“Something like that, yes.”
The laughter in her voice warmed him. He led her outside, and she stopped to admire the gable and pillars all painted white. “Vittorio, your home is really incredible.”
That was another point in his favor—she liked the house. “It’s a house right now, Grace, but it has the potential to be a home.” He wanted her to make it a home for him, for both of them.
She glanced up at him and then, at the urging of his hand pressing against the small of her back, made for one of the very wide, comfortable-looking chairs. He helped her into it and then pulled out her cell phone. “I thought you might want to call your boss.”
Grace took her phone from him, but her gaze shifted just slightly from his. Instantly, he knew she was uncomfortable with something he’d said.
“Gattina, I took your cell phone because I didn’t want the police to confiscate it. As no one could find it and they didn’t ask me about it, I didn’t have to lie. I did see messages from Katie Branscomb pop up, but I tried not to read them.” He’d wanted to give her privacy. It was important that she learned he could be trusted. He didn’t want to take over her life, he wanted her to surrender it to him. Invading her privacy was far different from her volunteering to tell him what was going on in her life.
“Katie is my partner, not my boss,” Grace blurted out. “We both own the company equally.”
Vittorio was silent, studying her averted face. The fingers of her good hand twisted into the material of her shirt nervously. He wanted to cover her hand to reassure her. He also wanted to strangle his mother. She would have known. She would have investigated both women before using the company. She might pretend she didn’t know, but she could have told them quite a few things about Grace. She’d just chosen not to.
“I wasn’t trying to lie to you, it’s just that when we went into business, I knew that if Haydon found out, he would force me to take out loans against KB Events. It was my idea to name it that. Katie is the face of the business. She’s really good with people and I’m not comfortable around them. Well, that’s not exactly true, but . . .” She trailed off, obviously frustrated.
“You’re not comfortable because you worry anyone you’re friendly with might become a target,” he interpreted for her, and sank into the chair opposite her. “I can see why you’d want to protect your partner. How did you convince her not to tell anyone?”
“I told her I’d be partners as long as she never said a word to anyone. She wanted the partnership, so it worked out fine. Haydon isn’t the type to look up business licenses. He eavesdrops on conversations, but he won’t do research, there’s never been a need. Over the years, he believed he had me thoroughly cowed.” She grimaced. “Which, sadly, he did.”
“You’re too hard on yourself, bella.” He indicated the phone. “Make your call.”
She put in her passcode and instantly messages began popping up. “I’ve got several voice messages.”
He read the underlying worry in her voice and instantly held out his hand for the phone. Without thinking about it, Grace put it in his palm. There were five messages, all from the same number. He glanced at her face. Her expression broke his heart. She looked stiff and scared. She believed the voice mails were from Haydon.
Putting the phone to his ear, he picked up her trembling hand and began to idly play with her fingers. At once, his touch appeared to be calming, just as he hoped it would be.
“You bitch. Do you think I’m going to let you get away with this? I’m going to cut out that bastard’s heart and make you fucking eat it. But first, I’m going to kill his bitch of a sister and then the rest of the bitches in his family. One by one. I’ll take away everyone he loves. You have one chance, you little whore. Get back to your apartment.”
There were more profanities and threats, including disembowelment and more torture, on each of the other voice mails. He sighed, hit the off button and pocketed the phone. He handed her his cell and gave her the password. “Use mine to call her.”
“I was right. It was him. What did he say?”
“Probably the same bullshit he always says to intimidate you. He’s going to murder anyone you’re around. That sort of charming dialogue.” He sent her a small, reassuring smile, his thumb sliding over the pulse beating so frantically in her wrist. “We expected that, right?”
“Vittorio.” She said his name uneasily. There was stark fear in her eyes.