Desperate Measures (18 page)

It seemed forever before he heard his private outer door finally open. Now that he had time to think, he wondered why Mario was making such an attempt now and not before. He had no idea how Mario would open the safe, or if he even could, then he heard the familiar beeps of the code being keyed in. Rage clouded his vision at the thought that Mario had the code. But how? Someone had to have given it to him. That was the only way. But if he had the codes, then why hadn’t he gone for the copy before this? He set the question aside temporarily as the safe clicked open. Joe could hear no more though. He counted to ten, hoping that was enough time to literally catch Mario red-handed.

He strode boldly into the room. Mario, squatting down in front of the safe, plain white envelope in hand, fell over backward at the sight of his older cousin.

“Hello,” Joe said cheerfully. “And did we find what we wanted?”

“Ahh … I …” Mario stared at him, his mouth gaping.

The office door swung open and Joe Carlini, Senior stepped into the room, followed by the rest of the board members.

“What’s all this about—”

Everyone froze and stared at Mario sitting on the floor in front of the open safe.

“Ohmigod! That’s … that’s …” Joe’s father stuttered. “Ohmigod! The recipe! He’s stealing the recipe!”

“No!” Mario’s mother gasped. “There’s proof of
his innocence in the safe. He told me. That’s why I … Oh, no. No, no …”

She burst into tears, while Mario’s father cried out in despair.

Throwing the envelope down, Mario jumped to his feet and bolted for the private office door, making a last desperate attempt to escape. Joe cursed and leaped after him, but his knee caught on the edge of the desk. He yelped in agony and grabbed his injured knee, helpless to stop his cousin. Mario laughed.

Before anyone else could move, Ellen plowed into Mario from the side. Mario staggered and pushed her to the floor, while trying to regain his balance. He failed and fell into the coffee table instead.

Sitting up, Ellen pushed the hair out of her eyes and surveyed the tangle of man and table.

“Next time you decide to accuse a Kitteridge of stealing, think again.” She turned to Joe and grinned. “I believe we’ll have to use the sofa.”

He laughed.

She stood up and pulled a crumpled envelope out of her skirt pocket. “The real McCoy. It got a little squished. Sorry about that.”

“She has the recipe?” Joe’s mother asked, her voice incredulous.

“Of course,” Joe said, gazing at Ellen. “I trust my lady. With everything.”

She flew into his arms. “I love you, Joe.”

He held her tightly. “You better.”

“Thank you, Ellen,” Joe’s father said, drawing their attention. “I believe all of us owe you an apology.”

“And more,” Joe’s mother said.

It was another painful half-hour before Mario and his parents left the room. Mario confessed that he had accepted a large sum of money, half up front, from PrimaVera, their biggest competitors, for the recipe. But he was unrepentant to the end.

The rest of the Board and family members went back to the board room, sitting around the only table that could accommodate them all. Joe, sitting next to Ellen and holding her hand, admitted prosecution was out of the question for Mario. This was a family matter, after all.

“As soon as you left to go after Ellen,” Joe’s father said, “Mario excused himself to use the bathroom. Once calmer heads prevailed, we realized that Mario hadn’t brought his fears about Ellen to anyone before today. Neither did he mention being approached by the other company. Even Mary and Michael couldn’t dispute that, although Mary tried. We’re all very sorry for any pain this might have caused you, Ellen. You saved the recipe. How can we ever thank you?”

Joe smiled when she squeezed his hand and said, “I’ll think of something.”

There was, however, a serious matter of security.

“Mario had the codes to the office safe, Dad,” he said, eyeing his father sternly. “I only gave that code to you.”

His father’s eyes widened, then narrowed. He rounded on his wife. “And I gave it to your mother, in case something ever happened to me.”

Mrs. Carlini shrugged helplessly. “I was worried
that if something happened to all three of us, no one could get into the safe, so I gave the code to your brother, Thomas. That was all right, wasn’t it?”

Joe groaned. So did his father.

“I thought it best to give it to Michael,” Thomas began, looking guilty. “He must have given it to Mary. And of course, she told Mario—”

“Wait a minute!” Joe exclaimed, his suspicions aroused by a few more guilty faces looking away from Thomas. “Is there anyone in this room who does
not
know the code to the office safe?”

Lettice Kitteridge raised her hand. No one else joined her.

“Well, I don’t,” she said, lowering her hand.

Joe didn’t bother to reply. He was staring at Ellen.

“I saw the first two numbers,” she said in a small voice.

“Wonderful,” he muttered. “Even I’m giving it away. I guarantee there’s going to be a few changes in security around here.”

“You can settle that later, Joseph,” Lettice interrupted. “Right now, I want to know when the wedding date is.”

“Grandmother!” Ellen exclaimed. “Who said anything about marriage?”

“I did,” Lettice said promptly. “I worked my tail off to get you matched up with Joseph—after I approved of him, of course. So, Joseph, answer my question.”

Joe looked at Ellen and smiled. “Anytime Ellen says.”

She smiled back. “Anytime Joe says.”

He raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it.

Lettice’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. “Mrs. Carlini and I will take care of everything. You two just show up.”

Ellen shook her head with mock despair. “I give up.”

“About time, my love,” Joe murmured to her. Louder he said, “I think we can manage that.”

“After Atlantic City,” Ellen reminded him.

“Right, after Atlantic City.”

“What’s in Atlantic City?” Thomas asked.

They burst into laughter.

Epilogue

Ellen watched the tall six-year-old boy plunge into the water, his swan dive more of a belly flop.

He surfaced instantly and yelled, “How was that, Mom?”

“Perfect, Jason,” she lied, and grinned with pride at her older son. She wondered if Greg Louganis started out this way. With his dark hair and good looks, Jason reminded her so much of Joe.

“Mommy, watch!”

She turned in time to see a smaller boy race to the pool’s edge and literally fall in. Her heart leaped in instant remembrance, then she relaxed back in her lounge chair. This four-year-old broke through the water and splashed around playfully, his water safety ring secure around his waist. This five-year-old now, Ellen corrected herself, smiling. Today was John’s birthday, but he wasn’t waiting for his guests to arrive on this hot August afternoon for his pool party. The pool might make her
nervous, but she was determined not to hold her children back.

“You nearly splashed me, young man!” Lettice called from her adjacent lounge chair. She glared at her youngest great-grandson. He giggled, clearly unafraid. Lettice subsided into a grin and turned to her granddaughter. “I love them both dearly, but I expect a girl this time, you know.”

“I know.” Ellen touched her swelling abdomen and smiled. A girl would be nice. Her household was beginning to be overrun with males.

“I see he couldn’t wait,” Joe commented, as he came out onto the patio.

“Just like you,” Ellen said, smiling.

“By the way, Ellen,” Lettice said, “I hope you are not roller skating in your condition.”

Dead silence greeted her in answer.

“Ellen!”

“It’s good exercise,” Ellen said defensively.

“The kid could grow up like me, and be a total klutz on skates,” Joe reminded Lettice, who harrumpped her disapproval.

Ellen gazed at her husband, who hadn’t changed at all since the first time they’d met. She sighed and said, “I love you, klutz.”

He bent over and kissed her soundly on the lips. Heat flooded her veins, just as it always did.

“Too bad we can’t find the nearest cabana,” he whispered.

“Mmmm.” She pulled his mouth down to his again.

“Ugghhh! Kissing again.”

They broke apart, laughing at the children’s squeals of disgust.

“A few more years and neither will be making faces at kissing,” Lettice said with satisfaction. “I’ll be matchmaking for both of them.”

“Poor souls,” Joe said, grinning.

Ellen smothered her laughter. Lettice had become a noted matchmaker, whether her victims liked it or not.

Within minutes the guests began to arrive. The spacious home she and Joe now had in Bucks County was filled with Carlinis and Kitteridges. Ellen mingled with her in-laws, totally at ease and accepted. She had discovered, shortly after her marriage, that Joe’s mother had been worried that Joe was just a fling for an ex-princess and hadn’t wanted him to be hurt. However, everyone had been too busy coping with the aftermath of Mario and Joe’s changes in the company to truly worry about her. The infamous Ellen Kitteridge was hardly infamous compared to their own troubles. Mario’s parents had divested themselves from the company, and although it was best in the end, it had been upsetting for all of them. Mario had even surfaced on the competitor’s payroll for a while.

Until he been caught switching cheaper materials for better and pocketing the difference, Ellen thought, watching several people dig into the antipasti she’d made.

“
Rigne Di Prosciutto!
” Uncle Thomas exclaimed, admiring the little puff pastries filled with minced ham.

“I was thinking of it for the gourmet line,” Ellen said, praying they all liked it.

“I love it,” Carol declared. “Hors d’oeuvres would
be a great addition. Busy women who need an elegant meal quick will go bonkers for them.”

“Hard to believe my granddaughter has become a businesswoman,” Lettice said, picking up one of the ham puffs. After devouring the morsel, she added, “And a darn good one at that.”

Ellen laughed, remembering how she had held a small dinner party for Joe’s parents and had made all Italian dishes, in an effort to please them. They had raved, and Joe had immediately added the main course, Osso Bucco, to the frozen food line. After that, she’d begun to visit the Research and Development kitchens. “To think I accidentally fell into it.”

“You didn’t fall into it,” Joe said, curving his arm around her and pulling her close to his side. “You married into it.”

Ellen Kitteridge-Carlini gazed up at her husband and grinned.

“Thank goodness.”

Lettice Kitteridge smiled.

THE EDITOR’S CORNER

Welcome to Loveswept!

We’re celebrating May Day with two exciting e-originals! Spring and romance come to Star Harbor for one sexy sheriff and the town’s beautiful doctor in Elisabeth Barrett’s scorching third Star Harbor book
LONG SIMMERING SPRING
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LADY AND THE UNICORN
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RUN WILD WITH ME
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SCARLET BUTTERFLY
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HOT AND BOTHERED
and
DANCING IN THE DARK
, celebrated author Linda Cajio’s seductive and tantalizing novels.

We also have a special treat from bestselling author Virna DePaul – the three novellas of her contemporary Red-Hot Cops series are available together in this eBook anthology:
ARRESTED BY LOVE
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If you love romance … then you’re ready to be
Loveswept
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Gina Wachtel

Associate Publisher

P.S. Watch for these terrific Loveswept titles coming soon: In June, we’re excited about Ruthie Knox’s utterly fantastic
FLIRTING WITH DISASTER
, Toni Aleo’s blazing
TRYING TO SCORE
, Linda Cajio’s superb
DOUBLE DEALING
, Iris Johansen’s magnificent
FOREVER DREAM
and three more red-hot books from Sandra Chastain
SINNER AND SAINT, SHOWDOWN AT LIZARD ROCK
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SCARLET LADY
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TEMPTING A DEVIL
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EMPTY NET
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AND BABIES MAKE FOUR
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SINS OF INNOCENCE
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A HINT OF MISCHIEF
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TIL THE END OF TIME
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DANNY’S GIRL
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SILVER BRACELETS
. I promise that you’ll fall in love and treasure these stories for years to come….

Read on for excerpts from more
Loveswept
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