Gambler's Folly (Bookstrand Publishing Romance)

by Mellie E. Miller

  “It’s not really much, cara, but it usually makes people happy. I do something similar in my establishments.”

  “What do you mean, ‘it isn’t much’?”

  “As far as costs are concerned. One meal here or there doesn’t cost much, but it makes people happy. And happy people come back.”

  The brunch was very nice, even if Damiano insisted it was fairly inexpensive. Brought to the room and set up on the balcony, the scrambled eggs, toast and fresh fruit went well with the champagne. And the cut glass vase full of fresh flowers atop the white linen tablecloth added an elegant touch.

  After a leisurely meal, they took their time to see the sights. Of course, they had the full retinue of retainers following them around, after the incident at the restaurant. Not that they were crowding them, but Marco, Paolo, Dante, and a couple other of Damiano’s men were in evidence whenever Karianna looked around. If she hadn’t known them, she’d never have noticed.

  “Dam, is it really necessary to have this many people shadowing us from behind every tree?” she asked.

  “Now, cara, I said we would spend one more day and do some sightseeing. But I will make sure you are as safe as I can without having you in a locked and secured location under guard.”

  “I’m sorry, honey. I must really put an extra load on your security.”

  “It’s fine, cara. I would need the security anyway, with this crazy business going on. They think they have found a way to manipulate me, but they are wrong. And once this is over, we’ll come back and really enjoy the area.”

  To prevent any opportunity to tinker with their dinner, they picked a little restaurant completely at random in the evening, before returning to the hotel. Kind of a rustic atmosphere, the menu was simple, but the food was excellent.

  “I think this is nearly as good as what they serve at the resort,” Karianna said.

  “Yes, it is very tasty, and much safer I think,” Damiano added. The wine was of good quality and quite a complement to their meal. As they lingered over coffee and dessert, Karianna noticed they seemed to be the subject of quite a few glances from other patrons.

  “I think someone just figured out who we are,” Dam said with a sigh. “I suppose we’d better start back to the resort, before it spreads any further.”

  He was really tense, Karianna decided, as they walked back to the car. Just being recognized had put him on edge again. So when they got to the resort, she suggested a stroll around the grounds to relax.

  The gardens and surrounding areas seemed completely empty, except for the two of them and their security. Maybe what he needed was a good run.

  “Dam, why don’t you change, just for a few minutes, and take a good run. It’s after dark, cloudy, everyone else is inside and there’s plenty of cover for you.”

  He searched her face before he glanced around, and she wasn’t sure what she saw behind those eyes, but it was just a bit scary. As he turned to motion Marco over, she caught her breath again.

  After a quick conference, he took her advice. Stepping behind a large clump of decorative grass, he undressed and changed, moving back into view as a large, beautiful black leopard. Nuzzling her hand quickly, he turned to slink off into the shadows.

  Every now and then she would catch a glimpse of something moving in the dark, a shadow within a shadow. Figuring her wait might be a long one, she sat down with her back against a tree and drifted into a daydream.

  About twenty minutes after he left her, she was startled by the sound of three cats in the distance. She hoped they were all friends, but from the sounds, she knew something was amiss.

  Slipping in through the dark, her three guys appeared with a fourth, all cats of various sorts. The fourth one wasn’t Dante, but someone different. Dam stepped back behind the grass, changed and dressed, so he could talk to her.

  “Cara, this is another friend who works with us sometimes. He reports that he and Dante have removed some very curious visitors to our suite while we were away. Since we were back later than expected, he came out to report to me and check on us.”

  “Is everything alright?” she asked him.

  “Yes, cara, it is fine for now. But we really must leave in the morning.”

  Chapter 29

  After a quick breakfast the next morning, they loaded their luggage into the car and drove home. Dam was unusually quiet on the way back, scarcely saying a word. The closer they got to their hotel, the more worried Karianna became.

  “Dam, honey, what’s wrong? Is there anything I can do?” she asked.

  “Cara, I’m sorry I’ve upset you. It’s just business. Soon it will be finished. In the meantime, I hope you can be patient with me when I am, perhaps, a little difficult.”

  Once settled back into their suite, Karianna went to take a nap while Damiano and his men dealt with their intruders. When she woke again, two hours later, he was still gone, so she made some coffee and sat down to read. Worried about her husband, she couldn’t keep her mind on the book, so when he came in nearly an hour after she’d made coffee, she couldn’t have begun to tell him what the book was about.

  Looking weary, Damiano came in and dropped heavily onto the sofa. Looking across the coffee table, he shook his head and asked, “Kari, amore mia, would you mind if we didn’t go down to dinner this evening? I’m really not in the mood to face the crowd tonight.”

  “No, Dam, that would be fine. You look tired anyway. Did you learn anything from your talk?”

  “Yes, a little anyway. Mainly they confirmed what we had suspected, so we know, at least, that we are on the right track. Everything is lining up for us now. This should all be over in a few weeks’ time.”

  “If you say so, honey. I’m just worried about you.”

  “Now what is to worry about? I can take care of myself, and I have Marco and Paolo with me, too. Please don’t let it concern you. Sono solo affari. It’s just business, cara.”

  But she worried all the same. The next evening they returned to their routine, but the undercurrent had changed. Yes, Damiano was in evidence in the restaurant and gaming rooms, and still a gracious host. But his manner was more formal, very controlled, as if he were hunting for prey through the crowds.

  One evening after dinner, while Karianna was getting ready for bed, she saw Damiano dressing in soft black trousers, long-sleeved black turtleneck, and tucking a black balaclava into his belt.

  “Dam, what are you doing?” she asked.

  “It is time to hunt, cara. I need information so I can plan, and the best way to get it is to seek it out.”

  “How dangerous is it?”

  “Cara, go to bed. I’ll be back before too long. Don’t worry. I won’t be alone.” With a quick kiss, he slipped out the door and into the night.

  Though she went to bed, Karianna hardly slept at all. So at a quarter before two, when Damiano walked softly into the room, she turned over to switch on the light.

  “Kari, amore, why aren’t you asleep?” he asked.

  “I was worried about you, honey. Did everything go alright?”

  “Well, yes, I suppose. We got our preliminaries out of the way, anyway.” Finished undressing, he gave her a quick kiss before going in to shower. Watching the clouds of steam escape into the bedroom, Karianna decided that, since she was wide awake, she could join him and maybe go back to sleep when he came to bed.

  Sliding into the shower behind him, she scrubbed his back while he rinsed the shampoo from his hair. After a brief, tender encounter in the shower, they both turned in for the night. Karianna could sleep in the next day, but she had no idea what his plans were. With any luck, he could get some rest.

  During the next week, Damiano grew more restless. Three more of his evenings were spent out doing reconnaissance for whatever it was he had in the works. How much of this was business as usual Karianna didn’t know, but it concerned her. He always had at least one of his men with him, and left one guarding the door to their suite.

  The third week wa
s much the same. Neither of them was getting enough sleep, with the late hours Damiano was keeping. His normal cheerful outlook was fading, too, and a sense of unease touched everything.

  Finally, Karianna felt she needed to do something to help. So over dinner one evening, she tried to get him to open up a little about what was going on.

  “Cara mia, it is business. Not quite the usual thing, but it is still business. There is too much to explain for you to understand. Don’t worry.”

  “But, Dam, I am worried. I can’t help it. You are so very on edge these days, so quick tempered that your people are on tiptoe around you.”

  “Have I been quick tempered with you, cara?” he asked.

  “No, but you are with everyone else. Marco and Paolo might as well be walking on broken glass, as careful as they are around you.”

  “I’m sorry we’ve upset you, Kari. It is a dangerous game we play right now, and one that we have to win. Our opponent is skilled and it will take patience and perfect timing to take him down.”

  “Why must you win, Dam? What is going on that is so important?”

  “Cara, I cannot explain, as I’ve said before. Please, leave it alone until it’s done. Suffice it to say that it involves more than me and my business. The outcome will affect many people across Gambler’s Folly. So I have to get it right the first time. There will be no second chance.”

  “Can I do anything to help, Dam?” she asked him, peering deeply into his eyes.

  “Yes, amore mia. You can train and make sure you can defend yourself. Knowing you are safe will take some of the load off of my shoulders. Become as dangerous as you can be, like a leopardess defending her young.”

  For one more week, Damiano was out hunting, as he called it. Karianna was sure he was going to become ill, with as little sleep as he was getting. She trained as much as she, Carl, and Chase could stand.

  “Karianna,” Chase began after a particularly brutal day, “you may be pushing too hard. Take a day off to rest tomorrow, and let what you’ve learned this past week have the chance to settle.”

  “Dam wants me to be prepared, just in case,” she replied.

  “Yes, I know. He spoke with me about the situation. But as your trainer, it is my responsibility to keep you safe here, too. Take tomorrow off and rest, Signora. Give your body a break before you injure yourself.”

  That evening over dinner, she complained about it to Damiano. “Well, maybe he’s right,” Dam answered. “Perhaps you should have a ‘ladies’ day out’ tomorrow. Go get a massage, or facial or whatever you would find relaxing. I’ll send Marco with you.”

  “How about a short break for you, too?” she asked. “You’ve been up all hours of the day and night, training and tense. Why don’t we take a long weekend and go skiing again?”

  “Would you like that, Kari cara?”

  “Yes, I would. We could sneak off without telling anybody in advance. You know, you could leave from the office, I’ll leave from the house, meet up someplace and take off. A secret lovers’ tryst.”

  “A lovers’ tryst, amante? Have I been neglecting you so much? Let me think about it, see if it can be arranged. I’ve done about all the recon I can do anyway. Now it’s a waiting game.”

  After dinner, they began their tour of the gaming rooms, but tonight it was more like it had been before. The little touches, caresses, passion beginning to kindle between them.

  “Hmm, I think you’re right, cara mia,” he said quietly. “I’ve missed this recently. Just another reason this business needs to finish. It’s ruining my love life.” When they managed to break away and return to their suite, smoldering passions burst into flame. They didn’t sleep much this evening either, but they did work off a lot of stress.

  Karianna took one day off from her training, and then went back to the gym. But her first day back was training of a very different sort.

  “Signora Leone,” Chase said as she entered the training area. “Let me introduce one of my instructors, Master Kwan. I was talking with him about you and your training yesterday, and he had some suggestions for me. But as this is more his field than mine, I asked if he’d come over and at least introduce them for me.”

  “Master Kwan, nice to meet you,” she said, confused.

  “Chase tells me you have been training close to your limit lately. While I appreciate dedication, moderation is also to be considered. But if you want to keep up every day, why not take one or two days each week and devote it to self-healing?”

  “Self-healing?” she asked. “What is that?”

  “Another part of the arts, an important one. Actually, it is not solely for self-healing. It can be used to help others as well. But it is very useful to help recover from injuries or overexertion.”

  “Sure, I’m game. How do we start?”

  “Have you ever done any meditation?” he asked.

  “Just what we’ve done here in training, before class.”

  “That’s a good beginning. We’re going to add to it, for healing starts from the center, from a place of calmness and peace. So sit comfortably, close your eyes, and take a deep breath…”

  As Karianna listened, she felt her body relax, and soon after, her mind felt more at ease. It was almost as if she was floating in midair. From there, she progressed to visualizations, at Master Kwan’s prompts, until she heard him count back up from one to five and tell her to open her eyes.

  “Now how do you feel?” he asked her and Chase, who had followed along with them.

  “I don’t know really. Lighter, full of energy, happy. It’s hard to describe.”

  “This was just an introduction. Practice every day, at least twice, until I see you again. At that time, we’ll add to this and see what progress we can make. You seem a quick learner.”

  “Thank you, Master Kwan. When will you be back?” she asked.

  “I’d like for you to have at least three days before our next lesson, so three days from now, just before the weekend.”

  “Sounds great,” she said, shaking his hand.

  Turning to Chase, she asked, “Is this something you do, too?”

  “Well, I’ve learned it, and I use it for my own benefit. But this is really Master Kwan’s field. He is what they call an energy healer and runs a clinic downtown. He has clients from all over the world who come to him, some from off-world. He’s really good, which is why I wanted him to get you started.”

  “Did Damiano tell you to do this?” she asked, suspicious of her dear mate.

  “No. I was training with Master Kwan a few days ago, and had the idea that it might be quite helpful to you, given that you’re Mr. Leone’s wife. I know things can get a little crazy around him sometimes. Since he wanted you to be able to defend yourself, I thought it would be good if you could heal yourself, too. At least a little bit, in case of injury.”

  The rest of the day, Karianna thought about the concept of healing, of self-healing. If what Dam had told her was true, she already had a latent ability coded into her genes somewhere, as a descendant of a priestess. Maybe this would awaken those abilities and she could use the skills together, make them each stronger somehow. She hoped and prayed she’d never need to find out, at least not over something more serious than a pulled muscle.

  When she spoke about it with Damiano, he was overjoyed. “But, cara, this is wonderful. Since you were never taught to use your abilities, never taught who you really are, this should open your mind to what is already there. And maybe give you other tools, too.”

  “It’s alright then, to take time out of training for this?”

  “Alright? It is marvelous, cara mia. It is part of who you already are. But not knowing how to do it myself, I didn’t even think about finding a master healer to help you regain that part of you.”

  The next lesson she had with Mr. Kwan focused more on feeling the energy, drawing it in through the top of her head and down through her hands.

  “It is this energy, the universal energy, that we can us
e to heal. Understand, you are not doing the healing. You are simply a channel or conduit, allowing the divine energy to flow. The body heals itself, whether drawing on its own energy, or drawing energy from the universe.”

  “So how does what I’m learning help?” she asked.

  “Energy healing is sort of like using a charger to boost a battery which has too little energy to work properly. The body knows what it needs to do, but has insufficient energy to accomplish it. You open a channel from which the body can draw as much energy as it needs to heal itself.”

  They spent her entire training time on energy work, learning to feel it, direct it. He showed her where to place her hands, so she could begin to practice self-healing, even if slowly. By the time they were finished, she was soaking wet.

  “Yes, working with energy can warm you up. I usually keep my room fairly cool, for my comfort, and provide a nice warm cover for my clients. They can’t relax and enjoy the time if they’re shivering with cold.”

  After Master Kwan left, she talked with Chase for a few minutes. “Does this really work?” she asked.

  “Actually, it does. And the more you practice with it, the better it works. I’ve seen near miracles in his office. You should book a healing session, just so you can see what it’s like.”

  “But there’s nothing wrong with me,” she protested.

  “You’d be amazed. Even if so-called Western medicine says you’re fine, I’d bet a fairly hefty sum that one session with Master Kwan would make you feel like a new person.”

  That evening, after practicing her new skills, she talked it over with Damiano. “What do you think? Should I try it and see what happens?”

  “Why not? If nothing else you will have an hour of relaxation.”

  “Have you ever had any sort of energy healing?”

  “Some. Remember, Mama is a priestess. So when we were children, with all the colds and sniffles, she would use her healing abilities for our good. It usually cleared things up quickly. More quickly than the other kids in the neighborhood.”

  “What is it like”

  “Like? It’s just like taking a nap, sort of. I always fell asleep. I would just lie down, under a blanket, kind of feel my body relax and drift off to sleep. The next thing I knew, Mama was telling me it was time to wake up, and I felt better.”