Chapter Nineteen
Mid-October
Dante cursed beneath his breath as he waited impatiently for someone to answer Nick’s office phone. He sure as hell didn’t need this sort of aggravation right now, on top of what he’d already had to deal with today. This week in New York was supposed to have been something of a vacation, despite the finance conference that was his main reason in being here. But there had been several issues that had cropped up with clients and pending deals, and he’d spent far too much time thus far fielding phone calls, sending emails, and arguing long distance with Howie. And that didn’t include the regular texts from his sister and brother-in-law and mother with updates on his new niece, and the almost constant influx of cute baby pictures.
The panicked phone call he’d just received a few minutes ago from Katie had been both ill-timed and aggravating as hell. He had an enormous limit on his credit card, since it was linked to the multi-million dollar brokerage account he had entrusted to Nick, and thus had zero idea why said card would now be blocked. Katie was waiting with ill-concealed impatience for a return call that would hopefully resolve this problem, clutching an armful of clothing she’d been in the process of buying at Barneys when the transaction had been denied.
Fortunately he had two other credit cards with him, but had no easy way to get one of those over to Katie right now. He’d tried to give the sales clerk one of those card numbers over the phone, but due to the sizeable amount of the transaction the store was requiring an in-person authorization. He’d urged Katie to stay put and be patient while he called Nick to unblock the card she was clutching in her hand at this moment. Patience, however, wasn’t always one of her better traits, so he was desperate to get this issue resolved as quickly as possible.
Dante had fully expected Nick’s humorless but efficient assistant Deepak to pick up the call, or perhaps one of his associates Tyler or Leah. What he had definitely not planned on, however, was to hear Cara’s voice on the other end of the line.
“Nick Manning’s office, this is Cara speaking. How can I help you?” she inquired, her voice polite but also sounding more than a little stressed out.
Dante hesitated, for this was the first time he’d had any contact whatsoever with Cara since their break-up, and he had zero idea what sort of reception he’d receive. “Uh, hi. It’s, uh, me. Dante. How - how have you been?”
He was greeted with silence for long seconds, and he was half-afraid she’d hung up on him. But she finally answered, although her reply wasn’t particularly cheerful.
“Fine, thank you,” she said primly. “And yourself?”
It was if they were merely strangers now, instead of ex-lovers. And rather than Cara’s usual bubbly chatter, he was being greeted with terse, stilted responses.
“I’m good. Officially an uncle now,” he offered, trying desperately to get past this awkwardness. “My sister had her baby about three weeks ago. A little girl - Ariella. I’ve got something like a hundred pictures of her so far.”
There was another awkward pause before Cara replied, again in that emotionless, almost hollow voice. “Congratulations. I’m sure your family must be very happy.”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat before asking, “Is Nick around? Actually, Deepak would probably be better since this is an operational problem.”
“Deepak is on vacation this week,” Cara informed him coolly. “And Nick, Leah, and Tyler are all making a presentation to a potential client at their office. Angela is at an appointment, so I’m holding down the fort. Is there something I could help you with?”
Dante hesitated again, for the very last thing he wanted to do was ask for Cara’s help to unblock the credit card that was currently in Katie’s clutches. It would be, to say the least, something of a proverbial slap in the face.
“Um, I don’t want to bother you with something like this, I’m sure you must be busy since you’re the only one there. I probably just need to get a phone number from you so I can deal with it myself.”
He paused, aware that for once he was the one who was babbling.
“What exactly is the problem?” asked Cara calmly. “And what sort of phone number do you need?”
“My credit card just got declined,” he explained. “And I know there’s plenty of cash available to cover any charges. The vendor isn’t being especially helpful, so I – ”
“Hold on a minute.”
She put him on hold mid-sentence, leaving him to wonder whether he should wimp out and hang up before she could pick up again. But Cara was back on the line within moments, not giving him the opportunity to ponder what he should say next.
“Mr. Sabattini, I have Phil from our Card Services Unit on the line with us,” announced Cara in her most professional sounding voice, even resorting to addressing him formally. “He’s already identified the issue with your card, and just has a few brief questions for you.”
Unlike Cara, Phil from Card Services was nearly gushing in his all-out efforts to be helpful. The Customer Service Representative had undoubtedly noticed the net worth of Dante’s account, and was anxious to treat him like the VIP that he was.
“I’m so very sorry for the inconvenience this little problem has caused you, sir,” offered Phil. “But in actuality the temporary block on your card was placed there for your protection. When our security systems notice a lot of card activity in a very short amount of time, in particular for the large amounts that have been charged, it puts out all sorts of red flags. That sort of credit card activity, especially when it’s not customary for the card holder, is often a surefire sign of fraud.”
Dante sighed irritably, well aware of what the CSR was patiently explaining to him. “Got it. In future I’ll try to curtail the number of transactions at once. Or give you guys a call first to alert you. Right now, what can you do to get the block lifted?”
“I can take care of that for you right away, Mr. Sabattini,” Phil replied soothingly. His voice was quickly beginning to irritate the hell out of Dante, and he almost wished he was dealing with the impersonal Cara instead.
Phil asked him a few questions to determine that this was really him - the same security questions he recalled now that he’d had to initially answer when setting up the account with Nick.
“All right, sir. Those all check out just fine. Now, one last quick thing and then we’ll be able to unblock the card. I see that the unusual activity started about forty-eight hours ago. I’m going to need to run through all of those charges with you to make sure they’re valid.”
Dante’s spine stiffened. “Is that absolutely necessary?” he snapped. “Can’t I just give you a blanket approval or something like that?”
“I’m very sorry, Mr. Sabattini,” apologized Phil profusely. “But that is our policy. It’s for your protection, sir. And it will just take a minute or two.”
“It is standard policy,” offered Cara, the first time she’d spoken in several minutes. “Phil needs to do this for security reasons.”
Dante cringed at the thought of Cara having to hear first hand the amount of money he’d already lavished on Katie, and the posh restaurants they had dined at thus far. He was just about to urge her to disconnect and get back to her work, assure her that he could easily handle it from here, but then Phil quickly launched into reciting the list of charges before he could protest.
“All right, Mr. Sabattini,” chirped Phil. “Just let me know if any of these charges don’t belong to you. They’ll be in order from oldest to most recent, beginning with the first charge in New York two days ago. Here we go. Four hundred seventeen dollars at Tavern On The Green. One hundred and forty five dollars at Bar Sixty Five. Two thousand six hundred and sixty two dollars at Versace.”
Phil admittedly read through each of the charges briskly, but Dante visibly cringed to hear each entry, shuddering to imagine poor Cara’s reaction while listening to the same. He was a little shell shocked himself to realize just how much Katie had dropped this morning during her shopping spree. In just the space of four hours, she’d already hit up Bergdorf’s, Bloomingdales, Saks, and was even now waiting at Barney’s for that contested charge to go through. In all, between meals, clothes, accessories, and spa treatments, the total came to well over twenty grand - not counting the first class airline tickets, the limo ride from the airport, and the suite at the Waldorf Astoria. And their week in New York wasn’t even at the halfway point.
In the past, Dante wouldn’t have given a second thought to spending that sort of money in such a brief period of time. He’d worked damned hard for his success, and liked reaping the benefits, like pampering himself. But he was extremely, uncomfortably aware that Cara was still on the line, and was having to listen to all of this. And all he could picture at this moment was that tiny, miserable little hovel she called home, the bare bones wardrobe that she somehow made do with and had never once complained about, and her ancient, falling apart at the seams laptop. God, why did she have to be so damned stubborn, he thought wildly. Why couldn’t she have swallowed that immense pride of hers for once and accepted that check he’d given her? The money could have helped her in so many ways, could have made her life so much better than it was.
‘And it would have helped you from feeling so guilty right about now,’ he admitted grudgingly. ‘So you need to ask yourself and answer truthfully - did you try to give Cara that money to help her or yourself?’
Thankfully, the all-too-helpful Phil finished running through his list of transactions, and then cheerfully informed Dante that there should be no further issues with using his card but to call Card Services immediately if something came up. After apologizing profusely once again for the inconvenience, and thanking him for being one of their preferred clients, Phil finally ended the call - leaving an awkward, gaping silence between Cara and Dante.
He spoke first. “Uh, I’m real sorry you had to listen to all that. The list of charges, that is. I really don’t think our buddy Phil needed to go through them in painstaking detail that way.”
“No, it really is standard procedure,” replied Cara flatly. “I’ve been through that a couple of times before with other clients.”
“Yeah, but the other clients weren’t - well, you know,” he mumbled uneasily.
“Someone I used to fuck?” supplied Cara calmly. “And who just happens to be in New York right now letting their girlfriend rack up tens of thousands of dollars on their credit card? Is that what you meant to say?”
“Cara.” He felt an overwhelming sense of sadness at her words, especially since he could have sworn she was fighting back tears, and wondered if he could possibly despise himself one iota more than he did at this moment. “Honey, I’m so sorry. The very last thing I wanted was for you to have to hear all that. But Phil started in before I could suggest you get off the line.”
“It’s no problem,” said Cara crisply. “Just doing my job, helping out a client. It’s what I do, after all. Is there something else I can assist you with?”
Dante made an impatient sound. “Really, Cara? Is this the way it’s going to be between us from now on? What happened to being friends? I thought we said we would still do that.”
“No,” she corrected. “You said that, not me. I - I just don’t think that’s going to be possible. So I’m happy to help if you have a question about your account, or need something done, but otherwise no. We are not friends. We aren’t anything. I’m just one of Nick’s assistants as far as you’re concerned, and you’re one of our best clients.”
He shook his head regretfully, even though she couldn’t see him. “No, honey. Think what you like, but you’re much more to me than that. I’m just sorry I hurt you so badly that I ruined our friendship in the process. You might not believe it, Cara, but I miss you. More than I can say.”
Cara replaced the phone in its cradle slowly, then took several deep breaths as she struggled to keep herself from losing it completely. But as the hot tears began to trickle down her cheeks, she realized that it was too late for that. Grateful that the rest of the team was still out of the office, she dashed into Angela’s office since her boss always kept a box of tissues handy. She grabbed a handful and made a futile attempt to stem the ever increasing flow of tears.
“Damn him,” she whispered unsteadily. “Of all days, why did he have to pick today to call? And here I thought I was doing so well, feeling so much stronger since I basically told Dad to shove it. Instead, I’m just the same idiotic sap when it comes to men that I’ve always been.”
Her sobs only increased after that, and she sank weakly into one of the guest chairs facing Angela’s desk. She was weeping so intensely, in fact, that she barely felt the gentle touch on her shoulder.
“Hey. What on earth is the matter?” asked Angela urgently. “I know Nick couldn’t have yelled at you since he isn’t around. Not to mention the fact he’d have had to deal with me if he ever pulled a stunt like that.”
Cara shook her head, mopping at her eyes in embarrassment to have been caught this way by her boss. “N-nno. It wasn’t Nick. He - he’s never really yelled at me. It’s - I just - just talked to D-Danny out of the blue, and it took me by surprise.”
“It upset you,” added Angela gently, patting her on the back soothingly.
Cara had confided in her boss about the breakup with “Danny”, but reluctantly so and only after Angela had pressed her as to why she was so down in the dumps. She had tried her best since then to put on a happy face, not wanting to have additional discussions on the matter.
Cara accepted the fresh handful of tissues Angela handed her and blew her nose loudly. “I’m so, so sorry,” she sniffled. “I didn’t mean to lose it here at the office. I know how unprofessional this is, and I promise it will never, ever happen again. Oh, God, and I’ve left the phones unattended and I know how annoyed Nick gets about that, so I’d better…”
“Stay right where you are,” instructed Angela sternly. “I’ll go forward the phones to voice mail and then you and I are going to have a little chat.”
Cara wasn’t sure she liked the implication behind her boss’s words, but remained obediently in place regardless. A couple of minutes later Angela closed the door to her office, then took a seat in the other guest chair rather than behind her desk.
“Now,” she began in a brisk, no-nonsense voice. “I recently developed something of a theory about this ex of yours, this Danny person. And I want you to be perfectly honest with me, Cara. Are Danny and Dante Sabattini one in the same person?”
Cara stared at Angela in disbelief. “What?” she wheezed in alarm. “Why - why would you even imagine something so far-fetched?”
“Because right around the time your Danny broke things off with you and you looked like the world had just ended,” replied Angela calmly, “Dante rather coincidentally reconciled with his ex-girlfriend. And the said ex - a really, really annoying pain in the ass named Katie - always calls him Danny. I didn’t put two and two together until we had dinner with the two of them last weekend, and it started me thinking. I wasn’t going to say anything because – well, frankly, I’m not sure I really wanted to know the truth. But seeing how upset you are now, I had to ask.”
Reluctantly, Cara nodded. “Yes. Danny and Dante are one in the same. But please, please don’t say anything to Nick! Please, Angela? I know I screwed up big time, but I can’t afford to lose my job right now on top of everything else.”
Angela looked stricken. “Why on earth would you think for even a minute that you’d lose your job?”
“Because I dated a client,” admitted Cara. “I knew it was against company policy, but I didn’t care. I liked him too much, and we were really careful not to let anyone find out.”
Angela shrugged. “I could care less about what this company says we can and can’t do. You of all people should know how little attention I pay to stupid corporate policies. And I won’t say anything to Nick, but not because I’m afraid he’d be angry at you. No, what would worry me is how many of Dante’s bones Nick might break. If he knew you’d been seeing Dante - and worse, that he broke up with you to go back to that witch Katie - well, that could get real ugly. The sort of ugly that could end what’s been a very close friendship between Nick and Dante. So you and I are going to keep this bit of news to ourselves, all right?”
Cara nodded anxiously. “Absolutely. Yes. In fact, the only other person who knows we were dating - well, besides Dante, of course - was Mirai.”
“Good.” Angela gave a regretful shake of her raven head. “What the hell is wrong with Dante, anyway? Not just for choosing that leech Katie over you, but for getting involved with you in the first place. He should have known better.”
“I know,” agreed Cara mournfully. “I’m not his type at all. Especially when you stack me up against Katie. She’s so beautiful, and has a fantastic body. And knows exactly how to dress. Not to mention…”
Angela held up a hand, her signal that Cara was chattering too much. “Not to mention that she’s a self-centered, manipulative bitch. And as smart as Dante is he’s dumb as a rock where Katie’s concerned. But when I said Dante should have known better than to get involved with you, I didn’t mean because you weren’t good enough for him. On the contrary, the horny bastard should consider himself damned lucky that you ever went out with him at all. No, what I was really trying to say is that you’re just too young and sweet for a player like Dante.”
Cara shrugged. “There’s not that much of an age difference between us. No more than there is between you and Nick, for example.”
“You’ve got a point,” acknowledged Angela. “Except that I was never sweet and innocent like you are. I had to grow up fast, grow up tough, after the way things were for me at home. And when I got involved with Nick, I knew exactly what I was letting myself in for. I knew better than to fall in love with him.”
“But you did anyway,” reminded Cara.
Angela smiled. “Yeah. Stupid me. Though I suppose it all worked out eventually. But please tell me you weren’t silly enough to make the same mistake I did - that you didn’t fall in love with Dante.”
Cara gulped. “I, um, wish I could tell you that. I really, really do. But since I hate lying, I won’t do it.”
Angela reached over and gave her a fierce hug, taking Cara by surprise because her boss was not by nature an affectionate person. “Silly girl,” she chided. “So I understand now why you were so upset when I walked in a few minutes ago. Was that the first time you’d spoken to Dante since the breakup?”
“Yes. I’m pretty sure he’s been avoiding me, why he insisted on having his monthly meeting with Nick outside of the office. And he didn’t sound too thrilled when I picked up the phone, or to learn I was the only one here.”
“Hmm. Why was he calling?” inquired Angela.
Cara hesitated before relating the whole story, including the part about Dante lavishing Katie with an extravagant trip to New York, and an even more extravagant shopping spree.
Angela was livid. “That fucker,” she muttered darkly. “You know what. Forget about Nick breaking his jaw. I might just do it instead. Better yet, I’ll ask Lauren to rough him up a little. Dante will never see her coming.”
Cara shuddered. She’d met Angela’s fierce, fearless best friend on several occasions, and had to agree that the tough as nails Lauren would have a good shot at landing a few blows on Dante.
“Thanks for the offer,” replied Cara wearily, “but I’d really rather just try and put the whole thing behind me if it’s all the same to you.”
Angela patted her on the shoulder. “Oh, sweetie. If it were only that easy.”