Ties That Bind (22 page)

“Really?”

“Actually,” Jimmie shrugged, “I think I’m good. No need.”

Toni leaned into him conspiratorially. “But if you don’t know, how can we possibly hope to lure you to the dark side?”

“Don’t worry, fiery little one,” he promised kissing her cheek. “I’m already there.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Mitch was near drunk by the time Toni found him on the beach. One bottle of whiskey lie discarded beside him and another was stuck in the sand, tilting at an odd angle as the fringes of the surf brushed against it. His white shirt had been rolled at the sleeves, his bare feet sticking out from underneath the overly long jeans he'd been wearing before his disappearance. He had missed dinner, missed the requisite cognac with the men and none seemed worried about his absence. Even Teddy, who prided himself on knowing exactly where Mitch and Jimmie were at all times, seemed nonplussed by his absence. Of course, Teddy probably did know where he was but was choosing not to share it with anyone. That was why Mitch loved him so much.

“I was beginning to think you were going to stand me up,” he grinned. “Tell me you brought food.”

“You are drunk,” she smiled and dropped down beside him. “Which means I have a lot of catching up to do.”

Mitch laughed and took the sandwich she offered him while she slipped the whiskey bottle from the sand and took a long swig. “Good thing I drank so much at dinner, hm?”

“Did I miss an impromptu party?”

“No. I was just drowning out Ashli's indecipherable babble.”

Mitch hesitated before taking a bite, his eyes not meeting Toni's. “I fear I'll be terrible company for you tonight.”

“Jimmie hinted as much,” she shrugged. “Want to tell me why?”

He considered and then shook his head. “Not really.”

“Hm,” she sank back on her elbows, watching him. “Because you don't trust me?” she ventured.

“No, not at all. It's just-” he trailed off, unsure of how to phrase it. “I'm not proud of myself,” he managed finally.

“Nothing more?” Her voice was quiet, unsure of whether to believe him or not. He could lie so easily, to anyone at any time that she was uncertain of whether it was now being directed at her.

He tipped her chin to his, his half drunken eyes as serious as he could manage. “I have never, nor will I ever, have any reason to lie to you. I may not tell you things but I will certainly never lie about them.”

Rather than respond, she sipped the whiskey silently as he finished the sandwich she had brought down for him. When she heard him crumble the wrapper, she let her gaze drift toward him, a smile playing on the edges of her lips.

“Are you always so serious when you drink?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” he chuckled. He dropped his head into her lap, stretching his legs out to avoid the rising surf. “I tend to become quite the self-absorbed philosopher when I drink. Judgment for my own actions and such. Sober, I rarely bother to take the time.”

“So you intend on depressing me?” she asked, laughing. “What a fabulous evening this is going to be.”

“Does my life depress you?” he queried, snaking the bottle out of her hand and taking a drink.

“Only when it makes you unhappy.”

“Ah, the well learned voice of a woman taught to only appease the men in her life. The legacy of a mafia princess.”

“I appease no one unless I choose to do so,” she bristled and would not look at him, even though she could feel his eyes watching her. “Drinking with you is no fun,” she breathed.

“I warned you.”

“Tell me about Ashli. Do you love her, Mitch?”

“Ashli Vinetti?” his body shook in her lap as he laughed. “Lord, no.”

“But she loves you?”

Mitch was quiet, the whiskey dulling the well-formed response he usually had at hand. He glanced away, his eyes attempting to focus on the pale orange glow of a ship's mast in the distance. “I don't presume to know how her mind word.” He gave a half smile. “It's not me she's after really, so much as the safety I provide. Or she believes I provide,” he dropped his voice. “She is terrified for Jimmie and feels I can bridge the link between them that's been lost.”

“Instead, you've only made it wider,” she deduced. “You've become the brother Jimmie never had. It makes her inconsequential to him.”

“No.” He shook his head. “To outsiders, perhaps that how it seems. But that is not the case.”

“Do you miss having her more involved?”

“She balanced us, kept us grounded. Once, our base of operations was the east coast. Now we roam the entire globe. It's an exhausting prospect.”

“Hm,” she took another drink, letting the bottle rest on his chest. “You have business on the mind tonight, it seems. Either that or you are choosing not to discuss Ashli in personal detail.”

Mitch smiled, understanding finally drifting through his mind – why Toni was so curious, why Nicolai had tried to use Ashli as bait so many months earlier. “You are under the misinformation that Ashli and I are lovers. Haven't I taught you not to listen to gossip?”

Rather than bother to deny it, she eyed him warily. “It's not true?”

“No. It's not true.”

They were quiet for a moment, Mitch tearing at the label on the bottle still resting on his chest. He vaguely wondered how Toni had ended up here, at Gino's private residence without Nicolai, but then let the thought drift away. He wasn't sure he wanted to know how she managed to escape Terenari's guards or what might happen to her upon her return to him. He wondered if ignorance as to her plight excused him from not offering her safe haven.

“Do you need protection?”

“Pardon?” Toni was smiling, amused at his random speech. “Did you leave me out of a conversation you were having with yourself again?”

“Something like that. Do you?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Nicolai is off with his latest girlfriend. I'll return home before he even notices my absence.” She brushed back the hair blowing across his face. “But thank you for asking. And we've finished the last bottle.”

“Jimmie's brought us another,” he returned without moving or looking up.

“I hate it when he does that shit,” Jimmie grumbled, dropping down beside them. “Eyes in the fucking back of his head, I tell you. I figured Mitch had depressed you enough and it was time for me to liven up this party.”

Mitch sat up, taking the bottle from Jimmie. “And what do you have in mind?”

Jimmie's eyes gleamed. “You two look awfully cozy down here. Care for the three of us to go inside and continue this?”  He chuckled as he kissed Toni's cheek. “A proper welcome to Sicily, Antoinette.”

She shoved him away laughing. “It seems you've had enough to drink already, Jimmie. Your insanity has reached new levels.”

“One can always hope,” he grinned. “And I've not had a drop, thank you very much.”

“You aren't drinking?” she asked.

“Not tonight,” his response echoed with Mitch's slower, more drunken reply.

Toni's eyes shifted from one man to the other, the hairs on the back of her neck beginning to rise.

“Teddy,” Mitch called softly and a shadow moved forward from somewhere behind them. “Please move Antoinette to an interior room on the third floor if you would.”

“I have a room-” her voice trailed off with the strangling look Mitch sent her.

“Immediately, please.”

“Yes, sir.” Teddy took hold of her arm to help her off the ground. “Shall I-”

“I'll be up with further instructions shortly.”

Jimmie watched them go before he let out an exasperated sigh. “You must stop doing this, you know. Thinking you are betraying the family by saying no. It's ridiculous. Even Gino agrees.”

“You're going tonight?”

“Hell yes. You are going to miss all the fun. Stop hating yourself so damn much, Mitch, all right?  We grow weary of your drunken introspection.”

“Fuck you,” he spat, allowing Jimmie to help him off the ground. He wobbled a moment then straightened. “Fuck you,” he repeated, just for effect.

“You and Toni got a thing going I don't know about?”

Mitch narrowed his eyes. “What happened to the leggy blonde in your room?”

“She did have great legs, didn't she?” Jimmie exhaled. “She's off to who knows where. You'll be alone with the girls tonight.”

“Gino's out?”

“Disappeared after dinner. Teddy-”

“Take him with you.”

“You sure?”

“Please.”

“I swear, you’re the most paranoid guy I know.”

“It keeps you alive, doesn't it?”

“So far,” Jimmie grumbled. “Breakfast tomorrow?  That little bistro down by the dock?”

“Bistro?” Mitch chortled. “How very European of you.”

Jimmie paused. “Good point. We've been here way too fucking long. Breakfast on the plane. Wheels up at eight?”

“Make it nine. I can get Toni on a flight.”

“See you then.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

“Teddy,” Mitch took his arm as he entered the hallway to the third floor. “Go with Jimmie, all right?  The girls will be fine with Gino's staff.”

“But-”

“And so will I,” he smiled. “Take care of Jimmie for me.”

“Yes, sir.”

Mitch tapped on the door across from where Teddy had been perched and opened it quietly. “Toni?”

“Should I be worried?” she asked, pulling the door open and then shutting it behind him.

“No.”

He didn't elaborate but instead surveyed the room Teddy had chosen for her. With bright, nearly tropical décor, the walls were covered in a satiny tapestry that contrasted obscenely with the dark paneled wood. A small sitting area in the corner held two chairs, one covered in a pale blue and the other a soft coral. The bed was covered in a simple handmade quilt and Toni's single overnight bag was still sitting open at the edge. “The room suits you.”

“You took away my balcony view,” she feigned a pout but waved off his explanation. “I do like this room. Very colorful. Are you still drunk?”

He nodded. “Unbelievably so.” His eyes roamed over her, surprised that she had already changed for bed. She should have known he would be coming to check on her before he retired. Her jeans lie discarded on the bed, replaced now by a silken tangerine colored slip that could only have been picked up in the local market down near the wharf. A bit delayed, his thoughts came together.

“Were you expecting someone?”

“Only you.”

His eyes narrowed but she laughed and led him to one of the chairs. “Don't look so scandalized. I was headed to bed, Mitch. I didn't realize you weren’t going with them to seek retribution at the docks. When you had Teddy stand guard I assumed you had left.”

He nodded, accepting the answer without bothering to question how she knew the evening’s plans. He dropped into one of the chairs, dragging his fingers through his hair. She moved passed him, sinking into the other and curling her legs up underneath herself.

“You smell like-”

She looked appalled, taking a sniff of her own arm. “Like what?”

His eyes drifted, shaking his head as if he'd lost his own train of thought. “Nothing. Never mind.”

“Yes, you are still drunk.”

He tugged her toward him, pulling her from her seat and into his lap. “How long have we known each other?”

“The years have blurred. I suppose, since back when you were still hiding dirty magazines from your parents.”

“I never looked at dirty magazines,” he corrected. “There were too many whores walking the neighborhood each evening to need to waste money on stupid things like that.”

“Frequented them often, did you?”

“No,” his voice dropped a notch as he slid his fingers into hers. “They thought it was funny. Flashing themselves to the young boys on the street. 'Future customers' they would chant at all of us. Free looks until you grow up then you pay.” Mitch's drunken rendition of their voice made him laugh. “Horrible place, that neighborhood.”

“I was whisked away to boarding school, remember?  I missed out on all of that. And then we moved to California....” she trailed off.

“He's been hard on you since then, hasn't he?” Mitch murmured. “He's changed. He broke ties with the neighborhood, who he was. I can see it when I look at him. He's not the same person that played ball with us boys on Saturdays.”

“He hated that neighborhood too, Mitch. I guess he thinks he rose above it.”

“You can't rise above what you are,” he countered then smiled. “Do you remember the first time I got arrested?  I was what, seventeen and you were maybe six?  Seven?” he laughed. “When I was released you showed up at my house and threw my mom's favorite dinner dishes at me until Gino came over and made you stop. Do you remember?”

“I remember,” she nodded. “And then you went away. You hadn't come back by the time we moved to the west coast. I thought I'd never see you again. I was so furious at you for so long.”