Mafia Secret (23 page)

"Your family's very worried."

"Hmmm." She bolted up with horror. "My mother."

"I have men on her. She's safe."

"She must be frantic," Lessa whispered. Twin spires of guilt rose up. "It's what she was afraid of from the beginning."

"We don't know," Marc said slowly as if searching for the right word, "if your snatch was related to the family. There's the small item of a stalker you never told me about."

She barely heard him. "I have to call her and let her know I'm okay."

"When you're safe."

"Now." She reached into his jacket where he always had his cell phone. "You have to take me to her."

Marc relinquished control of his phone, but shook his head. "I need to get you back where you're safe."

She couldn't go back. She had to contact her mother and reassure her she was all right.

"Whoever ordered this abduction doesn't know I found you. I'd like to keep it that way as long as possible. There's always a chance they have people watching your mother. Don't worry. Two of our men are with her and will keep her safe."

"But—" Lessa was about to ask why her mother couldn't come with them, but she stopped to focus on dialing. The phone rang once and Erin, breathless, answered.

"Mom." Lessa fought back the tears. If she started crying she didn't think she could stop.

"Oh, Lessa." Erin cried heavily. "Honey, where are you?"

"I'm safe," she said. "I'm okay."

"Oh." Her mother's crying increased to sobs.

"I'm okay, Mom." Helplessness crept up her spine as her words of reassurance seemed not to help. "I wasn't hurt."

The sobbing grew louder and then faded away.

A male voice spoke into the receiver. "Miss Noelle?"

"Who's this?" she asked sharply.

"Andrew. Marc left me to watch over your mom."

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine. Just very relieved. I'll have her call you as soon as she's able."

"Okay." She reluctantly hung up. "I've really hurt her."

"It wasn't your fault." Marc slid the phone back into his pocket.

"You said yourself I shouldn't have run and been without guards." She thought about the worry and pain her mother had been going through.

"No, it was my fault."

Lessa shot him a look. His mask had dropped, and he looked at her without hiding. She was about to comment on the open emotion she was trying to sort through when he spoke again.

"Tell me about this stalker of yours."

She glanced away to try to get a handle on her own volatile feelings before meeting his gaze again. "I don't think Emily was behind this."

"Emily.…"

She shrugged. "Emily blames me because she didn't make the final cut for the cheerleading squad. She sent me a few nasty letters and left some threatening voice mails."

His eyes narrowed. "And tried to run you over with a car."

Lessa shook her head. "She didn't try to run me over."

"She could have had someone do it for her. Just as she could have hired those two goons." The car stopped and Marc glanced out the window. "We're here."

Opening his door and climbing out, he looked around before reaching his hand in to gently tug her out of the car's safe cocoon. She immediately slid up to him as close as she could get. The same jet that had picked her up before sat with its lights flashing. Suddenly the engines roared to life, and she more than slid up against him, but jumped into his arms in surprise.

"It's all right," Marc soothed as the car's driver handed him a bag. "John, head back to Erin's and work out a schedule with Andrew and Brady. She's never to be alone."

"Sure, Boss." John gave a small salute as he climbed back into the car.

"We're leaving." Lessa stated the obvious as she stared at the plane.

His cell phone vibrated, and he shifted her slightly to frown over a text message. "Until we know who grabbed you and why. You'll be safe at the house. No one will be able to get to you there."

"My mother."

"I'm leaving three guards with her." He paused a moment. "Bringing her to the estate would be complicated."

"I know. How would Jio explain her to his mother?"

"I'll get who grabbed you." He escorted her up the small stairs into the jet's cabin.

Another man followed. He looked familiar, but Lessa couldn't place who he was. He pulled the outside door shut and banged on the cockpit door. "Let's go."

At Marc's urging, she slid into one of the leather seats in the back of the cabin. She was uncomfortable with even the foot of distance between them. He sat just in front of her, his expression serious. The other man sat in the front, giving them as much privacy as he was able.

"Once the threat's been eliminated," Marc said, "we'll set it up so you can go back home. You'll have to have guards. We can't take that chance again at least for a while. The secret must be out about your paternity. I can't see any reason for some low-level thugs grabbing you except your ties to the family."

"You know who they were?"

He nodded. "John got their IDs and sent them to Jio. That message was Jio letting me know they're freelancers who don't work for any particular family or syndicate. They take high risk jobs in whatever area they set up shop in until they get run out of town."

"What did they want?"

Marc shook his head. "No one ever contacted us. This whole thing doesn't make sense. Did they say anything to you?"

She hugged her arms around her body as a slow chill worked its way through her bones. "Nothing specific. They didn't ask me anything."

"They wouldn't. If they wanted information they would have grabbed one of the men."

"That's incredibly sexist." She wasn't sure if she was insulted or amused. Hard to believe she could find something funny right then.

He looked startled, but his lips curved ever so slightly. "The way of the world. I don't mean what they asked you, but what they said around you. You said that one of them said you weren't to be hurt."

Lessa nodded and figured she had better throw in the rest. "Yet."

Marc glowered. "Yet?"

"One of them said something about orders and Muscleman pressed some chloroform over my mouth and I passed out. When I woke up I was handcuffed to the bed."

His eyes narrowed. "How long were you out?"

"I don't know."

He jerked his gaze to the window. "It's possible they might have done something to you while you were unconscious. Did you feel different or have any pain when you woke up?"

She shook her head, a dull throb in her stomach reacting to the thought of them violating her while she was unconscious. "No, I don't think they did anything while I was asleep."

He looked back at her in relief. "Okay, what did they say after you woke up?"

Lessa tried to think back. She'd been so consumed with trying not to panic she hadn't really paid much attention to what they were doing or saying when they'd been in the other room. When Muscleman had come in she'd been waiting for him to rape her. Except for the phone call. She'd tried to pay attention then.

"They had a phone call."

"Good." Marc encouraged her to go on.

"I was waking up and could hear them talking in the other room. They called someone to tell him they had me. They put it on speaker so both of them could listen, but didn't tell him. I think I recognized the voice."

Marc leaned forward. "Who was it?"

"I don't know." She shook her head in frustration. "I can hear it in my head, and it's familiar, but wrong."

"Wrong context?"

"No, the voice was wrong. It didn't sound right. I don't know why."

"What did the voice say?"

Her head ached as she tried to remember the exact wording. "One of them asked what to do with me, and the voice answered that they were to hold on to me. He said . . ." She frowned, trying to recall the words. What had made her think of Marc and wait for him to come and rescue her? "With me gone, he'd be distracted."

Marc swore softly under his breath. "He was talking about me." He paused. "Or Jio. Someone's planning something, and they don't want us to see it coming."

"But why think that my disappearance would cause either of you a lot of trouble? You've been busy trying to figure out who killed Jiovanni."

He stared at her. "I'm an idiot. It's all connected together. With you gone, I was back on the investigation full force, and they had to get me off it."

"You're that good?" Lessa smiled for the first time.

"Yeah," he said with an answering smile. "You recognized the voice, the person knew I was too busy to investigate with you there, and they knew I'd come for you. It's an inside job."

"I don't know who it was."

"You'll remember."

"But I didn't know who it was in the first place."

"Out of context. It's someone you've heard, but haven't been with every day. We'll start there."

"Now?"

"No, not now." He patted her knee. "You need to rest. We'll come at it fresh. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Did they feed you?"

"I wasn't there very long."

"Right." He stood up and moved to the small galley to rummage in the counters and small frig. After a few minutes, a mini-microwave dinged and he brought a tray over. He used his foot to pull the small table up from the wall between the two seats and set the tray down. "Eat."

Lessa frowned at him, but couldn't hide the growl from her stomach as the aroma of the hot scones enticed her. It seemed odd to be doing something as mundane as eating. Her nerves still hadn't recovered and, though hungry, she was afraid she'd be sick if she ate anything.

He got up and sat in the chair next to her. "Lessa, it's okay now. You need to eat and rest. Then we can tackle what needs to be done."

She nodded to show she'd heard, but still couldn't eat.

"Tell me what you're thinking."

She didn't want to go into the thoughts gnawing on the edge of her consciousness. It made them too real. "What would have happened if you hadn't found me?"

"It wouldn't have happened," Marc said with certainty, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I will protect you."

"I know. How did you find me, anyway? I don't think they wanted you finding me so quickly."

"They underestimated Jio. And me. Did you really think Jio would let you return with no protection? His mistake was keeping them low-key so you wouldn't know. John saw you grabbed and followed them to the warehouse."

Lessa frowned. "It's creepy to know I was being watched and had no idea. Two sets of eyes following me with different intentions."

"The ones to be concerned about were the men who grabbed you. We don't know yet who hired them, but we will."

"You sound very sure."

"When I need to be." He took both of her hands. "You're safe here."

"I know." He was so handsome. She wasn't sure why that was now the center of her thoughts except she wasn't exactly thinking clearly at this point. "Marc."

"Yeah?"

"Will you kiss me?" She needed to know where they stood. How he felt about her. Did he resent her for having to come and save her?

His eyes flashed and his hands tightened on yours. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Her heart pounded when he didn't say no.

His expression didn't change as he leaned in to take her lips in a gentle kiss. Lessa leaned forward and waited for him to take control, but just as he deepened the kiss he pulled back. His face was an expressionless mask again, and she had a moment of unease before resting her hand on his chest. His heart beat strongly, and she knew he was feeling what she was.

"Better?" Marc asked.

"Almost." She leaned in to press her lips to his.

As she did, she realized that for the first time she'd taken control and kissed him. Marc received her overture for half a minute before his muscles rippled and his arms tightened to pull her closer and take command. She relinquished control easily, sliding into his lap and opening her mouth for his assault. His breathing was ragged as he pulled back. He loosened his embrace, then ran his fingers ran through the hair around her face.

"Leave us." Marc didn't turn as he issued his order.

Mortification flowed into Lessa as she darted a glance at the guard she'd completely forgotten was in the cabin.

The large man opened the door of the cockpit and squeezed in, shutting it behind him.

"Sorry," Marc whispered.

His apology pulled her out of her embarrassment. "For what?"

"You need to rest, not be pressured."

"What if I want to be pressured?"

He narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I promised myself I wouldn't cross that line again. Yet, here I am touching you, kissing you, again. My protection has no strings attached. You are not obligated to do anything you don't want to."