Rush to the Altar

by Rebecca Winters

  “Lord, how I wish I believed that.”

  He sounded like he’d been in the accident!

  “I hate to ask anything more of you, but do you think you could check my bike over and see if it’s badly damaged?”

  “First we’re going to get you out of all these wet clothes.”

  Oh, no!

  She eased away from him and got to her feet with about as much grace as a hippo rising from the mud.

  “A little water never hurt anyone.” She looked at her bike. Without wasting another second, she slipped over the side. The water was only a couple of feet deep. She grabbed the handlebars and set it upright. “Hey—it looks like it might be okay.”

  Another curse word escaped as Riley stormed in after her and walked the bike to the shore. She followed him, then hunkered down to examine it for any damage.

  “Your rearview mirror’s broken,” he said after a few minutes.

  “If that’s all you can find wrong, then I got off scot-free.”

  His jaw hardened. “Don’t assume your next accident will have the same outcome.”

  “I’ll practice riding across that plank until I get it perfect.”

  His eyes flared an angry gray. “The hell you will.”

  She smiled at him. “You know something, Riley. You swear too much.”

  He started to swear again, then caught himself.

  “Thank you for saving me.” She kissed the end of his nose. “I’m married to a real live hero.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  RILEY was right about the aches and pains. By the time she’d taken her shower and hung up her leathers to dry, her nightgown-clad body felt battered as she slid between the sheets.

  Though there wasn’t a mark on her yet, she imagined by morning there’d be a few bruises along her right forearm and thigh where she was tender. Without all the protection Nicco had insisted she wear, she could have cut herself up pretty badly on the rocks along the river bed.

  She was lucky the bike hadn’t fallen on top of her, or she’d probably be nursing a broken arm or leg.

  No sign of Riley yet. She could hear his footsteps as he moved around the barge getting everything ready for the night.

  If she hadn’t had the accident, they might be in the mountains by now ordering a delicious meal at some charming inn. Instead she’d achieved the one thing she’d hoped to prolong. She was in bed exactly where Riley wanted her.

  “I warmed some soup for you,” a voice sounded in the semidarkness.

  “Thank you,” she said with her heart in her throat.

  “Can you sit up, or do you want me to help you?”

  He’d just thrown her a life preserver.

  “I—I’m pretty sore.”

  Riley moved around to her side and turned on the lamp before sitting down on the edge of the bed. He put the tray with the soup and crackers on the end table.

  Her pleading green eyes sought his above the sheet she’d pulled to her neck. “Have you forgiven me yet?”

  Shadows had darkened his features making him look older. Yet grim or smiling, he was the most gorgeous man on earth. “You came close to giving me a heart attack today.”

  “I’m sorry our marriage has already aged you,” she teased to lighten his gloomy mood.

  He fed her several spoonfuls of vegetable beef soup. It tasted good. “Three days of expert training from a pro like Nicco still doesn’t prepare you to take the kind of risk that sent you hurling down the embankment.”

  “I swear that will never happen again, Riley. It’s just tha—”

  “I know,” he interrupted her in a grave tone. “You wanted to make me happy.”

  “A-are you?” her voice caught.

  He eyed her with an unfathomable expression.

  Uh-oh. Maybe Nicco had figured wrong this time. “There are a lot of men who like to do guy things with guys. If the idea of riding around with your wife turns you off, just say so.”

  He grimaced before feeding her some more soup. “You know that’s not the case.”

  “Then I don’t understand.”

  “I don’t want you doing something to please me for the wrong reason.”

  Ann blinked in confusion. “But I want to please you. What’s wrong with that?”

  He reached out to smooth a damp blond tendril from her temple. Her body felt his soft touch like a current of electricity. “Have you always competed with your sister?”

  She jerked to a sitting position, pulling the bedspread with her. “Is that what you think I do?” she demanded. His question hurt her more than he would ever know.

  “I have news for you, Rocket Man,” she lashed out. “When I asked Nicco what he thought you’d like for a wedding present, he said I should learn to ride. In fact he told me I owed it to my famous husband to try. It was all his idea. If you don’t believe me, ask him!

  “Naturally I have my pride and would like to think that in time I could become as good a cyclist as Callie, but I realize that will take years. If I weren’t married to you, the thought of learning how to ride would never have occurred to me.

  “You’re the one who coerced me into marrying you. Nicco was just as bad by forcing me to get on a bike. If it weren’t for the two of you, we wouldn’t be having this absurd conversation because there wouldn’t be any us!”

  Scrambling to the other side of the bed, she pulled the quilt around her and stalked out of the room. No doubt she’d pay for her hasty retreat come morning.

  “Where in the hell do you think you’re going?”

  “To get some sleep. And by the way, you’re swearing again!”

  Heartsick, she staggered into the lounge and lay down on the couch. At this rate their marriage wasn’t going to last twelve hours!

  When she felt his hand on her wet cheek, she buried her face in the cushion.

  “Ann?” he whispered in a husky voice. “I should never have said what I did about you and Callie.” His tone was filled with self-recrimination. “Don’t you know I only threw that at you because I was so terrified to watch you lose control? Anything could have happened to you.”

  She flung around. “Now maybe you know how I feel at the thought of you crashing with another cyclist going two hundred miles an hour.”

  His hand gripped her arm. “From the time I was old enough to watch my father ride through fire, I knew that kind of fear. Every time he did a stunt, I wondered if it would be his last and I’d never see him again. That’s when I’d go running to Mitra’s wagon.

  “If she was reading tea leaves for the circus crowd, I’d sit in her favorite rocking chair and eat cookies she made and kept in a special jar just for me. When she came home, she’d tell me stories about her past or take me for walks. Her comforting presence kept my fears at bay.”

  “Thank heaven for her!”

  “I have. Many times. If my father was drunk, then he didn’t come for me. I loved it on those nights. She’d put me to bed in satin sheets and sing songs until I fell asleep. But when I wasn’t with her, I had terrible nightmares. Oddly enough they were about the mother I couldn’t remember.”

  Hot tears squeezed out from under Ann’s lashes.

  “That’s why they were so terrible. In my child’s mind, every little boy had to have a mother. But she didn’t want me. My father married two other women hoping to find me one, but being a mother wasn’t their first or last priority.”

  Her heart bled for the boy in the man. “Did you ever meet her?”

  “No, and to this day I have no idea if she’s dead or alive. Mitra told me it was better I didn’t know. That was good enough for me.

  “When I turned seventeen, my father told me we were leaving for Russia. I think the only reason we left was because he feared Mitra’s power over me. For many years she’d paid for me to go to school in Perugia where her relatives lived.

  “I’d come home on holidays and in the summer. But each time I returned I noticed my father’s alcoholism was worse. No doubt he had visions of me
abandoning him like my mother did.

  “Before we left on the train, Mitra sat me down and explained that he was blessed with good looks but no sense about women. She warned me I must find a woman who respected herself above all else, otherwise I would end up exactly like him.

  “That put the fear in me because by then all I could think about were beautiful girls and motorcycles.

  “Twelve years later when I met you on the set and you cut me dead, I was reminded of Mitra’s warning. For the first time since I’d left her influence, it struck me I’d come across the kind of woman of whom she could approve.”

  “So that’s why you married me? Because of what Mitra said?”

  “Yes, plus the fact that Sister Francesca told me it was time I settled down with a good woman.

  “I knew you were good when I saw you take compassion on Boiko. The Gadjas I’ve known don’t understand Romanies, they keep away and certainly don’t kiss one.”

  Ann was stunned.

  Riley Garrow had to be the most exasperating, complicated, frustrating, unorthodox, exciting, amazing, remarkable man she’d ever known. Being raised by Mitra explained a lot about his nature.

  He will test your love in many ways. Be prepared.

  Riley’s unhappy childhood had robbed him of the capacity to love, to believe in it. That’s what Mitra had tried to tell Ann.

  Knowing Riley had chosen his bride according to some criteria she’d passed without even realizing it, placed the reason for his marriage proposal in a completely different light for Ann.

  “Forgive me if I overreacted to your accident. I’m afraid it brought back my old fears. Now come to bed.”

  He kissed her neck. “I promise I won’t do anything you don’t want me to. But I hope you’ll let me hold you. After the scare you gave me, I need to feel you against me for the rest of the night.”

  When he picked her up and took her back to the bedroom, she didn’t have the power or desire to resist. There was no conversation as he got her settled, then left to shower.

  While Ann waited for him to join her, she took off her wedding ring and studied the wild flower etching in the lamp light.

  In a few minutes Riley slid under the covers wearing the robe she’d seen him in earlier.

  She turned to him. “This is no ordinary ring.”

  “Mitra’s fiancé was a wealthy Gypsy. He died before they could be married, but he left her everything. That’s how she was able to take care of my expenses when my father was down and out. I didn’t know she had this ring until she gave it to me outside the palace this morning.”

  “I feel very honored to wear it.”

  Riley took it from her and pushed it home on her ring finger. “It’s a perfect fit. I have another ring for you, but I’ll wait until a special occasion to give it to you.”

  He reached across her to turn off the lamp. “Since I don’t know where you hurt, I’m going to let you figure out how we’re going to do this.”

  With an eagerness that was embarrassing, she drew his right arm beneath her head, then turned on her left side. With her arm wrapped around his chest, she buried her face in his neck.

  He gathered her tightly against him, engulfing her in his male warmth.

  Oh…he felt so good.

  “Does your mouth hurt?”

  “No.”

  “Then I’d like a taste of it.”

  Obeying a compulsion stronger than her will, she moved her face against his smooth shaven jaw until their mouths fused in passion. Tonight the pleasure of kissing each other into oblivion dulled the pain of knowing he hadn’t married her for love.

  Monday morning Riley rode his wife’s bike up to one of the bay doors of the Danelli garage and rang the buzzer. As soon as it lifted, he drove on through to find a free slot where it could be worked on. All the mechanics who were on board nodded to him and called out their congratulations.

  In-house gossip had already spread the news that he’d married the sister of the boss’s wife. The bridal picture on the front page of Turin’s Sunday newspaper had done the rest. Some photographer had managed to catch Riley carrying Ann to the barge where the royal family was looking on.

  The caption read, Hollywood Film Star And Danelli Racing Idol Wed At Tescotti Palace. The Romantic Duo Will Spend Their Honeymoon Cruising The Po.”

  The staff writer had gotten the “wed” part right. As for the honeymoon, that was a different story.

  So far his bride of two days was still inviolate due to injuries suffered in a biking mishap.

  His jaw clenched.

  That was about as far as Riley could stomach reading while he stood in line at a service station to pay for some oil. He’d waited until this morning to start up her bike. It had fired, but it wasn’t running the way it should. He’d decided to add oil to the fuel as a precaution before he reached the plant.

  Carlo, one of the younger mechanics, walked over to him. “What seems to be the trouble, Signore Garrow?”

  “The engine has suffered water damage,” Riley explained without going into details.

  “Looks like it needs a new mirror, too.”

  Riley nodded. “See what you can do, will you?”

  “I’ll run it through some tests right now.”

  “Thanks, Carlo. I’ll be in the boss’s office if you need me.”

  A few minutes later he’d walked through the main plant to the other building that housed Nicco’s office.

  He found his new brother-in-law busy at the computer. When Nicco spotted him in the doorway, he looked up in surprise.

  “I thought I told you to take the rest of the week off to enjoy your honeymoon.”

  “I might have done if my bride hadn’t gotten it in her head to present me with her wedding present as soon as our guests left the barge. I’m here to pay for it.”

  “That was my gift to her.” Nicco sat back in his swivel chair with a big grin on his face. “I noticed it was missing from the back room this morning. So how did you like it?”

  Riley sucked in his breath. “For starters, it added about twenty years to my life.”

  “What else?” Nicco was a quick study. He sat forward, no longer smiling.

  “Let’s just say that due to my bride’s incapacitation, the honeymoon hasn’t started yet.”

  Some of the color left Nicco’s face. “How bad is she?”

  “She hasn’t broken any bones, thank God, but she’s sustained some serious bruising on her right arm and leg.”

  “Tell me what happened.”

  Riley related the facts. “When I saw her go flying down that embankment, I swear my whole life flashed before me.”

  By now Nicco was on his feet. “She swore to me she’d never take any unnecessary risks. I was wrong to bully her about getting on a bike. If she was frightened of them before, this has killed any hope of her overcoming her phobia. Callie’s going to be crushed when I tell her.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up, Nicco. To Ann’s credit she did everything right until she reached the marina. Let’s both be honest. In our early biking days we probably would have underestimated the steepness of the road, too.”

  “I’m sure that’s true, but I wasn’t on my honeymoon at the time. It’s my fault yours was ruined.”

  “No it’s not. The only thing of any importance is that she’s going to be all right. I’m married to the woman I want. When the honeymoon starts is immaterial. If anything, it has opened my eyes.”

  “You mean you found out the real meaning of fear when you thought you might have lost her?”

  “Yes,” Riley admitted in a tortured whisper. “If she feels that same fear every time I suit up for a race, I don’t give our marriage a chance in hell. There’s something else you should know. Something I’m not proud of.”

  “Go on.”

  “Ann didn’t want to marry me, but I applied certain leverage that made it impossible for her to deny me.” In a few minutes he’d put Nicco in the picture. “The bottom line is, she
’d do anything for you, or to keep you from being hurt. I’m afraid I’m not a nice man.”

  “That makes two of us,” Nicco confessed. “Callie did everything but poison me to prevent our marriage from taking place. At least you didn’t have to use brute force to get Ann to the altar.”

  Riley stared at him. “You forced your marriage to help your brother. My reasons for coercing Ann were totally selfish.”

  “Don’t give me any credit,” Nicco bit out. “I wanted Callie the second I saw her get off the plane. Once she flashed those green eyes at me, that was it!”

  “I had the same reaction when Ann and I met on the set,” Riley muttered.

  “Your marriage to her is more important than any racing career. If you hadn’t seen that magazine article and come to Turin, the Danelli company would still continue to grow. Not with the kind of excitement the legendary Riley Garrow could bring to it of course.” Nicco smiled. “Maybe fate has something else in store for you.”

  Riley’s senses went on full alert. He knew Nicco well enough to realize the man didn’t make comments like that without a reason.

  “What do you know I don’t?”

  “While Enzo and I were on the barge talking, he told me he wanted to have a private chat with you after your honeymoon. Since Ann is still recuperating, maybe this week would be the best time to accommodate him.”

  Riley frowned. “Why would he want to see me?”

  “If you think I’ve engineered anything, you’d be mistaken. After guiding Ann in the wrong direction about her choice of wedding present for you, I’m through meddling in your affairs, even if it was with the best of intentions.”

  “I know that,” Riley assured him. Nicco Tescotti was the best of the best.

  “Enzo was talking as the prince, not as my brother. If it were a social call, he’d have left it up to Maria to issue an invitation to you and Ann.”

  Riley rubbed his chest absently. “If his schedule isn’t too full, I could see him today. Callie drove her car over to the barge to take Ann home with her for part of the day.”

  “Good. I’ll give Enzo a call on his private line now.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. After he punched the digits he said, “Is the bike totalled?”