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“I can understand that,” he answered in a low, quiet voice. “I remember reading about his death doing a stunt over Iguasu Falls in Brazil last year. I’m sorry for your loss. He was part of the reason I fell in love with motorcycles in the first place.”
Upon that admission Riley felt an intangible bond with the man.
He could scarcely believe this person had seen his father perform. He looked to be in his thirties, only a few years older than Riley. How strange to think of him as a boy in the audience while Riley waited anxiously behind the tent flap for his father to survive another jump.
“It was his time to go. He died on his old Danelli, doing the only thing that made him happy.”
“Would that we could all bow out of this world the same way. It’s a pleasure to meet the son of the man who gave me so many thrills in my youth. My name’s Nicco Tescotti.” He removed his glove so they could shake hands.
Nicco Tescotti?
“According to the magazine article, you’re the CEO. I presume Signore Danelli’s death puts you at the head of the company now. This is a singular honor for me, but not a good time for you with such heavy responsibilities. Forgive the intrusion.”
As he turned to leave he heard, “Do you ride as well as your father did?”
Riley spun around. “Better!”
They both grinned.
“Have you had dinner yet?”
“What’s that?” Riley fired back, too full of elation to consider his bodily needs for the moment.
“I prefer to discuss important business over a good meal. If you have no other plans for this evening, why not follow me home where we can relax and talk.”
“I don’t want to impose.”
“You won’t. My wife loves motorcycles as much as you and I do.”
Riley smiled once more. Maybe he was dreaming. “She sounds remarkable, but she still might not want to be surprised.”
“Half the time she surprises me.”
“How so?”
“She’s a vet. When I get home, more often than not she’s brought a baby something or other from the surgery we have to nurse through the night. And then of course there’s our daughter Anna who’s two and half months old. She’s hungry for her breakfast at the crack of dawn which in turn wakes up the dogs.
“I’m afraid ours is not a conventional marriage.” He got on his bike. “But I love it,” he added with enough emotion for Riley to know Nicco Tescotti was one happy man.
“If we should get separated, ask anyone for directions to the Valentino Animal and Bird Preserve. The security guard at the gate will tell you where to go from there.”
After closing his shield, he started up his bike. Riley chased after him in the rental car.
He recognized a pro racer when he saw one.
Though they might not be on the track, Nicco Tescotti rode with the kind of flawless precision and technique only a handful of the world’s top racers demonstrated.
Riley tried to figure the odds of running into the new head of the Danelli company, let alone being invited to his home for a job interview. They had to be in the billion to one category.
“Keep saying those prayers, Sister,” he whispered to the air as he stayed on the other man’s tail.
Their journey followed the river back to the city. They’d been passing several miles of woods and verdant parkland when Nicco slowed down and signaled before making a right turn into a private driveway with a security guard at the gate.
Riley did the same. The guard nodded him on through.
Once past the thick hedge, he marveled at the cathedral-like atmosphere of trees and shrubbery as the path wound its way deeper and deeper into the greenery. But he didn’t know real surprise until he glimpsed a small Baroque palace beyond the dense foliage.
Nicco came to a stop at the entrance to the west wing where several other cars were parked. He climbed off his motorcycle.
Riley blinked. He lived here?
As he got out of the rental car, two dogs came racing out to greet their master. One was a fawn-colored boxer with white feet who jumped up on Nicco’s leg. The other was a toy pug. It stayed at a distance and barked with ferocity until Nicco removed his helmet to reveal hair as black as Riley’s. Then the pug leaped toward him.
Laughter rumbled out of Riley. Nicco’s chuckles joined his as he scratched the ears of both dogs. Riley moved closer.
“This big boy here is Valentino. Put your hand out and he’ll give you five.”
Riley got down on his haunches and did as Nicco suggested. The boxer was almost human the way he hit his paw against Riley’s hand. More laughter ensued from both men.
The pug proceeded to run laps around Riley.
“Chloe, on the other hand, is a complicated lady who hates my helmet and doesn’t trust strangers. Give her time and she might allow you to rub her head, but don’t hold your breath.”
After she’d run out of steam, she sat there panting. Riley had made pets of several stray dogs in his youth. On impulse he put his hand on the ground and started walking it slowly toward the pug with his fingers.
The dog made a strange cry in her throat, then got down on her belly and shimmied toward his hand. Riley kept it going until the pug’s flat nose came up against his fingers. She butted at him several times, then turned over on her back in invitation.
Triumphant, Riley began rubbing her belly. He noticed she was missing a toe from each front paw.
“The man with the velvet touch,” Nicco murmured in awe. “Chloe’s my wife’s dog. She should be out here to witness this.”
“I just did, and still can’t believe it,” a female voice answered in a tone of wonder.
Riley lifted his head, but he received the shock of his life when he found himself staring into the fabulous green eyes of the only woman in the world who’d ever turned him down flat for a date. Her rejection, delivered without the slightest hesitation, explanation or apology, had been a wound to his pride he’d never forgotten.
Annabelle Lassiter as he lived and breathed!
Less than a year ago she’d been the gorgeous American blonde on the set of the latest Cory Sieverts film, a big Hollywood box office hit. At the time there’d been no talk about her being married.
What in the hell was going on?
Nicco had said his wife was a veterinarian who loved motorcycles. They had a daughter Anna who was almost three months old. That meant she’d been pregnant when she’d cut Riley to the quick in front of the film crew.
The unpleasant experience still had the power to twist his gut if he allowed himself to think about it.
Had she become a vet before she’d ventured into acting?
How and where had she met Nicco Tescotti of all people? A man with whom Riley already felt a rare camaraderie.
Why were they living on this palatial estate?
Reeling from a tumult of conflicting emotions, not to mention unanswered questions, he rose to his feet.
“Riley Garrow? I’d like to introduce you to my wi—”
“We’ve already met,” he broke in before the other man could finish.
“We have?” Her expression looked totally puzzled as she clung to her husband.
A wave of anger swept through him.
She was pretending not to remember that incident at the studio, but he knew better. There’d been an attraction between them, a strong chemistry unlike anything he’d felt before. She’d felt it, too. It was something you couldn’t hide, but she hadn’t acted on her feelings.
If it hadn’t been for the explosion on another set that had sent him to the hospital, he would have found a way to meet her again and break her down.
At the time he’d assumed she’d reacted as she’d done because the force of her feelings had frightened her. If they’d been anything like his, he could understand. She’d shaken his world, too.
If she was carrying Nicco’s child, then it explained why she was so damn scared. Why in the hell hadn’t she just come out and told him she was living with a man, or was secretly married?
This was a day full of shocks, both good and bad. Right now her acting ability was in full evidence. She even spoke passable Italian. No doubt she was praying he would let go of his determination to force a confrontation.
Out of deference to her husband, Riley decided to play along until the moment when he could get her alone to deliver a few home truths.
“If you don’t recognize me, then I guess I’m mistaken. With that braid, you reminded me of someone I once met.”
She hadn’t been wearing her hair in a braid on the set. It had been arranged long and loose, like one of those cascading waterfalls in Brazil that caught the sunlight, robbing him of breath.
Nicco’s eyes held a mysterious gleam. “Could you possibly be thinking of the woman on the cover of International Motorcycle World?”
At the question, something clicked in Riley’s head.
His gaze darted from the other man to Annabelle. “Of course—the mad vet from Prunedale!”
“That’s my wife.” Nicco kissed her neck.
“Up to my knees in mud.” She blushed in her husband’s arms. “I’m never going to live that picture down.”
“It hooked me,” he said purposely in English because he wanted to jolt her.
Her eyes rounded, giving him the reaction he’d hoped for. “You’re an American! I thought you were a hundred percent Italian like Nicco.”
She spoke English now, playing the innocent to the hilt.
Nicco squeezed her. “Like you, my love, Riley’s a man of many talents. He even has the distinction of winning over Chloe on a first encounter. I think I’m jealous.”
“Dr. Wood won’t believe it when I tell him.”
“Dr. Wood?” Riley drawled.
She smiled. “He’s the vet in Prunedale who hired me out of medical school. He was the only person besides me Chloe would allow to touch her.”
“What about your husband?”
Nicco shook his head. “Let’s just say she was territorial about letting me sleep with my bride. It took her a week before she’d deign for me to stroke the back of her neck. I think it was a month before she rolled over so I could rub her belly.”
His black eyes flashed. “If your secrets translate to the track, Riley, I’m already feeling sorry for the other poor devils when you start to make your moves.”
“So you race?” she cried out with excitement.
She was good at dissembling. The best he’d ever seen.
“Never as a pro like your husband.”
“Why don’t we finish this conversation inside?” Nicco murmured against her cheek. “I don’t know about our guest, but I’m starving.”
“While you show Mr. Garrow where to freshen up, I’ll check to make certain Anna’s asleep, then meet you in the dining room.” She slipped away from Nicco and hurried inside with the dogs at her heels.
No doubt she was relieved to escape before she gave anything away. He couldn’t fault her for trying to make a go of her marriage.
Why out of all the many beautiful, exciting, exotic women he’d known in his life did he have to be hung up on the one female forbidden to him from the beginning?
Though he was no saint, he’d made it a rule never to become involved with a married woman. Little did Riley know another man had already claimed her when he’d met her on the set.
He supposed he should be admiring rather than angry of her devotion to her husband when Riley knew in his gut she’d once been as attracted to Riley as he’d been to her.
Riley was privy to a secret all right, one she didn’t want Nicco to know about.
Back then the head of the Danelli empire hadn’t won his bride’s heart and soul yet, otherwise those green eyes wouldn’t have come alive with desire for Riley when they’d first looked at each other.
He closed his eyes for a moment. He should have known this day was too good to be true.
You are in a great hurry, rushing down a path even more dangerous than the one before.
Riley liked Nicco. He sensed this was the kind of man he would want for a true friend. But under the circumstances, it wasn’t going to work. The wisest course would be to heed Mitra’s warning, excuse himself on some pretext and leave the country tonight.
“Shall we go in?” Nicco prompted him after parking his bike near the bushes. “Earlier in the day my wife told me Ann was making our dinner tonight. Between you and me she’s not as good a cook as Callie, but she’s a lot better than she used to be and she’s trying hard to learn Italian. Be patient with her when she makes the effort.”
Riley blinked. “Who’s Callie?”
“My wife.”
He was totally confused. “Then who’s Ann?”
“My wife’s twin sister. She flew in from the States last night for a visit.”
CHAPTER THREE
ANN swept through the door connecting the kitchen to the small dining room of the palace carrying a hot platter.
