by Lynne Graham
Luciano reached for her clenched hands and wound them slowly into his. ‘I wanted you to know for sure that I was telling the truth. Bringing Rochelle here was the only way I could be certain of that.’
‘But ever since you came out of prison…well, haven’t you encouraged her to think that she might mean something to you, that she was at least a friend of yours? I saw how shocked she was today,’ Kerry muttered uneasily. ‘It almost looked as if you’ve just been using her—’
‘I did string her along to get the information I needed. Why not?’ Luciano shrugged, his beautiful, sculpted mouth firming. ‘Do you really think I would have got it any other way?’
‘But I believed the explanation you gave me about that night in any case. You didn’t need to drag Rochelle here and make a fool of her like that…’ Kerry searched his lean, dark-angel face, clung to the vibrant gold of his intent gaze and closed that latter thought out. Her throat ran dry on the tide of sheer longing threatening her composure. He had brought Rochelle to Ballybawn solely to dispel any doubts that she might still have had about his trustworthiness. Shouldn’t she be pleased that he had made that amount of effort on her behalf and that he had not yet given up on her?
‘Five years ago, your stepsister helped to screw up my life. What she just got in return was a very minor slap on the wrist, cara mia,’ Luciano delivered.
‘Certainly, she had no qualms about lying about Miles the way she did.’ Kerry was struggling to overcome her dismay at the extent of that ruthless streak of his by reminding herself that the blonde was a persistent and shameless liar.
Luciano tightened his lean, strong hands over hers. ‘I know Rochelle and she wasn’t lying. I never did have much time for your stepbrother, Miles, and now it seems I had good reason to feel that way—’
‘She’s definitely lying about Miles! I’d trust him with my life. He would never do anything that would cause me distress,’ Kerry insisted.
As Luciano absorbed the look of sincere faith in her eyes, a flame of raw resentment currented through his big, powerful frame. When had she ever had that kind of trust in him? And what had Miles Linwood ever done to deserve that amount of loyalty? For days he had been patient, he had given her time to adjust, but now the anger he had been holding back was stirring. She wasn’t the only woman in the world, although the way he’d been behaving of late, anyone could’ve been forgiven for assuming that she was.
‘When did you last hear from Miles?’
‘I hear from him all the time…we’re still very close. I stayed with him when I was over in London seeing you,’ Kerry confided.
His brilliant gaze hardened. ‘I don’t want you to get in contact with him again.’
Kerry’s brows drew together. ‘But—’
‘Either you’re with me…or you’re against me,’ Luciano spelt out with chilling softness. ‘There’s no safe middle path. If you plant yourself on the Linwood side of the fence, don’t expect to have me in your life as well.’
Kerry paled. ‘Is that a threat?’
He lifted her hand and pressed his mouth into the centre of her palm before trailing it down to the tender, delicate skin of her inner wrist and making her insides melt with heat and her knees shake under her. ‘It’s whatever you want to make of it, cara mia,’ he breathed with a ragged edge to his dark drawl as he sank his other hand to her hip and eased her into contact with his long, powerful thighs. ‘Did I ever tell you that I only have to look at you to get so hard I ache?’
‘No…’ Sharp, sweet craving was rising in her like a dangerous tide. That close to him she was just a mass of jumping, sensitised nerve-endings, achingly aware of the familiar scent of his warm skin and the strength of his lean, tensile muscularity. But most of all she was aware of the virile male thrust of his erection beneath the fine wool of his trousers.
‘Tomorrow I’m leaving for London to see my legal team. I don’t know when I’ll be back here…no more games, Kerry.’ In a move as controlling as though she had been a floppy rag doll, Luciano drew her hands up to his shoulders and linked them behind his neck.
‘I haven’t been playing games…’ The temptation to plaster her weak, wanton self to every inch of him that she could reach was more than Kerry could resist. He didn’t know when he would be back? How had he contrived to grasp that nothing he could say to her could have more impact than that particular one?
With an appreciative laugh, Luciano hoisted her up, curving a strong arm below her slim hips to support her as he splayed her knees round his waist and leant back against the desk to keep her balanced. His dark golden gaze smouldered over her. ‘Prove that to me…satisfy that ache I’m suffering from now, bella mia—’
‘Here?’ Kerry queried shakily.
‘No, the door doesn’t lock…upstairs.’
‘I can’t, we can’t…there are workmen all over the place!’ Kerry protested.
Fabulous bone structure rigid, Luciano slid her down the length of his magnificent physique, unlaced her hands from round his neck and planted her back onto her own feet. ‘So?’
‘They’d guess what we were doing!’ Kerry was in an agony of guilty mortification.
She could barely credit that she was even having the conversation with him: she could not recall the moment when her ability to resist him had evaporated and she had succumbed to her own weakness. Had it been the instant she realised that Rochelle meant nothing to him? Without a doubt the sure and final knowledge that he could find her more attractive than Rochelle had played a part in destroying her defensive barriers.
‘So?’ Luciano was not in the mood to be reasonable.
‘In a country area like this, single women are expected to respect certain standards of behaviour. I’m sure you think that’s old-fashioned but then we’re not in the city and I suppose I’m not brave enough to ignore those standards and offend people and have them talk about me.’ Cheeks warm with embarrassment as she completed that speech, Kerry looked back at him with turquoise eyes that carried a sincere plea, for she had been as honest as she knew how.
Straightening to his full, commanding height, Luciano vented a sardonic laugh. ‘Dio mio…many thanks for the news that if we were married sex in the middle of the day would be acceptable!’
‘That isn’t what I meant—’
‘And that neighbourhood standards predate Noah’s ark…a discouraging announcement for a new resident. Perhaps I should be considering the very advantageous offer I’ve had for the castle.’
Kerry stilled in dismay. ‘So it’s true, you have had an offer…it’s not just something Rochelle dreamt up to upset me!’
‘Yes, it’s true, and naturally I intend to take a closer look at it. In my experience only actors in movies ask anyone to name their price to sell, and if I’m getting an open-ended offer of that magnitude I’d like to know who it’s from and why it’s coming my way—’
‘You don’t know who’s trying to buy the castle?’
‘Someone hiding behind an investment company in the Caymans. I need to find out why anyone in their right mind would be willing to pay any price to own Ballybawn—’
Kerry studied him in surprise. ‘I should think that’s obvious…someone wealthy has come out here on one of our tours and fallen in love with the castle. But you’re not seriously saying that you would think of selling…are you?’
Just half an hour earlier Luciano would have said no, but in the space of a moment the anxious look in her expressive gaze changed his mind. He entertained himself with the possibility that some rich, decrepit old guy might have visited Ballybawn and fallen madly in lust for his little redheaded blushing guide. That possibility grew less entertaining by the second when it dawned on Luciano that Kerry might well go to the highest bidder. Just how far would she go to regain the family castle? Shouldn’t he have asked himself that question before he made the crucial mistake of using Ballybawn as the ultimate bribe? That was the instant when Luciano knew that she would have to make a choice between him
and her home. Nothing less would satisfy him. She had to choose. He did not want Kerry in his bed solely because he owned her ancestral hovel…since when had he got so particular?
Alarmed by his silence, Kerry closed her hands together tightly. ‘Luciano…?’
‘I am considering selling—’
‘But you promised—’
‘That was over a week ago and you said no. I believe I’m at liberty to do as I like with my own property,’ Luciano pointed out smoothly. ‘But I stand by my assurance that if you stay in my life I’ll take care of your grandparents’ needs.’
He was reneging on his original proposition. Kerry decided that that was a judgement on her and exactly what she deserved for sinking low enough to even think of accepting that degrading offer to become his weekend trollop. Tears burned at the backs of her eyes and all over again she hated herself for the mistakes she had made, but all of a sudden she hated him even more! He had moved the goalposts when he had no right to do so!
Thrusting unsteady fingers through the vibrant curls clustered on her brow, Kerry gave him a furious look of condemnation. ‘Shall I tell you something? Dismal as it is to appreciate that a guy can still be so narrow-minded, you had more respect for me before I slept with you than you have now!’
‘Santo cielo—’
‘No, you needn’t bother spluttering Italian at me because I know what I know!’ Kerry slammed back at him in angry reproach. ‘I didn’t ask for anything and I didn’t expect anything from that night I spent with you. But you couldn’t leave it at that. No, you were too worried that I might have expectations. So, you put me down and treated me like some gold-digger who was only with you in the first place for your money!’
‘That is not how I behaved—’
‘Don’t you dare try to tell me that you didn’t do what you did do!’ Kerry railed back in passionate protest. ‘You insulted me, you hurt my feelings, and you threw back what I gave for free in my face!’
Luciano was pale beneath his bronzed skin, his dark golden eyes hooded, his strong jawline clenched. ‘To date you’ve asked for everything that’s happened here—’
‘And how do you make that out?’
‘You stayed on after the repossession. Of course, I would’ve come and found you even if you hadn’t,’ Luciano acknowledged with brooding dark humour. ‘But you didn’t put me to that inconvenience.’
‘Well, it’s never too late to learn my lesson, is it?’ Kerry was further mortified by that reminder. ‘I can move out just as quickly!’
Luciano swore under his breath and strode forward to close a staying hand over her slight forearm. ‘That’s not what I want—’
Kerry yanked herself free. ‘Maybe what you want doesn’t carry the weight you think it ought to—’
Shimmering dark golden eyes assailed hers. ‘If you walk away from me again, that’s it! If I feel more comfortable now with a relationship that I more or less pay for, who are you to say that’s wrong? Surely you’re not trying to pretend that once you gave me something better, something more permanent?’ he derided with harsh emphasis. ‘I’ve had five years to think about how much your love was worth once romance gave way to reality—’
At that hard statement, Kerry’s tummy knotted. ‘You’re not being fair…I thought you’d been unfaithful—’
‘Why can’t you just be honest? Five years ago you put your pride, your family, your reputation, everything before me where I put you first and I can’t forget that. But no way will I let you put a pile of ancient bricks ahead of me in importance as well!’ Luciano growled with raw clarity. ‘So let’s leave the castle out of our deal and see where that takes us.’
‘That’s where we differ.’ Her gaze dropped from his to conceal her pain but her voice was torn by strain. ‘I don’t want to feature as part of some ‘‘deal’’.’
‘That’s the only way you can be with me. It’s your choice. After I’ve dealt with business in London, I’m flying on to Italy.’ Breathtakingly handsome face taut with stubborn purpose, Luciano settled grim golden eyes on her. ‘You’ve got forty-eight hours to make your mind up and then I get on with my life with or without you.’
Chagrined colour drenched her cheeks and then receded again. To an ultimatum that blunt there could only be one answer and Kerry lifted her red-gold head so high that her neck muscles ached at the stress she was putting on them. ‘You can bet on it being without me.’
Bitter frustration thundered through Luciano but he was as angry with himself as he was with her. For some inexplicable reason he had gone from being a male who rarely put a verbal foot wrong with a woman to a male who could barely open his mouth without causing offence. He knew when non-negotiable commands worked and when they didn’t. Ensuring that Kerry had no room to manoeuvre even to save face had only made a negative response more likely.
On wobbly knees, Kerry marched herself out of the library. Outside the door, she stopped and hugged herself, suddenly cold to the marrow. What was she doing? What was she playing at? She loved him but love was not an excuse to make a stupid sacrifice of herself. But what was he doing? What was he playing at? That night she had lain in his arms he had been tender—yet, since then? Even by the next morning he had been backing off again, raising the barriers, imposing offensive limits…like a guy on the run? A guy who might be scared of getting hurt again?
Her strained eyes brightened and then dulled again. She could not imagine Luciano being afraid, for his life had always been tough. Once that knowledge had been the secret strength that helped her bear the thought of his being in prison: she had believed that, no matter what, he would survive. Yet she had never allowed herself to consider how he might be altered by that ordeal.
He had changed in more than the superficial ways which she had noted when she first walked into his impressive London office. Although he was more open about his emotions than he had ever been during their engagement, that seeming candour was deceptive, for he was infinitely harder and colder. As he withdrew even Ballybawn from the uncommitted sexual ‘deal’ he had originally suggested, it was almost as though he preferred to demand terms that she would refuse. After all, she was not some fancy-free single woman able to fly off at a moment’s notice to Italy, and within weeks her grandparents would need her on a daily basis again. Possibly, Luciano believed that a few weeks would suffice to conclude his interest in her. Painfully conscious of her own vulnerability, she was scared that she could no longer rely on her own judgement, for her stepsister had hit a bull’s-eye when she warned Kerry that Luciano would eventually turn on her too.
When the phone rang in the sitting room, Kerry answered it in an abstracted mood. The first sentences voiced by the caller confused her until she recognised the man’s name, and then a weird little shiver ran down her spine. It was the solicitor phoning in response to her own written enquiry about her mother little more than a week earlier.
‘I’m sorry, could you repeat that?’
‘I can confirm that, as you feared, your mother did pass away some years ago,’ the solicitor told her with measured clarity. ‘But I do have more positive news for you. You have relatives on your mother’s side—’
‘I know all my relatives.’ Heavy disappointment had made Kerry’s shoulders slump, for, although she had guessed that her mother had to be dead, an obstinate little spark of hope had stayed lit.
‘Were you aware that your mother’s marriage to Harold Linwood was not her first marriage? At the age of nineteen your mother entered another marriage, which also ended in divorce.’
‘Are you sure of that?’ Eyes widening in astonishment, Kerry was transfixed.
‘In the course of that marriage, your mother also had other children—’
‘I beg your pardon…?’ Kerry gasped.
‘—and I have been asked to tell you that you have three older sisters. They have been searching for you for some years and are eager to meet you.’
The telephone almost dropped clean out of Kerry’s nerv
eless fingers.
‘Your sisters are also keen for this matter to remain private and confidential and I must ask you to be discreet.’
‘Huh…’ Kerry was nodding like a marionette at the other end of the phone. Her brain refused to process the very great shock she had just been dealt and the trauma was in no way eased by a man who contrived to speak as though his revelations were an everyday event.
‘An open ticket for a flight to London is waiting for you at Shannon Airport. Please call me when you intend to travel. You will be met off your flight and taken to the hotel where your sisters would like their initial meeting with you to take place.’
Sisters? Kerry’s thoughts lagged behind the travel arrangements being suggested. Her mother had once been married to someone other than Harold Linwood? Children had been born of that union…three little girls? But if that was true, where had those other daughters been all this time? Where in particular had they been during the early years of Kerry’s life? And why had her parent been incorrectly styled on her marriage certificate as a single rather than a divorced woman?
The barrage of questions she attempted to ask was blocked by the solicitor’s polite explanation that her sisters would prefer to exchange personal details with her at their first meeting. At his request, she noted down his phone number and actually allowed him to ring off before regaining sufficient brain power to call him back to declare that she would fly to London the following day.
Three…sisters? Sisters related to her by blood. Three of them! Frantic excitement bubbled through Kerry. All her life, she had felt very much alone even when surrounded by Linwoods, even when living with her grandparents, who inhabited a world quite removed from more mundane reality. Three older sisters had been searching for her for several years. Searching for her, Kerry savoured, feeling extraordinarily important and wanted as she recalled that heart-warming piece of information.
Bursting at the seams with her news, Kerry found that she was heading back to the library before she even realised what she was doing. Why was she even considering telling Luciano? Why the automatic surge in his direction? Ashamed of herself, she hung back. Wasn’t she fortunate that she had learned about her sisters at a time when she was desperate for something other than Luciano, who was tearing her apart, to concentrate on?