Gambler's Folly (Bookstrand Publishing Romance) (26 page)

“Signor Leone?” the officer asked nervously, beads of perspiration on his brow. “If you and your wife will follow me to the security office, it should take only a few moments.”

A few moments was more like half an hour, but they were finally finished. Asked if they planned to stay and complete their vacation, Damiano told them he would think it over and tell them the next morning. The rain had finally stopped, so his mood lightened on their way back. His nose twitched at all the subtle smells from the rain-drenched gardens.

“Cara mia,” he said, slipping the cloak from her shoulders in the suite. “I am so sorry. Are you sure you’re alright? Let me look at you.” His eyes covered every bit of her, searching for any injuries she might not have noticed in the midst of the confusion.

Finally assured, his arms drew her close and wrapped around her. He breathed in deeply, as if imprinting her scent on his brain, as he nuzzled her hair.

Raising her face to his, she felt the concern in those stormy gray eyes before his lips touched hers, tenderly, warmly. Suddenly, that wasn’t enough. Her arms reached around his neck as she pressed her body into his, her kisses becoming more forceful and desperate. “Take me, lover,” she whispered. “I need you tonight.”

Strong arms crushed her to him, as his mouth bruised her lips in the passionate kiss that followed. Roughly, he undressed her, as they littered the living room with hastily cast-off clothing. Both of them now naked, one of his hands seized her hair, and the other, in the small of her back, held her tightly as he dropped one knee to the floor.

Karianna gasped at the sudden movement, feeling the deep, soft carpet against her back. Looking into his eyes, she saw a leopard looking back at her, just for a moment. Their lovemaking hit all the extremes that night, from hungry and desperate to gentle and tender, and then back to two alphas fighting for dominance.

Later, lying in the floor, Damiano’s fingers and mouth still teased her senses, though she was too tired to respond. The scent of mating were-cat was in the air, musky, with smoky overtones hinting of heady amber and sandalwood.

“Kiss me, lover, and then let’s go to sleep. I’m so tired after this evening.”

“You must be, cara. You don’t even protest.” He kissed her deeply and thoroughly before settling next to her, one arm under her neck, the other comfortably around her waist. She was too exhausted even to dream.

“But, Dam, I don’t understand why we need to go home. We were going to be here for only two more days, and we never did get to do our sightseeing, because of the rain,” Karianna complained.

“I need to make sure you are safe, cara,” Damiano explained again. “I can do that better at home.”

“Surely nothing else will happen now,” she countered. “And with your crew here, we should be fine.”

Damiano was quiet for a moment, thinking. Shaking his head, he looked back into Karianna’s eyes, searching. “I am sorry our trip has been spoiled, cara. But you have persuaded me. We will stay one more day before leaving. That way we can see some of the interesting things I wanted to show you, but I will feel better. One more day should be fine. Two, I’m not sure.”

Throwing her arms around his neck she hugged him tightly, saying, “Thank you, lover. I can forfeit one day, if I have one more to spend with you here.”

Damiano called the front desk and updated their plans. “No, I have no complaints about the resort and we’ll return at another time—we will stay for one more night.—yes, thank you.” Finishing the call, he turned to Karianna with a big smile.

“So, cara, how do you feel about champagne?”

“Champagne? It’s wonderful. Why?”

“As an apology for our inconvenience, we will have a complimentary champagne brunch this morning, since we are extending our stay for one more night.”

“Really? How nice!”

“It’s not really much, cara, but it usually makes people happy. I do something similar in my establishments.”

“What do you mean, ‘it isn’t much’?”

“As far as costs are concerned. One meal here or there doesn’t cost much, but it makes people happy. And happy people come back.”

The brunch was very nice, even if Damiano insisted it was fairly inexpensive. Brought to the room and set up on the balcony, the scrambled eggs, toast and fresh fruit went well with the champagne. And the cut glass vase full of fresh flowers atop the white linen tablecloth added an elegant touch.

After a leisurely meal, they took their time to see the sights. Of course, they had the full retinue of retainers following them around, after the incident at the restaurant. Not that they were crowding them, but Marco, Paolo, Dante, and a couple other of Damiano’s men were in evidence whenever Karianna looked around. If she hadn’t known them, she’d never have noticed.

“Dam, is it really necessary to have this many people shadowing us from behind every tree?” she asked.

“Now, cara, I said we would spend one more day and do some sightseeing. But I will make sure you are as safe as I can without having you in a locked and secured location under guard.”

“I’m sorry, honey. I must really put an extra load on your security.”

“It’s fine, cara. I would need the security anyway, with this crazy business going on. They think they have found a way to manipulate me, but they are wrong. And once this is over, we’ll come back and really enjoy the area.”

To prevent any opportunity to tinker with their dinner, they picked a little restaurant completely at random in the evening, before returning to the hotel. Kind of a rustic atmosphere, the menu was simple, but the food was excellent.

“I think this is nearly as good as what they serve at the resort,” Karianna said.

“Yes, it is very tasty, and much safer I think,” Damiano added. The wine was of good quality and quite a complement to their meal. As they lingered over coffee and dessert, Karianna noticed they seemed to be the subject of quite a few glances from other patrons.

“I think someone just figured out who we are,” Dam said with a sigh. “I suppose we’d better start back to the resort, before it spreads any further.”

He was really tense, Karianna decided, as they walked back to the car. Just being recognized had put him on edge again. So when they got to the resort, she suggested a stroll around the grounds to relax.

The gardens and surrounding areas seemed completely empty, except for the two of them and their security. Maybe what he needed was a good run.

“Dam, why don’t you change, just for a few minutes, and take a good run. It’s after dark, cloudy, everyone else is inside and there’s plenty of cover for you.”

He searched her face before he glanced around, and she wasn’t sure what she saw behind those eyes, but it was just a bit scary. As he turned to motion Marco over, she caught her breath again.

After a quick conference, he took her advice. Stepping behind a large clump of decorative grass, he undressed and changed, moving back into view as a large, beautiful black leopard. Nuzzling her hand quickly, he turned to slink off into the shadows.

Every now and then she would catch a glimpse of something moving in the dark, a shadow within a shadow. Figuring her wait might be a long one, she sat down with her back against a tree and drifted into a daydream.

About twenty minutes after he left her, she was startled by the sound of three cats in the distance. She hoped they were all friends, but from the sounds, she knew something was amiss.

Slipping in through the dark, her three guys appeared with a fourth, all cats of various sorts. The fourth one wasn’t Dante, but someone different. Dam stepped back behind the grass, changed and dressed, so he could talk to her.

“Cara, this is another friend who works with us sometimes. He reports that he and Dante have removed some very curious visitors to our suite while we were away. Since we were back later than expected, he came out to report to me and check on us.”

“Is everything alright?” she asked him.

“Yes, cara, it is fine for now. But we really must leave in the morning.”

After a quick breakfast the next morning, they loaded their luggage into the car and drove home. Dam was unusually quiet on the way back, scarcely saying a word. The closer they got to their hotel, the more worried Karianna became.

“Dam, honey, what’s wrong? Is there anything I can do?” she asked.

“Cara, I’m sorry I’ve upset you. It’s just business. Soon it will be finished. In the meantime, I hope you can be patient with me when I am, perhaps, a little difficult.”

Once settled back into their suite, Karianna went to take a nap while Damiano and his men dealt with their intruders. When she woke again, two hours later, he was still gone, so she made some coffee and sat down to read. Worried about her husband, she couldn’t keep her mind on the book, so when he came in nearly an hour after she’d made coffee, she couldn’t have begun to tell him what the book was about.

Looking weary, Damiano came in and dropped heavily onto the sofa. Looking across the coffee table, he shook his head and asked, “Kari, amore mia, would you mind if we didn’t go down to dinner this evening? I’m really not in the mood to face the crowd tonight.”

“No, Dam, that would be fine. You look tired anyway. Did you learn anything from your talk?”

“Yes, a little anyway. Mainly they confirmed what we had suspected, so we know, at least, that we are on the right track. Everything is lining up for us now. This should all be over in a few weeks’ time.”

“If you say so, honey. I’m just worried about you.”

“Now what is to worry about? I can take care of myself, and I have Marco and Paolo with me, too. Please don’t let it concern you. Sono solo affari. It’s just business, cara.”

But she worried all the same. The next evening they returned to their routine, but the undercurrent had changed. Yes, Damiano was in evidence in the restaurant and gaming rooms, and still a gracious host. But his manner was more formal, very controlled, as if he were hunting for prey through the crowds.

One evening after dinner, while Karianna was getting ready for bed, she saw Damiano dressing in soft black trousers, long-sleeved black turtleneck, and tucking a black balaclava into his belt.

“Dam, what are you doing?” she asked.

“It is time to hunt, cara. I need information so I can plan, and the best way to get it is to seek it out.”

“How dangerous is it?”

“Cara, go to bed. I’ll be back before too long. Don’t worry. I won’t be alone.” With a quick kiss, he slipped out the door and into the night.

Though she went to bed, Karianna hardly slept at all. So at a quarter before two, when Damiano walked softly into the room, she turned over to switch on the light.

“Kari, amore, why aren’t you asleep?” he asked.

“I was worried about you, honey. Did everything go alright?”

“Well, yes, I suppose. We got our preliminaries out of the way, anyway.” Finished undressing, he gave her a quick kiss before going in to shower. Watching the clouds of steam escape into the bedroom, Karianna decided that, since she was wide awake, she could join him and maybe go back to sleep when he came to bed.

Sliding into the shower behind him, she scrubbed his back while he rinsed the shampoo from his hair. After a brief, tender encounter in the shower, they both turned in for the night. Karianna could sleep in the next day, but she had no idea what his plans were. With any luck, he could get some rest.

During the next week, Damiano grew more restless. Three more of his evenings were spent out doing reconnaissance for whatever it was he had in the works. How much of this was business as usual Karianna didn’t know, but it concerned her. He always had at least one of his men with him, and left one guarding the door to their suite.

The third week was much the same. Neither of them was getting enough sleep, with the late hours Damiano was keeping. His normal cheerful outlook was fading, too, and a sense of unease touched everything.

Finally, Karianna felt she needed to do something to help. So over dinner one evening, she tried to get him to open up a little about what was going on.

“Cara mia, it is business. Not quite the usual thing, but it is still business. There is too much to explain for you to understand. Don’t worry.”

“But, Dam, I am worried. I can’t help it. You are so very on edge these days, so quick tempered that your people are on tiptoe around you.”

“Have I been quick tempered with you, cara?” he asked.

“No, but you are with everyone else. Marco and Paolo might as well be walking on broken glass, as careful as they are around you.”

“I’m sorry we’ve upset you, Kari. It is a dangerous game we play right now, and one that we have to win. Our opponent is skilled and it will take patience and perfect timing to take him down.”

“Why must you win, Dam? What is going on that is so important?”

“Cara, I cannot explain, as I’ve said before. Please, leave it alone until it’s done. Suffice it to say that it involves more than me and my business. The outcome will affect many people across Gambler’s Folly. So I have to get it right the first time. There will be no second chance.”

“Can I do anything to help, Dam?” she asked him, peering deeply into his eyes.

“Yes, amore mia. You can train and make sure you can defend yourself. Knowing you are safe will take some of the load off of my shoulders. Become as dangerous as you can be, like a leopardess defending her young.”

For one more week, Damiano was out hunting, as he called it. Karianna was sure he was going to become ill, with as little sleep as he was getting. She trained as much as she, Carl, and Chase could stand.

“Karianna,” Chase began after a particularly brutal day, “you may be pushing too hard. Take a day off to rest tomorrow, and let what you’ve learned this past week have the chance to settle.”

“Dam wants me to be prepared, just in case,” she replied.

“Yes, I know. He spoke with me about the situation. But as your trainer, it is my responsibility to keep you safe here, too. Take tomorrow off and rest, Signora. Give your body a break before you injure yourself.”