Shadow Rider Read Online Free

pair of shoes.”
    â€œI’ll use your coat, but the money . . . I don’t know when I can pay you back.”
    â€œPietro pays a decent wage.” He turned away from her.
    â€œI don’t have the job yet.”
    â€œYou have the job.” He lifted a hand and started down the street, moving easily, quietly. Looking more gorgeous than ever.
    â€œWait. How do I return the coat?” she asked a little desperately. He’d made it clear he wanted his coat back.
    â€œI’ll find you.”
    She watched him striding away. Watched how people on the sidewalk moved out of his way. He seemed to flow across the sidewalk, a force to be reckoned with. She felt a little bit battered, as if she’d been in the middle of the sea during a terrible storm. She didn’t move, not for a long time. She huddled there in his long coat and forced herself to breathe deeply, trying not to feel faint.
    Joanna caught her by the arm. “Oh. My. God. Did that justhappen? Tell me that didn’t just happen.” She practically shook Francesca in her shock.
    Francesca glanced through the window of the deli. No one had moved. The attention of every individual in the store remained completely riveted on Stefano Ferraro. She ducked deeper into the warmth of the coat. The cashmere smelled like him. Was warm like him. Elegant like he was.
    â€œWhat
did
just happen?” Francesca asked Joanna. “Because I have no idea.”
    â€œHe just told Zio Pietro to hire you.
Ordered
him.”
    â€œHe can’t do that.” Francesca frowned, alarmed.
    â€œYes, he can and he did. No one goes against a Ferraro. No one, Francesca.”
    â€œGreat. Your uncle is going to blame me for having someone step in and tell him what to do in his own store.”
    â€œNo, he won’t. He’s excited that he got to do a favor for Stefano. That’s rare and it means something. You do a favor for one and they
all
feel they owe you. The entire family. That’s huge, to have a Ferraro owe you. Zio Pietro was practically dancing around the shop.”
    â€œWhy would that man get so angry because I didn’t have a coat?”
    Joanna looked confused. “I have no idea. I just know it’s supercool that you attracted his attention. I’ve been around for years, since I was a little girl, and they all know my name and they know me, but they’ve never taken that kind of interest in me.”
    Francesca clenched her teeth. “Why would that be?” Already knowing the answer and not liking it.
    â€œWe don’t exactly run in the same social circles. That family is total celebrity. Everyone knows them.”
    That didn’t make Francesca the least bit predisposed to feeling better about Stefano Ferraro’s interest in her. “I don’t know them. I don’t want to know them.” Which wasn’t altogether true. She’d heard the name. She knew the name was associated with an international bank and a very prestigious hotel as well as a racing team.
    Joanna caught her arm and tugged in the direction of the deli’s door. “Come on, it’s cold out here. Zio Pietro wants to meet you.”
    â€œYou said
them
. There’s more than one of him?” She knew a Ferraro drove a race car, but surely the name wasn’t that uncommon.
    Joanna nodded solemnly. “And they’re all that gorgeous. I kid you not. Stefano’s the oldest. He has four brothers, equally hot. One sister, totally beautiful. When they walk around together, people just stare at them. That’s how hot they are. Each one of them is supercool as well, which makes them all
scorching
hot. I’m a little in love with them, including their sister. That’s how totally gorgeous they are.”
    Francesca couldn’t help it. She started to laugh. She hadn’t laughed in months. It was good to see Joanna again. She was not in the least complicated, nor did she want to