VITTORIO'S WOMAN

by Kimberley Reeves

  “Does it really matter now?” she finally asked.

  Simon crossed the room and sat down beside her. “You promised Milana you would call and let her know where you were, but you did not do that.”

  “I know and I’m…”

  “You also left me in the care of Gabriella, who is hardly qualified to make sure my leg muscles were massaged properly.”

  Lilly’s head jerked around, her eyes flashing. “She certainly acted as if she wanted the job, and you sure as hell didn’t seem to mind if she usurped my position.”

  “And that disturbs you a great, does it not, cara mia?”

  “Don’t flatter yourself,” she said heatedly. “If it doesn’t bother you to sleep with a woman you have no real feelings for, why should it bother me?”

  Simon’s lip quirked. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are when you are angry?”

  Lilly’s whole body shook. How was it possible to want to hit someone and kiss them at the same time? She was furious with him for sleeping with Gabriella and was devastated by the simple truth that one warm body was just as good as another to him. But there was still that small part of her that wanted to believe what she and Simon had shared was as special to him as it was to her. And he was here, wasn’t he? Surely it meant something that he’d gone through all the trouble of tracking her down.

  Lilly tilted her head curiously. “How did you find me?”

  Stretching his legs out in front of him, Simon shrugged as if it had been no great feat. In fact, he’d nearly gone crazy when their calls to nearly every hotel in the cities Lilly had mentioned to the rental clerk yielded absolutely nothing. Then Milana had jokingly mentioned that he should have a tracking device implanted in Lilly like people did for their pets since he always seemed to be searching for her. And just like that, Simon knew how to find her.

  It had taken one phone call to the car rental place and a quickly concocted story about how worried he was that his wife had not checked in with him since her departure. Within a matter of minutes, the clerk had contacted the company who monitored the GPS devices installed in all their rental cars and was able to provide Simon with a location. Not that he planned on divulging any of that information to Lilly, of course.

  Turning her own words on her, he asked, “Does it really matter now? The point, tesoro, is I that I found you, and once we have had a chance to talk, I will be taking you back with me.”

  “For what purpose? You don’t need me as your therapist and you have Gabriella at your disposal for whatever else you have in mind.”

  “Gabriella is gone.”

  “Bored of her already? But then I shouldn’t be surprised,” Lilly said bitterly, “after all, it didn’t take you long to grow tired of me.”

  Unruffled by her hostility, Simon’s demeanor was as relaxed as his voice. “Perhaps I should remind you that it was your decision to end our budding relationship.”

  “And a good thing it was too,” she snapped. “Gabriella wasn’t in the room for more than thirty seconds before you’d forgotten I even existed. You couldn’t have been too hurt by my refusal to sleep with you since you had another lover lined up in no time at all.”

  Simon bit back the laughter that bubbled up inside him. She truly was magnificent when she was worked up. “As amusing as your fabrications are, my darling Lilly, I think we need to start dealing in truths so we can put all this behind us and move forward from here.”

  Lilly bristled, her irritation at his rather sedate manner escalating by the second. “What fabrications would that be,” she demanded, “I haven’t said one thing that isn’t the complete truth.”

  “The truth as you see it, perhaps, but it is a bit jaded by your jealousy of Gabriella and your confusion as to whether you should strike out at me right now or continue to fight your desire to fall into my arms.”

  Lilly’s eyes widened in alarm. My God, was she really so transparent? His smile mocked her, the smug arrogance of it wilting any hope she still harbored of being able to hide the burning love she felt for him. She turned away from him, her shoulders slumping in defeat. She could no more stop loving Simon than she could will her own heart to stop beating, but that didn’t mean she would allow him to continue tormenting her with his presence.

  “Why are you here, Simon? Have you come to feed your ego by making me confess I was jealous of your affair with Gabriella? Or was it so you could see for yourself that I’m an emotional wreck because I can’t bear the thought of you making love to another woman?”

  “Is that why you look so ill?” Simon leaned forward, waiting for her to answer but Lilly remained obstinately quiet. “I did not mean to hurt you,” he said softly.

  “It’s my own fault,” she admitted bleakly. “I let myself believe in things that could never be, and was even delusional enough to think you might care for me as much as I did you. But when Gabriella arrived and I saw how quickly you could turn off your feelings, I realized how incredibly naïve I had been.”

  “You honestly believe I am so shallow, that I would share something so special with you and then hop into bed with another woman as if it meant nothing at all?”

  “Are…are you saying you didn’t sleep with her?”

  “Did you sleep with Luc?”

  “No! Simon, I wouldn’t…I couldn’t!”

  “Because of how you feel about me?” he coaxed, then smiled with satisfaction when she slowly nodded her head. “I did not sleep with Gabriella either, nor have I ever had the desire to. Cara, listen to me. My father was partners with Gabriella’s father back in Italy. We grew up together. When I moved my family to the States, she came with us. We do love each other, Lilly, but only as one sibling would love another.”

  “Is that the truth?”

  “I swear it. I know it was wrong of me to make you believe otherwise, but I thought if you were jealous of Gabriella you would admit how much you still wanted me and stop pushing me away.”

  “I wanted you to be jealous too, but when you just let me go with Luc without even trying to stop me, I thought it was because you wanted to be alone with Gabriella.”

  Simon chuckled. “You have no idea how hard it was for me not to beat Luc within an inch of his life, but I did not dare show how much seeing you together affected me. I was only trying to protect you from Gabriella’s gossiping tongue. She has earned her nickname, Gabby, and though she would have meant no harm, I was afraid your reputation would suffer if anyone found out you had seduced a patient.”

  Lilly’s head snapped around, the denial that she’d been the one doing the seducing remained unspoken when she saw that Simon was smiling. “Stop teasing,” she admonished, but couldn’t quite keep herself from smiling back at him.

  “Come here,” he said huskily, then effortlessly scooped her off the sofa and onto his lap. He held her for a moment, the pounding of his heart roaring in his ears as he drowned himself in the depths of her blue eyes. “Bellissimo,” he murmured. Beautiful.

  Her smile was soft and surrendering as one delicate arm curled around his neck and pulled his mouth down onto hers. It was the sweetest thing he’d ever experienced in his life.

  ***

  Lilly’s skin was warm from the blush that was slowly working its way up her neck. “Simon, if you don’t stop looking at me as if you want to devour me, I swear I’ll torture you by ordering dessert and make you wait even longer.”

  Despite her threat, the hunger in his eyes grew even more intense as his gaze flickered over the woman beside him. “I promised you dinner only because the doctor said you had been neglecting your health, but do not push me too hard, cara, or you will find yourself being carried out of here.”

  Lilly smiled demurely. “Very well, no dessert. But if you don’t let me finish dinner, I might not have the…strength to do anything but sleep tonight.”

  Simon leaned forward. “Io vogtio te, mio amore,” he said in a voice that was thick with desire. “I want you, my love, and I intend to have you, so I suggest
you stop playing with your food or we will not reach the room before I make good on my promise.”

  Lilly licked her lips nervously, having no doubt in her mind he meant every word he said. “There’s more to a relationship than…than what goes on in the bedroom, you know.”

  His gaze moved to her mouth. “I am sure there is, and I am more than willing to learn all about what being in a relationship entails…after I take you to bed.”

  “Is that all you can think about?”

  Simon’s smile was far from contrite. “Does that disappoint you?”

  He was close enough that she could almost feel the heat of his body reaching out to caress her and she trembled in response. The spicy scent of his aftershave sent another thrill racing through her, but it was the soft brush of his lips across hers that was Lilly’s undoing. Food no longer held any appeal for her, nor did the long talk she’d intended to have with him. She drew back, her eyes silently answering the question in his, and without a word they both rose from the table.

  The decision to have dinner at the hotel’s restaurant now seemed to be one of the best she’d made in days because they were back in her room less than five minutes later. There was no need to pretend what either of them wanted, no need to stall what had been inevitable from the first moment Simon had stepped into her room earlier that day. As soon as the door closed behind them, he swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom, swiftly divesting them both of their clothes before lowering her down onto the bed.

  Because he’d been so anxious to get her back up to the room, Lilly expected his loving making to be as fiercely intense as the look in his eyes had promised. Instead he seemed perfectly content to languish over her body, touching and caressing, feathering kisses over every inch of exposed skin until she thought she would go mad if he didn’t ease the aching need deep inside of her. By the time he finally positioned himself over her, Lilly was practically in tears from wanting him so bad.

  “Now, Simon,” she pleaded in a breathless whisper.

  Simon entered her slowly, and only when he’d filled her completely did he speak. “I love you Lillian Barclay. I love you and I am going to marry you.”

  “Simon…”

  He silenced her with a kiss that lasted far into the night, as did his passionate love making. Lilly barely had time to still the erratic thumping of her heart and catch her breath before he was on her again, and after the third or fourth time she lost count. He was insatiable, but she matched each thrust with the same wild excitement that she’d felt when they’d first begun. It was nearly dawn before he whispered something in Italian then told her to get some sleep.

  Lilly curled up next to his side, feeling warm and safe and happier than she’d ever been in her life. There were things she wanted to tell him, but every time she tried to start a conversation Simon cut her off by kissing her. She supposed what she had to say could wait until tomorrow, but it suddenly occurred to her why he’d been so intent on keeping her from speaking. Lilly pressed her lips to his chest then tilted her head back and gave him a sleepy smile.

  “I love you too, Simon Vittorio, and nothing would make me happier than to be your wife.”

  Simon drew in a ragged breath. “I was…unsure…”

  “Afraid, you mean.”

  “Terrified,” he admitted with a tight laugh.

  “Then you were scared for no reason. I know you probably don’t remember, but I saw you once before I came to the island. Something inside me just…knew that you were it, the one man I could love for the rest of my life.”

  “But you ran from me then too, cara.”

  “You noticed me?”

  “Noticed you! My darling, Lilly, I had to wade through a sea of woman to get to you, and when I finally did reach the table, you scampered off like a frightened rabbit.”

  “I was embarrassed. When you looked at me I felt…funny inside.” She smiled up at him. “I realize now what is was you had done to me, but I’d never experienced anything like that before and didn’t understand it was sexual desire. And then when you got to the table and wished Amanda a happy birthday, I felt foolish for thinking you’d noticed me when you had all those other women practically throwing themselves at your feet.”

  “It was the same for me when I first saw you. There was this instant connection and I knew I had to be with you. I could not get you out of my mind so I hired someone to find you.”

  Lilly’s eyes widened. “You hired a private detective?”

  “One who will never work for me again,” his voice hardened. “For months he sent me reports that he had tracked you to one place or another, only to arrive and find you had moved on. It was Milana who finally found you.”

  “I’m afraid you lost me. Why would you ask Milana to help find me?”

  Simon explained how Milana heard him calling out Lilly’s name while he was in the hospital, and that his sister had taken on the task of finding out who and where she was. It was his good fortune that she was a physical therapist, he told her, because it gave Milana the perfect excuse for bringing them together.

  “Except you didn’t want me there,” Lilly reminded him.

  “I did not want you to see me like that; blind and crippled, not a man at all. No, let me finish,” he said when she tried to interrupt. “I wanted to scare you off, but even then you gave me a reason to go on. And then I realized something. You did not see me as I saw myself. I was no less a man in your eyes for all my incapacitations…and you wanted me any way you could have me.”

  “I’m sorry for pushing you away, Simon. I was on an emotional rollercoaster and couldn’t seem to decide if it was better if I stayed or went. I know this sounds silly, but I was so disappointed when I found out I wasn’t pregnant because by then I was hopelessly in love with you and couldn’t think of anything more wonderful than having your baby.”

  Simon rose up on one elbow, a soft smile curving his lips. “Oh, cara, I was just as disappointed as you were. I have a confession to make. After you found out you were not pregnant, I kind of…sabotaged the rest of the condoms.”

  “You did what?”

  “Do not be angry with me, but I…I took a pin and…”

  Lilly’s laughter cut him off. “Simon, you didn’t!”

  “I did, but there is something more and you may not find this so amusing. I wanted to give you a baby, cara mia, so I…”

  She covered his lips with the tips of her fingers. “I know, my darling.” Lilly stared up into those dark eyes of his and fell in love all over again. She slipped her arms around his neck and drew him down for a brief kiss. “I thought it was a dream, but you came to my bed that night didn’t you?”

  “I did not know the wine would affect you as it did,” he grinned sheepishly. “Can you ever forgive me for taking advantage of you?”

  “I have already,” Lilly beamed up at him. “I forgave you the minute I realized it hadn’t been a dream at all.”

  “And when was that, tesoro?”

  “At the doctor’s office. It was when he told me how important it was to maintain healthy eating habits.”

  “Now it is you who have lost me,” he teased. “What do your eating habits have to do with figuring out it was not a dream?”

  Lilly locked eyes with his, glad that the first morning light illuminated the room just enough so she could see his expression when she told him. “The doctor said it was important to have a well balanced diet…especially during the early stages of pregnancy.”

  There was a moment of silence before the significance of what she’d said began to sink in. Simon’s face went blank as he stared down at her soft smile. Then, as comprehension finally broke through, he tossed back the covers and splayed his fingers with reverence over Lilly’s flat belly.

  “You are sure?” His voice was as shaky as the hand that skimmed along her abdomen but the expression on his face was one of sheer joy.

  “Believe me,” she laughed, “when the doctor told me how far along I was,
I asked him to repeat it twice. Once he confirmed it, I knew exactly when our baby had been conceived.”

  “Our baby,” Simon repeated. “I have dreamed of this moment, mi amore; dreamed of the day you would tell me you are carrying my child.”

  “Are you truly happy about it, Simon?”

  “There is only one thing that would make my happiness complete. Marry me, Lilly. Now, today. Let us go back to the island as man and wife. We can throw a huge party to celebrate and invite an obnoxious amount of people, what do think?”

  “I think it sounds wonderful,” she said earnestly, “but I’m a little concerned that our families will be upset if we don’t have a formal wedding.”

  Simon considered that for a few minutes. “You are right, of course, and I should have thought to ask if it was important to you too. I suppose every woman dreams of having a big wedding with their family and friends as witness to the special day.”