Revealing Nicola Read online

  ~SC~

  She has to overcome a lifetime of secrets...the shock of discovery.

  He must protect a treasure that has turned passion to hate...reason to incoherence.

  Poisoned by danger, intrigue, lust, and greed...their very survival is in the balance.

  Can they endure the conspiracy and find love? And if they do...will it be enough?

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  REVEALING NICOLA

  First edition. February 7, 2017.

  Copyright © 2017 Sam Cheever.

  ISBN: 978-1635879711

  Written by Sam Cheever.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Revealing Nicola (LA FORTUNA DEVITIS, #1)

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  THE STORY CONTINUES... | Pursuing Elena

  WHAT’S NEXT?

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Visiting Character List

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  CHAPTER ONE

  Franco Martin stood on the fringes of the cordoned off area, frowning as police carefully examined the scene. From what he could see it was a young girl, her ragged clothing marking her as one of hundreds of kids trying to make a life on the streets under their own terms.

  The girl’s matted blonde hair spread across the oil-stained asphalt, her pale face unrecognizable under a wash of dark red blood. One pale, slender hand was stretched outward, the clawed fingers pressed into the street beneath her, as if she’d been trying to drag herself out of the alley.

  He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest as Detective Pam Waters glanced his way, holding up a restraining finger. She needn’t have bothered. He had his orders. And they didn’t include putting himself inside a crime scene and bringing attention to the family.

  On the street nearby the high-pitched sound of happy voices made Franco’s scowl deepen. A group of scantily clad women, their faces bright with excitement, danced lightly past, glancing neither right nor left as they headed for their destination.

  They were oblivious to the tragedy that lay so close. They saw only the night’s possibilities. The fun they intended to have under the influence of whirling bright lights and as much alcohol as their circumstances could support. He knew from having spent some time inside Vixen’s, the city’s premier dance and hook-up spot, that most of them could support a lot of it.

  The soft scuff of a sensible shoe brought his head around in time to see Pam ducking under the tape a young buck in a uniform held up for her. She thanked him with a negligible nod and moved gracefully toward Franco, unaware of the smoldering heat of the uni’s regard behind her.

  “Let me guess,” she told Franco as she pulled off two layers of latex gloves. “Gordon wants to make sure the girl isn’t one of his projects.”

  Franco shook his head. “You know the DeVitis family doesn’t experiment on street kids.”

  She lifted a finely formed dark red eyebrow. “I do? Why are you here, Frankie?”

  He winced slightly at the childhood name. He and Pam had grown up together in the same lower middle class neighborhood on the East side of town and she knew more about him and his choices than he was comfortable with. He figured that explained why he didn’t like to be around her. “I was looking for Elena and saw your car on the street. I was just curious.”

  She turned as the ME’s office slipped the frail form into a bag. “This one couldn’t have been more than fifteen.” She sighed, rubbing her eyes wearily. “It just doesn’t get any easier.”

  Franco felt a quick stab of pity for the cop. She liked to bust his chops, but she was one of the hardest working detectives on the IMPD and he knew she was having a hard time dealing with the string of recent young victims. “How’d she die?”

  “Hell if I know. Poor kid was severely jaundiced, with excessive bruising and signs of rampant internal bleeding. Her legs were full of fluid...” She shook her head. “All evidence points to a horrible death.”

  Franco’s pulse picked up. “Another biological weapon?”

  Pam’s gaze narrowed. “Stop right there, Martin. You’re no longer on the job, remember?”

  And she was never going to forgive him for it. “I’m just trying to help.”

  “Yeah, well. You can help by going about your business and letting me do my job.”

  He sighed. “If it’s a weaponized virus you should be taking precautions...”

  “Not that it’s any of your business but the first person I called was Cal George. You remember Cal?”

  “With the CDC?”

  “Yeah. He’s been working with us since that last kid...” Her voice trailed off and she frowned, clearly still disturbed by the memory of the kid whose body was covered in sores, the skin stretched taut over little more than bones and his eyes glazed under a yellow film of pus. The Medical Examiner’s office couldn’t isolate the specific cause but eventually landed on a rabid strain of malaria. The kid had to have been cooking the virus in his emaciated body for days if not weeks before he dropped dead in the center of a crowded shopping area.

  “He doesn’t think this was biological?”

  “Not weaponized, no. Just a really bad case of Hepatitis.”

  “None of the kids have died from the same disease?” Franco asked, fully expecting her to shut him down.

  To his surprise she answered him. “All different. All deadly. And all dead ends. I can’t find a single person who saw these kids in the days before they died. It’s like they disappeared until they were ready to die and then came back.” She bit her lip as the ambulance pulled away, its siren depressingly silent.

  Franco touched her shoulder and she flinched. He dropped his hand, wishing he’d resisted. “Sorry, Pammy.”

  She moved away from him. “Tell Gordon I’m going to find out what he’s up to.” Turning around, she walked backward as she fixed him with a speculative look. “You should get out now. Before we link your boss to these killings.”

  For a moment Franco thought she was talking about getting out of the alley. Then he realized she was suggesting a job change. He shook his head. He’d spent way too much time trying to convince his ex-partner that Gordon DeVitis wasn’t a cold-blooded killer. She wasn’t buying it. And the more he argued the more dug in she seemed to get. She was stubborn as hell and Franco knew that the only way he was going to get her off Gordon DeVitis’s back was to find the killer himself. So that was what he intended to do.

  A familiar giggle wafted toward him from the street and Franco scowled in that direction, brought brutally back to the task at hand. But first he had to babysit a beautiful but terribly spoiled young woman who needed a spanking more than anybody he knew.

  Unfortunately, he knew she wouldn’t get as much as a tongue lashing from her adoring father. In fact, instead of the punishment she richly deserved, Gordon DeVitis’s daughter was likely to get even more dangerous freedom when she worked her wiles on her father.

  The thought made Franco swear softly. Every moment Elena DeVitis spent on the streets and
in the clubs of Indianapolis was an opportunity for her to be stalked by danger. And it was up to him to make sure the threat didn’t find her.

  ###

  As she stepped into the chaotic splendor of Vixen’s, Nicola Roche grinned widely, the stress of a busy week sliding away as the music and flashing lights worked their magic. Her small group of girlfriends hurried forward, pulling Nici along in their wake toward an empty high-topped table. The lucky find was strategically placed almost dead center between the bar and the jam-packed dance floor. The table must have just come open because it was rare to walk into the club and find an empty high-top, especially on a busy Saturday night. She swung her hand toward the neon light hanging over the opening to a dark hallway. “You guys go ahead. I’m just going to run to the Ladies,” she shouted.

  The music pounded on like a lover’s elevated heartbeat, obscuring every other sound in the place. Nicola’s best friend, Angie cupped her ear, frowning. Clearly she hadn’t understood a word Nici had said. Nici pointed toward the restroom sign and Angie gave her a thumbs up. Nici pushed her way through the crowd, enduring a few unwelcome pats on her backside as she navigated through the thick press of moving bodies. She sighed in relief as she finally broke through and ducked into the dimly lit hallway. The lighting consisted of a couple of floor level lights and a neon sign above each of the two doors, one of a dancing woman and the other of a dancing man.

  She grinned at the brightly colored animations, loving them. The moving signs were everywhere in the popular nightclub, giving it a futuristic feel that Nici thought was really cool. Her luck holding, she ducked into the Ladies restroom and found an open stall. A moment later she stepped out and found a spot at the long mirror. Washing her hands, she smiled at the other women arrayed along the brightly lit mirror and got a mixed bag of reactions for her effort. One woman grinned back at her. One winked naughtily. And one glared as if Nici had insulted her skintight jumpsuit and strappy four inch heels.

  Nici shrugged it off, knowing the club catered to a lot of rich kids who thought anybody who didn’t share their tax bracket wasn’t worth their notice. Nici definitely wasn’t in their league. But she wouldn’t switch places with the snotty rich kids for anything in the world. Her middle class upbringing had been happy and filled with love. If she’d had to work for everything she had...then so much the better. Clearly she was happier than the kids glaring down their artificially perfect noses at her, and she suspected she appreciated things more for having had to work for them.

  She left the restroom, dodging around a group of incoming girls who were chatting excitedly, and stopped to tug a strap on her shoe into place.

  The door swung shut behind the girls and the light above the door was obscured as someone came up behind Nici. She started to straighten as a big form slammed into her, smashing her into the wall. She tried to shove backward, instinctively stabbing downward with a heel in an attempt to catch him in the foot. She cried out as a sharp, quick pain stung her neck. Kicking backward, she managed to graze a hard leg with her heel but it barely slowed him down. Her assailant gave her a violent shove, sending her flailing toward the men’s room. She wobbled on her heels and fell to her knees, yelping with pain as her bones connected with the tiles.

  As soon as she could, she shoved herself upright and turned to see her assailant. The hallway was empty.

  The door to the Ladies opened and light washed over her. The woman who’d returned her smile hurried over. “Are you okay?”

  Nici pushed to her feet. “I’m fine. Somebody shoved me.”

  “Damn!” the woman exclaimed. “That’s not cool.” She narrowed her gaze on Nici’s throat. “Is that blood?”

  Nici reached up and felt the warm trickle of moisture down the side of her neck. “I must have jabbed myself with a nail when I fell.”

  The other woman nodded. “Are you gonna be okay?”

  “Yeah.” Nici forced a laugh. “I knew things were going too well tonight.”

  The other woman laughed with her. “Right? Me too. I can’t believe my friends and I made it inside. The last four times we’ve tried to come the line was so long it was past my curfew by the time we got close to the door.”

  Nici returned to the main room, the other woman babbling happily beside her. She turned to her as she spotted her friends sipping brightly colored drinks as they bounced to the music. “Well, thanks for your help. My friends are waiting for me.”

  “Oh, yeah, sure. See ya around.”

  Nici started through the crowd toward the table, happy to see a stool and a frosty beer waiting for her next to Angie.

  She realized she was limping slightly as pain radiated from her knees and forced herself to stop. Grabbing a napkin from the top of the bar, she wiped the blood off her neck. She’d put the incident behind her and enjoy the night out with her friends. It was probably the last time she’d be out with them for a while. Since she’d been laid off her job in phone sales support the week before, she was going to have to start pinching pennies until she found another one.

  A hand wrapped around her arm and she was tugged backward, hitting the firm heat of a wide chest. She tried to pull away, thinking she was dealing with another overzealous flirt. “Back off, buddy.” She jerked her elbow backward, earning herself a very satisfying grunt of pain. But the hand on her arm didn’t let go.

  Hot breath bathed her ear. “Real funny, Elena. Now stop screwing around and come with me. You know it’s dangerous for you to be in here.”

  She frowned, realizing he’d mistaken her for someone else. Nici turned her head and slid her gaze up, inhaling a quick rush of air as she got her first look at him.

  His skin looked golden under the lights, his wide, square jaw taut with anger as he glared down at her. His eyes were a shade of forest green she’d never seen before, the lashes framing them thick and black. The lights played over his inky black hair, dancing along the glossy waves where it was longer at the top and dimming where he’d shaved it close on the sides.

  He was huge, probably six foot five or six, with wide shoulders and massive arms. The hand on her upper arm easily encircled it, with long, dense fingers. He wore a round-necked shirt that glowed white under the spinning lights and lovingly hugged his pecs. The shirt was tucked neatly into a pair of dark denim jeans which looked painted on. A brown leather jacket covered the shirt and Nici wondered what he was hiding underneath it. It was way too warm, both outside and in, for leather.

  Nici’s mouth watered as she stared up at him and she almost forgot to yank her arm away.

  She remembered a beat later, when he tried to drag her toward the door. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you. Let go of me.”

  “Elena...”

  She stomped on his toes and ground down, feeling the soft leather dent as she put all her weight onto his foot.

  “Son of a...” Quick as a wink he wrapped his hands around her waist and hauled her off her feet, throwing her over his shoulder. She gave a little scream, tugging frantically on her short skirt in an attempt to cover her butt.

  “Put me down you Neanderthal.”

  “I’m taking you home and your father can deal with you.”

  She kneed him in the belly and her bruised kneecaps screamed as she hit the unforgiving surface. “Ouch!”

  She could almost feel him smile. “Serves you right.”

  A man in a shiny suit circled around Nici and stepped in front of her abductor. The man carrying her toward the door barely hesitated as the manager held up a hand. “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to...”

  “Mr. DeVitis appreciates your concern for his daughter but you need to step out of my way.”

  Nici squirmed, pounding on his back. “This man is abducting me, do something!”

  The manager blinked, his mouth opening and closing before he finally frowned, inclining his head. “Give Mr. DeVitis my regards.”

  Her abductor didn’t bother to respond. He
started toward the door, bodies magically moving out of his way as they neared the exit. As the door opened to admit a loud group of happy partiers, Nici’s head came up and she searched the crowd for her friends. Nobody. They hadn’t even seen her get abducted. Dammit!

  “Well looky here. Such a pretty little ass...” A moist hand caressed her buttock and, like a cobra, her abductor struck, a big fist smashing into the young drunk’s face and sending him to the floor like a large sack of potatoes.

  “Learn some respect, punk,” her abductor said on a growl before plunging them outside into the warm night air.

  She barked out a shocked laugh. “You’re telling him to respect me? That’s rich.”

  He didn’t even hesitate. His long strides took them quickly toward the street and he finally lowered her to the ground. She immediately went after him, fists flashing and elbows flying. She used every trick she’d learned in hours of self-defense classes but he seemed to anticipate all of them, easily shutting her down.

  When he had both of her fists trapped in one of his big hands, a black eyebrow lifted in irritation, Nici tried the last trick in her arsenal. She went perfectly still, deliberately softening her muscles.

  To her supreme annoyance, he grinned, pushing her toward the car. “Not gonna work, Elena.”

  The door opened behind her and her abductor gave the dark suited man who’d opened it a smile. “Thanks, Mike.”

  The doorman had longish blond hair, a square jaw and piercing gray eyes. “My pleasure. So, Elena, love the new hair style.”

  Nici gave him a glare and then, hoping to catch them off guard, let all her weight drop to her heels and sagged downward, her hand tightening around the handle of her purse. She really wished she could get to the gun she carried in a hidden side pocket, but there was no way he’d give her that much time. So she did the next best thing. She screamed, launching herself off her toes and swinging the bag toward his head.

  He grabbed her arm with one hand, tugging the purse easily from her grasp, and shoved her backward with the other.