Bought by Her Italian Boss(26)

And he didn't regret it. Even though he knew she was falling in love  with him. All the signs were there. She wanted to know about his  childhood, wanted him to share. Aside from dining with Paolo and Lauren,  he'd drawn a fine line between her and his personal life, but her  yearning to feel connected to the broader landscape of his world, to  make her place within it, was obvious.

He couldn't offer her the life she dreamed of when she held his cousin's  son and scrambled his eggs in the morning and met him at the door with a  kiss when he came home, though.

And cheating her of those things made him reprehensible. If Paolo didn't  quite approve of the relationship, that was why. His cousin was an  honorable man and knew that Vito was not behaving with complete honor.  If she's a victim, don't make her more of one.

Vito was implying certain promises that he wouldn't keep, buying time  with a woman who could be spending her affection more wisely elsewhere.

But Vito wanted her. His possessive desire was a kind of ferocious pulse  beat inside him, territorial and unwavering. He was glad to get this  settlement out of the way, glad to put another stage of the scandal  behind them. Along with whatever arrangements he made for her when they  eventually parted, she would have this very generous cushion for her  future, but this was no more an end point to their liaison than the  press conference had been.

She was his. He was keeping her. No one would stop him. If Paolo had  tried, Vito might very well have shed his cousin's blood for the first  time in twenty-odd years.

* * *

Gwyn only ever saw her stepbrother in casual clothes, usually wearing  stubble and jeans. That's why it took her a full three pulse beats to  realize the man who came in behind her lawyer, the man who was  clean-shaven, wore a tailored suit as razor sharp as the Donatelli men's  and said a grim, "About time," in a voice she knew was Travis.                       
       
           



       

"Oh, my God! What are you doing here?" She was taken aback, surprised by  a light rush of excitement at seeing a familiar face. She almost  stepped forward to hug him, but embarrassed realization hit at the same  moment, along with the only reason she could imagine he would turn up so  unexpectedly. "Is Henry okay?"

"He's fine. Worried sick about you," he said, sending a hostile glance around the conference room. "Why haven't you called him?"

"I...didn't know what to say. You told him I was okay, didn't you?"

"Are you? What is this?" He waved at the conference table where red  folders had been set in front of a handful of chairs. "I told you not to  sign anything without talking to me first."

"I texted you," she said.

"When I say talk, I mean talk, Gwyn."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Vito start forward with purpose,  as if he took exception to Travis's patronizing attitude. Paolo stopped  him with a hand on his chest and came forward with his own extended.

"Paolo Donatelli. And you are?"

"Travis Sanders. Gwyn's brother." He bit the words off.

Step, she almost clarified, but Travis was still talking.

"I'd like a word with her if you'll excuse us?" So dismissive to the men who owned the skyscraper.

Vito didn't move a muscle, stating implacably, "I'll stay."

Travis tried to stare Vito down. All the hairs on Gwyn's body stood up,  electrified by the open animosity pinging back and forth between the  men.

"Look, um-" She glanced to Paolo for help.

"Take as much time as you need," he said, flashing a look at his cousin,  but only waving the lawyers from the room and pulling the door closed  behind them.

Gwyn looked to Vito, but saw immediately there was no point in asking  him to leave. The hostility radiating off him was palpable.

Licking her lips, she turned back to Travis. "I'm sorry," she said with  deep sincerity. "It's true, I was avoiding you and Henry. This whole  thing has been very humiliating. I feel horrible for what Henry and you  must be going through."

Vito made a noise that she knew was an admonishment against apologizing for something that wasn't her fault.

"Is that why you haven't come home? Because you were embarrassed?"

She shrugged, as disconcerted by his forcefulness as by the implication  that what she considered "home" was her home in his eyes, too.

"Is it?" Vito demanded from his position on the far end of the table.  His hot glare was equally unnerving because he looked so stunned.

Hurt, even?

He must know she'd stayed for him. She swallowed, sending him a reassuring look before she turned back to her stepbrother.

"I stayed here for a lot of reasons, but I knew you must be furious-" she began.

"I'm furious because I'm worried, Gwyn!" he cut in. His dark face  reddened with deep emotion and his hand waved in the air. "None of this  is like you except the part where you refused to pick up the phone and  ask me for help! Instead, you're relying on..."

His gaze tracked Vito as he came down the side of the table to where  Gwyn stood, closing in behind her in a silent message that might have  been a warning to Travis to mind his tone. There was such an air of  menace as he looked at the man.

"What the hell is going on here?" Travis asked, shifting his  disbelieving gaze to hers. "I mean, I know what it was supposed to look  like. Anyone with half a brain can see you were backing Jensen into an  admission that he set up the photos, but why are you still here now that  that's accepted fact? Why didn't you come home after he was charged?"

"I-" She didn't know what to say. Somehow she was in Vito's grasp, her  back against his front, one of his heavy hands on her hip, the other  curled around her upper arm.

"Why do you care?" Vito remarked in a dangerous tone.

Travis lifted his gaze to a point past her shoulder, his eyes so cold and deadly, Gwyn tensed and held her breath.

"We're family," Travis said through lips that barely moved. "Maybe we're  not related by blood, but we're family. Do you get me? She's not  without connections. So whatever the hell you think you're doing with my  sister, it ends now."

Family?

Gwyn was dumbfounded by Travis's reaction.

The whole moment was so supercharged with emotion, she almost couldn't  speak, thoughts scattered. But these two pitbulls were about to take  each other apart, so she covered Vito's hand on her arm and tried to  ground out his aggression.                       
       
           



       

"It's okay," she told him, then turned to Travis. "Your worrying about  me is really nice, but it's not necessary. I've been in good hands this  whole time."

In her head that had seemed like a sensible thing to say, but the hands  upon her tightened and Travis choked out, taking on a thunderstruck  expression.

"Have you? Have you really?"

"Yes," she insisted, shifting enough so she could see Vito's stony  expression over her shoulder. She wasn't sure what she had expected to  see there, but not that cast of iron. For some reason it undermined her  confidence in what she was saying. "Paolo and Vito have had my back this  whole time."

"That's odd," Travis said, tone dripping sarcasm. "Because what it looks  like to me is that a man in a position of power took advantage of a  woman who was already in trouble, used her to keep his bank from taking a  kick to its reputation, hung on to her to influence the settlement that  was being negotiated-" he nodded at the folders on the table "-and if  he keeps you here, will be using you for reasons that have become far  more basic."

"Travis," she gasped, stabbed by his cruel assessment.

"I'm sorry, did I miss a wedding announcement?" Travis asked, flicking his gaze to Vito's. "Are your intentions honorable?"

Vito's hands fell away from her body and stripped her of her skin at the  same time. No. She wouldn't let Travis ruin this. Why wasn't Vito  explaining this wasn't cheap, physical gratification but something so  much more?

Public humiliation was a cakewalk compared to losing the regard of  people you cared about, she realized, as one man looked at her with pity  and the other didn't meet her gaze at all.

"You've always thought I was a gold digger, Travis. Why are you upset to  find me exactly where you expected me to be?" she threw out.

"Gwyn," Vito growled in protest while Travis's head snapped back.

"When did I ever call you that?"

"The wedding day. You said Mom and I-"

"I barely knew you!" No apology or denial, she noted. He just railed on.  "Now I do and you're as green and idealistic as they come. He's taking  advantage of you, Gwyn." And he looked genuinely outraged by it. If she  wasn't so furious with him for ruining a good thing, she'd be touched.