Italian Stallions (11 page)

Panic filled him. No way! He couldn’t settle down! He was undercover, for Christ’s sake. And who knew where his next assignment would see him? He was part of an elite mobile team. They moved all over the United States. His life was not conducive to relationships.

“I…ah, I’ll call you?” Gabe offered, the words sounding lame, just like he meant never to call her.

Gianna looked up from tying her coat belt snugly around her waist. “How about if I call you?”

He nodded. “Okay.” And he felt like the biggest piece of shit on the planet.

She turned and walked out of his office. He wanted to go after her. But he didn’t.

Donna poked her head in a minute later and scowled at his disheveled appearance. “I see you’re up to your old tricks.”

“All in a day’s work,” he flippantly said. He was in no mood to defend what had happened between him and Gianna. Let her think it was nothing. Act casual. And Donna wouldn’t make a big deal out of it to their SAC.

Gabe opened his mouth to deny her words, but she was right. He moved to the doorway, and his gut somersaulted when he saw Gianna standing there. She’d heard every word. Her big hazel eyes were bright with unshed tears. He reached out to her and opened his mouth to deny it, but dammit, he couldn’t. Maybe this was better.

Gianna turned then and left the room.

G
ianna couldn’t move fast enough from the office where she just lost her virginity. Shame filled her. Not because she was no longer a virgin but because she gave it up to a player! She hit the
DOWN
button and turned to look over her shoulder, back at the door she’d just exited. Gabe stood there, his shirt hanging from his broad shoulders, the planes of his smooth chest peeking out. His dark eyes were heavily hooded like he’d just fucked someone proper. And he had. She turned around and waited impatiently for the elevator doors to open.

So much for being the one playing hard to get. What the hell was she thinking anyway? Hell, she’d been the one throwing herself at the man. Only a freakin’ eunuch would pass up what she offered this morning. Gabe was red-blooded—hell, more so than the average guy. So yeah, what did she expect?

The doors opened, and she walked straight in and faced the wall, not daring to turn around and see if he still stood at the threshold to his office.

When the doors closed, she turned around, grateful she was alone in the car.

She pressed her hand to the apex between her thighs and shivered. She still felt him there. Big, warm, and thrusting. Gianna leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. God, he felt so good. Everything he did, everything he said was perfect. Last night in front of her mirror, he had seemed so sincere. Did he mean those things he said to her? Could he have? How could he turn around and treat her like a casual lay? Was she just another number deposited into his fuck account?

By the time the elevator hit the ground floor, a very pissed-off Gianna Cipriani emerged. She strode out, catching the shoulder of man who stood in her way. Her strides ate up the sidewalk. She didn’t look to see who was in her way, she just moved forward away from Gabriel “I Fuck and Run” LaMotta.

She would have walked clear across the Bay Bridge to Oakland if it weren’t for the fact that her feet felt like they were going to fall off her ankles. The Kate Spade’s were not meant for walking. They were tools for seduction. And they worked all right. Gianna came to an abrupt stop at the corner of Montgomery and Columbus. The shadow of the Transamerica building loomed high above her. The sun had not made much of an appearance that day. A cool swirl of foggy air twisted up from the street to her barely clad ass. Jesus. If she wasn’t mistaken for a hooker, she would be lucky.

Quickly, Gianna hailed a cab. She was soon upstairs in her bathroom in the shower, taking the water as hot as she could stand it. She scrubbed every inch of the flesh Gabe had touched. As she dug the loofa into her thigh, tears erupted and she sank to the floor. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she let loose and cried. She cried for her father; she cried for the mother she never knew. She cried for the situation with Tucci and those two thugs who seemed bent on scaring the tar out of her. And she cried for herself and what she thought she shared with Gabe. On her own, she had royally screwed up. How had she made such a mistake? Sex with a stranger! And he was. He proved that today.

Gianna let out a long troubled breath and leaned against the cold tile of the shower stall. The water had cooled and she didn’t care. She sat in the shower until the water turned her toes blue. Teeth chattering, she grabbed a big fluffy towel from the hook on the wall and wrapped herself in it, then plodded to the bed where she wrapped herself in her down comforter.

The room had darkened by the time she woke to a persistent knocking on her door. Disoriented for a minute, Gianna sat up in bed. The soreness between her thighs immediately reminded her of why she had cocooned herself away from the world.

“Giaaaana?” Zia Cece called.

Gianna hurried to the door, careful not to trip and break her neck. She opened the door to her concerned aunt.

“Gianna!” Zia Cece gasped. “What—?” Concern laced the old woman’s face and words. “Oh,
cara
,
cara
, I’m so sorry. Go back to bed. Take all the time you need to mourn your papa. I’ll handle the restaurant tonight.”

Gianna smiled and let her aunt think she was crying over her father. And while that was part of it, it wasn’t exactly everything she was crying over. “It’s okay, Zia. I took a nap. I feel better. I’ll be down in forty-five minutes.”

True to her word, Gianna was. She had hoped the new clothes would make her feel better. But they didn’t. She thought if she looked sexy and sophisticated with her designer cosmetics, she would feel better. She didn’t. In fact, the new clothes, new hair, and new face made her feel like a fake.

Life was much simpler when she was Gianna “Madonna” Cipriani. Now she just felt…empty. And she put the blame squarely on Gabe’s shoulders. He blew excitement into her flat nonexistent life, he filled her cells, he brought her to life, and now? She felt as dead as her father. She went through the motions of work. Smiling on demand. She was glad Tressie had taken the night off. Otherwise she’d have to spill the beans to her cousin. Not that that would be a bad idea. She really felt the urge to talk to someone.

Later, as Gianna said good-bye to the last customer and turned the
OPEN
sign over to
CLOSED
, she realized the one person she wanted to talk to was Gabe. And she had no idea why.

After everyone had gone, she sat by herself, totaling the night’s receipts, and indignation flared. She poured herself a glass of Chianti and poked at the adding machine like it was a pin cushion.

“You just waltz into my life, turn me inside out, take advantage of my vulnerability, and then holster your dick and stalk off to your next conquest?”

She ripped the adding machine tape and slapped it on the stack of credit card slips. “No! It doesn’t work that way!”

She stood and began to pace the floor. Why, she’d like to give him a piece of her mind. If she knew where he lived, she’d call him and tell him off. Gianna grabbed the phone and called information. Hell, it was worth a shot.

She hung up the phone thirty seconds later, staring at an address she was given that was no more than a few miles from where she stood.

Nervously, she started to twirl a strand of hair and began to pace in earnest. She should just let the sleeping dog lie where he fell. He was not interested in her. Besides, he probably had some other woman in bed. Her fury mounted. Forgotten just like that. Good Lord, did it not matter to him that he had been her first?

Gianna pulled her hair, then flung it from her. She was going for a walk.

Thirty minutes and a cab ride later she stood in front of a nondescript building. Despite its brown brick façade, she saw trendy garden patios overflowing with flowering plants.

She pressed the button for his loft. She stood for nearly five minutes before she pressed it again. She didn’t know if his loft looked down at the street, but there was a camera behind the dark glass above the building plaque. She knew he was up there, and she knew he was avoiding her. Cowardly bastard! His lack of response only made her dig in deeper.

She stood aside and pulled her cell phone out and pretended to be chatting on it. It didn’t take long for a resident to buzz open the door on their way out. Gianna slipped through the door before it closed. She snapped the cell phone shut and walked up to loft 214. Before she knocked, she pressed her ear to the metal door. Barely audible was what sounded like a television. Bastard! He was home! She banged on the door. “Gabe LaMotta! You open this door right now!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. He’d have to let her in now or face the wrath of his neighbors. The door jerked open, and a firm hand yanked her inside. The door shut behind her.

She turned a fierce stare on Gabe. He stood clad in only a pair of worn Levi’s. His face closed. His arms crossed over his chest. Gianna swallowed hard.

“I didn’t come here to throw myself at you again. I came here to tell you that you’re a slimy bastard, and I wish I’d never met you! I hate you!” The eruption caught her off guard. Gianna lunged at him and pummeled his chest. He didn’t flinch as she unloaded on him.

“You told me I was beautiful! You told me I was special! You…you said you dreamt of me!” She threw her hair back over her shoulder and looked up at him through hot tears. He didn’t look at her. He looked over her head at the wall. His jaw was tight, set like granite. “Argh!” She lunged at his face, her nails bared like a hissing feline.

He caught them in his and held her away from him. She was not even close to being done with him. She kicked him and twisted in his hands.

“That’s it!” he roared, dragging her backward, deeper into the apartment. Gianna twisted and screeched, flailing in his grip. He tossed her onto a leather sofa. She jumped up like a jack-in-the-box and lunged at him again. “How can you stand there and act like today never happened?”

She took her shoe off and flung it at his head. He deflected it. When he turned those dark brown eyes on her, they sparked in anger. Gianna swallowed hard. What if he attacked her? Oh, God, she didn’t know this man at all, and she came into his home and attacked him? She backed up into the sofa, the edge catching her behind the knees. She flopped backward, losing her balance in her one shoe.

She bounced back up. “I—” Damn, what was she supposed to say? She needed a quick out.
Now
! “Um, listen, I didn’t take my meds today. You know, for my outbursts.” She moved past him toward her shoe, which had landed on the shelf behind him on his dead rhododendron. “I’ll just get my shoe and be on my way.” She darted past him and grabbed it. As she hopped on her shod foot, jamming her toes into the other shoe, she lost her balance and tumbled onto the floor. Gabe stood staring down at her. Her rancor rose anew. Bastard couldn’t even be a gentleman and give her a hand up. It was almost like he couldn’t stand to touch her. Hot tears stung her eyes temporarily blinding her. Was she that repulsive?

She shoved the pump on her foot and stood. She turned then and hurried from the apartment. After she slammed the door behind her, she pressed her back against the wall to the right of his place. Her heart pounded like a freight train in her chest. Gulping air, she closed her eyes and steadied herself.

It was okay that she made a fool out of herself. She was just grateful he didn’t call the cops on her. Hastily, Gianna crossed herself. “Holy Mother Mary, what was I thinking?” Gianna hurried to the stairwell and hurried down to the lobby. As she was about to push the big glass front door open, she caught her breath and stepped back out of sight. Mario and Eddy? Her heart hammered in her chest. What were they doing here? Had they followed her? She looked back to the stairwell. She could go back to Gabe’s. Hell no! She’d knock on a stranger’s door first.

She bit her bottom lip.
Think, Gianna.
What should she do? Call Tressie to come for her? No. Her car was in the shop. The cops? And tell them what? Tell them she was scared to death! Gianna dug for the cell phone from her purse.

When her fingertips didn’t find it, she dug deeper. Where was it?
Oh, my God!
Had it fallen out in Gabe’s apartment when she pounded the crap out of him? Or when she went flying onto the floor?

The front door buzzed. Oh, God! She hurried to the stairwell and ran up past the second floor. Maybe they were there to see Gabe? Maybe they figured out it was him who took them out the other night. Oh, crap! The door to the stairwell opened. Gianna hurried into the hallway with the apartments and ran to the other end. She’d go down the stairwell on the opposite side and then hurry down and exit the building.

As she heaved open the door, she screamed. Eddy was coming straight for her. She turned and ran to the opposite stairwell and down. But as she got to the second-floor landing, Mario was looking up at her from the first-floor landing. Gianna pushed through the door leading to the second-floor lofts. As she ran past Gabe’s door, he pulled her inside and locked the door.

Her heart beat so hard and her breath came so fast, Gianna could not get a deep breath.

Gabe pulled her back into his living room, silencing her with a finger to his lips. “Gianna, you’re safe. Try to slow your breathing down. You’re going to hyperventilate.”

Gabe reached out, wanting to cradle her in his arms and tell her it would be all right. As he did, he retracted his arms. No. Stay the course. No more emotions. No more sex. No more nothing! Gordo had followed the goombahs who followed Gianna. He got the call just as he stepped out of his apartment to go find her before the bastards did.

Tucci must want her real bad. Virgin or not. Gabe was going to make sure that didn’t happen. He just wasn’t sure how he was going to go about that. Blow his cover by telling her what was going on? Ask for her help? No fucking way! He’d be damned if he’d put her right into that creep’s hands.

Donna and Gordo thought it was a damn good idea. His SAC encouraged him to call on her and offer protective custody if she’d wear a wire.

He looked down into her terrified hazel eyes, and he melted. “Dammit, Gianna!”

He smiled as she sparked in anger in return. He knew she was a spicy little fireball, but when she had come at him earlier, he’d been shocked. And in a twisted way pleased. If he didn’t mean anything to her, she wouldn’t have come over and said and did what she did.

He grinned. Her eyes narrowed. Ah, the rub.