Risky Shot (19 page)

“Henry! If I passed on lunch, then do you really think I’d have sex with you because you compliment the shoes you can’t even see?” She rolled her eyes. “Go take one of those women drooling over Marshall. You can’t be above going after the women he rejected.”

“Good point!” Henry jumped up and headed for the front of the building.

Dani found case law supporting the adoption and highlighted it. She laid it on Kenna’s desk and rolled her head, stretching her neck. She heard the bell tinkle and heard Tammy flittering. It was either another Davies boy or Mo had come to pick her up. Mo walked around the corner and Dani had to stop herself from trying out Henry’s line about shoes. Mo looked delectable in a dark brown suit and ivory dress shirt.

“Good afternoon, love.” Mo wrapped her up in a hug and dipped her back for a kiss. “Ready to see me on the hot seat with your parents again?”

“At least my father isn’t yelling at you to get your hands off me anymore.” She laughed as she grabbed her purse and shut down her computer. “I was thinking about going to the fair this weekend. Would you like to go with me? I would love to see you wrestle a pig!”

“Why would I wrestle a pig?”

“To win me a prize of course! Tammy says they slick a pig up and if you catch it, then you win a prize.”

“I love you, but I don’t know if I love you enough to chase after a slicked up pig. Sorry, love. But, I would love to accompany you. It might be fun to see you catch a pig and win me a prize!” He walked her outside and waited as she locked the front door. “Marshall left when I got here. Did he tell you the FBI will be here tomorrow to look after you?”

“Yes. Miles told me that Cole passed the story off as Edwards forging the documents from Pottinger. And that they wanted to keep an eye on me just to make sure I was safe from other threats of any kind.” She waved to Roger Burns as he slowly made his way down the street toward the Blossom Cafe. A horn blew and she turned to wave at one of Kenna’s clients as they drove by. She was amazed at how fast Keeneston had turned into her home.

Delicious smells were coming from the dining room where she found her parents. “
Ciao il mio amore
.” Her father said in Italian as he stood to envelop her in a hug.

“Hello, Papa, Mama. Did you have a nice day?”

“Oh, it was wonderful. We took a bourbon tasting tour and traveled to all of the local distilleries,” her mother told her when she hugged Dani. “I have calmed your father, so don’t worry,” her mother whispered as the men shook hands. Dani and Mo sat down at the round table and she felt like she was back home in Italy.

Conversation flowed, food was passed, polite arguments were had, and politics debated. It was a typical dinner for her family. She could tell that Mo was taken aback at first, but he soon got into a debate with her father over Italian opera. He surprised her by making the argument for Handel as one of the most influential composers in Italian, despite being born in Germany.

“Mo! I didn’t you know spoke Italian.”

“Of course he does, Bella. He has always spoken to me in Italian when we discuss the foundation.” Her father went back to his debate with Mo and her mother gave her a wink. Her father was warming up to the man she loved and nothing could be more important.

They talked about opera, books, his racing stable, and charity. They talked about the rich history of her father’s vineyard and how it had been in the family for almost three hundred years. Her father was the current president and, being the patriarch, lived at the property. His brother and sister also helped run the operation. Dani's uncle was going to retire soon and her cousin, Franco, would be taking over for him.

Dani paused mid-bite when she heard a pot crash in the kitchen. She noticed everyone turned and looked at the swinging door when they heard Miss Lily shout, “Get! Get out of here right now!” The swinging door pushed open and Dani caught sight of a red blur streaking into the dining room. Miss Lily came running through the door next, with her broom in hand. Brutus darted across the room and leapt into Dani's lap.

“Brutus, what have you done?” Before she could find out, Miss Lily’s broom smacked him on the head. Dani heard the low growl, but it sounded muffled. She looked closer and saw a little tail hanging out of his mouth. “Oh gross!” Dani jumped up, dropping Brutus to the ground.

“Don’t give me that evil look! You have a mouse in your mouth! Get outside, now!” Miss Lily went to open the front door and found herself in a staring contest with a cat. That is, until Miss Lily smacked his rump with the broom again. Brutus gave her the cat eye, so she smacked him again. “This, this, cat destroyed a pot filled with heavy cream when he decided his little treat would go down nice with a drink. He tipped it over and then set the mouse down to lap up the cream. When I tried to sweep him and his treat outside, he growled at me and darted in here."

“Come on, Brutus. Outside.” Brutus just stared at her. She placed her hands on her hips and decided to get tough, “Fine. No more dinners over at Mo’s.” Dani raised her eyebrow and stared him down. She heard the contained laughter at the table and knew she looked ridiculous negotiating with a cat. But felt a surge of satisfaction when Brutus finally blinked. He stood up, tossed his head back, and slowly swaggered out of the house.

After dessert and wine from the De Luca winery, the men retired to the front porch to smoke cigars. Dani and her mother sat on the comfortable white and yellow striped sofa in the sitting room. She could hear her father and Mo laughing outside and smiled.

“It is. But it’s happening so fast, Mama. I have only known him two weeks.” Dani shared the internal fear she had been struggling with to her mother. She was scared he would change his mind about her after knowing her for so little of time. Numerous 'what ifs' kept popping into her head. What if he didn’t like that she wore socks to bed on cold nights? What if he didn’t like that she’d eat her breakfast over the sink when she was in a hurry?

“Bella, do you not remember the story of how I met your father?”

“Of course I do. You met in Aspen when you were skiing.”

“Oh, there’s so much more. I had just competed in the Lake Placid Olympics and finished fourth in downhill. I missed out on medaling by one hundredth of a second. Upset, I decided to head to Aspen to relax and ski some. It was my first day there. I was on my second run of the day when I went flying by a group of six men. At the bottom of the hill, I took off my skis and went to get a drink. A handsome man approached me at the coffee shop. I recognized him as one of the group I passed. He introduced himself as Tony. He told me that he and his cousins were visiting for the week and asked if he could buy me a cup of coffee. He brought it back to the table and we have been inseparable ever since. You talk about things moving fast. We were engaged before we left Aspen at the end of the week.

Your grandfather was furious. He made your father look like a teddy bear. He threatened him with a bear trap! But it didn’t matter to me, and eventually your grandfather saw that. Just like your father, Grandpa accepted it in the end. Now your father is the son Grandpa never had. We stayed at your grandfather’s long enough to get married in my church and pack. Bella, when you talk of fears and not knowing each other long enough, all I can do is tell you that time is inconsequential when dealing with matters of the heart. You will find that if you love a person, truly love them, then you will love all of their faults just as much as all of their assets. I have been married to your father for twenty-nine years and I still find things out about him that I didn’t know before. That’s the wonderful part of marriage, Bella.” Her mother patted her leg and stood up as her father and Mo walked inside. “Tony, let’s go to bed and leave these young ones to their night.” With a wink, her mother steered her father upstairs to their third floor room.

“I think your mother has the right idea. Think we can sneak up without Miss Lily seeing us?” Mo held out his hand and she placed it in his. He gave it a little squeeze and peeked in the door. “Shh. She’s in the kitchen. Come on.”

She stood up, stifled a laugh, and let Mo lead her upstairs. He opened her bedroom door and they quickly jumped inside when they heard Miss Lily in the foyer. As soon as the door, was closed his hands were on her body. He ran his fingers and down her back.

“I have wanted to touch you all over since I picked you up at the office today.” He reached down and pulled off her shirt. He slid his hands up to her breasts and cupped them before pulling down the straps of her bra. He kissed her hard and fast before he moved his lips to her neck. “Even more, I have wanted you naked.”

“I think that can be arranged.”

Chapter Fifteen

Dani couldn’t stop the extra bounce in her step any more than she could keep the smile off of her face. She should be exhausted. Instead, the hours of lovemaking left her feeling giddy. They had made love into the night and then once again at dawn.

She pulled open the door to her office and found Henry practicing his golf swing. Tammy was behind the desk making faces as he tried to swing at a crumpled ball of paper.

“Should I even ask?”

“No.”

“Yes.” Tammy laughed and Henry looked embarrassed. “See, Henry signed up for the Chamber of Commerce Golf Scramble at the fair today. What he failed to think through is that he has never played golf!” Tammy laughed again when Henry swung and missed again. “Strike three! You’re out!”

“Geez Tammy, way to be supportive.” Dani walked over to Henry and took the club out of his hand. “Watch. Fingers laced. Stand straight, but not too rigid. Eyes on ball. Pull back. Swing.” She demonstrated and handed the club back to Henry.

“Yes. I remember.” The ringing phone cut off the conversation before Dani could ask when Tammy was going to head out. She walked into her office, put her purse down behind the desk, and turned on her computer.

She had a list of things to look up for Kenna before court on Monday. She looked into criminal statutes and case law for most of the morning. The phone and walk-ins kept Tammy busy non-stop. At Noon, Dani grabbed a frozen lunch, and quickly returned to her work. The work took twice as long to complete since she kept stopping to think about Mo. She was making a list of all the things she wanted to do with him this weekend. She was also thinking she needed to remember her camera for the fair. She didn’t know how she was going to do it, but she wanted a picture of him wrestling an oily pig. Oh, what his father would do if he saw that!

“Knock knock.”

“Hmm?”

“I want to know what, or should I say who, you were thinking about to get such a look on your face.” Tammy walked into the room and put a hip up on the corner of her desk.

“Okay. I will put the closed sign up and lock the front door so no one will bother you. Most people are making their way to the fair now anyway. Have a good time this weekend.”

Dani watched Tammy jump off the desk and skip out the door. She heard the front door open, close and then the lock being thrown. She scanned over Kenna’s note and saw the last law that she needed to research. She didn’t bother to look up when she heard the bolt being unlocked or the tinkle of the bell over the door.

“What did you forget, Tammy?”

“One thing I can never forget is you.”

Dani’s head shot up and all of the blood drained from her face. Black splotches appeared in front of her eyes and danced around. “Chad,” she whispered. She started to move to grab for her gun hidden away in her purse, but Chad was faster. He dove over the desk, crashed into her, and knocked her to the floor. His legs hit her computer and sent it crashing to the ground. Her purse flew out of her hands and landed to the side of the desk.

She couldn’t breathe. When he landed on her, he knocked the wind out of her. Her head felt like it was split in two from where it cracked against the floor. She lashed out with her hands in panic as she tried to get some air into her lungs. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from his face. He looked like he had lost a lot of weight and his spray tan had worn off. But the unmistakable glint of evil still shown in his eyes. His mouth curved up in a smile. He loved watching her fight him.