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There were more profanities and threats, including disembowelment and more torture, on each of the other voice mails. He sighed, hit the off button and pocketed the phone. He handed her his cell and gave her the password. “Use mine to call her.”
“I was right. It was him. What did he say?”
“Probably the same bullshit he always says to intimidate you. He’s going to murder anyone you’re around. That sort of charming dialogue.” He sent her a small, reassuring smile, his thumb sliding over the pulse beating so frantically in her wrist. “We expected that, right?”
“Vittorio.” She said his name uneasily. There was stark fear in her eyes.
“You’re safe, bella. He can’t get in here.”
“I’m not worried about me, Vittorio. You have a wonderful family. I haven’t met them all, but the ones I have met have been so nice to me. They’ve treated me as if I’m part of your family . . .”
He brought her fingertips to his lips, his gaze holding hers. “That is because you are family to them. For me, this engagement is real.” His thumb slid across her bare ring finger. “I suppose it won’t be real to you until this isn’t so naked.” Bringing up their engagement did two things for him. He took her mind off her fear for his family and it also brought her one step closer to accepting that he meant his declaration that he wanted her in his life permanently.
A faint flush stole up her neck to her face, turning her pale skin a healthy rose. Her eyes shone a bright emerald green. The desire to kiss her was so strong, he had to call on every ounce of discipline he possessed.
“I’m fine without a ring.”
“My fiancée needs a ring. I have a need to declare to the world that you belong to me.” He kissed her fingertips because if he didn’t, he would be kissing her lips. Her pouty lower lip made him want to sink his teeth in her. She was tempting beyond his ability to resist her. He sucked her finger into his mouth and stroked it with his tongue. She squirmed in her chair. Her mouth formed a perfect little O, and her eyes widened in shock, but she didn’t pull away from him.
“I think it’s best if I call Katie. Midnight Madness, a fund-raiser for Locals Helping the Elderly, is in three weeks. We have to get the details hammered out before the event. I believe you’re on the guest list.”
“I am?”
She lifted her chin. “You and a very famous actress, Anne Marquis. You remember her, blond, beautiful, willowy figure, in all the magazines. I believe she was nominated for an Oscar last year. I didn’t see the movie but was told she gave an epic performance.”
The urge to smile was strong, but he kept his face a mask. He wanted her, right there in that chair with her shoulder wrapped up and her arm useless to her. He wanted her with every breath he drew. His hand dropped to her thigh and stroked a caress there. It was difficult to resist the urge to strip her naked and take what was his.
“You’ve known all along you were helping to put on Eloisa’s big event.”
She nodded. The hint of accusation gave way to humor. “Yes.”
“And you knew I was on the guest list with Anne, didn’t you?” He kept his voice pitched low but changed the tone to one that promised retaliation.
She wasn’t as fast to claim that knowledge. “Yes.”
“So, you were just waiting for the perfect time to use that little bit of information against me, weren’t you?”
Grace pressed her lips together to keep from laughing, but it was impossible to keep the laughter from her eyes. “Maybe,” she admitted, feigning reluctance.
“Just for that, I’m going to kiss you.”
He framed her face with both hands and leaned in to settle his mouth on hers. Heat exploded in his belly and raced through his body like a fireball. His tongue swept into her mouth, claiming her, and then he simply devoured her, taking over, silently demanding she follow his lead, that she give herself to him, surrender completely to him. He didn’t ask. He took.
Vittorio gave her who he was, her man, dominant, taking over, insisting she follow his lead. He kissed her until neither of them could breathe. Until his body was so hard he thought he might shatter. Until he knew if he didn’t stop it would be too late and all his careful planning would be for nothing. He forced his head up just enough to press his forehead against hers, staring into her eyes while he caught his breath.
Her breath matched his, uneven and ragged. Her eyes shone so brightly he felt a bit dazzled by the color. She looked adorably dazed, her lips swollen and very kissed, her skin slightly red from the shadow of stubble on his jaw.
“You make me feel alive, Grace. Every single cell in my body wakes up around you. My heart. Who knew it was even possible? I want you to be mine completely. I need you to give yourself to me the way you kiss me. More importantly, I need to be your man. The one who shelters you, protects you, gives you everything.”
She didn’t pull away from him, and he read acceptance in her eyes. He was getting closer to Grace at least thinking she might like his lifestyle. She liked the idea whether she wanted to admit it or not.
“I’m not certain it’s exactly fair for you to be kissing me.”
He ran the pad of his thumb over her lips, his heart feeling more than he’d known it was capable of. She turned him inside out without even trying. “Why is that?”
Her lashes fluttered and then veiled the emerald in her eyes.
“Gattina, look at me.” He kept his voice gentle. She deserved gentle. He knew she wouldn’t want him to think of her as a little lost kitten, but he couldn’t help it. He’d rescued her in the parking lot, hissing and fighting, surrounded by wolves bent on devouring her, and now he had to win her trust in order to keep her.
He used his voice unashamedly. He knew it was a gift he’d been given and now, more than ever, when her long lashes lifted, he was thankful for the way his voice could compel others to do as he commanded. He waited, willing her to tell him whatever it was she’d been reluctant to say.
“I can’t think when you kiss me.”
Her confession wreaked havoc with his heart. He found himself wanting to smile when his life had been one of duty and work, of constant training with few things that brought him real pleasure. He hadn’t even known that there was so much more—not until his oldest brother had found Francesca. He had seen the difference in Stefano immediately and had wanted that for himself. Someone to care about him. Someone to be his center. Someone to make him feel alive and passionate about living.
He smoothed his hand over her hair because he had to touch her. “I can’t think very well when I’m kissing you, either, but I like the feeling.”
Her lips curved into a faint smile. She reached out as if she might touch his mouth with her fingertips, and he found he was holding his breath, waiting for her to actually make that first move toward him. At the last moment, she dropped her hand to her lap.
“I like it, too. A little too much.”
Her confession was almost as good as knowing she’d wanted to touch him. Touching him would have been the beginning of her claim on him, but he’d take what he could get. He knew he was moving her too fast. He had to be patient, take more time so as not to scare her off.
Vittorio forced himself to sit back. “Just so you know, when you were in the hospital and I knew you were the perfect woman for me, I called Anne the first chance I got. I told her that I’d announced my engagement and didn’t want anyone to think she was the ‘other woman’ trying to break us up. That scenario could help or harm her career, depending. Anne is a friend of our family. We’ve known her since she was a child, and she happens to still be very much in love with her ex-husband. He’s also going to be at the event and she didn’t want to face him alone.”
He was gratified to see the instant compassion on Grace’s face.
“You can’t cancel on her, Vittorio. I’m behind the scenes and can’t go with you anyway. This fund-raiser is very important. We can handle it. I’ll talk to Katie. I’m certain we can use the two of you at
tending together as a promotion of sorts. Let me think about it.”
Hearing the confidence in her voice, he could tell her mind was racing a million miles an hour working out the problem and trying to figure out how best to handle it. He knew better. There was no way to fight the tabloid stories. He would be annihilated in all the gossip magazines, as would Anne. Grace hadn’t seen any of the articles about the two of them. He’d purposely kept them from her, but the tabloids had had a field day with the story about the heroic young woman getting shot, and her fiancé refusing to leave her side in the hospital. Add the Saldis’ involvement and their reputation as a crime family, and once again the media exploded with speculation that the Ferraro family was mafia as well and that the two families were in some kind of war.
“We’ve got it covered, but thank you for worrying about her,” he said and reached for her hand, kissing her fingertips because if he didn’t, he’d be kissing her again. “Taviano is escorting her to the event.”
Instead of looking happy, she frowned at him. “You have to go, Vittorio. It’s important. This is a huge deal to your mother. She’s overseen quite a few of the details personally.”
He sighed. Eloisa dealt with the event planners when the Ferraro family name was involved in any of the fundraisers. She was very exact in what she wanted and if she didn’t get it, there was hell to pay.
“Eloisa can be difficult,” he admitted. “I’m sorry if she was in any way rude to you.”
Grace didn’t pretend she wasn’t aware of Eloisa’s temperamental disposition. “We deal with many clients who expect the impossible, and we give it to them. That’s why our company is considered the leading event planners in this area. Katie is an amazing woman, and we take pride in giving our customers exactly what they’re looking for.”
“Does that mean Katie is the one talking to the difficult clients?”
She pressed her lips together for a moment and then answered vaguely. “Mostly.”
“Bella.” He pitched his voice low and gentle, aware he was treading on dangerous ground. “I need to know how much interaction you’ve had with Eloisa. My family told reporters that the two of us have been dating for months but had covered up the relationship. During that time, I attended fund-raisers with other women, but all of them can easily be explained. I worked more than usual, covering for Giovanni while he was hurt, so I wasn’t in the spotlight as much as my other brothers.”
He chose his words carefully. He couldn’t very well say he was flying from one city to another under the radar, meting out justice to those the law couldn’t touch. How was that going to go over? One thing at a time, he reminded himself.
“Your mother feels more comfortable talking to Katie,” Grace said, clearly trying to be diplomatic.
“I know Eloisa,” Vittorio said. “She’s very abrupt, abrasive and rude, cutting people to shreds if she can’t have her way. She’s a bulldozer if you don’t know how to handle her.”
“Katie does very well with her,” Grace said.
He brushed a caress over the back of her hand. “We’re talking about you, gattina, not Katie. How much interaction have you had with my mother? I’d like a straight answer.”
Silence stretched between them for a few moments. He let it, never taking his gaze from hers. He could see the reluctance in her eyes and knew his mother had torn into her on more than one occasion. Of course she would have. She would try to intimidate to get her way, and Grace was the detail person. She was the one to take the blame if anything went wrong. And she wasn’t from a “good” family like Katie Branscomb.
“I stay in the background as much as possible,” she admitted. “But sometimes, at big events, the caterers have some catastrophe that has to be dealt with and I’m the one to take care of it. Naturally, the client is upset, I expect that.”
“Grace.” He poured disappointment into his voice. “You’re well aware of what I’m asking.”
Her lashes swept down. “I don’t want to say anything that might put your mother in a bad light, Vittorio. These events are stressful for those putting them on and she’s very exacting, as she should be. She’s asking her friends to donate large amounts of money to a cause she believes in. If she gets angry and yells, she isn’t different from a dozen others who do the same thing when a small detail goes wrong. It’s bound to happen.”
He remained silent, willing her to give him what he’d asked her for.
She sighed. “I’ve had multiple encounters with your mother, and I can’t say any of them were pleasant. She made it clear she thinks I’m incompetent. She likes to yell at me when she thinks she’s not going to get her way. It doesn’t matter what I say when I explain why she can’t have what she wants. Once the person she wanted to sing had actually passed away a day earlier, but somehow that became my fault.”
She tugged on her hand, but he refused to allow her to withdraw. Tightening his hold, he turned her hand over and pressed his lips to her inner wrist. “I can see I will have to work overtime in order to charm you, mia bellissima gattina, to make up for the fact that Eloisa is shrewishly difficult. I would only admit that to you, not to anyone outside our family. Just remember, when you’re making a list with pros and cons, that I’ve had to deal with her since I was born, so have some compassion.”
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 o
n.”
“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.