Swimming with Sharks (25 page)

“I believe that.” Her voice sounded sarcastic. “Most people love to see their name in the newspaper.”

“Maybe,” the mayor countered, “but they deserve it. All of the people who will be honored have accomplished something outstanding.”

“Listen, Nick.” Alex realized that this was turning into an unpleasant conversation. “I’d love to come, but I need to fly to Houston that day. I’m sorry.”

“Then there’s nothing that we can do about it,” Kostidis replied. “What a shame. But the reason that I was actually calling…”

Alex felt herself getting defensive.

“I’d like to invite you to a dinner at Gracie Mansion on July fifteenth,” he said to her surprise. “You’ll obviously also receive a written invitation. My wife and I would be delighted if you could come.”

“Thanks, but what have I done to deserve this honor?”

Kostidis didn’t let Alex lead him astray with her sarcasm.

“It’s a reception for the Canadian ambassador,” he said calmly. “We always like to invite interesting people to such occasions. The Downeys will also be there, and my wife suggested that I invite you. Mary is very impressed with you.”

Alex almost thought she could hear him smiling. Was he making fun of her? He had entirely different motives for inviting her, and it seemed just a flimsy excuse that this was his wife’s idea.

“I assume that this invitation is just for me.”

“Of course you can bring a guest,” Kostidis replied smoothly. Alex couldn’t help it, but this man simply provoked her to react in a sarcastic way.

“I’ll check my schedule to see if I’m free that day,” she answered coolly.

“Great. By the way, have you thought about our conversation?”

Aha. He’d finally gotten to the topic he wanted to talk about from the very start. This was certainly also the reason for his call.

“No,” she said, “I haven’t had time the past few months.”

This was a lie. She’d been thinking about it incessantly.

“Too bad.”

“Nick”—Alex lowered her voice even though she really wanted to scream—“I don’t like to think that someone is trying to use me. I’m truly sorry, but if you’ve got problems, please contact the FBI or the CIA. I can’t help you.”

“I’m sorry if you think I’m trying to use you. That wasn’t my intention.” He paused briefly. “Have you heard about the narcotics bust at the Brooklyn port?”

“Yes.” Alex was surprised about the sudden shift of the topic. “That’s all people are talking about right now. What does it have to do with me?”

“FBI experts believe,” Kostidis said, “that there will be an armed conflict between the Colombian drug cartel and the New York crime syndicates very soon.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

He was silent for a moment.

“Because I’m afraid that Mr. Vitali is involved.”

Alex shivered.

“I want to prevent anything bad from happening to you, Alex.”

“You’re really trying by all means possible,” Alex replied in a frosty tone. “I appreciate your concern, but as I’ve assured you before, I’m in no way involved with Mr. Vitali’s business.”

Nick sighed. “All right then. Will you accept our invitation?”

“I’ll let you know.”

Alex’s heart felt like it was about to burst when she hung up the phone. Why couldn’t Kostidis just leave her alone!

The doorbell rang. Soon afterward, the key turned in the lock and Sergio entered the apartment.

“Alex?” he called. “I’m here!”

“I’ll be right there!” she yelled from the bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror. Her long, dark-blonde hair was bleached and cut to chin-length. She hoped that Sergio would dislike it as much as the skin-tight, silver Missoni dress that was far too flashy for his old-fashioned tastes. Alex couldn’t stand him anymore. The constant effort to disguise her feelings was nerve-racking, She had been postponing an important decision that she made weeks ago. Today she would end this relationship that had turned into true torture for her. She took a deep breath before she left the bathroom.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hi,” he replied, and his gaze slid from her hair down to the silver strap sandals and back up. He raised his eyebrows. He didn’t smile, but kissed her cheek.

“What have you done to your hair?”

“I was at the hairstylist.” Alex no longer felt that familiar pounding of her heart at the sight of him. “Can we go now?”

They rode the elevator down without saying a word. Luca was waiting in the lobby, and Alex nodded at him briefly.

“Since when do you need bodyguards when you go out with me?” she asked. Sergio’s face turned grim for a moment.

“So no one can steal you,
cara
,” he replied airily.

His limousine was waiting in front of the building with its engine running. Then Alex remembered Kostidis’s words about the narcotics bust at the port.
I’m afraid that Mr. Vitali is involved in this
…No, that couldn’t be. Sergio seemed as relaxed as ever, not exactly like someone who was expecting an armed conflict with South American drug dealers. Fifteen minutes later, the limousine stopped in front of Le Bernardin on Fifty-First Street. The owner of the posh French restaurant—whom Sergio called Jean—greeted them effusively. He escorted them to a table in a corner of the restaurant. Admiring looks followed Alex throughout the entire restaurant, and she registered that Sergio also noticed.

“Maybe your dress is a little too revealing for dinner,” he said quietly. “Don’t you think?”

“The other guests seem to like it. Don’t you?”

“It fills me with jealousy when other men stare at you like that.”

“Really?” She smiled disdainfully. “I thought you were above all that.”

Sergio was absolved from answering her by the appearance of the head chef. Throughout the dinner, Sergio tried hard to be as entertaining as ever. Alex realized that his charm was bouncing off her, and she had to force herself not to look at the clock. She wanted to tell him what she had to say and get out of there as quickly as possible.

“What’s wrong with you,
cara
?” Sergio asked after dessert was served. “Why are you being so standoffish? You could be a little friendlier after such an exquisite meal.”

She looked at him pensively.

“I wanted to wait until we finished dinner,” she said, “to tell you that I’ve made a decision.”

“Aha.” He smiled, unruffled, but an attentive expression appeared in his eyes. “What decision is that?”

“Since the incident last year,” Alex said, “I have come to realize that our relationship is lacking something very important. You don’t love me. You think of me as your property that you can use as you please. You don’t respect me.”

Sergio said nothing but just observed her carefully with his incredibly blue eyes.

“That evening,” she continued, “when you raped me, I realized what kind of a person you really are.”

“And what kind of person is that?” He managed to smile.

“You’re an egoist. The only person who matters to you is Sergio Vitali, and no one else.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“
Cara
,” he said as he leaned toward her and put his hand on hers, “in all my life I have never desired a woman as much as I desire you.”

“And?”

“And?” He looked at her with an irritated expression. “What do you mean?”

“You desire my body,” she answered, “but I expect more from a relationship than just sex. I’m almost thirty-seven years old, and I don’t want to be just the sex kitten of a man who doesn’t give a damn about my feelings.”

“What do you expect from me?” The look in his eyes was hard to read. Was it insecurity? Or was it simply anger that he couldn’t escape this conversation?

“Nothing,” Alex said, shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t expect anything from you. There will never be anything more than sex between us. You’ll never accept me as an equal partner or a person you can trust. For a while I assumed it was because of me, but that’s not the case. You simply don’t want more from a woman than what you’re getting from me. That’s not enough for me in the long term.”

Sergio was silent for a moment. His face was expressionless.

“I won’t allow you to leave me,” he said and then let go of her hand.

“What are you going to do? Force me to sleep with you with a gun to my head?”

He didn’t react to this remark.

“Tell me what I can do to change your mind.”

“Nothing. It’s too late.”

“I can’t accept this.”

“You shouldn’t have lied to me,” Alex said. “You keep lying to me. Why aren’t we going out alone tonight? Why the limousine and the bodyguards eyeing anyone who walks into the restaurant?”

She exhaled with a deep sigh and shook her head.

“I was ready to love you, Sergio. If you’d been honest with me, I would have accepted the truth, no matter how bad it might be.”

She realized from the expression in his eyes that she’d hit a sore spot.

“My wife has never asked me to tell her about my business in all our thirty years together,” he said stiffly. “Why can’t we just leave it as it is?”

“I told you why.” She finished her drink. “I want to go home now.”

Sergio swallowed. Under no circumstances did he want to lose Alex. She meant more to him than any other woman had in the past. Maybe he should cast Nelson’s warnings aside and tell her the truth about himself. He would be invincible with her by his side, because Alex had all the traits that his son Massimo lacked. She was an excellent and cold-blooded tactician, and she was prudent despite her willingness to take risks. But how would she react to the truth? What if she suddenly had scruples? Then she would be a risk, and he would have no choice but to eliminate her. Women were difficult to gauge, especially Alex. Sergio needed time to think. The soundest approach seemed to be putting their relationship on hold, but the moment that he thought this, he felt an unbearably painful longing. Just the thought of another man touching her drove him crazy.

“Let’s talk about this another time,” he finally said, using all of his strength to force himself to smile. “I need to think about all this.”

“Agreed.”

It was a quarter past midnight when they left Le Bernardin. Luca and another man had been waiting in the lobby all night and moved outside as they saw Alex approaching. Sergio fell back for a quick conversation with the restaurant’s owner. The weather was cool for June, and it was drizzling lightly. Sergio turned up his trench coat collar as he stepped outside.

“Where’s the limousine?” he snarled indignantly at Luca.

“He had to drive around the block first,” he replied. Alex felt chilly as she stood next to Sergio, and she raised her head when she heard screeching tires. An old brown Ford switched lanes at high speed and raced directly toward them. She noticed that the windows were down despite the rain. She remembered Kostidis’s warning words, and instantly her
brain starting churning through fragments of information. She instinctively felt danger emanating from that brown car.

“Sergio!” she screamed. “Watch out.”

Warned by her scream, Sergio quickly turned around. Flashes from a submachine gun came from the car’s interior. Alex heard the dry barking of the gunfire and felt a hard blow to her back as Luca pushed her to the ground. She heard the bullets pierce the car’s sheet metal, and the restaurant’s glass door burst into thousands of glass splinters; ricocheting bullets ripped through the air. This scene only lasted for a few seconds, but as it unfolded in front of her eyes, it seemed as if in slow motion. Then the nightmare was over. After a rev of the engine, the car raced away toward Rockefeller Center. The passersby who were still out on the streets at this late hour were screaming in panic. Cars stopped and honked their horns. Alex freed herself from Luca’s grip and jumped up. Sergio and the other man were crouched behind a parked car that was now riddled with bullet holes.

“
Cara
,” he said, extending his arm toward her, “did anything happen to you?”

“N…n…no.” She was in shock and could hardly speak. “You?”

“I’m okay,” he assured her. As he lifted himself up his face looked pale, but he remained as calm and composed as ever. A curious crowd gathered but kept a respectful distance. The restaurant’s owner came out—white as a sheet from the shock—with some of the guests who had also heard the shots.

“Mr. Vitali!” the owner of the restaurant yelled. “Should I call the police? Or an ambulance?”

“No, no, never mind, Jean.” Sergio patted the dirt off his coat with his right hand. “Everything’s all right.”

“Someone was shooting at you!” Alex’s voice trembled hysterically. Only now did she feel the panic rising inside of her. The car had long since vanished in Midtown Manhattan’s busy nighttime traffic.

“Everything’s all right,” Sergio repeated. He walked over to the limousine that had stopped at the roadside. Alex slowly realized how close she had come to death. This wasn’t a movie, but real life! The owners of the damaged vehicles argued angrily, and someone called the police.

“You’ve got to call the police, Sergio!” Alex’s voice sounded shrill. She was trembling in fear. “Someone tried to kill you!”

“No, I don’t,” Sergio replied without looking at her. “Like I said, nothing happened. Come on, get in.”

Alex opened her mouth to object, but Luca—who had just saved her life—pushed her into the limousine. The door was hardly closed when the driver hit the pedal. Alex felt her heartbeat racing. She felt by turns hot and cold. She still couldn’t completely grasp what had just happened. In the dim light inside the limousine, she stared numbly at her hand. She touched Sergio’s shoulder. It was covered in blood. Sergio took off his coat and jacket with his face contorted in pain. Alex was horrified when she saw the rapidly expanding red patch of blood on his shirt.

“My God, you’re injured!” she whispered. “You’ve been hit!”

“Armando, make her a drink,” Sergio ordered and unbuttoned his shirt. “How about you guys? Are you okay?”

“Yep,” Luca and Armando answered. Wide-eyed and silent with fear and horror, Alex stared at the men until her gaze stopped at Sergio. He had a bulletproof vest underneath his shirt.