VITTORIO'S RUNAWAY BRIDE (The Vittorio Series) (17 page)

Shelby threw her arms around Logan’s neck.
 
“I love it,” she beamed up at him.
 
“But how did you get it done so fast?”

Logan arched a brow.
 
“You have to ask?”

“I imagine it was a mixture of money and charm.
 
I do so love you, Logan Vittorio.
 
You’ve managed to come up with the one thing that could chase my blues away.”

She gave him a quick kiss before venturing across the room to examine all the brand new art supplies he’d had delivered to the Penthouse suite.
 
The room that had once been a small study had been converted into an art studio and furnished it with every conceivable artist tool she could imagine.
 
And Logan had accomplished it in only one day.
 
For her
.

Shelby was so upset after the doctor’s appointment the day before, she’d gone up to their room after Logan dropped her off and cried herself to sleep.
 
She’d been bitterly disappointed to find out she wasn’t pregnant, but it wasn’t just because she knew how much Logan wanted it.
 
Shelby hadn’t even realized just how much she had her heart set on having a baby until she discovered she hadn’t conceived.
 

She felt even worse now because Logan had tried so hard the night before to pull her out of the depression she’d allowed herself to sink into.
 
He asked Alba to make her favorite dinner and he’d been so sweet and attentive both during the meal and afterwards when he coaxed her into taking a walk in the flower gardens.
 
Even after all that, Shelby had turned her back on him when they’d gone to bed, making it clear that she didn’t want to make love.
 
He hadn’t attempted to change her mind as she expected him to, but had merely curled himself around her and held her close.

It must have been doubly painful for him; learning that she wasn’t pregnant and then having her place both physical and emotional distance between them.
 
But he’d pushed his own feelings aside and made arrangements to have the studio put together in an effort to lighten her mood and take her mind off her own worries.
 
How could she not love a man who was so kind and caring, who always placed her needs above his own?

Shelby crossed the room and all but launched herself into his arms.
 
“You are the most amazing husband,” she whispered as she pulled his mouth down onto hers.

Logan lost himself in the warmth of her kisses, shoving aside thoughts of the talk he knew couldn’t put off much longer.
 
He’d been incredibly hurt last night when she turned away from him, but she’d managed to erase it all with just one radiant smile when he opened the door and showed her the studio.
 
And he could tell by the way Shelby had looked at him that she knew he hadn’t passed the task on to his Personal Assistant but had actually gone down to one of the finest art supply stores in the city and made all the purchases personally.

It had actually worked as balm to his own aching heart to do something he knew would bring her happiness.
 
Shelby had always found solace in her artwork and he’d felt certain it was just what she needed to get over the disappointment of not being pregnant.
 
But he would remedy that unhappy situation soon too, he thought as he pulled her closer and deepened the kiss.
 
He would be on her every chance he got, and he would enjoy every single moment of it.
 
Starting right here, right now.

“Oh, Logan,” she said on a sigh as he swept her up into his arms and carried her to the bedroom.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                           ***

A small giggle bubbled up in her throat as Shelby’s brush swept across the canvas.
 
How Logan expected to get any work done was beyond her.
 
He’d already made up fictional appointments twice this afternoon so he could sneak up to the Penthouse and have his wicked way with her, and that was
after
he had made love to her earlier this morning when he’d first shown her the studio.
 
The man was insatiable and Shelby was beginning to wonder if he hadn’t made a raving nymphomaniac out of her because she’d practically ripped his clothes off the second time he’d sauntered in with a sexy grin on his face.

Of course, things wouldn’t always be like this, but she intended to soak up every second of attention she could while it lasted.
 
Eventually he would have to get back into his daily routine at work and his visits wouldn’t be nearly as frequent, but she was okay with that.
 
She wasn’t a clingy person by nature, which Shelby knew was one of the things Logan admired most about her.

She didn’t hound him about where he was going or when he would be back even though she missed him terribly when they were apart.  She understood he needed to maintain some independence outside their marriage just as she did.
 
Shelby adored him for letting her spend hours on her painting, and though it had to annoy him to some degree that she often got so involved in her work she forgot a dinner engagement or party they were to attend, he never showed it.
 
He would just smile in that indulgent way he had when he came home to find she wasn’t ready.
 
He’d give her a kiss and tell her to hurry so they wouldn’t be late, but he never really got upset with her for it.
 

Shelby’s brush froze over the canvas.
 
Logan never disturbed her while she was locked away in her studio because he knew how important her artwork was to her.
 
It was a part of her, a part of who she was, but it was something she had to do alone.
 
His presence would only distract her or make her so self conscious she probably wouldn’t be able to paint a stroke.
 
Was that one of the reasons he had balked at having her work with him at Vittorio Enterprises?
 
Would she hinder his ability to do his job if she was around?

She set the brush down and wandered to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water.
 
Logan was a powerful man in the industry and she knew there were times when he had to be ruthless in his business dealings.
 
It was a side of her husband Shelby wasn’t used to seeing, a side of himself he obviously didn’t
want
her to see.
 

She had been unfair to him, she realized.
 
He’d only agreed to let her come and work with him because he loved her and because Logan was rarely able to deny her anything, especially when he knew it meant so much to her.
 
Maybe she wasn’t asking a lot; after all she would only be helping out a little or filling in for his Personal Assistant now and then.
 
But it was still an invasion into his business world, no matter how slight.
 

He’d built up Vittorio Enterprises through sheer determination and hard work and he deserved to keep it to himself if he wanted to.
 
She had no right to ask him to give up any part of it and she felt horribly selfish now for taking advantage of his desire to make her happy no matter what the cost to himself.
 
It was just another example of how soft hearted Logan was when it came to her, and for that reason Shelby decided to tell him she’d changed her mind about working with him.

She rinsed out her glass and set it in the dish washer then went back to the studio to clean her brushes and tidy things up.
 
She’d thought working with Logan was a grand idea when she’d first considered it but now she realized it had just been a way of trying to wheedle more time with him.
 
Everything will be okay, she promised herself.
 
Even when his visits to the Penthouse became less frequent, she would still have more precious time with him than she’d had before.
 

No, she wouldn’t become a clinging vine and have him end up despising her for it.
 
She would make the most of their time together and be happy with it because nothing,
nothing
was going to keep her from being the wife Logan deserved.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                         ***

He’d put it off much longer than he should have, and now as Logan stepped inside the Penthouse suite, his stomach churned nervously; another alien sensation that
first
made its appearance when Shelby waltzed her way past the concrete barriers he’d built around his heart.
 
If there was ever a time when he had been hit with a bout if jittery nerves before his sweet young wife had captivated him with those expressive green eyes of hers, he certainly couldn’t remember.
 

Like all of
his brothers, Logan had been taught that a man should always be confident without being arrogant and that he never gave away his hand before all the cards had been laid out on the table.
 
Weaknesses were to be overcome and fears conquered before they had a chance to infiltrate the perfect order of his life.
 
And though his father had taught them women should be treated with kindness and respect, real men did
not
wear their hearts on their sleeves for all the world to see.

And yet…how many times had Logan caught Cesare Vittorio’s gaze linger on his mother’s graceful form as if she was the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid eyes on?
 
That Ravenna held her husband’s heart in her hands was no secret, it was evident in the way his father’s normally commanding voice softened when he spoke to her and the way his hardened façade slipped away when she was anywhere near him.
 

Growing up, Logan had never
been able to
comprehend the transformation that took place when Cesare was in his wife’s presence, but he fully understood it now.
 
Because the same thing happened to him whenever he even
thought
of Shelby.
 
Something deep inside him shifted, became calmer, gentler, and the truth was that Logan
liked
that place she took him to
.  He
felt more like a man when he was showing his wife kindness and tenderness than he ever had when he was barking orders or bulldozing over someone to get what he wanted.

From the doorway of the studio, he watched Shelby primly placing each artist tool in its assigned spot and already he could feel the hunger rising inside of him to take her again.
 
So proper and refined his wife was, but when she was in his arms, his bed, it was as if something wild and very unladylike was unleashed.
 
It had been that way right from the beginning but even more so since they’d reunited, and he loved it, loved that he could make her writhe beneath him with wanton abandon and that he could coax the most arousing little sounds out of her.

Shelby turned just as he started across the room.
 
Her eyes widened and a small, helpless whimper whispered from between her parted lips when she saw the determined look on his face.
 
Color bloomed in her cheeks as he reached for her, drawing her in for a long, hard kiss.
 
She didn’t say a word when he gently gripped her shoulders and turned her around, nor when his hands glided up her bare thighs and disappeared beneath her sundress.
 
There was only the ragged sound of her breathing and an almost inaudible moan as he lowered her panties then freed his erection and slipped inside of her.

“
Oh God
,” she cried out when Logan pulled back then thrust into her once more.

Shelby leaned forward, stretching herself across her drafting table, her fingers curling around the edges as he filled her again and again and again.
 
By the time Logan exploded inside of her, she
was
reduced to a quivering mass of jello.
 
She managed to stand on wobbly legs as Logan guided her panties up over her hips and smoothed her dress back down but she didn’t dare loosen her grip on the drafting table.