Shadow Warrior (Shadow Riders 4)

“Eloisa can be difficult,” he admitted. “I’m sorry if she was in any way rude to you.”

Grace didn’t pretend she wasn’t aware of Eloisa’s temperamental disposition. “We deal with many clients who expect the impossible, and we give it to them. That’s why our company is considered the leading event planners in this area. Katie is an amazing woman, and we take pride in giving our customers exactly what they’re looking for.”

“Does that mean Katie is the one talking to the difficult clients?”

She pressed her lips together for a moment and then answered vaguely. “Mostly.”

“Bella.” He pitched his voice low and gentle, aware he was treading on dangerous ground. “I need to know how much interaction you’ve had with Eloisa. My family told reporters that the two of us have been dating for months but had covered up the relationship. During that time, I attended fund-raisers with other women, but all of them can easily be explained. I worked more than usual, covering for Giovanni while he was hurt, so I wasn’t in the spotlight as much as my other brothers.”

He chose his words carefully. He couldn’t very well say he was flying from one city to another under the radar, meting out justice to those the law couldn’t touch. How was that going to go over? One thing at a time, he reminded himself.

“Your mother feels more comfortable talking to Katie,” Grace said, clearly trying to be diplomatic.

“I know Eloisa,” Vittorio said. “She’s very abrupt, abrasive and rude, cutting people to shreds if she can’t have her way. She’s a bulldozer if you don’t know how to handle her.”

“Katie does very well with her,” Grace said.

He brushed a caress over the back of her hand. “We’re talking about you, gattina, not Katie. How much interaction have you had with my mother? I’d like a straight answer.”

Silence stretched between them for a few moments. He let it, never taking his gaze from hers. He could see the reluctance in her eyes and knew his mother had torn into her on more than one occasion. Of course she would have. She would try to intimidate to get her way, and Grace was the detail person. She was the one to take the blame if anything went wrong. And she wasn’t from a “good” family like Katie Branscomb.

“I stay in the background as much as possible,” she admitted. “But sometimes, at big events, the caterers have some catastrophe that has to be dealt with and I’m the one to take care of it. Naturally, the client is upset, I expect that.”

“Grace.” He poured disappointment into his voice. “You’re well aware of what I’m asking.”

Her lashes swept down. “I don’t want to say anything that might put your mother in a bad light, Vittorio. These events are stressful for those putting them on and she’s very exacting, as she should be. She’s asking her friends to donate large amounts of money to a cause she believes in. If she gets angry and yells, she isn’t different from a dozen others who do the same thing when a small detail goes wrong. It’s bound to happen.”

He remained silent, willing her to give him what he’d asked her for.

She sighed. “I’ve had multiple encounters with your mother, and I can’t say any of them were pleasant. She made it clear she thinks I’m incompetent. She likes to yell at me when she thinks she’s not going to get her way. It doesn’t matter what I say when I explain why she can’t have what she wants. Once the person she wanted to sing had actually passed away a day earlier, but somehow that became my fault.”

She tugged on her hand, but he refused to allow her to withdraw. Tightening his hold, he turned her hand over and pressed his lips to her inner wrist. “I can see I will have to work overtime in order to charm you, mia bellissima gattina, to make up for the fact that Eloisa is shrewishly difficult. I would only admit that to you, not to anyone outside our family. Just remember, when you’re making a list with pros and cons, that I’ve had to deal with her since I was born, so have some compassion.”

Her fingers curled around his. “I never had a mother.”

“Neither did I, Grace,” he admitted. “But I did have Stefano and he made up for it, even when he was a boy. He took care of us and made certain we were loved.”

“Stefano seems like a very nice man. None of you are very approachable, but every encounter Katie’s had with Stefano has been positive.”

“How is it none of us ever came across you? That seems so unlikely, given we’ve attended so many of your events.” His mother had. His mother had to have known she was a shadow rider and she’d deliberately kept it from the family.