VITTORIO'S RUNAWAY BRIDE

by Kimberley Reeves

  “I know you’re right. It’s just that I feel like I’m failing him somehow.”

  “Have you considered that maybe Logan feels he’s the one who’s failing you?”

  “But he’s not,” Shelby said vehemently. “How could he possibly think that when he’s so…so…”

  “Diligent?” Milana supplied with an amused grin.

  “Extremely diligent. That’s why I don’t understand why I haven’t conceived yet.”

  “Maybe both of you just need to forget about having a baby right now and…”

  “Forget about it! How can you even suggest that when you know how much it means to us?”

  “Calm down,” Milana said in a consoling tone. “What I meant was that you should stop worrying so much about making a baby together and just concentrate on being…well, together.”

  Shelby had to agree. “It would take an awful lot of the strain off our relationship if I wasn’t so concerned about it every time we…you know.”

  Milana laughed and gave Shelby’s shoulders a squeeze. “I swear I’ve never seen anyone shy away from the word sex like you do. You’re married, honey, it’s okay to admit you have sex with your husband.”

  In spite of her efforts to keep from blushing, Shelby could feel the heat of it working its way up her neck and into her cheeks. She was an adult, for crying out loud. Surely she could say the word sex without turning ten shades of red, and it wasn’t as if she was talking to a man about it. On the other hand, Milana was Logan’s sister which made talking about their love life a little uncomfortable.

  Shelby smiled thinly. “Talking about my sexual relationship with my husband isn’t the problem, it’s talking about the intimacy I share with your brother that makes it a little difficult.”

  “Ah, well now I understand but believe me, I’m certainly not interested in hearing any of the details. All I’m saying is that you can’t lose sight of what’s important; your love for each other.”

  “You’re right,” she said with a remorseful sigh. “Logan has been so attentive to me that I’ve completely neglected him. Thank you, Milana. I knew I could count on you to help me get my head on straight.”

  Feeling as if a tremendous weight had been lifted off her shoulders, Shelby sprang to her feet.

  “I’m going to talk to Alba right now and ask her to make something really special for dinner and I’ll set the table myself with candles and the good china and…” she gave Milana a conspiratorial smile, “I’m sure you won’t mind if I leave out the intimate details for what else I have planned.”

  ***

  Logan loosened his tie as he got out of the car, anxious to get inside the house where he knew Shelby was waiting. It had been a long, hard day full of conference calls and meetings and he hadn’t even been able to squeeze in a few minutes to escape to the Penthouse and spend time with his wife. He’d liked the idea of having her so close he could go see her during the day and thought he’d even be able to manage a couple of intimate lunch hours throughout the week. It would satisfy Shelby’s need to be with him more often as well as his own desire to spend more time with her, but it would also go a long way in relieving the tension that came with running a corporation as huge as Vittorio Enterprises.

  The only problem he’d foreseen was that Shelby would be disappointed more often than not when he wasn’t able to get away as much as she’d like him to. But the truth was, she’d been blissfully happy with the few stolen moments and the occasional hour he could spare, and it had been Logan himself who’d become dependent on seeing her during the work day. The first thing he’d do when he got to the office was check his calendar to see whether he could wheedle out of a meeting or appointment or even reschedule altogether.

  If that didn’t work, he’d decide who would be least offended if he called and told them he was running late then race up to see his wife. Of course, all of their time wasn’t spent between the sheets because of the time constraints, but he sure as hell took advantage of it if he was able to grab an hour or two. Sometimes, they did nothing more than have lunch together or sit on the sofa and talk. And sometimes, the really special times, were spent quietly watching Shelby work her magic with a canvas and brush.

  But today had been doubly rough, not just because he’d been so busy but because one of his meetings had cut out twenty minutes earlier than expected and he’d raced back to the office and up to the Penthouse Suite only to find she’d already gone home. Now all he could think about was holding her in his arms and letting the softness of her body melt away the stress of the day. He needed to feel his mouth on hers, to taste her, touch her; even more than his next breath, he needed to bury himself inside his wife and show her how much she meant to him.

  That’s why he was so disappointed when he was greeted at the door by Alba instead of receiving the enthusiastic welcome he always got from Shelby when he walked through the door. His disappointment was shoved aside to be replaced by concern when he was informed that Mrs. Vittorio was up in her room with a headache and had asked that dinner be served an hour later than usual so she could sleep it off. Logan hurried up the stairs, peeling off his tie and jacket as he went and tossing them both on a chair in their sitting room as he passed through it on the way to their room.

  “Shelby?” He said hesitantly when he entered the bedroom and found the bed empty.

  Logan shut the door behind him, his eyes bouncing around the room as if he’d never seen it before. Both the lamps on their matching nightstands had been switched on, but a filmy piece of turquoise material had been draped over each one and it gave the room a romantic glow. The covers on the bed had been turned down and even from where he was standing he could see that the cotton sheets had been exchanged for silk ones. An exotic scent filled the room and he could hear the soothing strains of his favorite classical music filtering through the built-in speakers. His eyes moved in response to a soft rustling off to his left and that’s when every ounce of blood in his head raced south and pooled in his loins.

  Shelby was poised in the doorframe of the bathroom dressed in a short, filmy nightie that was even more sheer than the material she’d placed over the lamps. The only other thing she wore was a soft, sexy smile that made his gut tighten. Her long mane of hair fell in waves over her shoulders, shimmering like wildfire.

  Logan couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything but stare at his wife as she sauntered across the room and started unbuttoning his shirt. She looked up at him from under her lashes with that same sexy smile and it wasn’t just the stress of the day that melted away, but the world and everything in it as well.

  “I’ve drawn you a nice hot bath,” she purred.

  “A…bath?”

  “My poor darling,” Shelby said as she pushed his shirt over his shoulders and let it drop to the ground. “I can tell you’ve had a rough day, but I promise it will only get better now that you’re home.” She reached for his belt, quite pleased with herself when she heard him draw in a ragged breath. “I have it all planned out,” she continued in a sultry voice. “First I’m going to bathe you,” she lowered his zipper, “then I’m going to make love to you,” she guided his slacks over his hips, “and then we will enjoy the wonderful meal Alba has prepared for us. How does that sound?”

  Like he’d died and gone to Heaven, Logan thought as Shelby finished undressing him then took his hand and led him towards the bathroom. He’d always preferred the convenience of showering rather than going to all the trouble of drawing a bath. But that was before Shelby climbed into the tub with him and took over the task of bathing him.

  Shelby leaned into him, feathering kisses along his strong jaw line to his ear. “Now it’s my turn to take care of you, my love,” she whispered.

  “Madre di Dio,” he muttered when she straddled his thighs and let the cloth slip out of her hands.

  Chapter 10

  Shelby couldn’t quite suppress the happy giggle that bubbled up in her throat as she left the doctor’s offic
e and stepped out into the bright sunshine. She’d suspected it for a few weeks now but had been too afraid to take another home pregnancy test only to have it prove she still hadn’t conceived. But this morning, Logan had unwittingly given her the perfect excuse for making a doctor’s appointment when he’d commented that she looked a little pale and asked if she was coming down with a bug.

  “I have been feeling a little run down,” she admitted.

  He’d looked at her from across the breakfast table then pulled out his cell phone and set an appointment for later that morning. Shelby had felt such a rush of love for him at that moment she wanted to cry. He was taking care of her, just as he always had, and she adored it that Logan felt this need to protect her from anything that could harm her, including something as minor as a flu bug.

  “I can cancel a few appointments and take you,” he said as soon as hung up.

  “I’m not completely helpless, you know. Cancelling appointments means you’ll just have to try and squeeze them in somewhere else or work late one day this week. I think I can handle finding the doctor’s office by myself, and I promise to call you if there’s anything seriously wrong.”

  “Are you sure? Because I could…”

  “I’m sure,” she’d jumped in. “Now, go finish getting ready for work while I grab your briefcase from the study.”

  Even though he hadn’t tried to change her mind about letting him drive her to the doctor’s office, she could tell he wasn’t very happy about it. Regardless of her assurance it was nothing but a bug, Logan would worry about it until she called to let him know everything was okay. The problem now was that she didn’t want to call him because she wanted to see his face when she gave him the good news.

  Shelby climbed into her car and just sat there for a few minutes with her hand pressed against her belly. A baby. No, not just a baby but Logan’s baby, the one he’d planted inside of her the night he’d come home to find her waiting for him in that skimpy little nightie. Well, she giggled out loud, the sales lady had been right about one thing…her husband hadn’t been able to keep his hands off of her.

  She fired up the engine but she didn’t head back home as she’d planned. Logan would no doubt be too busy to talk to her if simply showed up at his office, but if she went to the Penthouse suite and called to let him know she was there maybe he could find some time to come up and see her. Even if he could only get away for a few minutes, it would still be better than having to wait until he got home this evening. Shelby was still floating on a cloud when she pulled onto the highway leading to Vittorio Enterprises.

  ****

  Logan leaned back in his chair, the grim expression on his face leaving no doubt in either of his brother’s minds just how disturbed he was by the information they’d just laid before him. After attending the charity ball with Shelby over two months ago and making it quite obvious to anyone who was watching, namely Alicia Delatorre, that he was very much in love with his wife, he would have bet his vast fortune there would be no more trouble from that quarter.

  He’d been even more convinced Alicia had given up her pursuit of him when she’d stopped calling and showing up announced at his office. That was before Gianluca and Dante had requested a meeting this morning and proved just how wrong he’d been to let his guard down.

  “We have a little problem,” Dante informed him after he and Luca had seated themselves in front of Logan’s desk.

  “Since when do either of you come to me when there is a little problem?”

  “Since in involves Alicia Delatorre,” Luca replied as he tossed a file in front of Logan. “That is a report from a private investigator we hired two and half months ago to keep an eye on Alicia. And these,” he tossed a manila envelope on top of the file, “are photographs taken by the investigator along with several Vittorio Enterprises security disks for the same time period.”

  Logan’s brows drew together. “Why are you having Alicia followed? She has not attempted to contact me at all since the charity ball, and even then she did nothing more than nod her head to acknowledge me when Shelby and I first arrived.”

  “It was Simon’s idea,” Dante told him. “He told us about her visit to the office and how obsessive Alicia had become and asked if we believed a woman like that would stop hounding you simply because she had seen how happy you are with Shelby.”

  “Even Raffe agreed it was not likely,” Luca interjected.

  Logan glanced from one to the other. “So all of my brothers banded together and decided to have her followed without bothering to ask whether or not I approved?”

  “We did not want to concern you unnecessarily if our suspicions were unfounded,” Dante replied. “Perhaps we were wrong not to bring this to your attention before now, but we were right to have kept a close watch on her.”

  As much as Logan loved his brothers and appreciated their efforts to keep Alicia from complicating his life, he wasn’t at all happy about being left out of the loop. What if she’d discovered she was being watched by this private investigator and that Vittorio Enterprises was footing the bill? She’d think it was Logan’s doing and who knows what Alicia would make of that? Besides, he didn’t care if she was spying on him as long as she kept her distance as she’d been doing.

  “I am sure the report will make for very interesting reading,” he said indifferently, “but I have no desire to know how Alicia Delatorre spends her days, nor do I care to look at pictures of her. So, if one of you would be kind enough to give me a brief summary, maybe we can all get back to our jobs.”

  “Very well,” Dante said, “you can look through everything later if you wish. The reason Alicia left you alone for nearly a month after Shelby returned was because she flew off to join her husband in the south of France. She came back to the states alone and immediately started asking questions about your marriage.”

  “The investigator told you this?”

  “No, this was before we hired him. I caught wind of it from one of my…female companions so I asked a few others who run in the same circles as Alicia and they all said the same thing.”

  Logan didn’t bother to ask how many female companions Dante had, but he would venture to guess there were at least half a dozen. “So she wanted to find out if my marriage was shaky, that is not surprising and hardly a reason to hire an investigator.”

  “If that was all she wanted to know then I might not have even mentioned it to Simon. It wasn’t you that Alicia was gathering information about. Logan, she was asking questions about Shelby.”

  Logan’s stomach knotted. “What kinds of questions?”

  “The kind that make you worry about what she is up to,” Luca said.

  “Things like whether she works,” Dante added, “and if she has any activities outside the home, what kind of car she drives, where she gets hair done, her favorite place to shop and…”

  “I get it,” Logan snapped, then immediately apologized. “I do not mean to take it out on either of you, but the woman is unbalanced and what you are telling me has me very concerned for Shelby’s welfare. If Alicia manages to catch her alone and feed her lies about having an affair with me…”

  “That is why I approached Simon about it,” Dante said. “I know you confide in him more than the rest of us and thought he could tell us more about this woman and whether she was a threat to Shelby. It made him uneasy to know Alicia was asking about Shelby, but even more so because he knew she had stopped chasing after you. It made no sense unless…”

  “Unless she was planning some sort of attack on Shelby,” Logan finished for him. “It will do her no good,” he said confidently. “If she is looking for dirt on Shelby, I assure you she will not find any.”

  “There is more,” Luca cast a sidelong glance at Dante. “We felt it was necessary to tell Grady about it since he is head of security here. With Shelby spending so much time in the Penthouse Suites, we wanted him to make sure there was someone posted by the elevator to make sure no one but you gained access
.”

  “Mio Dio,” Logan shook his head in disbelief. “You honestly believe Alicia is capable of physically harming Shelby?”