“Antoinette Marie.”
“Daniel.”
“Just to be clear, this is my last visit to this place. I hadn’t intended to come up here again after our last conversation, but it appears that I need to make you understand the situation.”
“What situation?”
“I know that you intended for Angelina to kill me and Nikki Sommers. She admitted as much before she tied us up and took off with the money and jewelry you had hidden in your closet.” He could see the surprise and then calculation in her eyes. They were still her most expressive feature although they were now hard and glittering.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have a sister, and I didn’t have any cash or jewelry.”
“Really? I guess the good fairy left those bundles of used hundred dollar bills and velvet pouches in a steel strong box under the floor of your closet.” He shook his head. “The game is up, Antoinette Marie. If you try to pull another stunt like that, or if anything happens to me, Nikki, either of the kids, or any of my friends, you will regret it. Just to be clear, the trust I established for you with the proceeds from the sale of Anne Marie’s Folly is a revocable trust. I can change the terms at any time. I am in complete control of that money. Displease or upset me for any reason and it goes away. There will be no tidy nest egg for your eventual retirement after you serve your sentence.”
“Daniel, this is all untrue.”
“Antoinette Marie, I am not a fool, nor am I a weakling. I was distraught when I first learned of your deception, but I can now see you for the scheming bitch you are. Not only can I revoke the trust, but I can see that you serve every minute of your sentence, and possibly have it extended. The Broward County State’s Attorney and I are quite well acquainted now, and have actually become something of friends.” He grinned. “He and I are members of the same club. He wasn’t happy to have agreed to your plea bargain in the first place. He only did it to recover the other missing girls. So, don’t think you have any power left in this situation. You should know that I’ve grown some balls. And all the other balls are all in my court as well, and I am not afraid to play them.” He stood up. “That is all I have to say. I’d advise you to say nothing.”
He walked to the door, knocked, and exited when the guard unlocked it. He didn’t look back.
* * * *
Antoinette Marie sat there shackled and shaking with rage. That bitch, Angelina, had taken off with her cash and jewelry, and she hadn’t killed Dan and Nikki. She had already kind of figured that was the case, but she had hoped she was wrong. She wasn’t going to hear from Angelina. The contents of the strong box, and she, were gone. The look in Dan’s eyes had told her that he was deadly serious. If she wanted to have more than the clothes she had walked into prison with when she left in twenty-five fucking years, she would have to abandon her plans for revenge—at least for now. It wasn’t in her Beaudreau nature to give up entirely. Maybe she could find a way to get in contact with Michelle Marie and Daniel, Jr. and somehow make use of them. They had adored their mama. She didn’t know how much they actually knew about what she had done. Dan might have tried to shield them from some of the details. It was a possibility. Check, but not mate.
Epilogue
Offices of McGrath & Temple, LLP, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Friday mid-morning, July 7, 2015
Dan stuck his head out of the conference room and asked Amy, who was currently manning the front desk, to bring in another carafe of hot coffee. They had decided after the Angelina debacle not to hire another receptionist right away.
The conference room was full. On the buyers’ side J.J. Temple, Jack Dalton Brown, Miguel Gatto, Jamie Devereau, as well as Devereau’s Ocala attorney, Jason Steel, and three other investors, Trent Redding, Michael Hamilton, and Matt Jackson, were all there for the closing of The Black Dahlia Hotel. He and J.J. had decided that the opportunity was too good to pass up and had split one of the limited liability partnership shares between them. The CEO of the seller’s holding company and their attorneys were also in attendance. It was definitely a full house.
“Okay, gentlemen, let’s get started. You all have closing packages in front of you for review. Everyone has already seen these documents. We have the full amount of the cash to close in our trust account. Take a few minutes to look everything over and let me know if you have any last-minute comments. J.J. can answer any questions you have. I’m going to step out for a minute.”
Dan held the door for Amy as she was delivering more coffee. He smiled at her. She had a shell-shocked look on her face. He ducked into Nikki’s office to give her a quick kiss. He’d been really busy for the last two months preparing for this closing, and he hadn’t had as much free time as he would have liked to spend with her. He had closed the sale of the house to Mr. and Mrs. Devereau the week before. He’d been amazed that the billionaire Devereau brothers were both so down to earth. The older brother, Justin Devereau, had made the trip down to see the hotel for himself before signing off on the investment. He’d left the rest of the details to his younger brother and returned to Ocala with his young wife and son. Jamie and Anne Devereau were a delightful couple if a little unconventional. He guessed that had to do with the BDSM elements involved—or maybe Jamie was just a wild hair. That seemed like a definite possibility. They had made a trip to The Black Iris Club and appeared to thoroughly enjoy it. His wife was a beautiful and very sharp woman who was apparently the manager of the Le Club Laurel Oak-Ocala club. He understood that she was grooming her replacement since Jamie wanted to do more traveling.
He had just let Nikki go when Amy burst into the room, backed up to the closed door behind her, and spread out her arms as if to bar the door to intruders. “Nikki! A girl could get drunk from all the testosterone in that room. I can’t decide which of them is more gorgeous and sexy. Oh…Dan. I didn’t see you. Sorry, but I don’t know if I can be trusted to go back in there.”
Nikki just laughed at her assistant. “Suck it up, Amy. You’re probably going to have to see all of them from time to time. It could be worse. They could all look like trolls.”
“I don’t know if that would really be worse. Nola and Linda said the same thing. They both took an opportunity to check out that display of raw masculine splendor. The only one who isn’t interested is Mark. No surprise there.”
Dan grinned and said, “Amy, we’re expecting one more gentleman, Dane Dunross, the new manager of the hotel and club. Please just show him in when he gets here. Oh, one more thing. Please bring in menus for the Café so we can order lunch. I’m sure we’re going to be in there for a few more hours.”
“Sure. Right away.” Amy turned back to Nikki. “I’m warning you, Nikki. Don’t go in there. I don’t know if a person can die of testosterone poisoning, but it could be dangerous to your health. I’ve never seen so much eye candy in one place before.” She walked out and closed the door behind her.
Dan shook his head and kissed Nikki briefly before he went back to the conference room.
* * * *
The Pelican Landing restaurant at the end of Pier 66 at the Hyatt Regency hotel, Friday evening, July 9, 2015.
Dan had not been to Pier 66 since he’d sold Anne Marie’s Folly last December. Antoinette Marie had been incarcerated for about seven months. The time had passed quickly for him with everything that had happened—probably not so quickly for her. Dan wanted to close those chapters of his life and move on.
Dan had called both the kids and discussed his plans with them. They were understanding and wanted him to be happy. He knew they missed their home, their old friends, and both their parents. That was only natural, but they were settling into their new lives. Michelle Marie would be starting college at Stanford in September, and Danny, Jr. had two more years of prep school before he would be following in Dan’s footsteps at Harvard. Thank goodness his parents lived in California, and the kids were not alone out there. He guessed they each had ambivalent feelings, and that couldn’t be helped. It
was such a nasty situation.
How could kids be expected to just take the loss of their mother in such a humiliating and public way in stride? Dan had been honest with them, and they both knew the extent of the things Antoinette Marie had done and exactly why she was in prison for twenty-five years. He didn’t want them to be her next victims when she realized that her options were now severely limited where he was concerned. He had told them he didn’t think it would be healthy for either of them to be in contact with her, but that they were free to make up their own minds. He knew that forbidding them to take her calls or have contact would only guarantee that they would feel obligated to do so. Dan had followed through on his word and modified the trust so that she would receive nothing in the event of the suspicious death of himself, the kids, or Nikki. He hoped that would be sufficient to keep them all safe.
The week before he and Nikki had done something he thought he would never do in a million years, but they both wanted to slay the dragon that was Antoinette Marie for good and all. So, before the closing on the house, he and Nikki had spent one night there. They’d made love several times in his old bed, and they had toasted their new lives with champagne. The shadow of Antoinette Marie and her sister, Angelina, had hovered over them at first, and then they’d decided—what the hell, let’s go for it. If Antoinette Marie had had her way, they would both be fish food. Making love in that bed as a final “fuck you” seemed like the way to go. He knew they would be attending social functions at the house as the guests of the gregarious and very pleasant Devereaus and wanted to be able to enjoy them. Making love with Nikki in his old bedroom was a much better final memory of the house.
Dan and Nikki walked down the pier to the waterfront restaurant at the end of Pier 66 and were seated. They ordered cocktails and were enjoying the beautiful sunset and the pelicans swooping low looking for handouts. He had enjoyed this place during his marriage to Anne Marie, and he had come to realize that he couldn’t avoid all the places they had gone together in twenty plus years. That would be impractical to say the least and unhealthy as well. Better to let it all go.
When their drinks were delivered to the table, Dan and Nikki clinked glasses. “Here’s to us and a new beginning.”
“I think we’ve already made a very good new beginning. Your new firm is flourishing, the kids seem to be doing okay, all things considered of course, and we’re happy.”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, Nikki. We are happy, but I’m not satisfied with the status quo. I want more. I want a full and complete life with you. I want us to get married. I love you, baby.” He reached over and flicked the diamond pendant at her neck. “You really did hang the moon and stars for me. I didn’t expect to fall in love again, but you’ve turned my world around. What do you say?”
* * * *
Nikki took a sip from her glass to gain a moment to think. She loved Dan, but she needed to be sure that Antoinette Marie was out of their lives for good. Not to mention that the thought of becoming the stepmother to two teenagers was daunting. She had not yet met them as Dan had moved them out of town right after Antoinette Marie’s arrest to avoid the unpleasant publicity. How would they feel about her? Would she feel like she was always in Anne Marie’s shadow?
“Dan, I love you, too, but do you think it’s a little too soon?” Dan had spooked her at the beginning of their relationship. She wished she could forget it, but sometimes the specter of that uncertainty was still there.
“No. I don’t, but you are entitled to your opinion of the situation. I don’t want to waste another minute of our lives living in the past haunted by my ex-wife from hell. I want us to make a family, for ourselves and my kids, and possibly more kids if you want them.”
“I think I would like to have a couple of kids—but do you think maybe we should start with a puppy? How will Michelle Marie and Danny feel about you and me getting married? Will they resent me and think I want to take their mother’s place? God, Dan. I haven’t even met them yet.”
“Nikki. What sane person would want to take Antoinette Marie’s place? Notice I now call her Antoinette Marie almost exclusively. Anne Marie is dead to me. I’m sure it will take them a little time to be totally comfortable with it. They are good kids, and they know what their mother is. As for me, I want as little to do with her as possible. I’ll continue to administer the trust I set up for her, but she knows if she pulls any more shit, that little nest egg is gone. I think that should be sufficient to keep her in line, given that she’s willing to do anything for money.”
“I certainly hope so.” She smiled and reached over for both of his hands. “I love you, baby, and I want to be your wife. I love our relationship and the room you give me to be me. That’s important to me. Yes, I’ll marry you. I want to be able to get to know your kids first, though, and for them to be able to get to know me. I do think maybe we should wait another six months at least to be sure all the fallout has been shaken out.”
* * * *
Dan smiled. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ and run with it.” He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small brown velvet box. He opened the box and took out the two-toned, three carat Verragio engagement ring. He laughed when he saw her eyes get wide.
“Dan, that’s incredible. It looks like a wedding cake with all those side stones and the yellow gold cup holding the center stone. I absolutely love it.”
He reached across the table and put the ring on her left ring finger. “It makes me very happy to see this on your finger, baby. We’ll talk about that six-month thing.” He reached into his pocket again and took out another slightly bigger blue box. “This one is for both of us. I wanted something special for at the club that could be worn all the time, but I didn’t want a collar.” He opened the box and removed two matching hinged, platinum, studded, buckle bangles. He opened the buckle of one and put it on her wrist and then handed her the other slightly larger one and put his wrist out. She smiled, opened it, and buckled it on.
“You are such a special man, Dan McGrath. I love you, and these bracelets are perfect. They symbolize the fact that we belong to each other.”
“That’s right, baby. Just as long as I’m usually on top.”
“Sixty, forty?” She grinned.
“How about eighty, twenty?” he responded.
“Seventy-five, twenty-five?”
He could see she wasn’t going to give up. “Geez, Nikki, you’re a good negotiator. Seventy-five, twenty-five it is.” He reached across the table again and took her hand. He’d like to kiss her silly, but they were in public and the restaurant was crowded. “How about if we break these new bracelets in at the club after dinner?”
“You’re on, Master.”
THE END
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/SKYEMICHAELSBOOKS
E-MAIL: [email protected]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I was born in New Jersey and grew up an only child on a small farm in the “Garden State.” My father grew acres and acres of flowers for commercial florists and various produce, such as tomatoes. My high school years were spent at Wayne Hills High School, where I was not one of the popular, preppy kids, or one of the hoods—which kind of left me in limbo as I wasn’t one of the brainiacs either. Weekends were spent going into “the City” and Greenwich Village with my friends and doing a lot of things I probably shouldn’t have—don’t tell my grandkids!
After attending Katharine Gibbs School in Montclair, New Jersey, I began a career as a legal secretary and then a paralegal. I moved to Florida and currently live in Davie, Florida, with my dog, Snickerdoodles, aka The Dude. I was married for eight years but have been single for many years. My major addiction is jewelry, but any kind of shopping will do for a fix!
After my longtime job as a paralegal was ended by the economic downturn, I decided to turn lemons into lemonade and finally write the stories I’d had in my head for many years. I had always wanted to write romance novels, but my family and job kept
me too busy.
My major interest aside from my family and friends is horses. I enjoy putting an animal character into my stories if possible. I am extremely “low-tech” and probably should have been born in the 1800s, as I enjoy driving a horse and buggy for fun. I also enjoy horseback riding, but the ground has gotten harder and further away over the years.
I have a small farm and vacation home in Ocala, Florida, which is my favorite place in the world. There’s nothing as wonderful as swinging in the hammock in the shade and listening to the music of the wind in the pines while cuddled under a quilt reading a good book.
Books have always been my escape into love and adventure, and through reading, I have been able to be many people, do many things, and go to many wonderful places I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to be, do, or see.
I hope that all hardworking women who have a moment to put up their tired feet and relax with a cup of coffee—or a glass of wine—will feel like they have had the opportunity to enjoy a trip to beautiful South Florida, my own backyard. I hope they also enjoy getting to meet my fantasy friends and experiencing something new and different with a touch of hot romance thrown in for good measure!
New adventures with old and new friends will continue with the new BDSM series, The Black Dahlia Hotel.
For all titles by Skye Michaels, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/skye-michaels
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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