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have heard about him cheating on his wife, cheating on his taxes, and every other possible dubious act.  I just can’t believe he isn’t in prison yet.”
    “You confuse loyalty to one’s spouse with loyalty brought on by fear.”
    It was Gabriel’s turn to raise an eyebrow.  “What does that mean?”
    Unflappable and smooth as usual, Dante smiled and spread his hands out.  “Just that committing dalliances in your marriage has little to do with how reliable you are to those you fear.”
    “Fear…Francis fears you?”  Gabriel was astonished.  Certainly his uncle was of the most dangerous breeds of attorney’s—a real shark—but how that mental prowess translated to being able to intimidate a bottom feeder like Francis was unclear.
    “Believe me,” Dante mussed, “between what I know about him, and how I have…punished him in the past, he will do anything I tell him to.”
    A chill ran up Gabriel’s spine as he stared into Dante’s eyes.  Obviously there was still much he didn’t know about his uncle.  And from the cool satisfaction in his voice as he came right out and said he’d “punished” Francis, he wasn’t anxious to find out what he was missing.  The image of his uncle wielding a whip or a switchblade made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. 
    Gabriel cleared his throat and finally looked away from his uncle.  “I just hope he can find a viable candidate.  She will have to be cultured as well as beautiful.”
    “And she’ll have to be a good actress.”
    Gabriel laughed bitterly.  “Because pretending to be my fiancée will be such an unpleasant experience.” 
    “That too,” Dante replied, apparently not getting the sarcasm in his nephew’s voice.  Or maybe he actually believed playing the part of Gabriel’s fiancée would be an arduous task.  “But mostly to fool the rest of the family...specifically your mother and father.”
    The two men locked gazes for a moment, and then grumbled: “Especially her.”

Chapter 3
     
     
    LUCY DIDN’T remember when she got up out of the booth and left McDonalds, or walked through the parking lot and out to the highway.  She only noticed her hands were clutched to the metal guardrail when she heard her grandmother’s worry-stricken voice.
    “Lucy!  What are you doing out here?”
    Lucy turned toward the road.  Her grandmother had pulled over on the shoulder of the highway, and was already climbing out of her car, her worn terry cloth robe and flannel gown billowing in the wind.  The mere sight of her made tears fill Lucy’s eyes and run hot and reckless down her face.  The sobs she’d been holding back burst from her lips as her grandmother pulled her from the guard rail and into her arms.
    “It’s alright, Lucybean...you’re alright…I’m here.” 
    Lucy buried her face in her grandmother’s soft shoulder and felt all the strength drain from her arms and legs. 
    I’m going to die...I’m going to die...
    With her heart breaking yet again, feeling the weight of the world pressed down on her chest, she wished that she would just die.
    But she didn’t.
    As her grandmother stroked her back and slowly maneuvered Lucy over to and then into the passenger seat of the ancient white Oldsmobile, the weight on her chest lessened, as did the pain that radiated through her entire body. 
    For an instant she glanced back to where she’d stood by the guard rail.  The dark figure was there again, its shadowy form flickered as it drifted toward the car.  But just then Gram gunned the Oldsmobile’s engine, leaving the dark apparition in the dust.
    By the time her grandmother drove them home she’d forgot about the phantom, forgot about her injured body and her crushed pride.  She literally felt nothing at all.  Her tears had dried up, her head and arm no longer hurt, and her breathing was slow and steady.
    Too slow.
    And it wasn’t just the pain that was gone, Lucy was numb, even in her head, she thought of