Gambler's Folly (Bookstrand Publishing Romance) (2 page)

As the door opened, she tensed, ready to make her escape. Unfortunately, Mr. Leone had come prepared. The first bodyguard easily caught the floor lamp she swung at him and set it on the floor beside the door.

“Restraints,” she heard someone say. After a struggle with both bodyguards, Karianna found she was snugly restrained between two poles, clothes torn and disheveled. While she’d been looking over the room, she’d thought they were for in-room entertainment. She now saw they were equipped for hand and ankle restraints. Soft and cushioned, the restraints were nevertheless effective. Adjustable stops kept her from sliding the restraints up and down, holding her firmly in place, exactly as she was.

“Thank you, gentlemen,” she heard the voice say. It was a deep, dark, sensual voice which made her spine tingle. “We’ll be fine now.”

“Yes, Mr. Leone. Have a pleasant evening,” she heard one of the bodyguards answer. The door opened, closed, and she was alone with a man many had reason to fear.

For the first time, Karianna got a look at Damiano Leone, said to be the most powerful, dangerous man in the underworld. Tall and dark, in a Mediterranean way, he was dressed impeccably. Dark gray jacket and trousers were paired with a black silk shirt, gray tie, and ruby tie pin. His hair, nearly black, was moderately short and wavy, but his eyes captured her attention. Instead of dark brown, or maybe blue, they were a dark, stormy gray, the color of the Great Lakes just before a storm.

Then there was the apple. As he came into view, he was polishing a large, red apple on his lapel. Without a word to her, he took a bite of the apple, as his eyes swept up and down her body.

Munching his apple, he walked slowly around her, about two meters away, his eyes taking in every detail, as she stood immobilized by the restraints. Finally, to break the silence, she asked, “What are you doing?” After which she thought it a really dumb question.

Finishing his bite of apple, he simply replied, “Admiring my new acquisition.”

As he continued his survey, all Kari could think about was how dowdy she must look compared to everyone else around him. The plain red dress she wore had been one of her best. Made of synthetic silk, the dress was blousy in the bust and gathered at her waist by a wide, black belt, with a large silver-tone buckle, now ruined and hanging by the belt loops. The dress had been ripped down the front during the previous struggles, exposing her body down to the waist. The side slit had torn most of the way to her waist, too, so it covered next to nothing.

“Not bad. Not bad at all,” she heard him say. Finished with his walk-around and his apple, he threw the apple core in the bin, carefully wiped his hands on a small white towel, and turned back toward Kari.

As she watched, he took something from his trousers pocket. With a small click, a long, slim blade appeared in his hand. His eyes held hers as he slowly advanced toward her.

“What are you doing?” she asked in a panic. “I haven’t done anything to you. Just let me go, and I swear, I’ll never say a word about any of this. Please!”

Without a word, he studied her face for a moment, and then chuckled. “Your clothes are in ribbons,
cara
, and I would like to get a good look at you,” he said. “Do you mind?”

Looking down at what remained of her dress, she decided he could see nearly all of her anyway. She glared angrily at the man in front of her. “That was my best dress!” she exclaimed. “What am I going to wear now, you bastard?” she shouted at him, as panic was replaced by anger. “Why not? It’s already trashed.”

His left hand removed her belt and tossed it aside. The knife reached out and sliced through the bits of fabric which still held the dress together. As it slumped into a heap on the floor, she continued to glare at him, angrily.

The knife resheathed, Mr. Leone began his examination again. “Could you at least say something?” Kari asked. “Hello…?”

“That confirms my first opinion,” he finally answered, his eyes admiring her body.

“And what was that?” Kari asked, too amazed by events to be afraid.

Instead of answering, he walked behind her and placed his hands on her hips. “May I?” he asked, as his hands gently swept up her body, over her abdomen, rib cage, and weighed her breasts in his hands, before coming up and over her shoulders, and down her spine to her hips again.

Something about his touch was electrifying, though she didn’t think it was meant to be sexual. Just Mr. Leone examining his merchandise. Why she found it exciting, she really couldn’t say.

“Nearly perfect. Nothing a few weeks with a private trainer won’t put right,” was his final word on the matter.

“Private trainer? Why do I need a private trainer?”

“Because I demand perfection, or as close to it as is humanly possible. You’re a beautiful woman, but with just a little toning and reshaping, you’ll be an Aphrodite, the epitome of the female form. I’ll have a dietician come up, too, to specify your nutritional requirements.”

“I beg your pardon. Who are you to tell me what to do with my body? I’m fine, thank you very much.”

“You now belong to me, and you will do as I command.”

“I belong to no one. And I’ll do as I please,” she stated firmly.

“That may have been true before, but no longer. You need some decent clothing. I’ll send a tailor to get your measurements. Ciao, cara,” he said, as he walked toward the door.

“How about getting me out of these things?” she asked.

“After the tailor has come and gone. You can’t be trusted to behave.”

Sputtering in exasperation, Karianna couldn’t even stamp her foot, so she just stood and fumed while she waited. Quite some time later, the door admitted the seamstress, a blonde woman slightly older than Karianna. She seemed not at all astounded by Kari’s predicament, and Karianna supposed that, if she regularly worked for Mr. Leone, she’d probably seen it all by now.

“Hi, Karianna,” she began. “You can call me Lea. Mr. Leone tells me you need some new things pretty quickly. So, once I get some measurements, I can bring up some things off the rack.”

“Well, I had a few things in my previous room you could bring down. They should be fine for the next little while.”

“Oh, no. Those are in the bin. Mr. Leone was quite insistent. In a day or two, I’ll have the first of your tailored clothes. He said to make only a few for now, as you’re starting a training program which will alter your shape a little.”

Still firmly secured, Kari could only cooperate with the whole thing. In a few minutes Lea had finished, taking measurements Karianna never dreamed of, especially for just a few things.

“Well, you have lovely long legs, sweetie, but I’ll bet you have trouble buying trousers with an 86cm inseam.”

“I never really worried about it.”

“Someone will be in shortly with a couple changes of clothes, and to get you out of that contraption. See you later.”

Shortly was another half hour. A young woman, about nineteen, brought in a selection of underclothes, a dressing gown, a couple blouses, two skirts, and a pair of trousers. She also had some slippers and two pairs of dressy sandals.

“This should keep you for today,” she told Kari. “We’ll have a few new items tomorrow.”

Kari thought she was leaving, but she opened the door for two of Mr. Leone’s men. They nodded to the girl and then came over to release her from the restraints. Though they didn’t say a word, or give her more than a cursory glance, she somehow felt more than naked, with two male strangers so close to her. Restraints removed, they backed to the door, nodded, and left.

Alone and unrestrained for the first time in at least two hours, Kari quickly dressed. She wasn’t normally overly modest, but her recent experiences had changed her perspective a bit.

She had been ready for dinner before this whole thing started, and was hoping for something to eat. Walking across to the small refrigerator, she was disappointed to find only mineral water and zero-calorie drinks. Surely he wouldn’t leave her to starve.

Just as she was considering trying the live plants as a salad, someone new came through the door. “Sorry I took so long to get here,” he said. An older, slightly stoop-shouldered gentleman around sixty, he carried a medical kit.

“Who are you?” Kari asked nervously.

“Oh, I’m Dr. Kelsey, MD and nutritionist. Mr. Leone wanted me to give you an exam and advise him on your diet.”

“Well, I’ve never had any health issues. Why do I need a diet specialist?”

“Just a precaution, my dear. He said you were going to be doing some rigorous physical training, and wanted to make sure you had no problems. When did you last eat?”

“Lunchtime. I was getting ready for dinner when Mr. Leone brought me here.”

“It’s nearly 2300h now, so this should be fine,” he told her, taking out a tourniquet and the other items he would need to draw three vials of blood.

So with blood drawn, basic physical exam and medical history finished, the good doctor said he’d have some dinner sent up for her. “I’ll have a nutrition plan for you tomorrow. I don’t expect it to be unusual, or particularly restrictive, so don’t worry.”

Dr. Kelsey was as good as his word. The meal wasn’t large, but between the stress of the evening and the late hour, it was sufficient. Karianna ate quickly, drank the coffee which came with the meal, and found she was completely worn out.

Sliding in between ivory silk sheets and selecting her comfort level on the bed, she turned on the ambient sound to help her drift off. The lights dimmed to candlelight as she got comfortable on the bed, and then slowly winked out.

Karianna had no idea what time it was when she woke up, but once awake and dressed, she looked for a way to escape her pretty prison cell. Being underground, there were no windows, and the only door was the one into the corridor. Damn! Where was the dumbwaiter you always saw in the films? Maybe something small and heavy over the head of the next person in the door.

Well, maybe not, since the first person to enter was room service with food. Of course, the girl was scared half to death when she saw Kari standing behind the door, brandishing a table lamp.

The second person to come in was Dr. Kelsey with her diet plan. He’d been somewhat shaken by the lamp, too. Sooner or later, someone she wanted to cosh would come in. But after seeing the doctor, the tailor with a couple new outfits, and room service again, she was left alone right up to lunchtime.

By this time, she was nearly afraid to hide by the door, for fear of decking some innocent who was just trying to help. So the next time she heard the door, she was a little late getting to it. One of Mr. Leone’s bodyguards came through and had just enough time to divert the lamp from its trajectory before being hit in the face.

“Restraints,” she heard Mr. Leone say, as the lamp shattered on the corner of an end table and fell to the floor. Once more, after a brief struggle, she was restrained. Dismissing the two guards, he came, apple in hand, and stood in front of her, shaking his head.

“Cara, why do you do these things? I was only coming to see if you had everything you need, and to perhaps talk about what I had planned for you. But discussing anything with you restrained is a little awkward, don’t you think?”

“Why am I here? And why won’t you let me go? I don’t have any money to give you and I don’t have any family with money either. So if you’re thinking of ransom, there is none,” Kari said.

Finishing a bite of apple, he said, “You are here, Karianna, because your ex-husband lost a bet he shouldn’t have made, in order to clear other debts he owed to me amounting to over M1,000,000. And you are here, not for ransom, but to keep you safe.”

“Ex-husband?” Kari asked, confused. “I have no ex-husband, only Trae.”

“Who is, I’m afraid, an ex-husband now. Once he lost you to me, your marriage was dissolved and you became mine. By tomorrow, the paperwork will have cleared and it will all be legally binding.”

“Dissolved? How is it dissolved? I signed no divorce papers. Besides, I have a ticket, with passage back to Earth. You can’t keep me here.” The sound from the apple was beginning to be annoying.

“First, you have no passage. The tickets were among the first items to go. And on Gambler’s Folly, things can be done a little more expediently, for obvious reasons. Once Trae signed the papers relinquishing all interest in you, the paperwork was filed with the court. Since you were relinquished to pay a debt, all interest was transferred to me, to do with as I will. Therefore, you will soon be Karianna Leone, my wife.”

“I will be what?” Kari shouted. “Your wife? We were never married. I didn’t agree to any such thing.”

“Please,
cara mia
, calm down. These things happen. It’s best just to accept the situation, for better or worse. And it’s not forever. I’ve filed for a two-year irrevocable contract only, to keep you safe. So after two years, if the contract is not renewed by both parties, you will be free.”

“But what about now?” Kari asked.

“This is why I wanted to talk to you, before you created a scene. It would be so much easier if we could sit down over lunch and have a friendly conversation. In fact, I will discuss this no longer. Tomorrow maybe you’ll be in a better mood.”

Once again, after he left, his two men came in to release her and she was alone. Most of the day she napped off and on, occasionally watching the news on the viewer. One item in particular caught her attention.

“Early this morning, the body of a man in his late thirties was found outside the spaceport near the capitol city of Speranza. Identified as Trae O’Brien, the man held a boarding pass for passage to Earth. Police think he was trying to escape a large debt owed to the prince of the underworld, Damiano Leone, owner of the casino chain Stella d’Oro. They are still collecting evidence related to the death.”

Trae was dead? And the news suggested murder. After all Leone’s talk of clearing his debts, after winning her from Trae, he’d had him killed anyway. Bastard! In a blind fury, Karianna destroyed everything at hand. Lamps, goblets, glass-topped table, it all crashed into small, tinkling splinters of glass.