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Authors: Gina Ardito
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throbbing beneath that creamy column—
“ Hey, that’s my goddaughter you’re ogling.”
Claudio’s gruff voice jerked him from the sensual vision and tossed him into cerebral reality.
Gianna had already left the dining room. Odd, he’d never noticed. “I wasn’t ogling her, old man.”
His heart wasn’t in the lie, and Claudio obviously knew. The old man’s face creased into thousands of disapproving wrinkles.
“ You hurt her,” he warned in a whisper deadlier than a rattler, “you answer to me. Capisci ?”
“ Yeah, I capisci .”
Kyle shook his head to clear any vestiges of the daydream from his mind. How long since a woman had affected him so deeply? Too long. Even before he’d wound up here, Lana had built a frigid wall of ice between them—a private, personal igloo for two in their bedroom on Central Park West. Which was one of the reasons he’d started this whole mess—to learn the truth. But despite what anyone said, the truth did not set him free. Not in the manner he’d expected.
Damn him for the fool he was! And damn Rory and David for knowing all along how this game would turn out.
Chapter Six
Day Twenty-two. At the end of another exhausting night, Gianna slapped a long white envelope into Kyle’s hands.
“ What’s this?” he asked, turning it over to see his name printed along the outside.
“ Your paycheck.” Apparently she didn’t realize what a momentous occasion she’d engendered because she returned to the kitchen area without waiting for the grand opening.
“ My…?” He ripped the envelope’s flap and pulled out the green strip of paper inside. His eager brain barely registered his name and a dollar amount printed across the top, Gianna’s signature gracing the bottom.
My very first paycheck . Now what? The only vision that came to mind was the doleful expression on good ol’ Rory’s face when the stiff-backed accountant found a photocopy of this little gem in his office mail. And David! David’s Norse looks would turn a new shade of purple.
By God, he’d won a battle! Things might not have gone the way he’d anticipated when he started, but the end result proved more satisfying than he’d ever dreamed. Even better, Rory and David would owe him something in return for this triumph. He stared at Gianna’s pixie princess face as she washed the dozens of dishes piled in the sink. And I know exactly what to ask for.
“ Which reminds me,” she said, looking up from the soapy mountain. “How’d you like to go shopping tomorrow morning? You need some decent clothing. You can’t keep wearing my brother’s hand-me-downs. We could go to the mall before work.”
“ The mall?” He’d never been to a mall in his life.
“ Mmm-hmm. Brookland Mall is only three miles from here.”
If nothing else, the excursion should prove interesting. “Sure, why not?”
“ Great. The bank there will cash your check so long as you have ID. You have a driver’s license, don’t you?”
“ Of course. I’m homeless, not helpless.”
“ Sorry,” she said, the familiar pretty blush creeping into her cheeks. “What a stupid thing to say.”
“ No harm done.”
Not yet, anyway...
****
The next morning, Gianna approached the apartment door that had once housed her brother and now sheltered her… What should she call him? When she introduced him at the wedding, what would she say? “I’d like you to meet Kyle, my…”
What? Her employee? God, no! She’d die of embarrassment if Frank found out she’d brought the hired help. Her escort? No. Her friend? Well, she supposed, friend worked better than any of the others. Still, the description wasn’t a perfect fit. Rather like the clothing he wore these days, the word was too small for the individual. Temporarily shrugging off thoughts of how to identify him, she knocked twice on the door and waited.
“ Just a sec.” Kyle’s voice filtered through the barrier,
“ Hey, that’s my goddaughter you’re ogling.”
Claudio’s gruff voice jerked him from the sensual vision and tossed him into cerebral reality.
Gianna had already left the dining room. Odd, he’d never noticed. “I wasn’t ogling her, old man.”
His heart wasn’t in the lie, and Claudio obviously knew. The old man’s face creased into thousands of disapproving wrinkles.
“ You hurt her,” he warned in a whisper deadlier than a rattler, “you answer to me. Capisci ?”
“ Yeah, I capisci .”
Kyle shook his head to clear any vestiges of the daydream from his mind. How long since a woman had affected him so deeply? Too long. Even before he’d wound up here, Lana had built a frigid wall of ice between them—a private, personal igloo for two in their bedroom on Central Park West. Which was one of the reasons he’d started this whole mess—to learn the truth. But despite what anyone said, the truth did not set him free. Not in the manner he’d expected.
Damn him for the fool he was! And damn Rory and David for knowing all along how this game would turn out.
Chapter Six
Day Twenty-two. At the end of another exhausting night, Gianna slapped a long white envelope into Kyle’s hands.
“ What’s this?” he asked, turning it over to see his name printed along the outside.
“ Your paycheck.” Apparently she didn’t realize what a momentous occasion she’d engendered because she returned to the kitchen area without waiting for the grand opening.
“ My…?” He ripped the envelope’s flap and pulled out the green strip of paper inside. His eager brain barely registered his name and a dollar amount printed across the top, Gianna’s signature gracing the bottom.
My very first paycheck . Now what? The only vision that came to mind was the doleful expression on good ol’ Rory’s face when the stiff-backed accountant found a photocopy of this little gem in his office mail. And David! David’s Norse looks would turn a new shade of purple.
By God, he’d won a battle! Things might not have gone the way he’d anticipated when he started, but the end result proved more satisfying than he’d ever dreamed. Even better, Rory and David would owe him something in return for this triumph. He stared at Gianna’s pixie princess face as she washed the dozens of dishes piled in the sink. And I know exactly what to ask for.
“ Which reminds me,” she said, looking up from the soapy mountain. “How’d you like to go shopping tomorrow morning? You need some decent clothing. You can’t keep wearing my brother’s hand-me-downs. We could go to the mall before work.”
“ The mall?” He’d never been to a mall in his life.
“ Mmm-hmm. Brookland Mall is only three miles from here.”
If nothing else, the excursion should prove interesting. “Sure, why not?”
“ Great. The bank there will cash your check so long as you have ID. You have a driver’s license, don’t you?”
“ Of course. I’m homeless, not helpless.”
“ Sorry,” she said, the familiar pretty blush creeping into her cheeks. “What a stupid thing to say.”
“ No harm done.”
Not yet, anyway...
****
The next morning, Gianna approached the apartment door that had once housed her brother and now sheltered her… What should she call him? When she introduced him at the wedding, what would she say? “I’d like you to meet Kyle, my…”
What? Her employee? God, no! She’d die of embarrassment if Frank found out she’d brought the hired help. Her escort? No. Her friend? Well, she supposed, friend worked better than any of the others. Still, the description wasn’t a perfect fit. Rather like the clothing he wore these days, the word was too small for the individual. Temporarily shrugging off thoughts of how to identify him, she knocked twice on the door and waited.
“ Just a sec.” Kyle’s voice filtered through the barrier,
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