by Day Leclaire
“Returned tonight?”
She smiled. “I’ll do my best. If she is, a case manager will be assigned to check up on you. You realize that even when Ms. Donati returns this won’t be over, don’t you? In the eyes of the law, she abandoned her child. We take a very dim view of that.”
“She’ll have the support of the Salvatore family. And she’ll have her husband’s support.”
“I hope, for her sake, you’re right.”
A few minutes later, Ms. Cartwright left and Luc grabbed Grace, wrapping his arms about her waist and twirling her around until the room spun in a dizzy arc.
“We did it!” he announced jubilantly, setting her back on her feet. “Didn’t I tell you everything would work out?”
”Yes, you did,” Grace murmured, clutching his shoulders.
But she wasn’t quite as confident. Not only were their lies compounding by the hour, so was her commitment to Luc and the baby. How could she possibly face Dom and claim she’d kept her part of the bargain, when she’d become so involved in this situation with Toni … . Toni? What about Luc? She closed her eyes. If she was honest — and she had to concede that honesty was something in disastrously short supply these days — she’d admit she’d become very involved with Luc.
If she didn’t get out of this situation soon, she’d lose everything … Baby Dream Toys, for one. But far worse, her heart.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Great Lie
Day 340 and complications abound …
Toni arrived safely back at Luc’s apartment by dinner time that evening and all Luc’s brothers were there to celebrate her return. Dinner proved to be loud and rowdy, not that Toni seemed bothered by the noise and confusion. If anything, she reveled in it. Wearing a frilly pink dress and a matching bow, she charmed one uncle after another with her full repertoire of baby coos, babbles and toothless grins. It wasn’t until the gathering started to break up that the trouble began.
“This is an interesting addition,” Marc proclaimed loudly. He snatched Grace’s hand and examined the wedding band decorating her finger. In ten seconds flat, Luc’s brothers had her surrounded.
“Is it real?” Stef demanded.
“You didn’t marry that Will-William guy, did you?” Alessandro questioned in a disapproving voice. “He’s not good enough for you, Grace — not if he makes you dress like a bag lady.”
Before Grace could answer, Luc cut through and snagged her elbow. “The wedding band is there because I put it on her finger,” he announced, tucking her close to his side.
Dead silence met his explanation. Then Rocco asked, “But is it real?”
For a moment Grace thought Luc would he. She poked her elbow in his side to discourage any such plan. “Don’t you dare,” she muttered. “I’ve had my fill of fibs.”
He stared down at her, his eyes glittering with devilry. Shrugging, he admitted, “No. It’s not real.”
“Yet?” Marc suggested with a grin.
Luc ignored him. “The people at social services believe it is real. If anyone finds out otherwise, we’ll lose Toni. So keep your mouths shut.”
Stef’s face was a study in confusion. “When did this marriage business start? I thought you guys were just pretending to be engaged.”
“That’s for the police. Get with it, bro,” Alessandro said with an exasperated sigh. “Look . . . “ He ticked off on his fingers. “They’re boss and assistant at work, engaged for the police, married for the baby people and just good friends in front of us.”
“You guys ever consider scorecards? This is getting confusing,” Stef complained.
Alessandro lifted an eyebrow, his expression reminding Grace forcefully of Luc. “What I want to know is which category they fall into when they’re alone With Toni.”
“Maybe they don’t fall into any category,” Marc suggested with a mock leer in Grace’s direction. “Maybe they fall into the nearest bed.”
“That’s enough,” Luc said, a hint of anger sparking in his eyes.
“Yeah!” Rocco slugged Marc in the arm. “Watch your mouth.”
“I’d rather watch Grace’s.”
“Oh, yeah? How are you going to do that with two black eyes?”
Marc’s hands balled into fists. “You’ll have to land a punch first — something you haven’t been able to do since I was twelve.”
“Then, it’s about time I remedied that oversight!”
“Do it, Rocco,” Stef cheered him on. “This I gotta see.”
“I said, that’s enough!” Luc glared from one to the other. “Get out of here, the lot of you. Toni’s just been put to bed and I won’t have you waking her up again. We get little enough sleep as it is.”
“That answers that question,” Marc said with a hoot. “Maybe you’d get more rest if you didn’t spend your nights jumping Grace’s —”
Luc silenced his brother with a single look. “Time to go. All of you, out of here,” he said, maneuvering them from the room and out the front door. This time, they didn’t make a sound as they left, though Marc thumbed his nose at Mrs. Bumgartle’s door before anyone could restrain him.
Alone again with Luc, Grace glanced at him with a troubled expression. “Is it really wise to involve your brothers in this deception? I feel guilty enough, as it is.”
“Really? Did you feel guilty pretending to be engaged to William?” he asked, crossing to stand in front of her.
She looked away, hot color creeping into her cheeks. “That was different.”
He hooked her chin with his finger and forced her to look at him. “Was it? Why?”
“You know why. I wasn’t trying to deceive the police or social services.”
“No, only me.” His watchful gaze sharpened. “You never did explain that.”
She stepped away from him. To her relief, he let her go. “Didn’t I?” she asked evasively.
“No. Care to take a stab at it now?”
“Not really.”
“Afraid?” he mocked. “Shall I guess why you did it?”
“We’ve already played this game, Luc?” She spoke more sharply than she’d intended. “It didn’t end well.”
“Did I win? I can’t seem to remember.”
“I believe it was a draw.”
“Then, I insist on a rematch.”
Not since their deception began, had she felt this vulnerable. Her attraction to Luc grew with each passing moment they spent together, as did her craving for his touch, his kisses, his passion. How, after holding him at a distance for eleven long months, could she now be on the verge of surrendering?
Catching her by the elbows, he tugged her close. He looked so large and enticing. She rested her hands on his chest, feeling the hard muscles tauten beneath her fingertips. It took every ounce of determination not to let her hands roam, exploring what lay beneath his crisp white shirt.
She bowed her head, fighting her wayward urges. “Luc, don’t,” she whispered.
“I think you disguised your appearance and wore that engagement ring for protection.”
“Protection?” She managed a light laugh. “That’s nonsense.”
He shook his head, eyeing her with a nerve-racking intensity. “No. I think I’m right. My guess is you had a bad experience with your last employer.” His voice held a tender note that completely disarmed her. “Did he harass you? Is that why you went to such lengths to protect yourself — because you thought I might be like him? I can understand, sympathize even. But why let the pretence go on for so long, once you knew I wasn’t like that?”
She felt like a worm. He’d gotten the wrong end of the stick entirely. How could she tell him that far from such a reasonable, sympathetic motivation, she’d gone to such lengths because of his father’s request and her own greed. “No! You’re wrong, Luc. I swear it.”
He lifted an eyebrow, a teasing smile tugging at his mouth. “After all the deception between us, I’m supposed to believe you?”
If he only knew! “For your in
formation, until I started working at Salvatore’s I’d told a grand total of six lies in my entire life.”
He slid a hand along the nape of her neck, his fingers sinking into her hair. “Then I’ll assume you’ve been making up for lost time.”
She stirred within his hold. “You promised not to touch me, remember?”
“I remember.” His mouth hovered a breath away from hers. “But it was a promise meant to be broken.”
His head came down and his kiss blocked all thought, all resistance. She slid her arms around his waist, desire racing like wildfire, threatening to flare out of control. He pressed her close, his thighs cradling hers, and she snuggled into his embrace, the feelings he aroused unlike any she’d ever experienced.
Drawing back slightly, he loosened the top few buttons of her blouse. Sweeping it from her shoulders, he exposed the long line of her neck and sloping curves of her breasts. He lowered his head, pressing a lingering kiss in the soft hollow of her throat.
“I want you, miaamorata,” he muttered, his breath fast and hot against her neck.
Her heart pounded beneath his hands and she shook her head, desperately clinging to the tiny bit of sanity remaining to her. Every instinct urged her to give in to his demands, but she couldn’t cross that line, couldn’t permit a physical relationship without the emotional commitment to go with it. “We can’t. It wouldn’t be right.” But it felt right — exquisitely right.
“It would be wrong not to,” he argued. “What’s the problem? You’ve admitted there’s no William. Your job is safe. You want me. And I want you.”
His hands tightened on her hips, making the extent of his desire abundantly clear. She wasn’t certain how much longer she could hold him off. She wasn’t certain how much longer she wanted to hold him off. But she had to try. “Luc, this is crazy. We’ve known each other for almost a year and this has never happened. Think about it. We’re under a lot of stress. We’re forced to live together in very difficult circumstances. It’s … it’s an involuntary reaction or something.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “An involuntary reaction? You’re kidding, right?”
“I’m serious,” she insisted. “It’s the situation we’re in, it’s not because we really want … you know.”
He laughed, the sound harsh and taunting. “Believe me when I say that I really want … you know. I ache for … you know. If I don’t experience … you know soon, I might do something drastic — like bite the damned buttons right off your blouse.”
“Luc!”
“You don’t get it, do you? I want to kiss every inch of your body, starting with that luscious mouth of yours. I want to strip off your clothes and make long, sweet love to you. And I want to do it in every room of this apartment, starting right here and now. And once we’ve done that, I’ll want to do it all over again. Does that give you some idea of how much I want … you know?’
‘
She wondered if she looked as shocked as she felt. Nervously, she licked her Ups and watched in fascination as Luc’s eyes flared a brilUant gold. “Where is this leading?” she asked.
“Straight to bed,” he answered without missing a beat. “That’s not what I mean, and you know it. Are you interested in marriage, or are we just talking about an affair?”
His hands tightened on her shoulders. “You’d like an honest answer, I assume?”
“It would be refreshing.”
He hesitated, then said bluntly, “I want to make love to you. That’s as honest as I can be at this point.”
“I see.”
She looked away, hoping to hide her distress. He’d been very tactful. But the bottom Une was, he wanted a mistress, not a wife. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t suspected as much. Still, she hadn’t anticipated how badly the truth would hurt. Stepping from his hold, she pulled the front of her blouse closed. She didn’t try to button it. Her hands were trembling too much to even try.
“Grace . . . “
“What about my job? I mean, affairs don’t last forever. An ending is inevitable.”
“Whether we decide to become involved or not, I don’t think we should work together any longer,” he said carefully. “There’s an opening at management level. I’d planned to teU you about it at your year-end review. It would mean a promotion — more money, great potential for advancement.”
She could hardly take it aU in. She’d never suspected he might want to promote her. Nor could she deny how tempted she was by his offer. Too tempted. She had to remember Baby Dream Toys. Only, why had remembering become such a struggle? Wrapping her arms around her waist, she said, “This is too much, too soon. I need time. I’d rather not do anything I’ll later regret while we’re still taking care of Toni.”
“You want to wait until Pietro and Carina return, is that it?”
“Yes.”
“That won’t be for another week. Not until Thanksgiving.”
Her head jerked up and she stared at him. “What!”
“I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner.” He watched her with a hooded expression. “I guess I had other things on my mind. Pietro called right before my brothers arrived. They’re still in Italy with Carina’s family, while her mother recuperates. He says Carina’s talking to him now, but he hasn’t convinced her to marry him yet.”
“But seven more days! When does Dom get back?” she asked in a panic.
“He’s due in the week after Thanksgiving.”
That cut it close. Too close. She needed time to think, to get her priorities straight. Whether he realized it or not, Luc was asking her to sacrifice everything she’d worked so hard to attain. And for what? A brief affair. A few weeks or months of passion. How could she agree to that? Her answer should be obvious. And it would be, if it weren’t for one small detail. She wanted him every bit as much as he wanted her.
“Grace?”
“I need time,” she informed him. She fought to cloak herself in the calm, collected air she’d spent eleven long months cultivating. It was more of a struggle than she would have thought possible. Where had her control gone? Her detachment? “Once our lives get back to normal, I’ll give you my answer.”
“By Thanksgiving?”
After a brief hesitation, she nodded. “By Thanksgiving.”
“And between now and then?”
The look she cast him was direct. “You’re not to touch me. Not a kiss. Not so much as a hug. I don’t intend to be seduced into a decision.”
She could tell he wasn’t pleased. “And if I don’t agree?”
“Then you can explain to social services why your wife doesn’t live with you.” Not waiting for his reaction to her threat — not allowing herself time to change her mind and tumble back into his arms — she practically ran from the room.
The next five days proved to be the longest of Grace’s life. Now, a mere forty-eight hours from their Thanksgiving deadline, the final days of her tenure at Salvatore’s crept ever closer, as did the day of Dom’s return. True to his word, Luc didn’t lay a finger on her, which stretched both their frustration levels to the limits. As a result, she didn’t know whether to thank him for keeping his promise or hit him. But since she’d been the one to set the rules, she was stuck with them.
How she wished she’d had the chance to talk to her father — to get his help and advice. But they’d been out of touch for the past couple of weeks, and though she’d left messages, they kept missing each other.
The doorbell rang. “Luc!” Grace called, struggling to pin the diaper around Toni — a determinedly wiggly Toni.
“Get the door. It’s probably the case manager. Can you answer it?”
“What?”
“The doorbell!”
“I’ll get it.”
Grace sighed, snapping and buttoning as quickly as she could. “You don’t give your uncle this much trouble when he changes you. I think it’s very unfair of you to fight me, since I’m the one who just filled you up with a nice, warm bottle.”
“Quick!” he said, snatching Toni off the changing table and dumping her into a laundry basket of clean baby clothes that was sitting on the bed. “Come with me. Hurry.”
“You can’t put Toni in there! Luc! What’s wrong? What’s happening?”
He didn’t answer, simply clutched the basket and dashed toward his bedroom. Grace gave chase. The doorbell rang again, a strident, urgent sound. Flinging open his louvered closet doors, Luc swept shoes to one side and set the laundry basket on the floor. Toni gurgled happily. Propelling Grace in beside the basket, he slammed the door.
“Stay there,” he ordered. “Don’t move and don’t make any noise.”
“Luc!” She thrust the door open and poked her head out. “What is going on?”
“In case you weren’t aware of it, when you open your mouth and speak, you make noise. You’ve got to be quiet!” The doorbell rang again, short, multiple, staccato rings. Kissing her swiftly, Luc pushed her toward the back of the huge closet. “My dad’s here. Now keep it down.” He closed the door.
Grace opened the door. “Dorn’s here?” she asked in a panicked whisper. “He’s not due back for another week.”
“I don’t have time for this,” he said through gritted teeth. “Dad can’t find out about Toni until Pietro and Carina are married or he’ll disown the lot of them. Which means you two have to stay hidden.”
“I understand that. But why here? Why not the guest room?”
He ran an impatient hand through his hair. “This is the safest place in the house. He hasn’t been in my bedroom since the time he walked in without knocking and caught the cleaning lady making my bed. So you should be fine if you keep quiet.” He slammed the door shut.
She opened it, staring at him in bewilderment. “What was wrong with the cleaning lady making your bed?”
He spared her a brief grin. “She was naked at the time.” The doorbell was ringing nonstop now. “Grace, for crying out loud! Open this door again and I’ll haul you out there, introduce you as my wife and tell him Toni is yours!”