An Offer He Cant Refuse - By Christie Ridgway Page 0,96
him to understand what it was like to have a father like hers. Who would? Thinking she could be anyone's "distraction" or anything more than that was just a silly dream. Her father, her family, her past would al-ways bubble up and give any good man sensible, second thoughts.
So, letting her relationship with Johnny die this quick, sudden death was all right with her.
Her hand was in her purse, scrambling around for her keys when he spoke, his voice rough and abrupt. "Where were you hiding?"
"Huh?"
"If Eve was in the closet and Joey under the bed, then where the hell were you?"
She swallowed, the memories coming alive again, a slide show of anger and fear. "You don't want to hear about that."
A white Cadillac cruised past them, its headlamps bathing their legs in light. It turned into a spot farther down the lot. The night air carried the sound of the Caddy's doors opening and a couple's conversation as they walked closer.
"Yes, I do." Johnny turned to the Jag and unlocked the passenger door. Holding it open, he nodded toward her and then the seat. "Get in. Get in and tell me."
Bristling, she glared up at him in the darkness, angry at his insistence and angrier still at the memories that had been poked alive by Joey and Eve, and now by him. She didn't like remembering them.
"Damn it. Get in and tell me." 路
Fine. He thought he wanted to know? Tea marched toward the car and ducked into the seat. Then she would tell him. Maybe he needed the words in order to feel less guilty about breaking things off. Certainly what she had to say could only tarnish the "pure pleasure" he claimed he wanted with her.
But when he was settled in the driver's seat beside her, he had to prompt her again. "I gather the FBI raided your house - after your father's disappearance?"
She took a breath, nodded. "They came in wearing bulletproof vests and carrying sledgehammers and crowbars. At least a dozen of them. They pounded on the door and then didn't give us a chance to answer. They poured into the house like cockroaches."
Her mother had been frozen for days, ever since it was clear that Salvatore wasn't coming home. She'd watched the agents invade with dead eyes. "My father had been missing for more than a week."
"Where did they find you, Tea?"
She laughed, the sound dry and bitter. Scornful. "I wasn't hiding, if that's what you're asking." She'd still thought of herself as royal then. And loyal. So stupidly loyal. "I stood in the foyer and told them to get the hell out."
It seemed to take him a moment to absorb that. "How old did you say you were... twelve?"
"That's right. Twelve years old and I thought I could order them off the premises."
"Jesus." Johnny forked his hand through his hair. "Did they have a search warrant?"
She laughed again. "I don't know. Do you think they would have bothered to show it to me, Salvatore Caruso's little bitch of a daughter?"
"They called you a little bitch." Apparently he recognized the direct quote.
"Only when I bit the hand of the agent that shoved me out of the way."
That surprised a laugh out of him. "I would never have guessed you're a biter, Contessa."
"Oh, you don't really know me, Johnny." And he never would. Strange how sad and glad she felt about that at the same time. "You don't really know me at all."
He let the comment go, staring straight out the windshield as if he found the dark street fascinating. 'They found cash then?"
"Wads of cash. I remember this one agent getting a little giddy as she scooped handfuls of twenties from a space be-hind the shelving in a linen closet. I read all about it in the newspapers. There was over $130,000 found in various places around the house. They confiscated every last dollar bill."
"It's no crime to have an aversion to Citigroup and B of A."
"I wish I'd thought to mention that when they smashed our piggy banks. I'm fairly certain that's what cemented Joey's hatred for the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
"Jesus," Johnny said again. "Jesus." With a jerky movement he started the car and then slammed it into reverse.
"Wait, wait." Bewildered, Tea put her hand on his arm. It was stiff and tense beneath her fingers. "My car."
"We'll get it tomorrow."
"You're driving me home?"
He glanced over. "What? I thought we were going back to my place."