The acoustics in the room made it sound much louder than it was, which only made her laugh harder. Maybe that was why her rescuer slipped through the doorway so fast and made sure it was securely closed behind him; he didn’t want anyone to know she’d gone off the deep end.
Chapter 14
The first call Logan made after he’d left the house was to his brother, Simon. He’d been in the middle of recounting everything Alicia had told him when he’d spotted her car and pulled over. At his request, Simon had shown up less than twenty minutes later and had surprised him by bringing Dante along. They’d barely had time to get out of Simon’s car when his other two brothers, Luca and Raffaele pulled in behind them.
“We have a plan,” Luca said before Logan could ask why they were all there.
“I hope you do not mind that I called them,” Simon said.
“If I had been thinking straight I would have asked you to do it.” His gaze migrated from one brother to another as he spoke. “I assume Simon told you that I believe Shelby is still in the house somewhere, but if I am wrong I cannot take the chance of spooking Alicia or making her so angry she will not tell me where she has taken her.”
“We will do whatever you ask,” Raffe spoke for all of them, “but you have to consider that we have no authority to detain Alicia if she wishes to leave. If Shelby is not in the house, Alicia could easily claim she knows nothing about her disappearance and is just crazy enough to file charges against us for holding her against her will.”
Logan nodded thoughtfully. “I could call Jake Striker. He heads the Homicide Division now but if I am not mistaken, kidnapping is handled by that department. He would be discreet and I cannot think of anyone outside the family that I trust more.”
He and Jake had been friends for years though they hadn’t seen much of each other lately because of their busy schedules. The last thing Logan wanted was for the media to get wind of what was happening and he knew he could count on Jake to keep it quiet. With the police on the scene to bear witness to the fact Alicia was waiting for him at the house and hadn’t been a victim of kidnapping herself, he wouldn’t have to worry about his brothers getting into trouble with the law. And once they did find Shelby, it would be a good idea to have Jake there to arrest Alicia.
“Do we all agree that Jake should be called in?” After receiving their approval, he expressed his other concerns. “She has either gagged Shelby so she cannot scream or she has drugged her. Besides being worried that Shelby has been without food and water for hours already, if she has been drugged it could harm the baby. I do not want to take any longer than necessary to get Shelby out of there.”
“We all understand how worried you are,” Simon assured him, “but you have obviously considered the risks of simply detaining Alicia while we search the house. Rushing in without a plan as well as a back-up one could be just as risky.”
“I know, I know,” Logan said irritably, “but she could be hurt. Part of me wants to play it safe and have a carefully laid plan to execute but another part of me wants to race in there and tear the house apart until I find her.”
Luca placed a comforting hand on Logan’s shoulder. “You cannot think with your heart right now, fratello. Listen to what we have to say, then we will call Jake and in a few hours time you will have your wife safely back in your arms.”
Logan had relented and after listening to his brothers and adding the few ideas he’d come up with, he made the call to Jake. They’d met up just outside the security gates leading up to the house and after going over their plan with Jake, the two men he’d brought with him as well as Logan’s brothers had used the cover of darkness to make their way by foot up to the house. Once they were all in place Jake followed, leaving him behind. He’d waited ten minutes then climbed into his car and headed up the driveway.
Dante and Raffe were waiting in the shadows just outside the front door; the others were positioned on each side of the house to prevent Alicia from escaping, though he doubted she’d even make the attempt. If she hadn’t left the house by now, she’d either be waiting up for him in next to nothing or she’d be asleep in his bed, naked as the day she was born. The thought of Alicia lying on Shelby’s pillow drowning out the sweet scent of his wife with her exotic perfume made his stomach turn.
Logan went in first to make sure Alicia wasn’t lurking around then motioned for Dante and Raffe to follow him inside. With a nod of his head, Raffe veered off to the right to begin the search. The house was monstrous and there were so many rooms, so many closets Alicia could have hidden Shelby in. And if a search of the house came up empty, there was still the garage and the stables and storage sheds…but he couldn’t think of that now. The most important thing at the moment was to make sure Alicia’s attention was focused solely on the man in her bed so she wouldn’t suspect what was going on.
Logan drew in a deep breath and started up the stairs. When he reached his bedroom door he just stood there for a moment and sent up a silent prayer that the decisions he’d made were the right ones. He wished there was another way, but they’d all agreed that his continued absence might encourage Alicia to wander around the house if he didn’t show up. Squaring his shoulders, he set his chin determinedly and proceeded with the plan they’d devised.
****
Shelby knew she sounded hysterical but she couldn’t help it. Even the frightened look on his face as he untied the ropes on her ankles and then on her hands didn’t make her stop. Kneeling before her, he gripped her shoulders, searching her eyes for a moment before leaning forward and silencing her laughter with a long, hard kiss.
“I knew you’d come for me,” she said in a breathless whisper when he drew his head back. Shelby cupped his face in her hands, her eyes dancing with amusement. “It’s Dante, isn’t? He’s been keeping Alicia occupied while you looked for me.”
Logan stared at her in astonishment. “Yes, but how did you…” he stopped abruptly, suddenly aware of the muted voices that were coming from the intercom system. “Madre di Dio, tell she has not made you listen to everything that has been said!”
Her smile faded. “She said it would add to the excitement to know I could hear the two of you…” At the stricken look on his face she locked eyes with his, careful to keep her voice firm. “You listen to me, Logan Vittorio, whatever you said and did in that room with her was done because you were trying to protect me. I won’t allow her to destroy the trust we have for each other and neither will you, do you hear me?”
Logan’s throat constricted. “Shelby, I…I kissed her. I had to convince her…”
Shelby silenced him in the same manner he’d quieted her hysterical laughter. “There,” she whispered, “now I’ve erased that horrid woman’s mark on you. Besides, it’s poor Dante who’s sacrificed the most through this whole ordeal.”
Logan arched a brow. “Judging by the sounds coming from our bedroom I would have to say he does not think of it as much of a sacrifice.”
“We’ll have to replace the mattress,” she laughed.
“It was time anyway,” he grinned. “These past few months it has taken its fair share of abuse.”
“I do so love you, Logan.”
“La mia vita, moglie…you are my life. What do you say we get out of here and let the police do their job?”
“You called the police?”
“It is just Jake and a few of his men. They are outside with my brothers waiting for me to signal them to come in.”
“Before you do, could you help me to the bathroom? I’ve been sitting here so long I’m not sure I can stand on my own.”
Logan took her hands, scowling at the angry red marks that had been left by the twine. “I have a good mind to go upstairs and toss Alicia out the window for what she has done. Perhaps landing in those prickly rose bushes that Alba loves so much would pay her back in some small way for marring your beautiful skin.”
“Maybe we should just let Jake handle it,” Shelby said as Logan helped her up.
>
“I will,” he promised, “but only because I do not intend to leave your side until she has been removed from our house.”
Grateful that the bathroom joining this room with Logan’s workout room wasn’t more than a few feet away, she quickly relieved herself then downed two full glasses of water before giving Logan the okay to signal the men. Weak from both hunger and being tied to the chair for so long, she managed to make a few faltering steps on her own before Logan swept her up in his arms and carried her down the hallway toward the main entrance.
Shelby clung to Logan’s broad shoulders, letting his warmth envelope her as the tension in her body slowly melted away. They’d just reached the foyer when the door opened. Jake Striker was the first to enter but Luca, who was close on his heels, paused just long enough to flip on the foyer light before hurrying over to them to see if she was all right.
“I’m just tired,” she assured him, then had to smile when he looked to Logan for affirmation.
“Is Alicia still upstairs with Dante?” Jake asked.
“Actually,” Dante answered for himself as he descended the staircase, “she is alone at the moment. I promised to bring back a bottle of wine and some fruit and she was quite content to lounge out on the terrace until I returned.”
Shelby’s eyes widened. “Dante, you didn’t…!”
His lips curved into a satisfied grin. “A man should always accommodate a lady’s wishes, my dear sister, and I was merely doing to her what she was attempting to do to your marriage.”
“I don’t know whether to thank you or give you a thorough lecture,” she told him.
Dante finished tucking in his shirt before leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek. “You are far too tired to conduct a lecture so I will accept your thanks.”
“What now?” Logan asked Jake.
Jake pulled out the electric pager and depressed the button. “One of my men will accompany me upstairs to arrest Alicia Delatorre and inform her of her rights. She’ll be taken to jail and charged with kidnapping and assault but I imagine one call to her husband and she’ll be released first thing in the morning.”
Shelby’s brows drew together. “Will the kidnapping charge stick since I was never taken outside my own house?”
Jake gave her a sympathetic smile. “I have to be honest with you, there’s a good shot she’ll get out of it. It’ll be up to the judge, of course, but the definition of kidnapping is just vague enough to allow her to wheedle out of the charges.” He nodded to the marks on her wrists. “We’ll have better luck with the assault charges but even that will probably get reduced to one of causing bodily injury.”
“But she pulled a gun on me,” Shelby protested.
“Easy, carissima,” Logan crooned softly, “Jake will see to it that she does not get off lightly.”
“You can count on that,” Jake replied. “Assault with a deadly weapon is a very serious charge, one she won’t be able to get out of so easily. Do you know where the gun is now, Shelby?”
“In her purse, I assume. After she tied me up I saw her put it back in her purse.”
Jake unholstered his own gun just as one of his officers entered the house. “Wait here,” he told them. “We’ll read Mrs. Delatorre her rights then give her long enough to get dressed before taking her to the station.”
Dead silence followed his departure, until Raffe came bounding through the door a few minutes later. “Shelby, thank God,” he said as he hurried across the foyer to press a firm kiss to her cheek. “When Simon told us what had happened we were worried sick about you.” His expression darkened when he spotted the rope burns on her wrists. “We will take you to see a doctor about your injuries as soon as Jake has taken that fowl woman out of here.” He let out a string of expletives in Italian when he spied the same marks on her ankles.
Shelby was touched by his genuine concern but the injuries were minor and she had no desire to spend an hour in the emergency room just so they could apply antibiotic cream and send her on her way.
“I don’t need to see a doctor. Logan can put some ointment on them and then I want to sleep for at least two days.”
“No, cara,” Logan said with a frown, “you will see a doctor even if you sleep through the examination.”
She opened her mouth to argue then closed it again when she remembered how far she’d gotten the last time she refused to see a doctor. Nestling her head back against his shoulder, Shelby thought there was a very good chance she really would sleep through the examination. Apparently satisfied she wasn’t going to offer any further protests, Logan conversed with his brothers in Italian while they waited for Jake to escort Alicia from their home.
Shelby shook off the drowsiness that was threatening to draw her into a deep sleep when she heard the clipped echo of Alicia’s heels against the marble staircase. Far from looking angry when she was brought to stand before them, there was a triumphant gleam to her eyes.
“They won’t be able to hold me for long, you know,” she said to Shelby. “At any rate, a few hours in jail is a small price to pay for the time I spent in bed with your husband.” Her gaze turned to Logan. “You’re a wonderful lover,” she purred. “My expectations of you were high and I was not disappointed. I would even venture to say that you were the best lover I’ve ever had.”
Logan’s voice was tinged with amusement, though his expression held nothing but contempt. “I believe that is the first honest statement you have made since stepping foot in my house today, but I am afraid you have bestowed the honors upon the wrong man.”
Alicia’s eyes flickered for a fraction of a second before turning to Luca then Raffe, and finally Dante. In the dim light any of them could have been mistaken for the other; in the dark it would have been impossible to tell them apart. Unless you were madly in love with one of them and knew his body intimately, Shelby thought as she gazed up at Logan’s handsome face.
Maybe she’d been fooled momentarily when Dante had murmured those first endearments to Alicia, but even if he hadn’t spoken another word she would have figured out it wasn’t Logan. For months she’d lain awake at night wishing she could hear that deep, throaty moan he always made when he first sank into her. Since her return, Shelby had much more than past memories to rely on. She knew every sound, every nuance and what it meant, even the way his breathing changed as their rhythm quickened and the passion between them escalated.
“I’m not sure I would have chosen you after all,” Alicia said to Logan when it became obvious none of them was going to confess who it was she’d actually slept with. “One Vittorio is just as delicious as the other,” she drawled as her gaze swept over them one at a time, “and for what it’s worth, I must commend you Shelby. If Logan is half as good as his stand in, I’m not sure I would have survived an entire night with him.”
“You’re being extremely gracious for a woman who’s facing kidnapping and assault charges,” Shelby replied.
Alicia shrugged. “It’s not the first time Richard has had to bail me out of a scrape and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”
Logan’s eyes narrowed. “You expect us to believe Richard not only knows about the games you play with other people’s lives, but that he pays to get you out of it? I do not buy that for a minute.”
“Believe what you want,” she said indifferently. “Richard doesn’t want the stigma of a failed marriage. He detests failure of any kind and he’s well aware that I would never allow a quiet divorce to take place. He turns his head to my affairs just as I do to his, and though he’s not very happy when something like this happens, he does enjoy how incredibly grateful I am to him for digging me out.”
“I feel sorry for you,” Shelby said earnestly.
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