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As Bianca left the room, Nick walked across to the drinks cabinet, poured himself a large bourbon, then stepped up to the window and stared at the gardens just as Sammy had done a short time before. Though the colored lights softly illuminating the shrubs and trees usually had a calming effect, Nick remained troubled.
“I could look at that all night,” Sammy remarked, walking up behind him.
“My sister designed it. She’s very talented. Would you like a drink?”
“Yeah, after all that, I could use one.”
“Help yourself.”
“Thanks,” Sammy replied, pouring a small amount of vodka into a glass. “Has Bianca gone to bed?”
“Yeah, she was dead on her feet.”
“I’m not surprised, she’s been through hell, the poor thing.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Nick muttered. “Sammy, I don’t mean to overstep, but can I give you a piece of friendly advice?”
“Sure.”
“Don’t accept any favors from Lorenzo, and the same is true of anyone else who’s connected—if you know what I mean. It may be tempting, but once you’re in, you’re in, and there’s no exit door.”
“It’s hard to say no to a man like him.”
“Trust me, it will be a whole lot harder if you say yes.”
“Unfortunately I think that bird has flown,” Sammy said with a worried frown.
“But you didn’t keep your end of the bargain. Technically, the deal is off.”
“Shit, you’re right, but, uh, how do you know about our arrangement?”
“He told me, and what he had planned was despicable.”
“Uh, what did he say?”
“He would tell Bianca he knew who was behind the kidnapping, then bring you into the room, announce it was you, and he was going to make sure you went to prison for the rest of your life. He was sure she’d admit what she’d done to save your hide.”
“Yeah, that’s the long and the short of it, and it’s about as Machiavellian as you can get,” Sammy said angrily. “How could he do something like that to his own daughter?”
“Sammy, you agreed to go along with it.”
“If you’d been sitting next to Lorenzo Albertini in the back seat of a limo with two hefty goons glaring at you, would you have said no?”
“Point taken,” Nick said with a sigh. “What changed? How were you able to say no?”
“It’s a whole lot different in this lovely home with you and his wife here, and I will definitely try to back out of the introduction to Rupert, but I don’t know how successful I’ll be.”
“If you need me to be there for moral support, just let me know.”
“I might take you up on that,” Sammy said with a worried frown, then pausing, he added, “I guess Bianca will be here in Los Angeles with you now. I’ll really miss her.”
“Maybe you should move as well. I think you’d like the lifestyle, and we have casinos.”
“Hey, maybe I will. There’s nothing keeping me in Vegas, in fact, being near the ocean sounds fantastic. I’ve wanted to visit Muscle Beach in Venice for ages.”
“Living anywhere near the sand doesn’t come cheap, but there’s nothing better. Maybe the time has come for you to enjoy some of that money you’ve stashed away.”
“I probably should. Hey, Nick…”
