Ride to Restoration (Ride Series Book 2) (3 page)

Chapter
4

Tampa Bay

I
n
the dark of night, our
Gulfstream V
touched down at Peter O. Knight
Airport in Tampa, Florida, enveloping us in sweltering humidity; a far cry,
from the crisp fall air we left behind in Calgary, just a few short hours
before. Multiple, nondescript black SUVs sat just off the tarmac, engines
idling, ready to whisk me, my cousin Gio, his girlfriend, my Ex, and his
bodyguard, away. More important than the passengers, however, were the
encrypted ledgers I carried, which provided in incriminating detail the Families
money laundering practices, including a detailed list of their numerous off
shore and Swiss bank accounts.

Helping
Giovanni deplane, his crutches clanging toward the waiting car, I saw Joseph
hurriedly closing the distance between us.
Here comes the talk
!

“
Did you mean what you said earlier, Candice?
”
asked Joseph, grasping my hand in the process, looking me
squarely in the eyes.
“
If you meant it, I mean really meant it, I
’
d like you to come home with
me tonight. I
’
ve missed you. Your being with D, I
’
m sure banging his brains
out all this time, pushed me to the brink. And I know you don
’
t want me on the brink. I
can
’
t
think of a better way to prove your sincerity than to make love to me
…
like you used to.
”

What is it with men and
their penile thinking? That having sex will make everything all better,
regardless of how tumultuous the state of the relationship might be,
I asked myself before
answering,
“
I meant what I said in Calgary, Joseph. Much has happened
while we
’
ve been apart. I
’
ve changed; you
’
ve changed. It
’
s important for me to take
it slow this time around. Be the man I fell in love with. You may be ready to
jump in the sack with me, but I
’
m nowhere near ready to jump in it with you. I
’
m sure you
’
ve had your share of sluts
—
I mean girls who
’
ve satisfied your daily
urges. Go hook up with one of them if you need to get off so bad right now!
”
There he goes, hanging his head again.

“
Damn you, Joseph, you still don
’
t get it. I see that hurt
puppy dog look in your eyes. I want to be courted. I want to be wooed. I want
you to feel special again. Go buy a motorcycle. I
’
ll ride with you,
”
I caught myself saying aloud, dreaming fondly of the
memories I made with D, not him, not ever.
“
I want you to convince me by
your actions, that, unlike before, you want me for me, not just as an avenue to
get closer to my family. Besides, you
’
ve got to prove to me that
you will keep your end of the deal and leave D and Victoria alone. They deserve
to be happy, without continually looking over their shoulders for you or anyone
else. We
’
re splitting the ten million already. Surely you don
’
t need to worry about
collecting that ridiculous bounty that Standford put out on D? Or do you?
”

“
I guess that all depends on you, sweetheart,
”
a rather familiar indignation of times past rising in his
voice.
“
If
you really created this whole ruse to retrieve the ledgers for us, I guess not.
Only time will tell if we
’
re on the same page, or if you
’
re blowing smoke up my ass.
Let me tell you straight up, baby girl, your family be damned. If you screw
with me, you
’
ll not like the results. But hey,
”
he laughed,
“
if you keep your end of the bargain, I
’
ll gladly keep mine.
”

Threats ... He
’
s threatening
me in the same breath, through the same lips that wants to make love to me
tonight? It
’
s
not happening!
“
Go away, Joseph, it
’
s late. I
’
m going to ride with Gio and
Mile to Mom
’
s. We
’
ll continue this conversation tomorrow.
”

Climbing into the sullen,
black Suburban with Gio and Mile, I replayed over and over, the absurd promises
I made to Joseph in Calgary to keep him from harming D and Victoria. What was I
thinking? Leaving D with Victoria was like leaving an injured lamb in a cage
with a ravenous lion. What else could I do? D called, Victoria dropped
everything and came with reinforcements. That
’
s loyalty, love or lust. Or
possibly some combination of the three. D has a way with women and men too,
that
’
s
for sure, me included.

“
Candice, you OK?
”
asked Gio, while Mile expressed the same question to me
through her eyes.
“
D, he good guy, you see. He save me, he fix leg. You wait,
he come for you.
”

“
I
’
m no good for him. Look at all the trouble I
’
ve brought him and the two
of you for that matter,
”
I
stated factually, while the tears I
’
d bravely held back for so
long, unleashed.

Mile
handed me a tissue from her pocket, while Go continued undaunted,
“
You wait. I tell your Momma,
he, how you say, special. He care for you. I know it. You know it. We fix it.
”

“
He did, before I sold him out and got on the plane with
Joseph.
”
I couldn
’
t tell him what I had to do
to protect him. If I did, he would have never let me get on the plane. Bodies
would have been scattered everywhere. I did what he taught me to do, put others
needs before my own. What a difference a few months makes. When he met me, I
was a selfish spoiled bitch. Now I have a hole in the pit of my stomach. Doing
the right thing was supposed to make me feel better. It doesn
’
t!

“
You reach him, you tell him why you leave. He understand.
”

Sniffling
and snorting was so undignified, but hey, we
’
re family here,
“
How will I find him, Gio? He
’
s still on his bike trip
riding who knows where and for how long, before he makes his way home. That is,
even if he goes home. His identity has been compromised. There
’
s a bounty on his head. For
all I know, he may just keep on riding.
”

“
He and you talk about his dog, you call May-jore. He will
not leave dog. You look there.
”

Cousin
Gio thinks like a man, not some silly broken hearted girl. I appreciate that!
“
Good idea, Giovanni. There
can
’
t
be that many kennels where he lives. I
’
ll send my girlfriend Marcy
to visit all of them until she finds him. We find Major, we
’
ll find D or at least I
’
ll be able to get a message
to him. He needs to know the truth about what happened yesterday and why. He
has to know I did what I did for him, for Victoria. For once in my life,
”
I sighed,
“
I didn
’
t do it for me.
”

Chapter
5

“C
all
if you need me. Leave a message on this phone or email Victoria and I’ll get in
touch. Vic, give Frank and Josie your email address along with my current cell
number. I’m going to say goodbye to Terry and Ron. Oh, and Frank, don’t tell
them their homes came from me. It’s best they come from you. The ideal way to
create loyal, lifetime employees is to treat them the way you’d like to be
treated. By this magnanimous gesture, they'll always have your back just like
you’ve so graciously had mine.”

Walking
into the breakfast room,
“
Terry, Ron, I can
’
t thank you enough. Putting
yourself in Harm
’
s Way for a guy you
’
ve never met is truly
admirable.
”

“
No problem, Mr. D,
”
mumbled Terry, looking at the ground uncomfortably,
shuffling his feet from side to side.

“
We haven
’
t had a chance to do much good for anybody lately. That is
until Frank found us and put us to work. It
’
s a great feeling when you
can give back, rather than take,
”
Ron
confessed.
“
Frank says you
’
re good people. That was
enough for us.
”

“
Take care of him. Will ya?
”

“
Vic,
”
I
shouted into the kitchen,
“
pack up, it
’
s time for us to get on the road.
”

“
Josie, can you ship Candi
’
s things for me? I
’
ll figure out where to send
them once I get home.
”

“
Frank, ya
’
ll need to pack up. By the time you return the rental, your
ride home will be ready to rock and roll.
”

“
Quit hollering, D. You know better than to shout between
rooms,
”
scolded Josie,
stomping through the swinging door, shaking her forefinger in my direction.
“
We heard you. Why are you
and Victoria in such an all fired hurry to leave? Why can
’
t you stay here an extra
day? I want you to sketch out the balconies and hot tubs before you leave.
”

“
I
’
ll talk to Vic. If she...
”

“
I already have,
”
exclaimed Josie, stomping her feet.
“
You
’
re staying. I
’
ll be right back with a
sketch pad and paper. You were pretty good at sketching out the glass walls in
this breakfast room. I can
’
t wait for you to put your vision on paper.
”

“
Josie, it
’
s your vision. You share it, I
’
ll sketch it.
”

Vic,
having waited for the noise to subside, appeared in the doorway.

Making
another pronounced entrance, I burst into the breakfast room, after overhearing
Josie say we were staying,
“
I
can
’
t
contribute to the architectural portion of this conversation, but I can write,
so I
’
d
like to work on the couples promotion. Ms. Josie, I bet if you
’
ll keep a record of their
responses, especially the best ones, I could publish them into a book at some
point.
”

“
Oh, that would be wonderful, Victoria. We could also make a
framed copy for the winners as a memento to take home.
”

It
was my turn to interject.
“
That
’
s an excellent idea, but we better have some perimeters.
The innocence of a child sees only the good things that make their parents
special. It
’
s only much later through our very own difficulties, trying
to be husband and wife, that they see us as we truly are, very human and
exceptionally flawed. Guess you better cut the age off at twelve.
”
I looked to Vic for approval.

“
Agreed, D. Is that OK with you, Ms. Josie?
”

“
That works, Victoria. I
’
m so glad you stayed. Good
minds think alike.
”

I
grinned.
“
Yes they do,
”
I
whispered under my breath,
“
except when it comes to getting D into my pants.
”

“
Ants, honey we don
’
t have ants here, I assure
you,
”
confessed a
rather confused Josie from across the table.

“
Never mind,
”
I
countered, biting my lip to keep from laughing,
“
I heard what she said. It
has nothing to do with ants. Vic needs to get a life.
”
Stumbling deeper into the abyss,
“
It
’
s really not worth
repeating.
”

You are so wrong, D
. “It is too, for now.”

“Of course, for now. How could I not see that one coming?” I
concluded, while gazing into Vic’s sparkling green eyes, all the while trying
to suppress my mischievous smile.