Shadow Keeper (Shadow #3)



“What was that?” Sasha asked as she looked around Giovanni’s house curiously. She was very nervous. Much more so than she thought she would be. “That man who attacked you and cut you with a knife.”

Giovanni wasn’t going to get away with pretending nothing had happened. She’d been sent back to work by Stefano. Sweetly, but still he’d given the order. By the time she had looked up from the wall where she’d been tossed, the assailant was gone and several men were wiping the floor clean.

Giovanni had come back to his table with the others several minutes later as if nothing had transpired. They were so casual and laughed so often she would have thought she’d hallucinated the entire incident, but his hands were swollen, his knuckles torn and there was a streak up his arm where the knife had sliced right through his jacket.

“That’s the kind of thing that happens when you’re a celebrity. People with mental illnesses fixate on you and you’re not even aware of it. He had too much to drink and got a little crazy. We’ve been talking about putting metal detectors at the doors for some time.”

His tone was casual and he waved his hand as if the entire thing was just an everyday occurrence, but she wasn’t buying it. “Where is he now? I didn’t see the cops arrive.” There was no way to keep the suspicion from her voice and she didn’t try.

“I’m not certain, Sasha,” Giovanni said. “Are you hungry? I don’t think you’ve been eating much since your stalker made his appearance. I watched you at Stefano’s and I’m fairly certain you ate three bites.”

“I wolfed my food down. I’m not one of those women who never eat,” she declared. “I’m always willing to eat, but I would like a shower.”

She desperately needed to breathe deep. She was in Giovanni Ferraro’s home. It was beautiful. Not at all pretentious. It was impressive, but beautiful. She loved the way the house was shaped in a long U. One side of the U was the master bedroom, bathroom, what appeared to be a training hall or very well-equipped gym, a theatre room and a large library that she could get lost in, as well as what she was certain was a nursery. Just looking into that room made her heart start to pound, as if she was looking at her future. She’d always loved the thought of children because she knew her brother would make the best uncle in the world and her parents, wonderful grandparents. In a way, that nursery was comforting.

The kitchen, dining room and great room formed the curve of the U with two bathrooms and a large pantry. She hadn’t visited the second side of the U, but she was certain it was equally as impressive. In the courtyard between the two long sides of the house was a swimming pool, an outside kitchen with a fireplace and a garden that easily could have been in a magazine. She was very glad, in spite of the money he had, Giovanni didn’t have a home with thousands and thousands of square feet. She would have been lost. His home felt like it still was cozy and comfortable to her although it had every modern convenience and in terms of square footage was large.

Sasha let the water pour over her body. She was exhausted, and yet just being in Giovanni’s house with him, knowing she’d be in his bed, was exhilarating. She should have waited to agree to marry him until she knew the secrets of his family, but something had tied them together. Something unbreakable. She had no idea what it was, but those ties were strong. She wanted to be with him. She wanted to make him happy. She knew he could make her happy.

If what she felt for him had only been sexual, she could have resisted. She was strong, and she weighed things carefully as a rule. This whirlwind romance with Giovanni Ferraro was almost unbelievable to her if she examined it too closely. She wished she could talk to Sandlin. He’d always advised her when she was growing up, and his advice had always been spot-on. Still, there was a part of her that knew it wouldn’t matter what he said. She was too far gone. Whatever it was that bound them together tied her so tightly to him she couldn’t think straight. So yes, she was taking that chance.

When she had dried off, feeling refreshed, she wrapped a towel around herself and wandered back into the master bedroom. Her heart thudded when she saw him sitting there on the bed, a tray beside him. Suddenly she was starving. She looked around a little helplessly, not wanting to sit on the bed in a towel.

“Clothes in the drawers.”

She loved the sound of his voice and the fact that he always seemed to know when she needed something. The closet held a series of drawers, and she cautiously opened the top two. Panties, bras and lingerie were stacked neatly. The top item was an apricot gown in a fabric that stretched, but wasn’t more than delicate lace. She picked up the thong panties. They were made out of the same fabric, but twisted cord.

Just looking at the lingerie made her sex clench. She loved beautiful, sexy undergarments. It was the one thing she spent money on. She wore them beneath her jeans when she rode horses on the ranch. She wore them beneath her uniform when she went to work. Now, she would wear them for the man she was falling off a cliff for and who turned her on.

“So, that man, the one you took down to the floor in zero point one seconds and who your entire family surrounded just as fast and then he was gone …” She glanced over her shoulder to look at his face. His expression hadn’t changed at all. She stepped into the gossamer panties. They might as well have been nonexistent, but she settled the thin, rolled cord between her cheeks and reached for the short gown. “How did you manage to disarm him, take him down, beat the crap out of him and get him out of there right under the noses of the paparazzi and me?”

Sasha didn’t turn around that time. She knew she wouldn’t be able to read him. He would either tell the truth or he wouldn’t. He’d been so fast she questioned what she saw, but the more she replayed the incident in her mind, the surer she was that something significant had happened. Giovanni Ferraro looked like a hot businessman, a playboy jet-setter, but he was far more than that. He moved too fast, was too good at fighting. He’d put that man down so fast she honestly hadn’t even seen it.

“Practice.”

Her heart thudded. She pulled the matching gown over her head. The stretch lace was apricot, the color barely there. It was short, falling to just below her bottom so that every step would have her bare cheeks peeking out. The material settled over her body like a glove, a sheath emphasizing rather than hiding her curves. She stared down at herself. “Um, Giovanni? There seems to be a little flaw in this gown.” The material wrapped around her breasts, framing them beautifully, but there wasn’t so much as a stitch over them.

“Turn around. Let me see. I approved that one myself.”

“I’ll just bet you did.” She took a breath and turned. His eyes went dark with pure lust. The sensual lines in his face were carved deep, making him look like the epitome of sin and sex. There was no way the transparent panties were going to do much good when she went damp, slick with desire for him. It was impossible to feel anything but sexy in a gown so exquisite, one that left her breasts on display for him. Already, her nipples were tight little buds and her breasts ached.

“You look beautiful. Come eat something.”