Shadow Keeper

by Feehan, Christine

  “Mr. Ferraro. Of course. Take your time. You can use my office if you need privacy.”

  Sasha was horrified. She wasn’t about to go into that tiny office with Giovanni Ferraro. Not when she was feeling like she was. She started shaking her head.

  “It’s Giovanni, Pietro, and thank you, your office is perfect.” He stepped right up to the counter, moving around Tito, who was still standing there with his mouth open.

  “Smooth, Ferraro,” Tito said, snatching his sandwich off the counter and striding toward the door.

  “Wait, you didn’t sign it,” Sasha called after him.

  Giovanni leaned over, hit the 30 percent tip, drew an X with his finger and then tapped done. The pad accepted the signature as if Tito had signed it. “There you go. He gave a nice tip as well.”

  “You can’t do that.”

  Giovanni came right around the counter and took her arm, tugging to get her moving toward the back room. Pietro stepped up to take her place. She turned back to him. “He can’t do that. Can he?”

  Pietro shrugged. “If it comes back, I know where to find both of them.”

  Sasha went with Giovanni because she wasn’t about to cause a scene, not when the packed deli had every eye on them. The customers weren’t even pretending they weren’t listening. They stared, and no one said a word in the hopes of hearing more. She was grateful when a corner took them out of sight.

  Giovanni took her down the hall to Pietro’s office. He stepped back to allow her through the door. Her first thought was that he was very gentlemanly until she realized that put him between her and the door. He even closed it and then leaned against the wood looking at her. His gaze moved over her just as it had done in the store, possessive, hot, making her feel as though it was a physical touch.

  She waited him out, mostly because she was shaken by her reaction to him. She noticed each time their shadows touched, she had such an intense jolt of sexual hunger she was a little afraid she might jump him. Thinking that wasn’t such a good idea, especially after listening to the finer points of his little game, she backed across the room—which was all of six steps—and perched on the edge of Pietro’s desk, hoping she looked casual.

  “You didn’t tell me you were working here,” Giovanni said.

  He didn’t take his eyes off her, nor did he blink. She felt a little as if she was in the room with a dangerous lion ready to leap on her any minute. One wrong move and she would lose. What, she wasn’t certain, but the feeling was so strong, she held her breath and shrugged, afraid of saying the wrong thing and setting him off.

  “Why didn’t you tell me, Sasha? We talked last night. You know I’m not quite the bastard you thought at first. You could have confided you had a second job.”

  She took another deep breath, filling her lungs with much needed air. “It didn’t seem necessary.”

  “How so?”

  She shrugged. “It didn’t fit anywhere in the conversation.”

  “Of course it did. I wanted to know about you. Everything I could learn, you knew that. I made it clear that I wasn’t playing around. You didn’t tell me because you knew I wouldn’t like the idea of you working sixteen hours a day. You can’t keep it up without making yourself sick.”

  Her chin went up. She narrowed her eyes at him, giving him her best death stare. “I can take care of myself, thank you very much. I’ve been doing it for a while now.”

  “Sasha.”

  He said her name in a low voice. Almost a caress. Definitely a reprimand. Just her name. Nothing else. She found herself squirming in spite of her resolve to tell him to go to hell. He had no right to tell her what she could or couldn’t do. He was rolling in money. Maybe he didn’t have to work, but she did. She worked herself up to a self-righteous rant.

  “Tell me what you need. We can make it happen.”

  She closed her mouth before words could tumble out. What did that mean? “Mr. Ferraro …”

  “We dispensed with that the other night.”

  “Giovanni then. I don’t know what you mean.”

  “I mean I want to go out with you. Seriously. Not part of some childish, idiotic game, just get to know you. With you working sixteen hours it’s going to be difficult. I would very much like to know why you have to work that many hours and how I can help.”

  There was sincerity in his voice. She usually could hear a lie. It was just some weird little trick she had. A gift, her mother called it. She knew when someone lied to her, but she couldn’t believe Giovanni was telling the truth.

  “Why would a man like you be interested in a woman like me?” she challenged. She didn’t believe in beating around the bush. “It doesn’t make sense. Not when so many beautiful women, women in your same circle, throw themselves at you.”

  “I don’t have any desire to be with a woman who wants me because I’m wealthy.”

  “How do you know I’m not after your money?”

  His eyes didn’t leave hers and she felt the burn of his gaze all the way to her bones. He was just plain sexy. He didn’t have to talk, he could just look at her and she wanted to start peeling off her clothes.

  “I know.”

  “Well, I’m sorry, Giovanni, but I’m not interested.”

  “You’re interested. Don’t start lying to me, Sasha.” He folded his arms across his chest and kept his gaze on hers. Steady. Unrelenting. “Tell me why you have two jobs.”

  “It’s not your business.”

  “Everything in our territory is my business. You’re my business.”

  “Why?”

  “You know why. I’m not playing this game with you. I’m interested. You’re interested. I made an ass out of myself, but we got past that.”

  “You may have, but I haven’t,” she said. “Just look at yourself in those magazines. You’re all over them. You have women hanging all over you. You’re practically doing it with them in every other shot. There’s a lovely shot of you on a balcony with a woman. She has no clothes on and you don’t have your shirt on. There was another with a different woman that same night. Same night, same hotel. She was coming out of your room at three o’clock in the morning. Do you really think I would want to be part of that lifestyle? It isn’t going to happen no matter how attracted to you I am. You live one way and it’s a way I don’t understand.”

  “I told you I was serious about being with you, Sasha. You know damn well I’m not lying to you. You can pretend you think I am, but it isn’t the truth, and as far as I can tell, you live by the truth.”

  She could barely breathe. He sounded serious. And he sounded like he wasn’t about to back off or give up. She would give in to him sooner or later if he kept at her. She knew she would. She’d never been so attracted to a man in her life. Her breasts ached. Ached. That had never happened to her before. Not one single time.

  “Stop shaking your head.”

  She hadn’t known she was shaking her head. Self-preservation was a beautiful thing. “We wouldn’t work and you know it.” She wished she didn’t sound so desperate. It was only because he had caught her off guard. She hadn’t expected him to be so direct. She knew his intentions. She wasn’t stupid. She’d sat next to him for a couple of hours, his thigh pressed against hers. She was adept at reading men. She’d grown up around them.

  She liked direct. She needed direct. She was a plainspoken woman. She said what she felt and expected those around her to do the same. She’d come to the city because she had to, because this was the place that for now, maybe for always, she needed to be. She realized almost immediately that most people here weren’t quite as plainspoken as she’d been brought up to be. She liked Giovanni better for it, but it was also harder to resist him.

  “We belong.”

  Her sex clenched. For a moment she thought he was going to take a step toward her, and she flung up her hand to ward him off. He couldn’t touch her. That would really get her in trouble. He’d realize she was a little bit in lust with him. Over the top in lust. He ju
st stayed there, draped lazily against the door, looking in complete control while she was a mess.

  “Sasha. Did you hear me?”

  “I heard you.” Her voice came out a whisper. “I am not going there with you. I’m not. I need the work. When things don’t work out, and they won’t …” He’d get bored. Men like him got bored. Sometimes they got bored in the same night, and she had the evidence to prove it lying on her kitchen table, the magazine open to the exact page. “I just can’t afford to lose my job.”

  “Sasha, we’re going to see each other. It’s going to happen. Just tell me why you need two jobs.”

  “It isn’t your business.”

  “Men like me investigate women they’re interested in. You have to know that.”

  “Oh. My. God. Are you kidding me?” She was outraged. “Every woman you date is investigated?”

  “Thoroughly.”

  “You have someone looking into me right this minute?”

  He nodded. Looked complacent. She wanted to pull out her hair. She might have even yanked at it. At the very least she wanted to throw something at him.

  “You don’t think that’s wrong? Totally messed up?”

  “It’s something we have no choice in. All of us do it. If you’ve got skeletons in your closet, you may as well confess now. It won’t make any difference. I’m still going to claim you.” He regarded her with that steady gaze, his eyes darker, sensual lines cut deep in his face.

  “If you’re still coming after me, then wasting your money and the time of investigators seems a little foolish.”

  “Knowledge is always a powerful thing.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means stop beating around the bush. Why do you have to have two jobs? The apartment isn’t cheap, but you can certainly afford it on what you make at the club.”

  She had to have the job at the club. If she hadn’t needed it, she would have punched John Darby right in the nose. She might have done the same to his obnoxious, very drunk friends and the cameraman filming the entire setup. She knew they would have aired it on his reality show, and if she sued, they would have gladly paid her whatever she wanted. The episode would have been worth it to them.

  She pulled out Pietro’s office chair and sank into it. “I told you I have an older brother, Sandlin, and that he was driving the car the night of the accident.” She pushed her fingers through her hair and then scrubbed her hand over her face. “He suffered a traumatic brain injury. Very severe. He …” She forced herself to say it aloud. “He doesn’t remember me. Not at all. He doesn’t remember anything of his old life. I bring photographs to him, but nothing sparks his memory. He can’t take care of himself and needs a full-time caretaker as well as rehabilitation. That doesn’t come cheap. I researched the country for the best facilities, and there was a really good one here in Chicago.”

  “You pay for it yourself?”

  “There’s some insurance. His Social Security. I tried to hire a lawyer to sue the woman who hit him, but there was so much to do and I haven’t had time. That’s coming next. You can see I don’t have the time or inclination to date anyone, let alone a man who has cameras following him around. My life is real, Giovanni.”

  “Meaning mine isn’t?”

  He straightened, and her breath caught in her lungs. He was back to looking like the lion, now stalking her. God, he was scary. He came close, towering over her, making her feel small. Making her feel like a snob. She was ashamed, but before she could take it back, he perched himself on the edge of the desk. He caught the arms of the chair she sat in and leaned toward her. Up close he looked more dangerous than ever. And he smelled delicious.

  “I was shot twice a few months ago. The shot to my thigh shattered the bone and I’ve had to have several surgeries. I’ll need another to get rid of the plates and rods. I’ve been months in physical therapy and haven’t been able to do the job I was meant to do for my family. You don’t know the first thing about my life, Sasha, but I assure you, it’s very real.”

  She wanted to look away from the intensity of his stare, but she couldn’t. She’d said it, and she’d been wrong to make such a statement. “I’m sorry. Of course, your life is real. I can’t imagine the things you have to deal with in your life any more than you can imagine what is a hardship in mine. It was really wrong of me to imply that I have things harder than you. I really am sorry.”

  He caught her chin, his thumb sliding over her skin, sending little electrical pulses zapping through her like little lightning strikes. “You’re an incredible woman, do you know that? I don’t know many women who would apologize the way you just did. Right away. No beating around the bush.”

  “It was wrong of me, and I didn’t even really mean it.” She licked her lips because he kept staring at her mouth and she was suddenly very hungry for his kiss. She craved it when she’d never so much as felt his mouth on hers. She could almost taste him on her tongue. It was ridiculous.

  “Sasha, I want to see you. Take a chance on me.”

  She wanted to. Especially when he was so close. His suit enhanced the muscles. It had to. The coat and vest and shirt just stretched across that wall of a chest and his wide shoulders. He looked amazing. He smelled even better. His mouth was … close. On hers.

  At the first touch of his lips, she gasped. Firm. Cool. Heating rapidly, or maybe that was her, because the blood in her veins was suddenly scorching and rushing to pool low. His teeth caught her lower lip and tugged gently. His tongue soothed the tiny ache. Her heart thudded. Her stomach did a slow roll. She was aware of him moving, or maybe it was her, but she was in his arms, surrounded by him. Her mouth opened all by itself. She didn’t really have a thing to do with it.

  He was unexpectedly gentle. That was her undoing. She couldn’t resist him. He appeared dangerous and tough as nails, although smoothly sophisticated. He took his time exploring her mouth, and all that fire he ignited in her grew until she felt as if he was pouring flames down her throat so they could spread through her body.

  Her arms crept around his neck and she found herself kissing him back, her tongue tangling with his. Her body melted into his. She couldn’t think anymore. She wasn’t even certain of her own name. All that mattered was his addicting taste and the fire he created with just his mouth alone.

  It was Giovanni who broke the kiss with a soft groan. He lifted his head, his breathing a little ragged. She realized she was standing between his legs, pressed tightly against him, her mouth chasing his.

  “Baby,” he said very softly, “we have to stop. I promised myself I’d do this right with you. I want you more than you could possibly know, and this isn’t where we’re going to have our first time together.”

  Sasha inhaled sharply and tried to pull back. What was wrong with her? One moment she was saying no and the next she was participating in the longest make-out session she’d ever been in. The best. No one kissed like he did. She touched her lips to make certain they weren’t actually on fire.

  “I have to sit down.” She did. Her legs weren’t going to support her, and if she didn’t get away from his body, she was going to be touching parts of him that were definitely off-limits.

  He held on to her until she was seated in the chair. She needed time away from his potency. She gave him a rueful smile. “I think that’s called being kissed senseless. My brain short-circuited.” She held up her hand before he could say anything. “It’s coming back. Slow, but it’s happening. I love the way you kiss. Obviously. That still isn’t saying I’m going to take a chance on you. I don’t want a broken heart, and you’re that man. You are, Giovanni. Seriously. You have to listen to me. I’m not like those other women you date.”

  “I don’t date them, Sasha. I’ve never dated anyone. I don’t go to their place of work and plead my case. I fuck them. I walk away. They walk away. That isn’t how I want to live. I want a woman who actually loves me. I want to love her. I want a family. I don’t want to go to nightclubs every nigh
t and play stupid games. You’re that woman for me.”

  “How do you know? You met me three days ago.”

  He waved his hand around the room as if it was the world. “I’ve traveled everywhere. I’ve met many women over the years, too many. None of them were the right one. When you’ve looked as long as I have, believe me, baby, you know when you see her. I knew the moment I saw you.”

  She had to get away from his charisma. He drew her in like a magnet and she couldn’t seem to find the strength to push him away. “I’ll think about it, but I have to get back to work. This job is important to me. It doesn’t pay anything like the club, but it’s forty hours a week solid. Sometimes, if I can do it, he gives me overtime. I like the people, and it allows me to make a few friends.”

  His face darkened. “Tito Petrov is not your friend. If you think I’m a ladies’ man, he’s worn that title around here since the seventh grade.”

  She frowned up at him, but there was the tiniest part of her that was a little thrilled. She knew she shouldn’t be, but it was there all the same. “You sound jealous.”

  “I’m jealous as hell. Tito. Aaron. How many others?”

  She shrugged. “A few men came in and asked me out. I think I’m new in the neighborhood. And Aaron just feels bad because he and his friend drank too much celebrating his victory and wanted to apologize. Aaron sent me flowers and a really nice note, and his friend, James, sent me a box of chocolates with a beautiful card. I was surprised either of them would do that. Tom came in to apologize in person, as did one of the men who had his camera taken away. I think his name was Sid.”

  She had been shocked. It was the last thing she ever would have considered—the three men, very drunk, their hands wandering constantly as if they were entitled to anything they wanted, giving her apologies. A man who made his living taking pictures telling her he was sorry he’d gotten angry over losing the film.

  Giovanni kept his gaze steady on her face. “Did they include their phone numbers in their nice little notes?”