Free Tess's Tale (The Chanel Series Book 3) by Donna Joy Usher Page B

out another almighty shriek.
    ‘That was unpleasant,’ a man said when it had finished. His Italian accent made everybody else in the room that had one, sound like a phony. His made you think of plunging your hands into a barrel full of olives, drinking vino in the sun, and eating pizza while overlooking the Mediterranean. This man was the real, Italian deal.
    Which meant, he could only be one man.
    ‘Just wanted to wish the bride and groom good luck.’
    The room held a stunned silence as Giuseppe Greco lifted his glass in a salute. His smile was chilling as he surveyed the room with cold, calculating eyes.
    What wrong turn had I taken in my life that had led me to this point, where the head of the Sicilian Mafia’s Death Squad was toasting me at my wedding reception?
    I looked over at Harry.
    Oh yeah. I married the son of a Mob boss. Stupid me.
    For the first time ever, I doubted my decision. If I’d been shown this moment in a crystal ball, had known this was where I was heading, would I have still gone on that first date? The awful truth was that I didn’t know if I would have.
    But I had and here I was, so there was only one thing to do. I felt something harden inside me. My knees stopped shaking and a cold resolve flowed over me. If we were going to die, we were going to die. There was nothing to be done about the end. But I was going to fight every inch of the way to prevent that from happening.
    As his eyes lasered back to Harry and me, I raised my glass and nodded my head at him. I felt Harry hold my free hand as he raised his glass as well.
    We would stand together, we would fight together and if need be, we would die together.
    It turned out I had made the right choice after all.
     

5
Fortune’s Finger
    ‘That was quite the party,’ Liss said when I staggered into the kitchen the next morning. She held me out a mug of coffee and I clutched at it like a drowning man would a life jacket.
    ‘We aim to please,’ I said, slumping into one of the chairs.
    She peered at me. ‘You look awful.’
    ‘I feel awful.’
    ‘Your first hangover,’ she said as if she were congratulating me on my first real bra.
    ‘Turns out I’m a cheap drunk.’ I hadn’t had anything else to drink after Giuseppe had made his big appearance, but I’d been throwing up for the last half hour.
    Harry strode into the kitchen, his freshly washed hair still wet. ‘Want to come and check out our new digs?’ he said to Liss, holding up the key.
    I pulled a face and then slurped some more coffee. I didn’t want to move out of the club, but I was guessing Liss and Thor would enjoy having the place to themselves again. Plus, we needed somewhere to put the truckload of presents.
    ‘It’s going to take me all afternoon to open those gifts,’ I said.
    Liss laughed. ‘By the sound of your voice anybody would think you were going to be tortured all afternoon.’ She clapped her hands together. ‘I know. We’ll buy some ‘thank you’ cards on the way and then we can write them as we go.’
    Thank you cards? I put my head in my hands. It was going to take all night as well.
    ‘Aren’t you even a little excited?’ Harry asked. ‘I mean it’s our own home.’
    It was possible I was getting close to offending him. Liss was right. I was being a cow. His father had given us a house. I should at least pretend to be excited.
    ‘Oh no,’ I said. ‘I’m excited. Did he tell you where it was?’
    ‘Not too far from here. Walking distance in fact. He said he knew how close you and Liss were. Didn’t want to tear you away from each other.’
    He had? He did? An unwelcome inkling that perhaps this wasn’t all about Jim wormed its way into my head. I tried to shove it out, but to my great chagrin it stuck. I was much more comfortable with my view of Jolly Jim being a selfish, cold-hearted, manipulator.
    Liss was watching me over the rim of her coffee mug. I shook my head and sighed. I was being a cow. But could I help it if I didn’t