Nelson flew to Tortola and took a helicopter to the island, only to be the third wheel all night. With growing unease, he observed that Sergio had changed. Even a blind man could see how crazy he was about this blonde bitch. Nelson hoped that he could leave that same evening, but Sergio didn’t appear to be in a rush to tell him why he wanted to speak with him so urgently. It was almost unbearable for Nelson to watch Sergio in action. When Sergio jumped into the pool with this broad after dinner, playing around and making out like a teenager, Nelson retreated.
Nelson had never seen Sergio behave so childishly in all the forty years they’d been friends, and he felt something almost like jealousy. The two met at an all-boys Catholic boarding school in Philadelphia, where they were sent at the age of six. Nelson van Mieren was much more than a simple lawyer. He was well versed in both commercial and criminal law, and he had been Sergio’s right-hand man for almost thirty years. They had built an enormous empire together.
Nelson didn’t like Alex Sontheim, and he was less and less pleased with how she had turned Sergio’s head. There was no doubt that she was exceptionally beautiful and very intelligent, yet that was exactly what worried him. It would have been different if she were a dumb bimbo, but intelligent women were dangerous. While the two of them enjoyed their day together, Nelson came to the conclusion that he needed to put a stop to Alex’s influence. He couldn’t allow Sergio to listen to people other than him, especially not a woman.
Alex finally disappeared into the house. Sergio poured himself a whiskey and joined Nelson on the terrace. He wore a relaxed smile and looked years younger in shorts and a T-shirt. They talked for a while before Nelson cut to the chase and asked Sergio why he had called him here.
“I’d like to ask you for your opinion in a personal matter,” Sergio responded. Nelson was in a state of red alert.
“I have never felt so content in my life.” Sergio leaned back and stretched out his legs. “Since I met Alex, I feel like I’m thirty again. She’s incredibly good for me.”
“Well, well,” Nelson replied.
Sergio kept smiling and swirled the ice cubes in his glass. “What do you think of her?”
The question sounded casual, but Nelson was instantly aware how critically important it was for him to give the correct answer. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. The tropical temperatures put a strain on his circulation.
“I would appreciate hearing your honest opinion,” Sergio said.
Nelson hesitated.
“She’s an attractive woman,” he answered elusively.
“Yes, indeed, she is”—Sergio nodded, somewhat impatiently—“but there are many other things that I love about her. I’m thinking about divorcing Constanzia.”
“You can’t be serious!” Nelson stared at his friend in disbelief. “You mean that you want to marry that girl?”
“I’ve never met a woman like her before.” Sergio smiled dreamily. “She has her own will. She is successful. Just thinking about her makes my heart beat faster. This has never happened to me before. I’m fifty-six now, and I’ve realized that I don’t want to continue my life as it was before. Everything is much more fun with Alex.”
“Fun!” Nelson snorted derisively. Now he was seriously concerned. “You sound like an eighteen-year-old! I’ve never heard you talk like this. What has this woman done to you?”
He kept an eye on his friend. It wasn’t enough to bad-mouth Alex. He needed to instill some doubts about her in Sergio’s mind.
“What do you know about her, her origins, her motives? Does she like you, or is she only after your money, your power? What girl wouldn’t be thrilled to cruise on a hundred-foot yacht to the private island of one of America’s richest men?”
“Why do you say that?” Sergio straightened up and threw an indignant look at his lawyer. His smile had vanished, and a deep groove formed between his eyebrows.
Nelson answered carefully. “Because I want you to realize what you put on the line when you carelessly trust someone you hardly know.”
“I’ve never been careless!” Sergio replied vehemently.
“That’s why I’m even more surprised about what you just said.” Nelson observed his friend attentively. Sergio was usually very good at hiding any type of emotion, but at this moment Nelson could read his friend’s face like an open book. Sergio was dangerously serious about this woman.
After hesitating briefly, Sergio said, “Over the last few weeks I have given some thought to Alex assuming Shanahan’s role. She does an excellent job at LMI, and she’s clever and cold-blooded—”
“For God’s sake, Sergio!” Nelson interrupted him. “Think about what you’re saying!”
“What do you mean?”
“Sergio.” Nelson leaned forward, and his voice was insistent. “You know how risky this is. Please, think about it! How well do you know Alex? How much can you trust her? What will you do when she suddenly has scruples? We can’t afford another situation like we had with Shanahan.”
Sergio was silent for a moment. He also knew that Levy’s mistake with Shanahan had cost him a bundle and was not so easy to sweep under the rug.
“For as long as I’ve known you,” Nelson said as he laid his hand on his friend’s arm, “you have never let yourself be guided by personal emotions, and you’ve always done pretty well with that approach. Fine, you bang the girl, you like her. She’s definitely beautiful and clever, but that’s exactly what makes her dangerous. You have to watch out for clever women.”
Sergio grimaced. This wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear.
“So you don’t like Alex?” he asked.
“It doesn’t matter whether I like her or not,” Nelson countered. “Women have no place in our business. They are too unpredictable. And I think that Alex is especially unpredictable. Maybe it would make a difference if you weren’t involved with her. To be honest, I think that this is far too risky for you and for all of us.”
Sergio stared at his friend.
“You asked for my advice,” Nelson said coolly, “and here it is: keep her away from your business. It’s enough if she does her job well and Zack takes care of the rest.”
Sergio was silent. Emotion and reason fought a violent battle behind his impassive face. He stared off without saying a word. The only sound to be heard was the chirping of cicadas in the hibiscus below the terrace. Nelson hardly dared to breathe. Finally, Sergio released a depressed sigh.
“You’re probably right,” he said reluctantly, and Nelson had the feeling that he had just barely avoided a catastrophe. His trip down here suddenly seemed worth the exertion.
“Come on, don’t make such a face.” He sneaked a glance at his watch, trying to decide if he could catch a flight back to Tortola before Alex reappeared with a phony smile to invite him to stay another night. “Enjoy her company for few more days. But don’t let her wrap you around her finger. A little distance won’t hurt.”
Sergio nodded slowly.
“Thanks for your advice, Nelson,” he said convincingly. “I’m probably just getting old and sentimental.”
“Nonsense. Alex is a pretty girl. Keep her for the bedroom if you like.” Nelson heaved his corpulent body out of the rattan chair. “I’ll leave the two of you alone now. I have an appointment with Chester Milford to get to on Tortola about the terms for the new IBCs. I’ll see you in the city in a couple days.”
When Nelson left, Sergio poured himself a whiskey at the bar and gazed out over the emerald-green water. He had been hoping for a very different response from his friend. Maybe Nelson was right. But maybe not. Sergio had never asked for advice on his personal life before, but he also had never experienced such intense and confusing emotions.