Death Never Sleeps Read Online Free Page B

“And if you’d spent any time with him at all you’d know he didn’t want to be in any goddamned church—”
    Sounds of shh and assorted protestations swept through the crowd.
    Her son pulled harder, almost lifting her off her feet. “Let’s go. Please, Mom, stop.”
    But as George led her toward a side exit, Michael thought he heard Greta say to George, “I want you to go to Donna and find—” But he couldn’t hear the rest and wasn’t even sure that what he thought he heard was what she said. Nevertheless, as he exited the church and squinted at the afternoon sunlight, he wondered what it was that was so important for Greta to find that she had asked her son to talk to Donna after years of acrimony and resentment.
    Michael turned around to accompany Samantha and Sofia for the walk out of the church, and to observe the somber scene of the hearse and the black limousines waiting to take them to the cemetery.
    But Donna, who had been separated from him in the progression, suddenly appeared by his side. She gently touched his shoulder, and pulling closer, whispered in his ear, “Michael, just be careful.”
    As he proceeded down the church steps outside, thinking about Donna’s words, he noticed the license plate of the hearse carrying Alex’s body. It read, “Rest in Peace.” And, knowing his brother, he found that highly doubtful.

Chapter 7
    “I ’m not sure which is worse, a funeral or a wake,” Samantha whispered to Michael as he clutched her hand.
    “I guess that depends on whether you’re the one who was just buried,” Michael answered wryly, “in which case, you only get to go to the funeral.”
    “Michael, I hate it when you get flip at times like these. Sometimes I think you just use your slightly sarcastic sense of humor as a shield.”
    “You’re right, I know. I will miss him—I’ll miss him a lot. He would have done anything for me. We grew up with the same parents, in the same house, and yet we were so different. He tried to get closer with me. I know he was disappointed that I wouldn’t bring us all over to his house for every holiday. But I just didn’t want to go there. It was all too different, beginning with his wives and their families. I didn’t enjoy myself, and I knew neither you nor Sofia would either. I don’t know, over the years we drifted away … yet, I thought of him all the time.”
    “You loved him as best you could, Michael. Life isn’t perfect. You were a good brother to him, and you were there when he needed you, even if we didn’t spend our Christmas dinners together.”
    Donna and Michael had arranged with Maria to take over Alex’s former restaurant for his wake immediately following the funeral. As they all entered Grimaldi’s, Michael thought of the happy times right after his brother purchased the restaurant and the many dinners he shared there with Alex and their parents. He recalled his father half-jokingly asking Alex why he opened an Italian restaurant instead of a Greek one. Michael had only been to Grimaldi’s a few times since his brother had sold the restaurant to Maria. Each time he met Alex there for dinner, Maria would join them at their table for cocktails. Michael understood again why Alex found her so alluring.
    Oddly, Michael thought, he could understand his brother’s attraction to most of the women in his orbit—except his three wives.
    As soon as Michael and Samantha walked in the door at Grimaldi’s, followed closely behind by the two Lesters and Donna, Maria ran from behind the bar to greet Michael. She embraced him warmly. “Oh Michael, it’s a sad occasion, but it is so good to see you.” She hugged Samantha and greeted both Lesters with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
    Michael noticed that her greeting to Donna was much cooler. Clearly, there was no love lost between the two women. Michael instantly realized why Donna had said she would have preferred the wake to be at another restaurant. He speculated that Maria had