And so Jennifer had made up her mind not to see him. She was another woman, living a different life, and she belonged to Michael now…
Adam was waiting for her at the top of the gangplank.
“I was so afraid you weren’t coming,” he said.
And she was in his arms and they were kissing.
“What about the crew, Adam?” Jennifer finally asked.
“I sent them away. Do you still remember how to sail?”
“I still remember.”
They hoisted the sail and sheeted in for a starboard tack, and ten minutes later the Paloma Blanca was heading through the harbor toward the open sea. For the first half hour they were busy navigating, but there was not a moment when they were not acutely aware of each other. The tension kept mounting, and they both knew that what was going to happen was inevitable.
When they finally cleared the harbor and were sailing into the moonlit Pacific, Adam moved to Jennifer’s side and put his arms around her.
They made love on the deck under the stars, with the soft, fragrant breeze cooling their naked bodies.
The past and the future were swept away and there was only the present holding the two of them together in its swiftly fleeting moments. For Jennifer knew that this night in Adam’s arms was not a beginning; it was an ending. There was no way to bridge the worlds that separated them. They had traveled too far from each other and there was no road back. Not now, not ever. She would always have a part of Adam in Joshua, and that would be enough for her, would have to be enough for her.
This night would have to last her the rest of her life.
They lay there together, listening to the gentle susurration of the sea against the boat.
Adam said, “Tomorrow—”
“Don’t talk,” Jennifer whispered. “Just love me, Adam.”
She covered his lips with small kisses and fluttered her fingers delicately along the strong, lean lines of his body. She moved her hands down in slow circles until she found him, and her fingers began to stroke him.
“Oh God, Jennifer,” Adam whispered, and his mouth began to move slowly down her naked body.
46
“The cocksucker kept givin’ me the malocchio,” little Salvator Fiore was complaining, “so I finally hadda burn ‘im.”
Nick Vito laughed, for anyone who was stupid enough to fool around with the Little Flower had to be out to lunch. Nick Vito was enjoying himself in the farmhouse kitchen with Salvatore Fiore and Joseph Colella, talking over old times, waiting for the conference in the living room to end. The midget and the giant were his best friends. They had gone through the fire together. Nick Vito looked at the two men and thought happily, They’re like my brothers.
“How’s your cousin Pete?” Nick asked the giant Colella.
“He did cancer and he’s under the hammer, but he’s gonna be okay.”
“He’s beautiful.”
“Yeah. Pete’s good people; he’s just had a little bad luck. He was back-up man on a bank job, but it wasn’t his stick, and the fuckin’ cops tagged him and put him away. He did hard time. The hacks tried to turn him around but they was spinnin’ their wheels.”
“Hell, yes. Pete’s got class.”
“Yeah. He always went for big bucks, big broads and big cars.”
From the living room there came the sound of raised, angry voices. They listened a moment.
“Sounds like Colfax has a bug up his ass.”
Thomas Colfax and Michael Moretti were alone in the room, discussing a large gambling operation that the Family was about to start in the Bahamas. Michael had put Jennifer in charge of making the business arrangements.
“You can’t do it, Mike,” Colfax protested. “I know all the boys down there. She doesn’t. You must let me handle it.” He knew he was talking too loudly, but he was unable to control himself.
“Too late,” Michael said.
“I don’t trust the girl. Neither did Tony.”
“Tony’s not with us anymore.” Michael’s voice was dangerously quiet.
Thomas Colfax knew that this was the moment to back down. “Sure, Mike. All I’m saying is that I think the girl’s a mistake. I grant you she’s smart, but I’m warning you, before she’s through she could send us all away.”