Forbidden Desires

by Jenna Hartley

  I pressed the ticket into his hand, and he examined it closely. “I suppose I could get rid of this now.”

  I lifted my eyes to the ceiling. “You think?”

  “If I throw it away, will that prove I’m not a hoarder?” he teased as he got to his feet.

  “Can’t hurt.” I slapped the receipt into his palm and watched as his taut ass sauntered out of the closet.

  The buzz of the shredder hummed from the other room as I moved to the next file.

  “Can we go to New Zealand?” I called.

  Strong arms snagged me from behind, hauling me to my feet. “I’ll see if my shark lawyer can get me a waiver to leave the country,” he rasped against my ear.

  “They’ll be surprised to see you back at the courthouse again so soon.”

  “Not when they see my reason why.”

  The situation wasn’t funny, but together we always made the best of everything.

  “Did you get the waiting period for a marriage license waived?” I leaned against his solid body and folded my arms over his.

  “You know I did.”

  “We’re trying to keep you out of jail and you had time to do that?”

  He shrugged. “I have my priorities. Besides, I had time on my way to see to Donato earlier.”

  I smacked his hand.

  And then it hit me like a sledgehammer. I struggled to get loose. “Please tell me you didn’t shred that parking receipt.” I grabbed his biceps and shook.

  “No. Just a voided check.”

  I pushed past him to the wastebasket under his desk and rifled through it until I found the green stub. I looked at the date again. “This is from the day your father died,” I whispered, holding it out for him.

  His teeth ground, a glint in his eyes as he clutched the thick paper. “So? What does this prove?”

  “Maybe something?” I said desperately. I drummed my fingers on his desk.

  “It’s just from the parking garage where I got my passport that day.” He flicked it toward the trashcan.

  I snatched it out as soon as it landed, smoothing it between my palms. “How meticulous of a record keeper is Donato?”

  Daniel looked at me strangely. “Where do you think I learned to keep mine?”

  “We need to speak with him. Now.”

  AT A LITTLE BEFORE FOUR A.M., Daniel and I walked hand in hand into Donato’s penthouse. A woman in a long silk nightgown greeted us, her expression way too pleasant for the time of day.

  She threw herself at Daniel, small arms latching around his waist.

  After the initial shock, he returned her embrace.

  “I can’t believe what you did.” She touched his cheek. “You tender‐ hearted boy.”

  My brows shot to my hairline. If I didn’t know better, I’d think this was his mother.

  Before he had a chance to speak, she turned her attention to me. Dark chocolate eyes shone as she beamed at me. The woman reached for my hand.

  “She’s perfect,” she said to Daniel. I glanced to him for any sort of clue, but he seemed as frozen as I was. “Thank you for loving my boy.”

  A barely audible gasp escaped Daniel. He touched my back as if he needed the support.

  “Valentina. Let them in. We have business.” The distinguished man strode up to the woman and kissed her hair, softening the tone of his words.

  He wore a black button-down shirt open at the collar and dark gray slacks. It was impossible to tell if he’d been up all night or was already dressed for the day.

  “This is Vivian,” Daniel said hoarsely.

  A few tears slipped down Valentina’s cheeks. She kissed both of mine. “I’m so happy to finally meet you, bella.”

  “I’m sorry it had to be at this ungodly hour.”

  She laughed, lines creasing the olive skin around her eyes. “Coffee will help.”

  Donato led Daniel and me to his office while Valentina forked off in a different direction. He rounded his desk and handed Daniel a folder before we sat.

  I peered over Daniel’s arm as he opened it. “You found the pass‐ port application? And it’s date-stamped?” I asked incredulously, eyeing Donato like he was a miracle worker.

  Valentina swept into the room with a tray of coffee and muffins. She placed it on Donato’s desk next to a worn out copy of The Art of War, setting a mug and a plate in front of him.

  “I wasn’t sure how you take yours,” she said as she passed me a hot cup along with sugar and cream.

  She gave Daniel his straight black, just as he liked it.

  We murmured our thanks and settled in. I blew on the steaming liquid and took a sip. “Any chance you’ve got a spare copy of the autopsy report around here?” I waved my hand around the space, and Donato’s eyes lit.

  “You mean this?” Daniel had yet to stop poring over the contents of the folder. He handed me the papers inside.

  Yep, miracle worker. I scanned the autopsy report until I found what I was looking for. Setting the coffee mug down, I leapt from my chair and shook the paper at Daniel.

  “This is it! This will keep you both out of prison.” I pointed at the time of death until I nearly stabbed a hole in the paper.

  Daniel snatched it out of my hand. “This says the time of death was between 3:00p.m. and 4:00p.m.”

  His eyes lasered into Donato’s. “I can’t argue with a government issued document.”

  I grabbed the folder from Daniel. “The parking receipt says you entered the garage at 3:08 and left at 4:37. The passport application is stamped at 4:25p.m.” I clutched Daniel’s arm. “If you were at the pass‐ port office together, there’s no way either of you could have killed your father.” Daniel remained stoic, but I saw the glimmer of guarded hope in his eyes. “I confessed. How do I walk that back?”

  Donato could see it. “She’s right. The documents prove we were both at the passport office that day. Who’s to say we didn’t arrive together? Now we both have a concrete alibi. All anyone needs to know is that I was falsely accused, and you confessed to protect me.”

  “False confession is still a crime,” Daniel pointed out, glazing over Donato’s remorse.

  “Do you want to go back to jail?” I asked, digging my fingers into his arm.

  “No. But I have to be prepared for all possibilities.”

  “Think positive,” I implored him. “We can make this work. We have to.”

  Donato already had his phone against his ear. “Zegas. Come to me immediately.” He dropped into his chair and tossed his cell on the desk.

  “I’m out.” Daniel’s voice was quiet, but certain.

  Donato nodded. “I’d expect nothing less.” He fidgeted with a pen on his desk, the move at odds with the power he exuded. “I’ve wanted that for you for so long.”

  They looked at one another. I felt their connection, one forged by years of looking out for one another, through good times, and some pretty rough ones. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Daniel finally asked.

  “When I gave you that folder, it was my way of telling you,” he reasoned, and when his eyes filled with something that looked like compassion, Daniel turned away. “You were a good kid, are a good man. He was a piece of shit, and fucking with you was the last mistake he ever made. I toyed with him for a few years by making his life a living hell, but it ate at me that he was still breathing. I came to see you as my son more than his, and you deserved better than what he gave you.” Daniel flinched when Donato called him his son, and I ached for him. “I know you would have wanted to handle it, but you wouldn’t let me do anything for you. When you called me that day, I had to take that thorn out of your side.”

  “You didn’t do anything for me?” Daniel asked incredulously. “You saved my life. Taught me everything I know. Treated me like family even when I was a shit. I don’t know how you get that I haven’t let you do anything for me. The way I see it, you’ve done more than I can ever repay.”

  Donato was on his feet in an instant, his hands on Daniel’s shoul
ders. “You are a gift I never thought I’d receive.” Daniel swallowed hard when his eyes got misty. “I never said anything to you because you told me never to mention your father again. It hurt you to even think about him, and I wouldn’t be responsible for bringing you any more pain.”

  Daniel stood and put his arms around the only person who’d ever been a dad to him. He rested his cheek against Donato’s shoulder, and I heard Donato take in a sharp breath. Daniel wasn’t an affectionate person, but he was clinging to Donato like the desperate fifteen-year- old he’d once been. Donato held onto him even more tightly.

  “Thank you,” Daniel finally said, reluctantly releasing him. “Can you forgive me?” he asked.

  Daniel appeared startled by the question. “There’s nothing to forgive.”

  “I took away any chance he might have had at redemption. I took away the only blood you had left.”

  “And in doing so, you saved me. The bastard would have never changed. You kept me from having to kill him myself. You’ve lived with that burden so I didn’t have to.” There was still disbelief on his face.

  Donato patted his shoulders. “I’ve been afraid one wrong move would drive you away from me. It’s been such a fine line to tread, and I’ve walked too carefully. I’m sorry for that.”

  “The only reason I stayed in this business is because I thought, if we didn’t have that connection, we wouldn’t have one at all,” Daniel said truthfully, his shoulders relaxing as if a great pressure was relieved by admitting that out loud.

  Donato’s smile was bittersweet. “We’ve been dancing in circles around one another when we should have approached this the way we do everything else. Aggressively.” Daniel nodded. “I love you, Daniel. I should have told you that a long time ago.”

  I blinked, stunned into silence by his admission. Daniel’s throat worked. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

  “I just wanted you to know,” Donato said, letting Daniel off the hook.

  I reached for Daniel’s hand, braiding our fingers together. He squeezed and sucked in a breath.

  “I love you too.”

  That was it for me. Tears flowed from my eyes. Those words were so difficult for him to get out. Pride filled me that he pushed his fears aside.

  Donato cleared his throat as a single tear cascaded down his cheek. “You’ll stay for breakfast.”

  “Yeah,” Daniel said. “We’ll stay for breakfast.”

  Chapter 41

  VIVIAN

  * * *

  Present

  * * *

  “I SUBMITTED the paperwork to the judge.” I grasped Daniel’s fingers in mine as we listened to his lawyer on the speakerphone in his study. “He dismissed the case. You’re a free man, Elliott.”

  I shrieked. Daniel sat frozen, staring at the phone in disbelief. It had taken less than a day.

  “Elliott? You okay?”

  “Fine. Where does that leave Donato?” he asked, all business. “Cleared, too. Alvarez closed the case. Open and shut suicide,”

  Zegas said.

  Daniel’s shoulders relaxed. “I’m giving your fee to Vivian.” “Was that a joke?”

  “She figured out how to get us out of this, but yeah, it was a joke,” Daniel said, squeezing my hand.

  “Twenty years I’ve known you. That’s a first,” his attorney said in bewilderment.

  “Keep it up and it’ll be the last.”

  “Was that another one?”

  “If you have to ask, probably not.” Daniel ended the call and pulled me out of my chair so that I stood between his legs.

  “It’s over,” I said, cupping his cheeks. Mine hurt from the smile on my face.

  “It’s not over. Not for us, Princess.”

  I bent and smashed my mouth to his. “I knew it wasn’t,” I said against his lips.

  “Thank you,” he said softly. “You saved me. Again.”

  “No one will ever take you away from me. Not even you.”

  He stood and set me on his desk. His eyes glittered as he looked down. “Not even me.”

  Daniel caressed my jaw, looking at me in wonder. His thumb traced my cheekbones, my forehead, my mouth. He lowered his head and brushed his lips with mine.

  Heat wound through my body, but quickly cooled. “We’d better go tell M. It’s time for dinner anyway.” I glanced down between us, stuffing down a flutter of nerves. “It’s weird we have to ask to come over now.”

  “She took the news about my impending incarceration worse than I imagined.” He rested his chin on top of my head and held me close. "I thought lying would protect her, but it did just the opposite. I completely failed at the one thing I promised her I would always do— protect her."

  I couldn't deny what he was saying. “You cut her deep. I knew our separation was hurting her, but this silent treatment? I’m not sure how to act around her. I’m afraid I’ll make everything worse.”

  “I deserve it. I broke our trust, but I hate that it’s affecting your relationship with her too.” He clasped my hands in his.

  “I just want everything back the way it was.”

  “She slapped me,” he said, still in disbelief. I could hardly accept it myself, even though I’d witnessed it. “Think she can forgive me?” My heart clenched at the vulnerability in his voice.

  “In time. I hope,” I amended uncertainly. “But she’s mad. Like I’ve never seen her this mad.”

  “I don’t know how to give her time.”

  “You don’t have a choice.”

  MY HAND WAS on the handle to Muriella’s door when Daniel stopped me. He pulled me flush against him. “This is not going to be easy.” I kissed him for luck, and we went in.

  “Well he is to me!” His face fell at the sound of Muriella’s raised voice. We rushed toward the kitchen. “Those people came in here and could’ve killed us all. If we’d had even a clue about them, that wouldn’t have happened.”

  “You’re right.” Daniel stiffened beside me as we entered the room.

  Muriella and Stone snapped their heads toward us, though neither looked apologetic.

  “Are we interrupting the second date?” I asked, trying to inject a little levity.

  “Nah. This doesn’t count as one. Muriella’s getting a bonus,” Stone said, going along with me, much to my relief. He pushed off the counter to greet us, shaking Daniel’s hand and clapping his shoulder. He kissed my cheek while Muriella ignored the whole thing. “Want a beer?” he asked as if we were in his home, and I stifled a smile.

  “We’re having champagne,” I informed him. Stone made a face just to aggravate me. “You’re drinking some too. We have things to celebrate.”

  “I’m all for it,” he returned good-naturedly, heading to the refriger‐ ator to pull out the good stuff.

  “Have you heard anything?” M demanded, without looking up from the saucepan on the burner.

  I started to speak, but Daniel beat me to it, so I moved to the cabinets to retrieve four glasses. “Free and clear on all charges.”

  Muriella froze, her expression blank. Daniel gripped the edge of the counter. “That’s good news.” Her voice was as flat as her face. I looked to Stone for help, but he gave me a noncommittal shrug.

  “You sound like you’d rather I wasn’t going to be around.” Daniel gave her a tentative smile. She didn’t return it.

  “You know that’s not true.”

  “Muriella, I didn’t mean to hurt you, I just…” he trailed off. “Well, you did, but you don’t need me to tell you that.”

  This was a side of Muriella I definitely wasn’t used to. Daniel looked at me helplessly. I didn’t know how to fix this. I couldn’t stand to see the two people I loved most so distanced from each other.

  So I opted to try to lighten things up again. “You sneak!” I said as I retrieved a serving platter for the beef tenderloin I’d spied roasting in the oven. “Look what she’s been hiding from us.” I held up a half- empty bag of Mars bars and tossed Daniel a piece an
d then one to Stone before digging in myself.

  “It’s been crisis mode around here,” she justified, swiping for the bag. I held it out of her reach, and Daniel snatched it. Muriella went after it, but he held it above her head. She was too petite to even have a shot at getting it, which didn’t mean she didn’t try. Daniel tossed the bag to Stone, who hid it behind his back. She charged him and held out her hand. “I just want one piece.”

  “How bad, darlin’?” he asked, cocking his head, one of those dark brows lifting.

  Muriella let out a little growl before moving back to the beef tenderloin. I brought the serving platter over to her and bumped her hip with mine.

  Daniel held out his hand, a piece of candy in the center of his palm. She appeared uncertain before plucking the peace offering. He gave her a hopeful smile. She didn’t return it, shoving the candy in her mouth.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Stone put the bag of candy in a cabinet M wouldn’t be able to reach without a stepladder. I made a mental note to hide the ladder so she’d have to beg him for the chocolate. And she would. Mission temporarily accomplished. The mood in here wasn’t quite so stifling anymore.

  “I think it’s time to do some celebrating,” Stone said, pouring champagne and handing each of us a glass.

  “I’ll drink to that,” I said, accepting the champagne flute with a meaningful nod. “To health, happiness, love, and family.”

  We clinked glasses and tossed the bubbles down our throats.

  “Um, Vivian. I don’t know how I missed it, but what the hell is that on your finger?” Stone said, gawking at my diamond.

  “Exactly what it looks like.” I held out my left hand, feeling giddy as I watched the black diamond sparkle in the light. All eyes were on the ring, admiring it. Muriella and I hadn’t even had a chance to be girls about it.

  “I’ve agreed to be her husband,” Daniel said, eyes bright with mischief.

  “I thought I agreed to be your wife,” I argued.

  “When’s the big day? Why haven’t I been invited yet?” Stone asked, doing his best to sound put out.