The #1 Bestsellers Collection 2011

by Catherine Mann

  He didn’t believe it.

  He couldn’t believe it.

  He hadn’t been looking for any anomalies, but fifty thousand dollars was missing from one of the accounts. It was a brilliant piece of cover-up, but even more brilliant was that the money had been stolen at a time Lana wasn’t working for them.

  He knew who the thief was now.

  Irene.

  His PA.

  He fell back against his chair stunned but greatly relieved. It proved to him that Lana was innocent—what he’d put her through with his accusations. She’d be relieved to know he’d found the culprit.

  He knew his longtime PA was the thief just by something in the way she had fiddled the books. It had her stamp all over it. He just hadn’t been looking beyond Lana before.

  But what if Irene denied it? She was a personal assistant, not an accountant. She could make a fairly believable case that she couldn’t possibly know how to fix the books.

  Would the authorities believe her?

  He dared not risk it. He had to set up a trap. An after-hours one because that’s the only time Irene could have accessed the accounts without anyone getting suspicious.

  But first he had to go and confess everything to Alex and Nick. They weren’t going to be pleased that he’d kept the missing money from them, nor that he’d blamed Lana. They’d understand that he’d been trying to keep it quiet for their father’s sake after his heart attack, but now it really was time for them to call in the police.

  As for Lana, he’d sort all this out before telling her. It was the right thing to do.

  After all his accusations, he owed her that much.

  Lana’s heart plummeted when Matt called to say he would be working late. He’d been aloof ever since Saturday night. Why had she mentioned having more children? She must have scared him off.

  Sure, he was good with Megan but clearly he didn’t want more children or a longer marriage to her. And clearly he wasn’t about to fall in love with her. She should have kept quiet and been thankful he was a good father to Megan and a good, if temporary, husband to her.

  He didn’t come home until after ten that night. She’d given up and gone to bed, pretending to be asleep when he entered the bedroom and took a shower, then slid naked between the sheets, where he rolled over and went to sleep.

  She wanted to say, “Hold me. Don’t push me away like this,” but what would be the use? She didn’t want any man holding her against his will.

  Somehow Lana managed to get through the next day at work without giving away her feelings. And then Matt took her home before saying he was going back to work. He kissed Megan goodbye, even gave her a quick kiss, but avoided looking at her and left.

  Lana wanted to cry. It was obvious now what was going on. Her suggestion of more children had definitely driven him away—right into the arms of another woman.

  Oh God. How could she continue to live with a man who was cheating on her? Would the next step be that he didn’t come home one night at all? How long before it became a regular occurrence?

  Like her father.

  The thought panicked her, but somehow she held herself together. At least she knew she was prepared for the worst, and that gave her an inner strength.

  He didn’t make love to her that night either, not that she expected he would try. And if he had tried she certainly would have told him what she thought of him.

  After the third night of his dropping her at home and saying he had to go back to work, Lana’s heartache was overtaken by an escalating anger. So, he was working, was he? Perhaps she’d just go down there after Megan was in bed and check if that was true.

  And if it was?

  One step at a time.

  At seven-thirty she asked Ruth to babysit Megan, then hopped into her own car and drove back to the office.

  She parked in the underground car park, which was well lit but deserted, rather than drive around to the front entrance where the security guard would be.

  With a shaky hand she punched in the code to access the gate to the car park, her heart trembling a minute later when she saw that Matt’s car wasn’t there. She should go home right now, yet something forced her to go upstairs and check for sure that he wasn’t working. She wanted no doubts about any of this.

  All seemed quiet as she rode the elevator to the eighth floor. She was vaguely aware of its being eerie here, but her thoughts were on Matt and what she would find.

  Or not find.

  The door opened with a ping. And Lana’s eyes widened at the scene before her. There seemed to be people everywhere, some men in suits and a couple of policemen. Alex and Nick were there and had turned to look at her, but she couldn’t see—

  “Matt!” she said, rushing forward with intense relief when one of the men moved and she saw Matt standing there.

  He suddenly saw her and he scowled. “Lana! What are you doing here?”

  She rushed up to him, putting her hands on his arm, needing to touch him. “I thought …” It didn’t matter now. “Matt, what’s going on? Are you okay? Is someone hurt? What happened?” She fired the questions at him, unable to stop herself from babbling.

  “It’s Irene. She—”

  “She’s been hurt? Oh my God!”

  His mouth flattened in a grim line. “No, she’s not hurt, Lana. She’s our thief. The police are here to arrest her. She’s in my office, but they’ll soon be taking her down to the police station.”

  Lana tried to take in what he was saying. “Irene stole the money?”

  He nodded. “I discovered another amount missing on Monday and decided to set a trap for her.”

  Just then Irene came out of Matt’s office in handcuffs with a policeman. “You’ve got no proof I did anything, Matt.”

  Matt pointed to the potted plant on the filing cabinet. “It’s all on tape, Irene. I’m not stupid, you know. I put a camera behind the plant.”

  She lifted her head. “I’ll see you in court, Mr. Valente,” she spat as they took her to one of the elevators.

  Lana watched the exchange, stunned by Irene’s changed demeanor, even as she registered one fact. Matt knew all this on Monday and hadn’t told her. He’d kept it to himself.

  For a few minutes she just stood there as the elevator doors closed with Irene inside.

  “Lana, why—”

  She rounded on him. “How could you, Matt?”

  He frowned. “What’s the matter?”

  She lifted her chin. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  He opened his mouth to speak, then suddenly seemed to realize they had an audience. He took her by the arm and marched her into his office, where he shut the door behind him and stood in front of it.

  “Now listen to me, Lana. I was trying to protect you.”

  “From what?” she scoffed. “Irene?”

  His mouth tightened. “Yes. You have to admit she isn’t the person we knew her to be. She has a gambling problem.”

  That wasn’t good enough.

  “I would have been right there beside you helping to trap her. I don’t know what she could have done to me.”

  “She could have lured you away on some pretext or other. She could have hurt you.” Something flared in his eyes. “I didn’t know what she was capable of. I couldn’t take that chance.”

  Okay, so he had a point but …

  “The thing is you didn’t trust me enough to tell me. You trusted Alex and Nick but not me.”

  “Alex and Nick are—”

  “Family?” she snapped.

  “No, I was going to say they are management. I had to let my brothers know what was going on.”

  She understood that, too, but …

  “You’re missing the point, Matt. You accused me of stealing a great deal of money, yet you couldn’t even ask me to help you trap the real thief? And then you let me believe that …” She trailed away.

  “What?”

  She swallowed past her dry throat. “That you were having an affair.”
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  “What!”

  She stiffened. “What did you expect me to think, Matt? You’ve been working late every evening this week. Wasn’t it reasonable to think you were having an affair?”

  “No. And I was working late. I was trying to catch Irene in the act.”

  Lana winced as they came back full circle. Whether it was about him not trusting her enough to tell her about Irene, or shutting her out until she thought he was having an affair, they were clearly lacking in trust.

  And if they couldn’t trust each other, how could their marriage survive?

  He scowled. “Where’s all this coming from? I promised you I wouldn’t have any affairs while we were married, and I haven’t.”

  “You said that, but—”

  Someone knocked on the door. “Mr. Valente, I need to get a statement from you,” one of the policemen interrupted.

  “In a minute,” Matt growled loudly. “Lana we need to talk. I—”

  She pulled her shoulders back. “No more talk. Just leave me alone, Matt.”

  “No, you—”

  There was another knock on the door, and frustration and anger swept over his features as he glanced back at it, then back at her. “Fine. You’ve got it.” He spun away and stalked out of the room.

  Lana stood there for a moment then left the room, too. She didn’t look at anyone as she walked to the elevator, not even relaxing once the doors closed. Her mind was too full of her emotions. There was so much anger and hurt between her and Matt now. So much mistrust. How long before the raised voices started between them?

  Like her parents.

  She’d lie in bed and listen to their arguments and flinch at every word until her father stormed out to spend the night with some other woman.

  She flinched now. Up until this evening she had fooled herself into believing she could get through the year without upsetting Megan.

  But this was the moment where she knew what she had to do. She would never let Megan go through what she had gone through growing up. She’d made that promise to her daughter when she’d been born.

  She would keep that promise now.

  Eleven

  Megan was awake and fretful when Lana got home, and Ruth was nursing her back to sleep.

  “That’s okay, Ruth. I’ll take care of her now.”

  “If you’re sure.”

  Lana nodded, desperate to get some time alone before she fell apart. She needed time to think, had to put one foot in front of the other. She’d have to find a new job and another place to live, her apartment having already been rented out. The thought of it all swamped her like a tidal wave. There was so much to do.

  She wasn’t sure how long it was before she looked up from rocking Megan in her arms and saw Matt in the bedroom doorway.

  He’d followed her.

  “Is she okay?” he asked quietly, his brown eyes dark and unreadable.

  Lana rocked her. “She will be.”

  “Come into the living room when you’ve finished.”

  “It might be awhile.”

  “I’ll wait.”

  That sounded ominous.

  Fifteen minutes later, with Megan settled in her crib. Lana straightened her shoulders and walked toward the living room. As she got closer, she heard Matt’s voice.

  “You were the one who told me to marry her, Dad,” he was saying into his cell phone, his back to her.

  There was a pause.

  “Yeah, like you forced Alex and Nick to marry, as well.”

  There was another pause.

  “I’m not sure what I’ll do yet.”

  Lana felt like her breath had been cut off. He was talking about her.

  And what was this about Alex and Nick? Cesare had forced them to marry their wives? He’d forced Matt to marry her, too?

  God, how many lives were the Valentes prepared to wreck for the sake of the family name? They’d certainly ruined hers.

  She must have made a noise, because Matt spun around and saw her. “Dad, I have to go.” He switched off his phone.

  Lana swallowed with anguish. “Don’t worry, Matt. I’ll make it easy for you. Megan and I will be gone by the time you get home tomorrow.”

  Matt looked at his wife standing there in the doorway and something erupted inside him. He jumped to his feet. “The hell you will!”

  Her chin rose in the air. “Matt, you can’t stop me.”

  He strode toward her and put his hand on her arm, not tight but enough to bring her fully into the living room. “Right, let’s talk.” He slammed her with his eyes. “And I mean let’s really talk this time.”

  She fixed him with a piercing gaze, then took a few steps away, forcing him to let her go. “Don’t pretend, Matt. We both know you married me for Megan’s sake.”

  He frowned. “That’s right. So what’s the problem?”

  “But I didn’t know your father had pressured you into it.”

  “He didn’t.”

  She shot him a withering look. “Now who’s lying? I heard you a moment ago. You reminded Cesare how he’d told you to marry me.”

  He waved a dismissive hand. “I was being sarcastic. He did tell me to marry you, but I made the decision to marry you, not him. There’s a difference.”

  Her brow rose. “Different to Alex and Nick? How pleased you must feel to be one step ahead of them all,” she said, sneering. “The youngest brother jumping in and sacrificing himself on the marriage altar would definitely make you a big man in their eyes.”

  What on earth …

  He swore. “It wasn’t like that.”

  “Then what was it like?”

  “You already know all there is to know, Lana. I don’t have an agenda.”

  She held his gaze and he held hers, then her shoulders suddenly drooped as all the puff seemed to leave her. “Matt, our marriage isn’t working. Megan has your name now, so there’s no further need for us to stay together. She’s a Valente. I’ll make sure she’s proud of it.”

  Jealousy stabbed at him. “Even when you marry someone else?” he said in a harsh voice.

  She looked baffled. “What do you mean?”

  His muscles bunched at the thought of her with someone else. “You said you wanted more children.”

  “I do.”

  “I’m assuming you have someone in mind to father those children.”

  The air seemed to suddenly suspend itself.

  “Of course.”

  Matt saw red. “The poor bastard.”

  Her forehead creased. “Matt, do you think—” She broke off. “It’s you I wanted to father my children.”

  The blood rushed to his head. “Me?”

  She met his eyes without flinching. “I wanted to have more children with you, only, you turned all cold on me and I knew I was grasping at straws to think you’d feel the same.”

  Matt was trying to take it all in. “You said ‘wanted.’ Is that feeling in the past?”

  She swallowed hard. “No.”

  Hope began to rise inside his chest. “Then—”

  “No, Matt. It can’t be.”

  “Why not?”

  She shrugged and looked away uncomfortably. “Because.”

  He took some steps toward her and put his hand under her chin, turning her to look at him. He wasn’t going to let up. “Because?”

  She lowered her eyelids, then slowly lifted them open, her feelings clear to see. “Because I love you, Matt.”

  A wave rolled inside Matt’s chest. “You love me?” he rasped.

  “Yes,” she whispered. Then she stepped back, breaking away from his touch. “But it’s not enough. I can’t let Megan suffer in the future at our lack of trust for each other. I suffered growing up because my mother was pregnant and because my father did the right thing in marrying her, but I can’t do that to Megan. My parents ended up hating each other. My father was always cheating on my mother.”

  He quelled a squeezing pain inside himself. “Your father married your mother because
she was pregnant with you?”

  She nodded. “Yes. I told you.”

  “No, you told me they had an abusive marriage. You didn’t say why.”

  “Oh.” Her expression clouded over, clearly with unhappy thoughts. “Well, that’s why. I was always in the middle. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.”

  “That wouldn’t happen with us.”

  “It happened tonight. We’ve already argued about Irene and about your affairs and—”

  “I haven’t had any affairs. Anyway, who said we would be arguing in years to come?”

  “If we don’t trust each other now, we certainly won’t trust each other in the future.”

  Everything fell into place and Matt finally understood why she hadn’t told him about Megan, and why she hadn’t wanted to trap him. It wasn’t wholly about him not being ready to be a father, as she’d stated. That had been only an excuse.

  No, the problem was that her parents had left her a legacy of trust issues. Her father’s adultery was the main offender, and he could only imagine what other mental scars she had. It came down to the fact that she couldn’t trust anyone not to hurt her or her daughter—including himself.

  As he looked into her pain-filled eyes he finally understood something else. It hurt like hell when you loved someone and they were in pain.

  As he loved Lana.

  He knew that in one blinding moment, but amazingly he somehow held himself in check. He had to tread carefully here or he could lose her.

  For good.

  “Did your parents love each other, Lana?”

  Her expression clouded. “My mother loved my father, but it was never reciprocated.”

  Relief launched through his body. This was something concrete he could use. “Our situation is different.”

  She shook her head. “I’ve just told you I love you, Matt. It’s not different. It’s the same situation all over again.”

  Love swelled inside him. “It isn’t, you know. You see, your father didn’t love your mother … not like I love you.”

  “Matt, listen. I—” Her eyes widened. “Wh … what?”

  “I love you, Lana.”

  Hope flashed in her eyes, then died. “You’re only saying that. It’s not possible.”

  “Believe me, it’s very possible. It happened. It’s true.” He slid his arms around her waist and brought her close. “It took the threat of you leaving me to make me realize it.”