as she’d imagined. At least then all of this would be over. Rafe would go away. She could put her life back together again.
“You can’t stop me,” she told him flatly.
He stared at her with an obvious mix of frustration and concern. “Don’t do this. Don’t give up.”
“I’m not giving up. I’m merely accepting the inevitable,” she said, just as Emma walked in.
Rafe regarded Emma with relief. “Thank God. Maybe you can talk some sense into her. I’m not having any luck.”
Emma frowned, looking from Rafe to Gina and back again. “What’s this all about?”
Rafe tossed his napkin on the table and stood up, gesturing for Emma to take his place. “She’ll explain,” he said, then added with a shrug, “or not.”
Gina stared after him, startled by the depth of his apparent disappointment in her.
“Okay, start talking,” Emma ordered. “And this time I want to know everything. I can’t help you if you hold out on me.”
Gina shook her head. She couldn’t go through this again this morning. She felt too raw, too vulnerable. Again she saw the disappointment in Rafe’s eyes, and shuddered. It seemed she was letting everyone down, including a man who hadn’t had that much faith in her to begin with. What did that say about her? She was letting other people control her life, and that had to stop. She needed to take charge again, and the first step was talking to Tony. She might not know yet what she could do—or even what she wanted to do—about Café Tuscany, but she did know that she needed to stay right here in Winding River until Karen’s life was more settled.
“Not now,” she told Emma. “There’s something I need to do.”
“And it can’t wait ten minutes?”
“No, it can’t,” Gina said.
“If that man has upset you in some way, I’ll make him regret it,” Emma promised.
“No, actually, that man has made me see things clearly for the first time in weeks.”
She might find Rafe O’Donnell annoying and pushy and arrogant, but he was right about one thing: she was a fighter. It was past time she started acting like one and seized control of her life again, even if no one else agreed with what she was about to do.
Chapter Nine
After leaving Gina, Rafe was more determined than ever to track down Bobby Rinaldi and make him pay for his crimes. It was no longer just about the money. Unjust or not, most of the investors, Rafe’s mother included, could afford to take their losses. Now, though, his concern extended to Gina, who was clearly paying a far higher toll than mere dollars.
The bleak, defeated look on Gina’s face the day before would haunt him forever. He blamed himself for that, and for somehow leading her to the conclusion that the only way out was to declare bankruptcy and come home to Wyoming. That was the last thing he’d intended when he’d started all this.
He muttered a harsh expletive and faced facts. That was exactly what he’d hoped for when he’d come charging out here on his white horse determined to save the day for his clients. But that was before he’d known anything at all about Gina Petrillo and the kind of warm, decent, caring woman she was. For once in his life, he should have paid attention to his secretary. Not that he’d ever admit that to Lydia. There were some things best left unsaid to a woman who tended to gloat.
Without pausing to consider what he was about to do, he headed straight for Tony’s and pounded on the front door until Tony came out of the kitchen and opened it.
“There’s no need to break the door down,” the man chided.
“Sorry. I should have realized you’d be in the kitchen and come around back.”
“Or waited until the restaurant was open,” Tony suggested mildly, though he stepped aside to allow Rafe to enter.
“This couldn’t wait,” Rafe said.
Worry immediately creased Tony’s forehead. “It’s about our Gina?”
Rafe nodded. “Yes. And she doesn’t know I’m here. It’s better if it stays that way.”
“I imagine she would not approve,” Tony guessed. “So, why did you come? I am her friend, not yours.”
“That’s precisely why I came,” Rafe said. “I think she’s about to do something she’s going to regret and only you can stop her.”
“Then we must talk.” Tony beckoned him toward the back. “However, you will have to explain while I work. I am making pasta and I cannot stop without ruining it.”
In the kitchen Rafe drew in