Kathy didn’t get to finish her sentence before Alex was up and out of his chair. “I’m on my way.” As he made it to the elevators, he called Fabi. The moment his brother picked up the phone, he started barking orders. “Pick Cecily up from school now! Make sure to take extra security.”
Fabi ran a frustrated hand over his face. “Shit. What did Gina do now?”
“I think she just blew up the parking garage of Braylee’s building.”
Chapter 6
Gina stood looking out of the window of her luxurious hotel lost in thought. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her body. She’d accomplished everything she’d set out to do on this trip except for her situation with Alexandro. She still needed to deal with him, and that was going to be tricky.
Sighing, her mind just wouldn’t stop thinking that if things had been different, could their relationship have survived? If he would have just tried a little harder to understand the sacrifices she made to protect her family and their businesses, maybe they would have worked as a couple. She knew how much family meant to him. Why couldn’t he understand family meant just as much to her? He had to know that was the sole reason she stayed away from Cecily. Gina wasn’t very sensitive about many things, but Cecily was an exception.
Seeing Alexandro in person, made her reminisce about their first meeting. Of course, it wasn’t by accident when she ran into him at that hotel. Gina had been studying the Manchetti men for weeks at the request of her father, Chang Lee Xiou. She remembered it like it was yesterday. Chang ruled his family with an iron fist. If anyone dared to step out of line, it would be at their peril. So, if he said jump you jumped. Period.
Gina sat alone with her father in his home office, and he was seething. He was angrier than she had seen him in a very long time. His anger was scary. Anything could happen when Chang was this upset. She could still remember clearly the set of his jaw and the stance of his thin frame standing in front of the fireplace with his hands clasped behind his back. He yelled and demanded that she, “Get to the United States to find out what the hell was going on?” That was exactly what Gina did. She hopped on their private plane and flew to the United States within a few hours of her father’s command. She then booked the penthouse suite at a hotel and hired a private investigator to gather any information they could on Alexandro, Luciano, and Fabi Manchetti. She’d studied them for weeks. When she was ready, Gina bribed one of Alex’s drivers and that’s how she knew he was going to be at the hotel the night they met. However, it was purely a stroke of luck that allowed her to meet him due to that whole translator situation. To her surprise, their connection was strong, immediate, and real. So, it didn’t come as a shock to either of them that they ended up in bed the same night.
Gina kept their affair a secret from everyone, especially her father, for months. Of course, life got in the way of their happily ever after. As hard as she tried, there was no getting around the real reason she was in the States, and that’s when everything blew up in her face. Alex wouldn’t even try to understand why she’d made the choices she had. The memory of it was seared into her brain.
Nevertheless, seeing him in person after fifteen years, Gina realized time hadn’t diminished her passion for him. Even knowing how he felt about her and maybe because of it, Alexandro still made her burn.
She could only hope with the passage of time, a renewed mutual interest, and threat, that maybe they could recreate the chemistry they once shared. Well, after she handled the Braylee Hinsdale and the TNG2 situation. Hopefully, that was being taken care of right now. Gina smiled to herself thinking about what a reconciliation would look like. Stranger things have happened.
There were three quick taps on her door. It was her private security. She yelled in Mandarin, “I told you I do not want to be disturbed!”
The response came back in her native language. “It’s urgent.”
She walked over and snatched the door open and snapped, “What?”
“It’s all over the American news. There was an explosion in the garage of the building we visited earlier. It could have been meant for you. We should get you on the plane and back to China immediately.”
Calmly Gina responded. “The explosion couldn’t have been meant for me. I’m using an alias. No one knows I’m here except for Alexandro. He definitely wouldn’t tell anyone. But, you’re right about one thing.” Her face was pensive. “Get the plane ready to leave in an hour. Alex will never believe I didn’t have anything to do with that explosion, and if I know him, he’s going to come after me with everything he’s got.”
She would need a bit of time and distance to regroup and adjust her plans.
*****
Alex made it to Braylee’s office in record time. However, the streets getting him closer to her building were blocked off not with just yellow tape but with firetrucks, police cars, media trucks and ambulances. One of the several men from his security detail had followed in a separate car. He got out and walked over towards him.
“We can’t get through that traffic. What do you want us to do Mr. Manchetti?”
“Take my
