Free Chicken Caccia-Killer (A Jordan McAllister Mystery) by Liz Lipperman Page A

delivered the zinger. “At one point I was two weeks away from becoming his wife.”

C HAPTER S EVEN
    After Natalie’s stunning revelation, Jordan stared at her, sure her own mouth was hanging open. “You were engaged to Emilio Calabrese?” Remembering Alex’s remark about Emilio being connected, she couldn’t quite picture the petite woman sitting next to her on the couch as a Mafia princess.
    “I was seventeen,” Natalie explained. “I’d recently graduated from high school and was visiting my cousins in New Jersey. My uncle was a longshoreman, and while I was there, we went to a company picnic sponsored by his employer, who just happened to be Emilio’s father. That’s when I met him.” She sighed as she recalled those earlier days.
    Jordan leaned closer when Natalie’s voice dropped to a whisper.
    “There I was, a naïve, young teenager from Texas, and he was this big, popular, rich kid who drove a Corvette. It took him no time at all to seduce me with expensive gifts and fancy restaurants. Although he was four years older than me and already working his way up the ladder in his dad’s company, there was a connection between us immediately. After the sheltered life I’d left back in Beaumont, Emilio and his bad-boy persona swept me off my feet.” She stopped talking long enough to take a deep breath. “We spent nearly every day together my entire vacation, and by the time I left New Jersey to return home, we’d made plans for me to return in two weeks. We were going to go to Atlantic City and get married while we gambled the week away.”
    “Wow! That’s quite a story,” was all Jordan could think of to say. “What happened?” She hoped Natalie didn’t think she was prying, but her curiosity was killing her.
    “After I got away from all the glamour and excitement of the East Coast and settled back into reality at home, it dawned on me that I would be making a foolish mistake. The question I asked myself was whether or not I was willing to give up everything I’d worked for to marry a man I’d known less than ten days.” She took a sip of water before continuing, “The answer was easy without all the distractions. I had a full academic scholarship waiting for me at SMU. I couldn’t just throw that away.”
    Suddenly, Jordan’s cell phone rang, and she jumped off the couch to retrieve it from her purse. “Hello.”
    “It’s me,” Alex said. “I wanted to call and let you know things are going well. I’m not sure when we’ll be able to get out of here, but I wanted to make sure everything’s okay back there.”
    “We’re fine,” Jordan said, wondering if Alex knew about his mother’s teenage love story. Could that be why he was so obviously perturbed when Emilio went out of his way to stand close to her?
    “My mom’s not talking your ear off, is she? Please tell me she’s not spilling any of my secrets.”
    “Wouldn’t you like to know?” she deadpanned.
    His mother was telling secrets, all right, but they had nothing to do with him. Asking about Alex’s childhood hadn’t even crossed Jordan’s mind, but now that he’d mentioned it, it might be worth a few pointed questions, especially since Natalie was obviously in a talking mood. He loved to tease her about everything, and it would be nice to have some ammunition so she could give back as good as she got.
    “Yes, I would. Jeff’s back. Gotta go. Don’t wait up for us. I’ll see you in the morning.”
    “Okay. Tell Kate to hang in there.”
    “Will do. Love you.” And then he disconnected.
    She stared at the phone, confused by his last words. Did he just say he loved her? She shook her head. No, it was just something you say to people automatically. It didn’t really mean anything, did it?
    “Is everything all right?” Natalie asked, apparently concerned when Jordan didn’t immediately repeat the conversation with Alex to her.
    “Oh, yes. Alex said they were getting a lot done and that we shouldn’t wait