Shadow Warrior (Shadow Riders 4)

“Mr. Ferraro?” Merry’s voice sounded strained, and he turned. She stood there wringing her hands, looking nervous. “Mrs. Ferraro is here.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Grace stiffen. He wondered if she thought he was secretly married. The thought made him smile. The moment he saw the woman bearing down on them, her expression grim, her face a mask of anger, the smile disappeared. Instinctively, he put his body between his mother and Grace.

“This is ridiculous, making me stand waiting in the foyer like I’m some salesman. Your staff needs lessons on protocol. I’m talking to your mother, Merry, about your atrocious manners. When I come to my son’s home, I don’t expect to be told to sit and wait as if I’m some commoner visiting the king.”

“Hello, Eloisa,” Vittorio drawled. Deliberately he crossed the room, bent his head and brushed his mother’s cheek with a barely there kiss.

She jumped back, recovered and glared at him. Her hand went to her cheek and brushed at her skin, as if she could remove his mark on her. “Stop that, Vittorio. I know you do that to annoy me.”

“It’s a gesture of affection, Eloisa, which most mothers appreciate.”

She glared at him, hands on hips. “Well I don’t, so stop it.” She looked past him to Grace. “It wasn’t enough that you had Teodosiu Giordano panting after you, you had to go after my son. Vittorio does have a bigger bank account, but I think Giordano will suit a girl like you so much better.”

Vittorio swung around. “Teodosiu Giordano expressed an interest in you?”

Grace curled her fingers around the tall glass of strawberry lemonade. “He asked me out several times, yes. I refused to go out with him.”

“I’ll just bet you did. Are you pregnant? Did he knock you up and throw you out on your ear so that now you are going after my son?”

“Giordano was an enforcer for Miceli Saldi for years. He came into a great deal of money and ended up a loan shark,” Vittorio informed his woman. “This ties everything together so neatly.” Deliberately, he ignored his mother.

“He’s got to be the man Haydon owes the money to.” Grace took her cue from him, not looking at Eloisa, refusing to be intimidated by her.

Pride burst through him. She was magnificent. She looked regal, even with her shoulder completely immobile, bandages holding her arm in place. Her voice was soft, but definitely, she was a woman in charge, speaking to him as an equal.

“I should have thought of Giordano. He would have been the first one a man like Haydon would go to for money.” He turned his head and flashed a smile at his mother. “Thank you, Eloisa. You’ve solved part of the mystery. We needed to know who was supplying Haydon with cash.”

Eloisa frowned. “Vittorio.” Her voice was cautionary but cutting.

Vittorio ignored her and swung back to face Grace. “We’ve speculated for years over why Miceli would allow Giordano to leave his position as top enforcer and strike out on his own as a loan shark.”

“Don’t talk to her about our private family business.” Eloisa nearly shrieked it.

Vittorio indicated the glass of strawberry lemonade and when Grace didn’t pick it up right away, he did and held it to her lips. He brushed back her hair while she drank, his fingertips savoring the richness of the thick, silky strands. “This is all public knowledge,” he assured her. “Anyone can speculate on Miceli’s generosity to a former employee. The bottom line is, if you turned down a man like Giordano, he might think he could get you through a gambling debt. Did you know he was in the mob?”

Grace shook her head. “No, I thought the mob was more or less gone these days. You don’t hear that much about it.”

“It’s alive and well. Just not as blatantly bloody as it used to be. Let’s think about this, bella, put it into a timeline.”

“Vittorio, I insist you talk to me.”

He glanced over his shoulder and sent his mother a smile. “Please, do sit down, Eloisa. I’ll have Merry bring you whatever you want to eat, or I can pour you a drink if you’d like, from the bar. I can make just about anything. Give me a minute. This is important.”

“As if I’m not?” Eloisa snapped. “I insist that you speak to me now.”

Vittorio sighed and turned fully around. “You have my full attention, Eloisa.”

“Stop calling me that in that horrid tone. I despise the way you say my name.”

“Would you prefer Mrs. Ferraro? Or Ms. Ferraro?”

“Stop being sarcastic, Vittorio.” Eloisa all but gnashed her teeth. “You’re putting off the inevitable. I have a few things to say to this little money-chaser. She works for Katie Branscomb, although how Katie, coming from such a good family, ever met up with her I’ll never know.”