The Playboy's Fugitive Bride (19 page)

His blue eyes darkened like a cloud heavy with rain.  “Did it ever occur to you that these men were also forced into these marriages, that they too were unhappy?  They didn’t have the luxury of pining away when they had to make a living to support their families.  Arranged marriages are archaic, but not defunct.  Many cultures still practice it today.”

“You’re right,” she said, holding his gaze, even as she wondered at the acerbity in his voice.  “It’s not just the women who suffer through these arranged marriages.  The men do too.  I guess we should just be grateful that we live in a culture where it’s not practiced.”

He pressed his lips tightly together and took a side step to the next painting.  “This is Bruno.”

Nia’s gaze shifted to the stoic portrait of Bruno, from whom Massimo had inherited his fathomless blue eyes, she noted.  He was large and bearded with a round head, thin lips, and a bulbous nose.  Massimo was lucky he hadn’t inherited his nose as well.  As she stared at him, Nia thought he was smirking at her.

“Bruno moved Andretti Industries from New York to New Hampshire and turned it into one of the most prosperous textile factories in the world,” Massimo said.  “The first thing he did was purchase land on this mountain.  Then he went back to Bellagio and purchased as much land as he could get his hands on.  As a boy, I spent a lot of time there with my mother.”

“Is that where she was from?”

“She was born and raised in Como, but she worked in Bellagio.  She took the
traghetto
up and down Lake Como everyday.”  He paused.  “I wish I’d know Bruno and my great-grandmother, Nora,” he said, smiling up at the portrait of the brown-eyed, delicate-looking woman next to Bruno.  “He was a shrewd businessman.”

“I guess you take after him.”

His eyes narrowed to glacial slits.  “You think I’m shrewd, Nia?”

“I mean in a good way.  You have to be shrewd to succeed and survive in this world.”  The fact that she was standing in front of his family wall of fame attested to her own shrewdness for survival.

He seemed to be satisfied with her response and returned to his roots.  “And this is my
nono.”
  An affectionate smile curved his lips.

Nia felt a warm glow flow through her when she gazed into Piero’s soft blue eyes.  He was tall, clean-shaven, and slightly built.  Massimo had inherited his straight high nose.  He was definitely smiling at her she thought.  She had a feeling that if she’d met him, she would have liked him.

Last, was the tall and imposing Luciano—Massimo’s father—and his brown-eyed wife.  Nia stared at Luciano, the man whose death was the beginning of her family’s demise.  Although he’d been willing to save her father’s mill, the man’s personal character disgusted her.  He was a cheat like all Andretti males before him.  They were incapable of fidelity, even the much-loved Piero—one fact Massimo had omitted from his walk through the pages of his family’s history.  Massimo’s fate of being an unfaithful husband was decided even before he was born—simply because he was an Andretti.  He couldn’t even remain faithful for six months.  How could anyone expect him to remain faithful for years? 
Maybe that’s why he has a hard time believing in love and fairytales
. 
What’s your excuse
?

Nia dismissed the annoying voice in her head with a sigh, and focused her attention on the portrait of the woman next to Luciano.  Massimo’s resemblance to his mother was extremely striking, especially their wide mouths and full lips.  He had her smile, but while hers was soft and inviting in a reserved way, his was openly sexy and tantalizing in a predatory masculine way.  Nia’s eyes wandered to a painting of him—perhaps around twelve or thirteen years old.  Even at that young age, she could sense the animal magnetism in him.  He was undeniably a…

“I guess you’ve figured out that these are my parents, Luciano and Giuliana,” he said, smiling down at her.

“Your mother was very beautiful,” she said.

A shadow passed across his face.  “She was.”

Nia swore she saw his eyes mist as he gazed at the portrait of his mother.  “Do you—”

“I think I’ve bored you long enough,
cara
.”  He turned his back on the wall and closed the drapes, bringing an end to talk of his family history.  “I do have to conduct some business in my home office before our dinner meeting tonight.”

“Thanks for sharing, Massimo.  I feel much closer to you.”  Nia had no idea if that admission had come from her heart or if it was part of her charade.  She felt as if her words of reality and fiction were blending into one and she couldn’t tell the difference between them anymore.

“Sit here,” he said, pulling out one of the chairs from under the table.  “I will bring you what you came here for.”

Barely able to contain her excitement, Nia dropped into the seat and watched him walk to the far right corner of the room.  He placed his right hand against the side of the wall and a door swung open.  He reached inside the small compartment and pulled out a key. 

Nia could hear her heart drumming wildly in her ears as Massimo opened one of the safety boxes and pulled out a black briefcase.  He brought it over, placed it on the table in front of her and opened it.

Nia’s eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw the rows of neatly stacked hundred dollar bills in the briefcase.  She’d never seen that much cash in her life, and she knew that after she paid Eddie his million and deposited the balance into her account, she would never see that much ever again.  It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Just to make sure she wasn’t stuck between the gray areas of reality and fiction, she ran her fingers along the top row of bills, squelching the urge to burst into happy giggles or jump up and do the happy dance at the feel of the smooth paper beneath her fingers.

She’d done it
.

Her next step would be to count it out into two equal portions.  Once Massimo locked himself in his home office, she’d take it back to the bedroom and roll around in it.

“It’s all there,” Massimo said, standing so closely to her, she could feel the heat from his body seeping into her skin.  “But if you want to count it, go ahead.”

Nia drew back her hand.  “No.  It’s okay.  I trust you.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that you trust me, because I trust you, too.  These are for you,” he added, pressing the key he’d taken from the panel, and a piece of paper into her hands.

“The combinations.” Nia stared at the hand-written numbers on the paper.

“You can take your time and let the fact that we’re really going through with this deal sink in.  Stay in here as long as you like, and when you’re ready to leave, you can put the briefcase back into the safety box, and the key into the compartment with all the other keys.  It’s just an extra precaution in case someone manages to break into the vault.”

And who the heck could break into this vault when access to this estate is damn near impossible?  Plus, do you really expect me to put my key back into a compartment that opens only to your fingerprints
?

“Thanks, Massimo.”  As Nia gazed up at him, she realized that it would be wise to at least give him a kiss, offer him a taste of what he thought he’d be getting on Wednesday.  After all, she was supposed to be excited about their impending sexual encounter, but then again, he hadn’t made any passes at her today, either, which caused her suspicions about him to mount again.  What was he up to?

He bent down and dropped a quick kiss on her forehead before leaving.

“I don’t trust you, and you shouldn’t trust me, Massimo Andretti,” Nia said when the door clicked behind him.

“Are you sure no reporters will be there tonight?” Nia asked Massimo as the limo began its journey from the mansion to Fontaine Conference Center.  She didn’t need that kind of attention or distraction while she made her escape.

“I’m one hundred percent sure,
cara
.  It’s just a business meeting.  Bryce will be there, so at least you’ll know one other person besides me.”

“He’s a really nice man.  Large, but nice,” Nia stated on a smile, remembering how Bryce had planted his Goliath frame beside Massimo, Adam, and Erik to shield her from the local press.  The bond of brotherhood between the four men was obvious.  They didn’t even know her, yet the simple fact that she was with Massimo propelled them into action at the slightest sign of trouble.  She wondered if they would have been so eager to jump to her defense if they knew she was about to swindle their friend out of two million dollars.  “I must remember to thank him and Erik and Adam for helping you out yesterday.”

“That’s what friends do.  Help each other in times of need.”

“Have you ever been in need, Massimo?” Nia studied his profile in the dimly lit limo.  He’d shared a lot of himself at lunch, but there was still so much she didn’t know about him. 
Why do you care?  You’re leaving in a little bit
.  “You were born with the proverbial silver—” She paused. “No, in your case, platinum spoon in your mouth.  What could you possibly have ever been in need of?”

“Plenty.”  There was a faraway, almost regretful tilt to his tone.  “And I have been lucky enough to have friends who have come to my rescue time and time again.  What about you?  You spoke a lot about your students today, but nothing about friends or family.  Do you have friends you can count on, Nia?”

She’d deliberately not talked about her friends and family.  The less Massimo knew about her, the less likely it would be for him to find her once she left this town behind.  “I get on with my coworkers,” she said on a shrug.

“Just get on?  Do you ever go out together—to the movies, dinner, drinks?”

“Sometimes.”  Not nearly enough as she would have loved.  With a teenage boy to support and keep out of trouble, there just wasn’t time for anyone or anything else in her life.  If she’d had time for boyfriends, the chances she’d still be a virgin were slim—a fact she was grateful for since it was the only reason Massimo had accepted her proposal.

She sucked in her breath when Massimo reached out and picked up her hand that was lying on the seat.  He laced his fingers through hers as if it were a natural thing for him to do.

“I could be your friend, you know.  You can tell me anything, anything at all,
cara
.  Everything that’s wrong in your life, I’ll make right again, or at least try to.”

Can you bring my father back from the dead
?

Nia blinked back the tears that stung the back of her eyes.  She could not let Massimo’s all-of-a-sudden gentle attitude get to her.  Yes, they’d spend a pleasant afternoon together, but she knew better than to trust the devil.  She had no idea what it was, but she was certain he had his own plans to sabotage her escape tonight, a plan she was certain he’d put into place the day they met. 

In spite of his suspicions about her, he’d adhered to their agreement.  She had the money in her possession; now all she had to figure out was how she was going to get from Fontaine Conference Center back to the house to retrieve the briefcase, and then back into town and her getaway car.  She couldn’t just walk out of the Center since she knew Massimo would have his guards posted at the exits.  But she was sure the answer to carrying out the final details would come to her by the end of dinner.

“What about family?”  Massimo interrupted her escape mapping.  “Do you have any?”

Nia cleared her throat.  “No... No…  I’m an only child.”

“We have something in common, then.  We’re both alone in the world.  I’ve been alone since my father died.  We weren’t close,” he added, a steely edge drifting into his voice.  “I didn’t agree with many of his principles or choices.  We fought frequently, but he was the only family I had after my mother and my grandfather died.”  His fingers tightened around hers.

“I know your mother died while giving birth to your baby sister,” she said.  The story about the death of the wife of the textile tycoon, Luciano Andretti, was public knowledge.  Nia had read about that period of Massimo’s life on the Internet.  He was only ten.  No details of her death had been leaked to the public.  “What happened?  Was something wrong with the baby?” 

Nia watched his Adam’s apple vibrate above the knot of his black tie as he fought to control some emotion.  “If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand.”

“Mom went into premature labor.”  His voice faded, losing some of its steely edge.  “She started hemorrhaging and died half an hour after giving birth.  Aria’s lungs weren’t developed enough and she followed within seconds.  It was the longest thirty minutes of my life.”  He paused and swallowed.  “Even after twenty-four years, I still miss her.  I feel as if I was robbed of the most important person in my life.”

Nia knew exactly how he felt.  She was twelve and Aaron was seven when their mother died from a brain aneurysm.  It was the saddest day of her life.  She’d stood at her mother’s bedside, along with her father and brother, praying for a miracle as the life ebbed slowly out of her.

The ensuing six years were difficult.  She’d felt her father’s love for her and Aaron.  He took exceptional care of them, making sure they never wanted for anything, but he was never the same after her mother died.  Gone was the comical, teasing father she’d known—the one who used to chase her and Aaron around the house, climb the willow tree in their backyard with them when they were hiding from their mother, color with them, and who, when she was really little, would let her put makeup on his face, barrettes in his hair, and paint his nails glittery pink when they played dress-up.  And when she’d gotten her period for the first time, he’d sat her down and told her about sex.  He was a remarkable father.

A strong, remarkable man who’d been broken by Massimo Andretti.  Nia remembered the many nights she’d lain awake and listen to her father cry after he lost the mill.  She’d cried along with him, and when morning came they tucked their pain away and went about their day, keeping up appearances for Aaron’s sake.  He was too young to be burdened with the dismal uncertainty of their future.