Sudden Legacy (4 page)

Alex stared at Julien, the shield of my legs giving him courage to talk to a stranger. “Who are you?” he asked.

Julien opened his mouth to answer but no words came out. Instead he looked to me for guidance. I just stood there staring back at him like an idiot. Realizing no help was forthcoming, he looked back to Alex and gave him a warm smile. “I’m Julien.” Was all he said.

A quiet, dull tone sounded in the entryway. It was the motion sensor from the opening of our driveway, signaling a vehicle entering our property. I locked eyes with Julien, my heart thumping in panic. “What’s that?” he asked, unable to hide the urgency in his voice, no doubt as a result of what my face must have looked like.

“It’s an alarm of sorts. It signals that a car has entered our driveway. Someone is coming.”

Julien’s expression was a convincing enough motivator for Pops to hurry into his study. I knew he was heading for the gun cabinet, and my assumption was confirmed when he returned moments later with a shotgun. Alex perked right up when he saw it.

“We go hunting?” he asked.

I scooped him up, holding him tightly to me until he squirmed in discomfort. “No Mama, too tight!” I eased up, but wouldn’t put him down. “Shhh, baby. Let’s play a quiet game.”

Pops and Julien positioned themselves at either side of the front door. They had their faces pressed against the wall in order to see the approaching car as early as possible. I could hear the sound of tires on the gravel drive. From my position near the table I couldn’t see clearly out the window. Instead I watched Pops and Julien for reactions. A car door closed and Julien sagged with relief.

“Meno male,”
Julien mumbled under his breath. “It’s ok, it’s ok, I know this man.” Julien looked to Pops, asking silent permission to open the door. Pops gave a short nod, but didn’t move from his position by the door.

Julien met the mystery man on the porch, closing the door half way. I could hear their muffled greeting to each other. They spoke in a pidgin language that sounded like a combination of French, Italian and was that
Farsi
? I had no idea. Regardless, an argument sounds much the same in any language. Julien sounded exasperated. I took courage from that, because if he were in serious danger I doubted he would take the time to throw a tantrum.

The sound of their footsteps heading back towards the car brought me to the window. Mystery Man was opening his trunk. He didn’t look goonish or scary. Quite the opposite, in fact. He looked to be somewhere in his late forties to early fifties. He was wearing a well-tailored black suit, and carried himself with certain elegance. “There’s a man,” said Alex. He had a knack for reporting the obvious.

“Yes, baby. There’s a man.”

Nan joined me at the window. Together we watched as Mystery Man fished around in his trunk, eventually producing a small gadget that he handed to Julien. Julien looked it over carefully. He was not pleased. He handed the device back to Mystery Man, and put his foot up on the bumper of the car, raising his pant leg and exposing a well-formed calf muscle. Nan hummed in appreciation, forcing me to hide my amused smile.
You think the calf is nice - you should see the rest of him.

Mystery Man then attached the device to Julien’s ankle, and the two men made their way back to the house.

Pops opened the door fully as they ascended the two steps to the porch. He was still holding his shotgun. “
Signore
Divoll, may I present my associate,
Signore
Donald Martin.”

Pops fixed Martin with a steely glare. “What might your business be on my property, Mr. Martin?”

Martin didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by Pops. “I came in the best interest of our mutual friend, here.” Martin nodded toward Julien, offering his hand to Pops. “I also wanted to assuage any concerns you folks may have had about the incident at your grandson’s child care facility.” He was American. After hearing his pidgin debate with Julien I had expected him to speak with an accent of some sort.

Pops took the proffered hand and gave it a curt shake. “Our...
mutual friend
tells me he has gotten into some kind of trouble with some disreputable characters. Would you happen to know anything about that, Mr. Martin?”

Martin flashed Julien a quick look before answering. “Well, sir, I don’t know that I’d call it
trouble
per se. It’s just that Julien has entered into a gentleman’s agreement of sorts. The other party just wants to make sure Julien doesn’t decide to sell his product to a higher bidder before they work out some kinks on their end.”

“So they do so by threatening my grandson? This all seems a little below the table if you don’t mind my saying so.”

Martin raised his hands in a blameless gesture. “I can see how that might be upsetting, Mr. Divoll, and I assure you, at no time did they intend to harm your grandson. Rather they were attempting to send Julien a message. Do I agree with their tactics? Absolutely not. However I have met with the men in question, and we have managed to come to an agreement.”

I was still as a statue, and amazingly, so was Alex. He must have been picking up on the tension in the room, because he just sat quietly in my arms, seemingly enthralled by the goings on around him.

Pops turned to Julien. “Just what exactly is it that you are selling, young man?”

Julien seemed unsettled by Pops’ menacing tone. He was quick to answer. “Nothing nefarious sir! An algorithm and a bit of code. That is all.”

What?
Since when was the Lothario of the Mediterranean involved in writing
code
?

Pops looked skeptical. “You mean to tell me that strange men are threatening my family over ‘an algorithm and a bit of code’?”

Julien glanced at Martin before answering. “With all due respect,
Signore
Divoll, I’m really not at liberty to say more, but I promise you, on my honor, that is all these men are interested in obtaining.”

Nan felt the need to point out to me in a whisper, “Oh, he knows the computers. You have to be pretty smart to do the formula stuff on the computers.” I hoped my answering look adequately conveyed to her that I thought now to be a less than stellar time to point out Julien’s qualities. She just shrugged as if to say, “What?”

Mr. Martin and Julien ended up staying for dinner. A more awkward, tension filled, forced meal I have never known. What little conversation there was was neutral and bland. Topics ranged from the local weather to the price of gas. All of the really pressing topics were staunchly avoided until dessert.

I kept trying to catch Julien’s eye across the table, but he was dividing his attention between warily watching Martin and Pops, and staring at Alex in awe. I don’t think either of us managed to eat more than a few bites.

Nan served Martin a large slice of her famous apple pie, and then asked if he’d like cream in his coffee. He declined the cream and took a hefty bite of pie, thoroughly enjoying himself, before dabbing his lips with a napkin and proclaiming, “Madam, this has to be the best apple pie I have ever had the pleasure to encounter.”

With Nan, flattery will get you everywhere. She smiled shyly and took the compliment with a, “Why, thank you, Mr. Martin...”

Martin then turned to Pops, and there was something about his posture that made it clear to me that it was time to get down to business. “Mr. Divoll. Thank you for your hospitality this evening. I’m sorry we had to meet under such... unconventional circumstances.”

Pops acknowledged Martin with a nod.

“Unfortunately, I’m afraid I have to impose on you once more.” Martin looked to Julien for confirmation before turning back to Pops.

Pops didn’t bother to ask what Martin meant. Instead he just continued to stare him down, knowing the other man would eventually elaborate without any prompting.

“Would you good people be opposed to hosting our mutual friend for a few days?”

Pops was ominously still. Julien seemed to come back to the present, and cleared his throat before speaking. “
Signore
Divoll, I completely understand any misgivings you might have in regards to my character. The truth is, I never knew about Alex.” He glanced at the toddler in question before continuing. “My business dealings require that I be stationary for the next few days, and in light of my recent discovery, I was hoping I could spend those days here, getting to know him...”

Pops looked from Julien to Alex. Alex was smearing apple pie goo across his napkin in an effort to clean his little hands. “I sticky, Mama,” he said, holding his messy palms up for inspection.

“I can pay you for the inconvenience, sir. Name your price.”

Pops shook his head like a surly bear. “Keep your damned money, young man. I’ll not be renting out my grandson’s time. A man has a right to know his son, and a son has a right to know his father. You are welcome to stay here, so long as I have your word that there will be no more questionable behavior from your business associates.”

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
Oh my God.
Julien would be staying here, in my house, for the next few
days.
And nights
.
I looked down at my lap, praying fervently that no one was paying me enough attention to notice my scalding hot cheeks.

“
Grazie, mille grazie!
I assure you, sir, as long as I stay put, they will do the same. Thank you.”

And it was settled, just like that. Julien Diotallevi, the very man that had haunted my dreams and sent alternate pangs of yearning and hatred through my heart for the past three and a half years, had not only arrived on my door step out of the blue, but would be staying in my home for the immediate foreseeable future.

I could feel Alex nod off, his solid little body turning into a dead weight. His petal soft lips went slack, releasing my nipple. His round, cherubic cheek melded to the side of my breast, damp with sweat. I stared down at him a moment, in no hurry to surrender him to his bed.

The hall light threw a rectangle of light across the floor, and Julien’s body cast a shadow as he approached the door. He stood there quietly, letting his vision adjust to the darkness of the room. Our eyes locked. I stayed still as a statue. Julien was the first to break eye contact. I continued to watch his eyes as he let them wander down, traveling over my lips, past my neck, across my exposed breast and settling on our sleeping child. I remained still, sharing this moment with him. His expression was hard to read. His eyes met mine again, and I could see a sudden shift in them. They turned from introspective to predatory. A shiver ran down my spine, and I could feel goosebumps break out across my chest, my bare nipple hardening to attention. Julien’s lips parted the slightest bit and I could hear him draw in a breath.

Alex stirred in his sleep, breaking the spell. I gently shuffled him over into his bed and tucked his covers around him. Standing, I buttoned my blouse and turned toward the door. It was empty. Julien had gone.

I found him in the solarium. It was the one room Nan had insisted upon when Pops designed the house. It was a favorite of mine. I loved the feel of the smooth terra cotta tiles on my bare feet. At night, they retained a touch of warmth harvested from the sun throughout the day.

The myriad plants gave the room a bit of a jungle like feel. There was a giant fireplace built into the inner wall of the house, and three worn couches sat in a U shape around a threadbare oriental rug. I had spent many summer nights on those couches, reading by the light cast from the tall Tiffany lamps, or with the lights off, staring up at the starry night sky.

It was on one of these couches that Julien now sat.

I set a neatly folded stack of sheets and his mug of tea on the side table and sat facing him, tucking my legs under my body. We sat there in silence for a while. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but I could feel the hum of so many things unsaid between us, waiting just outside the circle of light cast by the multi-colored lamps. His voice was barely above a whisper when he finally spoke.

“You are still nursing?”

It wasn’t what I was expecting him to say. There were a million and one things I would not have been surprised to hear from him, but the topic of my nursing habits was not one of them.