An Offer He Cant Refuse - By Christie Ridgway Page 0,7

not to mention the delicate bronze highlights that had been woven into her half-yard of dark hair.

Joey jumped in, gesturing. "New dress, then. Nice."

The same tailored sheath her youngest sister had disparaged as "a cross between a nurse's uniform and a nun's habit" the last time she wore it in her company.

The compliments only underlined Tea's growing concern and she sighed. Clearly there was no point in putting this off.

"All right, what's this all about?" she asked. "Your phone message said you wanted a 'sit-down.'" A sit-down was their code for a not-to-be-missed meeting. She tensed as her sisters exchanged another speaking look. "And you said - "

"Family business," Eve interjected. "It's family business."

Tea slumped back against her chair. Well. Foreboding substantiated. Sham smiles explained. Family business was a code phrase too. For their paternal family. She took a breath then folded her arms over her chest. "You know I don't get involved in family business."

Joey rolled her eyes again. "You haven't spoken to Nonno or any of the rest in years. But the time's come for you to stop blaming him for... for whatever happened to Dad."

"It's not - " Tea swallowed her comeback. The reason she distanced herself wasn't something she could explain to her sisters without talking about other things she'd always protected them from. "Look, if this is about the invitation, it already arrived. I'm sure it was sent in error, but in any case I'm counting on you to make my excuses for me."

"Well, this is about that invitation," Eve said, then hesitated, sliding another glance Joey's way. "But you should also know that Grandpa is preparing to step down - retiring from all the family businesses. He's announcing it shortly after his birthday party."

"Preparing to step down?" Tea's heart skipped. Their father's disappearance sixteen years before had set off a small war on the urban streets of California - it was described in graphic detail at www.mafiatales.com. It had taken their grandfather's iron fist to rein in the criminal chaos that had erupted then and he'd remained in complete control since.

Then Joey released her own shocking dart. "And Nonno has just one birthday wish - he wants you at the party. He said to tell you he won't take no for an answer."

Now Tea's heart seized. To get it beating again she had to cough, the sound so harsh it caused the waiter, arriving with their meals, to tear his gaze off Eve a moment. But by the time the man had set down their plates and moved away again, Tea managed to form actual words.

"Why?" She tried not to let panic color her voice, but what could be their grandfather's motive for trying to reel her back after all these years? "Even if he really is retiring - which I find hard to believe - why does he need me at his birthday bash when he has you two? You're the party girl, Eve. And Joey, you work for him."

Eve shrugged one slender shoulder. "Because you're the oldest grandchild."

The oldest grandchild. The oldest child of his only child, the latter presumed dead, the former who pretended the family was dead to her. If Cosimo was truly planning to pass on the family leadership to someone else, was this his way of demonstrating the prodigal granddaughter was still under his protection?

But he had no reason to believe she needed protecting. He didn't know her secret. No one did.

"You know I won't come," she said aloud.

Joey scowled. 'Tea - "

"I won't." She picked up her fork and toyed with her salad, assuming a calm she didn't feel. "For one thing, there'll be too many of them. A party like that means people from the families all over California. The second cousins will fly in from New Jersey. The others from New York. Not to mention that sleazy Miami group."

Just the idea of seeing the large web of mobsters, of looking into faces that might suspect what she'd kept hidden all these years, made the skin along her spine shiver and sweat at the same time.

"The guest list's at three hundred," Joey admitted. "So far."

Shaking her head, Tea stared down at the mix of greens on her plate. Great, just great. Even if she kept well clear of it, an event as big as that, for someone as powerful as their grandfather, would be news. The story would make the California society pieces like Eve wrote as well as the Mob-watch columns in the Eastern papers.