The Accidental Elopement

by Maggie Dallen

  “Don’t sweat it. Stay out of sight for a while, I’ll cover your tables.”

  Javier walked off when Lucia stared after him with a looming sense of guilt. That had been too easy. And wrong. Oh so wrong. A number of the servers and back of house staff had issues with immigration and to use their real plight for her own selfish reasons….

  But now was not the time to worry about moral dilemmas—not when she had a mystery man stalking her. Holly was the first person she dialed. Daniel’s sister-in-law and Jack’s girlfriend, Holly could always be counted on to spill if she knew anything.

  “Lucia!”

  Lucia grinned at Holly’s high-pitched screech of excitement on the other end of the line. “How are you? Wait, where are you? Are you still in New York? Are you coming back to Europe soon because I swear to God, it’s not the same without you.”

  Lucia cut in before her friend could get carried away. “I’m still in New York. And loving it. But, I need to ask you something….”

  She heard Jack laughing about something in the background before Holly loudly shushed him. “Shoot.”

  In a few short sentences, Lucia explained her situation—leaving out the parts about being woefully broke and working at the bar in Daniel’s hotel. When she was done, she heard Holly’s sigh. “I told your grandfather to stop worrying….”

  “You think Grandpa is behind this?”

  “It wouldn’t surprise me,” Holly said. “Jack and I told him you were doing fine on your own in New York, but you know how he worries.”

  Lucia rolled her eyes at the understatement even though her friend couldn’t see her. Her grandfather had raised her after her mother passed away when she was a baby. Her father had never been on the scene and her grandmother passed away when she was little so she was raised almost singlehandedly by her grandfather, along with a slew of housekeepers, nannies, and her aunts and uncles. But despite the army of people who’d surrounded her, it was he who had always worried about her the most.

  Probably because he was afraid she would turn out like her mother. Whether it was conscious or not, she’d picked up on that fear at a young age and spent most of her life trying to be everything her mother was not. She’d been the perfect daughter he’d never had. Until she wasn’t. She’d destroyed his trust when she’d gone and done exactly what her mother had done. She’d run away to America, just like her. She shook off that thought. This was different. She wouldn’t make the same mistakes. Her mother had been blinded by love—but luckily for Lucia, she hadn’t inherited her mother and grandfather’s romantic tendencies. She was practical, like her grandmother. How did her grandfather not see that? His lack of faith in her was more than a little insulting.

  “You really think he hired someone to follow me?” Lucia asked. The thought irritated her but at least it was less creepy than having a stalker. Lucia was nothing if not an optimist.

  “I don’t know, I mean, Jack and I made him swear to leave you alone but…you know your grandfather.” Holly didn’t have to say anything more. She knew her grandpa better than most. He could swear up and down that he would give her the freedom she so desperately craved, but he didn’t get where he was by caving to other people’s wishes.

  If there was one the he was good at, it was rationalizing. She could just see him now, telling himself that he was respecting her wishes by giving her the illusion that she was really free. Meanwhile, he’d hired her a babysitter!

  “Lucia? You still there?”

  “Yeah.” Lucia drew in a deep breath and tried not to let the anger color her voice. It wasn’t Holly’s fault that her grandfather was up to his usual tricks.

  “Do you want me to call him?” Holly asked. “Jack and I can talk some sense into him if he’s playing mother hen.”

  Mother hen. A reluctant smile tugged at her lips at that accurate description. An overbearing, melodramatic, control freak of a mother hen. “No, I’ve got this.”

  “You sure?” Jack had apparently snatched the phone from Holly because now his concerned voice could be heard on the other end of the line. “I can give him a call.”

  “No,” Lucia said. “Thanks, but I can handle my grandfather.”

  She said her goodbyes to Holly and Jack. Anger and adrenaline coursed through her at the thought of her grandfather’s manipulative and overbearing ways. How dare he swear to give her space and then have her followed?

  She was barely aware of the dining patrons or the busy waitstaff that moved around her as she headed toward the mystery man her grandfather had sent. He had turned back to the bar as she was approaching and didn’t see her come near.

  “Can I help you?” Lucia asked the man’s back.

  He turned around so quickly he nearly knocked over his drink and Lucia was gratified to see him at a temporary loss for words. Had an actual interaction with her not been part of her grandfather’s plan? Good. Nothing annoyed him more than having his plans thwarted.

  She crossed her arms and stared up at the tall, shabby patron with brows raised in expectation.

  “Uh, I’m uh—”

  She stepped forward so she nearly touched the man, glowering at him all the while. But instead of being intimidated, the disheveled man let out a little huff of laughter and ran a hand over his face. “So the jig is up, huh?” he said in a thick Jersey accent.

  He was laughing at her. How dare he? He’d invaded her life, her workplace, and followed her like a stalker, and he had the audacity to mock her? Lucia’s nostrils flared as she sucked in a deep, fortifying breath and clenched her hands to stop them from trembling. She was so mad she thought she might cry but it was Grandpa she wanted to throttle. This man wasn’t worth her anger. She wouldn’t give this loser the satisfaction.

  She made a show of unfurling her arms and tilting up her chin so she could look him square in the eye. Really she was struggling to think of the words she needed to put this man in his place—her English fluency had grown exponentially during the last six weeks but wildly out of control emotions had a tendency to frazzle the section of her brain that could translate.

  The man seemed to note the change in her demeanor though and he threw his hands up. “Look, I’m not looking for any trouble. I’m just getting paid to keep an eye on you. Bring you home when you come to your senses.”

  Bring you back home? Who did this guy think he was? She was a grown woman. She didn’t need a babysitter and she certainly didn’t need some stranger threatening to send her back to Italy.

  “Unless you want a harassment lawsuit and a restraining order under your name, I’d suggest you leave this restaurant and tell my grandfather that you’re quitting.”

  He continued to study her while popping a handful of bar nuts into his mouth. His jaw moved as he chewed but still he didn’t talk. At first she thought the man hadn’t heard her.

  Lucia opened her mouth to continue her tirade when he spoke. “Who’s your grandfather?”

  Chapter 4

  Ryan couldn’t tear his eyes away from the mini storm that was brewing at the end of the bar between Lucia and the shady guy who’d been leering at her from the moment he walked in. Ryan had assumed it was another admirer—Lucia had already acquired a small army of devoted male fans at the bar in her three days as an employee.

  But then she’d gone up to this guy and confronted him. As if she knew him.

  He wished he could hear what they were saying but all could do was watch Lucia’s expression. With every new emotion he saw there, Ryan battled the urge to jump over the bar and slam his fist into the guy’s face.

  She was upset, that much was certain. But why?

  Maybe he should intervene. But what if this guy was her ex or something?

  “Whoa, dude, watch it.” Javier stepped back, just missing the dirty dishrag Ryan chucked in his direction. Javier pointed to the concoction Ryan had been mixing. “What are you making there, some new-fangled non-alcoholic drink?”

  Ryan looked down
to see that he had been pouring simple syrup into the glass instead of vodka.

  Javier laughed as Ryan let out a muffled curse before slinging the contents of the glass into the sink.

  He pulled out a fresh glass and the requisite bottle of vodka but he couldn’t resist sneaking glances at Lucia and the stranger. “Any idea what’s going on over there?”

  Now it was Javier’s turn to curse and Ryan looked over in surprise. “What is it? Do you know that guy?”

  Javier shook his head, irritation written all over him. “I told her to stay away from him. That girl is loco.”

  “Who is it?” When Javier didn’t answer immediately, Ryan grabbed his arm. “Jav, who is this guy?”

  Javier swatted his hand away. “She says he’s INS, man.”

  Ryan looked from Javier to the non-descript man at the end of the bar. Yeah, he could see that. But why would immigration officials care so much about Lucia?

  As if reading his thoughts, Javier said, “Wonder how she got on their radar. The poor girl is just trying to wait some tables—badly, sure, but that shouldn’t be a crime.”

  Ryan was too busy watching the interaction in front of him to pay much attention to Javier. Why would the feds have it in for her? He took one look at the shock and fear on Lucia’s face and the ‘why’ no longer mattered. All that mattered was that he put a stop to this while he still could.

  “Watch the bar for me,” he said to Javier as he pushed his friend out of his way and headed toward Lucia. Javier tried to stop him. “It’s not your business, dude.” But Ryan kept walking until he reached them.

  Their conversation came to an abrupt halt when he showed up at their side and placed a possessive arm around Lucia’s shoulders. She turned her face up to him in surprise and he gave her shoulders a little squeeze. Her eyes widened in surprise but before she could say anything, he turned to the man.

  “Is there a problem here?”

  The stranger eyed him with a disconcerting look of amusement. “Who are you? The boyfriend?”

  Ryan’s heart rate sped up and the muscle in his jaw clenched at the man’s dismissive, condescending tone. Who did this guy think he was?

  Lucia turned to him and gently pushed against his chest. “It’s okay, I’ve got this.”

  He may have believed her—he may have even walked away to let her handle her business on her own—if he hadn’t seen the fear in her eyes. There was no way in hell he’d leave her to deal with this goon on her own.

  Ryan turned back to the man. “The question is, who are you? And what are you doing at my bar?”

  The guy’s face lit up with a mocking smile. “Oh, so this is your bar, huh?

  Ryan’s hands clenched and unclenched at his side. Damn right this was his bar. And Lucia was his employee and his….well, not his girl. But she was his friend. Kinda. A wave of possessiveness swept over him. Whatever her role in his life, he needed to keep her safe.

  The stranger looked back and forth between Lucia and Ryan, his eyes narrowed as though trying to figure out a puzzle. While looking straight at Lucia, he addressed his next comment to Ryan. “The people I work for say your friend here shouldn’t be working here. She doesn’t belong in this country. Isn’t that right, Lucia?”

  Ryan could feel Lucia stiffen beneath his arm.

  She didn’t belong here? So he knew she was here illegally. If so, he was taking his sweet time doing anything about it and seemed content to stand here and torture this girl. He was practically taunting her. There was a chance he could still put an end to this. For now, at least. It may not help her in the long run but it would wipe that smirk off of this jerk’s face.

  Before he could think it through, Ryan opened his mouth. “My wife belongs here, with me.”

  Lucia’s gasp was quiet enough that only he heard and for a split second the look of shock on the stranger’s face was all that mattered.

  But then all three were startled by the sound of a low voice that was cold as ice.

  “You two are married?”

  Lucia and Ryan spun around to face the owner of the dark, ominous voice.

  Oh crap. Daniel Gladwell. The man Ryan had spent the last four months trying to get close to and the past decade despising from a distance. And now here he was, less than six inches from his face and….he was glowering. No, glaring. His eyes were practically boring holes into Ryan’s skull.

  The stranger was still behind them, listening to every word so Ryan glanced at Lucia, who looked just as shocked by Daniel’s sudden appearance. “Uh, yes?” he said.

  “Oh merda,” Lucia whispered, just loud enough that Ryan heard it.

  Daniel’s heavy stare shifted from Ryan to Lucia. His brows lifted with a look of mild curiosity, and the heat in his stare lessened considerably. He looked almost….kind. “Lucia?” he asked. “Care to explain?”

  Wait a second. How did Daniel know Lucia’s name?

  “Danny, it’s not what you think,” Lucia said.

  Danny? Danny?! The cold, hard man standing in front of them with his perfect suits and his flawless appearance and stiff posture….this was not a Danny. Mr. Gladwell, sure. Maybe Daniel to his family. But Danny?

  Daniel stared at them, his face unreadable, but then his eye was caught by the stranger behind them. With a quick glance over his shoulder Ryan could see the man’s look of awe as he took in the mighty tycoon who was addressing them like he was the emperor of Rome and not just the hotel’s owner.

  “Who are you?” Daniel asked, his jaw clenched and his expression hardened to a grim mask.

  The man, who had been smirking and gloating moments before, turned into a bumbling buffoon in the face of Daniel’s irritation.

  “I, uh, I’m here because, uh…that is to say—”

  Lucia’s nose crinkled up before she spun back toward Daniel. “Marco hired him.”

  Marco? Who the hell was Marco? She didn’t explain. “Marco hired him” was all she said, but Daniel’s expression shifted from annoyance to surprise to outright anger. Turning his head to make a low comment to the bodyguard at his side, he turned back to the man in question. “These men will escort you to my office.”

  The stranger was whisked away by the burly guards and then it was just the three of them—a cozy group made up of Lucia, Daniel, and Ryan. Maybe now he could figure out how Daniel knew who Lucia was and why someone named Marco had sent someone to harass her.

  But the moment they were left alone, Lucia and Daniel turned to face one another and started speaking in rapid-fire Italian, with only a few words recognizable to Ryan, whose main interaction with the Italian language included pasta names and wine varietals. He thought he caught the word “famiglia” and maybe “tu madre” before they seemed to remember his existence. First it was Lucia, who stopped speaking mid-sentence and turned to look at him.

  He wished he knew what he saw in those eyes. They were filled with emotion but he couldn’t put his finger on what.

  What the hell was going on? Her lips were clamped shut—clearly in no hurry to explain. What was he missing here? Who was the stranger that Marco had hired? Who was Marco? How did she know Daniel so well? So many questions he didn’t know where to begin.

  At her silence, Daniel’s speech seemed to come to an end as well and soon both were staring at him like he was a stranger from a strange land.

  Ryan needed to say something. Anything. But he was so out of his depth, he couldn’t begin to formulate a sentence. Daniel almost came to his rescue when he said a few Italian words in a low voice and Lucia went hurrying off toward the back hallway, which led to the managers’ offices. But not before she shot him a look that said “I’m sorry.”

  “So you and Lucia are married?” Daniel’s voice was even but Ryan could have sworn he was laughing at him.

  “Uh, well….” Ryan scratched the back of his neck, looking for any way out of this mess. He’d wanted to gain Daniel’s attention, but not like this. Not becau
se he was lying about being married to someone Daniel clearly knew. How? Again, the question of how Lucia knew Daniel so well nagged at him, begging to be answered.

  Daniel shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, studying Ryan like he was a piece of art hanging in a gallery. “Why did you do it?”

  That question made his brain go completely blank. What did Daniel want to hear? This was his chance to speak to the devil himself. If he didn’t play this right he could ruin his plan and, more importantly, he could screw things up for Lucia. “Um, I, uh…”

  Daniel raised one brow and his amusement was obvious. “She certainly isn’t into you for your wit, is she?”

  That was it. Ryan shook off the initial shock of seeing his infamous nemesis up close. This was what he was here for—to meet this man, talk to him, earn his trust. His brother would be furious if he could see him now, finally face to face with the man, the myth, the legend, and he couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

  He cleared his throat and met Daniel’s mocking gaze. “Lucia is a sweet girl, Mr. Gladwell. I didn’t want to see her get into trouble.”

  Some of the mockery seemed to fade from Daniel’s expression. Instead, he seemed to be sizing him up. “How very noble of you, Mr. ….”

  “Smith. Ryan Smith.” The fake name slipped off his tongue with ease. For one brief moment he wondered how Daniel would react if he’d used his real name. He shook off that thought. What had he called him. Noble? “It wasn’t noble, sir. I’m the one who hired Lucia, if there’s any trouble it shouldn’t come down on her.”

  Daniel’s expression was unreadable. “Come with me.”

  It wasn’t a question, it was an order. Ryan glanced over to Javier who was watching their interaction with unabashed interest. Javier had no idea why he was really working at the bar but he knew how rare it was for anyone to get face time with the high and mighty hotel owner.