Deadly Embrace (42 page)

"Do you get the best table, Daddy? Do they treat you like a
king?"

"Of course they do, sugar."

"Your dad is
sooo
good-looking," Jamie said admiringly when
they reached the privacy of Madison's bedroom, dragging all the loot
behind them.

"Looks like a movie star, doesn't he?" Madison said proudly.

Jamie nodded. She so envied her best friend, who got to do
everything she didn't and had such a great-looking dad.

"He's cool, too," Madison added.

"The coolest," Jamie agreed.

Madison went over to her record collection and started riffftng
through it. "Cyndi Lauper, or the Go-Go's?" she asked.

"The Go-Go's!" they both yelled in unison, and collapsed giggling
on the floor.

* * *

Michael walked into the bedroom. Stella was lying on the bed leafing
through
Harper's Bazaar
.

"
Another
headache?" he said.

"A migraine," she replied, putting down the magazine.

"You should see a doctor about your headaches."

"I will," she murmured.

"So," he said, sitting on the edge of their king-size bed, "did
you get to spend a lot of time with Madison while I was away?"

"Of course," she lied.

Actually, she'd spent no time with Madison at all. That's why she
always made sure there was a capable housekeeper in the apartment and
an excellent cook. Child-friendly staff were absolutely
essential.

Stella was
not
child friendly. And pretending to be
Madison's mother for all these years was getting her down. Materially
she had everything she desired, only she knew that Michael put
Madison first, and that drove her a little bit crazy.

"You know, darling," she said, "Madison is growing up very
fast."

"I realize that," he said, loosening his tie.

"She's so smart," Stella continued. "And quite frankly, I don't
think the school she's attending is good enough for her, so I've been
investigating other possibilities."

"You have?"

"Yes, and I've found a top-rate boarding school I think we should
send her to. A talented child like Madison needs academic
excellence."

"A boarding school?" he said unsurely. "Have you spoken to her
about this?"

"She's too young to know what's good for her. However, I
have
discussed this with some of my friends, and they all agree
that she should be getting the best education possible. The boarding
school I'm suggesting
is
the best."

"Where is it?" he asked, not sure if it was such a great idea.

"Connecticut."

"So she could come home every weekend?"

"If she wants to."

"I don't know ... she won't like being away from Jamie."

"Jamie's a little giddy, don't you think?" Stella said. "Madison's
much more mature for her years."

Michael nodded. He trusted Stella's judgment. After all, he'd
married her, hadn't he?

He walked into his wood-paneled dressing room and removed his
jacket Michael Castelli, businessman, investments, real estate mogul.
Boy, had he moved up in the world.

After Dani had dumped him in such a heartless way, he'd turned to
the nearest woman, who happened to be Stella, Warner's good
friend.

Stella was there for him. She'd given him all her attention,
comfort, and plenty of sex. None of it meant that much, but he'd
begun to see her as the woman who might make a great mother for his
child. He
refused
to allow Madison to grow up without a mother
the way he had. His child was going to have it all—and that
included responsible parents.

After a couple of months of seeing each other, he'd broached the
subject to Stella. She'd been quite amenable when he'd told her what
he had in mind. "Here's the deal," he'd said. "If I marry you, then
Madison has to grow up believing that you are her natural
mother."

"What about her real mother?"

"Beth's gone. And I don't want Madison ever finding out what
happened. As far as she's concerned,
you
are her mother." In
his mind he'd decided that Madison would always come first. He'd
allow no half brothers or sisters to compete with her. "And Stella,
one more thing," he'd added.

"Yes?"

"You have to promise me that you'll never have children."

She'd agreed, and they'd gotten married on a spring afternoon in
New York with Karl and Warner as witnesses.

He didn't love her. He was not prepared to love again.

Stella had neither Beth's fire nor Dani's sweetness. What she did
have was great beauty. In a physical way she sometimes reminded him
of Dani.

Talk about being left at the altar. Dani hadn't exactly left him
at the altar, but he
was
left at the airport, waiting for her
to fly in.

She'd never arrived, and when he'd called Vegas to find out where
she was, her housekeeper had informed him that Dani and her son had
gone away for a while and would not be back anytime soon.

The next day he'd received a letter via FedEx.

He had no idea what had happened to make her feel that way, but he
had his pride, and even though he'd considered getting on a plane and
confronting her, he had not done so.

Four months later, he married Stella.

The last seven years had been good to him. His fortune had grown,
and he was able to have more or less anything he wanted, regardless
of the cost.

Stella was addicted to their lifestyle: a luxurious Park Avenue
apartment; vacations in the Bahamas; shopping trips to Paris and
London. The only thing she did not love was having a daughter.
Especially an extremely smart eleven-year-old whom her husband adored
more than he did her. It was infuriating. However, she never let on
to Michael how she felt, and whenever he was around, she acted out
the perfect-mother role.

After a while, Tina and Max had refused to visit.

"You want me to be frank with you, Michael?" Tina had said.
"Stella's a cold bitch. She doesn't like
me
, and I don't like
her. So we're not hanging out anymore. You want to see us, come over
and bring Madison."

So that's what he did. Every other weekend he drove over to their
house with Madison, and they spent the day together.

Soon Stella put the pressure on, and his visits to Tina and Max
became less frequent. He felt guilty about not seeing as much of them
as he would've liked. After all, Max was his best friend and they
shared a long history together. However, Stella was his wife, and
more than anything he wanted a happy marriage for Madison's sake.

Gradually Stella began drawing him into a whole new social circle.
She had many friends in the arts, and soon he'd found himself
attending the opera, theater, and ballet. They went to gallery
openings, parties, and all the hot new restaurants. At first he kind
of enjoyed it, although he did not enjoy the ballet and the
opera—he considered them one big yawn. However, since Stella
loved doing it so much, he went along for the ride. And she always
looked like a million bucks hanging on to his arm, wearing the
designer clothes he paid for, the fur coats, and the expensive
jewelry. Diamonds were definitely Stella's best friend.

Sometimes he imagined what things might have been like if Beth had
lived. Far different from his current lifestyle.

And what would have happened if he'd married Dani? He could
picture them lying in bed, munching on hamburgers, watching TV, just
hanging out and having fun. In spite of her Vegas fame and glamour,
Dani was a simple girl. Stella wasn't. The only time Stella lay
around was when she had a headache or wanted to study her
magazines—finding out what was new and exciting in the beauty
world. She was very into the latest beauty treatments and heavy
maintenance. Manicurists, facialists, and masseuses were always in
and out of the apartment, ministering to her every need.

She tried to get him into it. One pedicure and he ran screaming
from the apartment.

Business became his focus, building a financial empire. And he was
good at it; he'd learned well. First— in a small way—from
Grandma Lani. And then the real deal from Karl Edgington. Money was
his passion, he had a genius way with numbers.

Over the years, he and Karl had partnered in many ventures. They
owned buildings, shopping centers, and real estate. He'd also kept up
his association with Vito Giovanni. He took care of Vito's
investments. Vito trusted him and sent plenty of money his way. He'd
heard that Mamie had given up her New York apartment and moved to the
West Coast. Vito was currently still living with Western
Pussy—a woman almost forty years his junior.

Financially, Michael could do just about anything he wished. He
had an office on Wall Street and employed a small staff of competent
people, including his old friend Charlie, who was now working for him
as his accountant.

Several years ago he'd paid for him to take a business course, and
Charlie had come up trumps. Now Charlie was making plenty of money,
had a secure job, and he'd even gotten married to a pretty girl who
worked in the office.

Michael was very fond of Charlie, although they didn't socialize.
Stella did not consider it prudent to mix business with pleasure.

Basically he had it all. A beautiful wife, a smart daughter, and
enough money to do whatever he wanted.

So why wasn't he happy?

He didn't know.

Max—who now owned several car dealerships—had informed
him it was because he was living a lie.

"What kinda shit remark is that?" he'd asked one day while they
were having lunch.

"Stella's a big snob," Max had said. "An uptown bitch with
attitude."

Michael was so offended by Max's criticism that he'd stopped
seeing him. Which was a shame, because apart from Charlie, Max was
Michael's only true friend from the old days.

He missed the old days. He missed hanging out with Tina and Max,
goofing off.

Work compensated. He was obsessed.

* * *

Stella decided that he should be the one to inform Madison that they
were sending her away to boarding school. When he told his daughter
she burst into tears. "I don't
want
to go, Daddy," she
sobbed.

"It's for the best, princess."

"No!"

"You'll soon get used to it."

"I won't!" she said adamantly.

"I promise that you will."

She stared at him with her big green eyes—
his
eyes.
They looked alike, although her deep olive skin and lustrous dark
hair always reminded him of Beth.

"I'll go, Daddy," she said at last, "but I promise you
this—you'll
really
miss me."

And he did, in spite of Stella's social efforts, which seemed to
escalate with Madison's absence.

He began making more and more business trips—inspecting a
shopping mall here, a piece of property there. And so his empire
grew.

Michael Castelli was a very successful man.

Michael Castellino was just a distant memory.

"If
you
don't marry me, there's somebody else who will,"
Dean threatened.

"I wish her luck," Dani said, smiling.

"You know it'll happen one day. Why do you insist on waiting until
we're old and gray?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Because," she said patiently, "I have to pay you back the money I
owe you first."

"At the rate
you're
going, we'll both be dead!"

"Are you two fighting again?" Vincent asked, entering the brightly
lit kitchen. "The way you go at it, you might as well be
married."

Vincent was, at seventeen, undeniably handsome. He was also a dead
ringer for Michael. Black hair—worn long. Perfect features. Six
feet tall and a great body. The girls were crazy for him, which
didn't do them much good, since he was more interested in studying
and sports. Dani, who was only in her mid-thirties and still a
knockout, could not believe she had a grown son. The boy needed a
father, so thank God for Dean, who—although he and Dani were no
longer romantically involved—had stepped into the breach and
spent as much time with Vincent as he could. Which wasn't easy,
considering he still lived in Houston.

His divorce had helped. Dani had never asked him why his marriage
hadn't worked out, because she knew why. Dean had never gotten over
her. His crush was a lifelong thing. And although she loved him in
her own way, he was more like a big brother.

Over the last seven years she had not exactly been celibate.
Although she had not resumed her affair with Dean, there
had
been other men. None of them had measured up in any way whatsoever,
and currently she was not seeing anyone. Somehow she was so much
happier by herself.

Recently Vincent had received news that Nando's grandfather had
died, and that Nando was planning to visit.

Vincent was totally psyched. "This is gonna be so cool, Mom," he
enthused. "I can't wait!"

"You haven't seen Nando in a long while," Dani warned. "Don't
expect too much, he's probably changed."

"No way," Vincent scoffed. "Nando and me are like brothers. He'll
be exactly the same."

Dani was still appearing in the show at the Magiriano, only now
she was a featured player. She made two grand entrances during the
course of the show, and her fan base kept expanding. Dani
Castle— the staggeringly beautiful showgirl—had become
quite a legend in Vegas.

The fact that she walked around topless onstage embarrassed the
hell out of Vincent. "
When
are you going to quit, Mom?" he
kept on nagging. "You're too old to be taking your clothes off."

"Don't tell me what to do," she said. "My job has put bread on the
table and
you
into the best school. The day you graduate
college is the day I'll quit."