The Colorado Countess

by Stephanie Howard

  Leone hadn’t slept much either, but for a rather different reason, one that he was regretting now as the plane touched down at San Rinaldo airport.

  Last night should never have happened. It had been a foolish waste of time. And surely he didn’t need to go in for that sort of nonsense now?

  His little black sports car was waiting for him outside the arrivals hall, just as he’d arranged with Silvestro. He dumped his bags in the back and climbed into the driver’s seat. Well, at least he’d escaped last night’s folly intact, even though he was feeling a bit the worse for wear. And as soon as he saw Carrie he’d feel as good as new again.

  He slipped the clutch into gear and headed for the highway. In just twenty minutes or so he would be with her. He felt a surge of pleasure. Carrie. Wonderful Carrie. He had thought about her constantly while he was away, a phenomenon that, frankly, had surprised him a little, for he had never been so obsessed with any woman before.

  Nor had he ever missed any woman the way he had missed her. And missing her had been the hardest part to bear. But the waiting was almost over now. Soon she would be his.

  But what Leone didn’t know as he turned off the highway and headed up the winding, tree-lined road to the villa was that fate had a very different twist in store. For at that very moment Carrie was standing in her kitchen, sick to her soul, fighting back tears as she stared at the photograph on the front page of that morning’s paper. Leone, in some Paris nightclub, embracing a half-naked blonde.

  CHAPTER SIX

  WHEN Leone arrived at Carrie’s apartment he found the door firmly locked.

  ‘What’s going on? I know you’re in there! Open up, Carrie! Let me in!’ He beat at the door with his fists, a sudden panic inside him. ‘What in heaven’s name’s going on? I’ll knock the door down in a minute!’

  Carrie sat slumped on the kitchen chair where she had sunk down in helpless misery, eyes still fixed on the photograph on the front page of the newspaper. She had conquered her tears and now she was struggling to slow down her breathing, which seemed to tear at her chest like a fistful of sharp daggers.

  And as she sat there, barely aware of the banging on the door, her brain was shuttling about inside her head, struggling to bring some order to her current state of mental chaos. It was as though her world had crashed around her. She felt giddy and lost.

  ‘Carrie! Open up!’

  The banging was growing louder. Clenching her fists, Carrie stood up and breathed deeply for a moment. She was calm enough now, though her brain was still churning and the pain in her chest was like a great weight crushing her. But she would be able to deal with him now. She had finally got her mind straight. She knew now exactly what she must do.

  Moving like an automaton, she picked up the newspaper, folded it carefully and tossed it in the bin. Then, slowly, feeling as though she was walking through deep water, she crossed the kitchen and went out into the hallway. And her hand hesitated for only a fraction of a second as she reached for the door-handle and pulled the door open.

  ‘At last! What the hell’s the matter? Why didn’t you answer?’

  At the sight of him Carrie very nearly burst into tears. I trusted him, she thought despairingly, and, just like that, he’s betrayed me. The pain that tore inside her was too cruel to bear.

  But she steeled herself and stifled it and looked into his face, struggling not to focus on those blue eyes that could melt her soul, on that mouth that could make her crazy, on that head of wild dark hair.

  ‘Yes, I heard you,’ she said. Her tone was as cold as marble. ‘The reason I didn’t answer was because I didn’t want to see you.’

  ‘You didn’t want to see me?’ He was pushing past her into the hall, taking her with him and closing the door behind them. ‘I’m afraid you’re going to have to explain what you mean by that,’ he gritted.

  Carrie had known it would not be easy, that he would refuse to be fobbed off. But she could be as wilful as he was and quite as determined. Nothing he could say or do could knock her off course.

  She clenched her fists at her sides as he swung her round to face him, and told him in a voice that was as detached as her heart, ‘I didn’t want to see you because I want to end our relationship. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is.’

  ‘Is it? Well, I’m sorry too, and you’ll have to do better than that.’ He was still holding her. ‘What brought about this sudden change of mind?’

  ‘It wasn’t particularly sudden.’ She pulled herself free of him, coldly, as though she found physical contact with him distasteful. ‘I’ve been doing some thinking this past week and I’ve realised I don’t really care for you. It was just a silly flirtation, but now the flirtation is over.’

  ‘I see. It was just a silly flirtation, was it?’

  Leone stood back and regarded her through narrowed eyes—eyes that really were the perfect blue of lapis lazuli, Carrie thought miserably. Then she pushed that thought away. They were the faithless eyes of a betrayer.

  He continued to watch her. ‘Well, I must say,’ he pointed out, ‘that definitely wasn’t the impression I got in the course of our numerous phone calls this week. On the contrary, the impression I got was very different. I got the impression you cared for me as much as I care for you.’

  How could he say such a thing? Anger tore at Carrie’s heart. He wasn’t just faithless, he was an out-and-out liar. He didn’t care for her. All he cared about were his sexual conquests.

  She wanted to throw that in his face, to tell him she knew the truth, to shame him—if he was capable of shame—with the proof of his vileness. But that would be the wrong thing to do. He would only try to lie his way out of it, and she, in her foolishness, might end up believing him. And that would only lead to more pain in the future.

  No, it would be much better by far just to stick to her own lie and put an end to this miserable travesty right now.

  She drew herself up. ‘I was simply being courteous. There are certain things one shouldn’t do over the phone—and in my book one of them is end a relationship. That’s something that ought to be done face to face.’

  For the first time he smiled, though it was a smile with little humour. The wide mouth curled at the corners, but the blue eyes remained hard.

  ‘So, you were being courteous, were you?’ His tone was mocking. ‘Personally, I would have said you went way beyond courtesy. But maybe I’m mistaken. Maybe you say these things to everyone, just to be kind.’

  Carrie could not hide a blush. She glanced down quickly at the floor, feeling a sudden sharp stab of misery inside her. Yes, she had said some things that would have been hard to describe as courteous—like how desperately she missed him and how she thought of him all the time.

  She kept her eyes fixed on the floor. ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have said those things. I can only apologise if I misled you.’

  Leone laughed a scornful laugh. ‘You can only apologise if you misled me?’ Then he reached out suddenly to catch her chin with his fingers, jerking her face up none too gently, forcing her to look at him. ‘You’re misleading me all right. But were you misleading me then or are you misleading me now?’ His tone was as harsh as rough stone against metal. ‘I’m sorry, but there’s something here that just doesn’t ring right.’

  The way he was holding her he was hurting her. His fingers were like steel bands, digging into her flesh, threatening to crush the bone beneath. But though Carrie winced it wasn’t the pain she was principally aware of, but the treacherous way her heart had jumped when he had taken hold of her, and the way, even now, that her blood was rushing inside her at the cruelly intoxicating touch of his flesh.

  It was crazy, but she longed to sink against his hand and feel that fierce pressure turn into a caress. To tell him she had been lying, that she didn’t mean a word of what she’d just told him, that she cared for him with all her heart, as she had cared for no man before. And it was the hardest thing in the world to know that she must say none of those things
. Tears tore at her throat. With a shivering sigh she closed her eyes.

  And then, in a measured tone, she heard herself demanding, ‘What’s wrong with you? Why can’t you just accept what I’m saying? I don’t want to see you any more. It’s perfectly straightforward. There’s really no point in discussing it endlessly.’

  She opened her eyes again. ‘And kindly let go of my face.’

  If she had opened her eyes just a fraction of a second later she would have missed the look that flashed across his face. It was a look she could not quite fathom, but which had an intensity that made her breath catch. It was probably anger, she decided. It couldn’t possibly be hurt. The only part of him likely to be hurt was his vanity.

  His hand had dropped from her face and he was taking a step away from her. ‘You’re right. There’s no point in discussing this any further. I’m sure we both have far better things to do.’ And with that he started to turn towards the door.

  But there was still one more thing.

  ‘Just a minute,’ Carrie told him. Then she darted through to the kitchen and grabbed her bag, which lay on the table. A moment later she re-emerged clutching some folded banknotes in her hand. ‘This is the money I owe you,’ she told him, holding them out to him.

  Leone had opened the front door and was already halfway outside. And for a moment he frowned as though he didn’t understand. He had entirely forgotten about the restaurant-bill money.

  When he didn’t move, Carrie marched up to him and thrust the money at him. ‘There,’ she said brittlely. ‘Finally, we’re even. I think that closes the books between us.’

  Leone said nothing, just pushed the money into his shirt pocket, turned on his heel and hurried down the stone stairs. Then, without a backward glance, he climbed into his car and, with a sharp squeal of tyres, drove away.

  Carrie watched from the doorway. ‘Good riddance!’ she declared angrily. ‘I hope I never see you again!’

  Then she slammed the door shut and burst into tears.

  Carrie’s misery was real enough, but it didn’t take her long to realise that, really, she ought to be grateful for what had happened. Leone had lied to her and made a fool of her and betrayed her totally, but there was this much to be grateful for—that she had found out in time exactly what kind of despicable man he was.

  For he was, after all, in spite of his sister’s assurances to the contrary, the very type of man she had believed him to be in the beginning. A faithless Lothario incapable of keeping his zip shut. The type of man she wanted absolutely nothing to do with.

  But how he had taken her in! How nearly she had been seduced!

  All that flim-flam about the angel on the wall of the family chapel. He probably fed that corny line to every girl he met! And the way he had taken her on a drive to one of his supposedly secret places, pretending to share it with her because she was special. . .well, that was a laugh! He probably took all his women there! Hadn’t she herself thought it was a perfect spot for seduction?

  She felt a knife inside her. And it had certainly worked with her.

  But at least it was over now, and she had done the right thing. There was no place in her life for a man like Leone, the handsome, exciting, faithless playboy count. She’d been saved from the most reckless folly of her life.

  But, though she tried to feel glad about her lucky escape, all she was aware of was the wretched gnawing ache in her heart.

  The phone call came as she was having breakfast a couple of days later.

  ‘This is the Duke’s office,’ the voice at the other end told her, almost causing Carrie to drop the receiver in shock. ‘You are invited to dinner with the Duke and Duchess, along with a group of other guests, at the Palazzo Verde this evening. Dress is informal and a car will be sent to pick you up at eight o’clock.’

  Carrie hung up, feeling quite dazed. This was the last thing she’d been expecting—that Leone would keep his promise to arrange a meeting for her with his brother. Over the past couple of days she’d been toying with the idea of resurrecting her plan to approach the palace press office again herself. She’d been quite sure that there was scant likelihood of Leone delivering the goods now.

  Though perhaps it hadn’t been Leone. Perhaps it had been Caterina. Yes, Carrie decided, that was much more likely. She must make a point of thanking Caterina for her intervention.

  But first things first. She rushed through to her bedroom and flung open her wardrobe with a cry of despair. Informal dress, she suspected, did not mean T-shirt and jeans. More likely, what it meant was a short cocktail dress rather than a ballgown, no tiara required and only one’s second-best diamonds. And though she could fulfil the tiara requirement with no trouble at all she didn’t possess a single dress that would be even remotely suitable.

  ‘Oh, Lord,’ she moaned despairingly. ‘I don’t have a thing to wear!’

  By a stroke of good fortune she had no appointments that morning. She’d been planning to spend the day transcribing some of her taped interviews. But that could wait, she decided as she got dressed and called a cab. First, she had a bit of serious shopping to do!

  It was an exquisite kind of torture, searching for a suitable outfit.

  In the end, sticking to her belief that simple was usually what worked best, she opted for an elegant off-the-shoulder blue silk dress with delicious hand-worked beading around the sleeves and neck. It cost a fortune, but it looked fabulous and it was so well made it would last for ever. And it would go perfectly with her navy shoes and bag.

  There was only one thing troubling her. Would Leone be at the dinner tonight? She prayed that he would not, though her prayers were probably not necessary. She’d never heard from him again and he was unlikely to want to seek out her company. No, Leone, she felt certain, would have better things to do tonight.

  So it was in a highly positive frame of mind that, watched by an increasingly bedazzled Signora Rossi, Carrie climbed into the ducal car at eight o’clock sharp. Finally, she was going to meet the Duke and get permission to use the dinner service in her book!

  Carrie was met at the palace doorway, as usual, by Flavia, and this time she was greeted almost like an old friend.

  ‘How nice to see you again. And what a beautiful dress!’

  Then she was led along corridors, up stairs and under archways to a part of the palace where she had never been before. And suddenly, to her very fingertips, she was buzzing with excitement. Who would ever have dreamed of this?

  She knew they were nearly there when they turned into a blue-carpeted corridor, for suddenly Carrie could hear the sounds of voices and laughter. She felt herself tense a little. This was it! she was thinking. Then she was being shown into a room hung with glittering chandeliers where fifty or so people were standing drinking and talking. And she had been absolutely right in her interpretation of ‘informal’. The women were all in short dresses and there wasn’t a tiara in sight!

  Flavia escorted her to one of the groups and introduced her while a waiter brought her a tall glass of champagne. Then Flavia disappeared and Carrie had a sudden rush of panic as she realised she was on her own amongst this crowd of elegant strangers. Though she really needn’t have worried. She was able to join in the conversation quite easily. Like herself, most of the people in the group were visitors to the country and the talk was mainly about how much they were all enjoying San Rinaldo.

  She was just starting to get involved when a voice exclaimed at her elbow, ‘Ah, there you are! It’s good to see you!’

  Carrie turned round with a smile. ‘It’s good to see you too.’ She grinned at Caterina, who was looking quite splendid in a red silk dress. ‘I’m really pleased to have been invited here tonight.’

  With a polite nod to the rest of the group, Caterina slipped an arm through Carrie’s and drew her aside as she proceeded to tell her, ‘Damiano frequently has these little dinners, just to welcome various visitors to the country. They’re usually quite enjoyable, though alas I won’t be able t
o stay long at this one.’ She gave a conspiratorial wink. ‘I have another appointment.’

  Carrie understood immediately. Over tea that afternoon Caterina had told her about the wonderful man she was in love with. Carrie smiled back at her now. ‘Good for you,’ she told her, happy that her friend’s romance was clearly flourishing. Though she couldn’t quite stifle a sudden thrust of personal misery. There’d be no such amorous pleasures on the menu for her.

  ‘I think we’re making a move at last.’

  Caterina’s gaze had shifted to the tall double doors at the end of the room which a pair of gold-liveried footmen were at that moment pulling open.

  ‘What happens now,’ she explained, ‘is that we all file into the dining room in pairs. Then, once we’re all seated, Damiano and Sofia will appear. By the way, it’s been arranged that you’ll see Damiano after dinner—’

  She broke off and glanced round her. ‘I’d better go and join the Finnish ambassador—he’s my escort for the evening.’ She craned her neck. ‘Ah, there he is,’ she said, waving to a handsome blond man. Then she gave Carrie’s arm a squeeze. ‘Enjoy the meal,’ she told her. ‘Bye for now. I’ll see you again.’

  Then she was dashing off into the crowd, which was already forming itself into pairs, leaving Carrie wondering what on earth she was supposed to do next.

  I don’t have an escort, she was thinking in panic. I’m going to have to walk in there alone!

  But then, making her jump, a cool hand suddenly touched her arm and a voice said, ‘Allow me to escort you to your place.’

  Carrie whirled round, her heart stopping, and found herself looking into a pair of long-lashed eyes the perfect blue of lapis lazuli.

  Hot colour flew to her cheeks. ‘What are you doing here?’ she gasped.

  ‘I’ve come to escort you in to dinner.’ Leone held out his arm to her. Then, as she hesitated, he took her arm and slipped it through for her, exactly as he’d done the other evening. ‘Let’s not keep everyone waiting,’ he admonished her in a light tone.