Treasured by Thursday(23)

“I know you’re not pleased, Val. Just try and understand I needed to do this.”

Her brother’s silence sliced through her.

“What is this man’s name?” Val’s question was cold.

“Hunter Blackwell.”

Her brother’s voice softened to tell her he loved her. Then he cut the conversation short.

Meg took up the receiver and reported that Val had opened a bottle of whiskey. “I’ll talk to him,” Meg said.

“I really am OK,” Gabi told her.

“We’re just worried.”

“I know. I’m sorry for that.”

They said their good-byes and Gabi sent Hunter a text.

My family has been notified.



Gabi’s text arrived at eight in the morning, Hunter spoke with the real estate agent during his lunch, and Tiffany was sitting in his office a hair after four thirty working on a guest list for a special announcement for later in the week. Thursday . . . a week from their actual wedding would be perfect. And then he was taking the weekend off.

“And what announcement is this?” Tiffany asked as she jotted down notes on his expectations of the event. “I didn’t think the Adams agreement was solidified.”

“It’s not business,” he told her. “It’s personal.”

Tiffany stared. “You don’t hold personal events.”

“I do now.”

The portable phone in Tiffany’s hand rang, she answered it. “Mr. Blackwell’s office. Hold on.” Tiffany dropped the phone. “A Mr. Masini to see you?”

Mister? Gabi’s brother. “That didn’t take long. Tell him to come up.”

Tiffany told security and stood.

“We will need privacy, Tiffany. Please hold my calls.”

Hunter didn’t have a sister and couldn’t imagine how he would react if he’d found out his had agreed to a marriage for money.

Not well, he decided.

Defuse and deflect. Assure her safety . . . smooth it over.

The man walking into his office could blow so much.

Valentino Masini wasn’t a small man. He wore a suit, ruffled and worn after what must have been a lightning flight across the country. His dark eyes held a death stare that would intimidate most. Hunter found strength in the other man’s gaze and held it.

Tiffany quietly walked out of the room, leaving the two of them staring at each other.

“Mr. Masini.” Hunter didn’t offer a handshake.

“Why Gabriella?”

Just business, much like his sister.

Hunter dropped his hand. “She said yes.”

“Gabi would never do this willingly.”

Maybe the brother knew more than most.

“I assure you, she did.”

“Your assurance means nothing.” Valentino took two more steps into the office, kept his voice deathly low. “She doesn’t need your money, doesn’t need your home, and doesn’t trust men. Her agreeing to your contract is completely outside of her character.”

“Perhaps you don’t know your sister as well as you think.”

Masini clutched his fists at his sides.

For a moment, they simply stared at each other. Hunter was about to assure the man that Gabi was safe with him, when his temporary brother-in-law delivered a threat Hunter hadn’t seen coming.

“If you hurt her . . . one hair . . . I will kill you.”

Kill? Not, come after you . . . make you regret it . . . but kill?

“Don’t you have a new wife that would be disappointed if you landed in jail for murder?”

“My wife would be standing in line to finish the job should I fail,” Masini told him. “And she’s an excellent shot.”

The hair on the back of Hunter’s neck started to rise.

“You have a lot of nerve coming into my office and threatening me.”

The other man looked as if he was ready to charge. “My sister may be an easy target, but I am not.”

Hunter opened his mouth to counter and heard voices beyond his office door.

Gabi sailed into the room, her eyes brushing over his before they landed on her brother. Her hands were in the air, her voice on fire. “What are you doing here?” she yelled.

Tiffany stood back, eyes wide.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t come?” Masini yelled back.

“What’s done is done, Val.” Gabi glanced around the room and switched languages so fast it took Hunter a minute to realize she had. She said something to her brother in a heated tone.

He yelled back, just as heated.

Hunter was lost. Italian wasn’t a language he’d cared to learn. Perhaps it was time he hired a tutor.

He exchanged glances with Tiffany, who kept her distance but watched.

Gabi argued something and moved to Hunter’s side of the room. That’s when he realized her hair was down. Her hands flew, her hair flew . . . she wasn’t happy her brother was there, but unlike the quietly angry woman she was with him, with her brother, she screamed and yelled. She was incredibly beautiful this way . . . unleashed.