Risky Shot (17 page)

“I am my parents' youngest child. I am also the last one unmarried. My sisters were married off first. Then my oldest brother, who is heir to the throne of Rahmi, was married off next so he could get started on a family. Then the middle brother married. That left just me. My father had so many offers for the last Ali Rahman, that he didn’t know which one to take. He tried to get me to marry a woman from France whose father is very wealthy. He sells petroleum. I refused because I was only turning thirty and not ready to settle down. I had been told what to do all of my life and I wanted freedom. So I refused to agree to the marriage and told my father I wanted some time away from Rahmi. An epic battle took place and finally my mother sat us both down to negotiate. She agreed I should be able to marry whoever I wanted. She had been forced into marriage with my father and didn’t want the same for me. She helped persuade my father into giving me some time and set the limit at five years.

At thirty, five years seemed like forever. I thought I could easily meet someone and fall in love. What I did not count on was the press picking up the story and ranking me in all these bachelor polls with a blurb on how I must marry within five years or be disowned. That part is untrue. I will not be disowned. I will have to marry one of the women my father selects. We set out the terms and both signed the legal documents. For the past four years, I have been avoiding the women that I meet since they all seem to be after one thing and one thing only, money. They do not care for me. They only care for the title they get when they marry me.” Mo paused on the trail and looked around at the trees and rocks surrounding him.

“The deal stated as long as I made a formal engagement, according to the laws of Rahmi, before my thirty-fifth birthday my father had to honor the marriage. My birthday is exactly five months from now, December 7th.”

“What does a formal engagement entail?”

“My parents would need to meet you. You would have to undergo a physical examination by a doctor to determine you are in good health. You will be tested for genetic diseases that would hinder your ability to have children or that could be passed down to any children diminishing their ability to rule the country. You will also undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine if you are mentally stable. After the doctors have conducted these tests, which should only take a short amount of time, my father and mother will issue a royal proclamation that will be sent to the media for publication.”

She had stopped on the hill and unable to move. That was a lot more than saying ‘yes’ at the right time. She knew she didn’t have anything to worry about with the tests, but it felt degrading knowing you had to go through them. She felt more like a potential horse for sale than a wife.

“Dani, I know it’s a lot to ask, but I will be with you every step of the way.”

“Are you sure you’re not proposing? Because, I think you need to remember I haven’t said yes yet.” She spun on her heel and started down the trail again. Soon enough she heard him running after her.

“I am sure, this isn’t a proposal. I told you before, you will know it when you see it. What I want to know is, are you prepared for this? Do you think you can handle these tests and more importantly, do you love me enough to do them?”

She continued walking down the trail, but threw out her arm and smacked him in the stomach. “Of course I love you enough to do them. If by doing them, I help smooth the relationship between you and your father, then I’ll do them twice. I will do them even though I will feel like a horse on the auction block.”

“That’s just one of the reasons I love you.”

Mo opened the car door for Dani and helped her out. He slipped his hand into hers as they started up the stairs to Mo’s home. Dani leaned close to him as all the sexy thoughts she had for the past two hours were about to come true.

“I have been thinking of doing this to you.” Mo spun her towards him and kissed her hard and fast. His tongue pushed past her lips and caressed her mouth. Dani grabbed hold of his waist as he pushed the front door open. His mouth never left hers. He wrapped his arms around her and guided her through the door. His hands sliding lower until he could grab her bottom and pull her tight against his erection.

“Danielle Isabella Darina De Luca! What are you doing with that man’s hands all over you?”

Dani and Mo jumped apart. Mo shoved her behind him to protect her from the unknown threat. Dani stood on her toes and looked over Mo’s shoulder to the tall, olive skinned man with gray hair standing before them.

“Papa?”

She could feel the moan coming from Mo as he released his hold on her. She was about to run to her father when she heard another voice.

“Bella?” A beautiful blonde woman with bright blue eyes came out of the sitting room and stood next to Dani’s father. “Oh my.” Her face flushed as she caught sight of Mo’s tented pants. “Come on Anthony, let’s give them a moment.” She reached for her husband’s arm, but he jerked it away.

“I want to know who this
stronzo
is with his hands all over my daughter.”

If this didn’t kill the mood any faster, Dani didn’t know what did. She stepped out from behind Mo and placed her hand on his arm.

“Papa, Mama, this is Mohtadi Ali Rahman, my boyfriend. Mo, this is my mother, Mary De Luca and my father, Anthony De Luca.”

“It is such a pleasure to meet you both. Dani has told me so much about you two.” He held out his hand and shook her mother’s hand. When he reached toward her father’s hand, he paused. Mo's brows came together as he stared at her father. “Wait. Are you Tony De Luca, owner of De Luca Winery?”

“Kissing my ass is doing nothing to warm me to the fact you had your tongue down my daughter’s throat.”

“Papa!”

“Sir, I assure you I am not trying to soften you up, it’s just that I have worked with a Tony De Luca, owner of De Luca Winery before. I have conducted business with him over the phone, but never met him in person. I thought you were him, excuse my mistake.”

“You have?” Both Dani and her mother asked at the same time.

“Yes. De Luca Winery always donates a bottle of wine to be auctioned off for my charity, World of Difference. I am sorry for the confusion. I just thought it may be the same person.”

Dani watched her mother come over and grab her father’s arm. She leaned over and whispered in his ear. Her mother was always the calm one. Dani and her father were the ones with tempers.

“Mo, if I may call you that, how about we go sit in that lovely sitting room and get to know each other.” Her mother let go of her father and placed her hand on Mo’s arm, gently guiding him into the room filled with beautiful Impressionist artwork on the white walls. They moved past the Renoir and stepped onto the thick oriental rug.

Dani's parents took a seat in the two silk covered armchairs before her mother started talking again. “You mentioned a charity, what does it do exactly?”

“I raise money to help provide transportation and living expenses for families who have a child in need of specialized medical care. Care that cannot be provided in that country. We set up volunteer doctors and hospitals, and then work with the government to arrange for the child and family to fly to the hospital and obtain whatever treatment they need.”

“That sounds wonderful. I will also start donating. I can donate private skiing lessons and a week's stay at my husband’s resort in Maine. Now Tony, have you calmed yourself enough to listen to your daughter?” When she received a grunt in response, Mary stood up and turned to her daughter and enveloped her into a fierce hug. “I have missed you so much. I know we said we’d wait until the end of the month, but I just couldn’t do it. I am ready to hear everything." Her mother released her from the hug, and looked her right in the eyes. "Do you understand, Bella? Everything.”

Dani nodded her head and sat down next to Mo on the loveseat facing her parents. Well, she’ll tell them everything... to an extent. She started with the night of Kenna’s birthday and then moved on to the months she spent in New York tracking the people who were hunting her. She ended with the incident at Miss Lily’s and the fact that Ahmed and Cole were interviewing Agent Edwards today.

“I hope they tear him limb-from-limb,” Mary said as she sat back in her chair and crossed her legs.

“Mama! I have never heard you wish ill on someone before.”

“That’s before they messed with my baby. You don’t think I taught you all those things in the wilderness just for you to take your pictures, do you? I taught them to you because you are a beautiful, vibrant, rich lady living on your own in a world mixed with good and bad. I hoped the lessons I taught you would keep you safe.”

Dani saw the way Mo looked at her when her mother had said she was rich. She knew it was time to confess she wasn’t the penniless woman she appeared to be. That should be an interesting conversation.

“So, this Ahmed works for you?” her father cut in.

“Yes. He is very good at his job.”

“I am assuming everyone believes Danielle is safer here than in my compound in Italy, since she is still here. I would like to know why.”

Dani was about to answer her father when Ahmed walked confidently into the room in his black slacks and matching dress shirt left open at the collar.

“Simple. They can get into your compound just as easily as they can get her here. However, if she’s here, she has me, my team, an FBI agent, a group of retired special forces, and a very protective town all looking out for her.”

“So, what’s the plan? Because I have a few ideas myself.” That was her mother for you, always thinking.

Chapter Fourteen

Mo introduced Ahmed to her parents and sat back down, placing his hand on her knee. Dani caught the glare from her father, and was pretty proud when Mo just smiled. Most men were scared of her father, but Mo seemed to like his overprotective side.

“Ahmed, please fill us in on what you have learned today.” Dani said. She hoped there would be some kind of information they could use to capture Chad and bring down the rest of the corrupt group.

“For a trained member of the government, Edwards was pathetic. It took only eight minutes to break him. He told us about Assistant Director Pottinger and the Judges involved. It appears the Vice Mayor, Jarred Felting, is nothing but a follower.

Edwards said his only involvement with GTH involved stopping by to pick up some envelopes for Pottinger. It’s not enough to tie GTH into the takedown. Cole wants to find some connection before taking them all down. We have to wait for Kenna to get back from her honeymoon and hope she remembers enough of the faces to tie them all together. However, we did build on some more of the intelligence Danielle had discovered in New York. The group is very nervous about Chad. They think he’s had a mental break. Instead of doing as he was ordered and killing Kenna, he has been toying with her. Edwards told me that Chad may be eliminated and replaced soon. He also admitted that Judge LeMaster was involved in hiding the 9-1-1 tape. We’ll start looking into that now.”

“I am sorry to hash this all out again, but why exactly do you need to bring down the whole group of them?” Mary asked.

“First, we don’t have a body. There is no physical evidence of a crime. Cole has enough to arrest Chad, but not the others. There are some petty crimes we have uncovered, like lying on the affidavit for Kenna’s and Dani’s warrant, but Edwards is now in our custody. We have his testimony that certain judges can be bought, but we have to find actual evidence of it. Just like with Whitney. We have her testimony against Chad and her father, but we need evidence. Cole has a man working on the inside searching for that evidence. Until we have indisputable evidence, going forward would scare them into destroying all evidence. That’s why we’re going to be holding Edwards on ice along with Whitney. Cole is going to put forth a report about Edwards being killed in a gas station robbery. He ran Edwards' credit cards to match his actions while in Kentucky.”

“So, what does Danielle do now? How much longer does she have to wait until this is over?” Her mother sounded so worried that Dani didn’t know how she could handle the guilt. Between her mother and father worrying about her, and Kenna trying to take the blame for it all, this whole ordeal was affecting too many lives.

“She’s doing just what she’s supposed to do. She’s living her life out in the open. We have someone following her constantly to make sure there are no tails or no more surprises from those like Edwards. We are hoping someone will step into our trap, someone like Chad, and we can take them down.”

“I do not like this, Bella. I do not like it one bit.” Her father shook his head. “However, it seems you are doing everything you can to stay safe. To make sure, your mother and I will be staying for a while. I have placed my brother in charge of the winery for the next month.”

“You and your wife are more than welcome to stay here if you would like,” Mo told her parents.

She already knew the answer. There was no way in hell her father would allow her to stay in this house with Mo while no commitment had been made. It didn’t matter she was a grown woman. When it came to the men in Danielle's life, her father was the greatest protector she’d ever seen.

“Thank you for the kind offer. However, it is my belief an unmarried women should not be spending the night with a man. Bella, we have reserved a room where you are staying.”