An Offer He Cant Refuse - By Christie Ridgway Page 0,68

in her chair. "That man over there with the silver hair?"

Tea glanced back. The man with the broken nose was across the pool, drying his chest with a towel. He caught Tea's gaze and gave her another little nod of recognition. "A guest. He's been here about a week, I think." Nervous tingles were running up her back again. "Why?"

Joey leaned back in her chaise. "A week? I doubt he's another Fed, then. The rumors about Nonno's impending retirement aren't that old. And with a nose like that... he doesn't have a chance of blending in like those other rat-faced bastards try to do."

"I take it those are the rats you're planning to take your target practice on?" Eve asked.

"Shh!" Tea said. "Geez. Can't you guys keep it down?"

Joey set her jaw. "I'm ready to tell the world what I think about the Federal Bureau of Ignoramuses. A thug, paid for by yours and mine tax dollars, tried shaking me down in Starbucks today."

"What?" Alarm stiffened Tea's spine. "What are you talking about?"

"I was picking up a latte this morning at my usual Starbucks, at my usual time. I gave my name, and when the barista called out that my drink was ready, a man picked it up before I could. Then he showed me federal ID and let me know that our friends in black have their eyes on us, now that the family leadership is in flux."

Sighing, Eve shook her head. "It's to be expected."

Joey's eyes went round. "It's to be 'expected"! It's to be rejected. We put up with enough hassles after Dad disappeared."

Enough hassles was an understatement, that was certain. They'd been followed, questioned, and followed some more. For three little princesses bewildered by their missing king, it had been cruel.

Tea's stomach clenched, remembering how quickly she'd gone from feeling beautiful in her father's eyes to seeing herself as the FBI must have - as a self-important lump of pre-adolescence. Just like that, an all-too-familiar sense of chaos began closing in on her. This was what happened, she reminded herself, when she let her mob ties pull tight. Taking deep breaths of the warm, perfumed air, she resisted the frightening sense of disorder, focusing only on the beautiful surroundings.

Wouldn't it be nice to stay poolside at the spa forever? Wouldn't it be nice to be enclosed in a jewel box of emerald grass and turquoise water for all time? No wonder her mother was so content here.

But this wasn't her safe place. There wasn't one, she knew that.

Her cell phone rang, and with her mind preoccupied, she reached for it, flipped it open, and brought it to her ear without looking at the caller's ID. "Hello?"

"I was hoping I would see you today," Johnny said.

Flushed and wet and sprawled across the bed.

But those were her thoughts, in her voice, that she heard this time in her head. "I... I've been working on the designs for your house at my office."

Joey let out another of her unladylike snorts.

"I tried calling you last night," he said. "And this morning."

"Oh. Well." She'd turned off her home phone last night and only powered on her cell phone an hour ago. "Sorry."

"I think that's my line." He paused. "We need to talk."

Oh, God. Talk? Why did they have to talk? What possessed the man to want to rehash something that had made her look - and sound - so disheveled and disordered? She didn't need to hear him say it was a mistake, she knew that already.

"Tea?"

"What?"

He sighed. "You wouldn't be hiding from me, would you?"

"Of course not."

"Because you sure as hell surprised me with what you are hiding beneath those librarian dresses and Iron Maiden br - "

"Johnny." He was doing it again, making her all flushed and damp and disturbed. "Does this phone call have a point?"

He sighed again. "The point I want to make involves a person-to-person visit. When will you be by again?"

Tea hesitated. "Maybe... maybe not for some time. I've been thinking of giving Rachele, my assistant, a bit more responsibility. She'll be the one you'll be seeing at the house."

On the lounge chair opposite, Joey was flapping her elbows and clucking like a silent polio. Tea pretended not to notice.

"Well. Hmm. That might be a problem. I have something of yours here."

She froze. Something of hers? What? Had she left a piece of clothing behind? But no, while her bra had been pushed up and her panties pushed down, her dress half-opened like a wicked,