Chapter Sixty-Five
Kelley sat at a round table in a private room in Razz and waited for Ernesto Romano. He had opted to come alone although Connor was never far. He was Kelley’s personal bodyguard and sometimes he blended in so well that even Kelley couldn’t spot him.
He wasn't particularly looking forward to this meeting, hated the idea of an arranged marriage but then it began to grow on him. He didn't want to fall in love again and he never wanted another woman to be hurt because of him, like Juliana had been. Maybe with an arranged wife, he could have the best of both worlds.
The door slid to the side and the hostess appeared with a man behind her. “Your table, Mr Romano.”
Kelley stood up as the man walked past the hostess. She smiled and disappeared from view, the door sliding closed again. “Mr Romano, Kelley Alexander.” They shook hands and the man pulled out one of the chairs and sat down, so Kelley sat as well.
“Your lawyer doesn’t take no for an answer.”
Kelley smiled at the thought of Lee browbeating this man. “He’s good at his job.”
“I find it hard to believe that Charles told you about the arranged marriage.”
Ernesto was pure Italian, average in height and weight with an air of arrogance. His olive-toned skin was scarred across his cheeks and his black hair was oiled back. Kelley got the idea that this man would’ve been the perfect picture of a mafia boss.
“He didn’t. I’m going to be frank with you, Ernesto. Charles and I aren’t exactly on friendly terms.”
“The deal I made with your grandfather is practically null and void Kelley.”
Kelley took a sip from the scotch in his glass before turning his attention back to Ernesto. “What do you gain when Charles receives the controlling shares of the hotel chain?”
“You make a fair point there, I don't gain anything if Charles gets the controlling shares. You want control of the hotels and to get that you want a Romano daughter.”
Kelley looked at the man, feeling dirty and his dislike for Ernesto rose. “Yes.” He made it sound so clinical, that Kelley could hardly believe that this man would just give his daughter to a man he didn't know.
“What will you give for her hand?”
“What do you want?”
Ernesto smiled but it made Kelley shudder on the inside. “Give me a number, make sure it has at least seven zeroes.”
“Of course you want money.”
Ernesto shrugged as he looked Kelley in the eye. “I get money, you get a wife and money.”
“What else?”
“I’m happy with money.”
Kelley frowned slightly. “You don’t want to ensure her safety, make sure I’ll care for her?”
“I do not really care what happens to her after she leaves my house.”
Kelley almost recoiled visibly from him. What kind of man was this? “You don’t care about your own daughter?”
Ernesto laughed then, soft and slow. “The contract states a Romano daughter, it doesn’t specify which one.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“I will give you a Romano daughter, just not mine.”
Kelley didn’t know how to react to his glib comments. He felt disgust and anger at this man. He actually wanted nothing to do with him but without those hotel shares, Charles would win and he absolutely could not let that happen.
“As long as she’s a Romano daughter I don’t care.”
“Good. We will make the trade one week from today. I will send the girl to you and you will send me my money.”
“Deal. Please enjoy dinner, it's on me. I have somewhere to be.”
Kelley stood up as the man grinned and picked up the menu. He left the private room and headed outside into the crisp, fresh night air. Kelley took big gulps of it as he walked to his Escalade. He needed a shower after that meeting.
Kelley drove towards the docks and parked his Escalade in a parking lot before walking across the road and onto the beach. He stood there for a long time with his hands in his pockets and he tried to calm the rage of the storm inside him.
“What the hell am I doing, Dad?”
Kelley sighed audibly and ran both hands over his face. “I guess I can relate to a father not caring though Charles was never my father, I know that now.”
Kelley’s shoulders slumped forward as the wind picked up speed and the air started to turn frigid. “Why did you have to die? I need answers. I need to know why.”
“Kelley.”
Kelley turned at the sound of the voice and he hoped to the high heavens that Connor hadn’t heard him talking to himself. “What is it, Connor?”
“I’ve dispatched Juan to follow Ernesto, keep an eye on the girl.”
Kelley hadn’t thought of that but then again that was what he paid Connor for. “Thank you.”
Connor sat down on the sandy beach, his arms resting on his raised knees. “Do you know how I got into this line of work?”
Kelley sat down too, his shoulder almost brushing Connor’s. “You like to kick ass?”
Connor smiled and shook his head. “I had a sister once. She was fourteen when she disappeared. I was twelve.”
“I’m sorry, Connor.”
“I was there when she was taken. We’d gone to the park after our Mom had said no. I wanted to go and Cece said she’d go with me. We were there for maybe ten minutes before a van pulled up to the curb, two men got out, walked towards us and just grabbed her.”
Kelley sat with his mouth half open and looked at Connor. The cold, impenetrable gaze was now soft, filling with memories of a time long gone. There was nothing Kelley could say to him because life was a bitch and then she kicked you in the balls too.
“I screamed out and one man hit me hard across the back of my head. When I woke up it was getting dark, the van long gone and my sister too.”
“Did you ever find her?”
“No.”
