Shadow Keeper

by Christine Feehan

  "There're cameras everywhere," Stefano said, sounding bored. "This man picked the wrong night to accuse me. Most likely he was angry at getting thrown out of the club. I don't know what he's talking about with his little porn accusation, but I can call West, our club manager, and ask him to have all the security tapes pulled for that night. You're welcome to go through them."

  Bradshaw nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Ferraro, we'd appreciate that."

  "You might remind whoever this man is that falsely accusing someone is a crime as well. I have half a mind to sue the bastard."

  Both detectives nodded, turned and walked away. Francesca looked at her husband. "Porn?"

  Stefano shrugged. "I didn't quite understand that allegation."

  "There's money to be made in making porn films," Vittorio announced.

  There was silence around the table. Emmanuelle wadded up her napkin and threw it with deadly accuracy at her brother. She hit him right in the face.

  "Hey. I was just stating a fact."

  "A random fact. Why do we need to know that?" Emmanuelle demanded.

  "It's good to be up on all the latest information," he argued. "You might find yourself down-and-out and in need of funds."

  "Are you suggesting my baby sister become a porn star?" Stefano asked, a hint of true menace in his voice.

  "No, I was suggesting she produce, fund, get behind the moviemaking industry if she's out of money."

  "Do you remember what that detective accused me of doing?" Stefano asked.

  "Making a porno?"

  "No, beating the asshole up."

  Vittorio grinned at his brother. "Francesca, he's threatening me."

  "I'm going to threaten you if the subject of pornography continues at our breakfast table."

  Sasha started laughing. "I think you all are a little crazy. Stefano sounds like my father, and Vittorio sounds a little like Sandlin."

  "And Francesca?"

  "She sounds like me." She made a face. "The difference is, she wouldn't beat Vittorio up, and I would."

  Francesca burst out laughing. "There you go, Vittorio, the women are banding together to take you out."

  He put both hands into the air in surrender. "I'm the good brother, remember? Why are the tables suddenly turning?"

  Rita arrived with the food, expertly putting plates in front of each person, not mixing them up. Ricco looked up and smiled at her. She beamed, as if he'd given her all kinds of praise. Her smile was a little shyer as she placed a plate and a pot of tea in front of Mariko.

  Mariko inclined her head. "Thanks, Rita. It looks lovely."

  Giovanni smiled at the waitress. He'd heard about her from his brother. Rita and Maso's parents had been killed in a car accident. Mariko identified with Rita because she'd been an orphan with a younger brother and she'd tried to support and take care of him. He knew Sasha would identify the moment he told her Rita and Maso had lost their parents. The Biagis had taken both children in. Rita and Maso preferred to work in the cafe to help pay expenses. Ricco was paying for Rita's college. She was a good student and could have gone anywhere, but she preferred to stay close to her brother, who was still in high school.

  When the waitress walked away, Stefano pulled out a packet of papers and handed them to Taviano, who was sitting beside him. He indicated with his chin to give them to Giovanni. "The report on many of the components from the bomb. Where each item was purchased."

  Giovanni didn't like the heaviness in his brother's voice. He took the papers from Taviano and flipped them open, scanning the report. His cousins, Rigina and Rosina Greco, were amazing and invaluable on a computer. They did most of the work for the investigators that wasn't legwork or actually talking with real people. Once on a task, neither stopped until it was done. He knew they had to have worked with very little sleep.

  "Who?" Sasha asked, looking up at the lines set deep in his face.

  "Some of the items were purchased with a credit card that Aaron later reported stolen."

  "How much later?" Vittorio asked.

  His voice was strictly neutral, but it pissed Giovanni off anyway. Aaron had been his friend. "He might betray me for a chance at a woman, but he wouldn't try to kill me."

  "The bomb wasn't actually set," Ricco reminded. "It was just put on your seat as a warning. Aaron served in the Army, didn't he?"

  Giovanni cursed under his breath. "He wouldn't be so stupid as to use his own damn credit card. I know a lot of people think fighters don't have brains, but they're wrong. Aaron's intelligent."

  "Which means he might know how to put a bomb together and take one apart," Stefano said. "You know we're going to have to pay him a visit."

  When one got a "visit" from any Ferraro, it didn't end well. He glanced at his brother and handed the report back to Taviano. "I'll talk to him."

  "Giovanni"--Stefano's voice was the one that no one argued with--"I know he's your friend, but it isn't wise to go visit someone who may be trying to kill you. I'll handle it."

  Giovanni shook his head but refrained from arguing. What would be the point? He couldn't tell Stefano not to kill his friend, not with Sasha sitting there and others in the restaurant perhaps overhearing. He would have to plead his case later. Aaron might have betrayed him, but Giovanni didn't believe for one moment that the fighter would want him dead.

  "There's more," Stefano said. "I'm sorry, Sasha, but both of you need to know. The picture sold to the tabloids came from Aaron's phone. It was sent directly from his phone. The money, however, was not put in his account."

  Giovanni's gut tightened. "No way would Aaron be that stupid." But he'd taken the picture. He had to have been the one to snap the picture of Sasha in such a compromising situation. Damn the man to hell. Maybe he deserved to have Stefano unleashed on him.

  Sasha's face burned but she kept her head up. Giovanni leaned down to brush a kiss over her temple. "We live in a fishbowl, baby, and what they can't get, they manufacture. All of us have had really terrible press."

  "It's true," Emmanuelle said.

  Of course, they'd been born to it and had learned to use the paparazzi. They'd also learned to live with the publicity their name and lifestyle generated. Sasha had no idea of the firestorms that could happen.

  "I've got to go with Giovanni on this one," Vittorio said. "Aaron couldn't be that dumb. And he'd know our family would go looking for evidence. He's been around Giovanni. He knows we don't stop."

  "Are Rigina and Rosina tracing the money?" Giovanni asked.

  "They're trying. They'll do it. You know the two of them," Stefano assured. "It seems to be a very convoluted trail."

  "No one is going to pass on that kind of money. Whoever is doing this is going to find a way for the money to ultimately get back to him," Ricco said. "The girls will find it."

  Giovanni nodded. "I think Aaron needs to know all this. It isn't that hard to determine whether he's lying or not."

  "That's right," Stefano said. "Ricco and I will be talking to him, not you."

  "I want to be there," Giovanni insisted.

  Stefano shook his head but then seemed to change his mind. "I'll give it some thought."

  Giovanni knew that was the best he was going to get. If Aaron was Sasha's stalker, and he'd tried to have Giovanni killed, there was no saving him from Stefano's wrath. It was personal, and technically, Salvatore, Lucca and Geno should be handling it, and maybe that was what would happen in the end, but Giovanni doubted it.

  "What have you decided to do about Eloisa?" Emmanuelle asked Stefano.

  Giovanni shot her a quick smile of thanks. Sasha started to say something, but he stopped her by biting the end of her finger and shaking his head when she looked at him. She took the cue and remained silent, but he knew he would have to have that discussion with her.

  Francesca's head snapped up. "What do you mean, do about her? What's Eloisa done now?" There was a distinct sigh in her voice.

  "She's wreaking Eloisa-havoc on everyone," Stefano said. "Nothing to w
orry about, baby. We're used to it."

  "It's fine if she comes down on us," Taviano corrected, "but Nicoletta's off-limits. She's a kid, and she's been through enough. I'm not going to put up with it."

  "I'll talk to Nicoletta about her," Francesca offered.

  "That's not the point. She talks to Lucia and Amo, trying to get them to kick Nicoletta out. That's bullshit. What if they listen to her?"

  "Lucia is incapable of kicking anyone out, let alone a young girl. She'll gently tell Eloisa to mind her own business," Stefano reminded.

  "That's true, but Eloisa doesn't hear or understand gentle reminders. She's going to continue, and sooner or later, Nicoletta will leave just so Lucia and Amo will have peace."

  "She's going to want to leave soon anyway. She missed all that schooling, so she's being tutored, but Agnese Moretti said she's nearly finished high school and can graduate. The moment she does, she's going to want to get out of here," Giovanni pointed out. He hated upsetting Taviano further, but it had to be said. They needed to plan for it.

  "That's not going to happen," Taviano said, his voice tight.

  Sasha's fingers dug into Giovanni's thigh. She didn't like the idea of the powerful Ferraro family pitting themselves against a young girl and her desire to leave their territory.

  "It's too dangerous for her to leave," he said. "Benito Valdez is still searching for her. He's called in favors and offered them to other gangs, to try to find her whereabouts." Giovanni wanted Sasha to know they were protecting Nicoletta, not making her a prisoner. "Valdez is president of the Demons gang out of New York. He ran the gang from a prison cell for a few years and is known for his brutality. He wants Nicoletta. He saw her and claimed her for his own. He knows she's alive and he wants her back. She's safe as long as she's here. There's no connection to us so no reason for him to look here, but if she goes outside our territory and someone sees and identifies her, he'll go after her."

  "That's awful," Sasha said. "Clearly I've led a very sheltered life."

  Giovanni was happy she'd led a sheltered life. On the other hand, she knew what heartache was. Sasha had confidence in herself that Nicoletta was never going to have, thanks to the brutality her step-uncles had put the young girl through.

  "What are we going to do?" Mariko asked. She had a special bond with Nicoletta. "I've heard her talk about making a new start, but I didn't think she meant away from all of us."

  "Don't worry." Ricco immediately ran his hand down the back of her head, his touch clearly reassuring. "She's not going to leave us."

  Giovanni knew Ricco was right, but he wasn't going to do any explaining, not to Sasha. He noticed none of his brothers volunteered any information, either. It was one thing to ask the women to live with them, another for them to realize just how ruthless they could be if it was needed.

  "Have you set a date yet?" Emmanuelle asked.

  All eyes turned to Sasha. She squirmed under the spotlight. Giovanni brought her hand up to his mouth and bit down on her fingertips. She took a deep breath and shook her head.

  "A fall wedding would be really nice," Emmanuelle ventured. "What do you think, Sasha?"

  Giovanni shook his head, worried about Sandlin. Sasha would want her brother there, and after the report Stefano had shared, he was concerned her brother could go at any time. His seizures had gotten worse, and the surgeon had admitted that even if they went in to relieve the pressure on his brain, that could kill him, and the fix wasn't working.

  "I was thinking earlier. In a few weeks." Before Sasha could protest, he brought her hand to his heart and pressed it there. "I planned to go by the Center today and ask Sandlin officially for Sasha's hand and maybe talk to him about the when. We'll consult with the doctors about the where because we want Sandlin with us."

  He willed Sasha to understand that he wasn't pushing her. As much as he wanted to marry her, he was worried about her brother.

  She smiled up at him. "Thanks for including him. I definitely want him with us."

  Giovanni took a drink of his coffee and sat back, waiting for her to finish. He liked watching her eat. She didn't pick at her food or shove it around her plate. She enjoyed food the way she did everything else in her life. When she was finished he stood up and held out his hand.

  Stefano glanced toward the smaller table where several bodyguards were eating. "Take Emilio and Enzo, Giovanni."

  "They guard you," Giovanni protested. "I can take--"

  "Emilio and Enzo," Stefano repeated, icicles dripping off his voice.

  Giovanni wasn't going to argue about it; after all, the two very experienced bodyguards would be looking out for Sasha as well. She took his hand and rose. She looked up at him. "So that man, last night, was after you, not me. Was he after you because of me? Or do you have multiple enemies?"

  He gave her a quelling look. She just laughed at him, and somehow that lightened his heart. He tucked her hand in the crook of his arm, and they left Biagi's with Emilio and Enzo, one in front leading the way, and one behind them. Giovanni was so used to bodyguards he didn't think anything of it. He'd grown up having them around him. He might be well-versed in the art of protecting himself, but riders were too valuable to the family and they were guarded at all times. Riders were nearly revered. The bodyguards took their jobs very seriously.

  Sasha clearly was uncomfortable, but she didn't say anything. Giovanni matched his steps to Emilio's as he bent his head toward Sasha. "I probably have multiple enemies, especially now that our engagement has been announced, but yes, last night, that man attacked me. He was a hit man, hired anonymously. He didn't have much information. He was called, the arrangements made, the money provided in a Dumpster. He came to the club to kill me and, I quote, 'Fuck the woman up.' What that means, I have no idea."

  "Has the world gone insane? This kind of thing didn't happen in Wyoming. The horses or cattle never got jealous or murderous." She slid into the backseat of the car, and he followed. "Well, occasionally, one did, but it was easy enough to stop them. We ate the steer that gave us trouble and worked with the horse until it behaved."

  Giovanni laughed. "Well, I don't think Aaron or the hit man would like it if we ate them."

  "I guess not." She sounded glum. She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'm beginning to be afraid for you. I'd feel better if you really could disappear into the shadows." She glanced at Enzo, who was driving, and put her hand over her mouth. "Sorry."

  "Emilio and Enzo are very aware of what we do as riders. They've been guarding us nearly their entire lives. Nothing is going to hurt me."

  "I wish I was as certain of that as you are."

  "Sandlin is extremely vulnerable," Giovanni ventured. "Right now, your stalker is angry at me because I'm fucking with his fantasy, but if he turns that anger toward you, he'll start ramping up his threats. You have one brother, one person he can get at you through."

  "Sandlin is very childlike," she said, rubbing at the frown lines between her eyes. "He would take someone at face value. If they came to him and pretended to be his friend, just like before, he wouldn't question it."

  Giovanni wasn't so certain. "He can still read lies when his shadow connects with someone else's. I don't think he's vulnerable that way. I don't like the fact that the Center has so many staff and volunteers. Even the security force we're using could be penetrated." He was thinking out loud, trying to figure out a way to better protect Sandlin. Even if he assigned one guard to be with him at all times, how would the guard discern between someone who wasn't supposed to be there and one of the staff?

  "Other patients, too. They all share the common rooms and are encouraged to interact with one another," Sasha said. "If Sandlin was kept away from the others, he would be so sad. I don't want him to have to live like that because of me."

  "It isn't because of you," Giovanni denied. "The stalker is doing this, not you and not anything you've done."

  "Do you have an idea who it is?"

  He sighed. "I've thought a lot abo
ut it and I just can't conceive that it would be Aaron. I think he's being set up to take the fall. Most likely the stalker thought we'd go to the cops and they'd be doing all the investigating. Aaron would be taken in for questioning, and as the evidence piled up against him, the only question would be, where's the money? He wouldn't have an answer, and they'd think he was being cagey."

  "But you don't go to the cops. You handle it as a family."

  He nodded. "Technically, this entire mess should be handed over to my cousins in New York. We're too close and we don't normally take chances that anything can ever be traced back to us. If Aaron disappeared or ended up dead somehow, there's a link to us."

  "Why hasn't it been handed over to your New York cousins?"

  Emilio glanced back at them. Enzo looked at her in the mirror. Giovanni looked down into her too-innocent eyes. She really didn't know. "My cousins might not be as close to this as we are, but it would be personal to them as well. You're one of us. You're considered family. Sandlin is family. No one hurts our family, Sasha." He picked up her hand and kissed the ring. "They know I'm in love with you. I don't try to hide it from them. They see the way I look at you, the way you make me happy. My brothers, sisters and cousins are not going to allow anyone to take you away from me."

  She sat back, her eyes on his. All that beautiful blue shining up at him. His heart did a weird stuttering thing he was beginning to recognize whenever he looked too closely at her. He definitely was attracted to her looks, but more than that, he found himself wanting to be in her company because she made him smile. She didn't have to do anything to make him happy. He just was happy because she was in his world.

  Sasha glanced at the two men in the front seat. Both were facing forward again. A mischievous look slid over her face. Sexy. His cock jerked hard. "What are you up to, baby?"

  She didn't answer, but undid her seat belt, letting the shoulder harness drop back out of the way. She shifted on the seat, facing him, swinging one leg over his thighs so she could straddle him. She put both arms around his neck and leaned in close to nip at his ear. "Guess what I'm wearing under my clothes?"

  Her voice was a thread of sound. Barely there. Her lips brushed his earlobe, just as he'd done to her earlier. She could have called down lightning. It was the same effect. A white streak of fire raced from his ear to his cock. One hand slid up her belly to her breasts. He pressed his palm tight into her. "Not the jewelry I bought you." There was some disappointment in that. He would have done anything to pull that chain into his mouth and tug.