Shadow Warrior (Shadow Riders 4)

She’d felt that exact sensation. “You can really do that?”

He nodded slowly. “I know it sounds insane, but I do it all the time. I can step into that shadow cast by the fireplace.” He indicated one that danced on the wall and carried over to the other side of the room. “Once I do, it will take me to the spot by the door where it merges with the light.”

She knew he was going to demonstrate and she wasn’t certain how she felt about it. If he really could do it, it was the coolest thing ever and she wanted to be able to do it. “If it’s true and you could teach me, maybe I could actually get evidence on Haydon, enough for the cops to arrest and convict him.”

“A man like Haydon Phillips won’t stay in prison and you know it, Grace,” Vittorio said gently. “He’s too good at what he does. The man can be anyone and he’s slippery. I’ve read the reports on him, and we’ve got just about everything possible on him from the time he was first put in a foster home until he shot you.”

She stared up at him, the firelight dancing across her face. When she looked down, she was surprised to see the shadows flickering across her bare breasts. She’d almost forgotten she wasn’t wearing much in the way of clothing. “He said his parents loved him, but were too poor to keep him.”

“He lied to you. You know he lied to you because you heard those lies, cara.”

She flinched at the gentleness in his voice. She’d heard the lies, even as a child, but something had always kept her from challenging Haydon, even way back then. She had stood up for him the first time their foster father beat him. He’d been shocked, but after that, he’d seemed to genuinely try to shield her. For a time, she thought of him as her only family. That hadn’t lasted long.

“You had us investigated? Both of us?”

“That’s how it works. I didn’t give a damn what was found on you, Grace. You were mine no matter what and I made that clear.”

“Even to your mother.”

“Especially to Eloisa. You are capable of having children that can ride shadows. That’s what she was talking about. That’s what is important to her. I want children, but if we can’t have them, we’ll have a good life without them.”

His voice rang with truth. She studied his face. He was still wary. She could see it in his eyes. He hadn’t told her anything to put that look on his face. He had, several times, reiterated that if she knew what he did, what his family did, there was no going back, the consequences to both of them would be dire—at least that was how she interpreted what he said.

“Are you going to show me?” She invited him because she was suddenly certain he was telling the absolute truth, but whatever he hadn’t revealed was going to shake her. She was certain of it.

Without waiting, Vittorio stepped into the largest shadow. Because they were so connected through their shadows, she felt the jolt. That sensation of flying apart. Vittorio completely disappeared and reappeared outside on the patio.

Grace found herself smiling and then laughing. “That’s so cool, Vittorio. I wish I’d known how to do that. I could have gotten away from Haydon and actually lived my life. I love that you can do that. That our children will be able to do it.”

He walked in, that wary look still on his face. “This isn’t an easy life, bella.”

She heard the warning and forced herself to learn it all. “Once you get your reports from the investigators, Vittorio, and everyone concludes the petitioner isn’t lying, why do they turn the results over to the shadow rider?”

“A shadow rider is considered the most important person in the family. When I say family, I’m talking extended family. All the businesses, the bankers, the jewelers, the hotels and casinos are all run by Ferraros. We have family spread throughout several states. There’s a reason for that. Riders are considered so important that, although they are trained in every manner of self-defense, they must have bodyguards with them when they move around a city.”

“And you’re a rider. Stefano and Ricco, all your brothers and Emmanuelle. That’s why you all have bodyguards.”

He nodded and sank to the floor at her feet, pushing her legs apart to sit between them. His hand moved up her right leg slowly, her ankle, her calf, and then caressed the back of her knee to slide up her thigh.

She gasped at the sensations pouring into her. She didn’t want to lose track of what they were discussing, and she knew he could so easily sidetrack her. “You can’t distract me, Vittorio. You still have some revelation you don’t want to tell me, and you need to just get it over with.” She looked down into his face. So gorgeous. It wasn’t just his beautiful, very masculine features, it was the way he was inside. “I’m in love with you. There isn’t anything that you can tell me that is going to change that.”