“How did I slip security you mean?” Linda asked with a smile. “I studied their habits. Alex loves to tout them as the best in the business, but they have their weaknesses too.”
“But how did you get in here?”
“After your friends left, and you went around the back of your house, I walked in. You left your front door unlocked. But what does that matter? I’m in the dump now!”
The balls of this woman! Linda Drakos was one female Kari couldn’t stand. Her only previous encounter with her wasn’t a good one at all, and Alex had to show the bitch what could happen to her if she harassed Kari again.
But he was out of town, and here she was right back again. She wanted to take that knife and run her out of her house, but she needed info. She needed to know what Linda wanted, and if she had sent that woman to threaten her at Lucinda’s.
“What do you want?” she decided to ask her.
“You know what I want,” Linda responded. “I want Alex. That’s what I want.”
Kari stared at her. “Then get him,” she said.
Linda hadn’t expected that come back. She was astounded by it. “What?” she asked.
“You want him, get him. You didn’t have to break in my house for that.”
Linda frowned. “Are you insane? You’re telling me you don’t want him anymore? You don’t want Alex Drakos, the most eligible bachelor in this world anymore?”
“I’m telling you that if you want him, get him. Why are you coming to me about that?”
“Because you have him!”
“Right,” Kari said. “He chose me. And apparently, since you no longer have him, he didn’t choose you. So how is that my problem?”
Linda didn’t know how to respond to reason. It was all about emotions for her these days. She stared at Kari.
“And why would you want a man who would do that to your face anyway?” Kari asked. “And yeah, I see that scar despite all that makeup and surgery. Why are you tormenting yourself like this?”
Linda, deciding that she suddenly figured out what Kari was up to, smiled. “You think you have the upper hand, don’t you? You, Miss Plain Jane if ever there was one, think she has what it takes to keep a man with refined taste, not to mention an extraordinarily refined sexual drive, like Alexio, don’t you? If you think a woman like me couldn’t keep his attention, but a woman like you can, then you’re a bigger fool than I thought you were!”
And then, suddenly, Linda’s smile turned into what it was all along: a hard, cold frown. “Find a reason, an excuse, whatever, to stay away from Alex,” she warned.
The nerve of this woman! But it was, essentially, the same message that woman at Lucinda’s had given to her. “And if I don’t?” Kari asked.
“You will regret it,” Linda said. “Oh my, how you will regret it.”
A cold chill ran down Kari’s spine. But it was a cold chill of anger, not fear. “Bitch please,” she said. “Take your idle threats and get out of my house.”
“Idle? You think my threats are idle?”
Linda walked up to Kari as if she owned the joint. “I don’t make idle threats, little girl,” Linda said. And then, suddenly, she took her hand and slapped Kari hard across the face. “You’re out of your depth, little girl. Stay away from my husband,” she added, and then turned to leave the same way she had come in.
But as she turned to leave in all of her snugness, Kari at first was too stunned to react. This woman, this bitch, she thought, just waltzed into her house like she owned it, slapped her like she had that right, and was laying down the law to her? And she expected Kari to just let her just walk away?
Kari clutched that knife, hurried up behind Linda, and then flung her around to face her.
Linda was shocked when Kari put that knife to her face. “What are you doing?” she asked nervously.
“Now you listen to me,” Kari said to her. “Alex already warned your ass to stay away from me. Now I’m warning you.”
Linda smiled. “You? Warning me?” And without hesitation, Linda, who, unbeknownst to Kari, held a blackbelt in Taekwondo, lifted her heel and with one kick knocked the knife out of Kari’s hand.
Kari was surprised. She had no idea the bitch was one of those kick fighters. But Kari was a street fighter, and she took it to the street!
Kari grabbed Linda by the leg, and then lifted her off of her feet and onto the floor. Linda’s small purse fell out of her hand, and a small gun fell out of it. And while Kari let her fists do the talking and she hit her unwelcomed guest hard and repeatedly in the face, Linda was reaching for that gun.
When Kari realized what she was doing, she began to reach for it too, and the two women struggled to get to it first. Kari won that battle, but then Linda placed her hand on the trigger too. The gun went off, several times, as the women struggled.
And then Linda got the upper hand, and she managed to point that gun at Kari. Street fighting was no match for formal-fight training, and Kari found herself staring down the barrel of that gun. Both her finger and Linda’s finger were on the trigger. If either one of them pulled it one more time, Kari knew she was going to leave this earth, and leave Jordan alone.
She had to fight for her life!
She was weak on formal training, but she was fast. She had speed on her side. It was going to be risky. She knew, if she removed her hand from that trigger, it was going to be her head, her life, if she wasn’t fast enough.
She prayed to God, as beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, and she did it. She removed her hand from that pistol and, simultaneously, rolled off of Linda and away from her, causing Linda to fire yet another errant shot.
But then, as soon as Kari attempted to grab Linda from a better position, and as Linda turned to fire, again, at Kari, the front door was kicked open and Kari’s security detail, who had heard the gunshots from the street, ran into the house.
“Put it down!” one of the men yelled at Linda. “Drop it now or it ends right now!”
And Linda, no fool, Kari thought, quickly dropped her weapon.
But then she said, “I have to talk to Alex,” and Alex’s men wondered if she was crazy. But then she added: “I have something to tell him. Don’t harm me. He’ll want to hear what I have to say!”
Was it a ploy to avoid punishment, Alex’s men wondered, or was the bitch for real?
Kari, after struggling with her and almost losing, was now a true believer.
That bitch was for real.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Alex had just returned to the hotel in Munich. Negotiations were improving, but they remained at a critical juncture. And then Belvins came into his suite with word about Kari.
Alex was at the bar pouring himself a stiff one when his chief hurried in. The fact that he had hurried in made Alex assumed they had discovered who the assassin was.
But when Belvins said, “It’s about Miss Grant,” the glass in Alex’s hand nearly slipped out.
“What about her?” he asked.
“You aren’t going to like it, sir.”
“Just tell me.” His heart was unsettled.
“Your ex-wife somehow managed to slip past security, get into Miss Grant’s home, and start an altercation.”
Alex stared at his chief. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “She what?”
“She got inside, sir. I don’t know how, but she got inside. And . . .”
Alex frowned. His heart was pounding. “And what?”
“Gunshots were fired, sir,” he said, and Alex’s glass did slip out. It spilled onto the carpet.
“Is Karena alright?” he asked.
The chief nodded. “She’s fine,” he said. “She’s alright. She wasn’t harmed.”
Alex breathe again.
“And Linda’s in our custody, in a safe house. But it was a close call, sir.”
Alex hurried from behind the bar. Fuck these close fucking calls! “Contact Jimmy Hines. Tell him I want him to get that entire detail off of her and
put a fresh one on,” he ordered.
“Yes, sir!”
“And detain every one of those fuckers until I get there.”
“Detain them, sir?”
Alex looked back at him as he hurried for the bedroom.
“I’ll tell Jimmy you want them under detention right away, sir.”
“Get the plane ready,” Alex said as he continued to walk and the chief continued to follow behind him. “I’m going back to Florida.”
For some reason, the chief had not expected him to make that decision. “You’re going back before you’ve had a chance to finish negotiating, sir?” the chief asked.
Alex frowned. Did these people think he was playing? “That bitch tried to harm Karena, and you’re asking me about negotiations? Get the fuck out of my face and get my plane ready now!” he ordered.
“Yes, sir,” his chief responded stressfully, knowing he had put his foot in it that time, and hurried to do his bidding.
Alex grabbed his cell phone to call Kari. But then he thought about it. She was under the protection of his men, which normally was fine. But a threat might still be out there. A deadly threat. And he’d had two failed details already. She didn’t just need protection. He needed her to have ultimate protection until he could get there and protect her.
He made a phone call.
But not to Kari first.
First, he called Reno Gabrini.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“How long do we have to be here, Uncle Benny?” Jordan asked.
Benny Church leaned forward. “I don’t know,” he said. “Mr. Drakos just told me to get over here and stay with you guys until his man could fly in.”
“His man?” Jordan asked. “All of these men inside this house, outside this house, up the block and down the block are his men. We’re surrounded by his men!”
Benny and Faye looked at each other and smiled. Faye leaned forward too. They were seated around the dining room table inside Alex’s Apple Valley home, and Jordan was right: security was tighter than tight. “I think Mr. Drakos got a little spooked after what happened to your mom,” Jordan,” Faye said. “He feels he hasn’t done a good enough job protecting her.”
“That’s because he hasn’t,” Jordan said. “He promised me nothing like this would ever happen to her again. He broke his promise.”
Benny and Faye took another glance at each other. They didn’t think they’d ever heard Jordan utter a negative word about Alex. He was spooked too!
“What time is it?” Jordan asked Benny.
Benny glanced at his wristwatch. “It’s four am, kido. So far past your bedtime it’s not even funny.”
“I’m not going to school tomorrow,” Jordan said happily. “Mr. Drakos already said I can’t. Not until he finds out what’s going on with that ex-wife of his. So time is a nonfactor for me at this point.”
Benny smiled. “A nonfactor, hun?” he said, and Jordan, knowing he had an odd way with words, nodded and smiled.
Jimmy Hines, who had been pouring himself a drink from the full-sized bar, came over to the table. “You guys want anything to drink?” he asked before he sat down.
Benny looked at Faye and Jordan, and then answered for all three of them. “No, Jim, we’re good,” he said.
Jimmy sat down. “How’s Miss Grant?”
“Still upstairs in Alex’s bed,” Faye said. “Last time I looked, and that was like at midnight, she looked like she was finally dozing off, so I didn’t disturb her. But she’s okay.”
“Good,” Jimmy said. “Another close call: that’s not good. I guess that’s why I’m a little amped up right now. I figure I’d better cool it before he gets here.”
Benny looked at him. “You think he’s going to blame you for what happened?” he asked.
“Oh, I know he is,” said Jimmy.
“It wasn’t your fault,” said Faye. “That ex-wife of his is to blame. Why would he blame you?”
“Let’s put it this way,” Jimmy said. “After that last incident with the car going through that diner? Remember that?”
“Of course we do!” Faye said. “One of my best friends owns that diner. It’s still the talk of the town.”
“Well after that,” Jimmy said, “Mr. Drakos fired that entire security detail. I mean every man. He even beat the crap out of one member.”
Even Jordan was surprised to hear that. “Wow,” he said.
“Yup. Wow,” Jimmy said. “So yeah, I’m a little concerned.” Jimmy gave a weak smile and sipped from his drink.
“And the idea he would bring in reinforcements from outside of his organization,” Jimmy added. “That’s the real wow. I’d never seen anything like it in all my years working for the man.”
“Who is this guy, anyway?” Benny asked. “They say he’s a hotshot.”
“A hotshot?” Jimmy asked. Then he laughed. “Reno Gabrini a hotshot? Yeah, I think everybody in America would agree Reno Gabrini is a hotshot.”
“But who is he?” Faye asked. “I’ve never heard of him before.”
“Ever hear of the PaLargio Hotel and Casino on the Vegas strip?”
Both Benny and Faye, and even Jordan were stunned. And when Benny spoke, he spoke the hotel’s name with syllabic phrasing. “He owns the Pa-Lar-gi-o?” he asked with surprise in his voice.
Jimmy smiled and nodded. “Yup. He owns it.”
“Wow,” Faye said.
“He’s been voted the most powerful man in Vegas many years running. That’s how hotshot he is. And that guy, the owner of what most people consider to be the cream of the crop hotel in Vegas, is coming to little Apple Valley to babysit until Mr. Drakos can make it back into the country.”
“Damn,” Benny said. “Excuse my language,” he said to Jordan. “But damn! This man really loves Kari.”
“In all my years with Mr. Drakos, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Jimmy repeated himself.
“Never, Jimmy, really?” Faye asked with a smile.
“If I’m lying,” Jimmy said, his hand lifted up. “I mean, that guy would run through women like I run through socks. He didn’t give a fuck about any of them!”
Benny glanced at Jordan. He would prefer he not have to listen to such strong language. Although, Benny also knew, Kari and Alex used similar language themselves!
“He ran through women as if women were water,” Jimmy continued. “He turned them on, he turned them off. And then Miss Grant came along. To be honest with you, I figured she was just another booty call to him, too, you know? But boy was I wrong!”
“Jimmy?”
They all looked across the room. One of Alex’s men was pointing at his wristwatch. “It’s time to go.”
“Already?”
“Like yeah,” the guy said.
“Oh well,” Jimmy said, leaving his glass on the table as he rose to his feet. “I’d better get to the airstrip to meet his plane.”
“He has a private plane too?” Faye asked, and then caught herself. “He owns the PaLargio, what am I saying? Of course he has a private plane! These are the kind of people we’re dealing with now.”
Jimmy smiled, and he left.
Less than thirty minutes later, the door to Alex’s Apple Valley residence opened, and Reno Gabrini, escorted by Jimmy, walked inside.
Benny and Faye were sitting in the living room when he walked in. And he was nothing like they thought he would be. Especially what Faye had envisioned. She expected some stiff, button-down untouchable who was perturbed to have to do something this petty for Alex. She saw, instead, an animated man in a wrinkled suit who looked like he was well accustomed to getting down in the gutter with the best of them and getting his hands dirty. And he was handsome too. Not Alex handsome, she concluded, but very good looking!
They both rose to their feet as Jimmy introduced them. “Mr. Gabrini, this is Benny and Faye Church. They’re Miss Grant and Mr. Drakos’ good friends.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Church,” Reno said as he and Benny shook hands.
“And Mrs. Church,” Reno added as he and Faye shook hands too.
Faye was such a beautiful woman that Reno couldn’t take his eyes off of her, even after he released his hand from her. “You guys native Floridians?” he asked.
“No, we moved to Florida,” Benny said.
“Oh, okay,” Reno replied to Benny, although his eyes kept making their way back to Faye.
“So,” Reno said, rubbing his hands together as if he was wishing for luck at the blackjack tables, “where’s Kari and Jordan? Those two are the reason I’m here.”
“They’re upstairs,” Faye said. “Alex insists that Kari rest until he gets back.”
“Let me at least say hey to her,” Reno said. “Will you show me the way, madam?”
“Yes,” Faye said with a smile. “Right this way.”
Reno stepped aside and allowed Faye to escort him up the stairs to Alex’s bedroom.
As they walked away, Jimmy leaned toward Benny. “Another thing about Mr. Gabrini,” he said, “is that he has a certain reputation.”
Benny looked at him. “With the ladies you mean?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“He’s not married?”
“He’s married. And by all accounts he loves his wife. But he still has this reputation. And from the way he was eyeing your wife, I understand why.”
But Benny was dismissive. “Ah, every man looks at my wife that way,” he said. “She’s hot, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
Jimmy smiled. “I have, I must admit.”
“My problem isn’t that men look at my wife,” Benny said. “My problem is that, too many times, my wife looks back at them.”
Jimmy was surprised to hear that. They seemed like such a wholesome, perfect couple. But he’d been around long enough to know that nobody was wholesome. And perfection? What was that?
Alex Drakos 3_What They Did For Love Page 12
