Warning: The Complete Series

by Justice, A. D.

  She opened the box, pulled out the very brightly colored silk button-down shirt, and her bottom jaw fell open. She stared at it for several heartbeats, eyes wide and her head shaking in disbelief.

  “Is this fuchsia shirt a gift from an old girlfriend, Damon?”

  “No, doll. This shirt was a gift from my asshole sister. It’s been in the far reaches of my closet for a few years now. I figure if anyone can pull off this color, it’s you.”

  “Actually, this is perfect.”

  Within minutes, she’d arranged a full outfit out of my pink silk button-down shirt, a shiny black tank top, a black stretchy skirt, and a pair of sexy fuck-me heels.

  “You look hot.”

  “I look like a hooker. A very pregnant hooker at that.” She turned in the mirror, examining her handiwork. “But nothing else fits me, so this outfit will have to do for tonight.”

  With that crisis averted, we left the apartment and headed for the restaurant. She didn’t believe me when I assured her everyone stared because of how beautiful and sexy she was. She said they stared because they wondered how much she made per hour. After we were seated, the obvious glances in our direction stopped.

  “I’ve never been to a place like this. There’s no menu?” she whispered to me over the tabletop candle, her eyes scanning the tables around us for eavesdroppers.

  “No, doll. We get whatever ten-course meal the chef serves tonight. It’ll be delicious. Trust me.”

  “Now I really do feel like a fish out of water. I’ve never been to a restaurant where the chef picks my meal for me. Or one that has a ten-course meal. I don’t even know what all that would include.”

  “Relax and just enjoy it. We’re in no hurry tonight.”

  Course after course, the waiters delivered our plates, and Jillian devoured every bite. After each one, she said she couldn’t eat anymore, but she couldn’t resist the next serving. Watching her eat, hearing her make those little noises of pleasure, made me count down the minutes until dessert.

  “For dessert, we have something very special tonight. The chef sends his best regards.” The waiter set the covered plate down in front of Jillian first.

  She grabbed her dessert fork off the table and could barely contain herself while she waited for the waiter to lower my plate. He removed both covers at the same time then took a step back from the table. Jillian froze when she looked down at her treat…and her fork slipped through her fingers, falling to the table with a loud clang against her plate.

  Her cake was designed in the shape of a light blue Tiffany’s box, complete with an open lid, a quilted pillow center, and held a round brilliant solitaire diamond engagement ring inside. When she finally looked up, she found me down on one knee beside her chair.

  “Jillian, you changed my life from the first day I met you. Every day since then, you’ve made it infinitely better. Through the good and bad, my love for you has never wavered. For as long as I live, I only want to be with you. Will you marry me?”

  I lifted the ring off the cake and slid it onto her outstretched hand.

  “Is that a yes, doll?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, tears glistening in her eyes. “Every day for the rest of my life, my answer will be yes.”

  She met me when I stood, and I pulled her into my arms. She squeezed tightly around my neck as the onlookers in the restaurant clapped and cheered, sending their congratulations and well-wishes our way.

  With a watery smile and a chuckle in her voice, Jillian said, “I can’t believe you proposed on a night when I’m dressed like a hooker.”

  “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll let you pretend to be one when we get home. Besides, you deserved a more romantic proposal than a hospital waiting room after we’d been awake for a hundred and ninety-six hours straight.”

  “You know I’ll take you any way and anywhere I can get you, Damon.”

  The waitstaff descended on our table, bringing the other items I’d had delivered. Flowers arrangements were placed on every table—elegant bundles of lavender and ivory roses tied with matching ribbons. To my fiancée, they presented a special bouquet of three dozen lavender roses mixed with baby’s breath and greenery.

  “Now I know why you were so adamant to go out tonight. Very sly, Mr. Marchetti. The meal was delicious. This ring is exquisite—I can’t stop staring at it. The flowers are absolutely gorgeous. Everything about tonight has been perfect, even with my wardrobe malfunction. You came through for me there too, finding me a shirt to wear to hide my too-tight clothes. Damon, you make me so happy.”

  “I love you, Jillian. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Let’s finish our dessert, and I’ll prove that to you soon enough.”

  On the car ride home, we passed a couple of mounted police officers that caught Jillian’s eye. She slipped her hand into mine and laced our fingers together. “Did I tell you I used to ride horses back home?”

  “No, doll. You’ve never mentioned that. How long did you ride?”

  “Several years—from as young as I can remember through high school. Then college and work took up most of my time. I haven’t ridden much in the last several years, but I always loved it. Watching you crossing the field to Leo’s house reminded me of home and the farm where we boarded my horse.”

  “You miss it, don’t you?”

  “Riding horses or home?”

  “Both. Either.”

  “Yes, I do. I miss both. But I don’t have any family left down there, so you’re home for me now.”

  “Home is where the heart is, Jillian.”

  “That cliché actually is true.”

  That was the moment when I knew exactly what I had to do, and I couldn’t wait.

  Something else I couldn’t wait for was my extra helping of dessert. The moment we walked through the door to our apartment, I locked the door behind us and didn’t let her out of the entryway before I dropped to my knees and feasted.

  Best fucking meal of the day.

  15

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Jillian

  “Here, take my credit card and go shopping with Carrie today. You’ll have two teams of my men with you because Geno has been spotted in the area lately. I’m not taking any chances with your safety, but you need new clothes so you don’t have another meltdown on me.” Damon extended his hand toward me, offering his black American Express Centurion card.

  “I didn’t have a meltdown, Damon. It was just a temporary moment of panic because the clothes that fit the day before didn’t fit yesterday. It was very a stressful event.”

  “I get it, doll. So go out for some retail therapy with my sister today so you’ll feel better. Buy whatever you want, however much you want, and at any store you want. I only have one condition.”

  “And that is?”

  “Don’t buy anything for the nursery you’re planning. I want to be with you for that shopping excursion. Deal?”

  If I hadn’t already been pregnant with twins, that request alone would’ve done the trick.

  “Deal.” My reply came out as a whisper, but my heart was beating erratically against the inside of my chest. The man had such an overpowering effect on me.

  He kissed me goodbye and slid out of the car. Luigi and Paulie remained in the front seats as my bodyguards for the day. Just as they pulled away from the curb, my cell phone rang.

  “How’s my favorite sister?” Carrie asked when I answered.

  “I’m your only sister, and I’m fine, other than having already outgrown my clothes.”

  “So, you’re naked today? This should be a fun outing.”

  “Ha. Ha. I’m wearing leggings and another one of Damon’s shirts since his clothes actually do fit me.”

  “Another one of his shirts?”

  “Yeah, it’s a long story. I’ll tell you all about it while we shop today. Are you already there?”

  “Yes, I’m inside Saks Fifth Avenue, waiting for you to get here so we can spend all my brother’s money.”<
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  When I walked into the store, Carrie had already secured a personal shopper to navigate us through the various departments. And we hit them all—clothes, shoes, makeup, and lingerie. I drew the line at buying any true maternity clothes. Instead, I bought the clothes I liked best in different sizes, hoping to delay the inevitable tent dress for as long as possible. But with how my stomach had already expanded so quickly, and with carrying twins, it was only a matter of time before nothing else would fit.

  While we shopped, I took the opportunity to press Carrie for insider information on her relationship with Lorenzo.

  “Spill it.” I put my hands on my hips and stared at her, daring her to play coy with me.

  She shrugged one shoulder and pretended to be overly interested in the clothes on the rack in front of us. Our bodyguards were just out of earshot, so I knew their presence wasn’t keeping her from sharing with me.

  “We decided it was best to put our relationship on hold until this whole mess is resolved. With Geno on the lam and still technically a threat, even though I doubt he’d made a move against us now, it’s just best we wait. With tempers high, Lorenzo could easily get killed in a case of friendly fire.”

  “I’m so sorry, Carrie. I know how hard it is to be separated from the man you love. Is there anything I can do?”

  “Short of drawing Geno out from under his rock so we can finish him? No, but I appreciate the offer. I know you would if you could.”

  “Actually…” I pulled my lower lip between my teeth and waited for her to meet my gaze. “I may be able to do just that.”

  “How?”

  “Damon bought me a new iMac computer the other day. While searching for his Wi-Fi modem so I could get on the wireless network, I found my old briefcase in the closet. The flash drive I copied all the embezzlement documents onto was still in it, complete with account numbers. So I did some snooping on the accounts and found something very interesting.

  “Someone is embezzling directly from Blaine Financial Services this time. Whoever is doing it is not smart enough to hide the transactions behind a shell company or run the money through a real company. From what you’ve told me about Geno, he fits the bill. He’s old-school, so he’s not tech-savvy enough to pull off something like this.”

  “Tell me everything.”

  “He knew Lorenzo had started the process, but he couldn’t use Milo’s name or MadTrich anymore. That would certainly alert the Marchetti family. He redirected the funds flow, sending it straight from Blaine Financial to a bank in the Bahamas. So, I thought maybe you and I could redirect his redirect, send the money to an account that’s easy for him to identify. But impossible to mistake.”

  “What account would that be?”

  “Leo Marchetti’s. Then Maria could get the money, and we’d draw Geno out and end this feud once and for all.”

  “Did you clear this plan with Damon? Does he approve?” She eyed me suspiciously, obviously not keen on running another operation without her brother’s help.

  “I haven’t yet, but I will. I needed to know if this is even possible. You’re the expert in this, so I wanted to run it by you first. If you can do it, then we can present it to Damon together.”

  “Of course I can do it. And I can find Geno’s IP address and track him down. I can even get into his network and turn on his laptop camera so we can make sure it’s actually Geno before we make a move. I do believe it’s him, though. He would’ve lost everything when his takeover attempt fell through. Without the muscle behind him, no one would pay him for anything anymore. When do you want to talk to Damon about it?”

  “Talk to Damon about what?” That familiar masculine voice appeared out of thin air from behind me. “Do I have to chaperone you two at all times? One day of shopping and you’re already devising some plan I’m sure I’ll hate.”

  I turned to face Damon. “What are you doing here?”

  “Thought you two might want to have lunch with me. Seems I arrived just in time to save you both from yourselves.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh because he did have a point. “No, my love. We weren’t going to do anything without you. You heard Carrie ask when we’d talk to you about it. Your timing is perfect—but not for saving us this time. Maybe for saving your men from more shopping, though.”

  Damon smiled before leaning down to kiss me hello. “I’m glad to hear I get to be part of the planning process this time. For the record, I am not checking up on you. Your doctor’s office called my cell number by mistake to remind us of your appointment tomorrow. Naturally, I wanted to deliver the message in person, and it just happened to be time to eat.”

  “I have nothing to hide. Feel free to check up on me whenever you’d like.”

  “Oh my God. Could you two be more in love? You’re so sweet it makes me sick.” Carrie feigned disgust, but I caught the smile that broke free before she turned her face away from us.

  “I would say, no, we couldn’t be more in love. But every time I think I can’t possibly love Jilly more than I do now, I’m proven wrong.”

  “You just had to make it worse, didn’t you?” Carrie shook her head and rolled her eyes while Damon and I laughed.

  Over lunch, I explained every detail of the changes I’d found in the embezzlement accounts from Blaine Financial and why I thought Geno was behind it. Damon understandably didn’t want to wait until Carrie had accessed Geno’s computer to verify it was him. He suggested we talk to Lorenzo face-to-face first. If Lorenzo had revived his original ploy, Damon didn’t want to interfere in it. However, he was interested in reviewing all the information firsthand before we brought Lorenzo in, so we agreed to meet at Carrie’s the following evening to finish our discussion.

  “If you ladies are done shopping, there’s somewhere I want to take Jillian.” Damon’s gaze shifted between Carrie and me, waiting for one of us to end our spree.

  “You two go ahead,” Carrie replied. “Jillian and I can spend the rest of your money another day. I’ll start doing some preliminary digging into Geno Sanfratello for our planning session tomorrow night.”

  “Thanks for spending the day with me and helping so much, Carrie.” I hugged her goodbye before she left with her security team and I left with my overprotective brute.

  When we drove away, Damon cut his eyes over at me. “That was some impressive research you did on those transactions, doll. How did you get into their system to find the recent movement?”

  “I may have learned a trick or two from Carrie while I lived with her.” I looked over at Damon, unable to hide my smile. “Or maybe I checked my remote login credentials through Morgan and Bartholomew and found my access is still active. I guess in the aftermath of Lorenzo abruptly leaving Blaine Financial, they forgot about me since I wasn’t an employee of theirs. My boss approved a month of personal leave of absence so I could move up here, but my time off work doesn’t revoke my access.”

  “Brilliant. I love your brain as much as I love your body. What if someone figured out what you were doing and tracked you?”

  “Not possible. I routed the IP address through several other countries and had it terminate in the middle of nowhere. My tracks are very well covered. Even you couldn’t find me if I wanted to hide from you now.”

  “I think my sister has been a bad influence on you, Jilly. Maybe I should chaperone you two more closely.”

  He thought he hid the ghost of a smile, but I caught it nonetheless. He wanted to rile me up—he liked feisty Jillian. Or my feisty mouth, anyway.

  “Be my guest. We’ll just talk in code all night long and leave you in the dark. Then we’ll laugh at your confused expressions and disgusted sighs. It’ll be entertaining—for us. No skin off my back.”

  “That fucking mouth of yours.” He shook his head, letting his gorgeous smile finally show. “No skin off your back, huh? How about some skin off your ass after I spank it?”

  “Hmm. We’ve done that, though, so it’s lost that new car smell. How about skin off
my wrists after you tie me up? You’ve threatened to do it before but never came through. I’m starting to think those were only empty words. Warnings without real consequences.”

  “You know, it’s no fucking wonder why you’re the only woman who has ever held my attention and affection. They say opposites attract, and I believe it. You are the opposite of me in almost every way. But then we have conversations like this, and I’d swear you’re the female version of me. It’s a little scary sometimes.”

  “I have to keep you on your toes, Damon. Keep you guessing which personality you’ll get from day to day. Variety is the spice of life, after all.”

  “In all seriousness, I’m thrilled to see you laughing and joking again. We’ve been through a lot over the last several months, and I’ve had plenty of reasons to worry about your long-term mental health. But you’ve proved to me time and again that we’re meant to be together.”

  “Damn skippy, we are.” For the first time since getting in the car with Damon, I checked our surroundings and realized we were headed away from the apartment. “Where are you taking me?”

  “It’s a surprise. I’m not giving you any hints because I don’t want to spoil it by letting you guess.”

  “That’s really not fair, Damon. You can read my mind just by looking at me. I can’t do that with you. Yet.”

  “Yet is right. You’ve gotten way too close to being able to read my every thought. We’ll start communicating telepathically before long.”

  About thirty minutes outside of Manhattan, I would’ve sworn we were in a completely different world. Damon pulled off the highway onto a winding two-lane road that disappeared into the trees. With a forest all around us, the sights and sounds of the big city were only a memory. Then he slowed and turned onto a driveway—a very long driveway—that ended at the most beautiful house I’d ever seen.

  House? No.

  Palace? Definitely.

  The English manor-inspired four-story stone mansion sat on top of a hill, surrounded by open pastures dotted with giant oak trees for shade, a flowing river, and a state forest behind it. It was love at first sight for me, and I hadn’t even seen the inside yet.