Nele Neuhaus - Swimming with Sharks

“No.” Alex shook her head. “It has nothing to do with that.”

She knew he had secrets, and it didn’t bother her. But since Oliver said those harsh words last night, she felt the need to know some general truths.

“What is it then?” Sergio asked, and Alex straightened up. She thought about the Downeys and the trusting affection between them.

“I want to hear from you if what the newspapers write is true. If it’s the truth and you tell me, then I can live with it. I simply want to be able to trust you.”

Sergio sat down at the edge of the bed and looked at her. For a split second he felt tempted to tell Alex what she wanted to hear, but then he remembered Nelson’s warning and the guy with whom she had cheated on him. Reason regained the upper hand. He was still as unable to read Alex’s face as on their first meeting. He knew he desired her like no woman before. He wanted to own and dominate her, but that was exactly what she didn’t allow him to do. No, he must not show any signs of weakness. He could not possibly tell her the truth because he had learned never to trust anyone very early in his life. Generosity and openness were weaknesses that could be deadly. Since the potential for false friends was high, Sergio preferred not to have any friends at all. He had reliable business partners with whom he had no emotional ties. But people who knew too much about him could possibly hurt, weaken, or even destroy him. He couldn’t really trust anyone, even within the ranks of his own family, and Cesare’s ridiculous threat was proof of that. The tough struggle for survival growing up on the streets of Little Italy and the Lower East Side and the brutal murders of his brother and father had changed him forever. This made it impossible for Sergio to be completely open with anyone.

He knew that he wouldn’t hesitate to leave Alex if the circumstances required it. But he hoped that this would never be the case. All this went through his head while Alex stared at him, waiting for a response. For a brief moment, Sergio felt ashamed as he prepared to lie to her.

“Listen, cara ,” he said and looked at her openly, “I had to fight very hard all my life to get to where I am right now. I lead a major corporation and am responsible for thousands of people. When I was young, I made a questionable deal or two. But what person who made it to the top hasn’t done such things?”

Alex nodded.

“When the newspapers write disparaging things about me, it’s just because of envy and frustration. Try as they might, they can’t dig up any dirt on me. That’s why they keep bringing up these old stories about my father. Entire books have been written about Ignazio Vitali, like Murder Inc. , and it’s no secret that he and his colleagues killed dozens of people during Prohibition. But that is not my legacy. I conduct my business in the manner of other legitimate businessmen around the world. Maybe I’m more cunning or more ruthless, but I pay my taxes and present my financial statements to whoever cares to read them. I have never been convicted, and I’m no criminal. All this tabloid talk about the Mafia and the underworld will sell newspapers, but it doesn’t correspond with reality.”

Sergio looked calmly at Alex, and everything he said sounded plausible in her ears.

“Are you happy now, cara ?”

She nodded.

“You do your job and I do mine,” Sergio continued. “We are both successful. When I see you, cara , I’d rather not think about business, but about you. This is not about concealing anything from you.”

“Hmm,” Alex said as she wrapped her arms around his waist, “so what’s your involvement with LMI?”

Sergio was prepared for this question because he knew that Oliver had told her about it.

“I’m on the board of directors,” he said as he pulled her close and kissed her, “just like I sit on twenty-four other boards. My companies also do business with LMI every now and then. That’s all.”

Alex sighed. To hell with Oliver and his conspiracy theories! If Sergio had denied any business involvement with LMI, then she wouldn’t have believed anything else either, but now she felt sure Sergio was being honest. And that was enough for her.

Alex woke up the next morning and needed a few seconds to realize where she was. Her eyes fell on Sergio, who was still in a state of deep sleep. She’d made a decision during the night. Her brief affair with Oliver was over. It hurt too much when he threw her out of his apartment without giving her a chance to explain herself. Sergio had much more to offer. A penthouse overlooking Central Park, a private underground garage for her Porsche, and a table at Le Cirque without a reservation! Sergio Vitali made everything possible, and there was no point in pretending that she didn’t care about him. The intimacy of their night together made her feel like this could be the loving relationship she longed for. Sergio opened his eyes and squinted into the bright sunlight. He reached for her and Alex snuggled into his arms.

“What are you thinking about, cara ?” he whispered.

“All kinds of things.” She stroked his tousled hair and was tempted for a split second to tell him the whole truth about her feelings. But then she thought about Oliver and what her honesty led to with him. No, she couldn’t tell him—it didn’t matter how close she felt to him.

“Does it have anything to do with me?”

“No,” she lied. “I’m thinking about how I could raise thirty-two million dollars for A&R. Maybe I could—”

Sergio bolted into an upright position.

“You are really unbelievable,” he said. “You lie in bed with me and all you can think about is business!”

He shot her such a hurt look that she paused in fright. Sergio untangled himself from her, jumped up, and walked across the room. Alex bit her lip as he disappeared into the bathroom. She really wanted to run after him and tell him the truth—that she had been hurt by his behavior and had cheated on him with another man only because she’d hoped that would banish him from her mind! Impossible. No, she had to keep pretending that he was just an acquaintance with whom she enjoyed spending a few hours now and then.

Somewhere in her clothes, which she had carelessly tossed on the floor, her cell phone started ringing. She jumped up, rummaged through her clothing, and found it in her coat pocket, under the armchair. To her surprise, it was Madeleine Ross-Downey. Alex walked out on the terrace. Madeleine apologized for calling so early, but she had to travel to the West Coast for three days and wanted to say hello before she forgot. She thanked Alex again for her courageous intervention and invited her to dinner at their home that Friday evening. Some other friends were also coming, and it would be a casual evening, but she and Trevor would be delighted if she could join them.

Alex’s first impulse was to excuse herself, since she almost always turned down invitations, but she had instantly liked Madeleine and her husband. Furthermore, the thought of getting to know some friends of Sergio’s enemy Kostidis intrigued her. When she turned around, she saw Sergio standing in the open terrace door.

“It was Madeleine Ross-Downey,” Alex said. “She invited me to come to her apartment on Friday evening.”

“Really?” Sergio raised his eyebrows. “How did you achieve this honor?”

Alex told him about the incident at the museum two days before.

“Unbelievable.” Sergio looked at her with a mixture of amazement and amusement. “You charged two street thugs with your bare hands? I should hire you as my bodyguard.” He grinned.

“Don’t mock me,” Alex said, annoyed. “I could hardly pretend I didn’t see anything.”