Death Never Sleeps Read Online Free PDF Page A

probably felt that Donna was not a good wife to Alex. Alex, as a form of psychological torture, played mind games with his wife and enjoyed leading her to believe, incorrectly, that he had slept with Maria.
    “Samantha, please excuse me for a few minutes,” Michael said. “Donna asked me to speak with her privately. Maria, do you think you could get us a small table away from the crowd for just a few minutes?”
    Maria showed Michael and Donna to a table hidden from the collection of strangely festive mourners. She appeared to carefully avoid the table that Michael knew had always been Alex’s favorite. Now unset and the only table with a “Reserved” sign on it, Michael assumed it was where Maria had sat with Alex when he was shot. He tried to imagine the scene that night before forcing himself back to the present.
    Once they were seated, Donna appeared to relax. Michael struggled to ignore the images he was still constructing in his mind of his brother’s final moments, while fighting the urge to glance again at the table, just a few feet away.
    “You’re so lucky, Michael. Besides being a beautiful woman, Samantha is just so sensitive. I mean, she is really a nice lady. I wish I could be that nice—I’m just not.” Michael sensed a certain refreshing honesty in Donna; she wasn’t apologizing, just stating a fact.
    “Listen,” Michael interjected, trying to keep the conversation from getting too emotional or psychological. “Alex wouldn’t have been attracted to you if you were all that sweet. And you would have never been attracted to him if you were all that sensitive. So, you two were a great match.”
    Donna, appearing suddenly distracted, glanced at her gold-and-diamond-studded Rolex watch. “Michael, I’m sorry, but I just need to make a quick call, and I know my cell’s battery is dead. Can I borrow your cell for a minute? I’ll just run out to the ladies’ room where it’s quieter.”
    “Sure,” Michael said without thinking. Donna thanked him and vanished for a few minutes.
    “Everything all right?” Michael asked her when she returned with his phone.
    “Oh, fine, fine,” Donna said, quickly downing a double shot of Grey Goose vodka. Likewise, Michael finished his martini uncharacteristically quickly, waiting for the effects of the drinks to work their magic and loosen up the evening and the conversation.
    “Alex loved you—you know that, don’t you, Michael?”
    “I do, and I loved him.”
    “He was never quite sure of that,” Donna said.
    “I know. I always kept some distance.” Michael was feeling almost apologetic. He remembered the times his brother and parents would try to bring them all closer together, but Michael always resisted. He wanted to go his own way. He also knew the two worlds they lived in could not mix easily.
    “Listen, Donna. It’s complicated. My brother and I were different in some obvious ways. I couldn’t do what I do and earn a living if I mixed at all in Alex’s world. Have you ever seen the security and background clearance you have to go through today to be a senior executive for one of these companies? It takes weeks to do. They actually look at every place you’ve ever lived, every driver’s license you’ve ever had; they check court records. It’s crazy.”
    “Michael, no offense, but the people you hang out with are bigger crooks than Alex’s gang. It’s just not the type of shit that shows up on background checks.”
    The drinks were kicking in. Michael laughed knowingly. “I forgot how crazy—but good and honest—you were, Donna.”
    “He was proud of you. I think, on one level, he admired your family life and he always bragged to his cronies about how well you were doing. You know, the CEO thing and all that.” Michael felt that Donna meant this, but he sensed she also needed to say something to soften what she had just said in case she had offended him. “It was something Alex knew he could never do. It just wasn’t in