VITTORIO'S RUNAWAY BRIDE (The Vittorio Series) (16 page)

“Then you need to find out what made her leave and make sure it does not happen again.”

“I know why she left.
 
Shelby saw me coming out of the Grand Marquis with Alicia Delatorre and thought I was having an affair.”
 
Logan rushed to explain when Simon’s eyes narrowed in silent accusation.
 
“It was a complete misunderstanding, I swear.
 
I was meeting Richard for lunch and he asked if I could stop by the hotel to pick her up on the way.”

“Shelby should have asked you about it instead of running away without giving you the chance to explain.”

Logan looked at his brother with the same accusatory expression Simon had given him.
 
“You mean the way Lilly waited around for your explanation when she thought you were having a fling with Gabriella?”

“Is it my fault women tend to respond with emotion, not logical thinking,” Simon said with a touch of self-righteousness.

“No, but I did not deliberately set out to make Shelby jealous as you did with Lilly.
 
At least you were able to convince your wife it was simply a foolish ploy on your part to make her see how much she loved you.”

“It was foolish,” Simon grimaced, “and it was game that nearly destroyed what we had together.”

“I think I have done something even worse, and now I am afraid it is going to come back to haunt me.
 
I was not entirely honest about Alicia Delatorre.”

“You did not tell her about escorting Alicia to the art gallery and a business dinner?
 
Logan, how could you omit something like that after she admitted that seeing you and Alicia together was the reason she left?”

“I
did
tell her about it.
 
What I neglected to tell her was that Richard’s wife has been coming on to me since the first time I met her.
 
She even came to my office and propositioned me.”

“
Mio Dio
,” Simon groaned, “why did you agree to escort the woman anywhere after she pulled something like that?”

“It was stupid, I know,” Logan said miserably.
 
“I hoped that by showing her I had no interest in having an affair with her, she would stop trying to seduce me and we could have an amicable relationship.
 
I did not want to lose Richard’s friendship or his business and was concerned that if Alicia and I could not be in the same room without feeling uncomfortable with each other, Richard would begin to question it.”

“But she has not gotten the message?”

“No, and now I am worried she will do or say something to make Shelby think her suspicions were valid.”

“Then you have to head it off at the pass, Logan.
 
Tell Shelby what this woman has done so she has no reason to believe you are hiding something.”

Logan’s eyes wandered back to Shelby.
 
“Tell her Alicia came to my office and all but begged me to have sex with her?
 
Madre di Dio
, how could any woman hear something like that and not question whether I had given Alicia reason to believe I wanted it too?”

“Did you?”

“
Siete insano?
” Logan’s temper flared.
 
“Have you completely lost your mind?
 
The woman makes my skin crawl!
 
Even if I was attracted to her, I love my wife and would never hurt Shelby that way.”

“Then tell her, Logan.
 
Tell her everything you have told me and so she has nothing to worry about.”

“I do not want to her to give her any reason for doubting me again,” Logan agreed.

“So you will tell her?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

Logan shot his brother a wilting glare.
 
“Tomorrow, is that soon enough to suit you?”

Simon’s eyes turned to his wife, Lilly.
 
“See to it that you do not delay having the conversation.
 
Trust me on this, Logan.
 
The longer you put it off, the greater chance you take of losing her again.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                         ***

He couldn’t do it.
 
How could he tell Shelby about Alicia’s attempts to seduce him when he neglected to say anything about it before they left the beach house?
 
It was especially damning to have remained silent after she’d overheard him talking to Alicia on the phone.
 
To make matters worse, last night as they were getting ready for bed, she apologized again for not trusting him.
 
In his own defense, Logan attempted to tell her but had gotten a little sidetracked.

“I have something I need to talk to you about,” he’d said as Shelby was turning down the bed covers.

Apparently, she had no desire to talk.
 
In response, she’d given him a sexy smile then untied her robe and let it drop to the floor.
 
His eyes followed her feline movements as she crawled onto the bed and stretched out, her glorious mane of hair splayed across the pillow.
 
It took Logan’s breath away to see his wife offering herself up to him so wantonly, and every male hormone in his body ached to claim her in a most uncivilized manner.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

“You are not making this very easy,” he said as he slipped between the sheets.
 
He turned on his side, propping himself on one elbow.
 
“We really do need to talk,” he made a second attempt.

Shelby stuck out her bottom lip in a pretty pout as she feathered one hand across his chest.
 
“I thought you wanted to make a baby,” she said in a husky whisper.

Logan had no defense against her words and an even greater weakness for the seductive way she pressed her hips into his.
 
But it was the soft purring sound she made in the back of her throat as she nuzzled her nose into his neck that threw him over the edge.
 
Shelby let out a surprised squeak when he rolled on top of her and roughly kneed her legs apart then plunged into her with a primal growl.
 
He possessed her in a way he never had before, driving himself into her, each forceful stroke branding her as his, only his.

He’d watched her expressive eyes as she matched each furious thrust of his hips, drawing him deeper and deeper into the warmth of her body.  His heart soared.   Shelby knew exactly what he was doing, and she welcomed it.
 
The physical joining of their bodies was his way of proving to his beautiful wife, and himself, that she belonged to him.  Logan bound her to him in the most intimate way possible and she exalted in his ardent love making, accepted his need to claim her because she understood it fulfilled a need in his heart and soul.
 
 

What made it right in her eyes was how Logan tempered that possessive streak by allowing her the freedom to be herself too.
 
That was the reason she and Logan were so perfect together, why their love for each other burned just as strong now as it ever had.

“I love you,” she whispered, after their passion had been spent and she lay in his arms.

“You have changed,” Logan said, pulling her more snuggly to his side.
 
“The way you make love now is…different.
 
Why is that,
cara mia
?”

“Different, yes,” she agreed, “but it’s better now, isn’t it?”

“I have no complaints about how good it was before, Shelby.”

“No…no complaints,” she said softly.
 
“It’s never been anything but wonderful between us, but there was always a small part of me that I held back because I was afraid.”

“Afraid of what,
carissima
?”

“The same thing you were afraid of, Logan.
 
I thought if I gave you everything, if I let myself go and loved you like I really wanted to, I would lose a part of myself.
 
And I was terrified there wouldn’t be any hope of picking up the pieces and going on with my life if our marriage didn’t work out.”

“I was never afraid our marriage would not last,” he said with total conviction.

“No, but you
were
afraid that you would lose a part of yourself.
 
You’re always in such control, Logan, and I know it was much harder for you to give that up than it was for me.
 
But you did it.
 
That first night at the beach house, I
felt
it.”

“I could not keep it from you any longer,” he admitted.
 
“When I realized I had not lost you, that you still loved me, I knew it was useless to even pretend there was any part of me that did not already belong to you.”

“It’s the same for me.
 
It seems so silly now, doesn’t it;
 
believing we were holding onto something that we had already given each other long ago?”

“I was lost from the first moment I laid eyes you,
mio bello
.”

“I don’t think I ever quite believed that.”

“But you do now?”

“Well,” she pressed herself more firmly to his side, “let’s just say it gets easier every time you make love to me like you did tonight.”

“You need more convincing, do you?”

“Mmmmm,” she purred when his hand glided up her side to cup her breast.
 

“Do not take this the wrong way,” Logan murmured as he nibbled his way from her neck to her mouth, “but I hope it takes all night to convince you.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                        ***

Simon sat across from his brother looking thoroughly disappointed.
 
“You did not tell her.”

“I tried last night, but…it was the first time in over six months we were alone in our house, our own room and…” Logan shrugged, certain Simon could figure out the rest without going into detail.

“And this morning before you left for work?
 
You had time then.
 
What about when you went home for lunch?
 
Or did you end up alone in your room again and get distracted by something more…enticing?”

“She was still asleep when I left this morning,” Logan replied stiffly, “and I did
not
go home for lunch.
 
I promised Shelby I would go with her to the doctor’s office, and afterwards…after we found out she was not pregnant, I did not have the heart to talk to her about Alicia.”

“I am sorry, Logan.
 
I remember how crushed Lilly was when she thought she was pregnant only to discover she was not.”

“I am afraid Shelby took it better than I did,” he said grimly.
 
“I was so sure…”

Logan rose from his desk and wandered over to the glass wall that looked out over the city.
 
She’d taken it much harder than he expected her to, but when the doctor told them she wasn’t pregnant it felt as if something deep inside of him had been wrenched out and shredded.
 
He’d been strong for Shelby, of course, assuring her they would keep trying, but he had driven around for over an hour after dropping her off at the house because he’d been so deeply disappointed.

“When the time is right it will happen,” Simon promised.

Logan turned around.
 
“You have omitted to say that it can never be right while there are still secrets between us.”

“It was not an omission, little brother.  I simply saw no need to point out what you already know to be true.”