DREAMS IN COACH

Author's Note: Finally, the Sequel to The Recliner. This story skips around in time. I will post regularly. As always, the characters aren't mine, they are Janet Evanovich's. And she makes all the money; I'm just doing this pro bono.

CHAPTER 1

Four months after Matteo Falcone met his Bella and was arrested, he was released from federal prison:

The dark-complected man adjusted his Armani suit before walking confidently out of Interpol headquarters. He smiled to himself as he got into the back of a town car remembering the shocked, then disgusted look on Special Agent Taylor's face as she read the official orders to release her prized prisoner.

Justice had prevailed again. The kind of justice only money…and fear…could buy. Over the past five decades, his family had cultivated a hard-hitting reputation and culture of respect and fear among those they dealt with. Rarely did he or his son have to resort to physical violence anymore. Just the threat was usually sufficient.

The older man rubbed his wrists, grateful for the loss of the irritating handcuffs. He eagerly anticipated a return to his opulent lifestyle starting with a long hot shower and clothes that didn't reek of cop. Then he'd enjoy a leisurely meal, one not served on aluminum trays and made more nauseating with an overdose of fatty, over-spiced gravy. For the past several months, every meal slopped on his prison tray seemed to have a ubiquitous greasy brown roba poured over it. Matteo Falcone was a man who appreciated good cuisine and calling what was offered as food to him the past few months was a travesty to discriminating gourmets the world over.

He'd patiently waited in prison for his team of over-paid, over-confident lawyers to work their magic and when that wasn't sufficient, he'd called in favors from some of his more respected associates. These were men he'd helped early in their careers as judges, elected officials and law enforcement officers, among others. Men who'd risen rapidly, almost miraculously, in their chosen professions. The type of assistance Falcone had provided these men wasn't anything they could risk having exposed or they'd lose everything: their jobs as well as their reputations and families.

Matteo knew each one of these men would be more than willing to demonstrate their gratitude by granting any favor he asked. He strategically selected two of his 'old friends' and had his son approach them with a special request.

Because of their timely intercession, Matteo was finally free. His brief stint in wretched confinement behind bars had given him a new perspective on life. While he'd been a "guest of the state," his son had taken over the day-to-day business and was quite successful at it. He was proud of Dante's accomplishments and trusted his business acumen. Matteo decided he'd continue to allow his son to head up the dynasty he'd built. He had another 'project' in mind for himself.

Matteo had been alone ever since his dear wife had joined her Father in Heaven – he crossed himself – and he didn't want to be alone anymore. He was tired of the bimbos that had floated in and out of his life since her death. They'd served a purpose during his mourning period, but he had no more use for pretty but mindless females.

He'd met the next Mrs. Matteo Falcone and it was only a matter of time until they would be together. There was just one little problem to be disposed of. Well, he wasn't a little problem, but he was inconsequential. Matteo had to figure out a way to get rid of a certain Cuban annoyance in such a way that left himself in the clear. His future wife must only see him as a gentle man and as her loving protector.

That night, when he slipped between the silk sheets of his king-sized bed, he took out a small laminated card he'd left in the care of his lawyers when he was first arrested. He felt something or someone had guided his hand that night in Atlantic City when he'd pocketed "Bella's" driver's license before handing back the rest of her purse's spilled contents. He'd known immediately she was the one for him the moment he saw her walking toward the bar.

Her cute little stumble should have tipped him off, but he didn't care that she was there to lure him into the Cuban's trap. Women were easily convinced to act in ways contrary to feminine nature. Once he was able to get her under his wing and treat her the way she deserved, she would quickly come around. All women responded to being pampered and adored. And once she was carrying his child, her past would be just that, a thing of the past and she would be forever his.

Rubbing his thumb over the picture of the beautiful face of his woman, he felt an intense arousal even his beloved first wife couldn't elicit from him. The woman whose face was on the card, mia bella, was a truly sensual woman, one who could inflame his passions again as well as give him more sons and maybe a cherished daughter.

He knew in his heart it was meant to be…they were meant to be. He had seen it in a dream – he and his Bella, in their wedding finery standing before a beautiful altar and gold-robed priest.

Tomorrow he would set his plan in motion. The timing had to be perfect: not too soon, and definitely not too far into the future. It would be difficult to stay away from her during this initial phase of his plan, but he knew he needed to avoid arousing any suspicions in her when the trouble began.

The best way to approach his Bella was to swoop in as her friend, her protector. She would be sad at first, grieving her loss, maybe even angry, but she would come to love him in time. He could be a patient man when the prize was this great. Until then, he would be content with her coming to him in his dreams.