by Tina Duncan
Luca jack-knifed straight and staggered backwards. The taste of her on his tongue changed from sweet to sour in the blink of an eye.
He wiped a hand across his mouth, bile rising up in the back of his throat as he stared at her.
Morgan had pushed herself up onto her elbows. She was breathing heavily. The top two buttons of her blouse were undone. Luca didn’t remember undoing them but he must have. He had a glimpse of lilac lace and the creamy swell of her breast before she clutched the open sides together.
And suddenly the image of her lying naked except for the boots was back. Only this time it wasn’t his body entwined with hers…it was Joseph’s.
His stomach clamped down tight, a wave of nausea clutching at the back of his throat.
He found the thought of Joseph and Morgan together totally repugnant.
And not just because Joseph was married to his sister…but because he wanted her himself!
His eyes snapped back to her face.
She looked so innocent.
And at the same time so sensual.
It was a seductive mixture.
So much so that he could almost forgive Joseph for being tempted to stray from his marriage and into Morgan’s bed.
Almost.
But not quite.
Honour had to come before lust.
Just as duty had to come before pleasure.
Joseph had married Stefania; it was his duty to honour those vows.
No matter how tempting the package.
And it was very, very tempting…
‘Keep your hands off me!’ she spat.
Luca rocked back on his heels, fury riding his spine like a bucking bronco. ‘Why? Are you afraid I’ll tell your lover about how you fell apart in my arms? Don’t you think Joseph would like that?’
Lover?
Luca thought Joseph was her lover?
Morgan scrambled off the desk and turned her back on him. She was shaking so hard it took three attempts to rebutton her blouse.
She didn’t know what shocked her more. Kissing Luca da Silva as if she wanted to devour him or the fact that he’d just suggested…Well, what he’d just suggested.
She shook her head.
When Luca had challenged her about her relationship with Joseph she’d assumed he’d discovered the secret that they were father and daughter. Instead, he thought they were lovers.
If the idea wasn’t so ludicrous she’d have laughed in his face.
Instead, she almost cried.
What was already a complicated situation had just got one hell of a lot more complicated.
‘Nothing to say?’ Luca prompted behind her.
Although she knew he was goading her, Morgan spun around to face him. ‘Joseph is not my lover! How can you suggest such a thing? The idea is ridiculous!’
‘Is it?’
She angled her chin into the air. ‘Of course it is. The man is old enough to be my—’ She broke off and swallowed. What she’d been about to say was too close to home to utter out loud. ‘He’s a lot older than me.’
‘You aren’t the first young woman to have an affair with a wealthy older man.’
She was so tempted to fling the truth at him she could taste the words on the tip of her tongue. But Morgan forced herself to swallow them back. She’d promised Joseph she wouldn’t say anything. And, while she thought they were digging a deeper hole for themselves by keeping the details of his paternity a secret, she wasn’t prepared to go against his wishes.
It might have been different if Joseph were feeling a hundred percent. But these chest pains were no laughing matter. The last thing he needed was for her to present him with another problem when he already had enough on his plate.
Besides, she owed him.
Joseph had given her so much in terms of love and support. Honouring his request to keep their relationship a secret didn’t even begin to repay him for all that he’d done for her.
‘Except I’m not having an affair with him!’ she flung back at him. ‘You can’t throw around outrageous accusations like that without a shred of proof!’
His jaw squared. ‘I have proof.’
Her insides stilled at the same time as her heart took off at a gallop. ‘You do?’ she choked out, barely able to squeeze the words out past numb lips.
‘You were seen.’ His voice was hard. ‘Together.’
She blinked, swallowed, felt her stomach muscles cramp. Maybe she should have kept quiet and not challenged him. She had a bad habit of letting her mouth run away with her.
‘Who saw us? When? Where?’ she demanded, thinking attack was the better form of defence. ‘I want a list of dates. Places.’
His mouth compressed into a thin line. ‘I’d rather keep that information confidential.’
She slammed her hands on her hips. ‘And I’d rather you tell me!’
His skin tightened across his bones until it looked as if each feature had been carved from the most unyielding granite. ‘Let’s just say it’s someone who works here who has been suspicious about your relationship for some time.’
Morgan couldn’t think of anyone she dealt with here at Da Silva Chocolate who would say such a thing. All the people she worked with were friendly and professional. ‘I see. So you’re taking the word of one person over another? They could just be some kind of trouble-maker.’
‘It is not.’
She bit back a frustrated sigh, tension forcing her shoulders to lift towards her ears. ‘Damn it. This isn’t fair! You’re not giving me a chance to defend myself.’
His head went back, as if he was offended by the remark. ‘I’ll say this much, I believe you’re rather fond of a pub called The Minstrel.’
She nodded. ‘The food is terrific. You should try it some time.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘So you admit it?’
‘I admit we’ve had lunch there together, but that doesn’t mean we’re having an affair.’
His hands clenched at his sides. ‘You kissed him. He kissed you.’
Morgan was sure they had. ‘I’m not surprised. We often greet each other with a hug and a kiss. We often say goodbye that way too.’
His face hardened. ‘That isn’t funny.’
‘I’m not trying to be funny. How do you greet your female friends?’ He didn’t answer, but his expression told its own story. ‘You see. You do it, too.’
‘There are kisses…and there are kisses.’
‘I agree,’ she said with an emphatic nod, trying and failing not to think about the kiss they’d shared several minutes ago. On a heat scale of one to ten, she’d rate it as a twelve: blistering. ‘So, did your informant—’ She made it sound like a dirty word. ‘—fill you in on the details? Did we kiss on the cheek or on the lips? Were our mouths open or closed? There’s a hell of a difference, you know. How long did it last for? Were—?’
He grabbed her before she had the chance to finish, his fingers tight around her shoulders, his face so close to hers she could almost taste the feel of his mouth on hers. ‘I didn’t ask for all the sordid details.’
She reached out to push him away, but somehow ended up holding onto him instead. ‘Then you should have,’ she said. ‘I’m no lawyer, but surely what you’ve just described is nothing more than circumstantial evidence?’
His mouth curled. ‘I’m sure it wouldn’t take much digging to find enough evidence to bury you right up to your pretty little neck.’
‘Don’t do that!’ The words were out before she could stop them. The last thing she wanted was for Luca to start investigating her. It wouldn’t take long for a detective agency to uncover her relationship to Joseph.
He stared at her through narrowed eyes. ‘Why not?’
She scrabbled around for a suitable reply. For a moment her mind remained frustratingly blank. And then the simple answer presented itself. ‘Because you’d be wasting your time, that’s why,’ she said, angling her chin into the air. ‘There’s no way you can find proof of something that doesn�
�t exist.’
The look on his face told her he didn’t believe her.
She huffed out a sigh. ‘I really don’t know why you find it so difficult to believe Joseph and I are friends. With everything he’s been going through he needs someone to talk to. Joseph has been very concerned about Stefania’s mental state. Although she’s been a real trouper about the IVF treatments, the failure of their latest attempt really shattered her. He doesn’t think she can take any more.’
Luca froze. His eyes glazed with anger.
Morgan clapped a hand to her mouth. She’d done it again! Hadn’t thought before she spoke, her mouth running off before her brain had a chance to catch up.
Luca’s hands tightened on her shoulders. ‘How do you know about my sister’s infertility problems? Who told you about the failure of the IVF treatment?’
He was so angry Morgan trembled, her heart pounding out fear in her chest. She opened her mouth. Closed it again. She’d dug herself a hole. Saying anything more would merely give him ammunition to bury her.
Besides, they both knew there was only one answer to those questions.
Luca must have simultaneously drawn the same conclusion. His nostrils flared, hands tightening on her shoulders. Then he thrust her away, such a look of disgust and contempt on his face that she shuddered.
‘We both know the answer to that, don’t we?’ he bit out through clenched teeth. ‘The only person who could have told you is Joseph himself.’
Morgan didn’t deny it. She couldn’t. There was no one else who could have told her. Stefania and Joseph had been treated in a private clinic that was paid very well to be discreet.
Luca’s lips curled into a snarl. ‘And you dare to look me in the eye and declare you aren’t lovers. It wouldn’t be my idea of pillow-talk, but that’s obviously when you prised the information out of him.’ He gave her a glacial stare. ‘I don’t know what turns my stomach more. The fact that he’s sleeping with you or the fact that he’s been so indiscreet.’
‘I—’
He held up a hand and she snapped her mouth closed.
‘If you so much as breathe one word of what you’ve learned to the press I’ll sue you for everything you own,’ Luca slated, back in control again as he stalked around the desk and resumed his seat. ‘And if you come within shouting distance of Joseph again you’ll regret the day you ever met me!’
‘You haven’t heard a word I’ve said, Luca,’ Michaela complained, touching him on the arm to get his attention.
She was right. He hadn’t. Not a single word.
His mind was elsewhere.
With Morgan Marshall.
He kept thinking back to their meeting. The more he thought about it, the more it bothered him.
The way Morgan had flung the cheque back in his face disturbed him. Somehow it just didn’t fit with the kind of woman she was. She should have taken the money and run.
Only she hadn’t.
And then there was the way she’d kept on defying him.
That didn’t make sense either.
She should have taken the opportunity to try and attract him, not argue with him. After all, he was far wealthier than Joseph would ever be—not to mention younger and better-looking.
But Morgan hadn’t given a damn what he thought of her.
It was those apparent anomalies that were making it so damned difficult to put thoughts of her out of his head.
It had nothing to do with those wicked black I’m-in-charge leather boots. It had nothing to do with thickly lashed black eyes and slanting cheekbones. And it certainly had nothing to do with the seductive curve of her mouth or how she’d tasted when he kissed her.
‘Luca!’
Luca blinked and frowned at the blonde sitting across from him. ‘What?’
‘I was talking to you.’ Now that she had his attention she was all smiles. ‘As I was saying…’
Luca tuned her out again.
He’d had enough of Michaela. Her company had begun to pall.
Since when? a little voice asked inside his head.
He hadn’t been the least dissatisfied when he’d made love to her the night before. He hadn’t thought about ending things until—he dragged in a deep breath—someone he wanted more had crossed his path.
He stared across the table. Suddenly he saw Morgan Marshall sitting there, with her brightly defiant eyes and flyaway hair.
Irritation, annoyance and anger clamped his jaw tight.
Desire hardened everything else.
‘Luca!’
Luca looked up blankly. Michaela was out. He wouldn’t be sharing her body or her bed again. And he’d tell her exactly that when he—
The phone in his pocket vibrated. Out of respect for the other diners he’d switched off the ring tone on both of the phones he’d brought with him.
Dipping his hand into his jacket pocket, he used his fingertips to sense which phone was receiving a call and pulled it out.
It was the slimline Nokia.
Joseph’s phone.
It had been easy to convince his brother-in-law to leave it behind. Mobile phones could be problematic in other countries. Some worked fine. Others didn’t. Much easier, Luca had suggested, to use the local mobile phones he’d arranged to be ready and waiting for them on their arrival in Sydney.
Stefania had been equally persuasive. She didn’t want Joseph working while they were away. They deserved a holiday. Why not leave the phone and let Luca handle all his business calls?
Luca hazarded a guess this wasn’t a business call.
Not only was the number unregistered, but a glance at the platinum and gold watch adorning his wrist told him it was eight-forty, too late under normal circumstances for any of Joseph’s business colleagues to be calling him.
‘Excuse me,’ he said to a pouting Michaela. ‘I have to take this.’
He put the phone to his ear and pressed the button to connect the call. ‘Hello?’
Silence greeted him.
He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the screen, checking to see if the caller had hung up. The display showed the call was still connected, its duration ticking over as he watched.
He put the phone back to his ear. ‘Hello? Is anyone there?’
Still all he could hear was silence. No, he was wrong about that. If he listened carefully he could just make out the sound of someone breathing. ‘Hello? Can you hear me?’
The back of his neck prickled. His fingers tightened around the phone and some instinct made him say, ‘Morgan…?’
He heard a faint gasp, barely a whisper of sound, and then the line went dead.
Luca exhaled sharply as icy fury sliced through him.
Madre del Dio!
The little witch had called her lover despite everything he’d said to her today.
His hands clenched into fists.
He’d let Stefania down once before; he wouldn’t do so again.
It would take someone a hell of a lot smarter than Morgan Marshall to get the better of him.
In the end his will would prevail.
As it always prevailed.
It was time to up the ante.
Oh, yes, it was time Morgan learned just how serious he was about this.
He thrust back his chair and stood up, ignoring completely the fact that they hadn’t finished their meal. ‘We’re leaving!’
Chapter Three
MORGAN REACHED OVER and picked up the bright red cushion from the opposite end of the couch and put it behind her with its twin. Leaning back, she sighed.
She should be updating her résumé. Or trawling through employment websites for suitable vacancies.
But she couldn’t stir up enough motivation to do either.
It wasn’t that she was lazy; she just wasn’t ready to accept that her job was gone for good.
She’d never been a quitter and she wasn’t about to start now.
When she finally got hold of Joseph and told him what had happened
he’d have her reinstated.
Or would he…?
She’d thought so…until the doubts had begun to creep in.
What if Joseph decided it was safer for her to get a job elsewhere? Considering how determined he was to keep her identity a secret, it was entirely plausible he’d support Luca’s decision.
The realisation sent her heart plummeting towards her toes and her hand reaching for the panacea for all ills—chocolate.
Morgan bit down on her lower lip as she pondered her selection. It was between a caramel ganache and a praline infused with cinnamon—two of her favourites. Deciding to leave both for later, she chose a frangelica cream log instead.
Opening the black foil wrapper emblazoned with the tiny silver Da Silva logo, she popped the chocolate in her mouth then blissfully closed her eyes.
Delicious.
When the last piece of lusciousness melted away, she opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was the notepad she’d been using to figure out her finances.
It was time to face reality again.
Sighing, she picked up the pad.
Her loan and mortgage repayments were at the top of the list. Then came other basic necessities: food, electricity, gas, and enough money to take the tube to and from job interviews. A lot of these latter figures had been crossed out—some more than once—as she’d tried to pare them back to the absolute minimum.
The bottom line made her gulp.
Although she had some savings—with no family to help her after her mother died she’d needed the security of having something to fall back on—they were nowhere near enough to cope with her outgoings.
She could rework the numbers until she used up all the ink in her pen, but the result would be the same.
Unless she found a job—soon—she was screwed.
Morgan flung the pad and pen back down on the coffee table.
Drat Luca da Silva!
This was all his fault.
She gritted her teeth.
She couldn’t stop thinking about him.
It had nothing to do with black eyes flecked with gold or a face that would make any woman look twice.
And it certainly had nothing to do with how he’d kissed her. As if she belonged to him. As if she was the most desirable woman on earth.