The Amalfitano's Bold Abduction (The Italian Billionaires Collection)

by Jennifer Blake

  Dana was hungry. Though it might show a lack of sensitivity on her part, she couldn’t pretend otherwise. The last time she’d eaten was hours ago on the plane, and then only a continental breakfast of an ice cold roll, lukewarm coffee and a green banana.

  “So what do you think?” Andrea asked, leaning back in his chair across from her, his glass held in long, well-formed fingers. His gaze that rested on her face was intent, watchful.

  “Very nice.”

  She meant that, actually. The bread was crisp on the outside, soft and moist on the inside, with a delectable yeasty aroma and taste. The combination of herbs in the olive oil was intriguing, and the olives themselves were plump and flavorful. The limoncello was a perfect accompaniment, cool, tart and sweetly refreshing.

  “I’m glad you approve.” The words were dry.

  “Excuse me if I’m not as fervent as you might like, but it’s the best I can do under the circumstances.”

  “Ah, yes, the circumstances. Are you licensed to operate a helicopter?”

  She had thought he meant to ignore her gesture toward escape. She should have known better. She removed an olive pit from her mouth before she spoke.

  “Not exactly.”

  “Not at all, or so I suspect.”

  She had taken the controls of one a couple of times while hanging out with a guy who piloted one of the police surveillance choppers. Not that she intended to share that information with Andrea.

  “It didn’t appear that difficult while you were doing it,” she said, reaching for her glass again.

  “So you would really have tried to take off.”

  “Did you leave it unlocked because you thought I wouldn’t?”

  “An oversight only, though I’m beginning to think there is little you would not try.” He went on with barely a pause. “To save future trouble for us both, I will tell you there is little chance of leaving the island without aid, but such assistance will not be forthcoming. Every person on the island is connected to my family in one way or another. I am in some ways the padrone, the master of the island as in days gone by. By now, all know I have a guest and will treat you with the utmost respect. However, no man will provide transport without my consent. They may smile and agree, but will come directly to me for authorization.”

  She gave him her deadliest stare. “How lovely for you.”

  “Convenient, anyway,” he answered, unperturbed. “What is the point of having wealth if things cannot be arranged as you wish?”

  “Having power, you mean.”

  “If you prefer.”

  “It sounds as if a reluctant guest is not unusual.”

  His chuckle was easy and rich with humor. “Believe it or not, you are the first.”

  “Lucky me.”

  She sipped her liqueur and then sat watching the swirl of alcohol in the yellow liquid. It was a surprisingly potent drink, so probably a way of persuading her to relax as he had suggested earlier. She could feel it seeping along her veins, encouraging that gentle effect, making her aware of how quiet it was here, and how peaceful the island seemed, at least on the surface.

  She looked up, and was distracted for an instant by a shaft of sunlight falling through the grapevines overhead, touching the waves of Andrea’s hair with molten light and gilding one chiseled plane of his face while leaving the other in shadow. The effect was so mesmerizing that her breath caught in her throat for a second. It was an effort to ignore the image enough to meet the concentration in his green eyes.

  “I believe you were going to tell me how I earned this honor?”

  “I was, wasn’t I?” he answered, and then glanced beyond her. “But it will wait for later. Now we must eat.”

  Their food had arrived, it seemed, plates of pasta rich with a medley of seafood seasoned with garlic and parsley and glistening with olive oil.

  Exasperation sang in Dana’s veins as she leaned back in her chair to allow young Tommaso to serve her, to add ground pepper and parmesan to her plate and then pour dry white wine and cool mineral water. She had a feeling Andre was delaying his explanation, though why she could not imagine. She would let him get away with it for now, but not much longer.

  Guaio appeared soon after the pasta, no doubt following the seafood scent from the kitchen or wherever he had been released from his carrier. He twined around her feet with imperious meows, obviously hopeful of sharing the meal. When she felt the rumble of what promised to be a demand, she chose a shrimp from her dish and gave it to him, though it was a wrench to part with it. The simple offering of pasta was one of the most delicious things she had ever tasted, though she kept the impression to herself.

  Andrea pushed his plate aside after a few minutes, though a portion of his pasta remained. Taking up the bottle of wine Tommaso had left behind, he refilled their glasses. He drank from his then sat turning it in his hands. Finally, he set it back beside his plate. Squaring his shoulders, he rested his elbows on his chair arms and linked his fingers together.

  “So. About why you are here with me.”

  Dana put down her fork with care and picked up her glass of mineral water. “Yes?”

  “I told you Guaio belongs to my sister, yes?”

  “You did.”

  “Isabella, or Bella as she in known in the family, is involved in a rather messy divorce. After some six years of marriage, she discovered her husband has, or did have, a mistress with a child. Rico swears the affair was over years ago, soon after they met, but Bella refuses to believe it. It is doubly hurtful for her because she and Rico have no children. Guaio was in some ways a substitute for the baby they both wanted but couldn’t conceive. Both are now demanding custody.”

  “You mean they are fighting over a cat?”

  His face remained serious. “It’s something more than that. Bella believes Rico will do away with Guaio if he gets his hands on him.”

  “Surely not!”

  “Who can say? I would have doubted it a month ago, but now Rico blames the cat for their breakup. He swears Bella never loved him as she does Guaio.”

  Dana set down her water glass without drinking from it. “Is he right?”

  “It may be true Bella lavished as much money and attention on her pet as she might a child, but intense grooming is necessary for competition.”

  Guaio, finished with his shrimp, sat down and washed his face, pausing now and then to give Dana a hopeful stare. It almost seemed he knew he was the subject of their discussion.

  Andrea glanced at the cat then forked a morsel of seafood from his plate and leaned to offer it. Guaio turned his head in feline disdain. Rising, he moved to rub his chin along Dana’s shoe.

  The urge toward one-upmanship was impossible to resist. Searching out another shrimp from her pasta was no great sacrifice as her appetite seemed to have fled. The cat took her offering with gratifying promptness.

  She watched him a moment before sending a triumphant smile toward the man across from her.

  “Anyway,” he said, a stringent note in his voice, “Rico claims Bella took the cat to shows to avoid being with him, also to gain the prize money she needed for support after the divorce. The last is ridiculous, of course, as she has her inheritance from our father. And she can always apply to me for whatever she might need.”

  “Maybe she should just talk to her husband—”

  “When they meet, they do nothing but quarrel.” He lifted a shoulder. “I love my sister but she enjoys shouting and throwing things, and seldom sees any side of a question except her own. Rico is much the same, the kind of man who believes the person who shouts louder wins.”

  “Have they not noticed it isn’t working?”

  “Apparently that no longer matters. They have descended from shouting to threats. Now it appears they may have come to worse.”

  Dana was quiet a moment. “By that, you mean the attempt to run me down this morning.”

  “You were holding Guaio at the time, if you will remember. The idea was possibly to make y
ou drop him.”

  “Drop him so he might be run over.” She shivered a little at the chill brought on by that idea.

  “If you wish to be charitable.”

  His level tone told her he thought the driver of the car could easily have flattened her along with the cat. Thinking back, she wasn’t sure it was impossible. “So one of the two men was this Rico, your sister’s husband?”

  “More likely, both were hired by him. It would be foolish to be caught in such an act while the divorce is pending. The same men may have broken into Bella’s house. At least someone came in through a window last night, but crossed an electric eye. They set off an alarm, so had to abandon their purpose.”

  “You are positive they were after the cat?”

  “Bella is, and that is what matters. She called me to come immediately, to take Guaio and keep him with me, keep him safe until this is over.”

  “That’s what you were doing this morning.” If the cat belonged to his sister then it made sense Andrea was not that familiar with the animal, also that Guaio preferred a female as a caretaker.

  Andrea inclined his head. “I was followed by those two in the sedan, as you know, but managed to stay ahead of them until the traffic jam.”

  She’d just bet he had, given the power of his Lamborghini. “What kind of man is this Rico that he’d go to such lengths? Is he crazy or just some kind of Neapolitan crook?”

  “A member of the Cosa Nostra, you mean to say? By no means. He’s only a husband who doesn’t want to lose his wife, but has no clue how to keep her.”

  The look she sent him was cool. “Don’t tell me you feel sorry for him.”

  He lifted a shoulder without answering. Picking up his wine glass again, he tossed back what was left in it.

  “That’s all well and good,” Dana went on after a moment, “but I don’t see what it has to do with me. I’m just a tourist with no ties to any of this.”

  “You are tied to me, at least in the minds of the two thugs who saw you today.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” she snapped, in spite of the odd ripple along her nerves at the idea. “They don’t know who I am or where to find me.”

  “You were driving a car with a rental license plate, yes?”

  “Well, but—”

  “You used a credit card when you picked it up, or so I imagine. You were required to state your destination on the rental agreement. You provided a photo ID, such as your passport or driver’s permit?”

  She nodded with reluctance. She was well aware of the plastic trail people could leave behind them, but hadn’t connected it to her own activities until this moment.

  Guaio chose that moment to leap up into her lap. She caught him, steadied him with a thumb under his collar with its glittering blue stones, taking solace from the way he immediately settled in her lap and rumbled into a purr.

  “Rico has a cousin who works with Interpol in an executive capacity. Italy is a country that thrives on the exchange of favors. Must I say more?”

  “Even so, I’m not really involved,” she said, keeping her gaze on the cat as she smoothed her hand down his back.

  “I repeat, you were seen with me. They know you left the accident scene in my car. I can’t guarantee you won’t be targeted if only because these men may believe I would hand over Guaio in exchange for you.”

  She swallowed hard before looking up to meet his serious green gaze. “You mean they might try to turn me into some kind of hostage.”

  “It was once a favorite pastime in certain parts of Italy.”

  “That’s insane!”

  “This is not a sane time between Bella and Rico. They aren’t themselves, I fear, aren’t really responsible for the things they are saying and doing.”

  “Oh, please. People are always responsible.”

  A smile came and went across his face so quickly she wasn’t sure she saw it. “Some people only, not all. But the fact is I would instantly give up Guaio in exchange for you, and that would break Bella’s heart.”

  The oddest warmth poured along Dana’s veins at the idea that he might value her comfort and safety above the life of his sister’s pet cat. That was perfectly senseless when he only meant he would place a higher value on any human life. Still it held her silent as he went on.

  “Hear me, then. You would not be in this predicament if I had remembered Guaio was with me when I stepped out of my car there at the traffic jam. You were quick enough, and kind enough, to rescue Bella’s pet when he escaped, for which I am supremely grateful. But now it is my responsibility to make certain you don’t regret that impulse. I will feel much better if you remain here where I can see to it you are kept safe.”

  “Oh, please.”

  “Yes, even if you think it is insanity,” he went on in answer to her thought rather than what she’d said. “It is my hope you will agree it is a sensible precaution, and perhaps look on these next few days as a vacation, a holiday. It will be different from the one you had planned, yes, but a holiday all the same.”

  Chapter 4

  Had he convinced her?

  Andrea could not tell. The flash of resentment in her eyes when he said she might consider her stay on the island as a holiday suggested it was unlikely.

  She was a woman with a mind of her own. Another time he might relish matching wills and wits with her, but not now. She had cause to resent what he had done, but the situation would be more tolerable for them both if she could be persuaded to cooperate.

  Making life tolerable for him would not be high on her list of priorities, he thought. In fact, she would probably take pleasure in making it as difficult as possible.

  She was doing that already, if she only knew. All she had to do was turn her head so the sunlight struck fire from hair or slanted across the freckle-dusted planes of her face, and the pants he wore became as uncomfortable as she could wish.

  Would she really have tried to take off in the helicopter if he had not put a stop to it? He feared she might have. It didn’t bear thinking about, as she could easily have spun into a free fall that landed her in the sea. He could feel sweat break out across the back of his neck at the mere thought.

  He must watch her like a hawk with a snake in its nest. It would be no hardship, this close surveillance, but he could already see its hidden dangers.

  She sat across from him now, slowly smoothing her hand along the thick fur on Guaio’s back while the cat closed his eyes to slits and kneaded her jean-clad knee in ecstasy. It was just a little annoying when Bella’s pet would have nothing to do with him. He’d taken care of the animal as if it were a child, but earned only disdain. All Dana had done was feed him a shrimp or two and he appeared to have bonded with her for life.

  Look at that, the two of them were even yawning in unison. It was almost comical.

  “Sleepy?” Andrea asked.

  “A little. I never sleep well on planes.”

  “You landed at Naples this morning after an overseas flight, yes? You must be exhausted. There’s no reason you shouldn’t lie down if you like. Half the island does the same after lunch.”

  Her smile was a little crooked. “Only half? I thought the whole of Italy shut down between one and four in the afternoon.”

  “Very near it,” he conceded.

  “But not you.”

  “I abandoned the habit some years ago. Much of my business occurs in places where such an afternoon break isn’t practical.”

  “And I never formed it in the first place. Besides, if I sleep now I’ll be wide awake in the middle of the night. It will be better if I adjust to Italian time.”

  Her refusal was hardly surprising since resting had been his suggestion. He should have told her it would better if she didn’t nap. Then she might have allowed herself that small concession.

  It was his private opinion that she should adjust to more that was Italian than the time zone and afternoon rest. She was entirely too tense, too prickly in her independence. He wondered what it would take
, other than limoncello, to induce her to let go and let things happen as they would.

  What might it take to have her become his willing guest?

  “Would you care to see more of the island then?” he asked as courteously as he was able. “I have a few things to look after while I am here. I could give you the grand tour at the same time.”

  She met his gaze as if seeking an ulterior motive to the invitation. He held that long look, his own as clear as his conscience.

  “That sounds nice,” she said finally.

  Nice.

  Andrea was not sure what he expected, but would have been glad of a little more enthusiasm. “Excellent. I’ll have a golf cart brought around.”

  “Golf cart?”

  “My great-grandfather banned gas-powered vehicles on the island. They were too fast and too noisy, so he said, and the island so small a man could walk from one end to the other in a few hours. He kept a donkey cart for his use, but I am not so dedicated to tradition.”

  She almost smiled at that droll observation. It was such a pleasant look, such a rewarding result, that he set himself the challenge of making her do it again.

  The golf cart was top-of-the-line, but still none-too-large. Andrea was well aware of that drawback; in fact he depended upon it. Watching Dana take the far side of the narrow seat and wedge herself in place with her feet against the floorboard, he hid a smile. The cart track that crisscrossed the island was steep and winding, having been constructed following what was once a goat track. She would be close against him before she knew it.

  “Hold up!”

  That cry came from Dana before the cart moved off a dozen feet. Glancing back, he saw Guaio trotting after them with his tail waving over his back.

  Dana had put him down before she left the terrace. It was amazing to see the pampered feline expend the energy to follow after her, Andrea thought, even as he braked for the cat.

  Guaio needed no coaxing to join them. He leaped at once to Dana’s lap.