The Playboy's Fugitive Bride (33 page)

“And so suddenly, too,” Michelle added.  “I couldn’t believe it this morning when Erik told me you and Massimo got married Friday night.  You did the right thing in not waiting.  Erik and I would have saved ourselves a whole lot of heartbreak if he’d just been honest and upfront about how he felt about me the first time we got married.”

“You were married twice?”

“Yep.  Unlike Massimo and Bryce—no offense.”  She held up her hand in apology.  “Erik had only been with one other woman before me—his deceased wife, Cassie.  He had a hang-up about sex before marriage.  He married me just so he could have guiltless sex with me.  Nobody but the judge who performed the ceremony knew we’d been hitched.  I was his secret bride.”

“Secret bride.  Reluctant bride,” Nia said, pulling her legs up under her.  “I guess I’m the fugitive bride.”

“Huh?”  The women’s brows raised in question.

“Massimo had me thrown in jail.”  It was best she put it out there.  She was sure it was bound to become public knowledge soon.

“For what?”  Michelle stared at her.

“I was mad at him and tried to run away in the Mercedes he’d bought for me.  He had me charged with grand theft auto, and burglary because I was wearing his mother’s jewelry.” 
And other things I can’t tell you
.  Nia took a deep breath.  “He had me arrested and swore he would keep me locked up until I agreed to marry him that very night.  My wedding ceremony took place in an interrogation room at Granite Falls Police Station.”

Their responses puzzled Nia.  Instead of being appalled and calling Massimo a heartless jerk, and offering her sympathy, they doubled over laughing.

“A woman running away from Massimo Andretti?  Now that’s a first.” Michelle slapped her palm against the arm of the sofa as her laughter took hold of her.

As Nia watched them, she began to smile, then grin.  It hadn’t been funny on Friday night when she’d thought her and Aaron’s safety had been jeopardized.  But now that she could still pay Eddie on time and lead a somewhat normal life as Massimo’s wife, she allowed herself to see how comical it all was—all the planning and scheming Massimo had to do in order to pull it off.

How had he explained to Officer Jordan and to his lawyer the fact that a perfectly healthy and beautiful young woman was running away from him in the middle of a cold winter night with two million dollars in tow?  Why would any woman run away from him when he treated them so well?  It must have taken a little starch out of his ego, knocked him a few rungs down his playboy pedestal.  Nia began to giggle at the sticky situation Massimo had found himself in, and then she was laughing until tears sprang to her eyes.

“Leave it to Massimo to go to such extremes to get what he wants,” Kaya said, finally wiping a tear from her eye and taking a sleeping Eli from her breast.  She fixed her clothes and prepared to rise from her rocking chair.

“And you are worried that Massimo doesn’t want you, doesn’t think you’re special.”  Michelle who was closest to Kaya jumped up to help her.  “Girl, he had you marked from the moment he set eyes on you, but he isn’t going to reveal his feelings until he’s good and ready.  He’s just like Erik and Bryce.  Most people fall in love and get married.  These men marry then fall in love.”

“You and Bryce weren’t in love when you got married?” Nia asked Kaya after she’d settled Eli in the basinet next to his twin sister.  She wondered how these babies slept through all this noise then she remembered how many children lived in the house.  They were probably used to it, had adapted to it, like she would have to adapt to a lot of changes in her life.

“No,” Kaya said, coming to sit on the sofa, sandwiching Nia between her and Michelle.  “Bryce and I got married to give my nephew and nieces a stable home after they lost their parents last year.  But we grew to love each other.  I can’t imagine my life without him.”

“Did either Erik or Bryce ask you to sign a prenup?” she asked, looking from one woman to the next.

Michelle and Kaya exchanged wary looks before shaking their heads.

“Why, did Massimo ask you to sign one?” from Kaya.

“No,” Nia said, still not knowing what she would have done if he’d asked her to, but grateful he hadn’t.  She had a lot in common with these women it seemed.

Kaya shrugged.  “See, Massimo would not have married you if he didn’t think you were the woman of his dreams.  These men believe in family and forever.  They don’t believe in divorce especially when there are children involved.  They would walk barefoot across Antarctica to keep their wives happy because they know that if we aren’t happy, they won’t be happy.  They get enough stress at the office, and they come home looking to us to relieve that stress.  They respect us and support our ambitions even if they’re separate from theirs.”

“Kaya is right.”  Michelle laid a hand on Nia’s shoulder.  “And I’ll tell you the same thing I told her last year when she was worried about the reason Bryce married her.  Massimo could have married any woman in the world.  Any!” she reiterated with emphasis.  “But he chose you, Nia.  You, and no one else.  Look at what he did to make you marry him.  He practically made a fool of himself,” she said on a chuckle.  “That alone should tell you how he feels about you.  You’re his one special woman.  And I for one am ecstatic he chose you ‘cause we definitely need some more color up in this town,” she said, flipping her wrists. 

They laughed.

“Seriously,” Kaya agreed on a chuckle.  “Just give him time for his heart to catch up with his libido.”

Nia felt a warm flush in her body at the mention of Massimo’s libido and memories of their first day as husband and wife.  Early this morning Massimo had awakened her with a kiss that turned into another long session of slow lovemaking.  They just couldn’t get enough of each other.  Neither one of them had wanted to leave the warmth and coziness of their honeymoon bed, but Massimo couldn’t miss the christening since he’d promised to be godfather to Bryce and Kaya’s twins.

Nia had been amazed at the feeling of peace and contentment she’d felt at Granite Falls Community Church as she sung spiritual songs, read passages from the Bible, and listened to Pastor Reuben Kelly deliver his sermon about God’s grace and favor to mankind.  Her eyes had misted at one point because she’d been taken back in time to when she and Aaron used to attend church with their parents.  She’d thought of Aaron—about how much she missed him, and had wondered how she would go about explaining her sudden and seemingly treacherous marriage to Massimo.

She’d sent up a silent prayer, asking God to help Aaron to forgive her and to eventually accept what she’d done.

Amazingly, Massimo had sensed her internal turmoil, and had reached over and taken her left hand in his, intertwining their fingers so that their wedding bands nested against each other on his thigh.  He’d placed his other arm around her and pressed her head against his chest, holding her securely against him.  The gesture was so possessively tender, Nia had to fight the need to break down and cry in his arms.

After the service, she, Massimo, Adam, the LaCrosses, Steven Lynd and his pregnant wife, Libby, and the Kellys had been invited to Bryce and Kaya’s lovely lake house for an elaborate lunch.  In addition to being drop-dead gorgeous, Kaya was also an exceptional cook.  Nia had thoroughly enjoyed the lunch she’d prepared.  It was late afternoon now, and the Kellys and Lynds had left a while ago.

Before he left, Steven had pulled Nia aside and apologized for his lack of enthusiasm over her marriage to Massimo.  He was just looking out for his client, but after observing Massimo today, seeing how happy he was, he realized that his suspicions of her were misplaced.  He wanted them to be friends.  Nia had no idea if Massimo had put Steven up to it, but she’d accepted his apology and had even given him a hug.

Since she was new in the town, and to this very exclusive circle, it would be wise for her to garner friends and not enemies.  The one enemy she had in this town was now her husband—a husband whom she loved, but whom she was afraid might despise her when he found out she wasn’t the woman he thought he married.

Erik and Bryce had grown to love Michelle and Kaya after they exchanged vows and rings because they were the women they married.  But such was not her case.  Massimo had married Nia Sylk, an alias she’d adopted, and not Shaina Norwood, the woman she really was.

Would Massimo forgive her deception when he found out she’d neglected to tell him the truth before they exchanged vows and rings?

Only time would tell.

* * *

“Did you have a good time with the girls?” Massimo asked Nia as they drove down Fontaine Harbor Road, away from Bryce and Kaya’s home as the beginning of dusk hung suspended in the air.

“Yes.  I like them.  They are really fun to be around.”  It had been a long while since she’d laughed that much, felt lightheaded and giddy.  Those are the kind of friends Shaina Norwood would have if she existed.  She had to find a way to bring Shaina back to life—both her and Cameron—her brother’s real name.

“I’m glad.  It’s important for you to have close friends.  Women friends,” he added as he turned on to Crystal Lake Road that ran along the lake.

“Why, are you threatened by the idea that I may develop a close relationship with a man?”

“
Si
.  I will take down any man who is presumptuous enough to think he can be my wife’s best friend.”

“Okay, I’ll put out a bulletin warding off any potential offenders.  Don’t want to be responsible for another man’s demise,” she said cheekily.

His eyes burned up the cramped space between them.  “I want to be the only important man in your life.  The only man who needs you.  The only man you need.”

But you’re not.  I have a little brother who needs me as much as I need him.
  “I didn’t know you were the jealous kind, Massimo,” she said, sending him a smile even as her heart thumped against her chest.  Maybe what Michelle and Kaya had told her was true.  Maybe she was Massimo’s one special woman, and she’d just have to give him time to come to terms with that fact before he could share it with her.  After all, he’d only just met her five days ago.  She was certain he was too pragmatic to believe in love at first sight and even more so to admit it so quickly, especially to a woman he didn’t quite know. 

He reached over and took her hand.  Raising it to his lips, he kissed her rings before replacing it on her lap.  “I didn’t know that either, pussycat, until I met you, married you, and made love with you.”  His eyes were blazing with passion—past and impending.

“Especially when you make love with me.  We do burn up the sheets.”

He chuckled.  “I think we set the mattress on fire.  I swear I saw some scorches on it this morning.”

Nia laughed.  Sex was the one thing they could be honest about.  “Maybe we can add a few more when we get home.”

“Oh, we will.  You have no idea how hard it was for me to sit beside you in church and follow Pastor Kelly’s sermon.  All I could think about is what we did with each other yesterday, last night, and this morning, especially this morning.”

The walls of Nia’s insides throbbed at the memory of making love with Massimo this morning.  It was excruciatingly slow and beautiful, almost sacred.  Massimo had brought her close to an orgasm about half a dozen times and backed off before she reached the point of no return.  He guided her with breathing exercise, and each buildup was more intense, more powerful than the last until neither he nor she could control the force of nature.  Her body had exploded as he came inside her.  The memory made Nia hunger for more of him, made her grateful to be married to him.  “How hard was it?” she asked with a wicked grin as she reached across the middle console of his orange Lamborghini to fondle his thigh.

He had a knee-jerk reaction to her touch, and had to grab the steering wheel with both hands to keep the car on the road.  “What are you trying to do?  Kill us both?” he asked when the car was stable again.

“Why wait until we get home?’ she asked capturing her lower lip between her teeth as she squeezed her thighs together to combat the urgent throbbing between them.  All that sex talk with the girls had made her horny.  She was soaking wet and burning up inside, burning up with a fire that had spread to her belly—a fire only Massimo could put out.  She wanted to get freaky with her husband.

She brought one hand up to fondle her breasts as the other ventured toward his inner thigh to find that his shaft had hardened.  She massaged him gently as she listened to him suck air into his lungs and watched his stomach convulse as he teetered on the edge of lust and logic.

“I want you now, Mass.  I want to feel you inside me.  Deep, deep, deep inside me, filling me up.  I’m aching for you.”  She squeezed the lovely column of flesh through his slacks.

“Nia.”  He groaned, and the car swerved as he took a sharp turn off Crystal Lake Road on to an unpaved road.  He drove like a madman for a few yards and Nia took the opportunity to unbuckle his belt, unzip his fly, and pull his dress shirt from inside his slacks.  He made another turn that took them into a narrower clearing that offered some privacy by the evergreen trees surrounding them as well as a lovely view of Lake Crystal and the abundance of trees on the other side of it.

As Massimo put the car in park, Nia unbuckled her seatbelt, hiked her dress up to her waist, and pulled off her panties.  He unbuckled his seatbelt and hit some buttons to push back the driver’s seat and lower the back down as far as it would go. 

There was no need for words between them.  The harsh sounds of their breathing, the erratic thudding of their hearts in each other’s ears, and the hysterical haste with which they shed their clothes was all the communication they needed.

As his upper body reclined with the seat, he worked at pulling his slacks and silk briefs halfway down his thigh while Nia straddled him.  She gasped as she felt his sex spring up and slap against the inside of her thighs, reminding her of his strength and power.  With her whole body quivering in anticipation, she reached down between them to hold him.  He was hard and hot and so huge, she couldn’t wrap her fingers all the way around him.  But knowing it was the only thing to ease the throbbing ache in the deepest region of her being, Nia raised her hips and planted the tip of his pulsing sex at the slick entrance of her body.  She leaned forward, and locking her arms around his neck, she stared deeply into his beautiful eyes, aglow with passion and love.  It had to be love, she told herself as Massimo wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her down as he thrust up inside her.  Hard and deep.