Shadow Warrior (Shadow Riders 4)

“I am not royalty,” Grace denied. “And I don’t want a man to choose me simply because I meet a certain criterion.”

“Do you really believe that Vittorio Ferraro, who could have just about any woman he wanted, would choose you if he wasn’t capable of loving you? Do you think he wants a loveless marriage?”

When she didn’t answer, Sasha took over. “Do you believe Stefano loves Francesca?”

“That’s obvious to anyone who sees them together.”

“What about Ricco? Does he love Mariko?” Sasha challenged.

Grace thought about the times she’d observed them together. Ricco had been very much like Stefano, rarely leaving his wife’s side and focusing completely on her in much the same way Vittorio focused on Grace. Butterfly wings began to flutter in her stomach. Deep inside she began to have a niggling doubt.

“Yes, I believe he does.”

“You probably haven’t seen Giovanni with me,” Sasha said. “But I can assure you, he’s very much in love with me. When we’re together, his attention is wholly focused on me. It doesn’t matter how many beautiful women throw themselves at him, he never notices. And guess what? We meet those criteria Eloisa so quickly pointed out to you.”

“Not to me,” Grace corrected absently. “To Vittorio, where I could hear her.” Vittorio did focus completely on her. Even now, after she’d told him not to sleep in her room, everything he did was for her.

He had set up a room with the equipment needed for her physical therapy and was already talking to the physical therapists. He brought her breakfast and made certain she had everything she wanted. Katie came to go over work with her. He escorted her personally to the back patio, so they could look out over the pool to the lake.

He touched her often. Just a brush of his fingers, but each time he did, he sent heat spiraling through her body and secret fingers of desire dancing down her spine. Sometimes, she wanted him with every breath she drew. Other times she was upset at the disappointment and hurt she saw in his eyes. Every cell in her body urged her to soothe him. To make everything between them all right, but she knew that was her personality. She was a nurturer. A pleaser.

She was good with details and she noted everything about Vittorio. She knew he didn’t like shoes worn in his house. She knew how he took his coffee and when he preferred tea or Scotch. She could tell when he was restless and needed to retreat to his private training room, or when he preferred to meditate. She recognized the signs in him when he struggled to keep from kissing her, or maybe even taking their relationship further, but he respected the boundaries she’d set. She almost wished he didn’t.

“Grace, any number of women might meet those criteria. We don’t know. I, personally, couldn’t care less,” Francesca said staunchly. “I will admit, like you, at first I was worried he hadn’t chosen me for me, that we moved too fast, but then it didn’t matter, because he was everything I ever wanted in a man. Don’t get me wrong, Ferraro men are no picnic to live with. You have to be committed to them. Wholly. If you take him on, Vittorio has to be your world, because you’ll be his. That isn’t always comfortable.”

Sasha nodded. There was a hint of worry in her eyes. “Vittorio is a wonderful man and he’ll always look after his wife and children, but don’t let this go any further if you don’t really love him. He needs that. A woman who will love him so completely that she’ll want to be his universe. Like Francesca says, that isn’t always a comfortable place to be.”

“I’m very aware of that,” Grace acknowledged. “I just hate that he has to take care of me. If I wasn’t so needy—” She broke off. What was she saying? She wanted him. That was the truth. She wanted the fairy tale, even if her prince was admittedly a little on the dark side. A little shiver crept down her spine. He’d never shown that side of him to her, but he’d alluded to it and she was aware, on some level, that it was there.

“Has he intimated in any way that he doesn’t want you there or he doesn’t like looking after you?” Francesca asked. “I can’t imagine that. I think Vittorio would enjoy looking after you.”

“He says so. I think, after having Haydon in my life for so long, I’m terrified of trusting anyone. Other than Katie, who I met by accident in college, I haven’t believed in anyone. Not ever.”

She hadn’t. She’d been conditioned not to go near anyone else. She’d met Katie in school and they both had done papers on event planning. After they found that out, they met for coffee and discussed their ideas. When Haydon had objected and made overt threats toward her, Grace had pointed out that if she didn’t have a job that paid well, she wouldn’t have a place to live. She’d implied he wouldn’t, either, and he’d left her alone. Katie had ended up sharing her dorm room through college.