Alex Drakos: His Forbidden Love Read online

  “But when I met you, Kari,” Alex continued, “I realized that life still could go on, despite the pain. That I could have something to look forward to. It used to always be my latest acquisition. Or my golf game. Or some other frivolous pursuit. It had never been another human being before.”

  Tears settled in Kari’s big brown eyes.

  “What I’m trying to say to you, Kari, is that I’m not going to let your life go on in pain, the way mine is. I’m not going to let you rely on a chance meeting in some small town with some billionaire blowhard.”

  Kari smiled through her tears.

  “I’m going to do everything in my power to get your son out of this situation,” Alex continued. “No matter what the cost. Because I’m carrying enough pain for both of us. You are not going to carry any.”

  “Oh, Alex!” Kari said and removed the tray, crawled to him, and threw her arms around him.

  Alex held onto her tightly, as they laid side by side. And she didn’t just shed tears the way she had been doing since Jordan was arrested. But she cried outright this time.

  She sobbed like a baby in Alex’s big arms.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  She woke up in bed, the next morning, under her covers, and alone. She didn’t exactly expect a man like Alex to have time to stay all night with her, but at least, she felt, he could have told her he was leaving. Because then she would not have felt so all alone when she woke up. Especially when she realized Jordan’s arrest, and the horrific reason for his arrest, was not a dream.

  She got out of bed, still in her shorts and t-shirt, and headed for the bathroom. But just as she was making her first steps across the room, she heard snoring. And not just any snoring. It wasn’t Jordan snoring. That sound was decidedly grown-ass man.

  Her spirits lifted, just like that, and she walked out of her bedroom and into the hallway. Jordan, still in his pjs, was standing at the doorway to the second bathroom, with his toothbrush in his hand, staring at the bedroom across the hall.

  “What are you doing?” Kari asked as she walked up to him.

  But Jordan continued to stare. She looked where he was looking, and saw the reason for his stares. Alex was in the guest bed, on his back, in his pants and dress shirt, snoring up a storm. Kari inwardly smiled. If only, if only, if only!

  Jordan was more verbal. He was shaking his head. “A billionaire sleeping in our little house,” he said, unable to take his eyes off of Alex. “That’s what I call a wow.”

  “That billionaire putting his full weight and power behind getting you out of this mess you’re in,” Kari said. “That’s what wows me.”

  And the dread returned. Jordan, nodding and realizing that his nightmare was a horror he still had to face, leaned against his mother, and she hugged him.

  Later that morning, Jordan came into the kitchen as Kari cooked breakfast, with the smell of bacon overtaking the small house, and he sat at the kitchen island. He and Kari both had bathe and were fully dressed: Kari in a pair of jeans, a button-up blouse, and a blazer. Jordan in jeans and a Chicago Bulls jersey.

  “Did you wake him?” Kari asked.

  “Didn’t have to. He was already up. He’s in your shower, Ma. And guess what?”

  “What?” Kari asked.

  “He’s singing.”

  Kari smiled. “What?”

  “I’m not lying. He’s in your shower at this very moment singing. And Ma, that’s not the worse of it.”

  What was worse about that, Kari wondered? “What’s the worse of it?” she asked.

  “He’s singing show tunes, Ma,” Jordan said.

  Kari laughed. “Show tunes?”

  “Yeah. Like guys with their hands going side to side, in tails and top hats, singing Gershwin style show tunes!”

  “Gershwin?” Kari barely knew who Gershwin was. But Jordan knew?

  “And I don’t mean the modern stuff, if there is such a thing, but the real old stuff. Like Ethel Merman old, Ma. Like when I’m watching TV late at night and nothing’s on but those old, old, old, old, old movies. They sing songs like,” Jordan said as he began singing and moving his open hands from side to side: ‘I got rhy-thm. I got mu-sic. I got my gal. Who can ask for anything more?’”

  Kari laughed.

  “And that’s what he was singing!” Jordan said.

  “You lying, Jordan!”

  “If I’m lying I’m flying! It took everything inside of me not to laugh out loud, I swear, Ma!”

  Kari shook her head. “It certainly doesn’t sound like Alex.”

  Jordan looked at his mother when she said that. “It doesn’t sound like him, hun?”

  “No. Not at all.”

  “You know him like that now?”

  Kari suddenly felt exposed. “Yes, I know him. Not like that, if that means I’ve known him for a long time. No, I don’t know him like that. But I feel like I at least know him.”

  Jordan nodded. “Okay, got it,” he said. “You let him hold you too tight. Right?”

  “Boy, I’m not about to discuss that with you. Eat your breakfast,” she said, and shoved a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast in front of him.

  Jordan smiled and rubbed his hands. “I haven’t had a breakfast like this in I-don’t-know-how-long. In ages!”

  “Don’t get used to it,” Kari said, glad to be changing the subject. “And say your grace,” she added. But then the dread, that Jordan still faced unspeakable horrors as he navigated their way through the criminal justice system, overtook her once again.

  Several minutes later, Alex arrived just as Kari was sitting his plate, and coffee, on the island. And his plate of food was twice the size of Jordan’s. Alex began smiling and rubbing his hands. “This is what I’m talking about!” he said, and Jordan grinned.

  “You love bacon, too?” Jordan asked as Alex sat on the stool beside him.

  “I do,” he said. “I shouldn’t. But I do very much.” He turned his plate so that bacon in question was right in front of him. He said a quick, silent prayer, grabbed one, and munched down hard.

  Kari smiled. Then realized something that should have been obvious. “Where did that come from?” she asked.

  Alex saw that she was looking down at his new suit. Last night, he wore a blue suit. Today, it was tan. “An assistant dropped it off last night,” he said.

  “Where was I?”

  “You and Jordan both were fast asleep.”

  “I believe it,” Kari said. “I was bummed.”

  But then Alex realized a problem right away as well. “You’ve eaten already?” he asked.

  “I’m good,” Kari said as she stood at the island across from the two men and sipped from her coffee mug.

  “Eat breakfast,” Alex said.

  “I can’t,” Kari said. “It makes me feel heavy all day.”

  “She never eats,” Jordan said. “I have to remind her all the time.”

  “That’s not true, and stop telling my business like that.”

  “If it’s not true,” Jordan said, “how is it your business?”

  Kari smiled. “Just eat, boy,” she said.

  Alex smiled too, but he was definitely concerned about Kari’s eating habits, or lack thereof.

  “So,” Jordan said, “what’s up for today?” He looked from his mother to Alex to back to his mother.

  “School is out,” Kari said. “Unfortunately.”

  “Yeah, I already figured that. They don’t want a murderer in their classrooms.”

  “That’s not even funny, Jordan,” Kari said.

  “But it’s true,” Alex said. “Keep him away from school until we get this matter resolved.”

  Kari nodded. “I will.”

  “But what am I supposed to do all day?”

  “You can come to my office. You can help me clean up that storage room, and stock some shelves.”

  “That sounds better than nothing,” Jordan said as he ate.

  “Do you get a lot of traffic in your office?” Alex ask
ed.

  “No. Just my maids picking up their paychecks or supplies usually.”

  “Okay, good,” Alex said. “I don’t want either one of you to underestimate the impact of a criminal charge. People assume the worse in these circumstances. Just remember that. Don’t discuss our strategies with anyone.”

  “What is our strategy?” Kari asked, and Jordan looked at Alex too.

  “To get the charges dropped before any trial, or even any pretrial, can begin. We need to find out who did it.”

  “But that’s tough, right?” Kari asked. “That’s not asking too much? For us to find the killer?”

  “It’s asking a lot, yes. An awful lot, I won’t minimize it. But in this town, given the victim and the victim’s family, and given the fact that you and Jordan doesn’t have that kind of pull around here, I don’t see where we have a choice.”

  Kari couldn’t agree with him more.

  Alex looked at Jordan. He still couldn’t get over this kid in every since of the word being accused of such terrible crimes. “Are you certain there’s nothing else you thought about, no matter how simple, since yesterday?”

  Jordan shook his head. “Nothing new,” he said. “I don’t know the girl. I never been around her. Even when she would come and see Colt, he would tell her to wait for him in his room and stuff, rather than deal with her around me. There’s no way anybody could have confused me with somebody else or anything like that. I’m sorry she’s dead and all; I’m real sorry about that. But I had nothing to do with it.”

  Alex nodded. It was reassuring. “Then I promise you we’ll make you whole again. It may take some time, but my investigators, and a team of lawyers, will work this case as if their lives depended on it. Because their livelihoods do.”

  Jordan smiled a smile almost as charming as his mother’s. “Thanks,” he said.

  “Yeah, Alex, we really appreciate it,” Kari said, echoing her son.

  Then Jordan added: “Are you going to stay with us while all of this goes on, or are you . . .” Then he scrunched up his face. He didn’t mean to sound so needy! But he liked Alex. He liked the way he could handle things. They’d gone so long unable to handle most things that came up in their lives, that somebody like Alex was refreshing.

  Jordan glanced at Kari, to see if she was upset with him for even bringing it up. But she wasn’t. She felt just like he did. Alex was refreshing to her, too.

  “Ah, no,” Alex responded to Jordan, “I have to get back to New York for a few days. I have a corporation there that needs my undivided attention. I left early when I heard the news, but I’ll need to get back today.”

  “That’s understandable,” Jordan said, although Kari could see the disappointment in his eyes.

  And Alex could see the disappointment in Kari’s eyes.

  But neither mother nor son felt as disappointed as Alex.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  While Alex took a business call in the master bedroom, Kari and Jordan cleared away the dishes and wiped down the center island. And then the doorbell rang, followed by hard knocks.

  Jordan stopped suddenly, and looked at his mom. Panic penetrated his gaze. The last time he heard knocks that powerful was when Chief Lindsey came to arrest him.

  Kari knew it too. Her heart was pounding just as rapidly as Jordan’s. She wiped her hands on the dish towel and handed it to Jordan. “Wait here,” she said, and headed for the front door.

  Jordan didn’t wait there. He followed his mother at a distance. He couldn’t just let her answer that door alone.

  But when Kari looked through the peephole, and saw who it was, she, at first, leaned against the door shocked. It had been so long! But she also knew she couldn’t just pretend it wasn’t happening, and forget about it. She had to be emphatic.

  She swung open the door with a hard swing. When she saw Vito Visconni standing there, her heart tightened. The last time she saw him, when she hit him upside his head with a hammer, she hated him. That feeling, even after all those years, remained. “What are you doing here?”

  Vito smiled when he saw Kari. “Hey, Kare,” he said as if time and pain had never existed. “You look great!”

  “What do you want, Vito?”

  When Jordan heard that name, he dropped the dish towel he was holding and ran down the back hall, to get Alex out of the bedroom.

  But Alex was already out of the bedroom. And had his loaded gun, concealed from Jordan’s view, at his side.

  “It’s Vito Visconni,” Jordan said nervously, hyperventilating. “It’s Vito and he,” he started saying.

  But Alex cut him off. “Go into the master bedroom,” he ordered Jordan, “and wait there until I tell you to come out.”

  “But my mom!” Jordan was crying. “I’ve got to protect my mom!”

  But Alex gave Jordan the look. That large and in charge look he was used to seeing. That same look his mother sometimes gave him just before she was about to slap the fire out of him for misbehavior.

  And Jordan knew, like he knew his name, that the dynamics in his world had suddenly changed. He had to trust that this man, who had done so much for him already by bailing him out, by bankrolling top of the line lawyers and investigators, would give his all to protect his mother. “Yes, sir,” he said, and headed for the bedroom.

  But at the front door, Kari was still reeling. She knew Vito was getting out this week. She just couldn’t imagine he’d be in Apple Valley this soon! Or even want to come at all. And she knew, right then and there, that her hunch about that car that ran her off the road was a warning shot from Vito.

  “I’m out, baby,” Vito was saying with a grin and open arms, as if he was the greatest thing since slice bread. “Those fuckers finally came to their senses and let me out. Now I’m back.”

  Kari couldn’t believe this fool. “You’re back? What the fuck are you talking about, Vito? You stay away from me and this house and I mean it! I don’t want to have anything to do with you!”

  Vito frowned, as if her protestation was news to him. “You what?” he asked. “What are you talking, Kari? This is Vito here. This is Money standing here!”

  Kari wanted to roll her eyes. He was always dense, but he was taking it to a new level this morning. “Stay away from this house. Stay away from me. Stay away from Jordan. We don’t want to have anything to do with you!”

  Kari was about to slam the door, but Vito placed his foot in between to stop her. “I heard about that murder he committed,” Vito said, and then grinned.

  Kari stopped suddenly. She knew that grin. She knew what it meant when Vito grinned that grin! And she began shaking her head. “You didn’t,” she said.

  “Didn’t I?” Vito asked.

  Kari was shaking her head. Was it possible? Could he have sunk that low? “You couldn’t, Vito. You wouldn’t!”

  “Wouldn’t I?” Then he grinned. “You wanna talk to me now. Don’t you? You wanna have everything in this world to do with me now. Don’t you?”

  Kari didn’t know what to do. What was Vito even saying? Was she even understanding him right? She didn’t know. But she knew this much: that asshole wasn’t coming anywhere near her son.

  She moved as if she was opening the door further, causing Vito to remove his foot in anticipation of entry. But as soon as he moved that foot, she attempted to slam the door in his face. But Vito reached out with his shoe and kicked Kari so hard in the stomach that she fell to the floor. He even stumbled back, it was such a violent kick.

  But Kari got back up, before he could regain his balance, and slammed the door in his face. She threw the deadbolt.

  And she turned to run for Alex as Vito began banging on the door and attempting to kick it down. “Alex!” she cried as she turned to run. “Alex!”

  But then she saw him, in her periphery, standing on the side of the door, on the other side of the front bay window, looking out. She also saw the gun he held down at his side.

  “Go to the back bedroom with Jordan,” Alex sai
d calmly.

  “He talks like he had something to do with that girl’s murder!” Kari said excitedly.

  “Stay in back,” Alex said, still in measured tones, “until I come and get you.”

  Kari suddenly remembered Alex’s background. His father, he had said, was a crime boss back in Greece. And he made it sound as if he was a major crime boss in Greece. Alex knew his way around Vito’s world.

  She didn’t argue with him. She didn’t try to assert her right to be there, or to tell him how to handle it. She had to let him handle it. Especially in dealing with a knucklehead like Vito. She ran to the back: to Jordan. She had to protect her child.

  When Alex saw that Kari had gone into the bedroom and closed the door, he went over to the door Vito was still trying to break down, and opened it.

  Vito, at first, was shocked when the door just opened. He was equally shocked when the man who was probably that billionaire, stood at that door.

  “Who are you?” Vito asked.

  Alex kept the gun at his side, slightly behind his leg, as he stepped outside onto Kari’s stoop with Vito, and closed the front door behind him.

  “Hello, Mr. Visconni,” Alex said. He knew what Vito had done to Kari. He saw when Vito kicked her down like a dog. But all things in time.

  Vito gave Alex a hard look over. Guy looked like some fucking model straight off of a GQ magazine cover. And he thought he could stand toe to toe with Vito Visconni? With Money? “You know my name,” he said. “Funny. I don’t know shit about you. Who are you?”

  “I know more than shit about you,” Alex said, refusing to answer Vito’s question. “I know that you have more smarts than you are given credit for.”

  Vito frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I know you understand the fallacy of making any further attempts to see Karena Grant or her son.”