Dante's Wedding Deception (11 page)

And, regardless of what cost the sacrifice, she’d continue to pay until she put right all she’d set wrong in the past.

The instant she reached her decision one of the small strips of silver slid to one side and the locket clicked open. She stared in wonder at the small key she found nestled inside. If Lacey were right, it was the key to a safety deposit box, as well as the solution to her problem.

Because in that safety deposit box was the means for her to make amends to all those she’d injured over the years.

“Have you lost your mind?”

Nicolò glared at his brother, Lazz. “Why do you keep asking me that same question?”

“Because it bears repeating.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “I mean, get serious. Did you not read her file?”

“Yes, I read her file.”

“Did you not see the part that said scam artist in big red letters? Hell, it was hard to miss since Rufio also put it in bolded caps.”

“I saw it,” Nicolò stated between gritted teeth.

“So…what? She scammed every man she ever met, but she’s not going to do the same to you because she’s your Inferno soul mate?”

“That’s part of it.”

“And the other?”

“She’s changed. She’s not that person anymore.”

Lazz’s mouth dropped open and he floundered a moment before he could speak again. “You have got to be kidding me. You did not just say that.”

Nicolò swore beneath his breath. He didn’t know why it had taken him a full three hours after Kiley had left before he caught the mistake within the lie. Maybe he’d been so focused on her claiming she didn’t love him—and the “tell” that had given lie to that statement—that he hadn’t fully processed her comment. But the instant it sank in, he realized that she hadn’t regained her memory at all, or she’d have known that they never bonded at Le Premier.

As soon as he’d realized the truth, he’d gone charging out of the house. With Brutus at his side, he’d spent the entire night combing the city for her, but she’d disappeared as though she’d never existed. It was the first time in his entire life he hadn’t been able to find a way out of a predicament. He was good at solving problems. The best. But this time he hit a brick wall and it was a wall he couldn’t find a way over, under, or around, let alone through.

“She doesn’t remember, Lazz,” Nicolò insisted. “She still has amnesia.”

“How can you possibly know that?” Lazz argued.

“Because she slipped up right before she left. She said we first bonded at Le Premier. But we never did. We just spat sparks at each other. We weren’t ‘Infernoed’ until I took her hand at the hospital.”

“Hello. She’s. A. Con. Artist. She hasn’t changed. And it wasn’t a slipup. It was an ‘on purpose.’ She was hoping you’d catch the mistake. Hoping you’d buy right back into the con. And damn it, Nicolò, you have, haven’t you?”

“If that woman’s still a con artist, then yeah, I’m buying it. And I’m going to keep buying it until I’m old and gray and we’ve been married for as many decades as Primo and Nonna.” He leaned in, jaw set. “I’m going to find her, Lazz. And then I’m going to marry her. She’s going to have my sons—and I say sons because, with the exception of our cousin, Gianna, the men in our family seem incapable of producing daughters. We’re going to have four of them, in case you’re interested. And anyone who has a problem with that can discuss it first with my right fist and then with my left hook.”

He looked around with a hint of defiance, stunned when he caught Sev and Marco’s nod of approval. Even better was the expression Primo wore, one that offered unconditional support. “Everyone should receive a second chance,” he stated.

Nicolò turned on Lazz again, his determination rock-solid. “So, are you going to help me find her, or are you going to fight me over this?”

“You know I don’t believe in the family curse,” Lazz muttered.

“Blessing,” the others chorused in unison.

Nicolò barked out a laugh, the first one since Kiley left him. “You better start believing in The Inferno, Lazz. So far it’s three down. You’re the only one of us left.”

“And that’s the way it’s going to stay.” Lazz held up his hands before anyone could argue the point. “Fine. You want her, you got her.”

Nicolò nodded. “Let’s just hope it’s that easy.”

O
f course, it wasn’t easy at all. It took a team effort involving Rufio and the entire Dante family to finally locate Kiley. Nicolò couldn’t recall a rougher few weeks. Not that he had anyone to blame other than himself. He’d allowed her to walk out instead of stopping her, and that knowledge had haunted him every single minute since. When the call finally came in from the P.I., he found it a struggle just to form a coherent sentence.

“Where is she, Rufio?” he managed to ask.

“A small dive down in the Mission District bearing the delightful name of the Riff Raff Inn. Not one I’d recommend, especially not for a woman on her own.”

Nicolò swore. “What the hell is she doing there?”

“I can’t say. Might be all she could afford. Thank God she finally used plastic or we’d have had the devil’s own time finding her.”

Nicolò closed his eyes. Of course. She’d left with nothing in hand but the funds in her purse. Five hundred couldn’t have kept her fed and housed for much longer than a couple weeks, if that. Not in San Francisco. What would she have done if she hadn’t had another source of money? Would she have come back to him? Somehow he doubted it.

“Watch the motel in case she leaves,” Nicolò instructed. “I’ll be there in fifteen.”

“You’d better make it ten.”

Hell. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“Our old buddy Ferrell just got out of a cab. He’s making tracks toward the motel and looks like a man on a mission. Do you want me to intercept him?”

“Not unless there’s trouble. It can’t be a coincidence he’s shown up, or much doubt who he’s there to see. Follow him and call me back with a room number. I’m leaving now.”

He was five minutes out when Rufio called again. “More good news,” came the P.I.’s gloomy voice. “By the look of things, Kiley’s about to have another visitor.”

“Who?”

“Based on the description you gave me, I’m guessing it’s Lacey O’Dell. Blonde, blue eyes, five foot nothing. Looks a good bit like Kiley, except…”

“Harder,” Nicolò supplied.

“I’d call her cold if she didn’t look spitting mad. If I were a betting man, I’d say your wife…Er, sorry—Ms. O’Dell has done something to seriously tick off Momma dearest.”

“Which room is Kiley in?”

“Two-oh-nine. Up the stairs, hang a right. Middle of the hallway on the left. You’ll find me near the stairwell. I can see the door, but I’m not close enough to hear anything. Don’t want to attract too much attention from those inside.”

“Will I have any trouble getting past the front desk?”

“I wasn’t sure what sort of reception you might receive when you joined the party, so I dropped a Franklin on the manager. He’s suddenly developed a severe case of deaf, dumb, and blind.”

“Hang tight. I’m almost there.”

A few minutes later, Nicolò swung into a parking space and hustled into the motel. Rufio’s bribe worked. The manager didn’t so much as lift his head, just gestured toward a worn stairway carpeted in the remains of faded paisley. Nicolò came across Rufio in the hallway, a few doors up from Kiley’s room.

“In there,” he whispered, pointing. “Decided I better move closer so I could step in if things turned nasty. Got a right little row going.”

More than a row. Nicolò could hear Ferrell’s voice raised in fury, as well as Lacey’s. And then he heard Kiley’s cry of alarm and didn’t bother with a civilized knock on the door. He crashed against the hollow core panel and sent the door bursting inward.

It took only an instant to assess the situation. Ferrell and Lacey were in a furious struggle over something that glittered with unmistakable fire. A diamond necklace. Or rather, what remained of a diamond necklace. And then he saw Kiley. She was on the floor, a hand raised to her cheek, one that showed evidence of a rapidly growing bruise. He was at her side in an instant, lifting her in his arms and clear of the fray. He didn’t know who had hit her or why, but someone would pay for hurting her.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She ran her hands across his chest while she ate him up with her eyes. “Don’t think me ungrateful, but…What are you doing here?”

He pulled a slow smile. “I’m here to rescue you, of course. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?”

She shook her head, despite the hope dawning in her expression. “Only in fairy tales. Not in real life.”

“In real life, too, sweetheart. Now who hit you?”

“It was an accident.”

“Uh-huh.” He shot Lacey and Ferrell a grim look. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”

“Forget it, Nicolò. This is my fight, too.”

Together they waded into the fray, separating the two combatants. Lacey gave a squeak of surprise and broke away from Ferrell with only minor prompting from Kiley. The older man backed up several paces, the remains of a diamond necklace clutched in his hand.

“If you don’t want to find yourself eating carpet with a bruise to match Kiley’s, I suggest you hand over that necklace.”

“I’m not handing over anything,” Ferrell snarled. “The diamonds are mine.”

“I paid you what you were owed,” Nicolò bit out. “And a good deal more beside. Or have you forgotten that minor detail?”

Kiley balled her hands into fists. “Why, you lying piece of scum. You told me you didn’t receive so much as a dime from the Dantes.”

“Look who’s calling who scum,” he shot back. “I deserve the diamonds for the hell you put me through. You deserve to know what it feels like to get conned.”

“I’m not going to warn you again,” Nicolò interrupted. “Drop the necklace.”

Ferrell glared in frustration. “You don’t understand.”

“No, you don’t understand.” Nicolò stalked closer, leaned in so the other man couldn’t mistake his words. “I’m going to pretend that bruise on Kiley’s cheek is a regrettable accident. That it didn’t have anything to do with you. While I’m operating under that misapprehension, I suggest you get as far away from this room as possible. You got me?”

Ferrell’s hand clenched around the necklace, common sense in a pitched battle with greed. After an endless minute, sensibility won out, though it took on a vindictive edge. “Fine. I’ll leave. But you’re a fool, Dante. She’s just going to use you the same way she’s used every other man she’s ever met.” He shook his head in disgust. “You’re going to wish you’d never met her before she’s finished with you.”

And with that, he threw down the remains of the necklace and stalked from the room. He attempted to slam the door behind him, but it listed drunkenly on its hinges and wouldn’t close.

“Thank you for getting rid of him,” Lacey said, offering Nicolò a beaming smile. “You can come to my rescue any time.”

“My pleasure, though I’m here to rescue Kiley, not you.”

He couldn’t help but notice that Lacey’s smile was absolutely symmetrical, no adorable tilt to disturb its perfection. She bent down and scooped up the necklace, allowing a brief frown to carve a network of lines between her brows and at the corners of her mouth.

“Damn,” she muttered. “What the hell were you thinking, Kiley?”

Kiley shrugged. “You know what I was thinking. And FYI, my plans haven’t changed just because of a bruised cheek.”

“What happened to the necklace?” he asked. “Where are the rest of the diamonds?”

Lacey jumped in before Kiley could respond. “She grew a conscience, that’s what.” She shot a sour look at Nicolò. “Your bad influence, no doubt.”

“I gather the necklace originally belonged to Cameron O’Dell?” At Lacey’s nod, he held out his hand. “Do you mind?”

“Not much left of it.” A wistful expression slipped through her gaze. “You should have seen it before Kiley broke it up. It was spectacular.”

He scrutinized the remaining diamonds. There were three of them, two single
cara
t diamonds as well as a gorgeous five-
cara
t stone that had to be one of the most exquisite fire diamonds he’d ever seen. “Magnificent.”

“It was.”

Unable to last another second without touching some part of Kiley, he drew her to the bed, and urged her down on the edge. Then he lifted her chin and tilted her face into the light. “That’s quite a shiner you have there. I was right, wasn’t I? Ferrell did this?”

“He didn’t hit me on purpose,” she conceded. “He and Lacey were fighting to get their hands on the necklace and my cheekbone got in the way of his elbow.”

“Ouch.” He glanced at Lacey and jerked his head toward the door. “Why don’t you get your daughter some ice.”

“Oh, of course. Right away.” Not a trace of sarcasm rippled through her words, yet she managed to make her displeasure heard loud and clear. Quite a feat. “Happy to help.”

As soon as she left the room, he asked, “What’s going on, Kiley? How did you end up with the necklace?”

She shrugged. “I figured out how to open the locket.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “And the necklace was inside?”

That won him a brief, endearingly lopsided smile. “No, but the key to a safety deposit box was. It took me a while to track down the right bank. But once I had, I found the necklace.”

His eyes narrowed at that telling piece of information. Did she even realize what she’d said? By admitting she didn’t know how to open the locket or where she’d stashed the necklace, she’d just confirmed she still had amnesia. He let it pass for now. “And after you found the necklace? What did you do then?”

“I used the list, the list from the file I found on your desk.”

“What did you use it for?” he asked gently.

She focused on a spot over his shoulder, her face set in determined lines. “I gave the diamonds to the people I—” Her voice broke for an instant before she regained control over it. “To the people I scammed. Ferrell was the last one. I didn’t realize you’d already paid him off or I’d never have contacted him.”

“I gather he wasn’t satisfied with a single diamond?”

“Even the little one was worth twice what I took from him. But he felt he deserved more for his pain and suffering. He wanted all three. Then Lacey arrived and…” She shrugged.

“Then I jumped into the fray. Got it.”

Her gaze drifted to his face again. Clung. “How did you find me?”

The Inferno called to him, urging him to lean in and take her mouth, to drink her in like a man lost and parched and desperate for relief. He fought the sensation. Not yet. Not until they’d resolved all the remaining issues. “I’ve been trying to track you down almost from the moment you left.”

“Almost,” she repeated.

“Well…I had to come to my senses first,” he admitted. “When I couldn’t find you, I elicited some help from my family.”

“Your family?” She shook her head in disbelief. “They were willing to help you find me?”

“Every last one of them,” he confirmed.

She stared in wonder. “But why would they do that? Didn’t they know what was in the file?”

“They knew.”

“I don’t understand any of this.”

Before she could ask any more questions, Lacey returned with a bucket of ice. Playing the role of the concerned parent, she filled a washcloth with the cubes and offered it to Kiley. “There you go, sweetheart. This should help.”

“Now it’s your turn,” Nicolò warned.

Lacey released a gusty sigh. “I had a feeling I wasn’t going to get out of this unscathed.”

“I’m surprised you came back. I half expected you to take off.”

“Thought about it,” she admitted.

“Why didn’t you?”

She gave him a cheeky grin. “You have the diamonds.”

Of course. Foolish to think she wouldn’t make a final play for them. “Explain the necklace. And Kiley’s scam with the fire diamond mine.”

She lifted an eyebrow, a calculating expression sliding into her gaze. “What do I get in return?”

“Lacey!” Kiley protested.

“The two little ones,” Nicolò offered.

“No way. I want the big one.”

“That belongs to Kiley,” he said in a voice that didn’t brook any argument. “If you want the little ones, you’re going to need to explain since Kiley can’t.”

Lacey made a face. “She really doesn’t remember, does she? If she did, she’d never have given away the diamonds.”

“I am still here, you know,” Kiley objected.

Lacey patted her shoulder. “Of course you are, dear. I assume you showed Nicolò all of Cameron O’Dell’s documentation? Birth certificate, death certificate, will?”

Nicolò waited while Kiley silently fumed, fully aware that she had no idea how to answer her mother’s question. Satisfied that the point had been made, he answered, “Yes, I saw all that. What happened to Cameron’s share of the mine?”

“He sold it to his brother before your grandfather, Primo, made his offer. He sold it in exchange—”

“For the necklace.”

“Exactly. He thought the mine was played out. As did his brother, Seamus, for that matter.”

“Got it. And you and Kiley have been using that necklace to run a series of scams. Selling and reselling it, I assume, then either substituting a fake or cutting out before the transaction was completed?”

She hesitated. “Well…Not exactly.” She shot a disgruntled look toward her daughter. “I guess since there’s no more necklace, I can tell you the truth.”

Kiley braced herself. “I’m not sure I can handle much more truth right now.”

“All those things in the file?” Lacey shrugged. “It was me. I’m the one responsible.”

“No.” Kiley shook her head, adamant. “That’s not possible. Those people identified me.”

“Yes, well.” Lacey lowered her gaze and released a light laugh. “They might have done that because I was using your name.”

“You—” Kiley took a deep breath and tried again. “You would do that to your own daughter? Why?”

Lacey waved the question aside with a sweep of her well-manicured hand. “A girl’s got to survive. And speaking of surviving…” She spun to face Nicolò. “Cough it up, handsome. I explained everything, now I want my diamonds.”

He removed the largest of the stones from the band and pocketed it before handing her the remaining two. “I’ll be watching to make sure that you don’t use Kiley’s name anytime in the future,” he warned.

“Not a problem. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I do believe I’ve outstayed my welcome. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s how to make a graceful exit.” She flashed a megawatt smile at both of them. “Don’t worry, I won’t be in touch.”