Surprised by Love (21 page)

Instantly, Hogan removed the security officer’s cuffs
and put his own on Renata.  He began to drone, “You have the right to
remain silent…”

Once Renata was removed from the office, Alessandro
saw no reason to drag Connie into the garden—she looked exhausted.  They
sat in two of Tom’s tub chairs and watched Tom give a succinct report on the
events, culminating in Renata’s effort to murder Connie, so that she might try
to gain Alessandro’s interest.  He added, “In Italy, she’s a princess, not
of a region or anything, just by name.  She believes she will escape
justice here because of that.”

Corrigan shook his head.  “In her dreams. 
If anything, our judges would be harder on her, because this attempted murder
is not to put bread on the table of a poor family, or anything like that. 
It is purely a selfish move to get her hands on a man who wants nothing to do
with her.” 

He turned to Connie.  “Are you still very
spooked, Ma’am?  Would you like your husband to take you home?  We
can get your testimony and that of your husband tomorrow, at your
convenience.  If you’ll phone the station when you feel up to it, I’ll
come and take your testimony.  Painless, I promise!”  Corrigan had
the satisfaction of seeing Connie smile at him.

He went on, “For now, Mr. Fredericks has given an
excellent précis of the situation, and we will go with that.”

 “Thank you, Lieutenant Corrigan, that is most
kind of you,” said Alessandro, lifting Connie in his arms and walking through
the sculpture garden to the gallery’s private parking at the back.  The
bodyguards left in their wake.

Tom smiled at Corrigan, gesturing to the
Krug. 
“Now that the business part of your presence here has been dealt with, may
I offer you some champagne?”

Corrigan smiled.  “I probably shouldn’t, but I
will.  Thank you.”  He spoke into a small microphone hidden in his
breast pocket.  “Hogan, take the prisoner to the station and see that
she’s locked up tight.”

When they were both sipping, Tom asked, “Do you think
she’ll get away with pleading diminished capacity?  She was nuts over
Alessandro, and she may try to parlay that into a lighter sentene.”

Corrigan thought for a moment and shook his
head.  “A lot of people think they’ll be able to get away with murder, or
attempted murder in this case, by saying they didn’t know what they were doing,
they were insanely obsessed with the person they were stalking, stuff like
that.  They don’t realize that makes them vulnerable to a much longer
sentence—the judge would want to be assured by the psychiatrists that the
murderer is no longer obsessed.” He lifted a brow to Tom.  “Surprising,
how long that can take.”

 “That’s good to know,” said Tom.

Corrigan took another sip.  “What she can try is
to be sent to Italy to serve her sentence there.”

 “And they’d let her out after 3 weeks in a
luxury prison?”

Corrigan shook his head.  “I’ve never heard that
Italian prisons are like country clubs.  True, we have some of those right
here—in fact, there is one here in Florida.  But if she is convicted of
attempted murder here, the Italian police will honour that.  Is her family
very rich?”

Tom frowned.  “I think Alessandro said she is
from an impoverished branch of the family.”

Corrigan nodded.  “Good.  Then she won’t be
able to try bribing high-level authorities to let her go because of this awful
mistake the Florida courts made.”

He grinned.  “Not that that would work. 
Police work closely with their colleagues in other countries, or we’d never get
anywhere.”  He finished his champagne and got to his feet.

 “Thank you for your clear testimony and for your
exceptional hospitality.

I’d better get to the station and put in my
report.”  He turned to Tom. “She won’t get bail. The police will oppose
that strongly.  She tried to murder Mrs. Montedalcino, and she could try
again if she were released.  No, she’ll have to stay in jail until her
case is heard.  I don’t know how busy the courts are right now, and they
may bring this forward a bit, if they can.  But she won’t be able to roam
around taking another pot shot at that nice lady.”

****

Alessandro seated Connie in the passenger seat of his
Ferrari, and drove quickly to his penthouse.  When he got to the security
floor, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the private elevator to
which only he and his bodyguards had access.  Nodding casually to the
security officers present, he propped Connie up in the elevator.  “Only
one floor,
inamorata,”
he soothed.

 “I’m fine, Alessandro,” she tried to reassure
him, but he was not to be comforted. 

 “That damn woman had a gun and was trying to
shoot you,” he moaned.

 “But she didn’t get the chance,
amore,”
she
pointed out, somewhat shakily, he noticed.  “You and Tom had so much
security laid on for me that she couldn’t even come close.”  While she was
trying to appease Alessandro, the elevator stopped, and Mrs. Reid came running.

 “Charlene told me that that princess woman tried
to shoot you, Ma’am—are you all right?”

Connie smiled.  “Of course I am, my husband and
Mr. Tom had put on so much security, the woman who tried to shoot me didn’t
have enough elbow room to throw a paper airplane at me.”  She smiled at
the housekeeper.  “One thing I would like, Mrs. R.  A cup of tea?”

 “Earl Grey all right for you?  Rightaway,
Ma’am.  And you, Sir?  I doubt you are into tea all that much?”

Alessandro managed to produce a smile for his
housekeeper.  “You’re right about that, Mrs. R.  But today, I think
I’d like to drink a cup of tea with my wife. Thank you.  We’ll be on the
patio.”  He turned to Connie.  “All right with you?”

 “Oh yes, Alessandro.  I’d like some fresh
air.  I was glad when Tom suggested we go to his sculpture garden, until I
realized there was nowhere there to sit.  You have to keep walking from
one sculpture to another.”

He gently kissed her temple.  “That’s why I
dragged my feet, when I realized they were going to take Renata away.”

When Mrs. Reid came with the tea, she said, “I thought
you’d be having dinner with Mr. Tom and Mr. Jeff, so I didn’t get anything
special in.  I have lots of frozen prawns and big scallops, and could do a
seafood linguine, if you’d like, with a salad?”

Alessandro glanced at Connie, who gave him a dazzling
smile.  “That sounds delicious, Mrs. R,” he said.  “I admit it’s a
bit unusual to have tea for our happy hour, but maybe you could plan for dinner
around 8?  Whichever way you slice it, this afternoon was exhausting for
Connie, and quite tiring for me, for that matter.” 

 “Of course, Sir.  Seafood linguine at
8.  And I have several yummy desserts for you to make a choice from.”

“You surprise us and make the choice, Mrs. R. 
Thank you.”
        Mrs. Reid nodded and went back to
her kitchen, shaking her head a bit at the young lovers—as she thought of her
employer and his wife—having to suffer such a terrifying ordeal from that
princess woman.

The moment Mrs. Reid left, Alessandro leaned over to
Connie.  “Come sit on my lap?”

She glanced over at him.  “Don’t you mean come
lie on my lap?”

He smiled at her. “Yes. Anything you want to call it
as long as you come over here and lie in my arms.  I need to hold you, so
I can examine you minutely and be sure you suffered no harm at all from that
damned woman.”        

 “I promise you, she didn’t get near enough to
lay a finger on me, much less harm me.  I’ll enjoy having you reassure
yourself that I’m in one piece, the same as I was this morning.”  Connie
grinned. “Of course, if you want to examine me in greater detail, we’d have to
go to the bedroom.”

 “Stop your enticing, my bride.  We’ll get
there in good time, but not right now.  First, I need to make sure that
you suffer no ill-effects from what this woman tried to do to you.”

 “Tried, but did not succeed,
amore.”

Alessandro’s voice was huskier than usual when he
said, “Yes, I thank God for that.  First, let’s drink some more tea, and
then I want to check you over thoroughly.”

 “You have the most enchanting ideas,
Alessandro.  Already I feel so much better.”

****

After dinner, Alessandro refused coffee, telling Mrs.
Reid that they would have an early night after the terrifying afternoon. 

Carrying Connie in his arms up the floating
stairway—the elevator seemed too prosaic to him on this very unusual day—he
said, “I have something to tell you—something I discovered when you were
putting yourself in danger so that we could nab Renata.”

 “What,
amore?”

Shaking his head, he said, “Later, when we’re in bed.”

 “All right,” said Connie amiably.

When they got to their bedroom, Alessandro seated
Connie on the edge of the bed, and removed her clothing.  Quickly, he
disposed of his own clothes, and lifted her in his arms, stretching her out
against the pillows.  He lay down beside her, caressing her face, her
shoulder, picking up her hand to kiss its palm. 
            

Connie asked, “What was it you wanted to tell me,
inamorato?”

Alessandro put his left arm around her, pulling her
closer to him.  When she curled up against him, he bent his dark head to
hers, gently kissing her temple, her elegant cheekbone, and finally her mouth.
He slid his free hand into her hair, pulling her head to his chest. 

 “This afternoon, I was plagued by the thought
that if we were very unlucky and things went wrong, I could lose you.  I
can’t begin to tell you what I felt, and suddenly I thought…”  He strung
baby-kisses along her hand, her wrist.  After slowly pressing his mouth
once more to her palm, he went on.  “I don’t think I’ll have to ask Nonna
what this feeling is that I have for you—apart from a deep friendship and passion. 
I think I know what it is.  I must love you—there is no other explanation
for the pain that overwhelmed me when I forced myself to contemplate that I
might have to spend the rest of my life without you.”  He tugged her
closer and slid both arms around her in a passionate embrace. 

“
Ti amo, carissima.” 
He smiled into her
astonished eyes.  “Do you remember what that means?”

Connie nodded. “You told me, when I said that I loved
you.  You said that
Ti amo
means I love you in Italian.” She gazed
seriously at Alessandro.“Do you seriously believe that you love me?”

He tightened his embrace.  “Yes, I do.  It
is the only explanation for the feelings that assailed me when you were in
danger.”

“But I never was,
amore.” 

“I tormented myself with every possibility that could
go wrong and give that damned woman a tiny opening to harm you.”

Connie smiled, trying to hug herself closer to
him.  “I wish I had known, I would’ve talked you out of those worrying
thoughts.  Tom and my bodyguards said there was no danger at all. 
Those two under-covers with Renate were experienced at disarming criminals, and
she wasn’t experienced!  She was just deluded, believing that since she
had a gun she could dispatch me from the scene.  Not so, as she found
out.” 

“I know all that, Connie, but it didn’t help. 
All I could think of was some glitch—and I would have to live without
you.  And I can’t tell you how the mere thought distressed me.  That
was when I realized that I love you.”  He raised a slim black brow to
her.  “It would be nice if you felt the same about me.”

Connie realized she couldn’t get closer to Alessandro
if she tried, he was holding her in such a passionate embrace.   All
she could do was tighten her arms around him, lift her head for a kiss and
whisper, “I’ve told you before that I love you—even when you insisted we felt
friendship and passion—remember?”

He smiled.  “I remember.”  He brushed his
lips over her mouth, nibbled gently at her lower lip, instantly soothing with
the tip of his tongue.  Deepening the kiss, he tucked her beneath him,
wanting his skin to caress hers, needing the closeness to dispel the terror he
had felt while she was exposed to Renata’s  deluded plans. 
I want
her so much, but is she still too upset by the events of this afternoon, and
she needs time to get over that—before she can feel as I already do?

He felt her mouth smiling beneath his, and gazed at
her, wondering what she was smiling at.  Connie quickly told him.

“Will you please make love to me, Alessandro? 
Once we’re really close, we can forget all about Renata.”

Amazed, he said hesitantly, “You mean it?  You
want me to make love to you?  I thought…”

Connie kissed him.  “Unless you thought that I wanted
us to make love, you thought wrong.” She coaxed, “Please, Alessandro?”

“You’re
sure about this?”  he asked, his voice unsteady.  “You’re not just
saying this because you’ve noticed how much I want you?”

“Quite
sure,
amore,”
she whispered, deeply turned on by feeling his long
fingers caress her everywhere.  She began to fondle the skin of his
powerful chest, teasing his flat, dark nipples into beading up, her body
responding to his increasingly impassioned movements.