Deadly Embrace (54 page)

"Anyway, don't talk to
me
about unfaithful men," Madison
said. "They're all dogs."

Recently she'd broken up with her live-in boyfriend of two years,
David, a TV producer. She suspected that David had gotten uptight
because he'd discovered she made more money than him. One day he'd
informed her he was going out for cigarettes, and failed to return. A
few weeks after his abrupt departure, she'd heard he'd married his
childhood sweetheart, a vapid blond with fake boobs and an annoying
overbite. So much for good taste.

David had been her longest relationship—she wasn't looking
for another one, although she'd recently met Jake Sica in L.A., and
he was very attractive. Unfortunately he was hooked up with someone
else.

"Ever since David took a runner you've turned into a real cynic,"
Jamie remarked.

"For your information, I'm glad he's gone," Madison said. "I've
discovered that work is more important than a man any day."

Later that night they met up at a dinner party at Anton Couch's
house. Anton—a gay and extremely social man-was Jamie's partner
in her design business. During the course of dinner, Anton mentioned
that Madison's mother had called him.

"My mother?" she said, surprised.

"You do
have
a mother, don't you?" Anton said crisply. "You
didn't just spring from the streets of New York with a pen in your
hand."

"Whyjvould she call
you
?"

"To inquire about a design concept for their new apartment."

"
What
new apartment?" Madison said, puzzled. "My parents
live in Connecticut now."

"Apparently they're moving back to the city."

The moment she got home, she called Michael. He sounded half
asleep. She didn't care.

"I do not appreciate hearing from Anton Couch that you guys are
getting an apartment in New York," she said.

"Hey, sweetie," he mumbled. "I'm asleep. Can we talk about this
tomorrow?"

"Sure," she said, slamming the phone down. She couldn't stand it
when Michael didn't give her his full attention.

The next morning he was on the phone bright and early. "If you're
available I'll drive into the city and we can go for brunch."

"You
and
Stella?" she said, stifling a yawn.

"No," he said shortly. "Stella can't make it."

An hour later he picked her up and they went to the Plaza, where
after talking about a dozen other things, he finally told her that
Stella had left him for another man.

"
What
?" she said, totally shocked. "You and Mom have always
been so close."

"That's what
I
thought."

"How did it happen?"

"Who knows?" he said evenly. "I'm merely the guy who got left.
Came home one day and she was gone. I haven't spoken to her
since."

"So it's her who's getting the apartment?"

"I guess so."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, until Madison suddenly
blurted out, "How can you let her do this to me?"

He laughed dryly. "No one's doing anything to
you
."

"You're my
parents
," she said accusingly, knowing she
sounded unreasonable, but unable to stop herself. "I don't
want
divorced parents."

"What are you—eight?"

"No," she said heatedly. "But I've always looked up to you both as
an example."

"Everything isn't always what it seems," he said mysteriously.

"Why hasn't Stella called me?"

"You were never exactly close."

"She
is
my mother. Don't you think I should have heard it
from her?"

He sighed. "The truth is that you didn't always get the attention
from either of us that you deserved, and that bothers me." He paused
for a long moment. Was now the time to tell her the truth? Yes. He
couldn't procrastinate any longer. "Listen, sweetheart," he said,
hesitating slightly. "There's something else I have to tell you.
Something that might help you understand things better."

She felt queasy. What could be worse than them getting a divorce?
Obviously it was something she didn't want to hear.

"Here's the thing," he said, his eyes fixed firmly on hers.
"Stella ... she's, uh ... well... she's not your real mother."

Her world began spinning out of control. Stella wasn't her real
mother? How could that be? It didn't make sense.
What the hell was
he talking about
?

Michael was still speaking, telling her a long, involved story
about when he was single, and a girlfriend had his baby, then his
girlfriend got shot because businesspeople he was dealing with
decided they had to punish him.

What kind of insane story
was
this? She felt as if she was
in the middle of some crazy soap opera as she listened to him
speak.

When he was finally finished there was another long silence.

Suddenly she had a blinding headache. For God's sake, was this her
life? Everything had suddenly changed. She was no longer the person
she'd thought she was.

"I... I have to go home and ... digest this," she managed,
standing up.

"Don't run away from me," Michael implored, grabbing her hand. "I
need you, sweetheart. I've always needed you."

"Maybe you do," she said, feeling a sharp pain burning within her,
"but this is too much of a shock, and I have to deal with it on my
own." Pulling her hand away from his, she stood up and hurried from
the restaurant.

Outside on the street, everything seemed different. She felt dizzy
and faint and she didn't know what to do or where to turn. All she
really wanted to do was burst out crying.
Why do you want to
cry
? her inner voice asked.
Because I don't know who I am
anymore
.

Watching his daughter bolt from the restaurant, Michael felt a
sense of relief. Not because Madison had gone, but because he'd
finally told her. And by telling her, he'd freed himself from the
guilt he'd been living with for all these years.

Madison was upset now, but she was a sensible girl, she'd get over
it. Especially when he explained it to her in more detail. It was a
lot for her to absorb in one sitting. Too much.

He couldn't wait to phone Dani, although he wasn't ready to tell
her about Stella. He'd sit on that information for a few more
weeks.

Right now he wasn't in the mood to make any life-changing
decisions.

Dani would always be there. Waiting.

One day she might get a nice surprise.

"Everything's set, Mrs. Castle," the caterer said.

"You're sure? I don't want any mistakes," Dani responded.

"Mrs. Castle," the caterer replied, "I never make mistakes."

She nodded. "Just checking." Then she smiled.

The man smiled back. He loved dealing with this beautiful woman.
She was quite an exquisite creature. And yet, like all his other
clients, she was extremely fussy. And so she should be—it was
her son's wedding, so who could blame her?

When she was finished with the caterer, Dani took the elevator to
her suite in the Castle Hotel. Vincent was finally getting married,
and Michael was late. Although, since it was out of his control, she
had to forgive him. She'd called the airport a couple of times and
found out that his flight had been delayed leaving New York. The
plane had finally taken off and he should be arriving any minute.

She'd told him to come directly to the hotel. She no longer had a
house; she'd sold it and moved into an elegant apartment shortly
after Sofia had dropped out of school, at fifteen, and run off to
Europe. She blamed Michael for Sofia's defection. He'd had a massive
fight with his daughter, who'd accused him of never being there for
her. A few weeks later she'd taken off.

Dani was a wreck about it, until Sofia had called from England and
said a cavalier, "Don't worry about me, Mom. I'm with friends and
I'll check in occasionally."

Dani had appealed to Michael. He'd been his usual, stubborn self.
"She can look after herself," he'd said. "Sofia's okay, she's just
like me."

Michael's favorite description of his children was that they were
just like him, when in fact the only resemblance was physical.

Did he think he was so perfect?

She had news for him. He wasn't. Although that didn't stop her
from loving him. She always would. Michael Castelli was her incurable
addiction.

The Castle Hotel and Casino had turned out to be a big success.
Nando and Vincent had managed to build and operate a boutique hotel
that appealed to the younger crowd. The hotel was always fully
booked, and the casino always packed. Business was excellent.

Today was a special day. Vincent's wedding day. He was marrying
Jenna Crane, the very pretty, honey blond daughter of a local
lawyer.

Naturally Vincent had gone for looks. Jenna was not the girl Dani
would have picked for her son. Yes, Jenna was very pretty. Yes, she
appeared to be quite innocent. However, she didn't seem too bright.
Dani would have preferred to see Vincent marry a more intelligent
woman.

At least he was getting married. Nando had done the deed a year
earlier. His wife, Jolie, was quite gorgeous. A former dancer, Jolie
was beautiful
and smart
. A winning combination.

As Dani put on her mother-of-the-groom outfit, it occurred to her
that this would be the first time Michael was actually going to meet
Dean. When she'd told Michael that Dean would be at the wedding, he'd
been livid. "Why do I have to look at
that
asshole?" he'd
complained.

"He's not an asshole," she'd answered firmly. There was no way she
was
not
inviting Dean to her son's big day, so Michael would
just have to get over it. "I've told you many times, Dean's my best
friend."

"Fuck the prick," Michael had said, quite put out. "
I
should be your best friend."

"Well, you're not. You're my lover."

Her words had pissed Michael off even more.

She was putting the finishing touches to her hair when Michael
arrived. He entered the suite, put his arms around her from behind,
nuzzled her neck, and said, "Guess what?"

She spun around. "What?"

"I told Madison."

"About us?"

"No... no. I, uh ... told her that Stella isn't her real
mother."

"Oh my God," Dani gasped, realizing what a big deal this was for
him. "You did?"

"Yeah."

"How did she take it?"

"She ran out on me. She's angry."

"Of course she is. That's understandable."

"You know what, Dani? I'm glad I did it. Now that I've told her,
I'll give her a couple of months to digest it, then slowly I'll tell
her about you and the kids."

"You will?"

"It's time."

"Good."

"I love you, Dani," he said, nuzzling her neck again.

"Now that I've told Madison, things will be different. You'll
see."

* * *

Instead of calming him, Nando was making Vincent into a nervous
wreck. As it was, he had a hangover from hell. The night before,
Nando had insisted on throwing him a bachelor party. It had turned
out to be the bachelor night to beat all bachelor nights. Strippers,
contortionists, mud wrestlers—all of them naked, all of them
female, and all of them on his case.

His last memory was of tequila being poured down his throat at
3:30 a.m. and a beautiful Eurasian girl thrusting her breasts in his
mouth and begging him to fuck her—an offer he'd turned down. He
groaned at the memory.

Now he'd had two hours' sleep and felt like shit.

Nando was grinning as they both got dressed. "You gotta go out in
style," Nando explained. "It's the only way."

"Thanks," Vincent said grimly. "I doubt if I'll be able to get it
up tonight. You've ruined my wedding night."

"Once you're married you don't
have
to get it up," Nando
said, still grinning. "Sex takes on a whole new meaning."

"Jesus Christ!" Vincent exclaimed. "Why don't you just stay quiet
for once?"

* * *

Vincent and Jenna were married on the grounds of the hotel. The
flowers, the music, the food—everything was perfect.

At the reception Michael stayed by Dani's side, shooting dark
looks at Dean, who was sitting at another table.

"Will you
stop
," Dani said, noticing what was going on.

"Who, me? What'm
I
doing?" Michael said innocently.

Earlier, when she'd introduced them, Michael had barely managed a
surly hello. "I hate that asshole," he'd muttered. "He's the prick
who kept us apart for seven years."

"He was doing what he thought was best for me."

"No, Dani," Michael had corrected, "he was doing what he thought
was best for
him
."

Vincent's bride looked stunning, in a white lace Vera Wang gown.
She was surrounded by all her girlfriends, dressed in pink.

"Man, if I wasn't married, I'd fuck every one of 'em," Nando
confided to Vincent, nudging him in the ribs.

"What else is new?" Vincent said, shaking his head.

Dani watched her son with love and pride. Her only disappointment
was that Sofia was not here to share in this happy family day. It was
a source of great sadness to Dani that her wild daughter was roaming
around Europe somewhere when she should be at her brother's
wedding.

She observed Michael as he danced with the bride. Still so tall,
dark, and handsome. A heartbreaker.
Her
heart-breaker. How she
loved him.

What would her life have been like if she'd never met him?

She had no regrets. If they'd never met, she wouldn't have Vincent
and Sofia, so somehow things had worked out for the best.

"Where are we going?" Madison asked. "Christ!" the gunman said.
"Don't you ever shut up?" Loud rap music was blasting, and she was
stuck in the back of a strange car with this maniacal asshole. Two
other men were in the front. It was too dark to get a good look at
them.