Mafia Secret (25 page)

Marc shrugged. "I can make a list of everyone she's talked to with me, but she was here at the house a couple of days. There's no telling what staff and guards she's spoken with."

"Fuck," Jio cursed. "Work with her. This stays among the three of us. We don't want whoever it is to be clued in that she overheard anything. She knows and remembers nothing from being grabbed."

Edoardo nodded. "I can spread it around."

"Good." Jio made a dismissive gesture. "Go hang out in the kitchen when the staff is eating. Mention it to Virginia. It'll spread from there."

"What about the transient?" Marc thought about the lead he'd gotten just before he'd learned Lessa had been grabbed.

"He's stashed at one of the safe houses. I went and talked to him. No help."

"He saw it," Marc said.

"He was too far away."

"But the killer doesn't know that," Marc insisted. "How many people knew I was looking for the witness or that I'd found him?"

Jio thought about it. "We weren't concealing the information."

"It might have been what made them grab Lessa," Marc said. "They wanted us distracted."

"So, let's get undistracted. We focus, get the bastards behind my father's murder, and hang them all out to dry."

L
essa excused herself from the kitchen, claiming fatigue though she was wide awake. She headed up the stairs, a guard trailing her. She shot him one nervous look, but relaxed when she saw he didn't follow her past the stairwell. Instead, he took a seat in one of the overstuffed hallway chairs as she let herself into her room. She shouldn't be surprised she was being guarded even inside the house.

She'd thought the purpose of returning here was for her safety, but Marc obviously wasn't taking any chances. Not even looking around, she made a beeline for the bathroom. Quickly undressing, she soon stood under the hot water, washing off all the terror and filth of her kidnapping experience. She scrubbed herself at least five times before turning off the steamy water and stepping out of the shower.

Wrapping a towel around her head, she secured a second one around her body before entering her bedroom. It was exactly as she'd left it, including no clothes to change in to because they were all back in Florida. Plopping down on the pillow-top mattress, she slipped in between the sheets as the fatigue she'd claimed earlier seeped into her body. She'd lie down while she waited for Marc, she told herself . . .

A
slow awareness that she was no longer alone hit her, and she jerked up and scrambled back toward the headboard.

"It's just me," Marc said quietly as he sat on the bed.

She told herself to relax, but her heart still pounded in her chest, refusing to listen to her.

"I didn't mean to wake you."

"You were just standing over me staring?"

"Pretty much," he said thoughtfully. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, you scared me, so a little on edge at the moment."

"Sorry," he replied, tone still thoughtful. "Jio and I were talking."

"Yeah?"

"We think it'd be best if no one was aware you can identify who grabbed you."

"But I can't."

"You will. It'll come to you."

Lessa sighed, her pulse was slowing down and she no longer had the fight or flight feeling. But she wouldn't say she was exactly relaxed, either. His mask was back in place, and she was too tired to figure out what he was thinking.

"We'll start working on it tomorrow," Marc continued. "Your mother called."

Lessa had been about to lie back down, but stopped and started to climb out of the bed.

"I told her you were resting." He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "She wants you to call in the morning."

"Okay."

His thumb moved in a circular caressing motion on her skin. "Why aren't you wearing any clothes?"

"I took them home with me." She looked into his eyes and watched the flames begin to kindle.

"I'll have Nina bring you something." He gently caressed her cheek with his other hand. "Do you wish to go back to sleep?"

"That depends."

"On what?"

"On whether you'll be sleeping with me."

His lips curved. "That could be arranged."

He eased closer to her and tugged gently on the sheet she'd been holding up to cover herself. Lessa held on to it for a moment before reluctantly letting go. She didn't know what was causing her reluctance. It wasn't like Marc hadn't seen everything already, but after her conversation with Nina and Clarissa, she wasn't as sure as she'd been earlier.

His hand slid across her shoulder, down her arm to her hand and back up. He was no longer watching her face intently as his heated gaze followed the trail of his hand. This allowed Lessa to analyze his face without the distraction of his fathomless eyes.

He was incredibly handsome. That had been obvious from the first moment she'd met him. Well, maybe not model handsome, but good looking enough to have any woman he wanted. Like a mistress. She nearly jerked at the thought Nina and Clarissa had put in her head. She tried to shut her brain off and just enjoy the moment, but couldn't.

His hand dropped to cup her breast, and she figured this was as good a time as any to ask, since she couldn't stop the questions.

"Do you have a mistress?" she blurted out.

Marc didn't drop her breast, but raised his eyes to meet hers. "Interesting question."

She shrugged and felt the loss of his fingers when they fell away. "Do you?"

"Who've you been talking to?"

She pulled the sheet back up to cover her nakedness and wondered briefly what happened to her towel. Would he be honest with her now?

His lips curved into a smirk. "No, mistresses are too demanding." His hand went to pull the sheet back down.

She held it in place. "I'm not joking."

"I can see that. What do you expect me to say?"

"I want you to tell me the truth."

His eyes narrowed and he stood up. "Do you really? If I answer yes, you'll decide I'm a cad. If I answer no, a small part of you will wonder if I'm lying and telling you what you want to hear. I'm in a no win situation."

He sighed heavily. "I don't have a mistress, but I can't prove it."

She brushed her fingers over the blanket. "Girlfriend?"

"No." His voice was short as he paced over to the window.

"You can't expect me not to wonder or ask."

His shoulders shrugged. "I'm telling the truth, but I can't prove it."

She crossed her arms and stared at his back. "You said it yourself, Marc, we aren't the same. Your expectations in a relationship are probably different from mine. Don't you think we should get everything out in the open before one of us does something hurtful to the other?"

Marc turned away from the window to look at her from the shadows. "All right. Ask me your questions."

"It goes both ways."

"I already know all I need to know about you."

"You think you do. You know what you think I want and will react to. Just as I was told what to expect from you."

"Nina and Clarissa. Remind me to thank them for this later."

"This is between you and me." Lessa glanced around the room. It was a little uncomfortable having this conversation in bed stark naked. Her towel from her hair was on the floor, and she reached over to scoop it up. With a little maneuvering, she was able to get it around her and slide out of bed.

Marc watched her from hooded eyes. "Try to make sure it stays that way."

If his harsh voice was meant to intimidate her, it had the opposite affect and made her even more determined to set things straight between them. "There are always things assumed between a couple. Deal breakers and deal makers. We each have different expectations. Don't you think we should figure them out?"

"Right now, my only expectation is to have you naked underneath me, moaning."

"Trying to distract me?" She walked up to the window to stand next to him.

"Maybe. A conversation seems pretty pointless. Either you want to be with me or you don't. It's very cut and dried."

"Marc." Lessa sighed. If she kissed him now, he'd drop the entire conversation, but what Nina and Clarissa had said stuck with her. She had to make a decision. Her heart pulled her one way and her head pulled her another. "Nothing is ever cut and dried. Not when you're constantly reminding me that you live by different rules than I do." She focused on her intense fear after he'd found her in the hallway eavesdropping. "What if you want to hit me?"

"I would never hit you."

"You wanted to that night."

"You misunderstood my anger." Marc shifted. "Did I hurt you?"

"You scared me." Scare was such a small word for what she'd felt as he'd looked into her eyes. Thinking about it caused her pulse to pick up, but he hadn't physically hurt her.

His voice was low and full of emotion. "My anger was directed at myself, the circumstance, and the fact that I couldn't just erase your memory. I wouldn't have hurt you. I could never hurt you."

"Some men think they need to keep their women in line." She forced the words out, intent on revealing her fears to him.

"I don't hit the women in my life."

"Have you?" Lessa felt sick asking, but she had to. He'd terrified her, and in that moment, she hadn't had any confidence he wouldn't hurt her or done worse.

"No," Marc said with a sigh of resignation. "I can't do anything to prove it to you. All I can do is promise I'll never raise a hand to you. I couldn't."

"All right."

"You still don't believe me," he said in a flat voice.

She smiled weakly. "As you said, it isn't something you can prove until it's too late."

He sat heavily on the window seat. "You're going to leave again."

Lessa stood in front of him, considering. She couldn't deny she was confused. How far could she trust her heart and him?

"I don't know. You're so complex." She waved an arm around the room. "Everything here is so freaking complicated."

"I'm not that hard to figure out." He locked his eyes with hers.

"Oh, Marc, you define unfathomable." She gave a small laugh.

"This life may be complicated, but I'm straightforward. What will it take from me to get you to stay? Just lay it out, Lessa."

She chewed on her lip and took hold of her heart. "I don't understand these relationships. I haven't seen an ounce of affection between Jio and Nina. All I see is ownership. You had no affection toward Clarissa. I don't know about my father, but he obviously ran around on his wife, or I wouldn't be here."

"I have affection for you." Marc pointed out.

"Yes, I believe you do." She took a small step closer. "You want me to stay, and you came after me. I believe you feel more than just affection for me. But what about later?"

"Later?"

"Yes, later." Lessa rolled her eyes. "When you grow bored of me and decide you want some excitement."

"I'll be faithful. I give you my word."

"You can't just change."

He tugged her closer and wrapped his hands around her waist. "What do you need me to do to prove it to you?"

"I want you to tell me if you want to be with someone else."

Marc grinned. "You want to watch?"

"I'm not joking." But despite herself she was intrigued by the offhand comment.

"I know. I swear I'll tell you if my feelings begin to change, though I highly doubt they will."

She held herself stiffly in his arms. "Okay."

"Anything else?"

"I don't like lies."

"I can't always tell you what's going on. Our business is very secretive."

"I'm talking about us. No lies between us."

"No lies between us." He paused, his eyes drifting away from her for a moment before returning to lock her in his serious expression. "I probably shouldn't say anything about this until Jio and I come to an agreement, but I'm working on distancing myself from the business."

She bit her lip, not sure what to make of his declaration.

He pulled her between his legs. He was now eye-level with her breasts. They began to ache at his perusal, and she could feel the tension and heat between her legs. "Are we done talking?"

"No," Lessa said with a mock frown. "There's lots more."

He tugged at the towel so it fell away. "Maybe we could get into the 'more' a little later."

"Well." She moaned as his lips attached to her nipple. Her body was in agreement with her heart, as it surrendered completely. "Remind me."

"Can do." He chuckled returning his attention to her breasts.

Her knees felt like jelly, and she had to brace her arms on his shoulders to keep from falling. Lessa ached in all the right places as his arms wrapped around her waist to draw her in between his legs. She wanted to touch him and moved her hands down his chest to find his shirt buttons. Her fingers fumbled since she couldn't really keep her eyes open, and she clenched her thighs together on a shuddered breath.