She remembered the week before her marriage. She had assumed, because Jake had asked her to marry him and offered to pay her father’s debt, that they would naturally keep Forest Manor, and he had quite coolly told her that nothing had changed in that respect, the house would still be converted to a hotel, though he promised her he would convert part of the building into an apartment for their own use. So she would not really be losing her home. With hindsight, she realised she should have known then that Jake was the type of man who never wavered in his resolve to get what he wanted. Instead it had taken her almost a year and the loss of her baby to discover just what a conniving swine he was.
She lifted her head, a deep sigh escaping her. She had no idea what she was going to tell Dante; she only knew she could not tell him the truth. He was the type of man who would insist on standing by her and fighting for what was right. But Jake was a vicious enemy and deep down she knew Dante would be no match for him. Jake would gobble him up and spit him out if Dante attempted to thwart his plan.
Lexi walked into the Piazza Tasso, the main square in Sorrento and the focal-point of the town. It must be almost nine-thirty, she was sure, and, having parked her car in another hotel car park—the manager was a friend—she dodged between the never-ending stream of vehicles to reach the Caffè Fauno, the most popular meeting place in the town. All Sorrento life passed by the place, but today she was not really noticing the people around her. She turned her worried gaze over the tables and found Dante. He caught her eye and smiled, rising to his feet; she hurried towards him.
‘Not so fast, Lexi,’ a deep voice drawled in her ear as a strong hand closed firmly around her upper arm.
‘What?’ With sinking heart she looked up into the hard face of the man holding her. ‘Jake,’ she choked, her startled gaze skimming over his tall form. This morning he was dressed in cream chinos and a blue short-sleeve cotton shirt with a button-down collar, open at the neck to reveal the strong line of his throat and the beginnings of dark, curling chest hair.
‘Take your hand off my fiancée.’ Dante appeared in front of her, his deep brown eyes narrowed angrily on Jake, before flicking to Lexi. ‘Are you all right, cara?’ he asked, reaching to plant a kiss on her cheek.
Brutally, she was jerked out of Dante’s reach, as Jake’s arm closed around her waist like a band of steel. His eyes flashed with fury, and a muscle jerked in his cheek. ‘Keep your hands and your mouth off my wife,’ he said dangerously.
‘Wife?’ Dante’s brows rose in surprise as his gaze slid from one to the other then settled on Jake. ‘Not for much longer,’ he responded firmly, reading the situation at a glance and grasping Lexi’s other arm. ‘So, this is why you wanted to see me so urgently, cara. Is he trying to cause trouble?’ His dark eyes sought hers, puzzled but caring.
She felt like a rag doll pulled between the two bristling males, and, before she could open her mouth to speak, Jake spoke for her.
‘I’ll cause you trouble if you don’t get your hand off my wife. It’s over, and if I ever see you anywhere near Lexi again I will break every bone in your body. Understand?’ There was no mistaking the deadly intent in Jake’s tone and everyone at the surrounding tables was aware of it, never mind that it was in English.
Jake stood towering over Lexi and Dante, his dark face hard as rock, the venom in his eyes there for all to see.
Dante’s hand dropped from her arm. ‘What has happened, Lexi? Yesterday you said your divorce was only weeks away. You agreed to marry me.’
She could have wept. Dante did not deserve to be humiliated in public by the arrogant Jake.
Jake’s fingers bit into her waist. ‘Yes, tell him, Lexi darling. Tell him how you spent the night in my arms.’
‘You didn’t!’ Dante cried, his eyes dark with pain, and, breaking into his native language, he demanded to know if she had slept with Jake.
Haltingly she tried to explain, but she could see Dante did not believe her as he turned on her in a fury of Italian, demanding to know why, when she had refused him her bed, she could fall straight into bed with a man she had not seen in years.
She looked into his deep brown eyes, and could see the hurt and anger and she opened her mouth to try and explain, and closed it again. There was no explanation she could give. It was better that Dante thought the worst of her; he would get over her quicker that way. Sadly she realised she had never loved him, and he deserved better.
‘Jake is right, Dante. I’m sorry,’ she said in English for Jake’s benefit, but it hurt to see the look of bleak disillusionment on Dante’s friendly face, and turning angry eyes on Jake, she added, ‘Jake and I are reconciled—that’s what you want, isn’t it, darling...?’ she jeered, not bothering to hide her disgust with her so-called husband.
Dante, with a pride that did him credit, said, ‘Congratulations; I hope you will be happy, but I doubt it.’ And, swinging on his heel, his broad shoulders tense, he walked stiffly away.
Lexi watched him go with tears in her eyes...
‘He isn’t worth your sympathy. The man is even older than me; he could never have kept you satisfied.’
Jake’s sneering remark fuelled her temper, and flashing him a bitter glance, she said, ‘Did you have to be so brutal? I wanted to tell Dante myself. And anyway, how did you know where to find us?’
‘Simple, I went to the man’s shop and followed him when he left; I guessed you would run to him. But you’re wasting time, Lexi. Monicelli told me you spoke to him this morning; you have nowhere to run to. So, unless you want a coffee, we will leave.’
He was right as usual but she could not resist getting a dig at him. ‘I’m surprised you don’t need a coffee, given the state you got into last night; the place reeked of whisky this morning.’ She tilted her head back, the better to look at him. ‘Is drinking another one of your vices?’ she queried sarcastically.
It wasn’t natural, she thought bitterly; his deep blue eyes were as clear and cold as ice, and if he had a hangover it certainly didn’t show. He looked more vitally alive today than he had yesterday.
‘Sorry to disappoint you, my dear, but my head is fine and I am in full control of my faculties. I didn’t drink the whisky last night so much as spill it down my trousers. Jet-lag was responsible for my oversleeping; I flew in from America yesterday morning.’ His dark head bent towards her. ‘Sorry you were frustrated last night, Lexi, but have no fear, I’ll make it up to you,’ he promised silkily, ‘now I’ve deprived you of your lover.’
Her mouth fell open in shock and colour rushed into her face as the implication of his words hit her. ‘I was not...’
‘This is hardly the place to discuss your sex life,’ he said sneeringly. ‘Come along, my car is parked around the corner.’
‘Come along? Where to?’ She was not going to be manhandled like a piece of spare baggage, but she had no choice but to go where he led, the arm around her waist gripped even tighter as they walked from the café and down the Via Cesareo. ‘And what about my car? I’ve left it at the Continental Hotel car park...’
‘That will be taken care of—get in.’
Seated in the low passenger seat of the gleaming Bugatti, she flinched as Jake reached across her, the back of his knuckles brushing the tip of her breast as he fastened the seatbelt.
His deep blue eyes captured hers, and he was amused by her reaction; his hand dropped to cover her breast through the fine cotton of her shirt. ‘So sensitive,’ Jake prompted cynically. ‘I did you a favour getting rid of Dante, he was no match for your fiery passion.’
She searched frantically for a scathing response, but Jake simply settled behind the wheel and started the car while she was still seething with anger. With a defiant toss of her head she looked out of the side window. She was not going to argue with the man, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction, and with hard-won control she offered, ‘If you take the next left, it is the quickest way back to the hotel.’
Jake glanced sideways at her stiff face an
d then returned his attention to the road. ‘We are not going to the hotel, but to my villa in Positano.’
Her head swung back, her glance going to his stern profile. ‘But I can’t; all my clothes, everything I own is at the hotel.’
‘That’s all taken care of. I’m taking no chances on your running off again,’ he told her bluntly. ‘I want you where I know you can’t escape.’
Escape. It was an emotive word, but did one truly ever escape from one’s past by running away? With maturity and hindsight, she recognised that her biggest mistake had been running away from Jake and his mistress in the first place. If she had stayed, and immediately applied for a divorce on the ground of Jake’s adultery with Lorraine, she would certainly have won the case, the poor wife having just lost her child. Her solicitor had told her as much a couple of mornings ago. Not that it did her much good, as he also explained that, having been living apart for so long, to claim adultery now was a bit of a non-starter; it was best to wait the five years...
So near and yet so far, she thought, her violet eyes resentfully skimming Jake’s harsh profile. She had almost won, a few short weeks to freedom. But almost was not good enough, she sighed resignedly; Jake always won... Her eyes fell on his hands lightly flexed around the wheel. He drove the powerful car with the same easy expertise he did everything. It was frightening to think she was completely at his mercy.
But five minutes later she was glad of his dynamic skills, as the powerful car picked up speed and flew along the notorious Amalfi Drive. She glanced out of the window and caught her breath: on one side were steeply rising cliffs, and on the other an almost sheer drop into the sea. It was noted as one of the most spectacular views in the Mediterranean, and many a film-maker used the scenic drive as a backdrop for famous car chases. But it took a skilful and courageous driver to navigate the dark tunnels and cliff-hanging bends. She didn’t speak, didn’t dare. Instead she drank in the sight of the isle of Capri, and the smaller islands near the coastline, the luxury yachts moving through the azure waters as smooth as swans on a lake.
Jake must have amassed an enormous amount of money to have a villa in Positano; she had visited the village once. A very sophisticated centre, the famous names in fashion owned the boutiques—Armani, Valentino and the like. Their customers the seriously rich people who holidayed in the villas dotted around the hillside. Roger Moore, the famous James Bond actor, and many more.
She gasped as the car swung violently to the right, and they were driving up a narrow road, and then, just when she thought they would surely crash into the tall iron gates ahead of them, Jake flicked a switch on the dash, and the gates swung open. A short, steep drive lined with trees ended in a huge stone arch and a large courtyard.
‘My home—do you like it?’ Jake was out of the car and holding the passenger door open for her.
Lexi, to put it crudely, was gobsmacked. She stepped out on to the paved yard, her violet eyes widened to their fullest extent. She gazed around her in awe. Gleaming white stucco with rough stone corners and arches—the villa was a work of art. Set into the hillside, long circular terraces curved around all three floors, a multitude of flowers and vines, hibiscus, and seemingly thousands of geraniums of every hue in huge ornate containers. It was how she imagined the hanging gardens of Babylon must have looked. She said nothing as Jake took her arm and led her up a wide stone staircase to the massive arched entrance door. The door was flung open and a small, dark-haired lady dressed completely in black burst into a voluble welcome in Italian.
Her footsteps halted in surprised astonishment as Jake returned the woman’s greeting. ‘I didn’t know you spoke Italian.’ She looked up into his smiling face, and was stunned by the obvious pleasure in his eyes at the sight of the old lady. Once Jake had looked at her like that. The thought stung, as the smile left his eyes when he turned his attention to her.
‘There’s a lot you don’t know about me; you were never that interested.’ Jake shrugged lazily, his broad shoulders flexing beneath his fine shirt.
He was right; when they were first married she had been too young, too much in awe of him to question him about anything, plus when they had been alone together they had spent most of their time in bed...
‘Lexi, my housekeeper, Maria.’
Lexi with a start realised Jake was speaking, and, glad to banish the memories of the past, she took the older lady’s outstretched hand in a brief handshake, but she got the distinct impression Maria was somewhat reluctant to accept her. She listened as Jake issued instruction for lunch to be served at one, and watched as Maria scuttled off to the back of the house, and Jake strode across the ornate marble mosaic floor to the foot of a large white marble staircase.
‘Come along, Lexi.’ A cool smile curved his hard mouth. ‘I’m sure you want to get out of those clothes.’ His dark eyes slid slowly over her face and throat, taking in the thrust of her breasts against the simple cotton shirt, the narrow waist and conservative straight skirt, and back up again to her face.
She felt as though he could see through to her flesh and she shivered, a sharp frisson of fear running down her spine, and stared at him in silence, incapable of responding.
Jake walked over to her. ‘Your uniform is unnecessary here, Lexi; we are here to relax,’ he said, and his long fingers closed over her chin and his thumb brushed along her bottom lip. ‘And I am going to make you forget every man you ever looked at, except me.’
Lexi flushed, but there was no heat in Jake’s eyes, she noted. She was looking at a stranger. His face was blank, hostile as he watched her; she felt the pressure of his fingers, the warmth of his body, and felt her throat tighten in fear.
‘After you,’ Jake drawled, and she heard the mockery in his tone as his hand dropped to curve around her back, propelling her forward.
Stiffly she moved towards the grand staircase. They climbed the stairs and walked down a wide corridor, their heels clicking like a death knell, Lexi thought fancifully, on the marble floors. Jake stopped at a door, opened it and urged her in. The room was bright and airy, flooded with the morning sun; the king-sized bed dominating it was covered with an intricate white lace bedspread.
‘The master bedroom,’ Jake drawled, and, going over to a door set in one plain white wall, he flung it open. ‘Through here, the bathroom. The rest of this floor is taken up with another bedroom and the nursery suite. The top floor houses three more bedrooms and the service flat. The layout for the ground floor you can see for yourself later.’
‘It’s very nice,’ she said politely. The room was obviously on the corner of the house, as two large windows were set in the wall to the right of her along with two long ceiling-to-floor windows that framed the huge bed. She walked across to the window directly in front of her and gasped.
The view was too beautiful for words. The tree-lined drive had disguised the exquisitely terraced gardens that marched down in row after row to end at what must be the edge of a cliff, and then the sea, glistening brilliant blue, the faint outline of Capri visible in the far distance. She let her gaze swing around in a shallow arc; to one side was visible the tiny port of Positano, the luxury yachts lying at anchor in the marina. It was picture-postcard-perfect. She clasped her hands together, suddenly nervous, as she felt Jake’s presence behind her. She could sense the undercurrent of sexual tension in the air around them. A bedroom was far too intimate a place to be with Jake.
‘How long have you owned this place?’ She turned to look at him, hoping by her simple question to break the tension sizzling in the air.
He stared down at her, his dark eyes brooding. ‘About a year.’
‘Why buy here?’ Had he wanted to be near her? the errant thought entered her mind.
‘It was left to me by my father.’
She raised her brows. ‘Your father? But I thought he died years ago.’
‘Well, you thought wrong.’ His blue eyes avoided hers, and for a second Lexi felt sympathy, until he added dismissively, ‘And I hav
e no wish to discuss it with you.’
She should have known better than to waste her sympathy on him, and, straightening her shoulders, she said, ‘Yes, well... If you will excuse me.’ She made to walk past him but was stopped as one long arm snaked out and curved around her waist, hauling her in hard against his body.
‘Not so fast, Lexi.’ His eyes darkened as he looked down at her. ‘You owe me for this morning,’ he said under his breath. ‘No woman leaves my bed without my say-so.’ She felt herself sway against him. ‘And certainly not to run to another man.’
Lexi stared at him, and swallowed hard on the lump of fear that lodged in her throat. His blue-black eyes captured hers, and there was no mistaking the predatory animal look she saw in his dark face. ‘I wasn’t running away...’
‘No...’ he drawled mockingly. ‘Then convince me...’
CHAPTER SIX
‘NO.’ LEXI lifted her hands, intending to push him away, but his strong arm wrapped tighter around her small waist, his fingers biting into her side as he turned her fully in front of him, his long legs pressing against her slender limbs. Her hands came up against the hard wall of his chest; she could feel the steady beat of his heart beneath her fingers. The heat of his body, through the fine fabric of his shirt, burnt the palms of her hands, sending electric sensations shooting through her entire body.
‘You want to, you know you do, Lexi. I saw it in those huge pansy eyes of yours last night when I kissed you. I could have taken you there and then,’ Jake’s deep voice husked beguilingly. ‘Why deny yourself the pleasure?’
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