Chapter 16
Prologue
Solar lighting illuminated the in-ground pool and property surrounding David and Serena Cole’s sprawling Boca Raton mansion. The house was filled with four generations of Coles. The men who’d gathered in the library at the West Palm Beach family compound New Year’s Day had gotten together again—this time in David’s private office. The four men lit cigars and raised snifters of aged brandy, toasting their success for a covert investigation that had thwarted a hit man’s attempt to kill Ana Cole.
“¡Salud!”
David peered at his brothers and nephew over the rim of his glass. “I know it’s not in good taste to toast someone’s demise, but if anyone needed to be put in the dirt then it is Basil Irving.”
“I agree with David,” intoned Timothy Cole-Thomas. “The bastard should’ve been taken out a long time ago.”
Martin Cole lifted an eyebrow when he stared at his nephew. “Damn, Timothy. That’s cold. What happened to you being the gentle Cole?”
Running a hand over his cropped salt-and-pepper head, Timothy returned Martin’s steady gaze. “Niceness stops whenever someone threatens my family.”
“I have to agree with Timothy,” Joshua Kirkland said quietly, his deep voice carrying easily in the soundproof room. “Irving may have met an untimely end, but there’s still the matter of his younger brother who has taken over as CEO of Slow Wyne Records. I don’t know how much baby boy knows about the music industry but instinct tells me he bears watching.”
Timothy nodded. “You’re right, Josh. That’s why Diego told Simon to keep an eye on him. Ana may have evaded the trap, yet who’s to say they won’t shift the focus to Jason.”
“My son isn’t as benign as he appears,” David said. “Let’s just hope someone doesn’t decide to challenge him.” He set his glass on a side table. “Now that we’ve offered our insincere condolences I’d like to discuss the wedding wager. Those of us who bet on Ana marrying first are one-third closer to the grand prize.”
David, his brothers Martin and Joshua and his nephew Timothy had each wagered a million dollars to establish an endowment in the name of their alma mater as to whose unmarried thirty-something children would marry before the end of the year. David had had to put up two million because he had an unmarried son and daughter.
Martin sucked in a mouthful of tobacco. “You’re not going to count Ana’s wedding in the wager?” he asked, blowing out a cloud of smoke.
David shook his head. “Come on, Martin. Man up and admit I’m right.”
Martin squinted at his youngest brother. “You’re not right, David. Ana and Jacob’s marriage was a setup.”
Holding his cigar between his thumb and forefinger, David blew out a series of smoke rings. “Tell him, Timothy.”
A shaft of light from a floor lamp filtered over Timothy’s lean dark brown face when he shifted on his chair to stare at his uncles. “Diego told me Jacob asked him to stand in as best man when he and Ana plan to renew their vows this coming New Year’s Eve.”
“I told you, big brother,” David drawled smugly.
Martin shook his head in disbelief. “Diego sets up a bogus marriage—”
“It’s not bogus, Martin,” Joshua Kirkland interrupted. “Their marriage license is as legal and binding as any of our marriages. And it’s not the first time a Cole woman has married her protector.”
Timothy nodded. “My Celia married Gavin Faulkner and made me a grandpa for the second time.”
Martin’s expressive eyebrows lifted. “Bragging, nephew?”
“Hell, yeah, Tío Martín.”
“Wait until you have as many grandchildren as Joshua and David before you starting boasting, sobrino,” Martin countered.
Joshua’s straight white teeth shimmered in his sun-browned face when he flashed a wide grin. “I’m about to pull ahead of David. Jolene is pregnant.”
“Again?” the three chorused.
“Michael and Jolene always said they wanted six children,” Joshua explained in defense of his son and daughter-in-law. “They’re now planning to close on an eight-bedroom, ten-bath farmhouse set on six acres in McLean, Virginia. Michael told me he’s keeping the former owners’ flock of sheep and half a dozen horses.”
Bracing both feet on the terra-cotta floor, Martin rested his elbows on his knees. “Speaking of horses. There’s still the question of whether Nicholas will be bitten by the love bug before the end of the year.” Nicholas’s obsession with horses had begun at a very early age. The first time he sat atop a pony during a friend’s birthday party, he felt as if he was born to ride. Nicholas would never become a jockey because of his height and weight, but that hadn’t diminished his dream to ride and breed champion horses.
“Only time will tell,” Timothy said. “If he is and does marry, then I’m out of any future wedding wagers.”
“Has Jason decided where he’s going to set up Serenity?” Joshua asked, segueing to a topic they’d avoided discussing in the presence of their wives.
There came an uncomfortable silence before David spoke again. “He told me a real-estate agent showed him a house in Coral Gables. He also said he’ll probably buy Ana’s condo once she and Jacob start a family.”
Joshua stubbed out his cigar in a large ceramic dish and then stood up. “I’d like to stay, but it’s time I head out now. I’m planning to fly back to Santa Fe tomorrow morning.”
Timothy stretched out his legs. “How are you flying back, Josh?”
“I’m going first class.”
The recently retired CEO of ColeDiz International, Ltd. shook his head. “Forget the commercial carrier. I’ll call Diego and arrange for you to go back on the company jet.”
Joshua sat down. “Thanks. I’m getting too old to hang around airports with the huddled masses.”
Timothy frowned at his uncle. “Even though your last name is Kirkland you’re still exempt from taking commercial flights.” Martin had decided more than forty years before that anyone with Cole blood was forbidden to take commercial carriers following the kidnapping of his daughter. Only Judge Christopher Delgado, a federal judge who’d married Joshua’s daughter, was exempt from the family edict.
“I doubt if anyone would ever link me to the rest of you guys.”
“Even with the blond hair and green eyes, you’re still a Cole, Josh,” Martin insisted.
Joshua
