Page 19 of Lawbreaker

“Excuse me,” she said, red-faced, and took off with her drinks.

When she was out of sight up the staircase, Tony turned to the two men. “This is a party,” he said in a soft, chilling tone. His black eyes were making threats. “My guests aren’t game to be hunting. That clear?”

“Can’t blame a man for looking,” Rudy said, lifting his glass of champagne in a salute. “She’s a goddess!”

“She’s got her nose so far in the air, she’ll drown in the first rainstorm...” Donalson began.

Tony moved one step closer.

Donalson took a long, slow breath. He cleared his throat. “I see a man I need to talk to,” he said quickly, looking past Tony.

“Then you’d better talk to him. Hadn’t you?” Tony asked.

Donalson nodded and went quickly out of the area.

Rudy chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him move that fast.”

“Maybe once, but he had a gun pointed at him at the time,” Tony replied, glaring after the man. “In fact, if I knew where I could find a bullet real quick...”

“Now, now, that isn’t prudent,” Rudy told him. His expression changed. “You’ve got a problem in Jersey,” he said under his breath. “We need to talk.”

Tony’s black eyes narrowed. He nodded. “Let’s go into my study.”

Stasia was overly grateful for the cold drink. But her friend was looking odd. “What happened downstairs?”

Odalie groaned. “I attracted some odd man making weird remarks, and then that Donalson man came up and they squared off. Tony broke it up and I ran for my life.”

“What man?”

“He said his name was Rudy. I didn’t hear the other part.”

“That guy,” Stasia said quietly. “He’s with a group back in New Jersey that I can’t tell you about. He’s a friend of Tony’s. In a bad situation, he’s the sort of man you want backing you up,” she added. “I’ve never seen him back down. He and Tony have been friends for a long time. He used to wrestle professionally. Now he works for Tony.”

“A wrestler?” she exclaimed. “But he hasn’t got muscles as big as cantaloupes...”

“He can press two hundred pounds without even breaking into a sweat,” Stasia laughed. “It isn’t obvious, but he’s very strong.”

“He was nice.”

“How was he weird?”

“He asked about the weather in Mount Olympus,” Odalie replied on a laugh.

Stasia looked at her with warm eyes. “You do look very regal,” she pointed out. “And you’re beautiful, like your mother.”

“Stop that.”

“I mean it. I’m not exaggerating, either.” She sipped more of the fizzy liquid. “This is great for an upset tummy.”

“I thought it might be. I love it, even when I’m not sick.”

“I’m sorry we’re not sharing a room, but Tony had a lot of guests show up and the double rooms went to couples. But at least we’re just down the hall from each other.”

“Please tell me that Donalson man isn’t down the hall,” Odalie groaned.

“Listen, if he gives you any trouble, you go find Tony.”

“I can’t do that,” Odalie said. “Tony’s trying to get those paintings from Donalson’s boss. I can’t interfere with that. The paintings have such a history,” she added.

---