The Villa

thought, but apparently not quite fast enough. "I have more faith in our system than to believe the police, or anyone else for that matter, will put much credence in the ravings of a man who'd steal from his own family. This is a difficult time for you, Sophia." He stood again. "If there's anything I can do—"
    "You could go to hell, but I'm not sure they'd have you. You should've been more careful," she continued. "Both of you," she added with a nod toward Kris. "Spending time at the castello, the winery, the bottling plant." . "It's not illegal." Jerry shrugged. "In fact, it's not an uncommon practice for friendly competitors to visit each other that way. We were invited, after all. You, and any member of your family, are always welcome at any La Coeur operation."
    "You used Donato."
    "Guilty." Jerry spread his hands. "But again, nothing illegal about it. He approached me. I'm afraid he's been unhappy at Giambelli for quite some time. We discussed the possibility of him coming aboard at La Coeur."
    "You told him to tamper with the wine. Told him how to do it."
    "That's ridiculous and insulting. Be careful, Sophia. I understand you're upset, but trying to deflect your family's troubles onto me and mine isn't the answer."
    "Here's how it was." Tyler had spent the hours in the air working it out in his head. Now he sat, made himself comfortable. "You wanted to cause trouble, serious trouble. Avano'd bounced on your wife. Hard for a man to take that, even if the other guy's busy bouncing on every woman he can find. But trouble just slides right off Avano. Nothing sticks. He keeps his wife just where he wants her, which is out of his way but close enough to lock in his position with her family organization. That's a pisser for you."
    "My ex-wife is none of your business, MacMillan."
    "But she was yours, and so was Avano. Goddamn Giambellis gave the son of a bitch free rein. Now there ought to be a way to take that rein and hang all of them. Maybe you know Avano's skimming, maybe you don't. But you know enough to look at Don. He cheats on his wife, too, and he's pretty friendly with Avano. Don's a friendly guy.
    Wouldn't be hard for you to get close to him, hint that La Coeur would love to have him on the team. More money, more power. You'd play into his complaints, his ego, his needs. You find out about the dummy account, and now you've got something on him."
    "You're fishing, MacMillan, and fishing bores me."
    "It gets better. Avano's snuggling up to Sophia's second in command. Isn't that interesting? Dangle a carrot under her nose and you get lots of inside information. Did he offer you money, Kris? Or just a corner office with a nice, shiny brass plaque?"
    "I don't know what you're talking about." But she took a quick and careful step away from Jerry. "My relationship with Tony had nothing to do with my position at La Coeur."
    "You keep thinking that," Ty said casually. "Meanwhile, DeMorney, you keep playing on Don, nudging him along. Deeper, deeper. He's got some money problems. Who doesn't? You lend him a little, just a friendly loan. And you string him along about the move to La Coeur. What else can he bring to the table? Inside information? Not good enough."
    "My company doesn't require inside information."
    "It's not your company." Ty inclined his head when he saw the fury spurt out of Jerry's eyes. "You just want it to be. You talk to Don about the tampering, just a few bottles. Show him what he should do, could do, then how he'd be able to step in and be a hero when the shit hits. Just like you'll be a hero at La Coeur because you're primed and ready to move when Giambelli takes the hit. Nobody's going to get really hurt, or that's what you tell that poor sap Don. But it'd shake up the company good."
    "Pitiful." Beneath his precisely tailored shirt, a line of sweat ran down Jerry's back. "No one's going to believe this fairy tale."
    "Oh, the police might be pretty entertained. Let's just finish it out," Ty suggested. "It goes wrong for Don, and an old man dies. No skin off your ass, of course. You've got Don by the short hairs now. He talks, he's up for murder.
    Meanwhile, Giambelli's moving right along. Avano's still sliding. And one of your own moves to the enemy camp."
    "We've managed to bump along without the help of David Cutter." He wanted to pour wine, carelessly, but realized his hand was shaking. "And you've taken up enough of my time."
    "Nearly done. You'd already started a second front, courting