The Villa

your coat?"
    "That's all right." She smiled and pulled his jacket a little closer. "I've got yours."
     
    The gardens of the villa sparkled with thousands of fairy lights. The heated terraces were decked with flowers and ornamental trees. Table groupings invited guests to spill out into the starlight, enjoy the night and the music that slipped through the doors and windows of the ballroom.
    Pilar used it as an excuse to have a moment in the air before returning inside to circulate among the guests and do her duty. She considered sneaking in an emergency cigarette.
    "Hiding out?"
    She jumped in her shadowy corner, then relaxed when she saw it was her stepfather. "Caught me."
    "I was sneaking out myself." In an exaggerated move, he craned his neck, looking side to side, then whispered, "You carrying?"
    The laugh felt marvelous. "Just one," she whispered back. "We can share it."
    "Light it up, partner. Your mother's busy. We've got enough time to suck one down."
    She lit the cigarette, and they stood in the shadows, companionably, conspiratorially passing it between them.
    Relaxed in his company, she leaned back on the wall of the house, looked out. Lights were glowing in the fields, highlighting the naked twists and fingers of the vines. Behind them, the glamour of the music swelled.
    "It's a beautiful party."
    "As always." With enough regret for both of them, Eli stubbed out the last of the cigarette. "You and your mother and Sophia have outdone yourselves this year. I hope Tereza let you know how much we appreciate all the work you put into this event."
    "She has. In her way."
    "Then let me thank you in mine." He slipped his arms around her, guided her into a dance. "A pretty woman should never be without a dance partner."
    "Oh, Eli." She laid her head on his shoulder. "What would I do without you? I'm such a mess."
    "Not you. Pilar, you were a grown woman with a child of your own when I married your mother. I've tried not to interfere in your life."
    "I know."
    "Tereza does enough of that for both of us," he said and made her chuckle. "However," he continued, "I'm going to speak my mind. He was never good enough for you."
    "Eli—"
    "Never would have been good enough. You wasted a lot of years on Tony Avano, but you managed to get a wonderful daughter out of it. Treasure that, and don't waste the rest of your life wondering why it didn't work out."
    "He married Rene. Just like that."
    "All the better." He nodded when she jerked back to stare at him. "For you, for Sophia, for everyone involved. They suit, such as they are. And their marriage simply takes him one step further out of your life. If I had my way, he'd be out of the business as well. Completely out. And I suspect that's what's going to happen within the next year."
    "He's good at his job."
    "Others will be equally as good, and won't give me indigestion. Your mother's had her reasons for keeping him on. But those reasons aren't as important as they once were. Let him go," Eli said, kissing her forehead. "He'll sink or he'll swim. Either way, it's no longer your problem."
    From the terrace below, Tony listened, and his mouth hardened. He was still stinging from what he continually told himself had been a completely uncalled-for and inappropriate attack by his own daughter. He'd have been able to shrug it off, but it had been in public. In public at a business event.
    And business, he thought, wasn't what it had been.
    He didn't believe, not really, that the Giambellis would cut him loose. But they were going to make his life difficult.
    They thought he was stupid, that he was careless. But they were wrong. He already had a plan in place to ensure his financial security held. God knew he needed money, and plenty of it. Rene was already draining the resources he had.
    Of course he'd been unwise to become involved with Kris. He was doing his best to break that off, delicately. So far that had been a bit more problematic than he'd anticipated. It was flattering, really, that a lovely young woman like Kris would be so attached, so reluctant to part ways. And angry, he recalled, angry enough to call Rene in the middle of the night.
    Still, he'd handled that. Rene had assumed the caller was Pilar, and he hadn't corrected her. Why should he have?
    He sipped his wine, enjoyed the starlight and, as was his way, began to put trouble aside before it could take root.
    He was handling Kris as well, he decided. Promising to help her move into Sophia's position with