They Call Me...Montey Greene

Chapter Fifty Three

"I AM not going back to Europe!"

The defiant words which leapt from the mouth of the woman gunning the Mustang GT Convertible down Washington Avenue, minutes from the beach known as SoBe, seemed to have lost their meaning on the trade winds blowing in off of the Atlantic Ocean.

"What?" Montey asked not truly sure he heard her correctly.

"I'm not going back....at least for a while. Christina can run the showroom and the boutique—," she said a little louder over the roar of the engine and the wind whipping them in their faces. "The boutique is still months away from being finished. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"What about your boy's plane?" Montey asked trying to mask the delight he suddenly felt.

"They'll fly it back, they always do."

"So, this is not the first time you've done this?"

"Done what, country hop on a private plane? No."

"I meant sending Gerald's plane back empty. Maybe we should have kept it and flew to New York real quick."

"The answer is still the same. No," Alejandra answered as she turned the radio on. T.I's "What You Know?" came blaring through the speakers of the custom sound system. She cranked it up. Mashed down on the gas pedal. The glistening emerald green drop-top with the WTW Giovanna Klessig-5 rims bolted forward.

Fifteen minutes later they were cruising down Millionaires Row—Pinetree Drive.

"We're being followed," Montey said as he glanced in the rearview mirror.

"Seriously Montey, we're not in Europe anymore."

"Dead serious," he answered as he peeked in the passenger door mirror this time. "Take a look for yourself."

Alejandra stole glances in her rearview and driver side mirrors to see a mauve colored car a good distance behind.

"It's been following us since I picked you up."

Alejandra tapped on the brakes, slowed down a bit, ready to turn into the driveway of the two-story Mediterranean style residence coming up on the right.

"Nah-nah, keep going," Montey suggested.

Alejandra gunned the engine past the closed iron gates.

"Not so fast that we get a ticket. But then again that could be a good thing."

"Make the first left and let's see what that car does."

Alejandra glided the car into the turning lane as they came up on 51st Street.

Montey looked in the rearview mirror again. The lipstick colored car flashed its blinkers, switched to the right lane, continued on its way down Pine Tree Drive just as Alejandra turned left onto 51st Street.

"Did you see who it was?"

"Nah, they were going too fast. Not that I know anybody down here like that."

Alejandra drove halfway down the block, made a u-turn, zoomed back up the block, made a right back onto Pinetree.

"Was the gate opened when we just passed the house?" Alejandra asked Montey as she circled the palm trees and grass street island median.

"No."

"I didn't think so."

"Looks like I'm going to have to talk with the landscapers again," she responded said as she gunned the car through the open gateway.

When Alejandra pulled the car into the circular driveway in front of the main house, she and Montey were both stunned to see Alejandra's father, Juan Carlos and Bruno stepping out of a limo.

"I guess that explains the gate," offered Montey. "Did you tell him that you weren't coming back?"

"Not yet I didn't, but if he's here, I'm sure he knows."

"Charles did say that he got called away on business remember. Maybe that business is here in Miami," suggested Montey.

"I'm sure that's possible, but if I know Gerald—"

"He probably was just looking out for you."

"He's looked out for me enough don't you think?"

Alejandra brought the car to a screeching stop, startling the chauffer who was pulling the luggage out the trunk. Alejandra was set to step out of the mustang, she had a grip of the door handle when she saw another familiar face stepping out of the limo—Paolo.

"Congerme! What the hell is he doing here?" Alejandra's voice rang out not registering an ounce of happiness.

Alejandra ignored Paolo as she walked up to her father

"Hi Papa. What are you doing here?" Alejandra asked as she sought her father's embrace deliberately avoiding eye contact with Paolo at the moment.

"I heard the interview went well," offered Juan Carlos as he embraced his daughter planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Where did you hear that?"

"You said you were extending your stay in the States so I figured good things must have come out of it."

Alejandra shot Montey a knowing glance then asked, "So, is that why you're here, because Gerald told you I wasn't coming back?"

Alejandra smiled a knowing smile at Montey. The smiled disappeared when she looked at Paolo, if you want to call it that.

"That boy never could keep a lid on it could he?" Juan Carlos said. Then he extended his hand to Montey. "And you Señor Montey, you give good returns on a man's investment. I like that."

This part always felt weird to Montey but he was this close to finding his way home. He smirked as he reluctantly shook Juan Carlos' hand.

"Come lets go inside, we have a lot of catching up to do," Juan Carlos said.