Taking Jana (Paradise South #2) (30 page)

CHAPTER 55

A
ntonio wasn’t at
his house. She had knocked twenty times in case he was asleep. Where the hell was he then?

She hopped back into the cab just before it left and pulled out Antonio’s business card. Pointing to it, she said, “Please, take me here instead?”

Only a few minutes down was the depot for A.R. Limousine Service.

“Thanks and keep the change,” she said, handing the cabbie more than a twenty percent tip from the
way-too
-huge amount of cash she still had in her purse, which she hugged tightly to her chest.

She approached the tens of limo drivers all gathered around, smoking and shooting the shit in front of one of the many large bays of the enormous garage.

“Excuse me? Can you tell me where to find Antonio Ruiz?”

One of the men pointed to a row of offices on the far side of the massive depot. Only one of the offices was lit. “Boss Man’s that way.”

She thanked him and walked straight back past the fleet of about
thirty-five
black stretch limos and two stretch SUVs. More were probably out and about she guessed. She couldn’t believe he handled this level of operation and drove
full-time
himself. But, actually, yes she could.

Jana was only fifty feet from Antonio’s office when his office door flew open. And a scantily dressed woman came out, pulled her little dress down at her thighs, screamed, “Fuck you!” then slammed the door behind her.

Jocelyn Carlson, no doubt. The woman’s face had been sprawled all over the tabloids for months.

The woman stormed past Jana, pausing for a split second to look her up and down, and oh God, the woman’s assuredly expensive scent made Jana nauseated. Then the great Ms. Carlson huffed out of the garage to the driver’s side of a bright yellow coupe.

Oh, poor thing
. The woman had to drive herself? Jana laughed. Apparently
no
limo service would drive the wretched woman.

Just before vanishing into her vehicle, the other woman gave Jana the middle finger,
so classy
, and Jana, on instinct, smiled wide then blew the other woman a big fat kiss.

*

Already supremely emotional, her day having been made up of one hell after the next, it felt good, in contrast, to laugh. And God, that woman was laughable. Whatever Antonio said to Ms. Carlson to bring her to the next level of fury, it made Jana feel even better.

But what would bring Jana to the brink of ultimate satisfaction was to have Antonio’s arms wrapped tight around her.

She watched him through his office window. His head in his hands, elbows on his immaculate desk. She knocked on the glass window of the door.

“I already told you, Ms. Carlson, to get off my premises, or I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” Jana said in her most seductive voice as she opened the door a crack.

Antonio lifted his eyes, then his head, which tilted just slightly while the right side of his mouth curled. And his eyes softened to match a sigh that she took to be relief. He waved her in and stood up.

“God, I’m glad you’re here. Your dad?” he asked, moving toward her, arms extended, obviously ready to pull her into him.

But Jana slammed into his arms before any answer came. She hugged him hard and tight, like a reunion from being forever apart.

“I know why you did it, even though I hate that you did it when I asked you not to. Thank you, Antonio. For loving me.”

*

He pulled her onto his lap and held her. After the day from hell, this was sheer heaven, his princess in his tight embrace, her breath in synch with his own. He knew though they should get out of there, to a less peopled place. Neither of them needed any more visitors, not Jocelyn Carlson, not anyone.

But he let a few more minutes drift by, as she seemed to need the tranquil stillness for a little longer.

“So my father, we’re not sure what will be…” she whispered, answering his question from minutes ago. “But he and I made our peace.”

“I’m so relieved you got to talk to him,” he said stroking her thick silken hair down her back. “It still haunts me, not having told my mother all I’d wanted to before she…passed.”

Jana looked up at him and into him, injecting him with her empathy, her compassion.

“She took her own life.” His words left him on an
out-breath
, his heart rattling his rib cage. “I was,
am still
so…angry with her. She left us, just gave up. Robbed us of the most wonderful person.” He choked back emotion and grabbed a deep, clearing breath. “I wish you could’ve met her, Jana. And, oh God, how she would have adored you.”

“I’d love to hear all about her, Antonio. I’m sure she was amazing.”

“She was. But Jana, you…you blow my mind. Just when I thought there was no more
goodness
in the world, you appear.”

He kissed her lips lightly, then pulled away, hearing his drivers laughing and hollering, causing a ruckus. Probably carrying on about the most recent Jocelyn Carlson episode.

He shook his head. “Hey, let’s get outta here. I think we both need some air, some peace, and maybe even some goddamn levity for Christ’s sakes!”

“Yes, sir,” she agreed with a sharp nod. “Maybe we can go for a drive?”

They got up and moved out of his office. “Sure, we can drive anywhere you’d like,
mi
amore
.”

*

A few steps outside his office, she felt a rush of excitement and heat.
We can drive anywhere.
His words hit her.
Freedom.
She’d finally pulled open the dark curtain she’d been living behind, unveiling a sweet and bright future. A life with Antonio. It seemed like a dream.

From an uncontrollable urge to share this weightlessness with him, she looked up at Antonio and threw her arms up to his neck. Antonio took her hips in his grasp and lifted her high above his head. Then, bringing her down to his face, he kissed her madly.

Whooping cheers, whistles, and applause broke their kiss, and Jana felt her cheeks turn bright red. Antonio laughed out loud.

He nodded to his crew. “Show’s over. Get going, boys. Go home!”

The drivers dispersed and he returned his attention to Jana, holding her close, her feet still dangling as he swung her from side to side, her cheek pressed to his.

She whispered, “I drew my line with my folks, I’m done with the club, and now I’m done with them. I’m free! I’m free to be happy, and I’m happiest with you, Antonio.”

He slowly let her down, her body sliding down his strong, protective torso, and when her feet touched the ground, he held her face in his hands. “Without being condescending, princess, I’m so damn proud of you.”

She smiled as he moved to kiss her again. His lips pressed against hers, then he took her hand and started leading her across to the next bay where she saw his limo parked.

“You know,” he said, “my family’s going to eat you up alive. They’re going to love you, and you’ll know what real family is, maybe too much real family!” He laughed.

Pausing his stride, he turned to her. “You deserve the world, Jana Park, and if you come back with me…to meet them and to live…God, you will,
we
will have such a wonderful life. Will you? Will you come with me, officially? I know the prestigious hospitals and doctors aren’t there, but—”

She stopped his words with two fingers to his lips. “Yes, Antonio. I’ll go with you. Wherever you go, I’ll go.”

She replaced her fingers with her lips. An
all-confirming
kiss which told him yes, what she wanted first, foremost and always was a life with this man.

He pulled away from her reluctantly. “Wait, are you sure? Your ER, your friends here, your
city-life
….”

“I am sure. My friend, singular, Luly…she’ll visit us, or I will visit her. And the ER, Manhattan…screw the prestige, the superficial facade!” God that felt really liberating. “I can make a difference in Mexico, the same as I could here. Maybe even more so, right? Bringing my level of training and experience to people who really need it. Yes, I want that life. I want that life with you, Antonio. I do. I know for certain, I do.”

She laughed. She had no idea what this feeling was, this lightness. She’d never dared to imagine it for herself, not before Antonio.

He squeezed her hand in his. There was a glow in his eyes that matched the grace that had devoured her heart. No question, wherever she was, if it was with him, she was home, and she was loved.

*

He loved her radiating glow, her excitement. But the next instant, her expression flickered then morphed to a soft surrendered lull. “So, where to? You choose.”

He didn’t blame her for not wanting to pick their destination. God, she’d had more critical decisions to make in this one day––hell, in one lifetime––than was even fair for someone so young, and so damn good. A lifetime of insane obligations and expectations and burdens.

But all that was over now. He was with her. Always with her.

“Well, I thought we’d head up toward Fort Lee.”

Disappointment wiped over her face in a flash.

He lifted her chin with a soft touch. “Not to the hospital, at least not first thing.” He smiled at her with an absolutely intentional glint of something naughty in his eyes. “But then I kinda think we should head to the hospital. Shouldn’t put it off. You can officially introduce me to your folks and then say your goodbyes?”

“Goodbyes?” she said as if thinking out loud, a happy wonder floating in her voice.

He smiled and nodded, waggling his eyebrows, brimming with his news. “Listen, I got a bid on the business today, it’s as good as sold. We might be able to leave in a matter of days, Jana. I even get to keep my vehicle as part of the deal. We can take turns driving down. We’d make it to Vallarta by the end of the month unless we stop along the way…and we can if you want to. Whatever you’ve been hoping to see. New Orleans, maybe?”

She cocked her head, excitement and a dash of worry in her eyes. “Antonio…there’s something you need to know about me.”

“You were a stripper, princess. Do I need to sit down for this?”

She punched his shoulder lightly and issued a playful warning look. “It’s just…I don’t drive,” she said, her brows lifted as if expecting his tremendous disappointment.

“What do you mean you don’t drive? You let your license expire?” he asked, chin notched to the side, waiting to hear the catch.

“I never learned…to drive. I never needed to. I’ve never even been behind the wheel of a car, well, except for the bumper cars at a carnival when I was ten.”

He broke out laughing and took her right hand. He turned her palm up, slapped the keys in it, and ushered her to the driver’s seat of his vehicle. “Any woman of mine had better know how to drive a damn car.” He smirked playfully. “Lessons start now.”

“It’s pitch black outside!”

“And there are hardly any cars on the road. It’s perfect.”

“No license!”

“Quit with the excuses and get in,” he ordered, slapping her sweet ass to move her along.

*

Antonio laughed at Jana’s
wide-eyed
look as she sat in his driver’s seat. And she was so tiny, only her chin was above the steering wheel. He’d have to get her a pillow for the long haul.

The first part of her first driving lesson would be backing out of the massive garage, so as long as he had her in reverse, there was absolutely nothing to worry about. But her expression of eager nervousness was completely adorable and insanely fucking hot.

He went around the back of his limo, kicking his back tire on the way to surface check its pressure. Then he opened the passenger side door to get in, which was totally bizarre for him, bizarre but unbelievably freeing.

And that’s when he noticed the tall shadows on his depot’s cold gray floor.

CHAPTER 56

“
T
one, you didn’t
answer my calls,” came the deep Jersey accent from the front of the garage bay.

Antonio stopped, stood up straighter, took a full breath, and turned. Jake Demonte and a tall gorilla of a bodyguard had come for a visit. And he was unsure how long they’d been standing there.

Jana.
She was so small that she couldn’t even be seen inside the vehicle.
Have a reason for being on this side, damn it. Pull something out of the vehicle. Now!

“Jake, gimme justa second.” He leaned inside the passenger side, pulled the car manual from the glove box, and whispered, “Jana, stay there, head down.” Then he stepped back out of the passenger’s seat holding the thick book in one hand while shutting the car door with the other.

The sound echoed throughout the garage.

He made his way up to his lender, his longtime friend, hand outstretched for a handshake. It was reciprocated with Jake’s usual gusto. “Jake, I know I missed your calls. Sorry, man. A family member’s in the hospital, and there’s no cell service at the ICU, but you got my voice message?”

“I got your message, Tone, yeah.”

“Again, sorry you had to come all the way down here.”

“Well, Tone, it had to be
face-to
-face, this level thing, you know? Where can we talk, son?”

Antonio led Jake to his office with Jake’s personal ape following right behind them.

Completely hyperconscious of the men’s eyes scanning the garage, his limo––with Jana hidden in the driver’s seat. It was parked far enough away from the row of offices, and its windows were tinted, but he didn’t want to take any chances. Antonio maintained an easy, relaxed stride. Jake couldn’t know she was there, and he couldn’t know her importance to him. Just in case.

He opened his office door and motioned with a welcoming sweep of his hand for Jake to enter, but the man paused first. “What’s the next office down?”

“My salesgirl’s.”

“Eddie…” Jake said, motioning with a sideward nod for his bodyguard to check it out. “Can’t be too careful,” he whispered by Antonio’s ear. Once Eddie came out of the sales office nodding his ‘all clear,’ Jake brought up his volume. “Looks more comfortable in there.” Jake Demonte took the lead to the next office over.

“Thanks, Eddie. Go on and wait in the car. Tony and I are gonna talk business for a few.” Jake made himself comfortable behind the desk. Antonio took the other chair by default, laughing in his head at the
movie-esque
feel of the entire situation. Hell, laughter was better than panic, right?

“Jake, a bottled water?” Antonio asked, up again at the
mini-fridge
against the wall.

“Yeah, sure,” Jake said, swiveling the chair back and forth across from him.

Antonio handed Jake a water and then opened one for himself, slammed a gulp, and then slowed to a single sip.
Keep calm.
Because on the inside, he was already going over that same
years-old
-response he’d rehearsed in his head: “Sorry, Jake, there’s no extra room in my trunk.”

Seriously God, please let this be a benign
visit.

*

They sat in silence for a minute, what seemed to Antonio to be a quiet,
passive-aggressive
game of ‘who speaks first.’ But Jake was visiting his place of business, so…was this it? Was this the time Jake would call in that favor Antonio had expected for so long? God, had he been stupid enough to think that
The
Jake Demonte had cut him a break? Letting the whole ‘son I wished I had’ spiel really brainwash him. Antonio was smarter than that, but maybe hope had trumped intellect this time.

“Tone, my kid fucked me. Big time. He deserves what he gets.”

Okay, this was, at least, a good start. The other man knew that the whole club fiasco was all Johnnie. The little prick had tweaked the hell out and, beyond nearly killing two innocents, he’d threatened Jana. Scared her senseless. The bastard could’ve really hurt her.
Killed her.
A surge of rage shot up his throat for the umpteenth time that day, but he swallowed it back.
Keep it together, Antonio.
In front of Jake, for Jana, he had to stay calm and controlled. His fists tightened at his sides while he worked to keep the anger from showing itself in his face.

Antonio unclenched his jaws, took a subtle breath and said, “Man, Jake, I don’t know what to say. Glad no one else got hurt. It could’ve been a real bloodbath.”

“Exactly.” The other man cleared his throat, his eyes on Antonio. “The club, though…the authorities shut it down. Indefinitely, they say. It was my only open shop up here, you know, since Manhattan’s still bein’ renovated and Merrick…well, it was delayed even before Johnnie landed himself in a cell last night. Goddamn ’im.” Jake looked down at his hands, interlaced and white knuckled. “Tone, my guy on the Newark force, he needs a month or two to let this die down. That much coke running through…goddamn that sloppy little fucker spawn o’ mine! Lost the Vallarta club because of the white stuff, now this? And the shootings?” Jake’s fist slammed down on the desk hard, then the guy shook his head with his eyelids closed, inhaling deep.

“Jake, have a drink of water,” Antonio said, a little worried that the out of shape
sixty-something
-
year-old
man would work himself up into a heart attack or a stroke. That’s what Antonio needed, Jake Demonte keeling over in his goddamn office. Jake slowly opened the water bottle and sipped it, nostrils flaring and forehead lines deep.

“I need a favor, Tone. And I need it now.”

*

Antonio’s chest froze, stale air stuck in his chest. But he forced his brain to
re-engage
the next second, unlocking his lungs to gain a shallow breath. Of course, he knew it was coming. From the first sight of the tall, warped shadows on his depot floor. But again, a skeptic can turn optimist, especially having met Jana.

Jana. Oh, God…Jana. Jana was only one degree apart from a sleazy thug like Jake Demonte. If he put her at risk, if a favor for a damn wannabe mobster ever touched her, and, after all she’d been through with her own
screwed-up
family, he couldn’t live with himself.

But that fact didn’t matter a damn. There was absolutely only one thing he could say to the man sitting in front of him. And Antonio knew it. “Jake, what can I do?”

*

“Son, I need my money cleaned. I’m gonna need your shop.”

Jake wanted his shop? His business?

He’d seen enough movies to get the concept of laundering money through a legitimate outfit. But, damn it, wasn’t that only in the movies? But then Jake’s furrowed brow; squinting, targeted eyes; and
razor-straight
lips, all said no, it wasn’t just in the movies.

“How can I help with that, Jake? I’ll do what I can, of course.”

“I have to take the keys, call the note of the half mill loan. It’s not what I want to do, Tone, but I got too many people depending on me. I’ll hook you up later, I know you got your ‘magic number’ to reach, but I can’t let my kid’s screw up derail everything.”

For fuck’s sake! Call the loan?

Sure, fine. He had a buyer at the ready; the proceeds of that deal would clear Jake’s loan. But that’s not all Jake wanted. The man with the upper hand wanted the fucking
operating
business as a front. And he wanted it for free! And even though Antonio had paid each month’s P&I a day early with extra to principal, it didn’t matter a damn. Fair, legal or legitimate, none of those were Jake’s priorities. Not even the history or supposed bond between he and Jake mattered. It mattered not at all.

And to Antonio, nothing mattered but Jana. And, goddamn it, his financial goal was not an issue minutes ago. He’d been happy to take a hit, come out of the legitimate deal he’d procured that day with way less than his goal number, but with more than enough to take care of Jana and their future life together. Now this man wanted to snap his fingers and take his business? Jake would catch him up later? What, and more favors in the meantime?

What the fuck had he gotten himself into? Jesus Christ, what had he done?

*

You see the problem, now focus on the solution. Focus, fast.

Jake needed a business front while Antonio needed his safe, secure dream with Jana to become a reality before he lost way more than money. He didn’t need the million dollar mark. At this point, the money was a blur, a second thought. All he could see was Jana in his head. In his heart.

A business front. To wash a lot of money. The more money, the better.

“Jake, how about a cleaner, far more productive way to get your storefront? You buy this place from me at market value. I had it appraised a few months back in preparation, you know? If you call my note, you only have daily operating expenses to wash your money with. But if you buy me out, on paper…here, let me show you the report—”

“No, Tone. I trust you. And I’m listening….”

“Two million was the certified appraisal amount. We make a purchase contract for that. But under the table, you give me something…whatever you think is fair. Oh, and my limo, I keep my car. But I transfer the business, the licenses, the leases for the rest of the fleet, the land and building, of course, which you’re in first position for anyway. On books, you have every dollar over five hundred grand up to two mil to use for your…
cleaning
needs. And hell, the business isn’t a strip club, but it nets a good
twenty-five
percent. Completely under the radar, as you know.”

“I’m listening, Tone, and I’m thinking,” he said, moving the bottle of water to his mouth, but then he paused and put it down before pulling a sip. “What’s that ‘fair
off-the
-books’ amount you’re thinking? ’Cause you never did tell me your magic number.” Jake lifted his brows.

Antonio blew the air out from his body. “Jake, I want my car and”––he took a long pull from his water bottle. Yes, a stall tactic. Antonio knew damn well that naming his number named him the loser, but he already was the loser here. But as long as he kept Jana safe, and with him, he was the richest man in the universe. “A million. At age six, a million dollars was the shiny magic number.”

“Let’s do this. A million it is. I wipe the loan of
five-hundred
grand and bring the other
half-a
-mill to the closing table. But, you gotta stay on, run the show. Make extra salary, and you’ll reach ten million by the time you’re
forty-five
.” He held out his hand to clinch the deal. “This’ll work out fine.”

But Antonio could only stare at the man’s outstretched hand.

*

It was getting really hot, so stuffy that she could hardly stay awake anymore. If only she could see him, make sure he was okay. He’d gotten a personal visit from Jake Demonte? The strip club mogul was no joke. The things she’d heard about him while working at his clubs, not a guy to mess around with. Rumors or fact, he scared the hell out of her.

And even though she knew Antonio’s history with Jake was a long and professional one, this was one long talk. And again, it was Jake Demonte.

God she prayed Jake wasn’t blaming Antonio for the mess at the club, especially since she had
single-handedly
created that nightmare. Why the hell did she have to go back to the club in the first place? For her damn ego was why; to check on the girls, who, as it so happened, couldn’t give a shit less; and for her contractual commitment to Johnnie? God, how moronic of her. How fucking stupid.

Then the office door opened and she ducked an inch further down in the seat.

“A week, Jake. Two tops. I’ll have someone more than ready. I’ve already got a few guys groomed at this point. Not an issue at all.” Antonio’s hand connected firmly with Jake Demonte’s, and Jake added a
back-slap
slash
man-hug
to end.

“I’ll send my attorney with a purchase contract and the check in the morning. Get some sleep, Tone. And hey, thanks for keeping the drama down as much as you did at the club. If it weren’t for you, more people woulda been hurt, or worse.”

Peeking over the dashboard, she watched Jake take a few steps to leave, but then he paused and turned. “And, Tone…that Winter Snow, one gorgeous girl, right? But she’s gonna melt into a pool of sweet nectar in that car if you don’t get her out soon. Gorgeous piece o’ tail, that one. My Eddie wanted that ass like no other! My
piece-o
’-shit kid, too, from what I hear.”

Jana’s heart rate spiked, and embarrassment and fear boiled up to her cheeks. She watched Antonio turn toward her with clenched jaws, and he gave her a hardly noticeable nod, but she caught it. His wordless message told her that she was still fine and to just stay in the car, hidden.

Then he turned back to Jake, and with all the nonchalance in the world, he said, “You gonna head back to Jersey City tonight? Or crash at the studio apartment?” Completely ignoring Jake’s comment altogether. Okay, that’s one way to handle it.
Men.
Whatever,
please just get the guy gone
, because, God, her hands were shaking like she was buried in snow while it
was
hotter than hell in that limo.

The club king seemed to go along with Antonio’s redirect. “The studio? Jesus, I wouldn’t stay in that
fuck-fest
hole-in
-
the-wall
if my life depended on it.” The man’s laugh faded as Antonio ushered Jake out of her line of sight, out to the parking lot, out of the depot altogether.

*

She scrambled out of the car and jumped into his arms, desperately and repeatedly kissing him on the mouth, not able to get enough, never wanting to let him go. He slowed her down, though, with his magic touch, his calming way. His hand moved smoothly over her back, and then using the tip of his tongue to delicately line her lips before dipping back into her mouth, she began to breathe, loosening her grip on him, relaxing into his embrace. Then he pulled away slowly, his hands now softly cradling her face.