Dance or Die (White Oak - Mafia Series Book 3) (16 page)

Tess dipped her head to hide her smile; only he tilted it back up. A moment later, he kissed her. She expected her toes to curl like they had when she and Steel kissed…before they decided to be platonic. To her disappointment, she felt nothing.

She gently pushed him back. “We should go before Dan comes back and feels the need to rescue me.”

Sean sighed and studied her for a long moment. “So, you and Dan?”

She shook her head.

“Malcolm?”

She smiled and shook her head.

“Tom?”

“No. There’s no one. Maybe Steel really did break my heart…maybe I just need more time.”

He sighed and pulled her into his arms. “I really like you, Tess. So I’m not going to give up on an ‘us’ but you clearly aren’t ready yet.”

She nodded in agreement.

“Problem?” Dan asked from the top of the steps.

She smiled. “No, we’re ready.”

Once she walked Sean to the security line at the airport, she and Dan returned to her car.

“You really like that guy?” Dan challenged.

“As a friend, I do. He just got me my woods back.”

Dan’s right eyebrow rose and he looked at her over his sunglasses. “So that was a kiss of gratitude I witnessed.”

She sighed. “I guess. Certainly didn’t curl my toes like Steel did.”

Suddenly, a great sadness surged up and she burst into tears. Dan pulled her into his arms and soothed her with shushing noises while rubbing her back.

“I want
my
Steel back, but Tom says he’s gone,” she managed to squeak out between sobs.

“I wish I could help you, but the bastard I shared a room with wasn’t the Steel we knew. But given he didn’t freak out his parents, I’m thinking the jerk was actually the son
they
knew.”

She breathed in, wiped her eyes, and nodded. “Then it's good I found out now, before we…”

“Yeah,” Dan agreed. “Good sex can add a whole ‘nother level to heartbreak when the relationship goes bad.”

“Then I should consider myself lucky.” She looked up at him. “But I’m scared I’ll never love again.”

Dan cupped her face. “Tess, you are so full of love that I guarantee you, you’ll love again.”

“If that’s true, then why have you never kissed me?”

He leaned forward. For a moment, she thought he intended to kiss her lips, but instead, he settled a kiss on her forehead. “I think you and I could easily fall into a deep love, but that wouldn’t be good for either of us. In two months, I’ll be gone. You need to fall in love with someone who can go the distance. My job precludes that.”

“You could quit your job and keep working here,” she muttered.

“After my screw-up today? You need better advice than I’m providing.”

“You aren’t the only one who didn’t think that through, but it doesn’t matter. I like my swinging tree bridge idea.”

He smiled. “So do I. But let’s do our homework before suggesting it to Tom. I think his reaction will be worse than Dr. Collins.”

She frowned. “Sean was rather negative on the idea. Maybe that’s why I didn’t like his kiss.”

Dan ruffled her hair. “Maybe you’ve just got good sense.”

Once they were in the jeep and headed up the hill, Tess pursued the matter. “Have you done a background check on Sean and found something you don’t like?”

“Me? I’m on leave. So I had someone else do it.”

“And?”

“And you are driving a very dangerous road. We can discuss this when we are safely in your house.”

When they returned, the guys were gathered at the computer jeering at something. Curious, Tess peeked over Malcolm’s shoulder and watched a YouTube video of a man cutting down a large tree.

She grimaced. “Anyone who does that to one of my trees will get their butt kicked,” she warned. “That’s terrible! Turn it off.”

“Can we make a video of you cutting trees?” Ben asked.

She placed her hands on Malcolm’s shoulders. “Video Malcolm doing his precision cut.”

He smiled up at her in pure adoration. She patted his back and sought out Dan. She found him lying on his bed.

She sat down on the bottom corner. “Will you tell me what you found out about Sean?”

He sat up and stared at her. “You can never tell anyone what I’m about to share with you.”

She nodded once.

He leaned back against the wooden headboard. “Dr. Sean Collins, age 32, attended Edinburgh, where he received his doctorate in Physical Sciences. Steel was studying there as well, getting his doctorate degree in Archeology.” He studied her for a moment. “You knew that?”

She nodded. “Sean mentioned they went to school together and were friends until Steel stole his girlfriend.”

Dan rubbed his temple. “So that was what started the battle. The cause was missing in the report.”

“There’s a battle?” she asked.

“Ongoing now for eight years.” He sighed heavily but said nothing more.

“You think his attention towards me is to get back at Steel?”

He gripped her hand. “I think it’s a possibility. It could have also been his motive for pulling so many favors to get every single teacher of a class you would have taken in eight years of college to test you on their subject.”

“Are you saying I really didn’t earn my degree?” she asked softly.

He gripped her by her shoulders and stared straight in her eyes. “I will double-check, but I’m pretty sure you passed your tests. All he did was go out of his way to give you the opportunity to take them.”

She recalled the nice old woman who spoke to her before and after her English test. “I think you’re right. I think the tests were legitimate, but the opportunity to take them was contrived.”

He tilted her chin up. “Doesn’t matter if he did it because Tom asked him to, because he wanted to piss off Steel, or because he likes you. In the end, you proved to all those other professors, who were not swayed by any of those motivations, that you knew the subject matter required to get your master’s.”

Dan was right. Sean may have opened the door for the wrong reason, but all he did was open the door. Only she could prove her merit, and she had. She met Dan’s worried eyes. “Thank you.” Her hand caressed his cheek and before she could talk herself out of it, she leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

He groaned and pulled her to him, taking control of the kiss, deepening it, setting a fire inside her that melted her entire body. When he pressed her down on the bed, she trembled in pleasure. Steel hadn’t broken her. She could still love. She could still have a full life.

When they broke for air, Dan was above her, breathing hard. He stared at her with dilated eyes barely rimmed in brown.

She met his gaze and touched his cheek. “Make love to me.”

Instead of stirring him to further passion, his face twisted in anguish. “As much as I want to, I can’t. We have no future.” He tore himself away and disappeared into the bathroom.

Once she gained control of her melted body parts, she sat up. She waited for him to come out, so they could talk, but he was evidently waiting for her to leave. But she couldn’t do that. She couldn’t let matters stay in this awkward state.

She rose and leaned on the bathroom door. “Hey…at least one of us is thinking. I shouldn’t have kissed you, but I needed to make sure Steel hadn’t broken me. Sean’s kiss was terrible. I might as well have been kissing my ceramic frog. Now, I know what I should be looking for. However, if that knowledge cost me my best and most loyal friend, I’ll regret it for my whole life.”

The door opened causing her to tumble forward for a moment before she caught herself. “Give a girl a warning,” she scolded.

He opened the door further and pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head. “Thank you for understanding. Leaving you now is going to be painful as hell. I don’t dare make it worse.”

She nodded in agreement.

“We’ll still be friends, right? Even if I don’t hear from you for months on end?”

“Absolutely,” he promised. “Friends for life.”

Tess rose early and cooked breakfast for Dan and Malcolm. As they ate, she gave them a to-do list. “Dan, will you work on finding me a list of experts in building tree bridges?”

Malcolm’s head snapped up. “We’re building a tree bridge?”

She told him their idea about how she’d like to get people to the archeological platform.

“I like it! Way to go, Dan!”

He shook his head. “It’s Tess’s idea, but I like it as well. Solves a lot of problems.”

Malcolm nodded. “I mean, why build a fence if you’re just going to let people wander inside it. This keeps them contained the whole time and they’ll think it’s great fun.”

Tess kissed them both on the back of their heads. “I have a meeting to go to. Malcolm, will you measure the aerial distance between the six-footer outside of the fence to the backside of the platform? And leave a four-foot opening in the back where the bridge will attach.”

“Actually, we might want to put a small platform out there to support the bridge,” Malcolm said.

“Even better.” She high-fived him. “Think of more brilliant ideas and wow me when I get back.”

Dan frowned. “How long will you be?”

“Couple of hours, probably.”

“Where is this meeting occurring?”

“In a hotel conference room. I’m guessing Steel refused to come here.”

“Then he doesn’t know yet?”

“No, I asked Tom to let me try to get things right between us first.”

“Know what?” Malcolm asked.

Tess smiled. “You know all those tests I took?”

He nodded.

“Well, they weren’t entrance exams; they were finals. I now have my master’s and I’ve been promoted to top boss of the woods for as long as I live.”

Malcolm jumped up and hugged her. “That is fantastic news! Okay if I tell the guys? They’ve been worried sick.”

“Worried about what?”

“That Steel planned to fire us all when he came back.”

“That’s ridiculous! No one would fire you guys. You’re the best grounds crew in the world. Other foresters would kill to have you, and only an idiot would give you away.”

His head tilted and furrows grew on his forehead. “Dan or I should probably go with you in case Steel doesn’t like this great news.”

“Steel may have proven to be a jerk, but he’d never hurt me.” She looked to Dan to back her up.

“I don’t believe he will physically harm Tess because that would ruin his career for good. However, he will almost certainly batter her with words, and if either of us are there, we will undoubtedly beat the shit out of him, and with his contacts, we’d get prison time. Thus, in this case, it’s better if Tess goes in alone.”

Dan turned her to face him. “Just remember, you’re the boss. You can fire him. Given he’s depending on those mounds to save his career, that is huge leverage to make him behave. You hold a royal flush. Don’t give up a single card.”

Tess chuckled. “I’m sure that lecture would mean more if I had ever played whatever card game that is… It is a card game, right?”

“Poker. And tomorrow night, we’ll teach you how to play.”

“Why not tonight?” she challenged.

“Because I’m pretty sure based on the data from Malcolm and me that you’ll spend the night updating your plan with a suspension bridge.”

She smiled. “I couldn’t ask for a better team.” She kissed them on their cheeks and hurried out.

When she arrived at the hotel, Sheriff Cobbs waited at the door of the conference room. “Problem?” she asked.

“Hope not,” he said and glanced at his watch. “You’re the first one here, even if you are three minutes late.”

She shook her head. She’d bet a hundred bucks Malcolm had called the sheriff to intervene if Steel got out of hand. Hopefully, Steel would behave.

Taking a deep breath in and out to calm herself, she entered the conference room. It was actually a small cozy room with a fake fireplace at one end. Simulated flames crackled but provided no heat in the air-conditioned room. Wine velvet curtains covered the wall she faced, although she was pretty certain, given the room’s location, that there couldn’t be a window behind them. An oval oak table took up the center with just enough room for a person to walk behind the plush office chairs on wheels. By the door was a cart with tea, coffee, and blueberry muffins. A note stated their ingredients: whole wheat flour, blueberries, walnuts, olive oil, salt, and honey.

She placed one on the white china plate, grabbed a napkin, poured herself tea, and sat down in front of the fake curtains so she could face Steel when he decided to arrive. When she tasted her tea, she chuckled. Tom must have had Sara give the hotel explicit instructions. How else would she get her brand of lemongrass green tea?

By the time Steel arrived ten minutes late, she was relaxed and happy, making notes on her computer for follow-ups.

When he entered, she barely recognized him. Dark circles hung like bags beneath his once beautiful blue eyes. His beautiful long blond hair was gone, leaving only white stubbles. She wasn’t sure if the doctors had done that at the hospital or if the new Steel preferred the take-no-prisoner military look. His head had been bandaged the little time she had seen him.

“There’s tea, coffee, and muffins on the tray,” she said as she pointed to the corner.

He sat down across from her, ignoring her comment and the tray. “This won’t take long. Do you remember me once telling you I couldn’t work with people I don’t trust?”

“I do. But trust shouldn’t be an issue if we both just remain focused on our job,” she countered. “Except for the planning. There, I still think you could use my help.”

“I’m sorry, no.”

She reached out her hand towards him. “We have baggage, I’ll grant you. Both of us feel let down by the other. We—”

“What the hell did I ever do to you?”

She almost mentioned the ring, but stopped herself. “You proved to be unforgiving for something I only planned as a back-up but never did.” She grabbed her napkin and tore tiny pieces off as she continued to speak. “My first plan was to tell you I felt we both were in danger and we needed to run. I was willing to leave my woods and go to England with you until it was safe to come back.”

Resentment vibrated from his hard blue eyes.

“I finally realized, the reason why you were so mad at me about plan B is because you wouldn’t have cared that I was terrified for our lives. You weren’t leaving.”

“And that’s your grievance?” He snorted. “I never left any doubt about my priorities. You were sitting in the room when I told Dan you were not the reason I was staying.”

“True, but neither of us realized your life was on the line at that time. I thought the rules were to first try to scare off the problem, if that didn’t work, then attempt to adopt him into the family, and finally, if there was no other course, to kill him. However, my father went straight to kill.”

“So, I’m responsible for the fact you didn’t know your father?”

“Turns out he wasn’t my father. But no, I’m not holding you responsible for my lack of understanding. My resentment is that you hate me for trying to save your life. That was the only purpose of my backup plan…to keep Benito from killing you. And while it may have been poorly conceived, you were not harmed by it—”

“I wasn’t harmed. Look at me! My face will require years of surgery!”

Now she understood why he looked so different. His jaw and cheekbones had been broken.

“I’m sorry for what Benito did to you. We should have listened to Dan from the start. He understood the danger; I didn’t. Grams thought you were too well-connected for Benito to go after.”

“But you had to provoke him,” Steel snarled.

At first she had no idea what he meant, then it came to her. “By cremating Grams? I didn’t do it to provoke him. But I couldn’t let him torture Grams for eternity.”

He stared at the curtains as if there were windows behind them.

She decided to try again. “Steel, we need to get beyond this. We’ll be able to work together if you’ll just let Plan B go. It never happened.”

“No, instead your father almost beat me to death all the while screaming about me defiling his daughter.” His angry eyes returned to her. “And he did nothing to you.”

“So, you’re angry that I wasn’t beaten to a pulp as well?”

“Damn right I am,” he growled.

“Well, that proves my other conclusion. You never loved me.”

“And what about you? What type of love lets you destroy a person’s life?”

“A love that places your life over your job.” She rose and got herself another tea. “It doesn’t matter. Personally, it doesn’t look like either of us can forgive the other. However, professionally, I still think, if we make the effort to be polite to one another, we can make this partnership work.”

“You’re being naïve once again.” He waited until Tess returned to her seat and then continued. “Tess, you may someday become a true forester, but I can’t work with you anymore. Therefore, I need you to remain at school, even during the summers and focus on getting your master’s degree. When you’ve finally gotten your degree and learned more, my reputation will have been restored so I can leave and you can take over.”

“You mean in four or five years…”

He nodded.

“But the park will be built by then…by someone other than me.”

“I’m sorry, but there’s no way around that. The truth is you aren’t qualified to create a state park. I am scrapping your previous plan. I’ve shown it to several forest managers and they’ve assured me your plan is unattainable.”

“In what way?”

He sighed in exasperation. “The road, for example. You have it being done in a month when it will take at least a year to complete.”

“But I have the world’s best grounds crew,” she countered.

He rolled his eyes. “No, Tess. You have a bunch of inexperienced mafia thugs on the payroll, but not for long. Once their current month contract is over, I’m letting them go.”

“But you saw how fast they built the wood barrier.”

“Which I’ve been told won’t keep a squirrel from crossing it.”

Anger boiled within her. Instead of yelling, she went for something more subtle. “Actually, squirrels are one of the few things that can cross it. If you were worried about squirrels looting your mounds, you should have stated that more clearly, because I built a barrier to keep normal hikers from reaching the electric fence.”

“Which more experienced forest managers advise against.”

“Who are these more experienced forest managers?”

“Does it matter?”

“Not really.” If she knew, she’d just be tempted to call them up and call them idiots. “So I suppose when you arrive at the mounds today, Tom didn’t mention you should take the newly cut road halfway up the hill, where the entrance will be. Nor that you should drive to the base of the mound where you’ll find a twenty-foot tall fence protecting your mounds while my men finish off the viewing platform.”

She had hoped to stun him into silence by her amazing achievements, but instead, he slammed his palm on the table.

“Damn it, Tess! You had no right to move ahead without my authorization!”

“These were all planned items,” she countered. “Why would I need to get your permission? They were already approved by you.”

“Because I changed the plan!”

“And did you give Tom a new plan, because I sure as hell didn’t get one.”

He glared at her in fury.

“Steel, our plan is a great one. I don’t know who the hell you’ve been listening to, but we can still make this a premier park. These idiots you’ve been talking to might not be able to pull it off, but my grounds crew and I can.”

He rubbed his temples as if she were driving him crazy. “But you aren’t going to be here, Tess. This fiasco is exactly why. You purposely went ahead on things without checking with me.”

“But these items were my responsibility and in the plan. Why would I check with you? Had you wanted an update, you could have asked me. Or read your emails. You were copied on the plan updates.”

“Really? Well, the one I got didn’t have a fence done, a road cut, or platforms built.”

“Then you haven’t been opening the weekly updates.”

“No, I’ve been in the hospital!” he yelled. “Because of you!”

“I’m not taking responsibility for that. Because of me, you were alive to arrive at the hospital. And if you want to push blame, then blame yourself for not listening to Dan when he insisted you leave Iowa.”

“I couldn’t!”

“Wrong! You didn’t want to leave. And you paid a very big price for it. But you need to stop blaming others for your decisions.”

“Fine. And my decision is that I want you and your mafia thugs to stop work immediately. You will go to Wisconsin and focus on your studies.”

“And what of my men?”

“I don’t give a damn what happens to those men.”

“Well, I do. They’re like family to me.”

He rolled his eyes. “So now you belong to a new mafia family? That’s great. Just stay the hell away from my park until I’m gone.”