Bestselling Authors Collection 2012

by Trish Morey; Day Leclaire; Natalie Anderson; Brenda Jackson; Ann Voss Peterson

  Dead silence followed David’s comment. She could feel the waves of fury pouring off Constantine, which was no doubt the point. And after the crack about Tiffany’s and Cartier, her family didn’t appear any calmer. How could David be so foolish? It was so unlike him. Granted, he hadn’t formed the sort of tight relationship with her brothers she’d hoped he would, but he’d never been deliberately rude. In fact, he’d always been polite, intent on making a good impression, even if it lacked a certain warmth.

  Time to act, Gianna realized, and fast. The first item on her agenda was to remove David from the line of fire before someone decked him. Then they’d have a talk. A long talk. She needed to decide once and for all whether there was any possibility of a future for her with David. If not, the only honorable option was to end things between them.

  “If you’ll excuse us, my date and I have a few important matters to discuss,” Gianna announced.

  David grinned in triumph and dropped an arm around her shoulders, tugging her into his arms. For a split second she thought matters might turn physical. Maybe they would have if David’s impromptu embrace hadn’t placed her squarely between the warring factions. An accident, she was certain. Her oldest brother, Luc, grabbed Constantine’s shoulder in one hand and Rafe’s in the other, actively restraining the two men.

  “Later,” she heard him murmur. “This isn’t the proper time or place.”

  Clearly David had no intention of waiting for the proper time or place. “Yes, boys, heel” came his parting shot before he swept her away.

  “What is going on?” she demanded in an undertone.

  His congenial mask faded. “I planned to ask you the precise same questions.”

  “Answer mine, first. What’s between you and Constantine?”

  “Old history. Nothing to do with us. Come.” He gestured toward the terrace off the ballroom. “Let’s find somewhere private to talk.”

  Though it was midsummer, a cool haze embraced their surroundings, creating a pale, misty curtain. The sprawl of the city glittered softly through the veil, muffling sight, sound and light. It was almost as though they were cut off from the rest of the world, trapped within an oasis of fog. Tables dotted the terrace, situated in cozy, shadow-draped alcoves. David selected the most private.

  “Why don’t you sit here for a moment while I get us both a drink.”

  She wasn’t going to let him off the hook. “Then you’ll explain?”

  “Absolutely. Just as you will.”

  She heard the clipped warning in his voice and winced. She didn’t look forward to that part of the conversation at all. She used her time alone to consider how to describe her relationship to Constantine, not to mention that kiss. It would be lovely if she could get away with a short: “It’s none of your business.” But she knew David better than that.

  Before she could come up with a firm plan, he returned with a flute of champagne for her and a Campari for himself. He even offered a congenial smile. After his earlier anger, his sudden equanimity surprised her. She took a sip of champagne and wrinkled her nose at the aftertaste. What in the world…? She’d had this wine before and never experienced the faintly bitter finish she did on this occasion.

  He raised his highball glass. “To us.”

  Aware that David was waiting for a response, she quickly switched gears and tipped her flute in his direction. “To us,” she hastened to repeat, gently tapping her glass against his and took another tongue-curdling sip of her wine. As much as she preferred to avoid the coming confrontation, she knew she couldn’t. But maybe she could delay her own explanation by taking the offensive. “What’s going on, David?”

  “You tell me.” He eyed her over the rim of his glass. Though he’d banked his anger, she could sense it smoldering just beneath the surface. “That wasn’t exactly a familial kiss you exchanged with Romano.”

  “We’re old friends.”

  “Intimate old friends?”

  She couldn’t discern his expression in the darkness of the terrace, but his tone didn’t require the bright light of day to decipher. He was flat-out furious. She took her time responding, sipping her champagne, then wished she hadn’t bothered. She chose her words with care. “We dated,” she admitted. “Very, very briefly.”

  “You slept with him.”

  Anger rippled through her and she set her flute on the table, the crystal singing against the wrought iron. “That’s none of your business.”

  She thought he’d argue the point. He must have reconsidered, because he shrugged. “You’re right. It isn’t,” he conceded. He lifted her glass and handed it to her again, in what was clearly meant to be a peace offering. “I was jealous. Considering that kiss you and Romano exchanged, is it surprising?”

  “I guess not.”

  She accepted the glass. This time when she sipped, she attempted to analyze what was off about the wine. It wasn’t flat or sour. The carbonation remained strong and crisp, the flavor light and fruity with a hint of yeast. And yet, the bitterness persisted. She made a mental note to check with the caterer. For now, she’d let the problem go and give her full attention to David.

  “So, is it over between you and Romano?” David pressed.

  “I’m not sure,” she admitted honestly.

  It certainly hadn’t felt over, not after that kiss. Her palm itched and she curled her fingers inward, wishing she could ignore the sensation. How many Dantes had described that exact same reaction and attributed it to the connection formed when they’d first touched their soul mate? Every last one of them. She closed her eyes. Since Constantine’s return, the itching had grown progressively more noticeable. She could sit here with David and deny it until dawn broke across the horizon, but it wouldn’t change the facts.

  She and Constantine were connected in a way she and David weren’t…and quite possibly never would be, no matter how hard she’d tried to ignite that connection.

  “Finish your drink, Gia, and then let’s go.”

  The clipped order caught her off guard. Had he seen the regret on her face? “Go? Go, where?”

  “For a drive. We need to talk and I’d rather not do it here where Dantes or Romano could burst in on us at any moment.” She caught the gleam of his smile in the darkness. “Besides, it will give everyone time to cool off. Don’t you think that’s the smartest choice?”

  Gianna weighed her options. If they stayed, chances were excellent that her family would appear within the next ten minutes with some excuse or another, no doubt one related to business. She toyed with her wineglass and grimaced. Particularly if they tasted the champagne. She didn’t have a single doubt that Constantine would head the parade of invaders. He wouldn’t be able to help himself. She closed her eyes, an unexpected wave of exhaustion settling over her. She couldn’t deal with any of that tonight, she really couldn’t.

  “Finish your champagne and let’s go,” David prompted again.

  “Okay.” But instead of drinking, she set it aside. She could tell her actions didn’t please him and wasn’t quite certain if he objected to her contrariness or the fact that he’d gone to the trouble of bringing her a drink she hadn’t bothered to finish. She touched his hand to distract him. “But then you’ll explain about you and Constantine and whatever this old history is between you, right? His sister, Ariana, is married to my cousin Lazz, remember? And I flat-out adore her. I don’t want your disagreement with Constantine to interfere with my relationship with her.”

  “Of course not.” He stood and held out his hand. “Why don’t we slip out the back way?”

  “If it’ll avoid a confrontation, I’m all for it,” Gianna agreed.

  “Why didn’t you tell me they were dating?” Constantine demanded of Gianna’s brothers.

  Luc shrugged. “Didn’t know it had anything to do with you.”

  Draco frowned. “And just out of curiosity, why does it have anything to do with you?”

  Time to make one thing crystal clear to all the Dantes. Constanti
ne folded his arms across his chest and eyed them one by one. “From now on everything about Gianna has to do with me,” he stated.

  “Wait a minute, wait a minute.” Rafe held up his hands. “I know you two met at Lazz’s wedding. But when the hell did it go from how-do-you-do to she’s-mine-let’s-kill-the-competition? Not that I mind, you understand. I’d just like you to fill in a few of the blanks.”

  How could they even ask that question? They knew how The Inferno worked. They must know what Gianna had chosen to do to him. “It went from one to the other as soon as we shook hands.”

  Luc’s brows shot upward. “The Inferno?”

  “She Infernoed you?” Rafe burst out laughing. “Way to go, little sister.”

  “This is not a laughing matter.” Constantine could hear his accent deepening and fought for control. “It might have been polite to ask before she…Infernoed me.”

  Draco gave him a sympathetic slap on the back. “Yeah, sorry about that. Doesn’t really work that way, I’m afraid.”

  Constantine’s eyes narrowed. “When we have more time, perhaps you would be so kind as to explain exactly how it does work.”

  “Hell, if any of us knew that we wouldn’t all be standing here with a ball and chain manacled to our ankles,” Rafe said cheerfully. He shot out his hand and captured his wife’s wrist, reeling her in. “Isn’t that right, my sweet little chain?”

  “You just said that because you knew I was standing there, didn’t you?” Larkin demanded crossly.

  “If you can’t handle the truth, don’t eavesdrop.” Her mouth opened to give him a piece of her mind and he took immediate advantage. They both reemerged a moment later, a bit bewitched and bewildered. He cupped his wife’s face and gazed down at her with unmistakable adoration. “Just so you know, I’ve never been more grateful for that chain or the fact that it goes both ways…and I always will.”

  A short time later, Gianna found herself in David’s car, pulling out of the Dantes’ garage. He gave the Jaguar its head, the powerful car eating up the hills of the city a little faster than she’d have liked. He was so different from Constantine. It was almost as though David had something to prove. As though he were trying to show her that he was the better man. Instead of being impressed, she found his actions vaguely sad.

  She yawned. “Where are we going?”

  “Nowhere in particular. I just thought we’d take a drive out of the city, then park and talk.”

  He sped through a yellow light and she touched his arm. For some reason it took serious effort, almost as though her limbs had turned to lead. Preparing for the gala must have worn her out more than she realized. “Pull over for just a minute.”

  “Wait until we’re out of the city.”

  “No, seriously. Pull over. I want you to do something for me.”

  He spared her a brief, impatient look, then braked a little harder than necessary and rolled to a stop in a red zone beside a fire hydrant. “Okay, I’ve pulled over. Now what?”

  “Would you kiss me?”

  A streetlight cut across his face, giving the illusion that his pale eyes were translucent. She could still read his reaction—a mixed one. Part of him wanted her with a deep, primal hunger that he didn’t bother to disguise. Another part, one she suspected he would have hidden from her if he could, hesitated. She knew why. He’d guessed she wanted to compare his kiss to the one Constantine had given her. And he’d be right.

  The time for pretense was over. She needed to know the truth, once and for all. Either she had serious feelings for David or she didn’t. For the past three months she’d thrown herself into the relationship, hoping against hope that desire would flare to life. That The Inferno would strike with him, the way it had with Constantine. She knew for a fact that could happen. Even so, she couldn’t create a fire without combustible materials. At the very least she should feel as if she’d struck a match when they kissed. Generated a hint of smoke. Created a flicker or two of flame. Something. If not, the only honorable course was to end things between them.

  David took his time. Reaching for her, he drew her as close as possible given the console between them. He cupped her face and leaned in, taking her mouth slowly, then more passionately. His breathing grew ragged as the moments slipped by and his fingers thrust into her hair so he could control and deepen the kiss.

  It took every ounce of self-possession to keep from jerking free of his hold. His touch felt wrong. Wrong on every conceivable level. No matter how hard she attempted to fight it, there was only one man for her. And he wasn’t the one kissing her.

  Even so, she didn’t fight him or pull back, despite the muffled instinct urging her to do just that. For some reason it felt as though she’d left her brain on the terrace at Dantes, trapped within that dense summer fog. More than anything she wished she could curl up and go to sleep. Maybe a drive wasn’t the best option.

  It wasn’t until he groped for the fastening of the halter top of her gown that she stirred. “No, David.” He pulled back, a protest blazing across his face. Before he could say anything, her cell phone rang, loud and strident within the confines of the car. It cut through the drag of exhaustion, giving her a moment of clarity. “I need to get that.”

  “No, you don’t,” he argued. “For once in your life, ignore your family.”

  “I’m a Dante, David,” she explained gently. “You know it doesn’t work that way. They’ll worry if I don’t answer.”

  She took the call, but instead of one of her brothers as she expected, it was Constantine who spoke. “Where are you, piccola?” he asked.

  “With David. We’re going for a drive.”

  A brief silence, then, “Tell him to take you straight home.”

  “Is that an order?”

  “There’s something you should know about David, Gianna. It’s important. I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t.”

  She might have argued, but with David sitting there listening to every word, she decided to choose prudence for once in her life. “I’ll call you later when it’s more convenient.”

  “I’m leaving Dantes in another few minutes. I’ll wait outside your place until I hear from you.”

  She sighed. “It might be a bit. David and I…” She spared her date a brief glance, not the least surprised by the anger sparking in his gaze. Could he hear Constantine’s voice, tell it wasn’t one of her brothers who’d called? Or had he guessed what was happening based on her responses? “We need to talk.”

  “Going to dump him?”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  “Everything about you is my business,” he responded with devastating simplicity.

  She flipped the phone closed and dropped it in her purse. “David—”

  “Don’t.”

  She fought through her exhaustion, attempting to find the kindest, gentlest words possible. “David, let’s be honest with each other. We’ve been dating for three months. If we shared something that could have become permanent, we’d have felt it by now.”

  “We have felt it,” he argued. “You can’t deny you feel something for me. You’ve just allowed Romano to confuse you. Give me a chance, Gia. Give us a chance.”

  It was truth time. She would never want this man. Not the way a woman should want the man who hoped to share her bed. No matter how hard she tried, no matter how she attempted to lose herself in David’s embrace, some part of her remained remote and untouched. That secret part of herself flinched from allowing any other man to hold her. Touch her. Kiss her. Only one man had that right. She closed her eyes, caving to the inevitable. There wouldn’t be a private weekend in New York. Or a romantic suite at the Ritz, not to mention an engagement.

  Nor would she ever share David’s bed.

  “I have given us a chance,” she told him as compassionately as she could manage. She fought back another yawn. The fog returned, relentless, rolling toward her at breakneck speed. “It’s not working.”

  “I’ll make it work.” He turned
a knob on the console which put the Jag in gear and fishtailed away from the curb. “Lean back and close your eyes, Gia. We’ll be there before you know it.”

  She shook her head, but it didn’t help. The fog descended, consuming her, and she tumbled into its cold gray embrace. “What’s wrong with me?” she murmured.

  “Put your seat back and go to sleep. When you wake it’ll all be over.”

  What would be over? But it took too much effort to ask the question. And she slept.

  Three

  “She’s not at her house and she’s not answering her cell.” Constantine paced up and down the sidewalk for the umpteenth time. After twenty endless minutes, he knew every crack and stain by heart. “That can only mean one thing. D’Angelo has her. There’s no other possibility.”

  Luc sighed. “He doesn’t have her. They’re simply out together. I hate to say this, Constantine, but they’ve been dating for a couple of months. She’s a grown woman. If she isn’t answering her cell it’s because she doesn’t want to talk to you. I’m sure she’ll be in touch in the morning.”

  “No,” Constantine snarled into his cell phone. Every instinct he possessed screamed in protest. He had to find her. Now. “If we wait until morning, it will be too late. He knows I am on to him. He’ll have to move tonight if he has any hope of keeping her from me.”

  “What the bloody hell are you talking about?” Luc snapped.

  Constantine forced himself to explain in a calm, crisp manner that didn’t sound like he was the deranged one, rather than d’Angelo. “D’Angelo has drugged at least one other woman in the past in order to take advantage of her. Attempted to take advantage of her. I stopped him in time.”

  “Dear God. That’s what he meant about your timing leaving something to be desired?”

  “Yes.” Constantine checked his watch, also for the umpteenth time. “If d’Angelo wishes to do this to Gianna…if he wishes to drug her and take advantage of her, where would he take her?”