So Irresistible (26 page)

There was so much about his assistant he still didn’t know. About her past. About her association with his father. About what she was really capable of, if properly motivated. Shane knew that Lizzy had more . . . flexible . . . morals than some people did.

Would she be willing to betray Shane for a payday?

He didn’t know. He
did
know that Lizzy had always been loyal to him, through some tough spots and during difficult times. But he also recognized that Lizzy had had access to all the same information he had. She’d had access to the same pizzeria keys he’d filched, to the same intel that disclosed Gabby’s address, to the same big payout if
she
brought in the Grimanis’ pizzerias for Waltham Industries.

Lizzy also had a secret. That much was obvious.

Feeling overwrought and unwilling to consider the matter any further, Shane glanced over at Gabby again. She slept in his bed like a tanked-up Teamster, all heavy breathing, splayed arms and legs, and unwitting blanket hogging. He loved her anyway.

Gabby looked cute with her face peaceful and her hair a mess. She looked trusting. Shane
had
to protect her. He just did. There weren’t any reservations in his mind or in his heart.

He’d gambled big-time by giving Lizzy that secondary assignment to complete. He hoped he wouldn’t live to regret it.

He hoped it would come through in time.

Shane had been trying to reach Lizzy all night, hoping to find out. Even now, he checked his phone for the umpteenth time, looking for a message. He found nothing. Either his assistant was purposely ducking him, or she was still keeping secrets.

You’ve been preoccupied lately
, Shane remembered Lizzy telling him the other day.
And I’ve been taking advantage
.

He hoped she hadn’t meant what he feared she’d meant.

Considering it intently, Shane paced some more. He needed more information. He needed to do . . .
something
. He wasn’t a man who waited around for the fight to come to him. He was the man who started the fight. He was also the man who finished it.

Decisively, Shane shot another glance at Gabby. For now, she was fine. But eventually, she’d be apart from him. He couldn’t keep her under lock and key in his apartment. When Gabby woke up, she’d want to leave. He could stall her only so long with sex—no matter how lusty and fulfilling it was.

Leaving her sleeping, Shane strode barefoot across his apartment. He slipped into the next room. He took his lock-picking tools from their hiding place. Wearing drawstring pants and a fierce expression, he noiselessly left his apartment.

Within seconds, he was inside Lizzy’s place next door.

It was exactly as he remembered it—complete with Lizzy and her unknown paramour huddled beneath the bedclothes in her darkened bedroom, sleeping obliviously. Hastily but silently, Shane searched the rest of her apartment. If he knew Lizzy . . .

Bingo
. Ten minutes later, Shane turned up a fat accordion file full of paperwork. A quick glance told him it contained information about Campania and the other Grimani pizzerias—things even
he
hadn’t uncovered in his reconnaissance. Tax returns. Old menus. Electrical diagrams. Blueprints. One of Robert Grimani’s customer notebooks. A recipe for caramel budino. Feeling his heart sink, Shane riffled through it all.

Maybe Lizzy was hiding more than he wanted to admit.

Stone-faced, Shane ducked out of her apartment. Holding the overstuffed file against his chest, he went back to his place.

Everything was quiet. With relief, Shane headed for the living room. There, he could have a closer look at these things. He could turn on a light without disturbing Gabby. He could—

The sound of a cough came from the back of the apartment. The toilet flushing. Water running. Another cough. Then, footsteps.

Gabby was awake. With steely determination, Shane stopped where he stood, in the middle of his kitchen. He looked around.

He had no time to waste. She could be there in seconds.

He bundled up the file and stashed it nearby.

The cupboard was still closing when Gabby wandered in.

“There you are.” In the smoky glow cast by the moonlight outside his floor-to-ceiling windows, she brightened. Wearing one of Shane’s too big shirts and a pair of panties—and nothing else—Gabby came to him. She wrapped her arms around him. “Wow. Your heart is
pounding
.” She glanced up. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. You surprised me, that’s all.”

“Mmm.” She nuzzled his neck, then held him more tightly. “You’re easily spooked. That’s what happens when you stay up too late plotting your nefarious revenge on my unknown note writer.” Gabby kissed him. “You don’t have to worry about him,” she promised drowsily. “If he’s too clueless to stay on top of the latest developments in his own sabotage scheme—such as my dad agreeing to that offer, basically making the point moot—then he’s too clueless to be a real threat. Right?”

Silently, Shane nodded. But he didn’t agree.

Threats had to be taken seriously. Especially in his world. With millions of deal-making dollars at stake, people got desperate. Desperate people did desperate things.

But not to the woman he loved, Shane vowed as he hugged Gabby closer. Not to the woman who’d saved him from himself.

“Right. I just got up to double-check that the door’s locked.” Purposely, Shane strode to it. “Yup. All locked.”

When he returned, Gabby took him in her arms. “My hero.”

“Damn straight. Nobody’s hurting you on my watch.”

“My big, tough-talking, sleep-deprived hero.” Tenderly, Gabby smiled at him. She ruffled his hair, then slid her hand into his. She squeezed. “You probably haven’t slept a wink all night. Come on. I know how to put you out.”

Her suggestive tone couldn’t be mistaken. Despite everything, Gabby’s nearness enlivened him. Shane felt better.

He also felt hard.

“I know how to take you down,” he replied roughly, studying her beloved face, her sexy disheveled hair, her warm, welcoming body in his shirt. Beneath its hem, her legs were long and sleek. In the gap made by its haphazardly fastened buttons, her modest cleavage lured him nearer. He inhaled. “But first . . .”

Still holding her hand, Shane slid down her body. He tugged loose one of her shirt buttons with his teeth. He nuzzled her exposed breast, then sank to his knees in front of her. He nosed aside the hem of her shirt, drawn nearer by the faint musky scent of her, then pressed his mouth between her thighs.

“Ooh!” Breathlessly, Gabby wobbled backward. She bumped against the kitchen counter, then grabbed his head for balance. Standing right beside Shane’s hiding place, she moaned. “Well, if
that’s
your idea of a soothing bedtime routine—”

“It is now,” Shane murmured, his previous subterfuge forgotten. He brushed his lips over her silky panties, loving the warmth and feel of Gabby beneath. “Let’s get these off.”

They slipped away like a fleeting dream. Shane smiled as he dropped them, anticipating the pleasure that was coming next.

“Be sure to hang on,” he advised Gabby. Helpfully, he took her hands, then arranged them on the counter behind her for support. “You’re going to need help standing up.”

She laughed. “That’s pretty big talk.”

“It’s coming from a pretty big man.”

“This isn’t my first time, you know. I’ve been—”

Shane kissed her.
Intimately
. Gabby gasped.

Satisfyingly, her next utterance was an incoherent moan.

Shane smiled all over again. Damn, but he loved her.

“Don’t collapse yet,” he teased. “Wait till the end.”

Shuddering, Gabby groaned. She gave him a suspicious glance. “That sounds familiar. Did I say that to you once?”

“Under similar circumstances,” he confirmed. “But this time, no one’s interrupting. We have all the time in the world.”

Just for that moment, with Gabby safe in his grasp, it felt that way to him. Shane wanted it to stay that way forever.

“Oh, God.” Eyes closed, Gabby arched her hips. She dug her fingers into his hair, holding him near. “Not all the time in the world! I can’t stand it. Please, Shane.” She moaned as he went on loving her, expertly and passionately. “Not slowly, this time.
Not
slowly. I can’t stand it.”

“I think you can stand it.” The next swirl of his tongue proved that not only could Gabby stand it, she could . . . “Did you hear that?” he asked huskily. “You can
beg
for it, too.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Straining toward him, Gabby tensed her thighs. “Stop talking. I’m almost—”

Shane went right on talking.
Explicitly
.

Gabby liked that, and he knew it. So did he. After all, it couldn’t
all
be mushy “I love yous” between them. In fact, it occurred to him vaguely, it hadn’t been “I love you” for a while now—not since that night at Gabby’s house. What did that mean?

“Oh,
yes
,” Gabby cried, shuddering. “Yes, yes,
yes
!”

Shane took everything in, loving the feel of her climaxing against him. Loving
her
. “Mmm-hmm. Now,
more
.”

Shaky-legged, Gabby beamed down at him. In the moonlight, she looked more beautiful than he’d ever seen her. She was
his
.

How in the world had he gotten so lucky?

Shane didn’t know. He wasn’t the type to question too much, either. So he just smiled back, swept up Gabby in his arms, and then carried her back to his bedroom . . . intent on showing her, with everything he did next, that he loved her beyond reason.

And that he always would. No matter what happened.

She had to quit waking up this way, Gabriella realized the next morning. Replete, vaguely sore in intimate places, and still sleepy from dreaming of sexual liaisons with Shane—that was no way to kick off a productive day. All feeling this way did was make her yearn to loll around in bed, reliving the magic of the night before and anticipating the next time she and Shane would come together, heart to heart and skin on skin, sharing the same breath and the same need and the same desire.

No two people had ever been more in sync than she and Shane were. No one had ever deserved her trust more than he did.

After all, who else would have actually lost sleep worrying about her safety? Who else would have muttered macho threats on her behalf, hustled her home to his luxurious downtown sanctuary, and then (incredibly) made her forget all the troubles of the previous day with a simple drop to his knees?

No one, that’s who. Only Shane.

Not that his drop to his knees last night had been simple. It hadn’t been. Gabriella didn’t know quite what he was doing when he made love to her—because Shane was far too skilled at making her lose her mind and her sense of propriety when they were together—but whatever it was, she
loved
it. She loved him.

She loved that Shane wanted to protect her. She loved that he wanted to help her, both with her parents and with the pizzerias. She loved that he was so open, so cocksure, so
sweet
.

And sure, so Shane hadn’t actually
said
that he loved her again, it occurred to Gabriella as she stretched in bed, then let her gaze fall on his sleeping face. But she knew he felt it.

Shane’s feelings for her were evident in everything he did. They infused who he was. Gabriella didn’t know everything about the man Shane had been before he’d come to Portland. After last night, in the car, she had the sense there was a lot more to Shane than his easygoing demeanor and pride in mastering mopping suggested. But for now, Gabriella reasoned, she knew enough.

She knew enough to love Shane. She knew enough to want him.

She knew enough to decide to let him sleep in late.

Feeling full of affection for him, Gabriella let her gaze linger on Shane’s face. He slept like a little boy forced to share a bed with a bully, all curled up on one side with a fistful of blanket. Even if they fell asleep in each other’s arms, Gabriella reflected, Shane never stayed next to her. He never forgot to shove that blanket in whatever gap existed between them, either. However confident and brash Shane was while conscious, he couldn’t control himself while asleep.

Asleep, Shane was alone, with just a blanket to hug.

Gabriella hoped she could change that eventually. She hoped that, given enough time and love, Shane would recognize that it was nicer sleeping with an armful of woman than an armful of comforter. She hoped Shane would sprawl out, claim his space, feel unguarded enough—even in his sleep—not to defend himself.

But that miracle might be a long time coming. And right now, Gabriella needed coffee. Gallons and gallons of coffee.

She needed to get to work soon. Just because her dad was in the process of potentially making a deal didn’t mean she could slack off. Her crew was depending on her. So were her customers. Gabriella still hoped to talk to her dad—
after
giving them both some much-needed cooling-off time—and find out more about the mysterious offer he’d mentioned. Maybe she could still find a way to swing this in Campania’s favor. In the meantime . . .

Wearing a smile, Gabriella got out of bed. The shirt she’d borrowed from Shane to sleep in last night was flung over a lampshade, testament to Shane’s haste in getting it off her after he’d carried her into the bedroom last night. Lazily, Gabriella plucked back that shirt, then shrugged into it.

Just buttoning it made her feel closer to Shane.

Geez, she was really in deep here. And it was
nice
.

Barefoot, she padded into the kitchen. From the street far below her, the sounds of honking cars and idling trucks filtered upward, very faintly. Portland’s downtown traffic was up early, just like her. Sunshine sparkled from the pristine countertops, the professional-caliber appliances, and the adjacent dining room table. Nostalgically, Gabriella went over and ran her hand across its polished surface. She glanced down at the nearby rug.

This was where it had all begun. And she was
glad
.

There were too many good things about Shane not to be happy she’d found him. That night, at the brewpub, Gabriella hadn’t known what she was getting into. All she’d been looking for was a distraction—a way to blow off steam and forget her troubles.

She’d gotten
so
much more. The serendipity of that made her grin. She’d have been the first person to mock the idea of love at first sight. She’d have been the last person, ordinarily, to accept a coincidence like meeting Shane at the brewpub and then allowing him to shadow her at Campania the next day.

But maybe it was time she changed a few of her cynical ways, Gabriella mused as she went in search of coffee. Because she’d let down her guard with Shane, and she’d gotten so much in return. Love. Help. More sex than anyone technically required.

Grinning over that, then giddily recognizing the spot where Shane had ravished her at the kitchen counter last night, Gabriella grabbed the closest cupboard door. She opened it.

A thick bundle of paperwork fell out. Partly enclosed in a bulging accordion file, it landed open side down, spewing papers.

Puzzled, Gabriella looked at it. That was a weird place to file papers. Especially so many papers of all different kinds. Blueprints. Tax returns. Recipes. Even a notebook, bound and ruled, that looked exactly like the kind her dad used.

Gabriella grabbed the notebook. She looked closer.

It
was
the same kind of notebook her dad used. The
very
same. Because it was one of her dad’s customer notebooks.
Here
.

Heart pounding, Gabriella dropped to the floor. She sat beside the open cupboard, ignoring the groceries within, no longer caring if she found coffee to brew. What
was
all this?

A few minutes’ scrutiny told her. It was a complete dossier on Campania—and the other Grimani pizzerias, too. The file was stuffed with incriminating paperwork—paperwork no one outside of her family ought to have had access to. Gabriella gawked at it.

What the hell was going on here?

The only person who needed something like this was . . .

The saboteur
. The person who’d been gunning for Campania.

The person who’d left her that threatening note last night.

Shane?
Feeling tears spring to her eyes, Gabriella angrily swiped them away. This wasn’t a time for bawling. It was a time for acting. She had to get out of there. Before it was too late.

Oh, God
. Was
Shane
the one who’d threatened her? He had to have been. Frantically Gabriella scooped up the papers, then started stuffing them into the file, trying to sort out her racing thoughts. She needed these things. She needed to get out of there. She needed to prove to someone that Shane was trying to crush the pizzeria.

Why would he threaten her . . . and then protect her all night?

Gabriella couldn’t explain that contradiction. She couldn’t stick around to figure it out, either. With the file in hand, she stood on shaky legs and glanced around the kitchen.

Everything still looked the same. Placid. Clean. Real.

It felt completely different. It felt dirty and spoiled.

Shane had misled her. He’d wormed his way in, gotten Gabriella to trust him, compiled all this information....

She was going to be sick.

Blindly, Gabriella rushed for the bathroom. Still clutching the file of materials—surely they qualified as industrial espionage, at the least?—she made her way down the hall.

She slammed headlong into something big and solid.

Shane
.

Smiling, he took her arms. “Hey, you. What’s the rush?”

His gentle, affectionate tone was a knife to her heart.

“Fuck off,” Gabriella gritted out. “Don’t touch me.”

She swerved past him, moving fast. She no longer felt sick. She felt scared. Stupid.
Betrayed
. She threw down the bulging file and grabbed her jeans. A second later, she was forcing her feet into the flats she’d worn to dinner last night. She considered changing into her own shirt, then abandoned the idea.

Shane had stolen her love and her trust. He was just going to have to deal with her stealing his button-down shirt.

Heartsick, Gabriella lunged for the file again. She clutched it to her chest like a shield, then turned away.

Shane blocked the path out of the bedroom. With his arms amiably wide, he nodded at the file. “Whatcha got there?”

He couldn’t have looked less menacing. Or hurt her more.

Was he being deliberately casual to draw her off balance?

“Evidence of your sabotage,” Gabriella told him, furious and hurt. She drew in a fortifying breath. “Get out of my way.”

“I can’t do that. I have to explain first.”

“You can’t explain
this
.” She waved the file. “It speaks for itself, Shane. The electrical diagrams, the blueprints, the tax returns and the recipes and the notebook—it was all so easy for you, wasn’t it? You just waltzed into Campania and—”

And made me love you
.

“—took everything you wanted. Me, my crew—”

“Well, to be fair, some of your crew were working with me.”

That meant Shane
had
betrayed her. He hadn’t even bothered to deny it. That had been a tacit admission of guilt.

Stunned, Gabriella reeled. The file in her arms felt like the only solid thing in a world gone dark. Until now, she realized, she’d been hoping she was wrong. She’d been hoping Shane would not have done what she thought he’d done.

She raised her chin. “‘Some’ of them?” she asked coldly.

“Jennifer,” Shane told her matter-of-factly. “Emeril. They’re both ‘ringers.’ I put them in place to help me.” He had the audacity to smile at her. His smile, so familiar and so beloved,
almost
threw Gabriella off kilter. It
almost
lulled her into wanting to trust him. “Emeril is actually a very qualified chef. It’s his knife set I’ve been using,” Shane confided further. “He thought it would be funny to act like a newbie.”

“Yeah,” Gabriella said drily. “Funny.”

“Not like that!” Shane rushed to add. He actually seemed to believe he could talk his way out of this. He stepped nearer—and almost succeeded in making her want him to. “But if you’re going to infiltrate a crew, you want to have fun, if you can.”

“You turned my crew against me.” The reality of it was Gabriella’s worst nightmare. She couldn’t trust
anyone
anymore. “Take a good look. I’m not having fun.”

Shane sobered. “I’m not either.” Suddenly, his eyes looked haunted. He stepped even nearer. “Gabby, listen. I’ve been trying to tell you about this. I have! All those times I’ve offered to ‘help’ you, it’s been because of this. Because of who I am.” He told her something implausible about “fixing” things. About deciding to save Campania. Then his gaze shifted tellingly to the dossier in her arms. “You’ve got the wrong idea about that, though. I found that last night. That’s not even mine.”

“Oh.” Gabriella didn’t waver. “Where’s yours?”

Shane remained mum, confirming all her fears.

“Then you have one.” Swearing under her breath, Gabriella stared at him. It was as if she didn’t know him. Not anymore. “You didn’t need this research. All you needed to do to break me was to do what you just did—make me trust you, then betray me.”

“I didn’t betray you,” Shane cajoled. “I helped you.”

“By sabotaging me? Even coming from you, that’s—”

“No.” Seeming on the verge of real concern, Shane touched her arm. Gabriella jerked away, but he just went on. “You don’t know it, but you got lucky. That first takeover attempt your dad weathered a few months ago was child’s play compared with what was in store for you. Waltham Industries wasn’t taking any chances with taking over your family’s pizzerias. That’s why they employed fixers.
Better
fixers. That’s why—”

“There are even
more
of you? How many more?”

“—they employed the best,” Shane went on doggedly, his hands at his sides. His eyes gleamed at her, full of skillful lies and what looked like determination. “They employed
me
.”

Gabriella gave a bitter laugh. She hoisted the file. “Yeah.
You’re
so good a washed-up pizzaiolo caught you.”

He didn’t back down. “I could have crushed you,” Shane said, delivering her a pain-filled, certain look. “I didn’t.”

At his expression, Gabriella paused. For whatever reason, she believed him. She didn’t want to, but she did. Shane’s story about “fixers” and corporate machinations sounded crazy. But everything that had been happening at Campania was crazy, too.

All the same, she stood her ground. “You don’t get credit for the things you
could
have done,” Gabriella told him in a hard voice. “I didn’t murder anyone today, either, but you don’t see me collecting a gold star. So again, get out of my way.”

Shane didn’t. “You’re not listening.” Again, he told her about his “assignment” in Portland—about the ruthless things he usually did in the name of work. “You value honesty, goddamn it!” Shane said when Gabriella was unmoved. “This is honesty.”