“I believe that.”
“So, my stalker isn’t stalking me because I’m important to him. I’m so confused. I don’t understand any of this.”She turned around and rose up onto her knees so she could look down at the streets. “Just so you know, it’s far easier living and working on a cattle ranch in Wyoming than living in Chicago. If anyone tries to tell you differently, point them my way and I’ll straighten them out.”
“Come on, let’s get out of here. The cops are going to want to talk to you. It’s going to be a while before we can get you home and in bed.”
She looked toward the deli where her little apartment had been. Now, there were only smoking ruins. “I don’t have a thing. No clothes. No anything.”
“You’re going to be fine, honey. We’ll take care of you. You’re doing great. I know it’s been a crappy day, but hang in there. Giovanni will be here soon, and we’ll have our lawyer present as well when they ask you questions.”
“I don’t know what I can and can’t say.”
“Just tell them about being in your apartment and all hell breaking loose.”
“If they ask me why I was there instead of with Giovanni?” Because it seemed ridiculous to her that she hadn’t been with Giovanni. She should have been. Her apartment would still be intact, and Pietro wouldn’t have lost his deli.
“Don’t.” Vittorio’s voice was low. He took her arm and indicated she make her way back to the trapdoor. “There’s no point in wondering what would have happened had you been with Giovanni.”
“How could you know I was thinking that?”
“Your face is an open book. I can read every expression.”
Strange, when her brother had always told her she was difficult to read and would make a good poker player. Vittorio was definitely an enigma.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
A bath had never felt so wonderful. Sasha had spent a long time in the shower, hoping to get rid of the smoke smell. The water pouring over her had felt like heaven on her tired, sore muscles, but nothing felt like luxuriating in the bath. The water came up high and was just the perfect temperature. Steam rose and with it the perfumed scent of candy apple with a dash of cinnamon. How Giovanni knew that was her favorite scent, she didn’t know—or care—she just breathed it in and let it transport her far away from the reality of the night.
Her head rested on a very comfortable pillow and her hair was wound up in a tight spa wrap. She opened her mouth and Giovanni obligingly put a forkful of beef Stroganoff in. The sauce seemed to explode in a myriad of flavors on her taste buds. How he’d managed to get such a five-star meal delivered to his home at such a crazy hour, she had no idea, but she was okay with indulging.
He put another bite to her lips, and she sighed with happiness. She didn’t know how she could go from being terrified for her brother, losing everything she owned, finding out her stalker really wanted her dead, to complete bliss.
“I think I could live here,” she stated.
Giovanni grinned at her. “That’s the idea, baby. If I knew it would take beef Stroganoff to convince you, I would have had the chef fix it for you the day I met you.”
“I’m talking about the bathtub. Living in the bathtub.”
His eyebrow shot up and he removed the fork just before her lips could close and ate it himself.
“Wait. The Stroganoff is going a long way to showing me the error of my ways,” she hastily amended. “I should have moved in, no questions asked, and accepted every little thing you offered me.”
He smirked. “It is that good, isn’t it?” He fed her another bite. “Stefano found the chef in New York and had to offer him a fortune to relocate. The man makes more money than our bank does, but he’s worth every penny.”
“I’m sorry,” Sasha said, because she had to apologize. It had been weighing on her since they’d entered his home and he’d been waiting on her hand and foot as if she was the most precious thing in his world. “I should have come here with you. I don’t know what got into me. It was never you, Giovanni. I was scared for you, for Sandlin and for myself. I was also very angry and wanted to strike out at someone. Not just anyone, whoever is doing this—manipulating all of us. But I made you my convenient target and I’m really sorry.”
He leaned down and brushed a kiss over her forehead. “Sasha, I’m angry. Who wouldn’t be? Of course, you needed time to sort things out. You haven’t been with me that long. Seeing me with Meredith …”
“Please don’t,” she said softly, ashamed. “I knew Meredith was the one doing all the kissing, and I don’t much care what the tabloids say. I never believed them anyway. Long before I ever met you, I didn’t read them because I knew mostly they were filled with bullshit. I took everything out on you, and that was wrong of me. I put you in danger. I put myself in danger. It was silly and I’m not a silly woman. I’m intelligent and I usually think things through. I was being emotional instead of logical.”
He fed her another bite of Stroganoff. “Are you back to being logical?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Sitting in a perfumed bath, being fed the most wonderful meal I’ve ever eaten by a very handsome man? No, babe, I’m pretty sure this falls under the category of fantasy, but I’ll take it.”
“Do you plan to sleep in there?”
His laughter teased every one of her senses, bringing her own joy to life. She loved his smile, the way it lit up his eyes. “Is there a way to keep the water hot all day?”
“Not happening. You’re sleeping with me,” he decreed and fed himself two bites of the Stroganoff in a row.
She narrowed her eyes. “Stop eating all the food. Share.” Which wasn’t quite fair since he’d given her the lion’s portion already. “And if I’m in the bed with you, I doubt there will be much sleeping, and I’m exhausted.”
“If you’re exhausted, baby, I’ll do all the work. I don’t mind.” He fed her another bite.
The food was so delicious she closed her eyes to savor it. “If you’re ‘working’ on me, I won’t be able to just lie there quietly.”
“I can tie you up. Make sure you don’t move an inch. I know you worked on a cattle ranch so you’ll recognize my skills when you see them. My brother Ricco is a rigger. A good one. He’s been teaching me, and I have to admit, I’m pretty damn good with knots. I won’t mind showing off my skills.”
She looked at him from under her lashes, giving him her best scowl. “Um. I’m not familiar with that term. Rigger. What the heck is a rigger?”
“In some circles, Ricco might be known as a rope master. He has certain skills with knots. He creates art with rope on the human body. His particular skills can be transferred to tying prisoners in remarkable and sometimes painful ways or to the other end of the spectrum, which would be erotic bondage.”
She sat up straighter, one hand going to her throat. “Are you telling me, Ricco practices bondage with Mariko?”
“She’s his rope model for Shibari so I would assume they would also practice erotic bondage together, but I’ve never been in their bedroom and don’t plan to be.”
“Mariko looks so sweet and demure.”
“She’s a tigress. You should see her in action when she’s working. No nonsense with that woman. She gets the job done fast and efficiently. She was trained as a rider as well, but in Japan. Her life wasn’t easy. Ricco adores her. They’re pretty much inseparable.”
She took her time with the next bite, chewing it thoroughly. He tipped his head to one side. “What are you doing?”
“Contemplating the merits of being tied up so I can’t move while you indulge your every whim. And you would. I know you. You’d have a field day with my body.”
He skimmed his finger down her throat and traced over the swell of both breasts before trailing down to her nipple. “If I had you tied up where you couldn’t move, I’d make you admit that your body belongs to me whenever we go to bed.”