Read Online Seduced and Ensnared by Stephanie Julian - Free Book Online Page A

picked up on the second ring.
    “Yeah, whaddaya want?”
    If he didn’t know better, Cam would’ve thought his youngest brother Valerio was drunk. But he did know better. Rio never drank to excess. “Up all night again, Rio?”
    “Jeez, Cam, who d’you think you are, my mother? What do you want, ceffo ? I just fell asleep…ah, vaffanculo , about an hour ago.”
    “And you’re not gonna get back to bed until I have an address.”
    “ No skuche ala gats , Cam. I’m fucking tired.”
    “You kiss our mother with that mouth? Come on, bro. I’ll make it worth your while.”
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah, you always say that. What do you want?”
    Cam smiled. “I need a location.”
    He gave Rio everything he had on Stella Palmer, including the information he’d gleaned from the moon bowl.
    “I need it immediately, Rio. I believe she’s in danger.”
    Rio paused, the silence brief but telling. “And why do we care? She’s Bonnini’s niece. I thought you were going to use her—”
    “Plans changed. She knows more than she should and I’m afraid Bonnini will hurt her.”
    “Shit, Cam, why the hell would that matter? She doesn’t mean anything to you.”
    His brother’s words made Cam’s chest ache. “Yes, she does. She’s mine, Rio. Or she will be as soon as you find her and I bring her back.”
    Another pause. “Huh. Nino was right. You’ve finally lost it. I’ll be damned. How’d you lose the girl?”
    “When did Nino— No, don’t bother. Knowing Nino, he called you right after I sent him back. And I don’t have time to explain what happened. Just find the address.”
    “If that was nearly an hour ago then, yeah, that’s about right. Give me a few minutes and I’ll call you back. And try not to worry so much, dude.”
    Rio hung up on him before he could come up with a sufficient comeback that didn’t include the word “dude”.
    Hanging the handset back in the cradle, he shook his head. He should have known Nino would tell Rio and Teo. It didn’t really matter. He would have told them himself soon anyway but he didn’t want it getting back to their parents just yet.
    Tana and Lucumo de Feo had old-fashioned ideas about who were suitable life partners. Stella’s family would not fit into their parameters but once they met the woman, he knew they’d change their minds. They’d love her.
    Unable to sit, he paced while he waited for Rio to call back. His youngest brother was a wiz with computers. Their parents had been horrified at his affinity for modern technology at first but Cam had immediately seen the benefits for the business they were in. He’d encouraged him to learn all he could and to use it to fill in the gaps—like the gap in knowledge he had now.
    He’d seen Stella in the moon bowl but it would have taken a more powerful, and potentially detectable, spell to find her exact location. He would chance it if he needed to. But usually Rio could come up with an address by means of the computer in a matter of minutes.
    After ten minutes, Cam began to worry. After fifteen, he was ready to translocate himself to Rio’s apartment to make him get his ass in gear. But he knew from previous experience that would only piss off Rio and slow him down.
    So he paced some more and found himself back in his bedroom. If he closed his eyes, he could still smell her. He’d stick his nose in the sheets if he thought it would stop this incredible ache in his chest.
    Where the hell was she? She’d left hurt, disappointed, pissed off and confused. Mostly pissed off though—at him. He had to find her and explain his intentions more fully.
    And if she wouldn’t listen then he’d just have to find other ways to make her understand that she was his.
    * * * * *
    The next time she saw him, she was going to—
    Wait, there would be no next time. That bastard had better never come around again or… Or what?
    Stella tried very hard not to think about what she would do if she saw Cam again but she had the