by Linda Cajio
The room was stunned into silence.
“How dare you accuse Ellen!” Lettice said in a threatening voice.
Ellen laid a hand on her grandmother’s arm, silencing her. She rose from her chair. Shaking with her own anger, she gazed from person to person and saw the varying shades of belief under the surprise. Then she looked at Joe. His expression reflected his astonishment … and doubt.
Pain shot through her as he looked away. How could he believe his cousin? But she knew he must. She refused to defend herself. She had done nothing to defend. Without a word, she turned and walked out of the board room.
Joe was staring at his relatives in disbelief. How could they believe what Mario had said about Ellen? Yet he could see the frowns and sage nods at Mario’s words. At the same moment, the boardroom door slammed shut behind Ellen, and he realized she had seen the same things he had. He shoved his chair back with a crash and ran after her, as the room again returned to life.
“My son is innocent!”
“In a pig’s eye!”
“Joe! Joe!”
Joe slammed the heavy door against the din of voices and gavel-banging. He ignored it all, knowing he had to catch Ellen. She must be hurting badly. His mother had made a comment or two about Ellen which had bordered on the negative, but he had shrugged them away as her just being a fussy mother. He wished now he’d immediately vocalized his disbelief of Mario’s accusation, not sat silently gaping. He’d been warned about Mario’s “bite,” but he had never thought Ellen would be the victim.
As he raced down the corridor after her, it occurred to him that he ought to be beating Mario into a pulp right about now, yet he put the excellent notion aside for the moment. He couldn’t lose Ellen.
Though she was running down the hallway, he caught her easily and spun her around to face him. He expected to see tears, but there were none. Instead, her face was tight with lack of emotion. Somehow, that was more frightening.
“Ell, they were incredibly stupid in there,” he said, grabbing her shoulders. “I’m sorry, so sorry, if I hurt you by not jumping to your defense right away. But I just couldn’t believe any one of them would even listen to that crap—”
“You … I thought you believed Mario,”
“What!” He pulled her to him. “Never. Granted, he took me by complete surprise with his accusation. He took everyone in there by surprise. I know I was gaping, but I couldn’t believe he would actually try such a ridiculous line. And then when I looked around and saw the relatives believing him … I’m sorry my family hurt you like that. If any of them had an ounce of logic, they’d see all the holes in his story.”
She sobbed once, then wrapped her arms around him. “You looked so … I don’t know, like you were doubting.”
“I was doubting Mario’s sanity for telling such an idiotic lie. I love you, Ell. I would never doubt you.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He swallowed back his emotions. He wanted to carry her away from all the hurts in the world, but he knew it was impractical. Still they were a few steps away from the back entrance to his office and the small corner of privacy that office offered. He escorted her to the hall door, unlocked it, and waved her inside. He followed behind her. Once he’d swung the door closed and the automatic lock had clicked shut, he wasted no more time.
“I love you.” He pulled her into his kiss, letting his actions speak for him.
At first, she was pliant in his arms. Then she was explosive, her mouth melding with his. He came back to his senses when he tasted a salty wetness. He lifted his head to find tears trickling down her cheeks.
She managed a smile. “You were right. He did take everyone by surprise. To tell you the truth, I don’t even know if my father has stock in that company—”
“You don’t need to explain.”
She put a finger to his lips. “I just want you to know. My father … he has stock everywhere. I’ve barely spoken to him or my mother since my divorce. I love you, Joe, so much. But … your family. They’ll never believe me.”
“They will, if I have something to say about it. And I do.” He grinned. “Though right now, they’re probably in there voting to fire me. So now we’re both on the outs with our families. And frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. Let’s go start a family of our own. The sofa right next to the door here will do nicely.”
“Joe!”
“Or we could get kinky and try the coffee table.”
Her mouth was open in an O of astonishment, and he took advantage of it. In the midst of the kiss, the sound of the door knob being slowly turned caught his attention. He lifted his head and put a finger against Ellen’s thoroughly kissed lips. Her eyes widened as he pointed to the knob. They both looked and saw it turn twice more.
It didn’t take a genius to guess who was testing the door, and what he was after. Mario, having created chaos in the board room, was now boldly taking advantage of it to steal the CEO’s copy of the recipe right out of his own safe. A scratching sound reached their ears. Joe realized the lock was being picked. He had no time to consider the how and why of Mario’s actions.
“Quiet as a mouse, and we’ll catch him,” he whispered to Ellen.
He pushed her behind his desk and they crouched down. “There’s stationery on the shelves under the computer,” he said. “Get a plain envelope, shove a piece of paper in it and write ‘City Wage Tax Agreement’ on the front.”
“ ‘City Wage Tax Agreement?’ ” she whispered back.
“Just do it and quick.”
The bookcases lining the wall behind them held more than books, and Joe tilted down a fake section, exposing the latest in digital safes. He keyed in the code numbers, and the tumblers clicked open. Among the contents was a plain white envelope with the words “City Wage Tax Agreement” on it. Joe exchanged the fake one Ellen had whipped together for the original and shut the safe closed, then he tilted up the artificial book section. He shoved the original envelope in Ellen’s hands.
“Go out by the secretary’s office and get my family.”
“Is this—”
“It isn’t Ragu’s. I know you’ll keep it safe. Now, dammit, Ell, go and get help!”
She scrambled away from him and was out of the other door. He allowed himself one quick grin at her astonishment and her speed as he dove into the private bathroom. He left the door cracked, praying it wouldn’t be noticed.
It seemed forever before he heard his private outer door finally open. Now that he had time to think, he wondered why Mario was making such an attempt now and not before. He had no idea how Mario would open the safe, or if he even could, then he heard the familiar beeps of the code being keyed in. Rage clouded his vision at the thought that Mario had the code. But how? Someone had to have given it to him. That was the only way. But if he had the codes, then why hadn’t he gone for the copy before this? He set the question aside temporarily as the safe clicked open. Joe could hear no more though. He counted to ten, hoping that was enough time to literally catch Mario red-handed.
He strode boldly into the room. Mario, squatting down in front of the safe, plain white envelope in hand, fell over backward at the sight of his older cousin.
“Hello,” Joe said cheerfully. “And did we find what we wanted?”
“Ahh … I …” Mario stared at him, his mouth gaping.
The office door swung open and Joe Carlini, Senior stepped into the room, followed by the rest of the board members.
“What’s all this about—”
Everyone froze and stared at Mario sitting on the floor in front of the open safe.
“Ohmigod! That’s … that’s …” Joe’s father stuttered. “Ohmigod! The recipe! He’s stealing the recipe!”
“No!” Mario’s mother gasped. “There’s proof of his innocence in the safe. He told me. That’s why I … Oh, no. No, no …”
She burst into tears, while Mario’s father cried out in despair.
Throwing the envelope do
wn, Mario jumped to his feet and bolted for the private office door, making a last desperate attempt to escape. Joe cursed and leaped after him, but his knee caught on the edge of the desk. He yelped in agony and grabbed his injured knee, helpless to stop his cousin. Mario laughed.
Before anyone else could move, Ellen plowed into Mario from the side. Mario staggered and pushed her to the floor, while trying to regain his balance. He failed and fell into the coffee table instead.
Sitting up, Ellen pushed the hair out of her eyes and surveyed the tangle of man and table.
“Next time you decide to accuse a Kitteridge of stealing, think again.” She turned to Joe and grinned. “I believe we’ll have to use the sofa.”
He laughed.
She stood up and pulled a crumpled envelope out of her skirt pocket. “The real McCoy. It got a little squished. Sorry about that.”
“She has the recipe?” Joe’s mother asked, her voice incredulous.
“Of course,” Joe said, gazing at Ellen. “I trust my lady. With everything.”
She flew into his arms. “I love you, Joe.”
He held her tightly. “You better.”
“Thank you, Ellen,” Joe’s father said, drawing their attention. “I believe all of us owe you an apology.”
“And more,” Joe’s mother said.
It was another painful half-hour before Mario and his parents left the room. Mario confessed that he had accepted a large sum of money, half up front, from PrimaVera, their biggest competitors, for the recipe. But he was unrepentant to the end.
The rest of the Board and family members went back to the board room, sitting around the only table that could accommodate them all. Joe, sitting next to Ellen and holding her hand, admitted prosecution was out of the question for Mario. This was a family matter, after all.
“As soon as you left to go after Ellen,” Joe’s father said, “Mario excused himself to use the bathroom. Once calmer heads prevailed, we realized that Mario hadn’t brought his fears about Ellen to anyone before today. Neither did he mention being approached by the other company. Even Mary and Michael couldn’t dispute that, although Mary tried. We’re all very sorry for any pain this might have caused you, Ellen. You saved the recipe. How can we ever thank you?”
Joe smiled when she squeezed his hand and said, “I’ll think of something.”
There was, however, a serious matter of security.
“Mario had the codes to the office safe, Dad,” he said, eyeing his father sternly. “I only gave that code to you.”
His father’s eyes widened, then narrowed. He rounded on his wife. “And I gave it to your mother, in case something ever happened to me.”
Mrs. Carlini shrugged helplessly. “I was worried that if something happened to all three of us, no one could get into the safe, so I gave the code to your brother, Thomas. That was all right, wasn’t it?”
Joe groaned. So did his father.
“I thought it best to give it to Michael,” Thomas began, looking guilty. “He must have given it to Mary. And of course, she told Mario—”
“Wait a minute!” Joe exclaimed, his suspicions aroused by a few more guilty faces looking away from Thomas. “Is there anyone in this room who does not know the code to the office safe?”
Lettice Kitteridge raised her hand. No one else joined her.
“Well, I don’t,” she said, lowering her hand.
Joe didn’t bother to reply. He was staring at Ellen.
“I saw the first two numbers,” she said in a small voice.
“Wonderful,” he muttered. “Even I’m giving it away. I guarantee there’s going to be a few changes in security around here.”
“You can settle that later, Joseph,” Lettice interrupted. “Right now, I want to know when the wedding date is.”
“Grandmother!” Ellen exclaimed. “Who said anything about marriage?”
“I did,” Lettice said promptly. “I worked my tail off to get you matched up with Joseph—after I approved of him, of course. So, Joseph, answer my question.”
Joe looked at Ellen and smiled. “Anytime Ellen says.”
She smiled back. “Anytime Joe says.”
He raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it.
Lettice’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. “Mrs. Carlini and I will take care of everything. You two just show up.”
Ellen shook her head with mock despair. “I give up.”
“About time, my love,” Joe murmured to her. Louder he said, “I think we can manage that.”
“After Atlantic City,” Ellen reminded him.
“Right, after Atlantic City.”
“What’s in Atlantic City?” Thomas asked.
They burst into laughter.
Epilogue
Ellen watched the tall six-year-old boy plunge into the water, his swan dive more of a belly flop.
He surfaced instantly and yelled, “How was that, Mom?”
“Perfect, Jason,” she lied, and grinned with pride at her older son. She wondered if Greg Louganis started out this way. With his dark hair and good looks, Jason reminded her so much of Joe.
“Mommy, watch!”
She turned in time to see a smaller boy race to the pool’s edge and literally fall in. Her heart leaped in instant remembrance, then she relaxed back in her lounge chair. This four-year-old broke through the water and splashed around playfully, his water safety ring secure around his waist. This five-year-old now, Ellen corrected herself, smiling. Today was John’s birthday, but he wasn’t waiting for his guests to arrive on this hot August afternoon for his pool party. The pool might make her nervous, but she was determined not to hold her children back.
“You nearly splashed me, young man!” Lettice called from her adjacent lounge chair. She glared at her youngest great-grandson. He giggled, clearly unafraid. Lettice subsided into a grin and turned to her granddaughter. “I love them both dearly, but I expect a girl this time, you know.”
“I know.” Ellen touched her swelling abdomen and smiled. A girl would be nice. Her household was beginning to be overrun with males.
“I see he couldn’t wait,” Joe commented, as he came out onto the patio.
“Just like you,” Ellen said, smiling.
“By the way, Ellen,” Lettice said, “I hope you are not roller skating in your condition.”
Dead silence greeted her in answer.
“Ellen!”
“It’s good exercise,” Ellen said defensively.
“The kid could grow up like me, and be a total klutz on skates,” Joe reminded Lettice, who harrumpped her disapproval.
Ellen gazed at her husband, who hadn’t changed at all since the first time they’d met. She sighed and said, “I love you, klutz.”
He bent over and kissed her soundly on the lips. Heat flooded her veins, just as it always did.
“Too bad we can’t find the nearest cabana,” he whispered.
“Mmmm.” She pulled his mouth down to his again.
“Ugghhh! Kissing again.”
They broke apart, laughing at the children’s squeals of disgust.
“A few more years and neither will be making faces at kissing,” Lettice said with satisfaction. “I’ll be matchmaking for both of them.”
“Poor souls,” Joe said, grinning.
Ellen smothered her laughter. Lettice had become a noted matchmaker, whether her victims liked it or not.
Within minutes the guests began to arrive. The spacious home she and Joe now had in Bucks County was filled with Carlinis and Kitteridges. Ellen mingled with her in-laws, totally at ease and accepted. She had discovered, shortly after her marriage, that Joe’s mother had been worried that Joe was just a fling for an ex-princess and hadn’t wanted him to be hurt. However, everyone had been too busy coping with the aftermath of Mario and Joe’s changes in the company to truly worry about her. The infamous Ellen Kitteridge was hardly infamous compared to their own troubles. Mario’s parents had divested themselves from the company, and although
it was best in the end, it had been upsetting for all of them. Mario had even surfaced on the competitor’s payroll for a while.
Until he been caught switching cheaper materials for better and pocketing the difference, Ellen thought, watching several people dig into the antipasti she’d made.
“Rigne Di Prosciutto!” Uncle Thomas exclaimed, admiring the little puff pastries filled with minced ham.
“I was thinking of it for the gourmet line,” Ellen said, praying they all liked it.
“I love it,” Carol declared. “Hors d’oeuvres would be a great addition. Busy women who need an elegant meal quick will go bonkers for them.”
“Hard to believe my granddaughter has become a businesswoman,” Lettice said, picking up one of the ham puffs. After devouring the morsel, she added, “And a darn good one at that.”
Ellen laughed, remembering how she had held a small dinner party for Joe’s parents and had made all Italian dishes, in an effort to please them. They had raved, and Joe had immediately added the main course, Osso Bucco, to the frozen food line. After that, she’d begun to visit the Research and Development kitchens. “To think I accidentally fell into it.”
“You didn’t fall into it,” Joe said, curving his arm around her and pulling her close to his side. “You married into it.”
Ellen Kitteridge-Carlini gazed up at her husband and grinned.
“Thank goodness.”
Lettice Kitteridge smiled.
THE EDITOR’S CORNER
Welcome to Loveswept!
We’re celebrating May Day with two exciting e-originals! Spring and romance come to Star Harbor for one sexy sheriff and the town’s beautiful doctor in Elisabeth Barrett’s scorching third Star Harbor book LONG SIMMERING SPRING. We also have Toni Aleo’s exhilarating debut TAKING SHOTS – the first in a red-hot new series featuring the hockey hunks of the Nashville Assassins. These books will definitely turn up the heat.
We’re also pleased to offer LADY AND THE UNICORN, a scintillating story from bestselling author Iris Johansen; RUN WILD WITH ME and SCARLET BUTTERFLY, two scorching stories of love and passion from beloved author Sandra Chastain, and HOT AND BOTHERED and DANCING IN THE DARK, celebrated author Linda Cajio’s seductive and tantalizing novels.