Seduced by the Italian

by Fraser, Diana

  She stopped and looked up at him. The dim light from the sitting room didn’t reach the shadowy hallway and Luca was lit from behind by the moonlight reflected from the water. But she saw the tenderness in his eyes.

  “No. It sounds like you.” She reached her hand up and cupped his cheek. “You, Luca. You hide it behind that successful exterior: so decisive so strong but so—”

  He held his finger to her lips. “I don’t feel sweet now, Isabella.” His voice was husky.

  “What then?”

  He laughed. “My daughter might like non-grabby women, but I appreciate a bit of ‘grabbiness’. Don’t hold back with me, will you?”

  She laughed, a laugh that dissolved into a soft moan as his hands reached around and pull her to him. They’d been heading for the sitting room but somehow he’d guided her into the master suite, bringing her body tight to his and kicking the door softly shut after him.

  “I have to hold back, Luca. I don’t want you believing I can give you more than I can.”

  “You are all I want.”

  His kiss stopped her shaking her head and left her limbs trembling. Too soon, they pulled away and reality hit her once more.

  “You know that’s not true. You want a future—a large family, the works.”

  “I just want now. I just want you. Forget the rest.”

  And under the spell of his lips, she did.

  Much later the house lay quiet. The only sounds were the constant rush and drag of the sea on the sand and the breeze snapping and curling the long fall of white curtains. Isabella shifted a little, pulling her arm away from his grip. He tensed his fingers.

  “Trying to run away already?”

  She didn’t answer. He propped himself up on one arm while he traced his finger around her bare breast. She closed her eyes as her breast tightened with pleasure. Then he dipped his head and kissed her extended nipple. He groaned and was about to dip his head again when she stopped him: her hands framing his face, curving around the strong cheekbones and jaw.

  He rolled on top of her, pushing his hands up either side of her shoulders while pressing his hips to hers. She wanted to respond but didn’t move. “We need to talk.”

  “I don’t. But if you feel the need, talk away.”

  She licked her lips and frowned, trying to concentrate as he moved down, his lips seeking out the places that sent the most exquisite sensations skittering through her body.

  “It’s about what you want.”

  “I know what I want.” He descended lower.

  “No, really, the future.”

  “I can see the immediate future, what else do I need to know?” He immediately dealt a swift, hard lick to her clitoris that made her gasp and her insides quiver in anticipation. She inhaled a shaky breath as her hands sought his head. She had to stop him. She couldn’t focus. But, instead her hands somehow wove through the curls of his hair, luxuriating in its silkiness as she sunk under the wicked torment of his mouth. His hands slid under her and drew her up to him until all coherent thought fled as her breathing grew impossible under the incessant sensory overload of his mouth upon her. A bolt of pure liquid energy shot through her as she climaxed and all thought was truly forgotten as she sat up and brought his body into hers, wrapping her legs tight around him, as if desperate for more, as if desperate to re-create the all-encompassing sensory overload that was the only way of quieting her thoughts, of consuming her guilt. That connection was everything.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  It was everything. But it was still not enough to give them a future together.

  As they lay side by side in the cool of the early dawn, the knowledge that they needed to separate engulfed her once more. He would go when he knew she couldn’t bring him the future he wanted. And then she’d have nothing.

  “OK, tell me now.”

  She hadn’t even known he was awake. He lay perfectly still looking out at the sky, following the clouds as they moved high overhead. The light in his eyes changed as the clouds passed between him and the sun, creating shadows where none were before.

  She opened her mouth to speak but it was dry, parched. She swallowed. Instead the moisture came from her eyes. She brought up an arm to hide her tears, to protect herself, casually pushing the back of her hand away until it lay across her forehead.

  “I can’t have children.”

  At that moment Isabella felt the full force of an emotional silence that was more deafening than any sound. She cleared her throat, thoughts tumbling through her head, swiftly replaced as new ones took their place. But only one remained. He didn’t want her now. She cleared her throat.

  “No children,” he repeated quietly.

  “No, I can’t. The accident…it’s impossible now.” She cleared her throat again and pushed the back of her hand over her eyes again. “But that’s OK, I’ve my sisters I need to look after, I’ve my work.”

  “Of course. Your responsibilities.”

  “Yes,” she said quietly. ‘My responsibilities.” She pretended to rub her forehead with the heel of her hand and looked away from him, out the window. The clouds that spun quickly by were rimmed with a silver light that, despite its subtlety, upstaged the glittering sunlight on the ocean.

  Still no response. She glanced at him from under her arm, which lay protectively over her face. He hadn’t even blinked, not stirred at all. She took a deep breath and only just stopped the sob from rising up into her voice. “I’m so sorry, Luca, I didn’t mean for us to re-kindle things, I didn’t mean for you to believe you had a future with me. I’m so sorry…”

  “You’re sorry?” His voice was quiet and even but she sensed the tension in it.

  “I tried to tell you I couldn’t give you what you wanted, that this wasn’t going to go anywhere, I tried to…”

  He rolled over suddenly and she was overwhelmed by his naked body pressing against hers, its power and potency. He placed his hand over her mouth and she gasped against his warm palm.

  “Stop, Isabella. Just stop saying ‘sorry’. I don’t want to ever hear you say that word again.” She shook her head as her breathing quickened. He pulled his hand away as suddenly as he’d placed it upon hers and, instead, tapped his index finger once upon her lips. “Don’t.” Tapped again. “Don’t say anything more.” She shook her head again and he fell back.

  “You want me to go.” She knew it and didn’t phrase it as a question.

  He turned his head to her and she couldn’t recognize, couldn’t place the look in his eyes. He seemed both hurt and angry at the same time. But it was the power that conveyed both feelings that hit her.

  “No, I don’t want you to go.”

  “Did you understand what I said?”

  “Of course. You can say it in English if you wish, I will still understand. My comprehension is not in question here. It’s yours. It’s you who do not understand.” He pulled her to him, whispering fiercely in her hair. “Cara, it’s you I want. Why can’t you understand this? It’s you. Why can’t you believe this? Why?”

  He dragged her arm from her forehead and pulled her face roughly to his. The shadows were no longer in his eyes; they were clear and certain.

  “You don’t have to answer because I know. You can’t believe because you don’t trust. But you will.”

  Isabella looked down across the sea of clouds that blanketed the Atlantic, and up to the heavy sprinkling of stars. The day would be extremely short as they moved across the time zones. And that was good because today was a day that always reminded her of what she’d lost.

  August 28. It was to have been the due date of her baby—her baby’s birthday. Instead it was a reminder of what might have been and what could never be. What others had—what Luca had—was barred to her.

  “And what thoughts are making you look so wistful?’

  She looked across at Luca who was meant to be working. But, instead, he was watching her, a puzzled frown on his face.

  “Did I relinquish my privacy when I
agreed to take on this contract?”

  “Absolutely.” The frown stayed but his hot gaze swept her body leaving her in no doubt as to his thoughts. He pushed the laptop away and leaned forward, his knees purposely brushing hers. “You have no privacy whatsoever.”

  “You are very bad.” She failed to keep her face straight as he leaned across and deftly undid the top button of her shirt revealing the swell of her breasts above the bra. He sat back again.

  “That’s better.”

  “May I remind you that your daughter is just the other side of that door?”

  “No, you don’t need to. You’re still decent, just indecent enough to stir my own imagination. But she’s asleep at present. And besides, if she came in and saw me kissing you—”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time?”

  “Yes, it would. But I doubt it would scar her for life.”

  “Perhaps I don’t wish to be kissed.”

  “Perhaps, but I think you do.”

  “What makes you doubt my word?”

  “Your bright eyes, the way you’ve licked your lips, making them moist and inviting.”

  “Perhaps I always look like that.”

  “You’d better not. I only want you to look like that for me from now on.”

  “The contract will be completed soon.”

  “But I have a proposal. A new contract.”

  She shook her head. “Luca. Be serious.”

  “I’ve never been more serious. You know what I want, Isabella. I want you with me, always. I want you to marry me. Will you?”

  The dull roar of the jet filled the long silence between them. She looked away first. But he reached out and pulled her face to his once more. “Don’t turn away.”

  “You want more than I can give you.”

  “Why do you consider you know better than me what it is I want?”

  “Because you’ve told me you want a big family. And you know I can’t give you one.”

  “OK. A big family would have been ideal. But I’m enough of a realist to know that not everything in this world is ideal. But you are. It’s you I want. It’s not so much a big family I want, as a loving one. And I can’t have that with anyone else but you. Will you marry me, Isabella?”

  All her defenses were shot. There was no retreating from this. She couldn’t have said if the noise that came from her throat was a sob or a laugh—perhaps both—but whatever it was, was swept away by his lips as he moved forward and stole the words from her mouth.

  By the time he sat back, she knew that no matter her doubts and fears she had to be with this man. Before she knew it he was slipping a ring—a big beautiful diamond ring—onto her finger.

  “You were very sure.”

  “Yes, I was. And I am. And I hope you are too.”

  She twisted the ring and watched as it sparkled in the light.

  She knew he loved her and she felt an overwhelming love for him. But what would happen as the years passed by? Would he resent her? She quashed her doubts. What was the point in doubting him when he’d made it clear that he wouldn’t; that it was her he wanted. She had to trust him. She did trust him.

  She reached over and kissed him, very gently, very softly on the lips. “I love you, Luca.”

  “And I love you, Isabella.” He held her face in his hands, shook his head and grunted in frustration. “Contessa, have you any idea how much I want you?”

  She grinned. “Yes, I have, as it happens.”

  “With Allegra next door, tucked up asleep and likely to wake any moment, we don’t have the privacy I need to make real my day dreams.”

  “You could lock the door.”

  He laughed. “I could. But I won’t, not for my daughter. I won’t have her wanting to reach me and finding she can’t.” His face became serious, the grin gone. “Ever.”

  If she’d changed because of her past she suddenly understood that he couldn’t escape his past either. He would always make sure his child received the love from her parents that had eluded him. She believed him when he said it was a loving family he wanted more than a large one. He demonstrated that love with Allegra every second he was with her. He needed Allegra to know she could trust him because he knew what it was like to live without trust. And so did she.

  As if summoned by their talk, Allegra burst through the door and landed on the seat next to Luca, scrambling up into his arms. Kneeling on his legs, she looked out the window with wide eyes at the stars.

  “They’re different to the stars at home.”

  “How clever of you to notice.”

  Luca’s eyes were warm with love as he loosely put his arm around Allegra’s waist to steady her as she craned her neck to look out the window. He brushed her hair back and looked out with her. Their faces were in silhouette: Allegra’s in front of his; his, slightly closer to the window. They both had the same charm, capacity for happiness and ease of gesture and manner.

  Allegra grinned cheekily, showing the gaps in her teeth and looked up into her father’s face. “I didn’t notice. I was told.”

  “Well how good of you to be so honest then.”

  Isabella smiled. She doubted there was anything the girl could say her father wouldn’t delight in. She watched as Allegra put her hands on Luca’s cheeks and rubbed them. “You’ve got dimples like me.” She proceeded to drill her fingers into said dimples while Luca puffed out his cheeks making the dimples disappear. But it didn’t stop her.

  “Do that again and I will have to punish you.”

  A shadow passed over her heart at the long-forgotten words. Allegra did it again, giggling and Luca picked her up, squealing and tickled her. Same words but entirely different outcome. This was Luca, not her father. Allegra and Luca were a team: so close despite the weeks apart. She wondered if she could ever be a part of their relationship. She shifted awkwardly around and looked out the window where a scattering of lights indicated they were passing over some European coastline.

  She heard Luca set the girl down and sit back. “So tell me who told you about the stars.”

  “Mama’s new husband did.”

  “Is that right?”

  Isabella could tell from Luca’s strained voice that he was trying not to sound possessive about Allegra, or suspicious.

  “He’s nice, Papa. He’s very nice to me. I heard him tell Mama that it wasn’t fair on me to go traveling while I was there. That was nice, don’t you think?”

  “It was thoughtful.”

  “And kind. He’s nice to Mama too.”

  “I’m pleased. And were you sad when they left.”

  “A bit. But I was happy because I was coming to live with you from now on.”

  “But you will see Mama in your holidays.”

  “But Mama can come to see us, can she not?”

  “Whatever you want, angelo mio.”

  It was obvious to Isabella where Allegra’s real affections lay and it was equally obvious the pain Luca had felt at having been forced to leave his child for a few weeks while she was with her mother.

  “I just want to be where you are Papa. I missed you.”

  “And me, you. But now look, your dinner is here. You must try to eat well to keep up your strength.”

  Allegra stabbed her fork into the lightly cooked vegetables and brought it to her mouth with evident distaste. She thoroughly chewed it, even though her eyes watered, with a doggedness Isabella had to admire. Then she swallowed and took another forkful.

  Before she popped it into her mouth she noticed Isabella looking at her. “Vegetables, I hate them but I have to eat them for my own good, everyone says. I was sick.”

  Isabella looked quickly up at Luca.

  “And Papa nearly missed Nonna’s funeral because I was so sick. But I’m OK now but need to build up my strength. I’m smaller than other girls my age, you see.”

  “There were a few problems at Allegra’s birth. She was born early.” Luca shifted in his seat, uncharacteristically uncomfortable. “Come, Allegr
a, buckle up, we’re coming in to land.”

  Isabella put on her own safety belt. As she watched Luca attend to his daughter his words played around her mind, niggling at an earlier thought she’d had, refusing to go away.

  The plane touched down and the roar of the reverse thrust filled the cabin. The roar continued in Isabella’s head. “Tell me, Allegra, when is your birthday?”

  She didn’t look at Luca though she knew he was watching her; she could feel his eyes burning in to her, could sense the tension.

  “15 September. Mama said that it should have been 1 October.”

  Isabella felt sick but she had to continue, she had to know. “And you will be…”

  “Six, I’ll be six.”

  The silence was as intrusive as the plane’s roar. It seemed interminable but couldn’t have been—Allegra only had time to swallow a mouthful before looking up at her.

  Isabella took a deep, steadying breath. “Then you must have a very special present.” She sat back, pushing the anger and betrayal back to that secret place inside for the moment. She mustn’t let Allegra see.

  “What? What will you get me?”

  “Allegra,” Luca interjected. “It’s rude to pester.”

  Isabella turned to Luca and he recoiled under her cold glare. “She’s not pestering. I would have done the same. Before I go,” she swallowed and turned to Allegra, “I’ll bring you a surprise.”

  “You’re going somewhere?”

  Isabella nodded, feeling Luca’s eyes boring into her, willing her to look up at him. But she refused. Grief lay heavy in the pit of her stomach, waiting for the moment she could think about it. But, for now, she kept it low, kept it out of her head, kept it at bay. That way she could function. That way she could give the girl the attention she deserved.

  “I’ve nearly completed my work and I’ve family in Florence I live with.” The only pain Isabella felt was the pain of the girl’s disappointment. The other, deeper grief was too vivid to contemplate.

  “That’s a shame, isn’t it Papa. I thought Isabella was going to live with us.”

  Isabella couldn’t help but smile at Allegra’s adult polite turn of phrase: a smile that froze as she became aware of Luca shifting Allegra toward her Nanny.