by Dale Mayer
He glared at her.
She nodded. “I know full well you don’t give a damn about me—or even Grandfather—any more than you gave a damn about my mother. You can’t stop the fact that I’m blood, and that really bothers you.”
“Oh, you’re blood all right,” he said with a sneer. “But not my blood.”
She leaned forward and said, “That is a lie.”
“It is not. Your mother had an affair a long time ago. Why do you think I didn’t give a shit afterward? If she wasn’t to be faithful to me, I sure as hell wouldn’t be faithful to her.” Carlo waved at Angelica, like a flag to get her full attention. “How do you like hearing that? Do you think your mother was such a perfect little princess, and here she was opening her legs every time I looked away?”
Angelica laughed. “I had a DNA test done a long time ago. When you hurt Mother continuously, I hated you. I wanted proof you weren’t my biological father, that I had a different heritage, one I could be proud of, one I could look up to and could find a long line of beautiful people. I took your DNA from your hairbrush and my mother’s from hers. I had the DNA tested against my own blood. Whether you like it or not, you’re my genetic father. But doesn’t it figure you would toss something like that in my face? It’s not like I ever got anything from you. Too bad for you that you could never sire a son. It’s the only thing you really wanted.”
“I would have loved a son, but you can’t be mine regardless,” Carlo said, adding in a smug tone, “I’m sterile.”
“No, I think it’s more like Russian roulette,” she said calmly. Of course he’d say that. “You only fire every once in a while. And probably only when you were younger. Now that you’re much older, living a life of excesses, you’ll be even more infertile. Interesting that you would bring that up. Is that why you went so crazy with all those women? To get yourself a real heir, a son and a spare?” Her tone was ever mocking.
He stared at her. “Do you have those results?”
She leaned forward and smiled. “Of course I do.”
He sat down heavily. “I didn’t know.”
“What? That I was yours? How could you assume anything differently?”
“She told me so,” he said suddenly.
“Yes, I remember Mother saying that. She tossed it in your face once, when she was really mad at you. After you had your third, fourth, maybe fifth affair in six months. She wanted to hurt you as you had hurt her. But she made it all up.”
Carlo continued to stare at her.
“And what does any of that have to do with me now being threatened?”
He waved his hand about. “Don’t do that.”
She said, “You can’t dismiss my concerns. I was attacked twice,” she said, pounding the table. “These men saved me and put their own lives at risk.”
“That’s what they’re paid to do,” Carlo roared. “What are you doing, consorting with the hired help?”
“You’re a fine one to talk,” she snapped. “Have you ever had an affair with somebody you didn’t pay?”
He lifted his head, anger twisting his features. “I had affairs with willing partners.”
Her grandfather interrupted. “This conversation is unseemly.” His voice was a growl. “Carlo, you will explain, and you will explain now. I don’t care if these men were hired to protect her and don’t belong here or not. If they have put their lives at risk and have kept my granddaughter alive and safe, they deserve to know what the truth is here too.”
Carlo shook his head, got up and walked out of the room.
She glanced at her grandfather. “Some things never change.”
Her grandfather, however, wasn’t to be appeased. “Angelica, start at the beginning and explain exactly what’s happened.”
She pointed to Anders and said, “For that we’ll let Anders speak.”
Anders stared at her as if not appreciating that she had tossed the baton to him, but she just smiled and settled back in her chair. He turned to face her grandfather and began the tale with the phone call to Levi from her father.
When he was done, her grandfather sat there, his mouth open. “This is unbelievably shocking.”
“What part? That somebody tried to kill me?” she asked. “Or maybe not kill me but perhaps kidnap me? Or this whole mess with Carlo? We assumed it had to do with pressure to sign a guns bill,” she said, “but now I’m wondering because of his attitude …”
“Does your grandfather know about the other stuff?” Anders asked Angelica.
She lifted her eyebrows and shook her head, realizing what he meant. “No, he doesn’t.”
“Well, he should,” her grandfather said. He looked like he’d aged a lot in the last ten minutes. “No more secrets, please. What else don’t I know?”
She studied his face and then kissed his cheek. “Sometimes things are better not said.”
He patted her hand. “When you get to be my age, absolutely nothing shocks or surprises me anymore. And I have no illusions about my son.”
“Well, you do have a few. If I tell you this, you won’t have any left.”
His face grayed, but he straightened and lifted his chin. “Tell me.”
She dropped her gaze to the table and then explained about Carlo coming to her room. About him sending up his friends for a night of comfort two years later.
“I never slept alone here after that first incident with Carlo,” she said. “Even the nights I was forced to stay in my room, Peter slept there too to keep me safe.”
Tears filled her grandfather’s eyes. He pinched his lips together, reached over and gripped her hand. He didn’t say a word, and she knew it was because he didn’t dare. But he held her hand tight and finally said, “I wish you’d told me back then.”
“Mother knew about Carlo’s attempt,” she said. “He must have bullied her into staying quiet, but that was the beginning of the end.” She sighed loudly. “Once I told my mother, years afterward, about the two men sent to my bedroom, it was the final straw for her.”
“Were you always afraid of him?”
“I think instinctively I always was. He used to touch me when I was much younger, and I didn’t understand what it meant. I did tell my mother at the time too. I’m pretty sure she reamed him out. And it kept him at bay for a long time. Until he decided that, once I hit puberty, he was free and clear. He’d also grown a lot more arrogant, a lot more domineering. Life was much more difficult then.”
Just then Peter walked in. He collected the dishes, putting them on a large trolley. She was glad to see the newer trolley. The older one had been much smaller, and he had had to make several trips.
“Thank your mother for me please, Peter. That was an excellent dinner.”
He flashed her a bright smile and quickly cleaned off the table, leaving them alone.
Her grandfather turned to her. “That Peter?”
She nodded her head. “That Peter.”
“I owe him a lot.”
“We all do,” she said quietly. “And he stayed here to protect his mother.”
Her grandfather’s face pinched tight. “Helen has been an excellent asset to the household.”
“Yes, she has. But she has not been immune to Carlo’s advances,” Angelica murmured. “Peter will no longer tolerate that sort of behavior. As he stood up for me, he also stood up for her.”
“Your father is a lecher. And maybe fifty, sixty or one hundred years ago that would have been tolerated, but it certainly isn’t tolerated now,” Grandfather whispered. “I must go and think about how to right this.” He slowly stood and nodded to the four men. “I thank you each for saving my granddaughter. Please do not let up your guard right now. We have much to get to the bottom of, and I would hate to lose the most precious thing in my life.” And he slowly walked out of the room.
*
The men had stayed quiet until they were locked behind her closed bedroom doors. As Anders started to speak, she held up her hand, walked over to Dezi and said, “
Can you check again please?”
Understanding, he left the bedroom, presumably going to his room. Anders watched and waited as Dezi returned with the bug detector and scanned the room. Sure enough he found something at the head of the bed. With the men’s help, they pulled the bed forward to find a camera and an audio recording device.
They disconnected both, removing the equipment, and handed it to her. She stared at it for a long moment, a muscle in her jaw working hard. She gave a clipped nod. “Excuse me.” She turned and walked out. Anders walked out with her. She looked up at him and shook her head. “No, not at the moment.”
The men stared at each other as she walked away, alone in the hallway, heading for the stairs.
“What the hell kind of household is this?” Reyes exploded.
“I have no idea. I just found out about the creepy father before dinner,” Anders said. His mind was spinning with everything they’d learned since. “Apparently the grandfather still holds the titles in the estate. But when he passes, it’ll pass down the family line, probably just to the male issue.”
“And the father thought she wasn’t his because he wasn’t able to have children?”
“I’ve never heard of a fertility issue being called Russian roulette before,” Dezi said, a grin on his face. “But it makes sense. Only a certain percentage of the sperm will be strong enough to make it. And she’s right. It would be while he was younger. If he’s trying to have more children in order to stop her from inheriting or from it going to a distant cousin, it makes sense he was having as many affairs as he’s had.”
“Maybe and maybe not,” Reyes said. “I’m sure, with all their money, there were medical treatments.”
“Yes, but I highly doubt he would have admitted it to anyone.”
“Quite possibly,” Anders said. He stared at the open doorway where she had disappeared down the hall. “What do you think she’s doing?”
“Confronting her father?” Reyes said, standing beside him.
“I wouldn’t. I’d go to the grandfather,” Dezi said. “At least he seems to understand.”
“And yet, in his heyday, I wonder if he was any different. She told me that he’d changed when he lost his first wife,” Anders said absentmindedly. But he couldn’t quite let go of the fact that Angel might be in even more danger now.
“What we should be asking is,” Harrison said, “what purpose would there be in having a recorded video and audio of her room?”
“And that equipment wasn’t here before when I checked,” Dezi said.
“The video part is sick,” Anders said. “It would only confirm or not confirm what her sex life is like. So whether he was planning on revisiting her or somebody else was, I don’t know. It would be leverage against her though.”
“Man, this place stinks,” Harrison said. “She’s a nice woman. She’s been through a lot, and I know we said we’d deliver her here, but I really believe she needs to leave here immediately.”
“The job is supposed to be over in two days, isn’t it?” Reyes said. “Why can’t we relocate her to the States to finish our assignment?”
“I’m texting Levi now,” Harrison said, “and finding out what he wants us to do.”
Raised voices could be heard somewhere in the halls of the house. Anders bolted out of the suite, headed to the stairwell and raced to the first floor. He knew his men followed him.
On the main floor he followed the sounds to her father’s office. Her grandfather stood in the room, leaning over her father at the main desk. He had the camera equipment in his hand, tossing it on the top of the mahogany furniture. Angel stood at his side; her fury had her face pinched tight, but she glared at Carlo, who appeared to be completely unconcerned.
“It’s not my camera,” her father said casually. “It’s probably Peter’s. All those years of sleeping in your room. He’s twisted, you know.”
She shook her head. “It wasn’t Peter. It was you. Nothing has changed, has it?”
“Maybe it has,” he said. “And, since this really has nothing to do with me, obviously I’ll speak with Peter. And presumably you’ll allow me to fire him, considering he crossed such a line.” He gave a dismissive wave. “Go back to your room, and stop being a child.”
Her grandfather nodded at her. “Leave. We’ll settle this.”
She groaned and walked out. She saw Anders there, raised her eyebrows and said, “There’s nothing else I can do.”
“You could call the police,” he said.
She shrugged. “You don’t understand. Carlo will have most of them in his pocket. Nobody will give a damn.”
“And what did he think he would get out of this?” he asked quietly.
She glanced at him and smiled. “I think he figured, with my insistence that you stay with me, how we were lovers. And, as such, he would videotape us.”
“That makes him a very sick bastard. You know that, right?”
She nodded. “But I already knew that.”
“And what would he do with the videotape?”
“Oh,” she said, her steps faltering. She stopped and looked at the men around her. “I know what this is all about.”
“What?” Anders asked, impatience riding him. “You mean, it has nothing to do with his political issues?”
“No. I bet he was planning to blackmail me for the materials I have. He knew it would take something big to bring me back here,” she said thoughtfully. “Although this was elaborate. And involved Levi and your team. How do you feel about being hoodwinked?”
“If it turns out that way, then our job changes. Our job was to protect you. That won’t be any different now. But we won’t leave you here if you are in danger. Considering what he’d do if you don’t hand over the material he wants, listening in on your conversations makes sense, as he needs to know what you have and where.”
“As despicable as Carlo is, he continues to show me how much more despicable he can be.” She shook her head.
“Well, if it was me, I certainly wouldn’t want damaging information hanging out there to come back and bite me.”
“I guess,” she said. “Either way I need time to think about it. To consider what else I can do. And that means, considering the hour, I want to go to bed.”
The men looked at her.
She nodded. “I know what you’re thinking. Why would I want to sleep in the room he bugged, and what if he’s already put another bug in? And you’re right about all that. So I was thinking about going to a different room. Maybe Dezi could check it out first for me.”
He nodded, and she led the way to the far back of the house, climbing up a small staircase that used to lead to the servants’ quarters. Up at the top was one door, leading to one room with a large bed and windows that allowed them to see out as far as the eye could see.
“I’ll spend the night up here,” she said.
Dezi checked the room and nodded. “It’s clean. Or it’s clean of bugs. The dust up here is pretty thick though.”
But she was already pulling off the bedding, stepping out on the small Juliet balcony and giving it all a good shake. “It’s my favorite room in the house,” she confessed. “I’ll be fine up here.”
“And me?” Anders asked.
“Not that fine.” She smiled. “You’re staying with me.”
“Do you really think your father will try something?”
“The questions really are,” she corrected, “are the men who attacked us going to try something else? And what’s the chance they are on Carlo’s payroll, and maybe we should consider them on the same team?”
At that, the men frowned and stared at her.
She shrugged. “I know. It just occurred to me.”
Chapter 12
It took about ten minutes to grab their bags, to finish dusting off the surfaces, to use the bathroom, which there wasn’t one on the same floor as this uppermost bedroom. She watched as Anders dropped his bag and turned, crossing his arms over his chest. She walked back to
the door, and, with one of the huge ornate keys hanging to the side, she locked them in.
His eyebrows rose.
She chuckled. “I’ve spent a lot of nights up here. As far as Carlo was concerned, that other room was my bedroom, but I never stayed there alone, at any time. If I had to be alone in this house, I stayed up here.”
“And nobody knew?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. It’s one of the few rooms never touched.”
“I see that,” he said, pointing at obvious dust bunnies everywhere. “Have you made any plans?”
“Did you talk to Levi?” she countered.
He chuckled. “Harrison is doing that right now.” He pulled out his phone and sent Harrison a text, asking him to let Anders know when Levi gave them an update.
“What I need right now,” she said, finally letting her guard down, “is rest. Pick a side of the bad. I’m too tired for anything but sleep.” She was already wearing pajamas. She flipped back the covers, crawled underneath and lay her head down. Almost instantly she could feel the strain of the last couple days easing back.
“Did your mother know about this room?”
“Yes,” Angelica said with a smile. “She called it her princess room. But then she called me her princess too.”
“Did you really get your DNA tested?”
“I did. I wanted to throw it in his face, that he wasn’t my biological father. Instead I got the very grim news that he was, indeed, my genetic father. I had to make peace with it after that.”
He looked at her carefully. “Are you ready to sleep?”
She yawned and nodded. “I so am.”
He shrugged, stripped off his clothes so he was just in his boxers, crawled over her side of the bed and got under the blankets. “It’s a nice room,” he said.
“It’s so is.” Not that she cared at the moment. All she wanted was to sleep, then to wake up to a whole new day, with all this over with, and, yes, … with Anders at her side. She wasn’t sure what life would be like with him, but it would be exciting. He was everything she wanted in a man. She hadn’t recognized it one year ago, but it hadn’t taken long when she’d seen him again. It was like a homecoming, only she’d been slow to understand.
