Shadow Warrior, page 15
part #4 of Shadow Rider Series
Her fingers curled around his. “I never had a mother.”
“Neither did I, Grace,” he admitted. “But I did have Stefano and he made up for it, even when he was a boy. He took care of us and made certain we were loved.”
“Stefano seems like a very nice man. None of you are very approachable, but every encounter Katie’s had with Stefano has been positive.”
“How is it none of us ever came across you? That seems so unlikely, given we’ve attended so many of your events.” His mother had. His mother had to have known she was a shadow rider and she’d deliberately kept it from the family.
Her lashes fluttered again, a sign he now recognized that meant she didn’t want to tell him something. He waited, pressing her hand to the heat of his thigh. She sighed and capitulated.
“I stayed in the background. It wasn’t that difficult. I work behind the scenes, and I didn’t want to be like everyone else. Watching you all, I could tell, even though you were all hiding it, the constant vying for your attention and fawning all over you when none of it was real was wearing on you.”
Abruptly he sat up. As far as he knew, no one had ever noticed that they were anything but enjoying themselves at their highly publicized appearances. They practiced their expressions, their smiles, their charm. It was extremely important to be believable, yet Grace had stayed away from them, not because she was intimidated, but because she felt bad for them.
“Also,” she continued hastily, as if she was afraid she’d hurt his feelings, “I didn’t want to be seen talking to anyone for reasons other than work, because of Haydon. If he gets a wrong idea in his head, it could be very bad for someone.”
“I like that you noticed it isn’t always easy for my family.” He did. He wanted her to be included in his family. “Just know that Eloisa is going to say very ugly things to you. So far, she has to Francesca, Mariko and Sasha. She says them to Emmanuelle all the time, and when she gets going, to the rest of us. It’s never easy dealing with her and it never will be, but when she comes around here, I’ll handle it. Most likely, after she’s had a run-in with me, she’ll come at you at work. If that’s the case—”
“Then I’ll handle it,” she said decisively.
He caught her chin, his smile genuine. Happy. Because that was how she made him feel. “Damn right you will.” And then he kissed her, savoring her taste. Savoring the fire that he could burn in. Most of all wrapping himself up in her acceptance of him. When he lifted his head, he pulled the small jewelry box from his pocket.
“I have a cousin in New York who makes jewelry. He has a gift for creating the perfect set of rings for each of us. He makes the rings without even knowing the women who will take us on.”
“Vittorio.”
He heard her nerves. The warning. Even fear. He brought her fingertips to his mouth when she tried to pull her hand away. “You promised you would consider what I was offering with an open mind. We’ve announced the engagement around the world, in every country we do business. It isn’t as if we can just say we made a mistake.”
“We could. We should.”
There was panic in her voice. Her breathing immediately was restricted, and he realized she was on the verge of a panic attack. She tried to tug her hand away a second time and he clamped down, shackling her wrist with his long fingers.
“Grace, look at me. Right now. Take a breath and look at me.” He poured authority into his voice.
Her green eyes flew to his. Clung, as if to an anchor. He watched as she took a deep breath and let it out. The panic receded enough that he nodded in approval.
“That’s good. Keep breathing. Are you saying no to me? Because I’m asking you to marry me. Officially. I want the engagement to be real.”
“There’s Haydon . . .” she said faintly, her voice pitched so low he could barely catch the thread of sound.
“He’s an excuse. Fuck him. What do you want? Tell me what you want, Grace. Do you want to at least give me a chance?”
She swallowed. Her gaze started to shift from his, but then she forced herself to keep looking into his eyes. Her nod was very slow in coming, but it was there. “Yes. If I could choose, then I’d want to choose you, but—”
“That’s all that matters. Haydon doesn’t dictate your life anymore, Grace.” He opened the box and waited again, his pulse accelerating in spite of his resolution to remain centered.
Her gaze clung to his and then it dropped to the box where the ring nestled. Damian Ferraro had created a masterpiece, a ring unlike any of his brothers’ rings. This one was all about love, open heart and passion. The center cut was a Burmese ruby, a pigeon’s-blood red, set with shield-shaped diamonds climbing the platinum setting. The diamonds on either side of the ring matched the family crest in shape.
He watched her face, her expression. His cousin was considered a genius when it came to matching the perfect ring with his clients. And he’d done so for Vittorio’s woman, even before any of them knew she existed. She let her breath out slowly.
“Vittorio, it’s beautiful. It’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.”
He slid it onto her finger. It fit perfectly. No resizing. That was Damian. Somehow, he knew exactly what to make long before the riders ever found their brides.
She held her hand up to look at the ring. “Seriously, I’ve never seen a ring so beautiful. I don’t wear a lot of jewelry as a rule. Earrings, but that’s all, and none of the gems are real.”
That was about to change, but he wasn’t going to say that aloud. She would be going to places with him that would require her to wear certain clothes, shoes and accessories. Maybe it shouldn’t be that way, but it was. He never wanted her to feel out of place. The women in his family would surround her with their protection, but he knew that she would meet many others just like Eloisa who would just wait for a chance to tear her self-esteem to pieces.
“I’m glad you like it, gattina. It suits you.”
Her eyes shone so brightly he couldn’t stop himself from leaning in for another kiss. This time, she kissed him back immediately, letting him take her over. Letting him deepen the kiss, accepting his going from gentle to a takeover without any reservation. Like before, she gave herself to him, surrendering, and this time he felt her tentative return, the foray of her tongue chasing his, sliding along his, sending spirals of heat down his spine, centering in his groin and racing through his bloodstream. She was the one. His only. He knew it with every fiber of his being.
* * *
• • •
Vittorio sat a distance from the two women, giving Grace space to conduct business and entertain her friend. He needed to be close enough to calculate just how tired Grace became during their conversation, or if she wanted out of the meeting. She didn’t realize just how much she’d done just by getting up, showering and getting dressed. She’d been up for several hours already.
This would be their first test. Grace had no idea it was coming, that she would have to make the decision whether or not to allow him to dictate to her for the sake of her health. He chose something big right out of the gate, because if she could find it in herself to trust him to look after her when she needed it, she would trust him on much smaller things.
Merry brought out a tray with fresh strawberry lemonade and then left them with a brief, friendly smile toward Grace. Katie glanced his way, but he sat close to the glass doors, giving them the view of the pool and lake while he had a good side view of both of the women.
“I was so worried, Grace,” Katie said. “I received an update every day, but not seeing you was very scary. There was so much false information.” She glanced again at Vittorio. “Everywhere I look I’m seeing headlines that the two of you are engaged. He spent two weeks straight at the hospital. Now you’re here. How would I not know?”
Grace looked at him a little helplessly. Immediately Vittorio got up and crossed to them, distracting Katie so his woman wouldn’t have to answer. He perched on the arm of Grace’s chair and lifted her hand, showing off the ring. “I asked Grace not to tell anyone at all, not even her closest friend. We would have been in the spotlight and you know how glaring and disruptive that is to a new relationship. I didn’t want to chance losing her.”
Katie gasped when she saw the ring, but when she lifted her gaze to Vittorio, he could see the wariness on her face. “I’m Grace’s partner, not just her friend. I look out for her. Not saying anything for a year certainly allowed you to be with whomever you felt like.”
“Katie,” Grace cautioned.
“No, bella, she has a perfectly good point. The tabloids write all kinds of things about my family. They make two acquaintances walking together down the hallway of a hotel seem sleazy. Having lunch with a friend can turn into a love affair. That’s what you’re facing being with me. Every moment of your day, everything you do, will be scrutinized. I wanted to keep you away from that for as long as possible, and I’m grateful you have a friend who looks out for you.”
Katie seemed to regard him with a little less suspicion and Grace hadn’t had to lie to her. He kissed her fingertips. “I’ll let you two get to it. I have some work to do, but I’ll be right over there, if either of you need anything.” He sauntered back to his spot, took out his phone and looked for all the world as if he was completely absorbed in what he was seeing on his screen.
“I didn’t want to freak out too soon, but I didn’t have any of your notes for the Midnight Madness—Locals Helping the Elderly fund-raiser,” Katie said. “We’re three weeks out and I need to know if we still have room for a couple more sponsors. I was contacted by three big restaurants just a few days ago. Have all the sponsors submitted their logos for the event program?”
Grace nodded. “Of course we have room, but we’ll need their logos immediately. The print deadline is the day after tomorrow. I double-checked that the sponsors have turned their logos in, that’s taken care of. Have Audrey personally get the logos from the three restaurants. We’ve kept the budget down to allow more of the funds to go to the organization and I don’t want any last-minute glitches like a late printing.”
Vittorio liked the way his woman spoke with complete assurance. She had complete confidence in herself and it was there in her voice. He managed to keep his expression blank and continued to feign interest in his phone.
“How many programs are we printing?”
“Mrs. Ferraro insisted this be kept small and intimate, as in five hundred invitations went out. Each person invited could bring one guest, so we’re printing up one thousand fifty programs to be safe. Few people ever turn down a private invitation from the Ferraros. I do have extra security coming, but that was budgeted in. The programs are numbered, and we can use those numbers for the live silent auction.”
Katie typed into her notepad. “What about the auctioneer? Has he been hired?”
Grace nodded. “I’m using the same one we did last year. He was a big hit and didn’t charge nearly as much as that pompous Fred Manson. That man spent more time eyeing the women than he did working.”
Katie flashed a smile. “I have to agree there. The more he drank, the more handsy he got. How many live auction items do we have?”
“We have seven very nice packages, one huge one, very attractive, that will command quite a bit of bidding, and two smaller ones that are still going to bring in a nice amount. We’ll have the smaller two go first, building to the largest last. We want them to spend their money, Katie. That’s why they’re there.”
“They’re there to rub shoulders with the Ferraros,” Katie whispered. “And now, because of your engagement, they’ll want to go just to see you with Vittorio.”
“Well, they won’t. I’ll be working. On the day of the event, I have to be ready to take care of all the problems.”
He knew both women were looking at him, so Vittorio kept his gaze glued to the screen of his phone.
“Have you seen Eloisa?” Katie’s voice dropped even more.
Grace shook her head. “No.”
“She called me multiple times and I know it wasn’t about the fund-raiser. I managed to avoid talking to her, but I can’t forever. She’s going to want a confirmation that you’ve been seeing Vittorio.”
“If she does ask, just tell her that we kept things secret to avoid the tabloids.”
“I don’t envy you having to deal with her on a daily basis. I’m afraid she’s going to be really ugly to you at the event. You know how she loves to publicly rip someone to shreds. She’ll do it, Grace. You know she will.”
“Vittorio isn’t going to let that happen,” Grace said.
Vittorio liked the confidence in her voice, but she was beginning to sound tired. He looked up. There was a bit of sheen on her skin. She was sweating. Her face had gone from pale to an almost grayish tinge.
“Eloisa is his mother. Boys always stick up for their mothers,” Katie said, absolute conviction in her voice.
“I made certain to talk to the various donors about each item already, so I have confidence that there is interest in the items and we can get some lively bidding going,” Grace said, trying to get Katie back on track. “And all the table items are numbered and ready to be laid out in order.”
“We have to talk about the possibility of Eloisa making a scene in the middle of our event and how we’ll handle it,” Katie insisted. “You can’t just pretend it won’t happen. She can be vicious, and it will ruin our fund-raiser.”
“It’s her fund-raiser. If she ruins it—”
“She’ll blacklist us, Grace. No one will care that it isn’t our fault.”
“We have so many things to discuss, Katie.”
Vittorio stood up and pocketed his phone. “Katie, Grace is tired and needs to rest. I’m sorry we’re going to have to call it a day, but you can come back tomorrow if you’d like. Give Merry a time and we’ll fit you in.”
“We’re nowhere near finished,” Grace said.
“I know that, gattina, but you’re finished.” He circled her waist. “Put your hand on my shoulder. When you stand, it’s going to hurt like hell.”
“Vittorio.” There was protest in her voice, but she obediently put her hand on his shoulder.
Close to her he could see beads of sweat running down her skin. She looked close to tears. He should have intervened sooner. “Next time, bella, we won’t have you up so long before you take your meeting. If you’ll excuse us, Katie, I’ll have Merry show you out. I’ve got to get Grace to bed.”
Katie stood, really looking at her partner for the first time. “Yes, of course. I’ll give it a day before I come back.”
“Katie,” Grace protested again, but her voice was weak.
Vittorio kept her walking along the patio. Inside the house, he swept her into his arms and carried her back to her room.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Phillips sent Grace a series of text messages, each more threatening than the one before,” Vittorio told his family. He passed Grace’s phone to Stefano, wanting his brothers and sisters to read the texts for themselves. He waited patiently until the phone was back in his hands.
“He’s definitely unraveling,” Stefano said. “I don’t need a psychiatrist to read those in order to assess his condition.”
“I agree.” Ricco slipped his arm around Mariko’s shoulders. “He’s losing it, and that means he’ll make mistakes.”
“But it also makes him more dangerous,” Mariko pointed out.
Emmanuelle picked up the glass of water in front of her on the table. “I admire Grace so much, Vittorio. She’s had to live with this monster all these years. She must be terrified to close her eyes at night.”
Vittorio smiled at his sister. She was so important to all of them. She’d always been their personal ray of sunshine when they were growing up and Eloisa had made things so difficult for them. She had compassion and empathy for others and they all loved that about her. “I have that same admiration, Emme. She’s an amazing woman.”
“Have you convinced her the engagement is real?” Giovanni asked.
“The ring is on her finger, but we’ll see. She wants to take her time making her decision. I don’t blame her for being afraid. I’m moving her way too fast, but I’m not taking any chances. Phillips can’t touch her here, so I want to keep her here, and I don’t want to risk losing her by giving her too much space. Also, before I forget, Phillips put a tracking device on Grace’s phone.”
“Of course he did,” Stefano said. “He can’t watch her every minute of the day and he’d want to know where she is, who she’s talking to or texting. He’s likely cloned her phone as well.”
“We can use that against him,” Vittorio said.
“Has there been any sign that Phillips has visited Grace’s apartment?” Taviano asked.
Vittorio nodded. “Emilio found his way in. The apartment building has a parking garage and one of the grills over the vent on the lowest level was loose. When he examined it, there were scratches around the screws holding the grate in place. He was too big to fit, so he sent Leone in. He’s one of the Palagonia boys, doing his early training with Emilio, but he’s only sixteen. Tall, gangly, hasn’t hit the wide shoulders yet. He found all kinds of evidence that Phillips spends time spying on the occupants of the apartment building. He’s left wrappers and other items behind.”
Stefano scowled. “Leone’s just a kid. Why the hell is Emilio using him for such a dangerous assignment? Phillips could have been anywhere in those ducts. If the kid had run into him, Phillips would have cut him to pieces.”
“I said the same thing to him,” Vittorio agreed. “He claimed he was certain Phillips wasn’t there. Something about the way he puts the grill back on to cover when he’s inside. We either trust Emilio to know what he’s doing, or we don’t. He’s never let us down. Not once.”
