and melting us together. We were on an island—alone. No other people, birds, or squirrels—nothing and then…
Chaos.
Commotion.
My blood raced in double time while simultaneously my breath stilled in my chest, and my heart, which had just been made whole, crashed to the depths of my stomach. Men I didn’t know or recognize ran toward us, yelling Nox’s name.
“Mr. Demetri!” It came over and over, hushed in a veil of secrecy as they surrounded us.
The sudden turmoil paralyzed me as people screamed and sirens wailed in the distance.
Thick, strong hands pulled at my arms, lifting me from the bench as Nox’s grip of my hand held steady like an iron vise. Together we moved, or more accurately we were moved, from the place where we’d declared our love.
We’d been somewhere within the interior of the park, and yet somehow a large black SUV appeared, and the men in dark suits hurried us inside. One sat in the front by a driver I didn’t recognize while the other large man piled in beside me. Sandwiched between Nox and a man I didn’t know, I huddled closer to Nox, my mind a whirl of uncertainty.
Outside of the tinted windows, the mothers with strollers, people with dogs, runners and walkers, all stopped and stared, turning and pointing. Some yelled while others stood with their mouths agape as confusion played on their expressions. The same mystification stirred inside of me as my backpack landed at my feet and the vehicle began to move forward.
What happened?
Where are we going?
Are we being kidnapped?
Determination as I’d never seen covered Nox’s expression. No longer was he the man that I loved: he was obsessed or possessed—I couldn’t tell. Mechanically, he scanned me from head to toe.
“Are you all right?”
I nodded, also giving myself a once-over.
/> “You’re sure? You aren’t hurt?”
“N-no.” The word came out shakily as I looked at him. “What about you? Are you all right?”
“Fuckers,” he mumbled. “I’m fine. Assholes are going to pay…”
“What happened?”
My question lingered in the air. He wasn’t talking to me any longer—his brow creased as he pulled his phone from his pocket. Within seconds, words and orders were being barked. The person on the other end of the line couldn’t have been responding. He wasn’t giving him or her a chance. His questions came rapid-fire, never pausing for answers. Names I didn’t recognize—Costello and Bonetti—flew from his lips as accusations abounded.
Out of the park, the car moved through traffic.
“Shots.”
It was a word I heard in Nox’s tirade.
I tried to remember. I hadn’t heard shots nor had I seen them. But then again, could one really see a shot or only its end result? It wasn’t like real life was a movie that could be slowed for special effects.
“Break-in—shots—attempted murder—testimony.”
Though Nox spoke in a language I recognized, one I’d spoken my entire life, I couldn’t decipher his meaning.
A chill rushed over my skin, leaving goose bumps in its wake. I pulled my light jacket tighter around my shoulders and pushed my hands, now free of Nox’s grasp, deep into the pockets.
Not long into Nox’s monologue I realized it was Deloris on the other end of the call.
The SUV eased onto the highway and I recognized the signs: I-95 north. We were headed to Nox’s family home in Westchester County.
My class and discussion group would go unattended. And although it upset me that once again I hadn’t been consulted, I also understood. I just wasn’t sure if being shot at was an acceptable excuse for absence on the second full day of classes.
“WELCOME,” SILVIA SAID as she hurriedly ushered us both inside.
By the way she scanned the driveway, undoubtedly she’d been informed of what had occurred.
“Alex,” she said, reaching for my hand, “you’re ice cold. Let me get you something warm. Coffee? Tea?”
Nox kissed my forehead before disappearing in the other direction and leaving me alone with the kind woman I’d only met once.
“Coffee, thank you.” Forming longer sentences was suddenly outside of my repertoire.
I trailed a step behind Silvia as she walked toward the kitchen. The glistening Long Island Sound shone through the large windows with small white caps skirting across the blue water. I opened the glass door and inhaled the warm breeze.
“Dear, are you all right?”
Once again I looked down at my own body, scanning it as if it belonged to someone else. Flat ballet-type shoes peered out from the legs of my tight jeans and my top hung loosely from the edge of my light jacket. I unzipped the jacket, needing to be sure everything was fine underneath. Removing it, I said, “Physically. I-I don’t know or understand what just happened.”
“You’re safe. That’s what matters.”
She reached for the glass door that I’d opened and pulled it shut.
“Silvia, I think maybe I’d like to go out to the pool, just to feel some sunshine.”
She reached for my arm. “Alex, please stay inside until everything is secure.”
How did she know about everything?
The cold chill from earlier returned. “You don’t think…” I wasn’t sure how to ask my question. “…someone would hurt us here?”
“I’ve been with the Demetris for a long time. I was briefed before your arrival. What just happened was unusually brazen. The two of you were in Central Park, for goodness’ sake. If someone wanted to find you, it wouldn’t be difficult for that person to connect the dots. It’s a matter of public record that this house belongs to Lennox.” She released my arm and tended to the coffee. “This house is safe. I know that. However, outside needs to be secured. And there could be someone on a boat or a flyover for that matter. Staying inside is best.”
Oh my God!
My eyes widened at the wall of windows. “You’re sure we’re all right with the windows?”
“I’m sure, dear.”
My knees gave out as I sank onto a chair near the kitchen table and tucked my trembling hands between my knees.
Silvia turned my way. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Keeping you safe is the objective.”
I nodded, overwhelmed and a bit perplexed over her knowledge and level of comfort with this kind of emergency.
“Does this happen? Has it happened?” I asked.
Her eyes softened. “Not every day. Not every year. But the Demetris need to be prepared.”
“I-I.” Words began to fail me. I wanted Nox. I wanted to be locked in a bunker or perhaps secured on a desert island with him.
Silvia handed me a warm cup. “I have an idea. Let’s go to the pool house. It’s beautiful and you can enjoy the sunshine without going outdoors. It will help you ward away the chill.”
Without speaking, I stood and nodded. I didn’t know what else to do.
As we made our way through a breezeway, Silvia turned back toward me, her sparkling eyes bringing life to her expression. “I may have alluded to this before, but I’ve been around here for a while…” She allowed her words to trail away suggestively.
“Teenage Lennox?” I asked, remembering her words from over a month before.
She lifted her brow and pursed her lips. “Perhaps…”
I smiled, appreciating her willingness to ease my mind and refocus my attention. Nevertheless, her warnings clung to me like a fog, keeping the warming rays of sunshine just out of reach.
Before reaching the pool house, Nox’s voice boomed from the depths of the house. Silvia’s eyes met mine.
“Can you tell what he said?” I asked.
“No, but sometimes I hear his father in him.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know much about his family and haven’t been around that long, but I’d suspect that wouldn’t be a welcomed analogy.”
She grinned. “If you asked either of them, they’d say they’re oil and water, but my assessment is different.”
“It is?” I asked as we entered the pool house.
I stood and turned. The small outbuilding was gorgeous: glass covered three walls with sunshine lighting the interior. The other wall had a beautiful limestone brick fireplace in the center between large windows, and the ceiling was covered in knotty pine. The furnishings were comfortable, done along the lines of a family room, complete with a large round table. For some reason, it reminded me of Christmas displays and what it would be like to have a family gathered near for the holidays. In December the outside would be cold and covered in snow, yet the inside would be as warm as it was today.
Nothing like the cold stuffiness of the manor.
“I love this home,” I said. “There’s something about it that makes me feel… I’m not sure of the right word. Homey?”
Silvia smiled. “That’s what Angelina wanted.”
“Angelina?”
“Lennox’s mother. All she ever wanted was this house filled with family.”
I feigned a smile. “That’s sad.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” Silvia replied. “The house is Lennox’s. One day he could fulfill his mother’s wish.”
The skin of my neck prickled. “I don’t know, but I hope that someday Lennox fulfills his own dreams. I know what it’s like to have other people’s dreams thrust on you. I wouldn’t want that for him.”
Silvia nodded. “How old are you?”
Sitting on the edge of one of the long sofas facing the sound, I grinned. “Twenty-three. Why?”
“You seem older.”
“I hope that’s a good thing. Or do you recommend that once this is over, I visit my mother’s plastic surgeon for emergency intervention?”
“Oh, no!” she replied, aghast.
We both laughed as we settled on the soft
cushions. Silvia curled her legs under herself in a position that told me she was comfortable in this home. I slipped my shoes from my feet and did the same, letting my toes warm beneath me.
Taking a deep breath, I prompted, “Oil and water?”
She shrugged. “I see the two of them more like Italian dressing.”
I smiled. “Italian would seem appropriate.”
“Yes. It needs both oil and water. If you let it settle, it separates, but if you shake it up, the two ingredients blend. They need one another, complement one another, and wouldn’t be the same without the other.”
“I like that. How do you think Lennox or Oren would feel about your assessment?”
“I know how they’d feel. Both of them would balk.”
“Loudly?” I said with a hint of a question.
“It doesn’t take being around that long to know that to be true.”
I sighed and placed the warm cup on the table. “Silvia, I don’t even know what happened this morning. It all happened so fast.”
Her head moved up and down. “You’re safe here. Inside of this place is a fortress.”
“I’m supposed to be in class. I mean, who’s to say I couldn’t? You don’t think that I was the target, do you?” Each word was softer than the one before as my mouth grew increasingly dry.
Silvia stared for a minute. “At this point, with what we know, it’s impossible to say for sure.”
I stood and paced around the large room. “Who were those men who drove us here? They weren’t our normal security.”
“Demetris have many layers of security. It is the way it is.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and hugged myself tighter. “How? How do they live like that?”
I didn’t realize she’d moved yet Silvia was now behind me. “For some people, the transition to this life is difficult. Those people have never experienced anything like a bodyguard or driver or house staff. They think a commercial company’s alarm system is security. And then, there are others…” She touched my shoulder. “…like you, who have lived with this their entire lives and are more comfortable.”
Tears teetered on my lids as the Long Island Sound blurred. Did everyone know my past? “But this felt different.”