by Lisa Plumley
Gabriella rubbed her arms, wishing she’d grabbed one of the quilted coats they kept outside for their employees’ use.
“Then, when you left this morning—” Shane’s voice sounded raspy. Heartfelt. He swallowed hard. “When you left—”
His inability to speak reminded Gabriella of something he’d once said. Something important. Something unbelievably sad.
Does a tradition of abandonment count? Shane had asked her once. I’ve got that in spades.
For him to have come here at all must have required a lot more determination and strength than she’d credited him with.
And what had she done? Hurled accusations at him.
Justifiably so, but … still. Gabriella regretted it now.
Manfully, Shane tried again. “This morning, I—”
“I never meant to abandon you.” Bravely, Gabriella took a step closer to him. “I was mad. And scared. And freaked out and confused, and all those things make me want to bolt.”
“I know.” Affectionately, Shane’s gaze focused on her face. “That’s why I’m here. That’s why I came after you.”
Gabriella hadn’t thought of it that way. She’d been too busy being wary. But now … “Nobody’s ever come after me before.”
“Nobody’s ever resisted one of my fixes before.”
She couldn’t help smiling. “I guess that makes us even?”
“It makes us lucky to have found each other,” Shane said. “No matter how messed up it’s been, I’m still glad it happened.”
Feeling jittery from adrenaline and cold, Gabriella nodded. “Me too. I was clinging to some things that are my dad’s, not mine—”
“Rules, tradition, and the chain of command?”
“—and it wasn’t until you got here that I realized I could let go. You helped me reconcile with my parents—”
“You did that. I was just a bystander.”
“—and you helped me with Campania. So I’m grateful, too.”
Shane took her hand. “I’m sorry it had to end this way.”
Gabriella blinked. “End?”
He nodded. “You must have noticed.”
“Noticed what?”
“We’re locked in,” Shane told her. “The inside release mechanism for the walk-in has been sabotaged, too.”
“What?” Boggling, Gabriella gawked at it. The whole device, handle and all, hung uselessly. It was almost as if it had been hacked off with a hatchet, clumsily but effectively. Suddenly feeling colder than ever, she raced toward it. “The safety—”
“The emergency release has been destroyed, too.”
It had. “We have to do something!”
“We are doing something.” Shane gave her an audacious, crooked smile. He spread his arms. “We’re making up.”
Gabriella stared. “You used what were potentially your last breaths to explain yourself to me? To make up with me?”
A shrug. “You have to have your priorities.”
“My priorities are survival! We could suffocate in here.”
“Not for a long while yet.” Assessing the situation, Shane joined her at the walk-in’s door. “Someone will be here soon.”
“It’s way before the first shift. We’ll die!”
“Pinkie will be here early.”
“Not this early.” Reflexively, Gabriella’s teeth chattered. Was the temperature dropping in there? If someone had sabotaged the walk-in’s motor or cooling intake vents … “We’re stuck.”
“At least we sorted through our differences.”
“Try not to seem so happy that we’ll die together.” Knowing she had to do something, Gabriella frowned at the door handle. She tried to force it into place. No dice. Frustrated, she spun to face Shane. “This is why we have rules at the pizzeria,” she informed him. “This is why mopping comes before stocking and stocking comes before chopping. You’re supposed to have a buddy when you go into the walk-in. You’re supposed to tell someone how long you’ll be gone. You’re supposed to check the inner release once per hour to make sure it’s still working.”
“Rules.” Shane shook his head. “They didn’t help here.”
“Because we both ignored them!”
Hmm. Maybe she wasn’t quite the maverick she sometimes envisioned herself as, after all. Maybe rules and tradition had their places. So did innovation and respect, of course, but …
Shane took out his cell phone. “I’ll call for help.”
“Cell phones don’t work in here.”
Looking alarmed, Shane glanced up. “You’re right.” He examined the walk-in’s interior, then unbuttoned his shirt.
“You’re getting naked?” Gabriella asked. “Now?” She rolled her eyes. “You’re great at distracting me with sex, but—”
“I’m giving you my shirt. For warmth.” Shane peeled off his button-down. Bare-chested, he draped his still warm shirt over her shoulders. He gave her a reassuring smile. “There. Better?”
“Excellent. Now I’ll get to watch you die first.”
His confidence didn’t waver. “No, you won’t.” He reached into his wallet, then withdrew a set of tools. “I didn’t realize you were such a pessimist. Usually you’re so indomitable.”
“Usually I’m not facing death. Haven’t you ever seen those PSAs about not getting locked in abandoned refrigerators?” Gabriella looked at his hands. “Are those lock-picking tools?”
Shane’s unfazed glance met hers.
“TV,” she explained. “Police procedurals. Guilty pleasure.”
“Aha. You do have secrets I haven’t uncovered yet.” Shane seemed pleased by that realization. “Any more guilty pleasures?”
His suggestive tone couldn’t be missed. It was … diverting.
“I never take my watch along on vacation,” Gabriella confessed. “I turn off my cell phone after closing time every night, no matter what. Everyone needs some tech-free time.”
Shane kept on working. He jiggled the door handle. Swore.
Despite his lack of success, his tone was light. “Those are your guilty pleasures? Flagrant off-the-clock vacations and cell phone lockdowns?” Teasingly, he shook his head. “You need to expand your horizons in the guilty pleasures department.”
“What are yours?” Gabriella demanded. “Breaking and entering?” She shot a meaningful glance at his hands. “Listening to Adele? Telling little kids that Santa doesn’t really exist?”
“Hey.” Shane rebuked her with a backward glance, still working. “I happen to have a soft spot for Christmas.”
Gabriella did, too. Uh-oh. Another similarity between them.
“And there’s nothing wrong with a little breaking and entering for a good cause.” Shane stepped back. He forced the walk-in’s handle. Gave the door a solid yank. “Voilà.”
The door swung open. Gabriella almost collapsed with relief. Then she saw that someone was already standing there in the doorway, obviously surprised to see the door opening.
Frosty. In one hand, Gabriella saw, he held his incriminating dossier, evidently stolen from her office.
In the other, he held a gun.
Chapter Nineteen
Shane froze in the doorway, instantly alert, his gaze trained on Frosty. He widened his arms, protecting Gabby.
The big man grinned. “You told me Gabriella was under your protection, Maresca. I guess that makes this failure on you.”
Frosty raised his gun. At the same moment, Shane readied himself. He inhaled, then launched his body at Frosty.
A gunshot echoed off the pizzeria’s walls. The gun fell from Frosty’s hand, then clattered to the floor. The dossier fell too, creating a waterfall of papers as it did. Behind Shane, Gabby shrieked his name. Shane was too busy to reply.
He hit Frosty in the chest. Hard. The saboteur stumbled on one of the documents he’d stolen. He pinwheeled, arms wide.
Shane steadied himself, then followed up with a right hook. Frosty went down in a heap, landing with a grunt on the linoleum that Gabby h
ated. Satisfyingly, Frosty didn’t move again.
Shane flexed his hand. “That’s going to hurt later.”
Gabby didn’t waste a second rushing forward. “Shane!”
He turned, frowning with concern. “Are you all right?”
Wordlessly, she nodded. Her gaze stayed locked on Frosty. “You weren’t kidding when you said you’d win in a fistfight.”
Shane shrugged. “I wasn’t kidding about protecting you.”
Fortunately, this hadn’t been the first time he’d faced down a gun. Or laid out a man cold. Practice made perfect.
For a long moment, he and Gabby only looked at one another, wobbly kneed and breathless. It wasn’t every day that two people survived a misunderstanding, a lock-in, and a gun threat, one after the other. Realizing it, Shane couldn’t help grinning.
Too late, they both realized they weren’t alone.
Shane looked up. In the hallway, spilling toward the pizzeria’s usually busy kitchen, were several armed and ready police officers. Behind them, standing on tiptoe, was Lizzy.
Behind her was Robert Grimani, looking confused.
“We’ll take it from here,” one of the officers told Shane, indicating Frosty. The big man groaned, stirring on the floor. “We’ll need statements from you both. See that officer, there.”
Shane followed the man’s nod. “Thank you.”
He clasped Gabby’s hand. Eyes wide, she exited the walk-in. Then she gave the open door an irritated kick for good measure.
“That’s evidence now, ma’am,” the police officer said.
“Sorry.” Spotting her dad, Gabby went to him. They hugged.
Left alone with Lizzy amid the tumult of officers arresting Frosty, collecting evidence, and taking statements, Shane nodded at his assistant. “Nice work. Way to call in the cavalry.”
“I told you I’ve got your back. Always.” Lizzy seemed on the verge of hugging him. Then, giddily, she did. “It only made sense that Gabriella and Frosty would both come here. I knew we could catch him.”
“The timing worked out well.”
“Because of Mr. Grimani.” Lizzy glanced at Gabby’s dad. “Because he bit on that offer and made Frosty desperate enough to make his move today. Because Mr. Grimani could legally open the doors to let in the police and help save the day.” She arched her eyebrows with sham innocence. “He just happened to be here because someone contacted him to let him know that he could finalize his potential offer here at the pizzeria this morning.” Casually, Lizzy looked around. “Nice place, by the way.”
“Yeah. It grows on you.” Finding it weird to be surrounded by police officers who were helping him, not incarcerating him, Shane nodded. “Then everything’s all set?”
“As set as it’s going to be without signed papers.”
“That’s all I can ask for. Thanks, Lizzy.”
“Don’t thank me. Thank my new boyfriend.” His assistant gestured toward someone standing in Campania’s kitchen, near Gabby and her dad. “He’s the one who remembered having seen Frosty fiddling with the walk-in door yesterday. Once I heard that, I figured Frosty would come back here today to make sure the job was done. And once I saw you, this morning, I figured you would be here, too. With Gabriella. Of course.”
Caught, Shane shifted his attention toward Gabby. He wasn’t sure if things were all right between them yet. She seemed to have accepted his explanation for everything, but the whole thing was a mess. That meant the future was still unclear.
Playfully, Lizzy jabbed him. “Although I didn’t expect you to be doing the nasty while you were trapped. Come on, boss!” Another poke. “There’s sexual chemistry, and then there’s just ridiculousness. You two got busy in the walk-in?”
Belatedly, Shane realized Lizzy was eyeing his bare chest.
Well, augmenting his legend couldn’t hurt. “What else would we do while stuck in there?” Shane winked. “Talk things over?”
“That’s typically what happens in these scenarios. Yes.”
“Mmm-hmm. And this ‘boyfriend’ of yours. Who is he again?”
Lizzy didn’t budge. She did smile. “His name is Bernie.”
“Huh? I don’t know any ‘Bernie’ who’s familiar with the pizzeria’s operations,” Shane said. “You said he saw Frosty?”
“He did.” Beaming, Lizzy waved someone forward. She put her arms around him. “I think you know him by his nickname?”
“Bowser.” Shane couldn’t help laughing. “You and Lizzy?”
“Me and Lizzy.” The cook nodded at Shane. “I wouldn’t have believed the coincidence, dude. Except I feel so lucky… .” He aimed a besotted look at Lizzy. “I’m willing to overlook a lot.”
“It’s a good thing, too.” Lizzy hugged him. “Seriously.”
“I’ll say,” Shane put in, still reeling at the idea of his assistant’s secret romance. “For instance, one time in Berlin, Lizzy was in way over her head, until she decided to coerce a—”
Lizzy kicked him. Hard.
She gave him a throat-cutting gesture, then shook her head.
Shane relented. “Another time,” he hedged, pretending to be absorbed in the sight of Frosty being justifiably handcuffed. “I think we have statements to make.”
Across the kitchen, he caught Gabby’s eye. She nodded.
It wasn’t much, Shane reasoned, but it was a start.
Not long after that, they were both singled out by police officers and caught up in making statements, trying to ensure that Frosty—the true Campania saboteur—was brought to justice.
A real reconciliation would have to wait for them. But Shane couldn’t help hoping it wouldn’t have to wait long.
“I still can’t believe how crazy this has gotten.” Eyeing the remaining police officers as they completed their work at the pizzeria, Robert Grimani shook his head. “Attempted murder?”
“I’m just glad it wasn’t you in the line of fire, Dad.” Overwrought, Gabriella hugged him. “If I hadn’t been here—”
She shuddered, completely unwilling to consider it further.
“If you hadn’t been here, the pizzeria would have closed a long time ago,” her dad told her. “It wasn’t just your mother’s story about ‘doctor’s orders’ that made you come home. It was you. You’re determined—almost as determined as I am.” He smiled. “Even when you’re driving me nuts, I’m always proud of you.”
“Aw. Thanks, Dad.” Now that the hubbub was dying down, Gabriella was free to wonder…. “But what are you doing here, anyway? Especially so early? If you’re craving some pizza—”
Her dad smiled. “It’s our new offer. I had a phone call this morning, letting me know we could finalize it today.”
“Already?” Also, “Here?” That was unusual….
“I know it’s unusual,” her dad said, instantly understanding her objections, “but given everything that’s happened at Campania, I just want to get it done. I don’t want to risk letting this deal slip away.”
Gabriella’s heart sank. “You’re that sure?”
“You don’t know about this offer!” Her dad lifted the legal-size folder of paperwork he’d brought. “I know I’ve held back on the details, but it’s better than I could have dreamed.”
“It must be a trick.”
“It’s been reviewed and approved by my attorney,” he said. “Until that happened, I didn’t want to get your hopes up.” He cast her a bemused look. “Since when did you get so suspicious, anyway?”
Gabriella forced herself not to shift her gaze, tellingly, to Shane. She wasn’t sure if things were all right between them yet. She’d accepted Shane’s explanation for everything—and she understood him and herself a lot better now—but the whole thing was a mess. That meant the future was still unclear.
“Anyway, it’s not a trick,” her dad was saying, watching the police officers haul out Frosty. He frowned, then turned his attention to Gabriella. “It’s a good deal. A silent investor. Plenty of money to reopen the other pizzer
ias, to expand, to do whatever we want, with absolutely zero interference.”
“Right.” Sarcastically, Gabriella crossed her arms. “Tell me another one, Dad. The Easter Bunny is real? Pepperoni is healthy? The long-ignored final food group is chocolate?”
“Very funny, Debbie Downer. I’m telling you, it’s good.”
At that moment, Shane wandered over, once again wearing the button-down shirt she’d surrendered to him. Apparently, he’d finished making his police statement … and had probably overheard Gabriella’s conversation with her dad, too. He was lucky that way. He always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Sometimes, Gabriella remembered, with lock-picking tools.
She still couldn’t believe Shane had rescued them both.
And then, to have coldcocked Frosty that way …
“It sounds like a good deal.” Cheerfully, Shane regarded her. Boldly, he took her hand. “So, are you taking it?”
“Yes,” her dad said instantly.
“No,” Gabriella said just as promptly.
Shane made a face. “Is it that bad?”
“It’s excellent,” her dad told him.
“It’s as shady as Forest Park,” Gabriella judged.
Shane peered at the legal file full of documents. “Lots of paperwork there. This deal must be complicated.”
His benign expression invited Robert Grimani to confide in him. Predictably, her dad did. He didn’t know Shane very well.
“Not really. There are some unusual stipulations—”
“Rules?” Shane asked, casting a twinkly gaze at Gabriella.
Her dad nodded. “A few things about our operations—”
“Wait a minute.” Gabriella straightened. “You said there’d be ‘absolutely zero interference’ from this mystery investor.”
Her dad blinked. “That’s right. Just lots of cash.”
“But you just said—” Confused, Gabriella broke off. She swerved her gaze from her dad to Shane. “Do you get this?”
“I think so,” Shane mused. “Someone has obviously recognized the potential of the Grimani pizzeria chain—and your leadership abilities, Gabriella—and decided to go all in.”
“Hmmph. This deal sounds shadier all the time.”