by Tara Pammi
Instead of being offended, Massimo regarded it seriously. “He made a world of difference to me. Made Greta and Leo realize what a toxic man my father is. I think...all our lives changed for the better thanks to Carlo. Alessandra shuttled back and forth between her mother in the US and here, and Greta made a lot of effort to make her feel welcome when she finally moved here. For a long time, she even hoped, I think, that either Leo or I would...”
Natalie’s heart kicked against her rib cage. “Would what?”
He shrugged. “Would maybe welcome her into the family officially.”
“And?” Natalie said, aware of the demand in her tone and unable to quell it. She could even see it from Greta’s view. Alessandra would be the perfect bride for one of her grandsons—sophisticated and beautiful and intelligent.
Massimo smiled, his teeth gleaming in the near darkness. Whether at her or the idea of Alessandra with him, she had no clue. “Leo and I like Alex too much to saddle her with us romantically, I think.”
Because Alessandra was too good to be played with. Because Alessandra was the kind of woman he respected. The kind of woman to not trifle with.
Whereas Natalie was perfect for an affair.
She felt as if he’d kicked her in the chest. That he was unaware of how awful he sounded didn’t help.
Damn it, why did she keep hoping that he’d see her as something more than novelty? Men like Vincenzo and Massimo only had certain uses for women like her, was that it? Another commonality he shared with the man he was hunting.
“So, yes,” he went on, unaware of her confusion. “Alex getting dragged into this mess riled Greta, interestingly, even more than the Brunetti name being muddied.
“Anyway, resources for planned projects have been falling through at the last minute.
“And the day before yesterday, there’s been a new development. It’s why Leonardo kept Silvio here for this long when he knows I loathe it. He had a feeling this was coming.”
Natalie had come to hate Silvio’s presence, too. The very look in his eyes made her remember all the stuff she was hiding from Massimo. “What new development?”
More than fear gnawing at her insides, Nat hated the doubt in his eyes.
“Massimo, you have to tell me.”
“Should I, cara mia?”
“You can’t think I’ve got anything to do with it. You’ve got me locked up here, cut off from the rest of the world.”
“Someone leaked about the breach to one of the board members. Forcing our hand to come clean to the entire board. You can imagine how that went down. That our clients’ information wasn’t stolen becomes irrelevant, do you see?”
“It can’t be anyone else?”
“The board member who accused Leonardo of hiding this from them, this is not the first time he’s tried to cause trouble for Leo, not the first time he’s strategized to oust him from the board. He’s not going to give up his source, either. But don’t you think it’s a little too convenient that of all the board members, Mario Fenelli was the one who’s been told about the breach? The only people who knew were me, Leo, Silvio, you and the person who leaked it.”
Dread so complete enveloped Nat’s limbs that she felt frozen. “Wait, you think someone is sitting there strategizing all this?”
“Yes.”
Jesus, what was Vincenzo doing? It wasn’t bad enough that he’d dragged her into the middle of this, now he’d gone ahead and leaked the news about the...breach?
Massimo’s gray gaze stayed far too calm. Far too intense on hers. “It’s too much of a coincidence to think otherwise. So far, nothing has been so bad as to bring us down. Not too much of a financial hit for BCS or Brunetti Finances. Until now, with the breach so cleverly exposed where it could do maximum damage to Leo. It feels almost as if—” he frowned, clearly struggling with something “—someone is trying to figure out—” his intense gray gaze pinned her, leaving her no way to escape “—what would hurt us the most.”
The truth of his statement hit her like a lash. He ran a thumb up and down her cheek. She sank into the featherlight touch, desperate for the warmth of it, despite the tension surrounding them. Despite the lines she’d drawn between them. “Maybe you didn’t know what you were getting into. I will allow for that. Maybe you were never meant to know more about this. But now it’s up to you to make the right choice.”
He was not quite the stranger from the first night again—cold, powerful and a little bit frightening. But neither was he the man who had laughed with her, the man who had kissed her as if she were the only anchor in his storm.
Was Vincenzo behind the other attacks, too? Why? Why was he targeting Massimo and Leo? How could he involve Nat in something so underhanded knowing how precious Frankie was to her? How could she give him up to Massimo when she owed him so much over the years?
“You have a week, Natalie. I need a name. I need this to end.”
“Or else what, Massimo?” she demanded, a shiver in her very words.
“Or else I will let Leo handle the situation. I would let him do the dirty work of sending you to prison, let him be the villain. See, I’m no one’s hero, bella mia. In fact, I’m even worse than Leo. Because Leo accepts the reality of what he is.
“I...on the other hand, like to pretend, as long as it’s convenient and easy to do, that I’m better than him. That I’m better than my father.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
HEART THUMPING AGAINST her chest like a bird trapped in a cage, Natalie pressed her thumb against the electronic access panel. The soft ping-ping of the panel as it turned green had the same effect on her as a meteor hitting the earth might have. Her belly swooped and her sweaty palms slipped as she pulled the door to the lab open.
Just thinking about the gray gaze looking at her as if she were an unknown criminal, someone not deserving of even the little consideration he’d shown her, she shivered, even in the thick woolen sweater she had borrowed from him on that first day. Walking to the terminal he’d set up for her, she pulled the loose neckline by stretching it and buried her nose in the soft wool.
The scent of Massimo seeped into her breath, into her blood, calming the panic in her muscles. An almost hysterical laugh bounded out of her mouth, echoing in the huge space. How strange that here she was planning to betray his trust again and it was the scent of him that calmed her.
She watched her reflection in the huge monitor as the system booted. Two days and countless conversations in her head hadn’t made this decision easier or given her a different solution.
Yes, Vincenzo was a sneak and a master strategist and he was completely in the wrong for doing what he was against the Brunettis and for putting her in the middle of it. And no, she still couldn’t betray him. Which meant she had to look out for herself.
Thoughts jumbled, tangled, piled and raced through her head while her fingers raced over the keyboard, creating the bot program that would search all of Massimo’s cyber infrastructure for the proof against her. For the record he’d diligently put together to track her and nail her.
When her program found it, it would destroy the proof that he could use to send her to jail. Come tomorrow morning, Massimo would have nothing on her.
Except pure hatred.
Sweat gathered on the nape of her neck, the lab suddenly feeling like a jail itself, taunting her for what she intended to do.
God, she couldn’t bear to see the disgust and the shock of betrayal in his eyes, couldn’t bear for him to see the reality of what she was.
If she did this, there was no going back. He wouldn’t trust her ever again; he wouldn’t smile at her, wouldn’t laugh with her, wouldn’t kiss her ever again.
She buried her face in her hands and groaned.
And yet, to leave her security to the whims of a man, even if the man had shown her kindness and generosity, a man who prized his ambition
over everything else...it went against every grain of instinct that had helped her survive for so long.
God, she was tired of fighting, so tired of being tough.
All she wanted, desperately needed, was to leave this lab, this place, this man who threatened her security on so many levels.
She had to.
* * *
The soft chirrup from his wristwatch grabbed Massimo’s attention as he waited in the foyer for everyone to arrive.
An alert from the access log for his lab.
He frowned, but pushed the notification away with a swipe of his finger. Right now, he had more important things on his mind. Already, he was far too distracted and excited about the prospect of seeing Natalie. Eerily, it was the sensation he remembered from being a skinny geek, hoping the girl he liked would notice him at university.
Wait till you see her tonight.
The pithy text from Alex almost two hours ago while he’d been finishing his workout had filled him with all kinds of anticipation. He had trouble enough to focus when Natalie was close even when she wore her usual skinny jeans and any old T-shirt. Even now, he could recall the sight of her pulling on his thick sweater, flashing him her belly, by simply closing his eyes. Oversized, hanging off-shoulder, it should have looked anything but sexy on her. And yet, when he’d spied her burying her nose in the fabric, a smile playing around her lips, he had gone hard as stone.
Cristo, she revved him up so quick just by being present. Who knew what she would do to him if she actually dressed up for him.
Tonight was the night of the annual charity gala that the Brunettis hosted at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. The one evening that Leo and Greta insisted they present a united front to Milan and the world at large. Much as Massimo preferred to toil in his lab over playing political games with the most powerful families of Milan, tonight was one night even he didn’t dare buck tradition.
Giuseppe Fiore would be there, and Massimo wanted to see him in a setting away from the usual meetings. Without being surrounded by all his yes-men with their own agendas to push.
The man was an incisively clever businessman, noncommittal to the last moment, and Massimo needed to see if the news of the security breach had reached Giuseppe’s ears. If it had, he would have to do damage control. Both on the business front and the personal. And having Natalie on his arm, he hoped, would smooth over any drama with Gisela.
No one who could see them together could doubt he had only eyes for her. The decision of what to do with her—on so many levels—had begun to give him sleepless nights.
“Keeping an eye on her is one thing, Massimo,” Leo said. “Scratching an itch is one more indulgence. But letting her access your security designs for the Fiore contract...isn’t that a bit much?”
Massimo had expected this confrontation the same evening that he’d introduced Natalie to his family. That Leo had waited a whole two weeks when his ruthless brother never hesitated to cut anyone, whether personal or business.
He frowned. Was Natalie right?
Had Leo kept away because of Massimo’s harsh words? Was it possible that his accusations had hurt his brother?
“Stay out of this, Leo.”
“I stayed out of your lab, literally, for ten days, Massimo. Left you to indulge in whatever you...want with her. Hasn’t that been enough?”
“Do not speak of her that way,” Massimo gritted through his teeth, the very idea of Natalie as some kind of toy to be used disturbing him on multiple levels. Even though that’s what he’d always used women for. Meaningless, casual affairs so that nothing could distract him, nothing could become an obstacle to his ambition. “She’s been working around the clock with me to fortify the security of BCS. She’s brilliant. If I can get her to commit to us, she’ll be an asset to us on the Fiore banking project.”
“Despite the fact that what she did might jeopardize our chance to get the contract? Before we clear up the problem she created, Massimo?” Leo set his perceptive gaze on Massimo. “She committed a crime. She refuses to tell you why or the name of the man responsible. You conveniently set all that aside because you want her.
“It’s a little too close to Silvio’s behavior—”
“Natalie isn’t like any other woman you or I know.”
Leo’s eyes widened. “You like her.”
The words washed over Massimo.
He did like her. For the first time in his life, it went beyond physical attraction. He’d threatened her that he would turn her over into Leo’s hands, but could he, really?
Protecting a woman who was determined to keep her secrets over sound business decisions... For the first time in his life, Massimo wondered at the weakness that Silvio had always said resided in him. Was this it? Was this...unwillingness to threaten everything she held precious a weakness in him?
No! It couldn’t be.
Leo pushed his fingers through his hair as if he’d discovered a bigger problem to solve. “I never thought you would be a fool for a woman.”
“I’m not marrying her, Leonardo. I just refuse to take advantage of her.”
“You really can’t believe that act of innocence.”
No, he didn’t think Natalie was unaware of her own culpability. Or that she would ever stop looking after her own interests first.
But her shock when he’d told her about the other attacks had been genuine.
They’d spent days fortifying BCS’s security design, patching up flaws that Natalie found with an incisively brilliant mind. He’d seen her brilliance with security design, her sheer joy in playing with it. He’d also seen her struggle with what he’d told her. She’d asked him questions again and again, sifting through detail, trying to connect the dots. He could almost see the picture emerge in her head last evening. See the conflict in her brown eyes, eyes that had never been able to hide anything.
Leo turned his gaze to Massimo. There was still that wariness in his eyes. As if Massimo were a stranger. As if Massimo could attack again and possibly hurt him.
His brother—the powerful, cynical, ruthless Leonardo Brunetti—hurt by Massimo’s words? If not for Natalie, he’d have never seen it.
“If she’s poor, buy the truth from her,” Leo said into the awkward silence. “We need to know who’s behind all this. She’s our only lead. Nothing else is panning out.”
“Natalie is not the type to be bought.” She was brilliant, and funny and naive and more than a little defensive about her background and a whole lot loyal. Discovering the complex depths to her only made her even more interesting to him. Made him to want to protect her. Made him wonder what a man had to do to earn that loyalty.
“How do you not see that’s worse? It means her loyalty has already been given to another man.”
“She’ll tell me the truth.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, okay? I’m putting all the pressure I can on her,” Massimo said, hating that he had no better answer or way of getting it. Hating that he was acting weak. Was he being foolish enough to hope that she’d open up to him eventually? When did being fair turn into weakness? Why the hell didn’t the woman just save her skin? “Leave it, Leonardo, per favore.”
The words he really wanted to say to Leo lingered on his lips. He cleared his throat. “Have you considered it might be someone Silvio cheated or abused or plain pissed off? Both you and I know his sins are numerous. Against many.”
“That’s the first thing I thought of.” His brother rubbed his face. “I’m looking into it.”
“Bene. I thought you might have forgotten what kind of a man our father is.”
“I tolerate him better than you do, sì. Does not mean I forget what he is capable of.”
Massimo nodded. Cristo, emotions were hard to put into words. But he had never shied away from the truth, either. “I owe you an apology.”
&n
bsp; Leo jerked his head up.
“For blaming you for Silvio’s actions. All these years.”
Whiteness emerged around Leo’s mouth. As if his biggest fear about their relationship had come true. “Massimo, you didn’t... I have never held that against you.”
“No?” He smiled at his brother’s uncharacteristic lenience. “Then you should. You were just as much a child as I was. Just as much brainwashed as I was. When I see him, I only see the bully. The insecure, pathetic narcissist who made Mama’s life hell.
“The face he showed you...it’s much more dangerous—it’s charming and loving and you had to see beyond and beneath all that. Until Natalie pointed it out to me, I... I didn’t realize how much that resentment still festered. How easily I could believe that you would choose him over me.”
Leo’s eyes held a wealth of regret before he looked away. “I... I wish I had realized sooner. Massimo. I wish...”
Massimo rubbed his brother’s shoulder. “It’s in the past. And even knowing it, Mama had never been able to stop it. But that’s the kind of woman Natalie is, do you see?
“I’m not saying she’s not culpable. Even as you advise me to incarcerate her, knowing your opinion, she made me see how much resentment I still harbored toward you. How much I pitted myself against you. How much it hurt you. Even knowing the both of us for so many years, can you see Greta doing anything like that? Calling me on it.
“As if I had to prove I was better than you. As if I were still in competition with you for his affections,” he finished, disgusted with himself.
“You’re a much better man than me, Massimo.”
“I think I forgot that.”
Leonardo raised a brow in mock arrogance, his mouth split into a smile. “Good to see you back on form.”
Massimo laughed at this dry wit. How had he not seen that his brother showed this side of himself only to Massimo?
“No, that’s not right. It’s not a competition between you and me,” Massimo corrected himself. “I’m my own man. There are, of course, shadows of Silvio in me, but Mama and Carlo tried their best to cancel that out, I think.” He looked at Leonardo and realized how lucky he had been, in a way, that Silvio had shown his true colors from the beginning.