Dangerous Conceit by Ali Lee

Chapter 44

After leaving the conference room, Lexi stepped off the elevator, hoping to get phone reception outside of the metal box. She paid no attention to the people maneuvering around, attempting to step inside. She simply wanted to see Maura.

“Abby,” she began and walked further to the center of the lobby while holding the phone to her ear. “Where are you… Okay, I'll be right there.” She looked around, trying to remember the way.

“Excuse me,” she asked a woman behind the counter. “Which way is the restaurant?” The receptionist seemed annoyed that Lexi cut in line and pointed without speaking. “Thanks,” Lexi mumbled, not very thankful; she expected more from the hotel staff.

After taking several turns down hallways, Kayla and Piper greeted Lexi, friends that she did not know were at the hotel.

“Alexis!” Piper threw her arms around with Kayla right behind her. They were refreshing in spite of everything. She could definitely use the extra boost of comfort. Piper dragged her by the arm and led her to a table near the back, the perfect place for the women to catch up and not get interrupted.

“I'm so happy you’re here.” Lexi hugged them both before seeing Maura anxiously looking up. “Maura.” Lexi held out her hands and smiled. Maura immediately squeezed her arms around her neck as Lexi scooted to the end of the circular booth.

“How are you?” Abby hugged her last, moving the hair covering her eyes.

“Not married.” Lexi frowned, thinking about the night before.

“Not yet,” Abby corrected.

“Soon.” Kayla held up her glass of soda.

“I know.” Lexi smiled. “So who do they have you two staying with anyway? It’s been a while since I talked to you. I lost Kayla that night at the banquet.” Lexi held up her hand for a server.

“Yes, you did,” Kayla exclaimed. “Then these two men came up to me and grabbed me. They practically carried me to a side room and held me down until I would listen to them. After I realized that you were still alive and they weren't going to kill me, I behaved—mostly.”

“Too bad I couldn’t see that on video,” Lexi laughed, imagining the scene Kayla caused. Kayla was even taller than she was, and the thought of the men carrying her made her smile.

“Laugh it up, convict.” Kayla pointed, earning a dirty look.

“Hey, I was in the interrogation room—not jail. They may have cuffed me, but I was never under arrest—pricks.”

“Questioning,” Kayla huffed. “Another ploy to fuck with you.”

Lexi nodded. “You don't know how right you are. You will never believe—” She stopped mid-sentence when the server approached with a menu. “I’ll have a glass of water and…” Lexi opened the menu, scanning the entrees.

“Give her what I'm having,” Kayla intervened, wanting to hear the rest of what Lexi had to say.

“That's fine; I'll try it.” The server nodded, leaving Lexi to continue. “Anyway, my mother showed up. Can you believe she actually showed up to threaten me in jail?”

Piper covered her mouth in shock. “Oh my god, what did she want?”

“Money.” Lexi took a drink of Abby's water. “Four hundred thousand or she’ll make sure I stay in jail. I mean, what makes her think she could get that much money? What makes her think she would get any at all? It's almost as though…as though—” Lexi paused and considered how quickly Angelo consented to the funds. It made no sense at first, but what if Gloria had dealings with him before?

“As though they know each other,” Kayla finished her thought.

Lexi tapped her fingers against the seat in serious thought over the issue. “Yes.” She looked at Kayla. “I wonder what my mother is holding over their heads.”

“She must have witnessed something,” Kayla offered.

“And she threatened to tell,” Piper added.

“No.” Lexi shook her head and remembered what happened to Sofia. “No, they would have taken care of her if that were it. Maybe she helped them with a job or something.”

“I doubt it,” Abby joined in. “Think about it, Lex. The younger Tomassi hasn't been in charge for that long. I doubt he would have taken her help on anything with how she is right now.”

“True,” Lexi mumbled as the server set down a glass of water.

Seconds ticked by; all was quiet around the table as they thought. There must have been some sort of connection. That was the only possible reason that Gloria was not dead. It was not until the server delivered Lexi’s food and she had taken a few bites that she blurted to the others, “Maybe they killed him.”

“Who killed who?” Abby asked confused.

“My father,” Lexi said and took a drink. “Yeah, that would make sense because they agreed to give her the money. Why else would they agree so fast if they weren't trying to keep something covered up? Maybe they don’t want me to know who it is.”

“Everyone knows that you don’t want to meet him.”

“I think it’s possible though. What if they knew him? What if he was important or something, and that's why my mother resented me all this time?”

“Okay, but it would have been Tomassi's father. He was in charge.” Abby pointed out. “Angelo wouldn't have been old enough. Maybe there isn’t a reason. Maybe they want to keep you and Maura safe.”

Lexi propped her chin on her hand and looked over Maura's head at Abby. “Maybe you're right.” She stopped but started right back again. “But if you think about it, it would explain why they wanted us to kill Angelo in the first place. There could have been something more personal about the whole thing. They wouldn’t have told us about it if there was.”

Abby gave a slow nod in agreement. “Maybe you're on to something; I wasn't considering that.”

“Yeah, I'll have to ask Rafa about it.”

“For god's sake,” Piper spoke up. “Too much serious talk. Let's do something fun while we’re together and explore this hotel. Something this big is bound to be worth our time, even yours, Lex.”

They all smiled and looked at Lexi who tried to ignore them as she finished her water. “Fine, okay. I can see I'm outnumbered.” She gave in as everyone stood.”

“Miss Taylor,” the hostess said as Lexi started to stand.

“Yes,” Lexi half-acknowledged while scooting out of the booth and picking up Maura.

“You have a phone call.”

“I have a call? Here?” Lexi frowned at her friends. She could not help the bad feeling that started to build in her chest. “Can you bring me the phone?”

“I'm sorry; the phone won’t get good signal out here.”

“Fine, lead the way.” Lexi motioned her friends to follow. There was no way she was answering the call alone.

“Yes,” Lexi observed the joining room as she answered, looking at an employee's lounge with a long white table and several chairs. “How the hell did you know I was here?” Her words gained worried looks from her friends as they shifted uncomfortably where they stood. “I see.” She inhaled at the information from the other end. “Well, we will see about that.”

Lexi clicked off the phone and hiked up Maura in her arms. She said nothing to her friends as she walked past. From the back of the restaurant, she looked around at the people who dined. She did not notice anyone who stood out, but that did not mean anything either.

“I'm afraid we’ll have to skip the tour,” Lexi muttered and looked at Piper.

“Lexi, who was that?” Abby asked.

“Mr. Moretti…and he knew exactly where we were. It’s as if he has eyes on us.” The women mimicked Lexi and started to look around. They were not going to notice anything that she had not already seen. “He won't stop with the threats. If not Maura, he’ll find something else. Who are you both staying with, anyway?” She pointed at Kayla and Piper.

“I've been staying with Jim, at least at his house,” Kayla said. “He was the only one willing to take me in after the scene I made.”

“Lexi grinned.” Well, you are a hard one to handle, Kayla. And you Piper?”

“I was staying with Sammy, but last night they had me and Kayla stay in one of the rooms here. I think Sammy and some other person stayed with Abby in the room next to ours.”

“Thomas,” Abby said.

“Right, there are too many to keep up with.” Lexi rubbed her eyes. “Call them and tell them to meet you in the banquet hall. I have to talk to Rafa. Abby, you can trace that call that just came through, can’t you?”

“Of course,” she answered as Lexi waited at the elevator for them to catch up.

***

As soon as they stepped off the elevator, Lexi saw the staff cleaning the banquet hall and taking the decorations off the tables. As if she did not feel bad enough, life saw it fit to unload that clip. It was a blow on top of everything else.

“What are you doing? Why are you taking everything down already?” A part of her still hoped the wedding would happen, her hopes shattered with the boxes that littered the floor.

“I'm sorry, but we have to. Somebody reserved the room for tomorrow morning.”

“I see,” Lexi said, running her fingers along the bottom of one of the long white tablecloths.

“Would you like us to give you a few minutes? We don’t mind.”

“I would like that.” Lexi gave a small, appreciative smile as the woman waved the other workers away. Carrying Maura, she walked around several tables, pulling long stemmed roses from the centerpieces. “I can at least keep some of these. It was my wedding,” she said and handed each of her friends a red rose.

“Ah, Lex,” Kayla put an arm around her, “this means it will be more amazing when it happens.”

Lexi gave a weary breath. “Let's get out of here.” She started to turn around when a woman she did not know came close, stopping a few feet away.

“I can't say I'm surprised that you couldn't get him to go through with it.” She touched one of the flowers beside the front podium. “You didn't actually think he would marry you, did you?”

“Excuse me?” Lexi asked.

“And who are you?” Kayla added.

“Let's call me a close friend,” she replied; then silence lingered as she looked at a guest book still sitting on the podium.

“A close friend, huh?” Lexi questioned both humored and annoyed while handing Maura to Abby. “You and Piper take her inside. I'll be right there.”

“Alexis,” Abby cautioned.

“I will be—right there,” Lexi emphasized, making Abby shake her head and walk off. “So…you were saying?”

“I was saying that I know Mr. Paolini, and he gets tired of having women hanging around.”

“Maybe he got tired of the wrong woman.” Lexi shrugged from underneath Kayla's arm.

“Let me guess; you think you’re the right one even though you got arrested last night, making him look like a fool? He's running for governor for Christ's sake, and his fiancé gets arrested.”

Lexi swallowed at the words. It was true. The arrest would not help Rafa's campaign. “That arrest was a mistake,” she said, “but I don't have to explain anything to you.”

“Yet you are not married. I think if he really wanted to marry you, he would have made it happen. He has that pull.”

“When? Today? There are other matters to handle.” Lexi pointed out and held out her hand, showing off the sparkle on her finger. “But I will marry him, and I don't care what you or anyone else thinks.”

“That was your daughter, right?” Lexi glared; how dare she mention Maura. “You think he's going to raise your child? Is that what you want him for—security? Mr. Paolini is all work. No one will ever change that. And when he works, he plays. He doesn't have time to be tied down.”

“Really? Well, you know what?” Lexi pointed her finger at her. “You don't know him like I do.”

“Maybe not.” The woman smirked, her smile and voice infuriating Lexi. “But I know more than you’d like.” Then she shoved the guest book off the podium, causing the metal rings to pop on impact and papers to fly to the floor. “I also know that he could find better.”

At this, Lexi raised the roses at the woman and stepped forward. She was not in the mood. Before the flowers slapped the woman's smart mouth, a man's hand circled around Lexi's chest and pulled her back to his face. Brown eyes looked straight in hers and caused her to huff in his arms.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked and rubbed his thumb over her lips.

“I was coming to see you, but I noticed the workers taking down the decorations.”

He gave her a sarcastic grin. “No…I meant what are you doing talking to her?” Lexi glanced down, knowing she should not have let the woman get the best of her; then she looked back at him with that familiar pout. “Go to the office, Alexis. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“What? Why? Come with me now.” Lexi noticed Kayla was no longer there. She wondered how much of the conversation he had heard. “I’m not leaving you here…with her.”

“I said—I will be there in a minute, okay?”

“Fine.” Lexi frowned and tried to pull away when he suddenly would not let her go. Instead, he covered her face with his hands and kissed her with a warm, gentle kiss until he felt her muscles relax.

“Trust me, love. You have nothing to worry about. Now get out of here and go where it's safe.” He looked at the hallway and loosened his grip, waiting for Lexi to disappear before he grabbed the woman's arm.

“So much for her trusting you. Where are you taking me?” she asked as the elevator doors shut.

Rafa smiled but not for the reason she thought as he led her out of the elevator and through the lobby. Then he approached one of the employees and spoke. “Mason, I want you to help Miss Vega collect her belongings. After you finish, accompany her to the Deep Blue. Help her get a room and don't leave until you're through.”

“Yes, sir,” he said.

“Wait, what do you mean? Are you making me leave?”

Rafa snorted, “Well, you certainly aren't staying.” He started to turn around.

“You can't be serious?”

He shook his head and looked back. “This hotel reserves the right to refuse service to anyone. You destroyed that guest book in the banquet hall, and that is destruction of property.”

“And that’s all you have to make me leave, a stupid book for a wedding that didn't happen.”

Rafa took a deep breath, closing his eyes to keep his temper. “You insulted my fiancé and my daughter, so you’re not welcomed at this hotel. Understand?”

“Bu—”

“Not another word from you.” He held up his hand and walked off, back to meet Lexi. There were urgent matters to discuss, matters that could not wait.