The Playboy's Fugitive Bride (16 page)

By the time Massimo had a chance to return the call, the FBI agent had fallen off the face of the earth.  He wondered if it had anything to do with the huge case Paul had mentioned working on.  Had he gone undercover?  If he had, who knows how long he’d be gone.

Massimo’s lips twisted wryly.  After years of searching, the one person who it seemed could help solve the case of the disappearing Norwoods was suddenly unavailable.  He had no other choice but to wait until Paul reemerged to relay the information he’d discovered about Shaina Norwood.  He’d waited five years.  He could wait a few more days, or weeks, or even months.

In the meantime, he had more important issues to tend to, like making damn sure one particular young woman never got the chance to disappear on him.  And if by some stroke of luck she did manage to escape, he was prepared to move heaven and earth to find her and bring her back to his bed where she belonged.

Massimo picked up the envelope his assistant had brought in.  He winced again at the slight ache in his shoulder.  Opening the flap of the envelope, he pulled out the papers and quickly scanned through the contract.

The prenup was comparable to the one he had drawn up for Dafne—with three slight changes: the size of the settlement Nia would receive when they inevitably parted ways, the number of heirs he wanted from her, and the number of years they would remain married.

He’d been lonely as an only child growing up in that huge house.  His loneliness was one of the reasons he’d formed such a tight bond with Adam and Erik, and later Bryce when he moved to Granite Falls as a teenager.  His best friends were also only children.  It was no fun not having siblings to fight with and connive with.  Both Bryce and Erik had told him that their experiences as only children was the main reason they wanted to have as many babies as their wives would allow.

Massimo sighed.  If it weren’t for his father’s infidelity, he would have had a little sister. She’d be around Nia’s age and just as beautiful.  He was certain the two of them would have become quick friends and coconspirators against him.  A wishful smile curved Massimo’s lips as he envisioned them doing girly things together, but he quickly pushed it away and ordered his heart not to get involved in his business with Nia Sylk.

In his will, his father had mandated that he remained married for three years and produce one heir, but Massimo was asking for no fewer than three children during seven years of marriage with Nia.  He was going to test the seven-year itch myth.  He had no doubts he would still be satisfying Nia sexually, and if she was still pleasing him, he saw no need for either of them to end the marriage, or stop replenishing the earth with little humans if she was willing to keep going.

Massimo was mildly grateful that Luciano had not specified that his wife be of Italian heritage as his forefathers had requested of their sons.  His choice of the sacrificial lamb was completely left up to him.

As he thought about the way they’d met, Massimo realized that it was not he, but either destiny or circumstance that had chosen Nia to be that lamb.  If she hadn’t come looking for him, he might never have known she existed.  Their paths had crossed at the right time, and whether by destiny or circumstance, they would be married—happily or not—by the end of the day.

If their marriage remained amicable and civil after seven years, they would grow old together, watch their children become adults, marry, and have children of their own.  And they would spoil their grandchildren, just like his
nono
had spoiled him.

Massimo’s eyes misted at thoughts of his grandfather.   He glanced around his office from which his great-grandfather, Bruno, his grandfather, Piero, and his father, Luciano, had run Andretti Industries.  It had been remodeled several times over the years, and when he took over as CEO five years ago, Massimo had given the top floor of the building a complete overhaul by combining the two offices into one.  The walls and floors had been gutted, and all the antique furniture had been replaced—all except the leather chair he now occupied and which had been upholstered several times over the past twenty-two years.  It held too many pleasant memories, he thought allowing his mind to take a wary stroll down Memory Lane.

A year after his mother died, Luciano began grooming him to take over the company.  At eleven years old, he was given an office at Andretti Industries, situated across the hall from his father and grandfather’s.  His assistant now occupied that space.  Back then, it had been equipped with a sprawling desk and all the luxuries fit for an aspiring CEO, including a telephone, the only one in the building with a direct line to his father and grandfather’s offices.  His chair was extra large for a boy his size. 

“Cresci in esso, quello piccolo,”
Nonno Piero had stated with a twinkle in his eyes as he’d brought Massimo over to the chair.  Massimo smiled as he recalled the comfort and reassurance in his grandfather’s touch whenever the old man ruffled his hair.   He loved his grandfather and he did grow into the chair, he thought, leaning back and testing its strength.

While other children his age were engaged in sports, he was traveling the world, making business deals and orchestrating the takeover of corporations—foreign and domestic.  Luciano had enrolled him in several language schools even before he could talk, so conducting business in foreign languages was a piece of cake for him.

He’d enjoyed the wheeling and dealing of the business world until around age sixteen when his grandfather died.  Shortly after, his hormones kicked in and he started noticing girls.  He began spending less and less time at the office and more in the back seat of his fire-red Ferrari with the girl of the night, or week, or month, depending on her level of experience.  He liked them experienced.  Even at that age, he knew he wouldn’t be with any girl long enough to teach her the art of lovemaking.

After he’d found his father with his secretary and witnessed the pain the affair had caused his mother, perhaps even her death, Massimo had sworn that the curse of the Andrettis would end with his father.

That oath was the reason he hopped beds so frequently and ended his relationships before they began.  He was never giving any woman the chance to get under his skin, nor would he allow himself to be emotionally trapped by one.  But his father was determined to see him live the hell of a married man incapable of being loyal.  And now here he was forced to marry a woman he knew had the power to turn his world upside down.

Massimo set the folder aside and left his chair.  He walked over to the glass wall that afforded an unobstructed view of the Aiken River and the Presidential Range of the White Mountain National Forest.

Convincing Nia to accept his proposal would be tantamount to climbing one of those mountains barefoot in the snow with a two-hundred-pound pack on his back.  But if there was one thing Massimo had proven in the business world, it was that where there was a will, there was always a way to break it.

Nia had her will.  And he knew just how to break it.

Massimo smiled as he recalled Nia’s brilliant move in locking him out of his bedroom last night.  She had
check
ed him.  He could have
checkmated
her and gained access through a secret passage, but that wasn’t the way he planned to capture his queen.  Forgoing the comfort of a guest room, he’d camped out on the sofa in the room next door.  He didn’t know if Nia was mad enough to try to sneak away in the middle of the night without her two million dollars.  He hadn’t been willing to take that chance, but since she didn’t attempt to escape he was now certain that she would stay until tomorrow night when he handed her the cash.

After eliminating all possibilities of Nia being harassed by the paparazzi, he’d left before she woke.  He had a lot to accomplish and he was certain his little fugitive bride-to-be did, too.  He assumed Nia thought he was having her followed, but the truth was he couldn’t care less what she did within the borders of Granite Falls and the surrounding towns.  He had no doubt she was quite resolute and resourceful in her endeavors to deceive him, but she would soon learn that he was not a man to be double-crossed. 

He’d been chasing women since he was a teenager and he’d never met a woman who tested him, maddened him, or agitated him as much as Nia Sylk.  He’d never been this excited about pursuing a woman before.  He felt like a male leopard on the scent of a female, just waiting for the object of his desire to lie down in submission so he could make his move.

Their encounter would be intense and they would mate for hours on end.

The anticipation of finally trapping Nia’s sexy, chocolate body under him and thrusting triumphantly into her virgin heat caused Massimo’s sex to swell and pulse with vigor.  The ache was so potent, he pressed his palm against his erection to ease the pain.

Massimo never knew that the need for a woman could cause such physical agony to a man.  Then again, he’d never had to wait to make love to a woman before.  This was a new experience for him.

Something told him that he was in for a lot of new experiences in his life.  He didn’t know how he felt about that.

* * *

“I’m sorry, Miss, but you need a credit card to rent one of our cars.”

Nia peered through her sunglasses at the young man behind the counter of the auto rental company.  This was the third and last agency in the neighboring town of Evergreen she’d tried to rent from today, and had been turned down.

“I understand that...” She checked the name on his badge.  “Trent, but my wallet was stolen.”  She was so tired of making up stories, but she couldn’t use her card, or her license after Massimo made that ridiculous announcement about their impending marriage last night.

Since the names
Sylk
and
Andretti
were linked together and plastered across the headlines this morning, all she had to do was produce her name and the entire region would bow down to her.  But she hadn’t come to Granite Falls to be pampered and revered like an Andretti whore.

She battered her eyelashes then sighed when she realized Trent couldn’t see her attempt to charm him through the dark shades.  “Come on, Trent, just this once?  It’s just for one night.”  She dug through her bag and pulled out a wad of cash.  “I’m willing to leave all this as collateral,” she said, waving it under his nose.

Trent gave her a sympathetic, albeit stiff smile.  “You don’t have a license, Miss—” He paused, obviously waiting for her to supply a name.  When she didn’t, he shrugged his shoulders in a dismissive manner.  “We can’t rent you a car without a license.  Nobody will rent you a car without a license.”

Nia stared at Trent as she tried to subdue the anger boiling inside her.  There really was no need to get upset with him.  He was just following the policies of his company and pointing out the truth.  The fact was that she did look a bit shady with her dark sunglasses and the hood of her parka pulled over her head.  If she were in Trent’s shoes, she wouldn’t lease a tricycle to someone who was dressed like her either.  In fact, she’d probably call the authorities.

Although Massimo had destroyed the only picture the reporters had managed to snap of her, she still had to take precautions.  She was not the only Sylk in the world, but she was certain she was the only one in Granite Falls.  Massimo hadn’t given up her first name to the public, but everyone would put two and two together if they knew her last name was Sylk.

Nia stuffed the wad of cash back into her bag, walked to the door, and glanced up and down the snow-banked streets.  Massimo had gone to great lengths to protect her from the public, but that didn’t mean he was above having her followed.  Satisfied that she was not being watched, Nia stepped out into the brisk air and hurried to the taxicab waiting on the other side of the street.  She knew her cab fare would be enormous, but she couldn’t drive the Mercedes around with that GPS installed in it.

“Back to Granite Falls,” she said as she climbed into the back seat of the cab.  As the taxi took off, she stared out the window and suppressed the need to scream as they headed north on Interstate 93.

Her day had started out promisingly when she’d awaken to find that Massimo had already left for the office.  She was sure he was still furious that she’d locked him out of his bedroom last night.  Probably a first for him, she thought as her mouth spread into an involuntary smile.

She’d found a sealed envelope taped to the bedroom door with a note inside from Massimo:

Nia,

I’ll be home for lunch around 12:30.  I cordially request your presence at the table.  I will have your two million dollars with me, the first installment of our little agreement.  You’ll have the other two million next Tuesday as promised after we close the deal.  I can’t wait! 

Ciao, cara.

Massimo.

Was he taking back his proposal?  She’d crumbled the note in her fist.  Perhaps one of his friends had talked some sense into him.  What kind of man proposed to a woman just a day after meeting her?  And what kind of woman said, yes? 
Really
.

Not wishing to have that kind of information lying around for Azi read, Nia had tossed the note into the fireplace.  She didn’t need Azi or anyone else wondering what kind of deal she’d made with Massimo for four million dollars.

Things, however, began to fall apart when she’d turned on the TV.  Talk of her and Massimo dominated the local channel:
Who was the new mystery woman in Massimo Andretti’s life
? 
Was she a one-night stand from his past?  Was she the affair he had while engaged to Gabrielle Berkeley?  Why the rush to marry?  Is she pregnant with Andretti’s heir?

Numbed with disgust, Nia had crawled back into bed with the intentions of staying there all day until she remembered that she had unfinished business in town.  Retrieving her passport and money from the bank, renting a getaway car and parking it in an accessible location were at the top of her list.