Temptations - The Complete Series Read online

  I poured the wine in the glasses and took a sip. It was smooth, smoother than red wines usually were. “Tasty,” I said. “Now, let’s get down to business.”

  “Miss Serena,” he said, “I can’t take that deal. I’m sorry. There’s just no way that I can roll on my family like that. Joey would literally kill me.”

  I almost felt a bit sorry for him. “Santino, there’s nothing that can be done here. The prosecutors won’t give you any deal at all unless you cooperate with them. So, basically, you’re looking at spending a great deal of your life in prison.”

  “So be it, but I’m not rolling. If I roll, then I won’t survive. At least if I go to prison, I have a chance of walking out of there someday. I know that we’re talking many years, but maybe you can get the sentence down to a few years. Five years and I walk out of there in two.”

  I shook my head. “Not with the feds. It’s pretty much five years and you walk out of there in five years. And the prosecutor’s not offering that. They’re offering 20 years. You’re what, 32? You’ll be in your fifties before you ever see the outside of a prison cell.”

  “Okay, I understand.”

  This was strange. Santino had hung up on me because I wasn’t able to get the “persecutors” to drop the charges against him. Yet, here he was, as relaxed as you please, telling me basically that he didn’t care about the fact that he was facing twenty years in prison. “Santino, listen, I know what you’re thinking about doing, and I would advise against it. You might not think that Italy will extradite you if you flee there, but I’m here to tell you that they will. And, when you get brought back here, you’ll be facing the rest of your life in prison, not just twenty years.”

  He cocked his head, and I closed my eyes. I could feel his emotions, and I knew that I was right. This guy was planning on fleeing the country, and I had zero idea what to do about it.

  Then he asked me something that shocked me. “How are things going with the Slade Bridgewell case?”

  I furrowed my brows. “I can’t talk about that with you, but why do you ask?”

  “I know something about that case. I might be able to help you.”

  “Help in what way?”

  “Listen, I know people. You’re my lawyer, and I can give you information that you can’t get anywhere else, and hopefully people won’t know it was me who told you.”

  I involuntarily leaned forward in my chair. I had no idea what Santino knew about Slade’s case, or if he knew anything at all. What I did know was that it was suddenly very important that I was able to persuade him not to jump. “I’m listening.”

  “What are you going to give me in exchange for this information?”

  “I’ll…”

  At that, he was on top of me in one fell swoop. He took me by surprise, and I turned my head when he tried to kiss me. “No, stop,” I said. “Stop!”

  He did stop, but he looked chastised. “I’m sorry Miss Serena, but you are a beautiful woman and I’d like to see you in a social manner. That’s what I want, and I’ll give you the information that you need.”

  I shook my head. I wanted to solve the Slade case more than anything in the world, but not if it meant that I would have to sleep with this guy. I doubted that he even knew anything, but I had to admit that I was surprised that he would have even brought Slade’s case up.

  “No,” I said. “Forget it.” I hoped that I wouldn’t regret telling him that, because, on the off-chance that Santino did know something, I might never know.

  “Okay. Well, I guess we’re done here.”

  “Santino, I know that you’re going to jump, and….”

  “Miss Serena, you know what I want. If you don’t want me to jump and want me to tell you what I know about Mr. Bridgewell’s case, then you know where to find me. Or, maybe you don’t. Perhaps I might be in Italy the next time you talk to me.”

  “Let me show you out,” I said, feeling like I wanted to get him out of my house as soon as humanly possible.

  We walked out and when we got to the porch, Santino turned and planted another kiss on me. He held me tightly against his body, and I turned my head. “Santino, I thought that I said…”

  And then, just like that, Slade was on the porch with us. He put his hand in Santino’s hair, and dragged him off of me. Even though Santino was imposing, and stood a good two inches above Slade and probably had 40 lbs on him, Slade didn’t back down when Santino threw a punch at him. Slade was lightning-quick and he ducked when Santino tried to punch him. Then Slade threw a punch at Santino, right in the gut.

  The two men were then wrestling, right there on my porch. Santino hit Slade in the face, and Slade came back with an upper-cut to Santino’s jaw. Punches were thrown on both sides, as I stood there, not sure what to do. I certainly couldn’t call the police – both men were out on bail, and there was a chance that their bonds would be revoked if they were caught assaulting one another. But Santino started to punch Slade, again and again, and I screamed. Nevertheless, Slade somehow ended up getting the better of Santino, and Slade was all fists. He gripped Santino’s collar and he hit him several times. Santino finally put his hands up in surrender.

  “I don’t know who the hell you are,” Santino was saying. “But you can throw a good punch.” At that, the two men stood up and Santino held out his hand for Slade to shake. With a nod, Slade shook Santino’s hand, and I let out a sigh of relief.

  Santino was rubbing his jaw. “Man, I hope you didn’t mess up my good looks.” Then he smiled at Slade. “But it looks like I might have messed up yours.”

  At that, he headed to his car. I felt mixed emotions as I watched him drive off because I wasn’t at all sure what was going to happen. Did he really have information that might help us with Slade’s case? Was he really going to jump?

  But those mixed emotions were soon forgotten as I looked at Slade. He had sat down on the porch swing, and I could already see that a shiner was forming on his right eye. He looked like a truck had run over him, and I went inside to get a bag of peas. I came back out and gently placed the peas on his eye. He lay back with a small groan.

  I was thrilled to see him, of course, but, at the same time I didn’t necessarily know what to say. He had disappeared on me several days prior and went out of town without a word. Now, here he was, and I had no idea why he was here. I also didn’t know how much to tell him about what Santino had said to me about how he knew something about Slade’s case. He probably was talking out his ass, but, then again, he brought the case up to me. That alone made me think that maybe, perhaps, Santino was on the up and up.

  I finally decided just to not tell Slade anything at all about what Santino said to me. For one, I was Santino’s attorney, and I really couldn’t say anything that was protected by privilege. And, for another, I felt that I had to get Santino on more neutral territory and then ask him more about what he was talking about.

  I sat next to Slade as he lay there on the porch swing, groaning a little in pain. “So, what brings you here?” I finally asked him.

  He shook his head. “I wanted to see you. I’ve had a rough week, and you were the first person that I wanted to see. Of course, I didn’t exactly expect you to be on your porch kissing a tattooed goombah.”

  “How do you know that he has tattoos?”

  “I know the type. Listen, I don’t know what that guy was doing here at your house, but I can’t believe that you would be so incredibly stupid as to have him here at your house.”

  “A guy like what?” I was incredulous. Santino showed up looking respectable, yet Slade had already decided that he was a tattooed goombah who was somehow suspect. I knew the truth about Santino, of course – he was a tattooed goombah who was suspect. But how did Slade know this just by looking at him?

  “A guy like him.” That was all he said, and that was all he was going to say, apparently.

  “I never asked you to come over here, guns blazing. I could have handled that guy by myself.”

  S
lade scoffed lightly. “Bullshit. He had 100 pounds on you.”

  “He was leaving. He was on my porch, remember? He’s harmless.”

  “Harmless, my ass! Listen, Serena, I told you that you’re mine now. That means that I don’t want another man’s hands on you like that. Ever.”

  I had to admit that I felt tingly and warm when Slade reiterated that I belonged to him. But that didn’t mean that I was just going to let him get away with this kind of jealous nonsense. “I’m sorry, Slade, but I don’t remember the part where you put a ring on my finger. I hardly know you, and we had a few days of bliss together. Yet you’re suddenly treating me as if we’re in a monogamous relationship.” I crossed my arms in front of me. “And if you’re going to go gallivanting up to New York doing god-knows-what, then I can’t see how you can possibly be acting this possessive.”

  He furled his eyebrows. “I wasn’t in New York City doing god-knows-what. I had a family emergency.”

  “So you said. So you told the judge.”

  He hung his head. “Why I went to New York is none of your concern.”

  “Oh no! You’re not going to pull that bullshit. You can’t come in here like the Incredible Hulk and try to tell me that I can’t have another man’s hands on me, and then try to tell me that what you do is none of my concern. You can’t have it both ways Slade!”

  He narrowed his eyes but he didn’t say anything for a long, long time. Finally, he spoke…“My mom is sick, okay? She has pancreatic cancer. She found out a few days ago, and I rushed up to see her. She’s literally the only family I have.” Small tears came to his eyes.

  I closed my eyes and felt his overwhelming grief. I realized that he was very close to his mother, and I felt horrible. I put my hand on his stomach and rubbed it lightly. “I’m so sorry.”

  He shook his head. “It’s okay. I mean, it’s not, but what can I really do? I made sure that she had the top doctors, the most world-class doctors. That’s what I did while I was there. It doesn’t look good. It never does with this particular kind of cancer, but if anybody can beat it, mom certainly can. She’s one tough, tough, tough lady.”

  “Where is she? Is she still in New York?”

  “Yes, but I’m actually bringing her here. I found a cancer specialist that came highly recommended specifically for pancreatic cancer. That kind of cancer generally has only a 2% survival rate, but this guy has more like 20%. The odds are still not great, but they’re something.” He shook his head and smiled ruefully. “She’s going through a lot. Her only child is accused of a brutal murder and now this. And she’s pretty young, too. She just turned 43.”

  I quickly did the math in my head. His mother was only 15 when she gave birth to him.

  “Listen,” he said. “I didn’t come here to talk about my mother. I came here to see you.” At that, he sat up, and his hands ran through my hair. Even though he was roughed up, and his eyes looked like they were both going to turn black, I felt my body start to flush as he touched me. I started to tremble, and I took a deep breath.

  I closed my eyes as his lips met mine. His hands were on my face, and his tongue parted my mouth and interlocked with my own. I drank him in, tasting him and biting his lips. He breathed heavily, and I felt intoxicated by his scent. It was clean soap, spicy aftershave and pure, pure man.

  “What are you doing to me?” I said to him in a whisper. “I’ve thought of little else but you for the past few days.”

  He smiled. “I’m surprised. After all, you left the house that I bought for you without saying a word to me.”

  “Come on,” I said as teasingly as I could. “You couldn’t have surprised me more. It’s not every day that a man buys me an entire house, let alone a house in Del Mar.”

  He looked at the door of my house. “Are you going to invite me in? Or are you afraid that, once I’m in there, I’m going to urge you more than ever to take that house over as your own?”

  “This place is just fine.”

  “Perhaps. But you deserve better and so do your dogs.”

  “I know. I’m looking at homes this weekend. They’re in Solana Beach and La Jolla, and they’re in my price range. I’m going to buy a house like a normal person, with a mortgage and a down payment. And, as I told you before, I want something that needs some work. I need that.”

  “Why do you need that?”

  “I need that because I need a project. I need something that can take my mind off of things. I don’t want to self-destruct anymore.”

  He lightly raised my hand, and tenderly stroked my scars on my wrists. “I thought, at first, that perhaps you had slashed your wrists because you wanted to kill yourself. But I know that your wrist scars haven’t come from any kind of suicide attempt. You either cut, or you enjoy having others give you pain.”

  My breathing started to increase. “That’s none of your business.”

  He got closer to me, and his breath was warm on my face. “It is my business. It is if I am going to help you heal.”

  “How are you-” I was going to ask him how he was going to help me heal, but I soon found that I didn’t have words. And, in the silence that followed my aborted statement, Slade took the opportunity to once again put his soft lips on mine.

  We kissed for several minutes. After our lips parted, Slade said, “Okay, perhaps I overstepped my bounds in buying you a home. But I can compromise. I’d like to come along with you when you look at the other houses that you’re interested in.”

  I nodded my head, actually feeling excited that Slade was going to be coming with me to see these homes. The excitement came from the fact that I was going to be seeing him, period. I hated that I felt like I had to be with him at all times, but I was increasingly feeling consumed. “That would be wonderful.”

  “Well, are you going to invite me in or aren’t you?”

  I felt embarrassed, truth be told, to have Slade come into my bungalow. It was small and cramped, even though it did have a lovely sunroom. After having been in Slade’s beautiful home, I was afraid that he would run from my place screaming. “Why don’t we go down to the beach instead?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Is there a place where I can ravage your beautiful body on the beach?”

  I shook my head. “No, there’s not.” I stood up and took his hand. “Come on, let’s go down there. The ravaging will have to wait.” It was almost impossible for me to turn him down, because I was craving him just like I had been craving him at his home. But I had to slow things down. I suddenly knew that I didn’t want my relationship with him to be all about sex, so I felt that I had to get him out of the house with me and into the world.

  He smiled and gripped my hand tighter. “Sounds like fun. Let’s go.”

  Chapter 16

  We got down to the beach. Even though it was 8 o’clock, or sometime thereafter, there were still hundreds of people around. They were huddling under umbrellas and tents, and there were more in the water. People were throwing balls to one another, and others were walking dogs. The sun was setting, and, as sunsets over the water go, this sunset was gorgeous. I took off my shoes, and Slade did the same.

  “I bring my dogs down here usually,” I said. “After 6.”

  “We should have brought them now.”

  “I know. But I wanted to be alone with you.” I felt selfish, even as I said that, and mentally made a note that I would bring Bella and Gigi next time for sure.

  We walked to the shore, dodging footballs and small children who were running around without looking. The waves were coming up, but they were small and light.

  “Come out here when there’s a full moon,” he said. “The tide acts dramatically different.”

  “Oh, I know. I also like coming out here when there’s a storm. The waves are violent.”

  We walked along enjoying the water gently lapping at our ankles and feet. I noticed a sand dollar on the beach, and I picked it up.

  Slade put his arm around my waist, and he clutched it with his strong h
and. I handed him the sand dollar, and he looked at it, evidently impressed. “I love finding these things,” he said. “When I was a kid, I used to look for these high and low. It was like trying to find a four leaf clover or something.”

  He gave the sand dollar back to me. “Keep it,” I said. “It’s yours.”

  “No. I didn’t find it, so it’s yours.” He put his hand up for emphasis when I started to protest.

  We walked all the way down to the end of Ocean Beach and then headed back. By then, the sun had completely set, so we were in the dark. Even so, there were still hundreds of people who were milling about, and there were several bonfires that were being set in the fire pits.

  We sat on the sea wall, and Slade put his arm around me protectively. “You know how you told me that you’ve thought about me a lot over the past few days?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s been the same with me. I can’t seem to get you out of my head, no matter how hard I try. But I will have to say that I haven’t exactly tried hard to stop thinking about you.”

  “I must confess that I’m surprised. After all, you never seem to have a shortage of female attention.” Then I smiled. “It must be the forbidden thing. We can’t really be together, openly, so that makes it more of a challenge for you. I know how men like you love challenges.”

  “Don’t all men love challenges?” He brought my hand up to his lips and kissed it lightly. “But, no, it’s not that with you. You are a bit of a challenge, I have to admit, but I can’t get you out of my head for other reasons. I don’t quite know what they are though, so don’t ask me. I only know that I get a feeling with you that I haven’t quite experienced before.”

  “Not even with your actresses and supermodels?”

  He laughed. “Especially not with them. Women like Charlotte hold no interest for me. They never really did, and they really don’t now. I’m more into beautiful brunettes with brains. I don’t suppose you know any of those types of women, do you?”