His Betrothed Page 8

  Chapter Eight

  At 6:00 a.m., the phone rang on the business line in the upstairs study. At the polished tiger maple conference table, Tony sat studying the blueprints for the shopping center. Grimacing at the interruption of his private time, he put down his cup of amaretto-flavored coffee on its saucer and reached a well-manicured hand to the ivory-colored telephone.

  “Yeah.”

  “Know who I am?”

  He hesitated only a moment

  “You’re a jerk,” he said, enraged.

  “No, Tony, I’m your new best friend.”

  “Why am I talking to you?”

  “Because I know who killed your parents.”

  “Who?”

  A bitter laugh.

  “Tony, that was good. Very good. You had just that perfect touch of innocence. Maybe if you go to trial, you can tell the judge to have mercy on you because you’re an orphan.”

  Tony said nothing, cradling the phone between his shoulder and head while he carefully rolled down his shirtsleeves and put on his cuff links. Twin sterling silver power drills, a gift from the president of the carpenter’s union in gratitude for the sweetheart deal the union got from the Sciopellis.

  He thought about his parents, about the dinner party, about the way his mother had gotten out of the back of the car first. She usually got out of the car last, after her husband, because he was such an impatient man and always wanted to be ahead of everyone wherever he was.

  “I would think you’d be celebrating now,” Tony, Jr., said bitterly. “Is this a phone call to gloat?”

  “Neither of us are the kind of men who have the time or the heart for celebrations. And I never gloat. I boast, I cajole, I bluster. But never gloat.”

  “Then tell me what you want from me.”

  “All I want is Guy, Jr.,” the other man said. “Bring him to me. And don’t go cowboy on me. I want him alive. I’m taking him down.”

  “Finally. But if he’s alive he’ll talk.”

  “Not if I’m the one asking the questions.”

  “So that’s the deal?”

  “That’s the deal.”

  “What are you going to do to him?”

  “Put him away. Far away. Forever.”

  “Joliet?” Tony asked, referring to the state’s maximum security penitentiary.

  “Someplace like that. He’ll get what he deserves, the Martin family will get what it deserves and I might, just might, break open a beer and toast our cooperation. Don’t worry, I won’t force you to join me. Beer is too lower-class for your tastes.”

  Tony pursed his lips and thought this new development over.

  “I don’t want anyone interfering with my business,” he said, making a quick notation on the blueprint in front of him. “I don’t want what my father had.”

  The responsive laughter was without humor.

  “Tony, don’t you see? That’s the whole point of this conversation.”

  The line went dead and Tony stared at the phone for a long time.

  “YOUR BROTHER IS LATE,” Angel whispered. She opened the front door and welcomed Zach with a worried, distracted kiss. “My brothers are up in the study throwing a fit. They’re saying all kinds of terrible things. They’re furious.”

  Zach stepped into the cool, marble-tiled foyer. Outside, it was already hot.

  “My brother doesn’t exercise a lot of judgment,” he noted. “He’s probably sleeping off a terrible hangover.”

  “Well, O’Malley’s going to love all of this,” she said. “And he’s going to get every word.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I brought up a tray of doughnuts and coffee to them.”

  “I didn’t know you were that domestic.”

  “I didn’t know I was that brave,” she said over her shoulder.

  He grabbed her hand. “Or that foolish,” he said. “You should have let me do it. What if they…?”

  She ran a hand up his shirt, placing a single cassette the size of a matchbox into his pocket. She proudly patted it

  “They didn’t. They couldn’t. They were too intent on bad-mouthing your brother to pay any attention to me. The recorder is wedged between two books on the bookshelf—I looked like I was interested in literature. My brothers certainly aren’t.”

  “If you insist on staying, I will be in charge of tapes.”

  “I’m more than decorative.”

  “Yeah, but your decorative is really good. And I’m the one in charge here. Now, ssshhhhh,” he said, silencing her with a quick kiss.

  They looked up to see Tony coming down the stairs. He wore a European-cut navy blue suit with a starched white shirt and yellow shantung silk tie. He smiled warmly at Zach.

  “When I heard the doorbell, I thought it might be your brother,” he said, pulling back his cuff to glance at his Rolex. “It’s eleven o’clock. Whatever could be keeping him?”

  “Maybe he’s sleeping off a drink,” Zach suggested. “He was in a lot of pain last night. Dr. Morgan gave him some pain pills. Add to that a few martinis and bing! my brother is incapacitated.”

  “Again. He indulges himself too often,” Tony chided. “That’s why we’ve been troubled by his working with us. His truckers are always late, his workers sloppy and he always seems to have trouble keeping current on his subcontractors.”

  “I’ll tell him to shape up.”

  “This whole mess wouldn’t happen if you were running your family’s company. You’re levelheaded, disciplined, but, ah! I forget myself. You don’t have an interest in business.”

  “You’re right. I don’t,” Zach said evenly, keeping his arm firmly, and protectively, around Angel.

  “What would you do if you didn’t have Guy, Jr., to run the Martin company?” Tony speculated.

  “The Martin company would go out of business,” Zach said.

  Tony nodded. “So what are you two” lovebirds planning for today?”

  “We’re going to the zoo with Anna.”

  “Hardly romantic, but very thoughtful,” Tony said. “Tell your sister that Maria will bring over the scale model of the Winnetka Shopping Mall next week. We’ve gotten all the subcontractors and village officials onboard with the vision so we’re not going to need it.”

  “Thank you,” Zach said. “I don’t know how you do it, but all your scale models for every project you’ve ever built have been just the right size for her dolls.”

  “I tell Salvatore to make them that way,” Tony said, bowing slightly to acknowledge Zach’s gratitude. “Now, Angel, will you be back home in time for dinner? Or shall I tell Maria that you’ll be out?”

  “I actually thought I wouldn’t go to the zoo. Maria mentioned that she was going shopping. Maybe I could fix this evening’s dinner.”

  “Oh, no, I won’t have that,” Tony said. “Mrs. Tobin will take care of that. I want you to have a good time while you’re my guest. During the day, we’ll just be talking business when Guy shows up.”

  “Maybe we could help,” Angel offered. “Zach and I—if we sat in. Maybe defuse some of the tension?”

  “I don’t think so,” Zach said, firmly squeezing her arm. “Anna was so looking forward to seeing you today.”

  “Besides, it’s just a simple business problem,” Tony said. “Our father has contracted with the Martin Trucking Company for years for all our hauling and trucking needs. We just disagree about how that relationship will continue.”

  “But your business meeting last night resulted in Zach’s brother being shot,” Angel reminded him, wincing at Zach. He let go of her arm. “A simple business meeting shouldn’t end in violence.”

  “Oh, Angel, you must think we’re savages or that we solve every problem with a gun.”

  “Why would you have them around?”

  “Because we’re in a rough trade. We work with a lot of transient men who can’t get jobs elsewhere or with men who are by nature physical and think all problems can be solved with brawn and not brain
. I myself carry a gun,” he said, pulling back his suit jacket to reveal a small, thin shoulder holster that didn’t interfere with the line of his clothes. “And so do Salvatore and Rocco. Guy has more reason than any of us—trucking can be a rough-and-tumble trade.”

  “But last night…”

  “Last night was unusual. We were all a little overexcited. I can assure you that won’t happen today. Zach, you’ve never shown an interest in our meetings before,” Tony observed, eyeing him speculatively. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  “I’m not the one who’s interested. Angel is. And I think she was just a little off put by last night’s brawl. As for me, I just want my brother’s safety guaranteed.”

  “You are so protective of him.” Tony sighed. “Even when we were young, it was always you coming to his rescue but never the other way around. And the funny thing is that you don’t have anything in common. It’s as if you weren’t even related.”

  “We are brothers and I love him. And I want to enjoy myself today,” Zach insisted. “I can only do that if I know Guy isn’t in any danger.”

  “You have my word,” Tony said. “It’s business and I’ll control my brothers. And I’m sure with his firing arm out of commission, he won’t be in the mood for fighting, either.”

  “Then I’ll be going,” Zach said. “Come on, Angel, we promised Anna.”

  She stared at him for several seconds, deciding whether to do as he asked or hold her ground.

  “If you don’t want to go, you could go shopping with Maria. I believe she’s taking Isabel with her,” Tony said. “They were saying something about Chanel having a once in a lifetime sale.”

  “I can’t afford Chanel. Even on sale.”

  “Then here, let me give you some spending money,” Tony suggested, pulling out a thick wad of hundreds. He pulled off a couple of dozen. “They have panties this year that cost a hundred dollars. I should know, I got the store charge from Maria’s purchases. She bought seven—one for every day of the week.”

  “Anna’s going to be disappointed,” Zach warned.

  Angel looked at the bills Tony offered her—more than two months of her own salary—and for some reason, the thought of spending it on an item of clothing revolted her.

  “No, Tony, thank you,” she said, careful not to offend. “But I think I really would rather go with Zach and Anna.”

  “Have it your way,” Tony said smoothly. “But the offer’s open, whenever you need spending money just tell me.”

  “Thank you.”

  Angel ran upstairs and got her purse. As she followed Zach to the car, she looked back once to the house. Tony stood in the doorway, observing them with his hands deep in his pants pockets. He nodded a farewell.’

  “I wish we could have stayed.”

  “There wasn’t any way to do that without Tony getting more suspicious than he already is,” Zach said. “And besides, I can’t protect Guy from himself.”

  Without putting you in danger, he added silently.

  Chapter Nine

  They drove four miles through Winnetka and Glencoe streets flanked by buckthorn and maple. Grand houses were set back from the street, often surrounded by a border of gaily colored perennials and wrought-iron fencing. Even with all the wealth in homes, the downtown of Winnetka was shrouded in gloom. Shops boarded up, For Lease signs in nearly every window, nobody there to see the charm of the Tudor-style buildings and brick-bordered sidewalks.

  At the gate to the Martin driveway, Anna stood waiting. Zach slowed the car to a halt and slid down his window.

  “Daddy was yelling again,” Anna explained. “So I came out here to wait for you.”

  Zach got out and let her in the back seat.

  “Sometimes I think he doesn’t like me.”

  “That’s not true,” Zach said.

  “Well, he can’t make me unhappy because today we’re going to the zoo,” Anna said. “Can we see the monkeys first?”

  “Sure,” Angel said. “Are they your favorite animal?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Mine, too.”

  The two women talked about animals while Zach walked up to the house to tell his mother he was taking Anna. When he returned to the car he had a disturbed expression.

  “Can we listen to the radio?” Anna asked.

  “Okay,” Zach agreed, and he turned on a rock-and-roll station. He leaned close to Angel and whispered in her ear. “My mother says that Guy didn’t return home last night It’s not unusual for him—he likes to party—but it’s not good.”

  “Should you go looking for him?”

  “I called his office, but they haven’t seen him. I don’t have a clue where else he’d be.”

  “What can we do?”

  “Nothing,” Zach said. “At least, not for now.”

  Angel tilted her chin up. “Then let’s not think about it. We should make this a nice day for Anna.”

  They didn’t speak of family matters for the rest of the day. Instead, they devoted themselves to Anna and, in doing so, rediscovered a lighter side to themselves, the side that had been left behind in childhood.

  They walked through the zoo; rented a lagoon paddleboat for an hour and ate animal-shaped French fries with their lunches at the boathouse.

  After stuffing themselves, they drove down to the Sears Tower, and while Anna and Angel took the elevator up to the top-floor observatory, Zach walked down the street to drop off the tape with O’Malley’s secretary.

  “Where is he?” Zach asked.

  “Some kind of meeting with the mayor,” said the dyed redhead at the desk in front of O’Malley’s office. “Betcha want to know what it’s about.”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Only for you, Zach, and only because you’re cute. Although that’s not going to do me any good because I’m too old for you.”

  “Seventy isn’t too old,” he said easily. “Seventy is when a woman is just hitting her prime.”

  “Keep talking, charmer. You’re the only man who gives me a little flirt now and then,” she said, and then leaned forward in her desk until her mouth was near his ear. “The mayor wants action on the Sciopelli murders. Now.”

  “Why’s he so hot on it?”

  “Because they think that if it looks like the Sciopelli company is weakened in any way, other guys are going to come in.”

  “Gangs?”

  She leaned backward and scared off a paralegal who had been approaching the O’Malley sanctum.

  “Enough with my perfume already, Zach,” she said loudly. “Get a girl your own age.”

  Zach gave her a courtly kiss on her powdered cheek and figured that she had given him every piece of information she could. It was enough to make him realize that danger could come from all sides.

  When they dropped off Anna at the Martin home, she had to be awakened from a satisfying nap in the back seat.

  “This was fun, Angel,” she said. “When will we do this again?”

  “Soon,” Angel promised. “Soon.”

  “Thanks, Zach,” Anna said, and ran up the steps into the house.

  “Have you seen or heard from Guy?” Zach asked his mother at the door.

  “No,” she said. “I’m very worried. His office called several times. There’s been some trouble on the Winnetka site.”

  “What kind of trouble?” Zach asked.

  “Another trucking company coming in and telling our men they’re off the job.”

  “Mom, it might be for the best if Guy didn’t work on Sciopelli projects all the time. This happens a lot, trouble on the jobs. If he could do work for other people, maybe he wouldn’t have these fights with the Sciopelli brothers.”

  “You always say that, but I’m still afraid.”

  “All right, I’ll try tonight to track him down.”

  Zach and Angel found the Sciopelli house empty. Maria and Isabel must have been clearing out the famous French designer’s Chicago showroom and the brothers would prob
ably be at the site. Mrs. Tobin had left a casserole in the oven and had set the dining room table so Angel didn’t need to do a thing.

  Zach helped Angel carry her zoo souvenirs up to the guest room. Angel, dumping a lavender-colored teddy bear on the bed, turned around.

  She kicked off her sneakers. “Come here,” she said, and she sauntered confidently to him. She tugged at his tie playfully, as if he were a puppy on a leash.

  He reached back to shut the door.

  She kissed him, the way he liked to be kissed. The way no other woman in ten years had learned to kiss him. She opened her mouth to him, offering him her soft, wet vanilla-scented flesh. He pulled away with a rich sigh.

  “You want to make love on a bed?” he teased. “Isn’t the chaise in the pool cabana exciting enough for you?”

  She ran a delicate hand up his shirt. “All right, it’s a little kinky,” she conceded. “A bed, sheets, pillows. It’s so…”

  “Wonderful,” he said, sweeping her up in his arms and carrying her the scant three feet to the bed.

  With one hand he yanked back the Battenburg lace comforter, while with the other he gently placed her on the white-on-white monogrammed sheets beneath.

  “Wait, I’ve got sand on me from the playground,” Angel warned. They had squeezed in a trip to the Lincoln Park playground and the North Avenue Beach.

  “I love sand on a woman,” Zach growled.

  He had a moment of self-consciousness when he realized that he seldom smiled, even more rarely was playful, but that Angel had given him back that part of himself.

  In the middle of turmoil, she had made him see that life could be enjoyed. He kissed her once on the forehead in gratitude, once on the cheek in reverence to her beauty and innocence and then pulled the sweetness from her lower lip as if she were the lushest of fruits.

  Heaven! He sat astride her as he tugged off his suit jacket, which was specially tailored not as a fashion statement, but because it hid his shoulder holster effectively. Even in the appellate division of the district attorney’s office, he was required to carry a gun. He never used it.

  He unstrapped the holster, marveling at her beauty. At the way the light from the dying sun seem to sprinkle gold dust in her hair. The pink of her cheeks that was like the underside of a newly blooming rose. The way her mouth opened in anticipation of his next kiss. The roundness of her breasts and the slim curves of her stomach.