by Tara Pammi
Heat flamed her cheeks, but she refused to look away as if she was in the wrong. “If I apologize for my actions, it won’t be truthful,” she finally offered. “You left me feeling like I had no other choice than to go.”
“And now, bella?” He leaned against his massive desk, throwing those long legs out in front of him. Pulling her starved senses to the sheer masculinity of him. As though she were a magnet and he was her true north. “Have you found one? Is that why you’ve deigned to return?”
With him standing no more than two feet from her, Alex weakened and let herself drink him in.
Take in the magnificent presence of the man she’d allowed into her heart.
Power and arrogance shimmered around him, a second skin. An armor he was using to keep her out now. But he hadn’t done it in Bali. He had let her in. He had been a different man. Or was that just her naive belief in a fairy tale that didn’t exist?
And how had she not seen the similarities between him and Leo and Massimo? The cut of his features, the very way he held himself slightly separate from the crowd, the affection she’d heard in his voice when he’d spoken of his mother—he was so much like his half brothers. So much a Brunetti through and through.
But she knew instinctively he would hate that comparison. The confidence in his speech, the commanding power of his look—it had been hard-won for Vincenzo and would be so much harder to shed too.
Deep smudges darkened his electric gray eyes, gilded by long lashes that should have made him look almost feminine. But the aquiline nose, with no fewer than two dents marring its aristocratic lineage, and the strong chin saved him from that. While his thinly sculpted upper lip hinted at the contempt she’d foolishly never seen before today, the lush lower lip spoke of the sensuality he hid beneath that ruthless mask.
She shivered slightly, even though his office was set to a comfortable ambient temperature.
The gray shirt revealed a teasing V of olive skin, skin Alex had kissed and petted to her heart’s content. Her palm tingled in desperation for that contact again—to be able to slide her hand over his warm skin stretched taut over sculpted muscles. She’d thought it so romantic that she, with her always cold toes and fingers, had found a man who could warm her up just by holding her.
But even that reminder of her naive dreams couldn’t stop her mind from imagining the slide of her hand moving farther down his defined chest to the thick slabs of his abdominal muscles, down to the solid strength of his thighs and then back up...
“Alessandra!”
Lost in the splendor that was the man she’d thought she had fallen headlong in love with, Alex said huskily, “Have I found what?”
He closed and opened his eyes, his patience apparently paper-thin. “What prompted you to come back? Did Greta promise to save you from the big, bad wolf? Did Leo and Massimo tell you they would protect you from the devious man you’d entangled yourself with?”
“I don’t need anyone to fight my battles,” Alex snapped, a fresh thread of anger thankfully drowning out the lust that was useless right now, that would only distract her from what she needed to do. “I have found myself in a situation where I... I—”
“You what?”
“I need you,” she said, going for defiance but it ended up being an entreaty.
As if she’d woven a magic spell into the air, the very chemistry of the room changed. Like that first moment on Bali when their eyes had met, a real connection arced between them.
A pure electric charge that had nothing to do with revenge and all its twisted consequences. The luminous gray of his eyes flared into something dangerously feral and her pulse spiked.
God, was she really getting a thrill because she could still provoke this reaction from him? When would her stupid heart and her foolish body learn that he wasn’t hers? That for all the pleasure he’d woven with his skillful caresses, he’d had an ultimate goal all the while?
“You need me for what, bella? I made the mistake of trusting you blindly once. I will not do it again.”
The sheer arrogance of the words broke their connection. Alex laughed. “It’s like you stole the very words from my script.” She shook her head. If his gaze wasn’t already drilling holes in her skin, she’d have smacked herself on the head. God, she needed him, yes, but for a good reason.
Not to dissolve into an overheated puddle at his feet.
“I need the appearance of this marriage,” she announced clearly this time, tilting her chin up, holding his gaze. “That’s why I returned.”
His gaze irate, his jaw tight, he just stared at her.
“My mother and stepfather—” she swallowed the lump in her throat “—died in an accident two weeks ago.” She didn’t wait for him to offer a sentiment. If he showed any sympathy or touched her, her grief would come bursting out and she’d lose control of herself. And this situation. Never again was she going to depend on him. “I flew here straight from the funeral in San Francisco.
“My stepfather left a huge fortune to my half brother, Charlie. He’s only seven and already his paternal uncles are fighting over who gets to take control of him. Just so they can control his fortune.”
She blinked and turned away for a moment, trying to hold back the threat of tears.
“I’m sorry you’ve been dealing with such horrific news,” he said, his voice coming close behind her. The scent of him was a tempting invitation, offering the illusion of an escape from her worries. “You didn’t have to take it on alone, Alessandra.”
The tenderness in his voice beckoned her, and it took all her strength to not fall into his embrace. To not let herself drown in grief. To not let his strong arms hold her through this pain.
She turned back to face him. “I kinda had to,” she said vehemently, rejecting whatever comfort he was offering. “I’ve always dealt with life alone.”
His mouth opened and closed, frustration etched onto his features. Long fingers pushed through his hair, sudden energy brimming from his demeanor. “Alessandra, I miscalculated how much what I—”
“I want to take custody of him,” she said, cutting off his words. It was too late for apologies anyway. “I want to raise Charlie. I want to give him the kind of loving family life he deserves, the security I always yearned for as a child.
“Knowing how my stepfather’s brothers are already fighting over him, as if he were a piece of meat, I can’t give him up to them. I refuse to.”
She looked up at him to realize she had his full attention. Thankful that he hadn’t interrupted her again, she went on. “I’ve spoken to a firm of family lawyers that comes highly recommended. I’ve been informed in no uncertain terms that it’s extremely unlikely I’d get custody of him with my current ‘lifestyle.’
“I’m single, as far as anyone else knows. I travel around the world with no stability or roots. I’ve been in the media spotlight a lot of late, creating controversy, and my breakup with Javier was messy and all over the news. In short, Charlie’s uncles plan to use every morsel ever printed against me, even the smallest things I did ten years ago, to prove me an unfit guardian for him.
“So that’s where you come in,” she finished.
“Where?” His voice was whip sharp, his gaze cutting to her with a withering contempt that should’ve reduced her to a heap of smoking ash. “All I’ve heard so far is that you came back to me only because you were forced to do so. That something terribly tragic had to happen to make you show up here today. That your wedding vows still mean less than nothing to you.
“So where exactly do I come into this situation, bella. Spell it out for me.”
Her behavior, so neatly summarized in his stinging words, made shame burn in her chest. But she buried it deep. She was never again going to project what she wanted to see in his eyes, what she wanted him to feel for her onto him. Never again.
“I’d already made a
decision to quit modeling even before this happened. I plan to prove that I can be a steady, secure presence in Charlie’s life, however long it takes. I plan to take the battle for custody to the courts and win it.
“It’s just a matter of finishing up existing contracts, setting up a permanent residence somewhere and settling down to a less chaotic lifestyle. With my husband, so that I can prove to the courts that there’s a stable, two-parent home waiting for Charlie.”
“Is that all?” he said dryly.
“Yes, that is all,” she snapped, fatigue finally taking over. “And since I already have a husband handy, I thought I should just use him to help my case.”
“As opposed to?”
“As opposed to getting rid of the current one and shopping for a new one. What else?” she retorted, rolling her eyes. Her head was beginning to pound from all the lack of sleep, her body in a state of near exhaustion. “This is not a joke.”
“Should I truly take you at your word this time, bella? Is that what I should have demanded—an extra clarification that it was not a joke when you made your vows to me?”
Alex refused to indulge the guilt that burrowed into the most private recesses of her heart. Or the hope that it had somehow hurt him when she’d left. God, the last thing she needed was to look for any supposed feelings for her. “You owe me this, V.”
He raised a brow, arrogance dripping from the gesture. “Owe you, Princess?”
“Yes. You married me without telling me the whole truth. You appear to have conveniently forgotten all the mistakes you’ve made and blame me for the disturbing farce that is our marriage. You misrepresented yourself to me and I want reparation. This has to be it.”
“I told you before. I’m saying it again. Our marriage is not a farce to me.”
“I’m not asking you for a happily-ever-after, V.” She cut him off, that tough mask in place again. “That’s kind of lost its shine for me.
“I’m asking, since we’re inconveniently tied together legally already, if you’ll help me secure the happiness of a small boy who’s just lost his parents and has been thrust into a battle between greedy adults who care only about the bottom line.
“If you were really once that boy who fought against overwhelming odds to survive, you will understand that a child’s well-being is at stake here.”
After the almost soap-opera-ish drama that had been his life recently, Vincenzo hadn’t thought he’d ever be shocked again. But the fire that burned in Alessandra’s eyes, the fighting stance of her body as she faced him, achieved that effect quite thoroughly.
This was the woman he’d lost his head over.
Vulnerable yet fierce.
Fragile and yet with a steely core.
In her, he’d seen a woman that would get behind him. A woman who’d have fought against all the injustices that had been done him. A woman who’d understand his lifelong fight, his ambition, his need to even out the scales. A woman—his wife—whom he’d thought would take his side against people who were not even her blood relations.
But he refused to be taken in by her again. Refused to let his heart rule over the little sense his head spouted. Refused to forget that, for all her determination now, she’d walked out on him, on their marriage, without even a word.
Worse, she wouldn’t have returned if she hadn’t been forced into it by a cruel twist of fate.
But for all his reservations, he couldn’t remain untouched by the very real grief in her eyes, the guilt whenever she mentioned her mother, the hopelessness when she recounted how Charlie was being fought over.
All feelings he was too familiar with.
“Do you comprehend what an enormous responsibility you’re taking on by seeking custody of Charlie?” he asked softly.
Her gaze jerked to meet his. “Yes.” Calm. Steady.
“This is not an impulsive decision, is it? Because apparently you’re the queen of impulsive behavior.”
She fidgeted with the strap of her bag, bringing his gaze to her breasts, before weakly refuting, “That’s not fair.”
“I’ve gained a broader picture of you in the weeks you’ve been hiding, cara. Apparently, you have a history of making major, life-changing decisions on a whim.”
A stiffness imbued her movements as she approached his desk and poured herself a glass of water. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Signing up to a modeling career—just because you knew your mother would disapprove.
“Walking out on a two-million-dollar contract with a cosmetics company because you discovered that their practices were not entirely ethical. Hiding from the fallout of that in Bali, which was when I found you. Then there’s your decision to quit modeling altogether—for reasons unknown.
“And finally, marrying me on the rebound...because you got dumped by your ex,” he said, giving voice to the thing that had bothered him the most.
Her almond-shaped eyes widened. “Javier again?”
“Oh no, this is all according to Massimo. He’s been quite voluble in your absence, volunteering information about you at regular intervals. Exacting his own version of revenge on me, I’d say.”
“Revenge?”
“He knew how...angry I was by your middle-of-the-night flight. So he dealt me a few punches and got some laughs out of it.” Massimo, Vincenzo had realized in the past few weeks, found him endlessly fascinating, as if he were a puzzle the tech genius was determined to solve.
It was damned hard to hate a man who kept dropping down into his office for little chats as if they were childhood friends. Or, God forbid, long-lost brothers. Not even on pain of death would Vincenzo admit, however, that he was just as curious about the cyber tech genius.
“So, is it true?”
“Is what true?” she asked.
Vincenzo had a feeling she was playing with him. And yet he couldn’t help gritting out the question that had been gouging a hole in him for nine excruciatingly long weeks. “Did you marry me on the rebound, Princess?”
The little minx fluttered her eyes at him, sweetly pretending to consider the question while his insides tightened into a knot. “You know, there might be some truth to that after all. How else can I explain the temporary madness that took hold of me in Bali? Javi and I...had such grand plans together and then it all fell apart so spectacularly. My relationship had failed. My career held no thrill any longer.
“I found myself hiding in Bali, devastated by everything that had shifted beneath my feet and then there you were... Prince Charming, running to my rescue.
“Except you’re more like the slimy, cold-blooded frog than the prince.”
His jaw tightened and Alex knew she’d landed a solid hit.
She straightened as he came to her, his voice deceptively soft when he spoke. “You’ve just been through a terrible loss. Grief and guilt should not be the motivators to involve yourself in a child’s life. He’s not something you can return to a shop when the fancy wears off.”
The sudden change to this most serious of topics, and offering his sensible opinion stole the ground from underneath her. The complex facets to this man amazed her, and the surprises kept hitting her just when she thought she had the measure of him.
He smiled thinly. “You’re shocked that a man like me—ruthless, cold, cruel even—can think of a child’s well-being in this situation, can see beyond our petty differences, si?”
“No. Yes, I mean... I didn’t think you’d be quite so rational about it.” She shrugged. “It gives me hope that I’m not pushing Charlie from one horrible situation to another. Even if it is only temporary.”
“You have considered that I might be a different but just as horrible situation for him then?”
“Of course I have. You lied to me. You’ve lost my trust. I thought long and hard over that before I came back to you today.”
“And what did you conclude?”
“My first step is to get custody of Charlie. Once I achieve that goal, once this marriage becomes nothing but a liability to me, I’ll—”
“You’ll do away with me?” he said, a glint of wicked humor gleaming in his eyes.
Alex shrugged, a small smile playing around her own mouth. “Something like that, yes.”
His gaze turned thoughtful, as he stood there caging her with his body. She could almost hear the gears turning in that Machiavellian mind of his. “Bene, I’ll play along for the world. But I have a price for my cooperation.”
“Of course you do.” She glared at him. “It seems you’re nothing if not predictable.”
“You’re asking me to take on an important role in the life of a child—”
“I’m not asking you to be a permanent parent to him—”
“Ah...how do you see this playing out, then?” he asked, parodying the question she’d asked of him. “We pretend to be an adoring couple, you get custody of your half brother and then you run off to some quiet corner of the world with him in tow, never to be seen again and forget all about your poor husband?”
There was no place in the world she could go to where she could outrun her feelings for him. “What’s your price, V?” she demanded, facing him, refusing to back down even though everything inside her was building to an unbearably heightened sense of unwanted anticipation.
He tucked his finger under her chin and looked her straight in the eye. “The same as always, Alessandra.”
“Spell it out for me.”
“I’ve only ever wanted what was mine. No more, no less.
“I want the wife you promised me you’d be. I want the marriage that this was supposed to be. I want you to stand by my side while I achieve the goal I’ve worked toward all my life.”
“Those promises were made based on false assumptions. You’re not the man I thought you were. And nothing will make me betray Leo and Massimo.”
Impatience glittered in his eyes. “You do them a disservice, cara. Leonardo and Massimo can look after themselves. Charlie can’t. Why don’t you focus your energies on him?”