Emory shoved her gown back down as Dante came back into the room. He handed her a glass of cold water and some tablets. ‘Painkillers. You may not feel it now but injuries like yours take time to heal.’
Emory swallowed the tablets and drank the entire glass of water. ‘God, that’s nice. Look…I don’t mean to be rude, but who are you? Not that I’m not grateful for everything but still.’
Dante smiled – he had a kind face, intense green eyes and a sweet smile. She judged him to be in early forties. He was tall, broad and he had a relaxed, easy manner that she liked.
‘Dante Harper at your service.’ He shook her hand. ‘Emory, I run a conglomerate that deals with companies in the medical arena – which is how we were able to put this together.’
Emory blinked at him. ‘Put…this together? This is all for me? I don’t understand.’
‘Emory, a lovely young woman, obviously terrified for her life and already bleeding to death from a gunshot is something I take very seriously. When you begged me not to let ‘him’ find you, I wanted to honor your wishes until you were in a position to think for yourself. I had the resources, the team, the connections.’
Emory was speechless for a moment and her eyes filled with tears. ‘I don’t know how I’m ever going to thank you…or repay your kindness.’
‘You getting better is enough. Now, when you’re feeling more awake, I’ll come and we’ll talk some more. Sophia is preparing some food for you, right now, and she is an excellent chef. Enjoy, get some rest. There’s a t.v. if you want to watch it – remotes by your bed and a call button if you need anything else.’
He stood but Emory, wincing slightly as the movement pulled on her sore abdomen, grabbed his hand.
‘Thank you, Dante. I mean it. From the bottom of my heart – you saved my life.’
Dante’s cheeks turned a little pink and he looked suddenly ten years younger and very shy. ‘Don’t mention it. I’m just glad you’re okay.’
When he’d gone, Emory laid back and closed her eyes. Her head was spinning, mostly from trying to recall what had happened, where she had come from, who she was. Right now, her world was this room, and Dante and Sophia. She wondered if they were married; they appeared to be roughly the same age. Even if they were just friends, they seemed to have a great relationship. Emory felt a pang. Was there anyone out there wondering where she was? That cared for her? She hoped there was because right now she was sure of only one thing.
That there was definitely someone out in the world who hated her enough to put a bullet into her.
Rome
Maximo Neri was wracked with nightmares he couldn’t shake. For the fourth night running, he awoke before three a.m. and got out of bed, lighting a cigarette and going out on his balcony. Even at this hour, Rome was buzzing and that’s why he loved this city. He’d been born in the south of the country, Trani, in Apulia, the illegitimate son of a billionaire shipping magnate. His father, Alphonso Neri, already had a son, Ferdinand, and a daughter, Perdita, with his wife but he adored Maximo. Maximo’s mother Lucetta, a piano teacher, had discovered she had terminal cancer six months after Max was born and so Alphonso’s wife, Nunzia, took Max in and treated him as one of her own, until her own death five years later.
Maximo had a great relationship with his parents and his siblings while he was growing up. It was only when he met Ophelie, heartbreakingly beautiful and sweet-natured that the problems with his half-brother, Ferdie, began.
Max sighed. He knew why he couldn’t sleep. Tomorrow, it would have been ten years since Ophelie died. Max closed his eyes. Died. No. Murdered. Viciously, brutally and by his own brother and why? Because she had loved Max instead of him.
God, the pain was still raw within him but he was glad of it. He didn’t ever want that anger, that grief to leave him because it fueled him, protected him. He’d never let himself get hurt like that again…except now he had met Clementine Saffran and he couldn’t get her out of his head. Even when he was fucking half of Rome – and losing friends because of it; Valentina had realized he was using her and slapped his face before leaving him in tears.
God dammit. He had thought finally screwing Clem would ease the need for her but instead, he had become like a man obsessed and it scared him. Obsession was never healthy; Ferdie had proved that.
Alphonso and his billions had helped cover up Ferdie’s crimes and he had banished his eldest son to Zurich, much to Maximo’s horror and disgust. He couldn’t believe Ferdie would get away with it but Alphonso stood strong and Ophelie’s death was officially recorded as an accident.
It had destroyed Max’s relationship with his father and Max’s desire for revenge had never wavered. With unlimited funds, however, Ferdie had alluded him for the last decade, moving around the globe easily but mocking Max at every turn.
Max remembered the phone calls. I’m glad I killed her. I wish I could do it all over again. Ferdie was a sick, sick fuck and Max had never stopped looking for him.
But while he was free, Max hadn’t dared form any long-term relationships. His devastatingly handsome face meant he could always find someone to sleep with but it was a lonely existence. The brief glimpse of family, of belonging he’d felt at that Seattle port had been enough to know that he wanted that.
Max finished his cigarette and went to brush his teeth. He glanced at the clock. It was almost four a.m. It would be seven p.m. in Seattle right now.
He wiped his mouth and grabbed his phone. Fuck it, I want to hear your voice.
He found Clementine’s number and pressed dial. In a few rings, he smiled. ‘Hi. It’s me.’
Bree Saffran felt lost. After she’d broken up with Jesse and then discovered her mom and dad in bed together, she had avoided everyone, camping out in a local bookshop and reading every day until it closed. She ignored Jesse’s texts and calls; her mom repeatedly tried to reach her but Bree would cut her and her father dead before stalking out of the room.
But, god, she was lonely. And the person she would have turned to, that she had turned to before all of this happened was dead. Bree now realized just how much of a friend as well as teacher Emory had been. Big sister, Bree thought now, you would know what to do. I wish I had known what Ray Grace was doing to you and yet you still had all the time in the world for us.
It just made Bree angrier at what she perceived was her father’s betrayal of Emory. What had her parents been thinking?
Her phone buzzed with a number she didn’t recognize. Hesitating, she answered the call.
‘Bree?’
Bree couldn’t place the female voice. ‘Yes. Who’s this?’
‘It’s Kizzie, Bree. Jesse’s sister, please don’t hang up.’
Bree fought against the urge to end the call but this girl hadn’t done anything to her, and she knew Kizzie was already fragile. Bree owed Jesse enough not to be rude to his sister. ‘Okay.’
Kizzie sighed. ‘Look, I wanted to say, Jesse’s an idiot. A big one. For what it’s worth, he really loves you but I’m not calling to fight his corner. He’s a big boy.’
Bree was mystified. ‘Okay, I appreciate that but then…’
‘Why am I calling?’ Kizzie gave a soft laugh then her voice choked a little. ‘I need someone to talk to, Bree. Someone who was there. Lexi…’
Suddenly Bree got it. Jesse and Kizzie’s sister Lexi was one of David Azano’s victims. Kizzie’s twin sister. Oh, you poor thing.
‘Of course, Kizzie. Of course. Look, shall we meet?’
They arranged to meet that afternoon in the city. Bree showered and dressed and went downstairs. Her mom was in the drawing room, talking with the journalist she was working with on Emory’s Foundation. Bree saw her mother look up as she passed, call out, but Bree ignored her. She wasn’t ready to forgive her yet.
Kizzie was waiting when she got to the coffeehouse and she smiled nervously at Bree as she sat down. ‘Thank you, Bree, for agreeing to come.’
She looked so jittery that Bree took her hand.
‘It’s okay, really. It’s nice to meet you properly.’ She gave Kizzie an embarrassed grin. ‘I’m sorry about calling you names before.’
Kizzie laughed. ‘I’ve been called worse. I’m glad someone was passionate enough about my brother…sorry.’
Bree had winced but now she sighed. ‘It’s okay. I’m sorry it didn’t work out, is all. But that doesn’t mean you and I can’t be friends.’
‘I’m glad.’
They ordered some hot drinks then chatted easily for a while. Bree found Kizzie had a wicked sense of humor and love reading as much as she did. She was grateful Kizzie didn’t talk about Jesse or if she did, it was just in reference to something else.
It was an hour or so before Kizzie shift uneasily in her chair and said. ‘What do you remember about that day? At the school?’
Bree drew in a deep breath. ‘I remember everything changing in the blink of an eye. The first gunshot. The first screams. I wasn’t in Mr. Azano’s class, I was across the hall. Everyone started running.’ Bree’s eyes unfocused as she remembered. I remember seeing Azano shoot Hailey Wells. He shot her in the stomach and she just dropped to the floor, and he shot her again in the head. God. Lee Wells, Hailey’s boyfriend, just lost it and charged at Azano but, of course, he just shot him down. A bullet in the chest. I remember it felt like slow motion then; I was the last out of the classroom opposite and Azano looked up slowly and I just ran.’
Her voice was shaking now and she refocused on Kizzie’s pale face. ‘I didn’t see Lexi and Sandrine, Kizzie, I don’t know where he…where they were. I ran to the teacher’s break room. I knew from there they had a large window I could get out of. But he’d fixed it so it wouldn’t open because there were…others. Other teachers. They’d tried to get out and he’d simply massacred them all. Jesus…’
She was shaking now and Kizzie got up and pulled her chair around so she could put her arm around Bree. ‘I’m sorry to make you go through this, Bree.’
Bree shook her head. ‘No, it’s okay, it helps weirdly.’
‘What happened next?’
‘I had never seen anything like it. It was…a slaughterhouse. It froze me in my tracks which gave him time to catch up with me. He was going to shoot me too but the gun ran out of ammo. He had a knife and he grabbed me but that was when Emory came. She knocked him away from me and told me to run. But I was too scared. He stabbed her and she screamed at me and finally I ran.’
Hot tears started to drop down her cheeks as she remembered. ‘I left her there, Kizzie, I left her to die and she nearly did. I ran outside and passed out when the SWAT guy found me.’
‘Did your teacher die?’
Bree shook her head. ‘That’s the thing – no, she didn’t. She was pretty badly hurt but she made it. Fell in love with my dad.’
Kizzie’s eyes opened wide. ‘I take it your parents are divorced?’
Bree nodded. ‘My dad and Emory were made for each other. What they had was incredible, anyone could see that.’
‘Had?’
Bree’s throat closed up. ‘Emory was murdered by her ex-husband six weeks ago. We still haven’t found her body.’ And my dad celebrated by screwing my mom. But Bree didn’t say that to Kizzie who was looking shocked.
‘Jesus.’
Bree shook herself out of her funk and tried to smile at Kizzie. ‘I’m sorry about Lexi. She was a really nice girl – god, ‘nice’ is a bad word. She was sweet and fun and kind and everybody loved her. I know people always say that after someone dies but in Lexi’s case, it’s the truth.’ She studied Kizzie now. ‘I don’t know why I didn’t see it, the resemblance, before, when I was mad at Jesse. I’m sorry, I was nutso that day.’
Kizzie shook her head. ‘Doesn’t matter. Lexi and I…well, we were as close as you can get but not very similar. She was the good one. I’m the one who screws things up.’
Bree shook her head. ‘Now come on, you’re a prodigy, right?’
Kizzie grinned. ‘A prodigy who drinks, smokes and fucks around. I was expelled, did you know that? From the Peabody?’
‘I didn’t know.’
‘I only told Jesse, guess he kept the secret. He’s a good boy. Sometimes,’ she added hurriedly as Bree made a face.
‘Can we not talk about him, today, at least? I’m still sore over it.’
Kizzie squeezed her hand. ‘Of course. How’s your dad doing? He must be heartbroken.’
Bree felt tears prick her eyes. ‘I thought he was. He was, I know it for sure.’ She was silent for a minute then she blurted it out, ‘I caught him and my mom in bed a few nights ago. I cannot believe he’d do that to Emory.’
Kizzie said nothing for a time then, ‘You’re mad at them?’
Bree nodded and Kizzie sighed. ‘Yeah. I know how that feels. When Lexi died, it was as if my parents just shut down. Refused to acknowledge it. They just pretended she never existed. Jesse and me…well, we were to toe the party line or be ignored too. We both reacted the same way – anger. Drinking and screwing around.’ She gave Bree a smile. ‘Until he met you. Just because it came back to bite him in the ass, doesn’t mean…sorry, sorry.’ She held up her hands as Bree started to protest.
Bree couldn’t help giggling at the mischievous look on Kizzie’s face. She felt a surge of warmth; she liked this girl, she really did, regardless of anything Jesse had done. And yeah, she hated to admit it but it made her feel less hurt about Jesse too, maybe even sympathetic.
Kizzie was watching her. ‘Look, I have a place out on Bainbridge Island…if you want to come over sometime and we can hang out, I’d like that. I have a guestroom too, if you want to get away from everything. Stay as long as you want. I promise, it’ll be just you and me.’
At that moment, Bree couldn’t think of anything more she’d like to do. ‘Yeah. Yeah thanks I’d like that.’
Kizzie hugged her. ‘Good. I think we can help each other, but more importantly, we can have some fun. I think we’re both in dire need of that. Come this weekend and stay for a couple of days.’
Bree promised she would and then they parted, Bree feeling more alive than she had in weeks. A new best friend. A new life. That’s what she needed. A new life
She drove home and tried to sneak into the house but Clem caught her and cornered her. ‘Bree, please. Talk to me. I’m sorry about what you saw but it happened and I can’t change that. But we can’t go on like this.’
Bree felt suddenly exhausted. ‘Mom…I’m not angry. Not with you. I know you and Maximo weren’t a couple. It’s Dad I’m furious with. Emory’s barely cold, Mom, and she saved me. Twice. It feels like such a betrayal.’
Clem looked ashamed. ‘I know it must feel like that. But, honey, me and your dad, we were just comforting each other. It wasn’t really sex for sexual gratification.’
‘Eww, Mom,’ but Bree relented a little. She hesitated then pulled her mom into a hug. ‘Just give me time. I need time, is all.’
Clem felt better after her talk with Bree but she didn’t tell her daughter that Maximo had called. When she’d heard his voice on the phone, her stomach had disappeared, that soft Italian purr sending thrills through her body. I’m not over you. But Maximo, his voice hesitant, had merely asked how Bree was, how Luca was doing, how he was coping after the news of Emory’s blood being found. Clem had talked to him, her voice breaking occasionally and then said goodbye. He had made no mention of them seeing each other and Clem was too embarrassed to suggest it. It was only after he’d gone, she realized what the time must be like in Rome.
One thing the call did remind her – it had been a mistake sleeping with Luca. Neither of them were in love with the other; it would just complicate things. When she tried to call Luca, he didn’t answer and she made a promise to herself to talk to him before the next day was out. They all needed to move on, now.
All of them.
Maximo had ended the call, with mixed feelings. Talking to Clem had soothed him, but it also brought up a fleet of new questions. She had told him t
hat Luca was having trouble dealing with Emory’s death and Maximo knew exactly how the other man would be feeling now. Hopeless. Useless. Empty.
Maximo had relived that terrible day, the day Ophelie died over and over and over again…
Ophelie looked tired but her smile still made his heart soar. She got up from her vanity table and came to greet him. ‘Hey, I did not expect you until later, mon amour.’
‘Couldn’t stay away.’
He kissed her feeling her soft lips open as his touched them, felt her curvy, luscious body curve around his. She slid a hand down to his groin and smiled. ‘Is that all for me?’
Maximo grinned and lifted her into his arms. The night was sultry but a cool breeze blew gently into her bedroom. Maximo carried her to the balcony of her house. In the distance the city of Naples lay lit up, and the shadow of Vesuvius loomed back against the night sky.
But Maximo only had eyes for the beautiful woman in his arms. Ophelie, for all her Parisian elegance, knew exactly how to seduce him, her long dark hair falling below her waist, her dark green eyes amused as they fixed on his. She slid from his lap and stood before him, pulling the straps of her gown from her shoulders and letting it slither to the ground. Maximo drew in a breath, his blood pumping, his cock responding to her. He pulled her toward him, his mouth seeking her breasts, sucking and teasing her nipples, his hand between her legs feeling her getting wet for him. He heard her soft moan as he massaged her clit, buried his face in her soft belly, his tongue finding the deep hollow of her navel.
‘Maximo…’ she whispered and the sound of her deep purr made him growl. He stood and pushed her back against the stone wall of her building, his hands rough now so heated was his desire for her. Ophelie smiled as he dropped to his knees and sought her sex with his tongue, pushing her legs apart. He knew her body so well, by now, knew she was completely uninhibited with him.
‘Mon amour, I want your cock,’ and chuckling, Maximo got to his feet and unzipped his pants, freeing his already diamond hard cock. He lifted Ophelie up and impaled her on his shaft, ramming his hips against hers. She gave a delicious moan as he fucked her, encouraging him with every gasp and moan. He fucked her against the wall then carried her to their bed and fucked her again, making her scream with pleasure as he drilled his rock-hard, huge cock into her again and again. He came hard, groaning her name again and again until they were both exhausted and sated.
Evergreen: An Alpha Billionaire Romance Page 17
