VITTORIO'S RUNAWAY BRIDE (The Vittorio Series) (25 page)

“You think not?
 
Would you care to wager on that, Mrs. Vittorio?”

“I’d bet my life on it,” she said with bold confidence.

Alicia eyed Shelby with grudging admiration.
 
“I think maybe I did underestimate you,” she admitted, "but it won't
 
change anything. So here’s the deal.
 
You
are
going to disappear for forty-eight hours.
 
If I convince Logan to sleep with me during that time, you runaway for good this time
,
and
you file for divorce so I don’t have to deal with any guilt on his part for committing adultery.”

“This is ridiculous.
 
I refuse to play this game with you, and I refuse to stand idly by while you
 
try to seduce my husband.”

“Afraid you’ll lose?”
 
Alicia taunted.

“I told you, I’d bet my life he
would
never cheat on me.
 
And even if I was stupid enough to go along with this, how do I know you wouldn’t just add to your pile of lies and tell me you slept with him whether you did or not?”

“You do have a point there,” Alicia conceded, “but it wouldn’t be very sporting of me to lie about it.
 
Besides, I have an idea how you can witness the whole thing without Logan knowing.”
 
She nodded to the panel on the wall.
 
"You
will
be able to hear everything that goes on in your bedroom from that intercom so there won’t be any doubt in your mind as to whether I’m telling the truth or not.”

“Have you lost your mind?”
 
Shelby’s temper exploded.
 
“I’m not going to stay here and listen
while
you try
to
get my husband into bed!”

“I’m afraid you have no choice in the matter,” Alicia replied calmly as she reached into her purse.

Shelby just stood there,
 
gaping in horror as Alicia drew out a small handgun and aimed it at her heart.

Logan listened intently to every word Alicia said, careful to keep a
fixed
smile on his face.
 
Devious didn’t even begin to describe the workings of this woman’s mind and he was having a hard time grasping how anyone could do the damage she’d done without a stitch of remorse.
 
Obviously, Alicia was responsible for driving Shelby away this time, but he never would have suspected it was her handiwork that had cast doubts in his wife’s head the first time Shelby ran out on him.

While Alicia continued her sordid tale, the gut wrenching fear that he’d lost Shelby for good made him want to bolt from the room and go find her.
 
What had he told her this afternoon?
 
If you run away from me a second time, I will not go after you.
 
After finding Alicia in their bed, how could he blame her for leaving him?
 

Despair washed over him in waves.
 
She
would
never believe Alicia had managed to sneak past the gardener and slip into the house through the patio doors.
 
And she
would
never believe Alicia got past two maids
and
Alba then somehow found her way to their bedroom without any guidance from him.

If only he knew she was safe.
 
It tormented him to think of Shelby driving around in the state of mind she must surely be in.
 
What if she got in a wreck and was seriously injured or lost their baby?
 
Logan’s heart sank even lower.
 
He’d thought of nothing else on the way home but the thrill of watching Shelby’s body change during her pregnancy.
 
Dio
, he wanted her back in his arms.
 

“I know this is a lot to take in all at once,” Alicia was saying, “but now that you know the lengths I went to so that we could be together, you can’t possibly be angry with me.”

Logan forced a tenderness to his voice, though it sickened him to do so.
 
“Of course not, how could I be angry?
 
I am a little…concerned about Shelby though.”

Alicia waved her hand dismissively.
 
“She’s perfectly safe
.  A
nd you don’t have to worry about her coming back while we’re getting to know one another on a more…intimate basis.”

“How can you be so sure?
 
If nothing else, she may return to get some of her things.”

“There’s no chance of that.
 
It’s just you and me now,” Alicia said in a sultry voice.
 
“Take me to bed, Logan.
 
I want you to forget that little nothing of a woman ever existed and make love to me.”

Logan’s nostrils flared but he refused to let anger cloud his thinking.
 
He put his arm around her and pulled her close so that her head rested on his shoulder.
 
It was the only thing he could think of to eliminate any chance she
would
see the mixture of fury and fear on his face.
 
His eyes darted around the room while his mind searched for a way out of this that didn’t end with taking Alicia to bed just so he could find out what she’d done with Shelby.

“Patience,” he said out loud then clamped his mouth shut, silently berating himself.

“Patience?”
 
Alicia repeated.
 
“You
are
so
right, my darling
.  O
ur first time shouldn’t be rushed, not after we’ve waited so long to be together.”

Stall.
 
That’s what he had to do.
 
Stall her until he could sort a few things out in his head.
 
Logan’s gaze landed on Shelby’s vanity table, and for a moment the poignant memory of watching her comb out her glorious mane of hair was so vivid he couldn’t breathe.
 
Vaguely, it registered that Alicia was talking to him
,
but his attention was focused on the small beaded handbag poised on the end of the table.
 

It was hanging half on and half off, as if she’d thrown it there without any regard as to where it landed.
 
He’d seen her do it countless times and had always found it rather amusing because she was so meticulous about putting her things away.
 
It was almost as if she had to prove to herself that she could rebel against her own compulsion for neatness if she really wanted to.
 
It was such a minor thing, one small purse sitting on the vanity, but was a very major mistake on Alicia’s part to have overlooked it.

Even in a highly emotional state, Shelby wouldn’t have left the house without her purse because it contained her car keys and pocketbook; two things that would be essential if she intended on leaving him for any length of time.
 
The only conclusion he could draw was that she’d been forcibly removed from the house, and that meant Alicia had either taken Shelby somewhere nearby or she had someone else do it.
 

Logan immediately dismissed the idea that anyone but Alicia was involved in Shelby’s disappearance.
 
It would have been difficult enough for Alicia to slip past a few people unnoticed but it would have been nearly impossible for a second person to pull it off, especially since they’
would
have to avoid being seen a second time when they left with Shelby.
 

All kinds of horrible scenarios began to play
out
in his mind.
 
Had she been forced to leave at gunpoint?
 
Was she locked inside a dark room or had she been crammed into a small space that didn’t allow any movement?
 
 
Was she bound and gagged, scarred half out of her mind because she thought he wouldn’t even be looking for her?
 

The pain inside his chest was agonizing and it was only the belief that he would find Shelby and bring her home again that made it bearable.
 
Somehow
,
he had to get Alicia to tell him the truth about what had happened.
 
She’d told nothing but lies from the moment he walked in and he had to wonder if she was even capable of distinguishing between reality and the fabrications she created.
 

“You’re not still worrying about
her
, are you?” Alicia’s acidic tone broke into Logan’s thoughts.

“Why should I concern myself about Shelby when she obviously doesn’t care about me?
 
Actually,” he said, an idea beginning to form, “I was worried about
you
.”

Alicia tipped her head back, a happy smile lighting her face.
 
“You’re worried about me?”

Logan smiled back, and the man who prided himself on his honesty let loose a string of lies that would have made him cringe if his and Shelby’s lives didn’t hinge on making Alicia believe every last word.

“Of course I am worried about you.
 
It must have taken quite a toll on your emotions to confront Shelby, not to mention what a strain it must have been to know you had done all of this for a man who might not even recognize the sacrifices you have made for him.”

“You really do understand,” she said on a sigh.

Logan reached up and caressed the side of her face with his fingertips.
 
“You look tired,” he said softy.
 
“It is my fault you have been under such tremendous stress.
 
If only I had given into my desires and admitted how much I wanted you…”

“Oh
,
Logan,” she cried, “you don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that.”

“Forgive me for denying us both the pleasure of being together.
 
Our union was inevitable
. 
I can see now that I have only hurt us both by pretending otherwise, but I promise I will make it up to you.”

She pressed her cheek into his palm.
 
“Does that mean you’re going to make love to me now?”

“You have no idea how much I want to take you to bed right now,
mia bella,
but I am afraid it will have to wait.”

Alicia pulled away from him, her expression cold as ice.
 
“What do mean we have to wait?
 
You said you wanted me…”

“I do want you.
 
Listen to me, Alicia.
 
I have an important business meeting in less than an hour that I cannot get out of.
 
I only came home to change clothes and eat dinner.”
 
Logan cupped her chin and leaned forward, brushing her lips with a brief kiss.
 
“When I make love to you, I do not want to be rushed.
 
Be patient
. 
I promise you it will be worth the wait.”

Alicia’s anger began to melt under his intense gaze.
 
“How long will you be gone?”

“I cannot be sure, but it may be pretty late.
 
This is what I want you to do while I am gone.
 
First, you will need to eat because you will need your strength for later.
 
I will have Alba bring up something for dinner before sending her off to visit her daughter for the night.
 
Then you will take a nice long bath, after which you will crawl into bed and sleep until I wake you with soft kisses.”

“And after that?”
 
Alicia asked in a breathless whisper.

Logan smiled.
 
“After that, I will make love to you until you are too exhausted to move.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                       
***

Shelby stared blankly at the wall.
 
Her head ached, but the dull throbbing was nothing compared to the raw pain that was tearing at her heart right now.
 
If we cannot trust each other then we have nothing
.
 
Wasn’t that what he’d told her after Dante and Luca skirted Alicia out of the Penthouse?
 
And she
had
trusted him; she’d trusted him so much she
had
mocked Alicia for believing he would even consider being unfaithful.

She would have given anything to be able to press her hands to her ears and drown out the sound of their voices as they planned their night of adulterous activities, but of course she couldn’t.
 
Alicia had been vicious when she’d taken the length of baling twine and bound Shelby’s wrist to each arm of the chair.
 

The twine
had been
pulled so tight the circulation
was
cut off
to her hands.  By the time Alicia roped her ankles to the legs of the chair, Shelby’s
fingers had started to turn blue.
 
She would have bitten off her own tongue before begging Alicia to loosen them, but as it turned out, Alicia must have had a brief twinge of conscious and loosened them herself.

The woman had certainly come prepared.
 
Even if Shelby had been willing to risk her own safety and tried to get past Alicia and her gun, she couldn’t endanger Alba’s life.
 
Besides the gun, Alicia’s purse had also contained a ball of twine and duct tape.
 
She’d lucked out, Alicia had told her; covering her mouth with the tape was unnecessary because the room was sound proof.
 
Maybe she should take advantage of that and scream her lungs out
,
because right now that’s what she really wanted to do.

Shelby clenched her jaws to keep from crying out at the sharp stab of pain that shot through her when Logan told Alicia that being with her had been inevitable.
 
Desperate to keep from hearing anymore, she started reciting the words to poems and songs, anything she could think of.
 
And it worked for a few minutes…until she paused to take a breath of air.