A Chance in the Night (4 page)

“Suit yourself. It matters little enough to me if you’re in agony or if you stupidly injure yourself further but Belleni might care if you’re unable to fulfill your duties.” Vivian Forrone, a woman whose flawless skin yet shrewd gaze made it difficult to determine her true age, pinched her mouth in obvious disapproval as she took in Skye’s pallor and mostly faded bruises. She gave the apartment a cursory inspection before saying, “You look like hell. You can’t go walking around the city like that.” She chided with a scowl, “Belleni said—”

“I don’t care what Belleni said,” Skye cut in sharply, just saying his name made her want to snarl. It was reckless, acting this way so openly, but she felt the walls closing in and she needed some fresh air before she went crazy. Added to that, she missed her son and felt his absence like a physical ache in her chest and it would take a nuclear bomb going off to stop her from spending time with him today. “I promised Nico and I’m not going to disappoint him.”

“
Nico
is not in charge,” Vivian reminded Skye with a glint to her icy-blue eyes that almost looked like hatred, and Skye suppressed a wary shudder. Vivian reported to Belleni alone and provided an extra set of eyes on the women that he kept in his stable. Vivian was the equivalent of an office manager/accountant/ spy and as far as Skye could tell, the woman relished her job with a zealot’s enthusiasm. Skye had often wondered at the relationship between Vivian and Belleni but no one, including herself, had ever had the courage to find the answer. A frown pulled Vivian’s smooth brow into disapproving lines.

“We won’t be out long,” she assured Vivian, moving quickly to get away from her. “Probably only an hour or so.”

“Perhaps we should check with Belleni first. I’m sure he’ll agree with me that you should stay indoors.”

Skye called out to Nico as she headed toward his room. “Vivian, I’m taking my son for some fresh air and I don’t care if it snows, we’re going out.”

Belleni had sent Vivian to help care for Skye while she recuperated but that wasn’t the only reason the sharp-eyed woman was suddenly her shadow. Skye wasn’t naive; he’d wanted to ensure that Skye knew she still belonged to him by infringing on her privacy.

“This is very unwise,” Vivian cautioned, yet her expression was inexpressibly smug, almost glad. “But do as you will. Your star has fallen and it’s just a matter of time before it’s snuffed out and replaced with something shinier and brighter, someone far prettier than you.”

“I look forward to it,” she said simply. The day Belleni let her go would be the best damn day of her life, but given their most recent conversation…that wasn’t happening anytime soon.

Plainly disappointed by Skye’s failure to react more strongly, Vivian switched tracks, aiming for something far more bound to rile her as she queried, “Have you given any more thought to the Excelsior School for Boys?”

Skye’s gaze narrowed. “No. My answer remains the same as it was the first time Belleni suggested it. I want my son to have as normal a childhood as possible and that does not include being sent to boarding school,” she said firmly, ignoring Vivian’s long exhale of annoyance. Belleni’s motivation was transparent enough to Skye. He no longer wanted to be encumbered by a child and shipping Nico off at the earliest opportunity was the easiest answer but there was no way she’d even consider it. Nico was the only thing keeping her sane on some days. “Besides, he’s not even old enough to be put on the list so why even talk about it?”

“Oh, please, let’s not run in circles about this. I only ask because Belleni is eager to see Nico with an excellent education. Personally, I couldn’t careless. But Belleni seems to have taken a mild interest.” Her lip curled in distaste and Skye’s fingers curled into a tight fist but she made a concentrated effort not to give into her impulse. Punching Vivian would only provide a momentary—albeit deliciously wonderful—satisfaction but it would no doubt create more problems than solve. And she had enough of those on her plate as it was. “Well, I can’t expect you to understand the value of a higher education seeing as you barely graduated high school—”

“You know that’s not true, Vivian,” she interrupted coolly. “I graduated early so I could focus my attention on my ballet.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Vivian made a show of remembering, though Skye knew it was an act. Why they had to play these silly malicious games was beyond Skye but Vivian rarely gave up an opportunity to jab at her. “
Dance.
What a shame that didn’t work out, either. Given your experience, I would assume that you would want Nico to focus on getting the best education possible. But what do I know? I’m not a mother.”

Thank God for that.
She imagined crocodiles were more suited for parenting than the spindle-thin, pointy-jawed, designer-clad menace idly straightening Skye’s photos along the mantel. “No, you’re not. For everything there is a reason, I suppose,” Skye said, not quite able to help herself.

Vivian’s gaze cut to hers, frost in her eyes. “Yes, well, not everyone is as
lucky
as you.”

Lucky? Skye swallowed the sputter of indignation. She was hardly what she’d consider graced in that area. If anything, ever since she’d booked that flight from Iowa to New York, a black cloud of misery had been hanging over her. Ballet had been her life but if she’d known how cutthroat the professional world of dance was…She suppressed an inward sigh of resignation. Oh, who was she kidding? It wouldn’t have mattered. She’d had stars in her eyes and believed stardust in her slippered toes.
Ha.
The old injury twinged in her knee as if to remind her how far she’d fallen from her dreams, pulling her back to the moment and the fact that she was wasting time trading barbs with Vivian when she could be enjoying the day with her son.

“I doubt your services are needed for the rest of the day. Go someplace where you’re
wanted.
If there is such a place.” Skye allowed a small amount of pleasure at the red creeping up Vivian’s neck to stain her cheeks at the insult. “Don’t let me keep you from the rest of your day,” Skye said, dismissing her as she walked toward her son’s room. “I know Belleni keeps you busy with all your responsibilities.”

Vivian smiled and grabbed her purse, saying as she opened the door, “Enjoy your day with your son, Skye D’Lane. Perhaps the memory of it will ease your heartache when he’s gone. But remember there are eyes in the city. Don’t think of running off or else you will find yourself scratched out of Nico’s life forever.”

The door slammed and Skye flinched. Vivian didn’t make idle threats. The woman was a socio-path draped in a socialite’s body. Vivian didn’t seem to understand or possess anything remotely close to human compassion. She wasn’t moved by tears, pleas or heartache. And she seemed to hate children. Or maybe it was just Nico. Another reason Skye wanted Nico out of Belleni’s house.

She’d long suspected that Vivian hated her but she’d never figured out why. After she’d become pregnant, she’d realized the true depth of Vivian’s aversion as it was reflected in all its purity when she looked at Nico with something between revulsion and fascination. Skye found it extremely unsettling that Belleni had sent Vivian to play nursemaid when there were plenty of other women in his employ who could’ve fit the criteria.

Nico appeared, a darling angel with a shock of dark hair and deep-set blue eyes the color of diamond-cut sapphires, wearing a hopeful expression that buoyed her as much as it broke her heart that he was being raised in such an environment, and she longed to scoop him into her arms but her protesting rib prevented it. She wiped at her eyes and then pressed a kiss to his forehead. “It’s a lovely day, sweetheart. Are you ready for the park?” she asked.

Nico nodded but his gaze went to the door where Vivian had left. “Do I have to go back?” he asked in a small voice. Vivian scared Nico and it renewed Skye’s ire that Belleni insisted Vivian be the one to shuttle Nico to the apartment for visits.

“Yes. For now,” she answered, wishing things were different. Perhaps, a house will fall on the big, bad witch and at least one half of her misery would disappear. “But she’s gone, at least for today,” she said with bright cheerfulness. “Ready to have some fun just you and me at the park?”

Nico nodded and smiled up at her, his fears dropping away. “Can we get hot dogs?”

“Of course. A trip to the park isn’t complete without a hot dog with lots of ketchup and mustard, right?”

“Right!”

She carefully wound a warm, woolen scarf around his neck and grabbed his mittens and deliberately pushed aside the knot of fear lodged in her belly for the repercussions that were surely coming for her disrespect. She was going to have a great day with Nico and that’s all she was going to think about. Period. “Let’s hit it, little man,” she announced with a smile. “We’ve got a whole lot of fun to do before the day is done.”

That’s right. Fun, damn it.

And she’d mow over anyone who tried to get in their way.

She looked…different. Wholesome. Nothing like the woman he often saw at the bar, waiting, world-weary, jaded.

Her sunglasses hid her eyes but there was no mistaking the love she felt for the boy.

“Are we gonna get some dogs or are you gonna stare at that lady all day?” Mathias asked, annoyed that Christian had simply stopped in his tracks, obviously rattled. Mathias elbowed him. “I’m starved.”

He shook himself. “I’m not staring,” he denied to the kid who was too street-smart to buy it but Christian couldn’t admit that he’d been shocked to see the woman here, in a setting so far removed from where he usually saw her. Looking nothing like she normally did. Not to mention now the worst of the bruising had faded and while she still favored her left side, she looked like a million bucks. He glanced down at Mathias who had shaken his head as if to say “weird” and moved on ahead to get his dog. Christian slowed as he approached the vendor, coming up on her and the boy, and found himself staring harder. Questions better left unanswered crowded his brain and he couldn’t look away. Maybe he’d been all wrong about her. The possibility made him feel like an idiot. In this light it was hard to imagine her as the seductress he’d seen. Sure, the worn jeans hugged a near-perfect ass and even though she was layered in warm clothing, he could almost see the outline of firm breasts but there was nothing of the overt siren he was accustomed to seeing.

And hot damn, she was stunning.

“Hey, lady, you’re holding up the line,” the surly hot dog vendor said, cranky and annoyed. “Keep it movin’. I ain’t standing here for my health, you know!”

She risked a short glance at the man again before clasping Nico’s hand and walking away with a murmured apology to the vendor.

“Mama? Are you okay?” Nico asked, looking up at her with a frown on his beloved face.

She smiled. “Of course, sweetheart. I was just surprised is all. I thought I knew that man from some-where but I think I was wrong. C’mon, sweetie, let’s find a spot where we can eat these dogs.”

Nico seemed content with her answer and quickly forgot as he ate his hot dog. “Mama, I love the park,” he announced, a mustard smear on his cheek that she wiped away with her napkin. “Can we come back tomorrow?”

“I don’t know…maybe,” she hedged, although an unhappy knot twisted her stomach. Belleni refused to keep to a visitation schedule, partly she was sure to keep her tethered and partly because he couldn’t be bothered with something he considered so trivial. Never mind that she lived and breathed for the opportunity to spend time with her son. Nico’s expression fell and she sighed, giving in. “If it’s not raining or snowing, perhaps Belleni wouldn’t mind,” she said, pleased when Nico grinned. Her son’s happiness meant the world to her. She’d risk whatever she had to, to lessen the effects of such an unusual living arrangement for Nico.

“And can we have another hot dog?” he asked.

“Of course,” she answered, leaning forward to kiss him on the nose. “Now, eat up, so you can ride the swings.”

She kept her smile but on the inside she trembled with a growing sense of urgency to get away from Belleni. Two months ago she’d been on the verge of escape. But that all came crashing down the day Belleni called her to his home.

“Hello, darling,” Belleni had said, his voice deceptively mild as she’d entered his sprawling office with its imported Roberto Cavalli rugs and fine-grained, hand-carved mahogany furnishings that cost more than most people saw in a lifetime. At one time she’d been awed by his display of wealth, his obvious fine tastes reflected in the works of art hanging on the walls and the opulence of his home but that was before she’d realized how he consumed lives to pay for his lifestyle. Now it just turned her stomach.

“You wanted to see me?” she asked, nerves stretched thin at the request. At first she’d thought he wanted sex—and though the thought of that man touching her body made her quake with disgust—she’d endure to keep up appearances.

But that wasn’t his intent and she should’ve known when she saw Vivian standing beside him, her eyes aglow with barely concealed glee that something far worse was coming her way.

“Aren’t you happy being a Belleni girl?” he asked, throwing her. “Do I not see to your every need?”

“Y-yes,” she said, her gaze darting to Vivian, uneasy at the questions he was asking. “Of course. I’m quite happy,” she lied.

“I want to believe that, I truly do, but something troubles me,” he said with a heavy sigh, his solid body rippling with the motion. He pulled a small slip of paper and gazed at it a long moment, his mouth pursing with displeasure and her blood chilled as she realized what he was staring at.

An ATM slip. Her mind tripped over possibilities. Had she been sloppy and dropped it somewhere in the apartment? She thought of the last time she visited her bank to make a deposit into her secret account and she held her breath, too afraid to give anything away. That money—painstakingly deposited away from Vivian’s watchful eye—was her and Nico’s ticket out of this hell. She finally had enough to run. She was just biding her time, looking for the perfect opportunity to slip away….

He let the paper drift from his fingertips in perfect timing as two men Belleni hired as muscle came soundlessly into the room, blocking the exit with their solid mass.

“I took you in off the streets,” he began, steepling his fingers as he regarded her with the sharp eyes of the predator he was but she resisted the urge to make a run for it. To run would signify guilt and so far he hadn’t actually accused her of anything. “You were such a sad thing when I found you. Full of broken dreams and heartache. I nursed you to health. I gave you purpose. I gave you
Nico.
”

“I—”

“Silence!” he interrupted her with a snarl, losing the act of gentle benefactor, shedding it like a snake lost its skin in the heat of summer. “I have nurtured you, cosseted you, protected you…and you repay me with treachery?”

She lifted her chin. “I don’t know what you’re talking—”

“Stop lying,” he demanded, holding her stare for a long moment as her heart banged painfully against her chest. Did he know how much she’d saved? If so, he knew she’d been planning to bolt. He gestured and the two men advanced on her, grabbing her arms, startling a yelp out of her. He shared a look with Vivian then said, “Here’s the situation, my darling. Tomorrow you will go to this bank of yours and you will make a withdrawal…”

Nooo! She struggled against the grip on her arm but they were like steel manacles clamped against her skin and it was no use. Tears sprung to her eyes—born of pain and despair—and began tracking down her cheeks. “I can explain,” she began in a desperate bid for damage control but Belleni waved away her attempt.

“You will close your account and the balance will be brought to me as punishment for your deceit.”

“It’s for Nico,” she protested the half truth on a sob, too devastated at the realization that their hope was dead to hold back her tears. She couldn’t imagine losing all that she’d saved, not when they were so close. “For his college education. Please…please don’t take that from him.”

“I want to believe you but I would be a fool. Would you like to know what I think you were going to do?” He continued without her answer. “I believe you were going to use that money to take my son and disappear. After everything I’ve given you…it’s disappointing. Vivian was right—I’ve given you too much slack. You’ve forgotten your place. As much as it pains me, it’s time to remind you.” He looked at the men holding her. “Do not leave too many marks and do not break any bones,” he instructed, adding with a sigh. “Nobody pays for a broken Belleni girl, that’s for sure.” He dismissed them with a wave and Skye was dragged from the room to be taught a lesson in obedience.

“Mama?”

Nico’s voice jerked her back to the present and she realized a tear had snaked its way down her cheek without her notice. She lifted her sunglasses and wiped it away. “Sorry, honey. What did you say?” she asked, shaking off the memory with effort. In the past three months she’d endured more than she ever thought possible and that was saying a lot.

“Why are you crying?” he asked in a solemn tone.

She swallowed and regarded him, the love she felt for Nico colliding with the hatred she felt for his father, and she wondered how the hell she was going to get them out of this mess in one piece. “I was just thinking that today is the best day ever and I’ll be sad to see it end,” she lied, sliding her fingers through Nico’s hair and smoothing it away from his face. “But we still have to hit the swings before we call it a day so what do you say? You ready?”

He nodded, but there was still worry in his voice as he said, “Are you sad because of your owies? I have a Band-Aid if you want. They always make me feel better.”

A Band-Aid. She bit back the sad laughter and merely smiled at her son’s compassion. If only the answer to their problems was so easily found. “You’re too sweet for words, kiddo,” she said. “But I’m already feeling better so you go ahead and hold on to those Band-Aids for a true emergency. Okay?”

“Okay, Mama,” he said dutifully, and then as he clamored to his feet he surprised her with an exuberant, “Race you!” taking off as fast as his sneakered feet would take him in the direction of the swing set.

She sighed, wishing she could chase after him but the painkillers were wearing off and already it was becoming difficult to hide the pain of her ribs. Still, she refused to let anything keep her from enjoying every last moment of the day and climbed to her feet.

Her problems would still be there tomorrow but if Vivian had her way, Nico would not.