Dante's Stolen Wife (4 page)

She broke off when he took the PDA from her hands and dropped it back into her purse. “Not tonight, Caitlyn. No cell phones. No PDAs. Tonight is for romance. Not another word of business. Instead, I want to hear about your version of happily-ever-after. What does it look like, feel like? I want to know the woman, not the exec. What are your dreams?”

She blinked at him in frank astonishment. “Excuse me? How many romantic evenings have we talked shop over a bottle of Chianti? I thought that was what you preferred.”

Tension filled him. “Do you want to spend your life with a business partner or with a lover? When the sun sets on our day, does it set with us discussing the Reed account, or will we be exchanging the sort of intimate details about ourselves that only lovers can share?”

Her eyes grew dark with an emotion he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Something between nervousness and hope. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”

“Very serious. In fact, I want to ask you a question. A serious question.”

“You can ask me anything. You know that.”

“Do you believe in love at first sight…at first touch?”

“At first touch?” Her expression gentled and she slipped her hand into his. “Are you aware you’re massaging your palm the same way I do?”

“I…what?”

“Your palm. Ever since we first shook hands and felt that odd spark. I catch myself massaging it. I didn’t think you ever did, but you’ve done it twice so far tonight.”

“You’re right.” He could have told her it was a reaction to The Inferno, one he didn’t realize any of the women shared. At least, none had to date. But she wouldn’t understand. Not yet. “Do you ever wonder about the day we first met?”

“All the time,” she confessed softly. “I thought I’d imagined it.”

He tried to curb the intensity behind his question so he wouldn’t alarm her. “Why?”

She shrugged uneasily. “You know.”

He’d made her uncomfortable, no doubt because she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. “Because I changed after that.”

“I understood,” she hastened to reassure. “I’m an employee in your family’s business. It wouldn’t have been appropriate that day to—” She broke off with another shrug.

“To take what we’d started in the lobby to its inevitable conclusion?”

To his amusement, she avoided his gaze. “Discreetly phrased, but yes. We both know where matters were headed that morning.”

“What do you think would have happened if instead of walking on to that elevator and pushing the button for personnel, you’d gone with me?”

Her head shot up and this time she gave him a direct look. “Neither of us would have reported for work that day. I’d probably have been fired and you’d have…”

“Have what?” he prompted.

“You would have found my behavior totally inappropriate. We’d have had an interesting day and I’d be working elsewhere.” Her smile wavered. “And we wouldn’t be sitting here discussing it.”

“I have another scenario.” He forked his fingers deep into her hair and tilted her face up toward his. “I think we would have slipped away and allowed what we felt for each other to reach its natural conclusion. And then I would have called personnel and explained that I’d misappropriated you on official Dantes business and that you would begin work the next day.”

“That’s a nice fantasy.”

He shook his head. “It’s what should have happened. Instead I almost lost you. What happened in the lobby became nothing more than a dream, one that faded with each passing day until you began to think you’d imagined the connection we forged that morning.”

“But it’s back now,” she reminded him with a misty smile. “So it’s all good.”

“And it’s going to stay good. Because this time we’re listening to our instincts, instead of running from them.”

“And when reality intrudes?”

“I want you to promise me you’ll keep listening to those instincts. That you’ll follow your heart instead of your head.”

She laughed again, louder and more freely than before, which pleased him no end. “I can’t believe you of all people are telling me that, Lazzaro Dante.”

He stiffened at the name. “And why is that?”

“Oh, please. Just yesterday you were explaining that emotion and instinct weren’t to be trusted. That the reason we get along so well is because we’re both rational, logical people.” A frown creased her brow. “What’s changed your mind since then?”

“I’m surprised you bought into that load of horse manure,” he replied, attempting to turn it into a joke.

She persisted, her eyes narrowing. “You’re the one who said it. Don’t you believe it?”

“Not even a little.”

“Well, I do…did. Now I’m really confused.” A hint of tension underscored her comment. “What’s going on, Lazz?”

“Caitlyn…” He needed to find a way to put them on a different footing than the one she shared with his brother. “I’d like to start over. Right here and right now. For the rest of this trip, let’s pretend it’s that first morning again and we’ve just met. Do you think you can do that?”

“I suppose.” The tension seeped away little by little.

“Actually, it sounds like fun.”

To Marco’s relief, Caitlyn took his suggestion to heart and accepted, where before she’d questioned. The attendant approached just then to inform them they were about to land. Once again he’d arranged for a car to take them to their hotel, a gorgeous rambling structure beside a small, sparkling lake. They were immediately escorted to a private suite, one with acres of bed, a sunken bathtub, a whirlpool that could have doubled as a swimming pool and a private balcony complete with hot tub.

He turned to her and grinned. “Which one do you want to get naked in first?”

C
aitlyn simply stood and stared at the amenities in utter disbelief. “My entire apartment could fit into that bathtub.”

“Hmm. Sounds like you need a larger apartment. Maybe we can do something about that when we return. My place is at least as large as that bed. What do you say,
cara?
Interested in swapping a tub for a bed?”

She spun around to face him. “You know, that’s the third time tonight you’ve called me by that endearment, which is really strange considering you haven’t used it since the morning we first met. In fact, I’ve heard you use more Italian in the past couple hours than in the past couple weeks.”

“Get used to it. Passion brings it out in me.” He looked around with almost boyish enthusiasm and rubbed his hands together. “Let’s try out everything.

Where do you want to start? A long, romantic soak with candles and chocolates? A spin in the hot tub?” His voice deepened. “Or should we play hide-and-seek on that football-field-size bed?”

“Lazz—”

He couldn’t help it. His brother’s name on Caitlyn’s lips sent him straight over the edge. He needed to find a way of separating the two of them in her mind, to put an indelible mark on her that could never be erased.

“The bed it is.”

He reached her side in two easy strides and scooped her up in his arms. She shivered within his hold, trepidation warring with desire. He saw the instant desire won. It leaked into her eyes and tinted her cheeks a gentle rose. It trembled on her lips and rippled endlessly through her, turning her soft and pliant. With the quietest of sighs, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in the crook of his shoulder.

“I don’t want to be a high-powered business exec anymore,” she informed him in a muffled voice.

He felt unbearably tender toward the woman in his arms. “Who would you like to be?”

“Me. Right now. With you.” She lifted her head to look at him with an endearingly solemn expression.

“What could be more perfect?”

“Nothing that I can think of.”

He stripped back the plush comforter and blanket before easing her onto the mattress. Her hair spilled like black ink across sheets of baby-soft ivory cotton, the ebony strands as soft as spun silk. He came down beside her, in no hurry now that he had her where he most wanted her.

“We could make this trip even more special, if you want,” he offered gently. “When we return tomorrow, it could be as Mr. and Mrs. Dante.”

For a split instant he thought he’d pushed an inch too far. Staring up at him, she moistened her lips. “You know,” she admitted hesitantly. “I’d planned how I’d answer you tonight, just in case Britt and Angie were right about your intentions.”

“And what did you decide?”

“To tell you how much I appreciated our friendship and hoped over time it could become more than that. More intimate than that.” The explanation sounded more like a confession. “That I was willing to take the next step if you were, but that we’d have to take it slowly.”

“And now?”

Tears sparkled like diamonds in her eyes. “And now all I can think about is how lucky I am to have found you again and how afraid I am that I’ll wake up tomorrow and it’ll just be a lovely dream. That our relationship will go back to the way it was and I’ll lose all this.”

“This isn’t a dream and you’re not going to lose me.”

The apprehension lingered, a shadow that darkened the clear blue of her eyes. “What happens if everything changes again? What happens if we revert to how we were before?”

“That won’t happen, I promise.” He feathered a kiss across her mouth. “Marry me, Caitlyn, and I’ll fill your days and nights with more romance and adventure than your wildest dreams.”

“Considering some of my dreams, that’s a pretty tall order.”

“Try me.”

Joy welled upward and she nodded. “I do believe you just won yourself a bride, Mr. Dante.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very sure.”

“Then, what do you say we do this right?” He checked his watch. “The marriage bureau doesn’t close until midnight—”

Her arms tightened around his neck. “And how do you know that?”

“
Cara
,” he admonished, laying on a thick Italian accent. “It’s my great pleasure to anticipate your every need.”

“Which you’re doing brilliantly.”

“Which I’ll soon do even more brilliantly. Let me make a quick phone call and then we’ll go for our license.”

“Perfect. That’ll give me time to freshen up.”

She didn’t shift from her position, but simply gazed at him with such yearning that Marco knew that if he didn’t get them off the bed and fast, they wouldn’t leave it anytime soon. He risked another kiss, sliding across the lushness of her mouth before dipping inward. Just a gentle give and take, a lazy teasing duel that teetered on the edge of flaming out of control.

She broke off the kiss with a strangled moan. “I don’t understand any of this. It’s like kissing an entirely different person.”

That had him levering off the bed. He softened his desertion by holding out his hand with a warm smile. “Come on. Now that you’ve said yes, I want to turn my brand-new bride-to-be into my brand-new wife.”

She sat up, delightfully appealing in her rumpled state. He’d done that to her. He’d upended her neat little columns and smudged all her meticulous facts and figures. And she’d let him. More, she’d encouraged him to yank her outside her box and into his world, a world without order or logic. It did, however, have a plan, one he’d executed with all the care and precision of his twin brother.

“A bride-to-be and a wife, all in one night.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure it gets much crazier than that.”

“Give it time,” he said, hoping she missed the irony underscoring his comment.

While Caitlyn freshened up, Marco placed a phone call to confirm the arrangements for their wedding, arrangements that would, he hoped, make the night as special as possible. The trip to and from the marriage bureau took hardly any time at all, though filling out the necessary forms gave Marco a moment’s worry. Fortunately, since Caitlyn had forgotten her reading glasses in her rush to meet him, the forms were a total blur.

Draping an arm across her shoulder, he helped her without making it too obvious. And all the while he wondered how they’d get through the wedding ceremony. He had a serious suspicion that when she was asked if she took Marco Dante for her husband, she might take serious exception to marrying the wrong name, even if he were the right man.

Returning to the hotel, Marco found his requests had not just been met but exceeded. The small chapel overflowed with flowers of every shape, color and variety, while pure white candles gave the room a soft glow. A string quartet played in the background, filling the room with soft, romantic music. He’d asked for a priest to officiate, preferably in the Latin he’d grown up with, and discovered that even that had been arranged. And the “attendants” he’d hired to help with any special touches Caitlyn wished to make to her gown, hair or makeup were waiting to usher her to a small anteroom, while he paced nervously in front of the altar.

The minute the priest arrived, he explained the changes he wished to make to the ceremony. Come tomorrow there’d be hell to pay for this night. He’d have to deal with his wife’s shock and anger when she discovered his duplicity. With his brother’s fury. With his family’s disapproval at the method he’d chosen to circumvent Lazz. None of that mattered. All he cared about was Caitlyn’s instinctive reaction whenever he took her in his arms. Her head might not know him but every other part of her did, and responded with loving abandon. The rest would come in time.

Assuming he could convince her to give him that time
.

She appeared in the doorway of the chapel just then, and he could have sworn his heart froze in his chest. He’d never seen anyone more beautiful in his life. With a shy smile she came to him, floating down the short aisle, her gown drifting around her as though spun from cobwebs. A wispy lace veil framed the elegant contours of her face, and she clutched a bouquet of simple white roses.

The ceremony proceeded as though part of a dream. The one time the priest used Marco’s name, he leaned forward an instant beforehand and whispered a teasing comment in her ear so that the discrepancy went unnoticed. Toward the end of the ceremony, he put his ring on her finger, pleased at the sharp little gasp she uttered when she saw it.

He’d chosen an exquisite fire diamond solitaire in an antique platinum setting from a selection of rings Nonna had obtained, along with matching wedding bands. “You planned this from the start didn’t you?” she asked in a shaken undertone.

“Let’s just say I’d hoped that when I asked, you’d agree.”

Color blossomed in her cheeks. “Thank you. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.”

He shot her a smoldering look. “Give it time. I intend to make you a lot happier in a little while.”

Her color deepened, but she didn’t look away. If anything her eyes held a promise he hoped would last the rest of their lives. On the dot of midnight they were pronounced husband and wife, and Marco swept Caitlyn into his arms and kissed his wife for the first time.

Afterward they returned to their suite. “Would you like another glass of wine?” he asked, stripping off his suit jacket.

She gently set her bouquet on a side table and ran her fingertip across the velvety blossoms. “I don’t want the wine blurring my memory.” She lifted her gaze to his. “You do want me to remember everything, don’t you?”

He could feel his body clench in anticipation. “Every minute,” he confirmed.

Heat fired in her eyes. “Then I’ll pass on the champagne.”

For his own peace of mind, he had to be certain. “Does it bother you that we’ve rushed things? That we didn’t have our family here?”

She shook her head. “Not really. Gran is gone now, and I haven’t a clue where my mother is these days.”

“Why not?” he asked without thinking.

She stilled, staring at him strangely. “You know why, Lazz.”

“Right. Sorry.” He snagged his jacket from where he’d discarded it, and crossed to the far side of the suite to hang it up, using that as an excuse to conceal his expression. “I’m afraid there’s going to be hell to pay from my side of the family,” he offered from the depths of the closet.

To his relief the dangerous moment passed and she focused on this latest concern. “They’ll be upset they weren’t invited, won’t they?”

“We’re not the first in the family to elope. But they won’t be pleased, no.”

“Especially since it wasn’t necessary.”

He took instant exception. “On the contrary. I think it was very necessary. I think we needed to get away from work and family and just trust what we feel for each other.” He cocked his head to one side. “Don’t you?”

She gave it a moment’s serious consideration before nodding. “I’m beginning to suspect it wouldn’t have worked out between us otherwise.” A swift smile came and went. “Too much brick and not enough mortar.”

“The mortar being the romance?”

She nodded and satisfaction filled Marco. His brother had been so wrong about her, as were Britt and Angie. Caitlyn and Lazz were nothing alike. Granted, they both shared an accountant mentality. But that was about as far as it went. Inside, where it counted, she epitomized all that was most female. The monumental spirit, the softness covering indomitable strength, the brilliance tempered by compassion and creativity. They were qualities that had gotten lost at Dantes. Qualities his brother had neither noticed nor understood.

But Marco understood them. Savored them. Intended to revel in them from this moment forward. He took his time, determined to make this night the most special possible. He slowly approached, ripping free his tie and unbuttoning his shirt as he came.

“Tell me what you’re feeling, Caitlyn.”

“Happy. Nervous.” Her gaze dropped to his bared chest. “Hungry.”

He continued to close the distance between them. “The first I intend to feed. The second I can appease. And the third I plan to fully satisfy. On every level.”

He reached her side and cradled her against him, kissing away any lingering doubts until she shuddered helplessly, the want in her so huge, it couldn’t be contained. “Wait,” he murmured. “First things first.” He removed the veil, using more than his usual care, and draped it across the back of a nearby chair.

Caitlyn stood silently, waiting for him. And then she wasn’t waiting. She slid into his embrace and slanted her mouth over his in a hot, greedy kiss, one that told him in no uncertain terms how much she wanted him. He found the fastening for her gown at the nape of her neck and flicked it open. The edges of the halter top fluttered to her waist, baring her to his gaze. Without a word, she reached behind her and unzipped the gown, allowing it to drift to the floor before she stepped clear of it.

She wore nothing but a minuscule triangle of lace that barely concealed the heart of her femininity. She should have appeared provocative. Instead she struck him as proud and elegant, and more desirable than any woman he’d ever known. He took his time, looking his fill until he realized that beneath her calm facade, his lovely wife felt nervous. Maybe he’d have caught on sooner if he’d known her a little longer, if they’d shared some of those bricks she’d referred to. The reminder had a frown cutting across his face.

“I can fix that for you,” he offered.

Bewilderment momentarily eclipsed her apprehension. “Fix what?”

He captured her hand in his and opened her bunched fingers one by one. “This.”

She shut her eyes in chagrin and blew out a sigh. “Gave myself away, didn’t I?”

“Just a bit.” He drew her against him, allowing the heat from his body to sooth the tautness from hers. Slow and easy, he reminded himself. “Tell me what you’re worried about.”

“It’s a long list,” she confessed.

He shrugged. “We have all night.” He sent his fingers on a dance of exploration, one along the smooth length of her spine, the other across the fragile bones of her shoulder blades. “First problem?”

She shuddered beneath his touch, and to his amusement it took her a moment to gather her thoughts. If he didn’t miss his guess, that was a novel experience for his new bride. “I…it’s just the speed of all this, I suppose,” she explained with a shrug. “Just a couple hours ago we were in San Francisco on the balcony—”