“Tomorrow,” I answered.
“I see. Go on,” he replied. There appeared to be a glimmer of curiosity in his eyes now.
“You see, I’ve been having second thoughts about going through with it. I didn’t sign any contract. I didn’t agree to resign my life to a loveless marriage and when I told my father I wouldn’t go through with it, he threatened to kill me. Not only that, but theBattista family did too. I’m scared and I hoped that you might be able to help me,” I explained.
“Your father threatened you?”
This time he sat forward, looking at me intensely as he pressed his elbows to his knees. I’d finally caught his interest and I decided to continue.
I told him about the cake tasting earlier that day. I didn’t leave anything out from the moment he threw me against the wall and put his hands around my throat. Jaxon’s jawline tensed just the slightest bit and I breathed a tiny sigh of relief at the small sign that he was finally beginning to really listen to my story.
“Who in the Battista family threatened you? Was it your husband-to-be?”
I nodded tentatively. His interest had peaked at my father’s malice, so I decided to embellish my story a little bit. I’d never met Anthony, but it didn’t matter. I decided to lie so that it would increase my chances of earning his assistance.
“His name is Anthony Battista. He’s not a nice guy either. When I was at my final dress fitting earlier today, he called me. News must have gotten to him about my reluctance to go through with the whole thing and he wasn’t happy. He told me that he would take me in his bed tomorrow night and that he’d take me whether or not I was his wife. He promised me that he’d make me regret it if I refused to marry him tomorrow and he didn’t care who saw the bruises after that. He told me if the wedding didn’t happen as expected, it would eventually and that I wouldn’t have a choice,” I said, lying my ass off with every word.
“And what would you have me do, Keri?” he questioned, his eyes searching mine. His gaze was harsh, and I looked away, unable to keep eye contact with a man as formidable as him.
“I want you to take care of it,” I replied boldly, putting all of my strength into every last syllable.
“Are you telling me the truth?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.
“Of course I am,” I responded.
“You wouldn’t lie to me, would you, Keri?” he asked.
“No. I’ve told you everything. Will you please help me?” I added carefully. I looked up at him through my lashes, hoping I looked the part of a girl in need of a big powerful man to protect her. If it affected him at all, he didn’t let it show. I schooled my features, trying not to reveal that his lack of reaction bothered me. Was I not pretty enough for him? Was I not in enough danger for him to want to protect me? Did he not want me at all?
“I’m going to make a few calls and see what I can do. If I find out you’re lying to me, you’ll be in trouble,” he answered, and I tried not to let it show how very much that unnerved me. At the same time, though, something deep inside me leapt with interest at his veiled threat.
What was going to happen next?
CHAPTER 2
Jaxon
When Robert had told me that Keri Esposito had shown up at my door unannounced, I’d been curious enough to sit down with her rather than turn her away. I knew of her father’s position and that he didn’t always abide by the law. In fact, more often than not, he flipped the bird in the face of law enforcement as well as basic human decency, but in recent years his power was beginning to wane. The age of the overwhelming power of the mafia was declining because men like me with more powerful connections and even bigger bank accounts had begun to rise and overshadow them.
Which would explain Keri’s presence here in front of me. She’d probably heard that I had a certain amount of influence of my own and that sometimes I solved problems for a price. Maybe she’d heard more, but that I didn’t know.
With her marriage to Anthony Battista, it would combine the Esposito and Battista families in an unbreakable alliance. With their powers folded together, it would be entirely possible forthem to become a formidable force in the city once again. New York would be in trouble if that ever happened. It would be an annoyance for me, although I could easily handle them all if I wanted to. There was nothing really in it for me, so I’d ignored it for the most part.
That is, until Keri Esposito walked through my door.
I didn’t know if I fully believed her. From what I knew about her father, Richard, he led his family with an iron fist, but he was a fair man. At least as fair as a mafia kingpin could be. I hadn’t ever been around the Battistas, but I wouldn’t help her until I fully understood the story surrounding the whole situation. I wouldn’t be made a fool by rushing into the situation without all the information.
There was an element of honesty in her eyes, but there was something else. Something else that I didn’t quite trust. Something I needed to figure out.
“Wait here. I’ll be back shortly. Enjoy your glass of wine in the meantime. I’ll have Robert bring you something to eat,” I said, fully expecting her obedience.
“Thank you, Jaxon,” she murmured softly. She blinked and looked up at me with those beautiful blue doe eyes of hers. Her arms pressed against her chest, and I glanced down at the rather seductive view of her cleavage she offered as a result. She was flirting with me, the little vixen.
She was playing with fire. I wondered if she realized that.
I left my study and returned to my office. I sat down at my desk and keyed a few commands into the background check software I’d designed myself for the FBI. There wasn’t much about Keri, but there was certainly a great deal of circumstantialevidence around the rest of her family and especially her father concerning his supposed criminal activities. There’d never been enough for a conviction however because his very expensive lawyers had found one loophole after the next and gotten him off every single time.
I decided to focus a bit more on her. She’d done well at the private academies her parents had shipped her off to and she was excelling in her more recent coursework through a small university. There were no marks against her. At the top of her class, she was either intelligent enough to cover her tracks or she actually was a good girl who didn’t get into that kind of trouble. I couldn’t be sure which it was yet.
