The Count of Castelfino

by Christina Hollis

  ‘While I get you,’ he said succinctly, delivering a loud kiss to the top of her head.

  Meg smiled—almost. She had noticed that Gianni was only spontaneous when she couldn’t see his expression. He was always more passionate in darkness than in daylight. When, as now, her face was pressed against his chest she had to rely on the vibration of his diaphragm to discover when he was laughing silently. She raised her head quickly, but he was an expert in hiding his feelings. His face showed nothing but the warm satisfaction that had become his trademark since their first night among the tropical flowers.

  ‘Were you laughing at me?’

  ‘Never,’ he said in a way that did not convince her for a second. ‘Although you must admit, mio dolce, an expert on tropical plants—no matter how well qualified—who has done all her learning from textbooks ought to spread her wings before she can call herself truly experienced…’ he stretched out the syllables with a relish that didn’t need explaining. As he smoothed away her frown with kisses she couldn’t help smiling despite her private fears.

  Outside a hawk streaked into the flock of swallows, sending them screaming in all directions. Meg started at the noise, but Gianni’s hand gently stroked away her fears.

  ‘That was why I was going to take you away from all this for a while. Madeira has everything we need. Luxury and opportunities, all set in a sea of flowers. What do you say?’

  A paradise island, with the chance to have Gianni all to herself for a while without the daily distraction of his work? There was only one thing she could say. Tipping back her head, she gave him a long, lingering kiss before murmuring:

  ‘That’s fantastic. When do we leave?’

  Her delight lasted only a few hours. While Gianni was in the shower she borrowed his laptop, ready to surf the Internet. The first page she opened on Madeira fluttered with a banner announcing it to be ’the perfect honeymoon isle’. That headline meant only one thing to her—disaster. She slumped back in her seat, staring at the screen. With an advertising line like that, the place was sure to be full of couples. Married couples. That would be the last thing he would want to see. Closing down the computer, she walked slowly across the bedroom, towards the en suite. Gianni was in the wet room. Instead of slipping into the shower with him, she paused outside, deep in thought. It was only when he turned off the monsoon downpour they both loved so much that he realised she was watching him. He chuckled. The sound was low with testosterone. It fuelled her own arousal as he murmured, ‘Can’t you wait, pretty one?’

  Stepping forward, he took her in his arms. Pressing his wet body against her filmy, sheer negligee, he soaked her in seconds. Feeling his manhood spring impressively to life against the smooth plane of her belly, Meg wavered. It would be so easy, so lovely to suspend real life and let him carry her off to bed again, but she felt bound to question him first.

  ‘Gianni…have you ever been to Madeira?’ she asked between kisses.

  ‘Mmm…loads of times,’ he muttered through the filter of her hair.

  ‘And you like it there?’

  ‘Mmm.’ His reply was indistinct, but his caresses were full of meaning. She melted as he lifted her into his arms. ‘You’ll be perfectly at home, tesoro. For you it will be like living in a greenhouse, complete with warm, English-style rain.’

  ‘There’s nothing about the place that…worries you at all?’ she pressed on, thinking of all those legally happy couples. Gianni was concentrating on carrying her carefully back to his bed.

  ‘No. Not at all. If rain stops play outdoors, then we’ll simply have to find some way to enjoy ourselves indoors…’

  For a long, leisurely time he showed her exactly what he meant. Meg soon forgot all her misgivings, and surrendered totally to the luxury of his caresses. When eventually she fell asleep in his arms, she was the happiest woman in the world.

  Waking later to hear the movement of staff in the dining room beyond his bedroom, Meg reached out for him—and found herself alone. Hearing voices in the main body of the suite, she padded barefoot to the bedroom door. An empty breakfast trolley was being wheeled away, out into the upstairs hall. Gianni was on the far side of the room, his back to the door. Silhouetted on the sunlit balcony, he was chuckling into his mobile phone.

  ‘As I’m quite sure she’ll tell you herself—she graduated top of her intake,’ Meg heard him telling someone on the other end of the line.

  ‘There’s no stopping her. Yet look at me—I’ve never taken an exam in my life. It’s never done me any harm. My father’s obsession with these things has led to all this. He’s to blame. Yes, I know, I know! Unbelievable, isn’t it?’

  She could hardly believe it—hardly bear to believe it. Gianni was laughing at her. Worse, he was laughing at her qualifications, behind her back, with a stranger.

  Fury surged along Meg’s veins with all the power of a tidal wave. From their first kiss she had been bracing herself, ready to lose Gianni to another woman. This was a totally unexpected betrayal. He didn’t respect her career. He was humouring her over her work.

  That was it. This was the end.

  Meg stormed out to confront him. Hearing a disturbance, he swung around, smiling broadly.

  ‘Ah—scusi, Chico, something’s come up…something very important…’ he purred meaningfully, rippling an appreciative gaze all the way up Meg’s body as she advanced—until he reached her face. When her expression registered with him he stopped smiling.

  ‘Ciao.’ Barking the single word into his phone, he snapped it shut and threw it aside. ‘Cara mia—what is it? What’s the trouble?’

  ‘You are! I heard you, patronising me!’ Meg blazed.

  When?’

  ‘On the phone—just then!’

  ‘Oh, that.’ He smiled easily, shrugging it off. He moved to take her in his arms, but Meg was having none of it. She backed off. Rigid with rage, she clenched her fists in impotent fury.

  ‘How dare you dismiss my work like that?’

  Gianni had no intention of arguing with her. He began moving back towards the balcony. ‘My staff have set up a table out here. Come and have breakfast in the sunshine.’

  His conciliatory tone only enraged her further.

  ‘Don’t change the subject! I’m responsible for everything that’s been achieved in the kitchen garden since I arrived. Do you always speak to other people about my job as though it’s nothing?’

  His eyes became points of laser light. ‘You’re the one who’s so quick to say it isn’t work to you. I was only repeating what you have said yourself, so often in the past.’

  Meg tried to take a couple of deep, steadying breaths. It was no good. Her words, when they came, shuddered with suppressed anger.

  ‘I didn’t spend all those years at college for nothing.’

  ‘No, as you’re always so keen to remind me you did it to gain a clutch of qualifications and a string of letters after your name,’ he responded evenly.

  ‘They got me this job!’

  Gianni’s expression was unforgiving as he shook his head. ‘No, you got this job because you impressed my father. You knew what you were talking about. You had a clear vision of what could be achieved. That was the only thing that secured you this job, Megan. You could have been as under-qualified as I am. We share the same objective, you and I. It’s to see the Castelfino estate become as productive and cost-effective as possible. I wanted to do it by expanding the wine business. You came at it from a different angle. I hadn’t thought of developing the amenity and visitor side of things until you started the job of restyling the gardens here. A job, I would remind you, that should have died with my father and would have done, if it wasn’t for me indulging you to begin with.’

  ‘So you admit it!’ she raged. ‘You’ve got no respect for me at all! You’re humouring me, every minute of every day! I’m your trophy mistress in the bedroom, then let out to play in your toy garden. It’s all for show, isn’t it? The moment it suits you to get a wife, I’ll be noth
ing more than one of your outdoor staff again—and an expensive, unwanted one at that!’

  She shoved past him blindly and started snatching up her clothes and shoes from where they had been discarded during their lovemaking of the night before. Gianni held up his hands, trying to calm her as she dressed in a fury.

  ‘You need to calm down, Megan. We both need to take some time out before we say something we regret. I’ll run us a bath, and light some of your special rose and lavender candles—’

  ‘Don’t bother. You won’t get the chance to sweet talk me back into your bed, Gianni. This is it. I’m leaving!’

  He stared at her, incredulous. ‘You want to leave the Villa Castelfino, and all we have?’

  As she dashed past, heading for the door, his hand shot out and grabbed her by the arm.

  ‘Then you’re mad.’

  She pulled herself out of his grasp, desperate to escape. She wanted to get away from him before her memories of this glorious time together could seep in and change her mind.

  ‘What is your problem, donna?’

  Flinging himself away from her with a curse, he began pacing the room, glaring at her. His fury wasn’t a thing to be roused lightly. The desperate need to make a clean break for the sake of her sanity pushed her into a confession.

  ‘My problem is the same as it’s always been!’ she announced defiantly. ‘I came here to work, and not to become your mistress. I don’t want to be a second-rank player in the di Castelfino historical pageant!’

  ‘I don’t understand. What could be better than life here with me, with money no object?’ Gianni hunched his shoulders. ‘Women! They’re all the same! When it comes down to it, none of you are any better than her!’

  He stabbed a finger in the direction of a life-sized portrait hanging on one wall of his suite. It was a picture of Gianni’s father as a young man, standing beside the most beautiful woman Meg had ever seen. She combined Gianni’s come-to-bed eyes and a raven tumble of hair. Her voluptuous figure sparkled beneath a waterfall of gold and diamonds. ‘Draped in Dior, weighed down with the priceless Bellini hoard, pregnant with me…yet it still wasn’t enough for her! My father gave her everything any woman could want, and more besides. In return she made a fool of him, drove him mad, broke his health and his spirit—so why the hell did I think you’d be any different? Go on, tell me! What more could you possibly want from me, Megan Imsey?’

  Meg felt a pulse throbbing in her head. ‘The only things you will never give me,’ she said quietly. ‘And that’s respect. Respect and commitment.’

  ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake! This is the twenty-first century, woman!’ Gianni threw himself away from the confrontation again. Standing before the great windows of his suite, he seethed visibly. ‘Women want it all. With me, they are certain to get it. You’ve got my body, whenever and wherever you want it. Nothing else was ever on offer. I made that clear to you, right from the start. What’s so wrong with the arrangement? You’re a seasoned businesswoman, Meg. You must be able to see you’re throwing away a better life than you could hope for anywhere else in the world. As my mistress, I can give you everything. Believe me.’

  No, not everything! she cried out silently, her heart breaking. I want you to stay exactly as you are, while becoming the one thing you will never agree to be—mine, and mine alone!

  That thought tore words from her like thorns. ‘There’s more to life than having a good time, Gianni!’

  ‘Good times like those we share?’ Realising anger would not change her mind, Gianni let his voice become a low, slow river of regret. Instead of pacing, he now approached her obliquely. ‘I don’t think so, and neither do you, in your heart of hearts. You are my mistress, Meg. That’s been a prize many women have wanted. Grab this chance of happiness while you can!’

  ‘No…no…I need security. I’m not like you—I can’t afford to think only of myself,’ she said, trembling with the effort of keeping her voice steady. ‘Others depend on me, back at home. I can’t let them down, Gianni. They’re proud of me, and the way I’ve worked. You aren’t—no, don’t try and laugh it off. I heard you talking to your friend as though my work was nothing more than a hobby to keep me occupied when I’m not warming your bed. I can’t stay here, knowing you think like that. I’ll lose all my self respect.’

  Her glance slid away from him in a multitude of emotions. After a pause, Gianni looped one arm around her shoulders and gave her a reassuring squeeze. It was too much. Rigid with anger, she burst into tears of rage and shame.

  Gianni softened his tone to a seductive purr. ‘No, that’s not so. We work well together, Meg. Our aims and methods complement each other. They fit together like pieces in a jigsaw. I’ll do everything in my power to keep you happy, and keep you here. Name your price—anything. I don’t want to lose you.’ His hands went to her shoulders and he gave her a tiny shake to emphasise his words. There was no doubting the earnestness in his eyes. It was such a shock to Meg she mastered her tears and stared at him.

  ‘You don’t?’

  ‘Of course not! You’re the best employee the Castelfino Estate has ever had.’ Her spirits rose again. The elation lasted only as long as it took him to add smugly: ‘And you come with so very many benefits, tesoro!’

  She froze, growing up and out from beneath his protective hands. ‘Star employee and stellar mistress, in that order?’

  ‘That rather depends…’ he said with a lascivious smile. When she still did not nestle into him as she should have done, he encouraged her with a tug. Then he delivered a kiss to the top of her head.

  ‘I don’t want to lose you,’ he repeated gently.

  ‘In which capacity?’ Her reply was clipped and dangerously businesslike.

  ‘Now let me think…’

  His fingers trailed over her cheek and down her neck, insinuating their way casually between the neckline of her negligee and her skin. With equal offhandedness Meg moved slightly, away from him and the shelter of his arm.

  ‘While you’re thinking, Gianni, I’m going to get dressed. Then I’m off to tell everyone of my decision to leave.’ Her voice was cool and strangely emotionless.

  He let her go, instantly on the alert. ‘What’s your hurry?’

  ‘Because, Gianni, if I stay here, you’ll keep trying to change my mind. I don’t want that. I want witnesses to the fact I’m going, and as soon as possible.’

  ‘Oh, you know me so well!’ He laughed.

  In that instant Meg knew there could be no going back. She had touched him for the final time, and could never allow herself to get this close to him again. If she once let him back inside her defences, she would be lost for ever. She could not afford to let that happen.

  ‘Goodbye, Gianni,’ she said, her hand already on the handle of the door.

  He crossed the room in two strides. Pushing his palm against it, he stopped her opening it.

  ‘No. You must stay.’

  Something snapped inside Meg. How could he drag out her torture like this? He was no better than a cat with a mouse, giving her hope then snatching it away again.

  ‘I’m doing this for your own good, Gianni.’

  His laughter rumbled around the room. ‘Don’t be so old-fashioned, tesoro! And I hope you aren’t expecting life back home with your parents to be the same as before. You’re always telling me their sales are increasing by the day. Their success must mean they’re still following the business plan you drew up for them. But they don’t need you on the spot any more. Stay here with me, Meg. Things will have changed back in England. Your parents are grown people who managed without you, before you were born. They will resent having to make room for you again when they thought you had made a new life here!’

  His shocking announcement overshadowed Meg’s dread of parting from him. She stared at him in horror.

  ‘How can you say that?’ Her voice was a whisper of ice. ‘It’s no wonder you were so keen to act the playboy if you think parenting is something that ends when children
can fend for themselves! Hearing that would have made your poor father despair for his descendants.’

  ‘Leave my father out of this!’ he snapped. ‘He’s got nothing to do with it. His only interest in me was whether or not I would find a reliable, loyal wife. One who was the complete opposite of the woman he chose for himself. But in my experience all women are out for what they can get.’

  His last words were a bitter announcement of defiance. Once upon a time his tone would have frightened Meg, but not any longer. She shook her head slowly.

  ‘Then I feel sorry for you, Gianni. It’s no wonder you’re so dead set against making any sort of commitment to a woman. You must have been damaged in some way, a long time ago.’ She gazed at him, desperately trying to strengthen her conviction that she would be better off without the uncertainty of life with him.

  His voice was full of the bitterness of unripe olives as he shot a poisonous stare at the family portrait. ‘My upbringing took away any capacity I might have had to love, and be loved in return.’

  He was quite deliberately twisting the knife in her conscience. ‘I’m going, Gianni,’ she said, almost managing to keep the tremor from her voice.

  ‘Then you’re making a big mistake.’

  She hardened her heart and put her hand to the door handle. ‘So you say—but I’d rather be free to make my own mistakes in the real world, than locked in a barren paradise like this.’

  ‘Megan—Meg…’

  The regret in his voice was so alien, she had to see if it was genuine. Looking at him was almost her downfall. Something glimmered in his eyes just long enough for her to identify it as anguish. Then he stood back from the door with a sigh of exasperation.

  ‘Fine. Go. Do what you like, only never say goodbye to me, Meg.’ His eyes were dark with meaning. ‘Because between us it can only ever be au revoir. We are meant to be together. Apart, we are two halves. Only when together can we be whole.’

  ‘In your mind, maybe,’ she said quietly, adding to herself, but not in your heart…