In Enemy Hands (33 page)

It was a small gathering, just the families, and that was the way they’d wanted it. His family, though shocked at his sudden engagement, had embraced Nadia after he’d made it clear how much he loved her.

This is the best day of my life, Dante thought.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth when he watched Ronnie and his brother J.T. walk down the cobblestone path side by side. J.T. leaned to whisper something to him. Ronnie scowled and stared straight ahead.

“What did you say to Ronnie?” Dante whispered, when J.T. took the best man’s spot beside him.

J.T. smirked. “I told him he was the ugliest bridesmaid I’d ever seen and he could forget me dancing with him at the reception.”

The brothers snickered, earning a reproving glare from their mother.

“So, are you ready to settle down, bro?” J.T. asked.

Dante glanced toward the back, where Waynie stood at attention in the doorway, fidgeting with his tie. Even though the big man meant to whisper, the sound carried up the aisle when he said, “Oh, my God, she’s wearing white!”

Half the assembly turned in time to see his demure little bride make a not so demure little gesture.

Dante laughed and whispered to J.T., “Somehow I don’t think ‘settling down’ is appropriate in this case.”

T
hey weren’t coming
.

Swallowing hard over her disappointment, Nadia stared out the window at the falling snow. Her breath fogged the window pane, and she traced a heart on the glass with her index finger.

“I tried, babe. I really did,” she whispered.

“Hey, Nadia. Could you give me a hand over here?” Waynie called.

She turned to watch the big man struggle with the banner. Whenever he managed to get one end up, the other would fall. Suppressing a smile, she walked over to help.

The conference room at Andreakos/Giovanni Industries had been transformed. Balloons of every color imaginable covered the plain white ceiling. Streamers exploded from the center of the room to the corners.

“It’s crooked,” Nadia said.

Waynie gave a weary sigh and adjusted his end of the banner. “How’s this, your Majesty?”

“Up just a little … there!”

“Perfect!” she said, surveying the room and the conference table that doubled nicely for a buffet table.

“The only thing that’s missing is the pony rides,” Waynie said. “Or have you got that covered too? Does Dante get to ride a pony?”

Nadia folded her arms over her chest and said testily, “The ponies were all taken. He’ll have to make do with a jackass. Your saddle is over there.”

“Oooh, good one,” Ronnie said. He laughed as Nadia ducked the roll of streamer Waynie tossed at her head, then tugged on Nadia’s sleeve.

“Hey, if you’re through playing, I thought you might want to know that Dante and your Pops just pulled into the parking lot.”

“Still no show on the others?” Nadia asked.

Ronnie shook his head and gave her a sympathetic smile. He knew how much this meant to her.

“Okay. Take your places everyone!” Nadia commanded. “Somebody hit the lights.” She glanced at Ronnie. “Could you keep an eye out for me, just for a few more minutes?”

“Sure,” he said, an instant before the lights winked out.

“So, what’s the big meeting about?” Dante asked his father-in-law.

It must be something major to get Nick out of the house on a Saturday morning. The former workaholic had become a certifiable slacker.

“I’d rather not say until we get inside. Now, where did I put my notes?” He patted his coat pockets absently.

“Okay,” Dante said. “Just tell me I haven’t screwed up anything. You’re giving me that look—”

“What look?”

“That look you gave me when I told you I wanted your daughter to jump out of that airplane.”

Nick chuckled. “Oh, no. Nothing like that. As a matter of fact, you and Nadia are doing a wonderful job running things.”

“We’re a good team.” Dante grinned. “I’m the brains, she’s the brawn.”

“Yes, well, you’re doing such a good job that I’m considering stepping out entirely. Maria has always wanted to see Paris, you know.”

Dante raised his eyebrows and threw open the door to the conference room.

“Surprise!”

Dante staggered backward into Nick and nearly fell. Something hit his face and he instinctively threw up a hand before he realized it was only confetti.

Clutching his heart, he grinned at Nadia.

She smiled back and sashayed over to him, singing a breathless rendition of
Happy Birthday, Mr. President
.

He pulled her close and kissed her. Before he released her, he whispered, “You know, my birthday’s not for two weeks.”

She looked at him like he was crazy. “Well, if I threw a party on your birthday, then it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?”

Dante chuckled. Life with Nadia had proven to be anything but predictable.

“You little sneak,” he said. “I ought to have known you wouldn’t get up that early to go shopping.”

Maria stood behind Nadia, and Dante leaned to brush a kiss across her cheek. “Morning, Maria.”

“Good morning, Dante.”

Nick came up behind his wife and wrapped an arm around her waist. Dante could hardly believe the transformation in his in-laws. Gary Vandergriff’s death had released them. They acted as carefree as newlyweds. He supposed part of that came from Maria’s new self-confidence. Even though she had a couple of surgeries yet to go, Maria’s most recent one had done more than they’d even hoped for. Along with her freedom, she was regaining her face.

Someone called Nadia away and Dante found himself standing alone with Waynie, who was happily munching a handful of barbeque potato chips.

“This is pretty tame for a Nadia party,” Dante commented, twisting his head to check out the decorations. “I keep waiting on the big bang, the sky to fall. Something.”

Before the words were even out of his mouth, Ronnie burst through the doors and ran over to Nadia. He whispered in her ear, and Dante watched her eyes light up.

“Be afraid,” Waynie said tonelessly. “Be very afraid.”

They both knew that look. Something big was going down.

Nadia ran over to Dante and grabbed his hands.

“Come here, come here, come here!” she said breathlessly, and tugged him to the nearest chair. She practically shoved him into it.

“I have a surprise for you, but you have to close your eyes first.”

Obediently, Dante shut his eyes and leaned his head back.

“I’ll be right back. No peeking!” she shouted.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, princess,” Dante replied.

A moment later, she said, “Hang on, we’re coming.”

Conversation died all over the room, and Dante started to get a little nervous. No telling what that girl was up to now.

“Okay,” she said. “You can look now.”

Dante slowly opened his eyes. He blinked once. Twice. What he saw nearly stopped his heart.

Nadia was walking toward him with a little black-haired girl in tow. He would’ve known her anywhere.

Lara. His daughter.

Dante was paralyzed, stuck to the chair as they approached. He tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t form.

“Why is he crying?” Lara asked, peeking at him from underneath thick bangs.

Was he crying?

Dante touched his cheek, and was surprised when his fingertips came away slick with tears.

“Your daddy is just really, really happy to see you, honey,” Nadia said.

She was crying too.

Dante felt so many things for Nadia at that moment, too many things to catalogue. He was afraid to look directly at her, afraid he’d bawl like a baby. It had taken finding Nadia to make him realize how lonely and wretched his life had been without her. His need for her was as essential as his need for water, for air.

He rose shakily to his feet, then dropped to one knee in front of them. All he could think to do was open his arms. With a tentative glance at Nadia, Lara wrapped her arms around his neck.

Dante hugged her, marveling at the feel of her little body in his arms. He’d never thought he’d see her again. Never thought he’d hold her. But here she was.

Thanks to Nadia.

He happened to glance at the doorway and saw Sharon standing there, watching them. She wiped a tear from her eye and whispered something to her husband, Brian.

“Nadia, I’m thirsty,” Lara said, untangling herself from his arms.

“Well, come on, then,” Nadia said brightly. “Let’s get you some punch.”

Dante stood and walked over to his ex-wife.

“Thank you,” he said. He cut his eyes to Brian. “Thank you both.”

“Thank Nadia,” Sharon replied. “I have to admit, when she contacted us a couple of months ago, I wasn’t sure about it, but she’s very persuasive and—and she loves you a great deal.”

“I love her too.” Dante smiled and motioned Nadia over to join them. She poured Lara a cup of punch and left her with Ronnie while she walked over to join them. She linked her arm around Dante’s waist and he kissed the top of her head.

“Dante, I want you to know that I’m sorry I kept Lara from you,” Sharon said. “I’ve picked up the phone a thousand times to call, but the time never seemed right. The look on your face the day you came by our house …” Sharon shook her head. “It nearly killed me. What I did to you was worse than what my father did, because I knew you. I knew you were a good man, would be a good father to Lara, but I was a coward. I was young and scared, and I hope you don’t hate me for it.”

Dante glanced at his daughter, who was being entertained by Waynie. “No, I don’t hate you.”

“When Lara turned three, we even hired a private detective to find you. By then, you’d gotten into bounty hunting and were living in Japan. I thought you’d moved on, that maybe we could too. And the bounty hunting scared me. You were running all over the world, getting shot at … I only wanted what was best for Lara.”

“I understand. But what changed your mind?”

“I think I can answer that,” Nadia said with a smile. “I told them the bounty hunting was over and that I had thoroughly domesticated you.” She held her hand to the side of her mouth and whispered, “He’s practically a suit now.”

“I heard that.” Dante said, and swatted her behind.

Nadia grinned up at him.

“Nadia, Nadia come here!” Lara shouted. She held up a gold box and shook it. “This present has my name on it.”

“So it does,” she said, and winked at Dante. “Excuse me, guys. I have to go check this out.”

“Lara loves her already,” Brian said.

Sharon shifted and Dante noticed her bulging stomach for the first time.

“Oh, hey, congratulations,” he said. “When’s the big day?”

“Two months from tomorrow,” Brian replied. “It’s a boy.” He hesitated and said, “You know, this baby put the whole thing in perspective for me. I tried to put myself in your shoes, imagine how you must feel. I love Lara like she’s mine and it hurts to share her, but I realize you deserve a chance to know her too.”

“I guess we’d better go now,” Sharon said. “Nadia has my cell phone number if you need me.”

She must’ve noted Dante’s surprise, because she said, “Lara’s really comfortable with Nadia now. They’ve seen a lot of each other in the past two months, so I don’t think she’ll be afraid if we leave. One of us will be back to pick her up before bedtime. If you don’t mind, I’d like to do a couple of day visits before she spends the night, to let her get used to being with you. Does that sound fair?”

“More than fair.” Dante was grateful for any time he had with Lara at all.

“Once she gets used to the idea, we’ll talk about regular visitation.”

“Thank you,” Dante said again. He extended his hand to Brian, who shook it and clapped him on the back.

Sharon tiptoed to hug him. “I’m glad you’ve found happiness,” she said softly.

“I’m glad you have too,” he said, and meant it.

With a wave, they left. Dante walked over to where Nadia was lighting candles on a massive white cake.

“Hey, where did they go?” Nadia asked with a frown. “We’re about to get to the good stuff.”

Dante ruffled his daughter’s hair. “They said they’d be back to get her tonight.”

“Oh, okay.” She smiled at him. “So, do I throw a good surprise party, or what?”

Dante laughed. “Babe … you’re amazing.”

Nadia wrinkled her nose at him and lit the last candle. She shook out the match and said, “There! Now, make a wish.”

Ignoring the candles, Dante took her in his arms and kissed her.

What good were wishes when he had everything his heart desired?