His body was always tightly around hers, so much so that there was no getting a thin piece of paper between them. He liked it that way. He wanted to feel every inch of her soft skin. He enjoyed being able to stroke caresses over her breasts, or feed there, his mouth hungry for her, his fingers curling into her to feel her waiting reception. He loved waking up to her mouth on his cock and the feel of her hair sliding over his thighs. He wasn’t giving that up.

  He wasn’t going to get into the fact that if he was in that room with her, aside from his need to spend as much time with his woman as possible, he knew he could protect her. Should Haydon find a way to penetrate his security, he would still be there to keep the man from getting to Grace. It was important for that alone that they stay in the same bedroom.

  She wrapped her hand around the bedpost. “I think that’s partially right. I do want to sleep with you at night and yet at the same time, I like knowing I have my own place.”

  He heard reluctance to take the conversation any further. “I’ve had a room fixed up for you. You clearly need an office here at the house. It has a private bath as well as a sitting room. Having your own office will allow you and Katie to have privacy when you need to discuss details of upcoming events. The phone and Internet systems are fast and reliable. And don’t worry, I didn’t have it painted some bizarre color. I should have clarified, I had the phone system installed but the rest is up to you. I thought you might have fun designing exactly the way you want the interior to look.”

  She practically beamed at him. “I’ve always wanted an office. It will make things so much easier, and knowing Haydon can’t get in and look at anything I’ve put together about clients and vendors will be such a relief. Thank you for thinking of that.”

  He loved making her happy. He’d have ten offices built on the property if he could get that particular smile from her. Still, there was something bothering her she didn’t want to tell him, and he couldn’t have that. He needed to know when she was upset over something.

  “I want to know why you’re reluctant to share the master bedroom with me.” He made it a statement. “Tell me, Grace.” He made that an order.

  She made a small face at him. “It shifts the balance of power to you.” She made the confession in a little rush. “Everything about that room screams you. I think you can fit two of my rooms into it, and this room is enormous. The colors are all you and sort of . . . intimidating. The bed looks as if you might really be able to tie me to it, although I looked through the entire house and didn’t see any kind of dungeon, so hopefully I’m perfectly safe.” She ended on a nervous laugh.

  He stepped close, forcing her to look up. One finger went under her chin so that she had to look him directly in the eye. “Just so you know, you’re never going to be perfectly safe from anything sexual I demand. Tying you up or not is my option no matter where we are.” He brushed a kiss across her lips, smiling as he did so because her eyes had widened and looked slightly shocked yet filled with a dark lust and clear anticipation. “It doesn’t matter what room we’re in. I want you in the master bedroom with me. Always. We’re moving you today.” He waited. Watching her expression.

  She nodded slowly. “I’d better start before I get my swimsuit and go swimming.”

  “First, you aren’t lifting a finger. I’ve instructed the movers to begin immediately as soon as we’re out of here. Secondly, there’s no swimming until I can go with you. I’m not taking chances that something might happen while you’re in the water.”

  A storm of protest crossed her face and her eyes turned ominously dark. “First, nothing at all is going to happen when I’m doing laps. I’m swimming slowly, just like the doc ordered. I don’t need a babysitter in the pool. Before I came, did you swim alone in your pool?”

  Her chin had gone up and he couldn’t help himself, he leaned into her and bit down gently until she yelped at the pressure. “It doesn’t matter what I did or didn’t do, gattina. It only matters what I want for you and above all, that’s your safety. You’re not swimming alone. That’s a rule I expect you won’t break.”

  She looked positively mutinous. He wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her in tight against him, locking her there. His mouth came down hard on hers. He was rough, indulging himself, kissing her until she couldn’t breathe. Until he couldn’t. Until he was certain air wasn’t strictly necessary. He loved kissing her.

  Somewhere along the line, he’d become addicted to her taste—to the fire roaring in his belly the moment his mouth was on hers—to the flames pouring like a liquid inferno through his veins when he was kissing her. His woman, kissing him back, was a miracle. She felt like a living flame in his arms. He got lost there, swept up in the magic that was Grace.

  He lifted his head reluctantly when his watch vibrated, letting him know his family was arriving. They had all agreed to travel to his home using the shadows, so Haydon had no idea where any of them were, other than Giovanni, who had no choice but to arrive in a car. Mariko used the shadows to get to the hotel, so she could stay with Francesca. His family always met in the same conference room overlooking the herb garden. The garden was closed in with fences. Ropes of wisteria in purples and whites rose up from every inch of fencing to further hide the room with its glass wall from the outside world.

  “I would like you to sit outside on the patio and contemplate the perfect wedding for us. What is your dream wedding? Have you already pictured it in your head? Do you know what you want? Now would be a good time to write down the details.”

  He turned her toward the door. Her face paled as she looked up at him. He kept them walking right out into the hallway. The matter with his family had to be urgent for everyone to be told to arrive immediately.

  “You’re going too fast, Vittorio. You need to slow down. We’re just beginning to know each other. We can’t get married so soon.”

  She sounded breathless. Shocked. Scared. He chose to address the scared. “Grace, you have to get used to trusting me. You’re wearing my ring on your finger. You’ve made your promise. We’ve lived together for a couple of months now. A little more. You know you’re in love with me and you know that I love you. I am not going to wait to marry you. There’s no reason not to do it as soon as we can. Haydon Phillips aside, and we’re going to find him and remove him from your life, what reason is there to wait?”

  “Haydon is a huge reason, Vittorio. We absolutely can’t have a wedding ceremony until after he’s in custody or dead. Seriously. You have no idea how dangerous or how sick he is.”

  “I do know. I made it my business to know. I’ve read every report that’s been prepared on every single death you suspected he was involved with. I’ve studied the reports. I know more about him at this point than he knows about himself. My investigators have put together timelines and traced his travels, using the pictures on your phone. They can place him right at the murder scene of three of the victims at the same time the victims were killed. Somewhere along the line, a year or so ago, he began messing with the camera, making it harder to trace him.”

  “He probably figured out that his whereabouts could be traced using the photographs. He’s like that. He doesn’t need a formal education. He was always smart, he just didn’t want anyone, including teachers, telling him what to do.”

  He slid his palm down her arm to take her hand. “Let’s go. The sooner we get this over, the sooner we can swim.” He led her outside. “Merry will bring you refreshments. The three women will move your things to the master bedroom. All you have to do is plan your perfect dream wedding.”

  Merry had already, at his texted instructions, brought a pitcher of strawberry lemonade, a bucket of ice and a tall glass. Beside it was Grace’s iPad with the planner program on it. She slipped into the chair without arguing further with him.

  “I shouldn’t be long.” Vittorio kissed her again, taking his time. He could hurry everything else in his life, but he was never going to make the mistake of hurrying his time with Grace. She was too important, and everything else could take a back seat. His watch vibrated impatiently, telling him his older brother was ready for him, but he ignored the summons.

  The third time, he lifted his head. “I love you very much, Grace Murphy.” His thumb slid over the little indentation in her chin. “Marry me soon.”

  She nodded slowly, looking a little bemused. “I will, but just know you’re cheating by kissing me. I can’t think straight.”

  He was having a little trouble himself. Mostly, his body was making urgent demands, which circumstances forced him to ignore. His watch vibrated again and this time he imagined it trying to shake his entire arm. Giovanni must have arrived. He’d been so into kissing his woman, he’d ignored the car.

  “You’re the expert, bella. Plan us a spectacular day. I never thought I’d look forward to my wedding, so give us both our dream day.”

  “Men aren’t usually especially thrilled for a wedding that’s considered spectacular by a woman.”

  He loved the amusement in her voice so much that he brushed kisses across her eyelids. “This man does.” Anything for his woman. He wanted “spectacular” for her. “Emilio and Enzo are close and while I’m in the meeting, their sister, Enrica, is here if you need anything.”

  He preferred being with her himself but had three of the best and most experienced bodyguards the family had to watch over her while he was in his meeting. He strode down the hall and entered the designated conference room. His family was already seated around the table.

  “I take it something’s happened,” he greeted.

  Stefano indicated the remaining chair. “The Grecos think they’ve found the house where Haydon Phillips is staying,” he announced without preamble. “In the last eight hours, we’ve had several breaks. We’re finding out the whereabouts of the family, so we can go after Phillips safely. He will be less suspecting in broad daylight.”

  Vittorio’s pulse jumped. The thought of freeing Grace after all the years of terror was a heady one.

  “Before we focus on Phillips, the two missing girls, Eva and Marta Giboli, are in fact with their father. He met them at the airport when they called him, and he flew with them back to Tuscany. They intend to live with him. Eloisa, I would prefer that you deliver the news to their mother and make her understand that it would be best to leave the girls there. They’re old enough to choose and if she insists on getting the State Department involved in getting them back, tell her our family will testify that she didn’t bother to come for help for over two weeks.”

  “I will be more than happy to deliver the message,” Eloisa agreed.

  Vittorio flicked a glance to his mother. She looked more rested than she had in weeks. She always looked young, too young to have as many children as she’d given birth to. Stefano had tried to talk her into retiring full time from shadow riding. She still took the occasional job, especially since Giovanni’s injury had left them one rider down.

  Stefano inclined his head and continued. “John Balboni, as you know, owns the local hardware store. He and Suzette have been struggling a little to keep the business afloat and it didn’t help that he was shot during the attack on our family, although we paid all the bills. The exact nature of just how bad they were struggling wasn’t brought to my attention until recently. We considered options for them, but in the end, hadn’t found the right answer to the problem short of loaning them more money. They’re already into the family for three hundred thousand.”

  “John and Suzette’s store has been in the community for over thirty years,” Ricco said. “As long as I’ve been alive.”

  “Which is why we tried to keep them going,” Stefano said. “John’s body was found in the dumpster behind Fior A Bizzeffe this morning.”

  “No,” Eloisa whispered. “Not John. Poor Suzette.” She half stood as if she might go to the woman immediately.

  “Sasha is with her. She’s certainly getting a baptism of fire,” Giovanni said, shaking his head. “I left two bodyguards with her, but all this makes me very uncomfortable. Something bad is coming our way.”

  “This is insane,” Ricco said. “John? Why John?”

  “The Balbonis have very poor business practices,” Taviano said. “I went over the books twice with John and he just kept ordering double the amount of merchandise needed. His reasoning was he didn’t want to run out of anything, but in the end, he literally rents another storage facility in order to put everything into it and then he forgets he has it. In my opinion, he has a problem. He can’t stop ordering items he doesn’t need. It’s almost a hoarding situation. Nothing I said deterred him. Suzette got it, but John seemed oblivious to the fact that he was the one bringing the store down.”

  “That is exactly what made John the perfect target for the Saldis,” Stefano said. “Clearly they’re studying our people for weaknesses.”

  “Unless someone’s telling them,” Eloisa said. “Giving them details in casual conversation.” Her gaze flicked to her daughter’s set face.

  “If that’s happening,” Vittorio said smoothly, as if he didn’t see the look his mother shot Emmanuelle, “more than likely, the information would be given at the butcher shop when Val Saldi or his men are delivering to Giordano’s. Berardo loves to gossip. He would definitely talk to the deliverymen, but it would be an innocent conversation. He would never give information away deliberately, especially if it was something that might get a friend killed, and he was very good friends with John.”

  “I agree. The information was most likely gotten at the butcher shop,” Stefano said. “The point is, John was found wrapped in a carpet, his body tortured in the same way the others’ were. Sending a message to anyone working for the Saldis to keep their mouths shut. He wasn’t taken until after the others were. They took the carpet, but he wasn’t missing. He and Suzette were there on the street when the dumpsters were being searched.”

  “Did you speak to anyone who might have seen them?” Vittorio asked.

  Stefano shook his head. “I turned the investigation over to Renato and Romano.”

  Vittorio was well aware his two cousins had voices considered the most powerful in the family when it came to persuading others to remember details, tell the truth and want to give any information to the brothers.

  “What about the cameras?” Giovanni asked.

  “Rigina is looking at all of them now,” Taviano said. “We make certain all cameras on the streets are working at all times. We might get lucky. There didn’t appear to be any tampering done to the ones under the eaves of the businesses.”

  The placement of more cameras under the eaves of businesses along the street had been Taviano’s idea. He was very good with electronics.

  “Which implies . . .” Vittorio urged a response.

  “The cameras each store owner was required to put in and maintain outside their buildings’ fronts and backs were tampered with on the buildings up and down the alley. Someone knew those cameras were there, but didn’t know about ours,” Taviano explained.

  “I can’t believe Suzette wouldn’t know what John was up to,” Eloisa said. “She and John have always told each other everything. I can talk to her. We’ve been friends for many years.”

  Vittorio couldn’t imagine his mother being friends with anyone, let alone for years. He didn’t look at his sister, who had remained silent the entire time. John had been the one to help Emmanuelle learn to use a hammer and nails when she wanted to put up shelves in her bedroom herself. Of course, she’d gotten in trouble. Her parents hadn’t praised her for the good job she’d done, that had been Stefano and the rest of her brothers.

  Vittorio wished he was sitting closer to Emmanuelle, but he’d entered the room late and the only chair open was across from Stefano. That left Emmanuelle sitting between Taviano and Giovanni but across from Eloisa. Eloisa always targeted her daughter when she was upset.

  “I had Emme talk to her,” Stefano said. “She was able to get some information, but Suzette never saw the men who talked to John. She knew they had and she admitted to making the decision with him to deliver packages.”

  Eloisa scowled at Stefano. “You sent Emmanuelle to talk to Suzette instead of coming to me first? John and Suzette have been my friends for years. It was my place.”

  “No, it wasn’t. You’re not thinking clearly, which is exactly why I didn’t send you, Eloisa,” Stefano said. “Emmanuelle handled it with sensitivity, although personally, I wanted to shake Suzette. She didn’t think it was a betrayal to work for the Saldis because they didn’t ask for information about us.”

  “Where were the packages delivered?” Vittorio asked before Eloisa could attack Emmanuelle, which she clearly was about to do.

  “Suzette swore she didn’t know. They were given to John after hours and he took them. She said we could follow the car’s GPS. It was always on. John liked gadgets. The contents were downloaded by Rosina before the car was turned over to the police,” Stefano said.

  “She had no idea what was in the packages?” Ricco asked.

  “No, John handled everything,” Emmanuelle spoke for the first time. Her voice was tight, and she didn’t look at any of them. “Suzette didn’t want to know. She wanted the money, so she pretended what they were doing was all right. She claimed she didn’t believe it was illegal or that it was a betrayal. She couldn’t even say for certain someone in the Saldi organization had approached John. She didn’t actually see or hear anything, because she wasn’t there. John shared the information, so it’s hearsay.”

  Eloisa made a sound in the back of her throat. Her eyes narrowed on her daughter. “You interrogated Suzette and that’s what you got out of her?”

  “Yes, Eloisa, that’s what I got and those were my conclusions. Suzette admitted she wanted the money and she encouraged John to do whatever was asked of him. She didn’t want to know what it was, but she wanted him to do it.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43