Keri laughed at his tone and expression. Then her breath hitched as his kiss turned into a gentle sucking. “I’d be happy to let you, but we’re expected at the party. I don’t doubt for one minute that we’d have a search party after us if we don’t show.”
Nick drew back until they could look into each other’s eyes again. “As soon as it’s polite to leave, we’re sneaking out to the cabin cruiser and getting lost at sea for a few hours. I need my Keri Merritt fix to make it through the rest of the weekend. My bedroom’s off-limits since the munchkins don’t understand the concept of privacy.”
She smiled at his nickname for the nieces and nephews, envisioning them pouncing on him in the early hours. “Speaking of which, I heard lots of giggling downstairs.”
Nick pulled her close for another long kiss, his mouth a warm, moist, consuming reminder of the intimacy they shared. When they finally drew apart, his eyes held a possessive gleam. A fine tremor shot through her and she knew her expression mirrored his. The bond between them continued to strengthen and consume her thoughts.
He offered his arm and escorted her to the first floor where guests had started gathering. Neither of them spoke, both preoccupied by the intensity of their emotional connection.
The ballroom glittered with chandeliers and smelled of roses, Bethany’s favorite flower. On tables throughout, champagne fountains sparkled, ice sculptures glittered and caterers kept trays piled high with food. Music played softly in the background, but the increasing level of conversation quickly drowned the melody.
They hugged his parents and wished them many more happy years of marriage. Then Nick started introducing her to his relatives. Her earlier visit to the villa had paved the way to remembering names and matching them to faces of his siblings. Only family and closest friends had been invited to the anniversary party, yet people poured in by yachts-f, filling the huge ballroom and overflowing to the balconies.
The Lamantos had six grandchildren but dozens of nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews, as well. All had dressed in their party finery and were on their best behavior. She tried to mentally log the additional names, but lost track. Nick told her not to worry, just smile and nod a lot.
She quickly learned how much they all loved him. His siblings, nieces and nephews demanded individual attention, vying for hugs, kisses and a minute of undivided time. Keri enjoyed watching him interact with them as the hours slipped by with surprising speed.
“I wouldn’t have imagined you being so patient,” she said a good while later when all the parents had herded their children off to bed.
“I’m a doting uncle and a godfather. I have to keep up with what’s important in their lives. Konor’s into monsters, superheroes and anything ghoulish. Emily loves monkeys, baseball and everything blue. Jadyn’s a miniature fashionista who follows the teen movie stars. Allison likes princesses and gymnastics. Aaron and Aidan aren’t very verbal yet, they like guitars, rocks and worms.”
She laughed and took his proffered arm. “I’ll take your word for it,
Zio
Niko. I had a hard time deciphering some of the chatter.”
“You get used to it, but all that chatter made me thirsty.”
“And hungry.”
He shot her an apologetic grin. “Damn, I’m sorry, I’m a terrible host. You’re probably starved.”
“That’s okay. No afternoon delight to work up an appetite today,” she drawled, batting her eyes but quickly dissolving into laughter. Nick laughed too, and then dropped a kiss on her mouth and led her toward the food.
They ate and drank champagne and ate some more, always chatting, always catching up on someone’s news. Keri knew she was the focus of conversation with many of the guests. Only a couple of women glared at her, but she wrote that off as jealousy since they didn’t even know her. Most everyone else welcomed her with smiles and genuine warmth.
Halfway through the evening, she found herself separated from Nick but sharing a quiet moment with his mother. The two women stood near a wall and watched everyone else mingle.
“You have a beautiful family,” she told Bethany.
“Thank you. I think so too. We’re very fortunate and very proud of them.”
“They obviously adore you and Paul.”
“And we adore every one of them.”
Keri didn’t know why, but she felt compelled to confide her worst fear to Nick’s mom, maybe because it had preyed on her mind all evening, maybe because she couldn’t discuss it with her own mother or maybe because she simply needed to get it off her chest.
“I can’t have children.”
Bethany turned to her with a frown. “You can’t because you don’t want to? You’re afraid of childbirth? Or just more interested in your career?”
“I’m not afraid or unwilling. I always wanted children, but I had a hysterectomy as a result of a car wreck. I’m not physically capable of bearing a child.”
Bethany moved closer and slid an arm around her waist. Though she barely knew Nick’s mother, Keri suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion. She felt a warmth for and connection with the wealthy, successful executive she’d never expected.
“I totally understand, dear. I’m not just saying that, I honestly do. My reproductive system never developed properly when I went through puberty, so I couldn’t bear children either. It can be a burden on your heart, but it doesn’t have to stop you from having a family.”
Bethany’s gentle tone and affectionate hug brought tears to Keri’s eyes. She blinked them in confusion. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“It’s not a secret. All of our children are adopted.”
Keri’s eyes widened in amazement. She glanced around the room again. Each member of the Lamanto family bore a striking resemblance. “How?”
“We adopted the children through Catholic services and with a preference for Italian heritage. The twins are actually blood relation of mine. I had a cousin in Italy with eight children. When they learned she was carrying twins, they knew they couldn’t handle two more, so they agreed to let us adopt them. Sonia and Sofie visit their biological parents and siblings as often as possible, but they’re our family too.”
“So they’ve always known?”
“Our children have always known the circumstances of their birth, as much as we knew to tell them. But, as you said, we adore them and we’re a close-knit family despite the biological issues.”
“Nick? He looks so much like Paul.”
“He’s never mentioned his adoption?”
Keri shook her head, trying to absorb the information and reconcile it with the abundance of love and respect she’d witnessed all evening. Why hadn’t Nick told her? He’d had plenty of opportunities to discuss the issue, and he knew it bothered her.
“Hey, why are my two favorite girls standing here like wallflowers?” Both women looked at Nick in surprise. Deep in conversation, they hadn’t noticed his approach.
“I was telling Keri how your papa and me created our family,” said Bethany.
Nick studied Keri’s face. “Happy tears? Sad tears? I don’t like any kind of tears.” He reached out to brush a teardrop from her cheek. “Or are you upset because you learned my biological father was the reprobate of the Lamanto clan?”
“He wasn’t a reprobate,” Bethany defended, and Keri could tell by the tone it was a long-standing issue of disagreement. “He just wasn’t a family man, and he got mixed up with a bad crowd.”
“You know him?” Keri asked Nick.
“Only through family gossip. He died a violent death while I was a youngster. He leaned toward the wrong side of the law.”
“Nicholas!” admonished Bethany. She started to say more, but Paul approached and interrupted them.
“Our guests want to dance and insist we do the honors,” he said, reaching a hand to his wife.
They shared a special smile, and he led her into the center of the room. A space had been cleared for dancing and applause rose when they moved to the center of the floor. The music rose, a slow ballad and favorite love song. They watched as Paul and Bethany moved gracefully around the room. Other couples soon joined them.
Nick wrapped his arms around Keri’s waist and drew her close. She slipped her hands over his shoulders and locked her fingers behind his neck. As soon as their bodies touched, the familiar thrill of excitement sung between them. She inhaled the scent of him and felt the powerful flow of muscle, losing herself in the sensuality of the dance.
Her thoughts drifted to the conversation with his mother and his comment about his dad.
“You told me not to judge you by your family’s money,” she whispered softly.
Nick drew back to look into her eyes and responded in a cautious tone. “Yeah?”
Keri gave him a slow smile. “So why do you judge yourself by your biological father’s flaws?”
Nick went utterly still for a minute, eyes narrowing. “Don’t you start psychoanalyzing me,” he grumbled. “I already heard enough of that from the department’s shrink.”
He pressed her head against his shoulder and began dancing again, effectively ending the subject. Keri just smiled against his jacket. The news of his genetic concerns helped her understand what drove him to prove himself one of the good guys. Given his normal air of self-assurance, she’d never have suspected he had confidence issues. Hopefully the police department’s shrink had made headway in his hard head.
Before long, Nick began to glide toward the balcony doors. Once there, he kissed her gently and continued toward the staircase leading in the direction of the boathouse.
“Time for us to escape.”
“Your parents?”
“I told them we’d be ditching early.”
Outside, the air felt balmy on her skin, the breeze smelled like a floral garden and stars studded the midnight sky. The entire island sparkled with lanterns. A few party goers sat in chairs along the railing, but Nick ignored them and led her to the far end of the balcony.
He stopped a minute to kiss her breathless then turned and went down the ladder first. She followed. He grasped her waist and turned her in his arms when she neared the bottom. Turning, she slowly slid down his body, and they shared another hungry kiss.
“Now isn’t that sweet?” The gruff voice accompanied the shadowy figure of a man leveling a gun at them.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The grating voice startled them out of their sensual bliss. Nick adroitly twisted to shield her body with his. From behind his shoulder, Keri watched as a gaunt, unkempt man stared at them with a malevolent expression.
“Jenson,” Nick identified the dirty cop. “I hoped you were fish bait.”
The other man’s bark of laughter held no humor. “I’ll bet you did. I’m a hard man to kill,” he boasted. “So are you, Lamanto. I thought I’d eliminated you when the boat blew, but no such luck.”
Keri felt Nick stiffen even more as the man’s jibe about his boat infuriated him.
“I never thought you’d be stupid enough to trespass on this island, Jenson. Don’t you have sense enough to know our security is the best in the world?”
“I got here, didn’t I?” came the smug reply. “I didn’t exactly blend with the tuxedo crowd, but I slipped past security without a hitch.”
“You won’t be so lucky leaving,” Nick swore darkly.
Jenson continued, undaunted. “I need some serious money to retire to Mexico. I figure your parents are good for a couple million in ransom. I’ll just kill the girlfriend to prove I’m serious. Then I’ll still get the pleasure of killing you but I’ll be a whole lot richer.”
“Bold plan,” said Nick, his tone flat and hard.
“I don’t have anything to lose,” Jenson reminded. “You know the profile—the most dangerous ones are the ones with nothing to lose.”
“Or the ones with the most on the line,” Nick replied in subtle warning.
Jenson started to laugh again, but a low, aggressive howl cut off the sound. A second warning growl sliced the air. Nick whistled sharply and the next thing Keri saw was a dark brown dog leaping in the air and catching Jenson’s gun hand in his teeth. The force of the hundred-pound canine’s attack knocked Jenson flat on the ground. He got off two wild gunshots, quiet thuds from a silencer, but the bullets flew in the opposite direction.
Keri’s hoarse scream sounded louder in her head than the heavy night air. Nick jerked from her grasp and hurled himself on the gunman. The dog held on to Jenson’s wrist despite the frantic man’s attempt to dislodge him. He swung his other fist at Nick and the two exchanged some punches before Nick managed to grab the barrel of the gun.
Keri searched the ground for a weapon, but the pristine yard didn’t offer anything useful, not even a stick or stone. With the two men and dog thrashing on the ground, she couldn’t risk kicking at one without hurting the other.
Frantic to help, she bent down and grabbed a hand full of Jenson’s hair, pulling hard. He yelped, tried to jerk from her grasp and knocked her on her rear. Then he swung wildly and hit Nick’s weak shoulder. When she heard his grunt of pain, she dug in her heels, sank the fingers of her other hand into his hair and pulled with every ounce of strength she possessed.
She focused all her pent-up rage on Jenson, channeling years of anger, frustration and injustice into subduing him—the needless loss of her mother, her own infertility and the untold damage caused by greed and hatred.
With Jenson’s neck stretched unnaturally, Nick landed a debilitating uppercut to his jaw. Keri actually heard the crunch of bone. Jenson went limp and Nick fell to the ground beside him, winded and struggling to catch his breath.
Then Brice and a man she’d never met showed up to call off the dog. They quickly bound Jenson’s hands and ankles. Keri relaxed the strain on her arms but didn’t let go. Jenson’s hair felt greasy and disgusting, yet she couldn’t get a message from her brain to her fingers. They remained locked in a vicious battle with right and wrong.
Nick rose to his knees and emptied the remaining bullets from the gun before handing it to the security guard. Next he rested his hand on hers. “You can let go now, baby,” he whispered gruffly. She’d never heard his voice go so soft and tender. It made her heart ache.
“My fingers won’t work,” she said through a tear-clogged throat. Tears rolled down her cheeks, blinding her. Her whole body trembled with the aftermath of so much negative emotion.