by Lucy Monroe
“You know what I mean.”
She didn’t even want to think how her hair looked. She’d long ago given up trying for a chic hairstyle and wore her natural curls in an only slightly tamed riot. Most of the time it suited her, but she could imagine that after spending the day tramping the streets of Athens it probably looked like she’d never brushed her hair in her life.
“You must trust me, piccola. I would not embarrass you.”
That was rich, coming from him.
“Now, please, won’t you tell me how you are finding your holiday? I remember you looked forward to it very much.”
He had closed the privacy window between them and the front seat and turned on the tiny lights that ran the entire length of the roof, giving off a surprisingly illuminating glow. A glow that cast his features in stark relief. The genuine interest reflected in his expression prompted her to answer.
“It’s been wonderful.”
“And what has been your favorite stop so far?”
She couldn’t believe a man of his extensive experiences would truly be interested in her first taste of Europe, but she answered nonetheless. “I really can’t say.” She smiled, remembering all the incredible things she’d seen. “I’ve loved every moment. Well, maybe not the airports, but David and the others have made the waiting around in drab terminals fun.”
Luciano frowned at the mention of David’s name. “It is not serious between you two?”
“If it were, you put a spanner in the works tonight, didn’t you?” She might have preferred that spanner, but he didn’t know that and his behavior had been unreasonable.
He did not look in the least bit guilty. “He implied you might come back to his room tonight. Are you sleeping with him?”
“That’s none of your business!”
He leaned over her, the big torso of his six feet, four inch body intimidating at such close range. Suddenly he didn’t remind her of just any old jaguar, but a hungry one intent on hunting his prey and moving in for the kill.
She felt like the prey.
“Tell me.”
She was shy, but she wasn’t a coward, or so she reminded herself frequently. “No. And if you’re going to act like some kind of Neanderthal brute all evening, you may as well tell your chauffeur to take me back to my hotel right now.”
She’d said it so many times now, it was beginning to sound like an impotent litany.
Amazingly, he backed off. Physically anyway.
“I am no brute, but I admit the thought you share your body with him does not predispose me to good temper.”
“Why?”
“Surely after the kiss we shared only minutes ago, you do not have to ask this.”
“Are you saying you give the third degree to every woman you kiss?” She didn’t believe it.
“You are not every woman.”
“No. I’m the hopelessly introverted, hopelessly average and probably hopeless in bed granddaughter of your business associate.” The bitter memory rolled off her tongue before she became conscious what the word probably would reveal to him. Maybe he wouldn’t notice she’d all but told him she was not sleeping with David. “I don’t see where that makes me anything special to you.”
It seemed he hadn’t comprehended the implication of her words when he spoke. “You are not introverted with this David fellow. You were laughing with him and holding his hand.”
He made it sound like she’d been caught in flagrante delicto with David. “He’s my friend.”
“I also am your friend, but you do not hold my hand.”
“For Heaven’s sake, you wouldn’t hold a woman’s hand unless it was to lead her to bed.” Had she really said that?
“And are you trying to say this is not where your friend David was leading you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“It is not ridiculous for me to think this. He looks at you with the eyes of a man who has claim to you.”
“There is such thing as the claim of friendship.”
“And friendship requires late night visits to his hotel room?”
“I’ve never been to his hotel room late at night, for goodness’ sake. I’m hardly the type to carry on a brief affair, or did you miss the hopeless-in-bed description?” As the words left her mouth, she realized with chagrin she’d given Luciano what he wanted—a definite answer to whether or not she was sleeping with David.
He didn’t look smug, however. He was too busy glaring at her. “Stop repeating that bitch’s words as if they are gospel. She knows nothing of you or your passions. You will be a consuming fire in my bed, of that I am certain.”
“Your bed?”
He sighed. “I have no plans to seduce you tonight, so you can relax.”
“But you do plan to seduce me?” She pinched the inside of her elbow to make sure she was not sleeping and having some bizarre dream. Pain radiated to her wrist. She was awake.
“Perhaps you will care to tell me what restaurant so caught your approval on your first day in the city?” he asked, ignoring her question.
Certain she’d had all the seduction talk she could take for one night, she eagerly accepted his change of subject. She told him about their visit to the nightlife of the Psiri where she’d sampled out of this world food at one of the many small cafés that did not even open until six in the evening.
“It was a lot like Soho, but I felt more comfortable in Psiri than I ever did visiting that section of New York City. Maybe that’s because I went there with my roommate from college. She was from Manhattan and her friends were all very gothic.” Hope could still remember how out of place she’d felt in the avant garde atmosphere.
“Psiri is fantastic and a lot more laid back. I didn’t feel like I was on display, if that makes any sense.” Her Boston manners and introverted ways had made her feel out of place in Soho, but the Psiri was patronized by so many different nationalities, no one person stood out.
Luciano shrugged, his broad shoulders moving fluidly in the typical European movement. “I have never been to Soho and it has been several years since I indulged in the nightlife of Athens.”
“I suppose it’s hard to do normal things like drink ouzo in a small bar on a busy street when you’ve got a security team trailing you.” Like the one in the nondescript car behind the limousine.
“Si, and there is the lack of time as well. I have spent the better part of the last ten years building my business holdings. My socializing has been of necessity targeted to that end.”
“Just like Grandfather.”
“Perhaps.”
“Is that what tonight is about? Are you doing my grandfather a favor in return for which you are angling for some kind of business coup?”
Luciano went curiously still. “What makes you ask this?”
It was her turn to shrug. “I don’t know. I guess it’s just hard to believe you’ve thought about me at all over the past six months.” She ignored his threatened intent to seduce her as macho posturing. It must be a Sicilian male thing. “It’s not as if you’d called or anything. And I know I’m not your average date.”
He might socialize for business, but the companions he chose to do it with were invariably gorgeous and terribly sophisticated. Much like the model he had turned away from on New Year’s Eve to kiss Hope instead. She still found that inexplicable. One of his previous amours had been a dispossessed princess with a reputation for fast living. His latest was an Italian supermodel who gave sultry new meaning.
Hope was as far from such a being as Luciano was from an awkward teenager.
“Accept that it pleases me to see you.”
“Why should I?”
“Because I say it is so.” Exasperation laced his every word and she wanted to kick him.
“You can say anything, but it’s your actions that show what you really feel.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Their arrival at their destination prevented further conversation.
Luciano helpe
d Hope out of the limousine. Who would believe such a shy little thing could be such a termagant as well? After her response to his kiss on New Year’s Eve, he had been sure wooing her would be the easy part of the deal with Joshua Reynolds. However, she was hardly falling into his arms in gratitude for his pursuit.
By the saints, she was contrary. She melted against him when he took her in his arms, but she had the tongue of an asp.
That tongue was silent during the elevator ride to his Athens penthouse. She kept her gaze averted too. He wondered at this. He wondered also if she was enamored of that blond buffoon who had put his lips on her. A definite rapport existed between them. She said she did not sleep with him, but it was not because the man was averse. Anger still simmered beneath the surface at the memory of another man touching the woman who was to be his.
That she did not yet realize she belonged to Luciano was the only reason he had not flattened the American, but soon both she and he would know it. And then let the blond man touch her at his peril.
The elevator stopped and Hope looked up for the first time. “Where are we?”
The doors slid open and he stood back for her exit first. “This is my Athens headquarters.”
They stepped through one of the two doors on the landing.
She looked around them. “It looks more like a home to me, or are you trying to tell me that a Sicilian tycoon does his business in the living room rather than the boardroom?”
He felt his lips quirk at her sassiness. This unexpected side to her nature was not altogether unpleasing. A wife without spirit would not suit him. He had yet to decide if he would let the marriage stand once he had his plans for dealing with her grandfather in place.
“The apartment is located on the top floor of the Valerio building. My office is one floor below.”
If Hope was ignorant of the old man’s machinations, her only guilt was by association. Tradition dictated the family held responsibility for the actions of one, but he was not such a dinosaur. If she knew nothing, he could not honorably include her in the vendetta and the marriage would have to stand.
“And the other door?” she asked.
“A company apartment.”
Her brow quirked. “Not the home of your mistress?”
Ai, ai, ai. “You are a spitting kitten tonight.”
She blushed and once again turned her face away from him.
He had brought her with him tonight to determine the level of her guilt as much as to woo her to marriage. Her ongoing contrariness was a point in favor of her innocence. Surely if she wanted the marriage and were in league with her grandfather, she would not be so difficult toward Luciano.
On the other hand, women had known since time memorial that to play hard to get intrigued the hunter in men, particularly Sicilian men.
“I thought you were taking me out to dinner. You said our reservations were for eight.”
“And so they are. My chef has prepared a special meal to be served on the terrace. If we were late, sauces would be ruined, the vegetables overcooked.”
She turned, her composure restored. “What a tragedy,” she said facetiously.
“Si. A great tragedy.”
“We’re eating on the terrace?”
“It has a magnificent view of the city. I believe you will like it.”
The violet of her eyes mirrored confusion. “Why are you doing this? You can’t be so hard up for a date that you must spend the evening with your business associate’s granddaughter.”
“I told you, it pleases me. Why do you find this so difficult to believe?” He was not used to having his word questioned and he found he did not like it, especially from her.
She made a sound of disbelief. “You date supermodels, sexy, sophisticated women. I’m not your type.”
For some reason her protestations on that point irritated him immensely. “A man will taste many types of fruit before finding a tree he wishes to eat from for a lifetime.”
“So, you’re saying you were in the mood for an apple or something instead of the more exotic fruits?” The prospect did not appear to please her.
He stepped forward until their bodies were only inches apart and reached out to cup her face. “Perhaps you are the tree that will satisfy me for a lifetime.”
Hope felt herself go absolutely rigid in shock. She even stopped breathing. Her, the tree that could satisfy him for a lifetime? It was inconceivable, but why had he said it?
His hands dropped away from her face and he stepped back, giving her room to breathe. “Would you like to freshen up before dinner?”
Sucking air into her oxygen-starved lungs, she nodded. Anything to get away from his enervating presence. He led her to a guest room and stood aside for her to enter. She could see an en suite off to the left.
She paused in the doorway without looking at him. “Please don’t play with me, Luciano. I’m not in your league.” She didn’t want to be hurt again like she had been on New Year’s Eve. She didn’t want to be just another fruit for his jaded palate.
Once again his hands were on her and he turned her to face him. She met his eyes, her own serious. He ran his fingertip over her bottom lip and her whole body trembled.
“I am not playing, cara.”
She so desperately wanted to believe him, but the memory of New Year’s Eve was still too fresh. “Why…” She found she could not force the rest of the question past the lump of hope and wariness in her throat.
“Why what?”
“Why did you shove me away like a disease-ridden rodent after our kiss on New Year’s Eve?” The words tumbled out with all the pain and rejection she had felt that night six months ago.
He looked outraged. “I did not do this.”
“Excuse me, you did. I was there.”
“I too was there. Perhaps I let you go a trifle quickly. I did not wish to embarrass you with further intimacies.”
“You didn’t want to embarrass me?” The irony of such an excuse was too great to be born. “I don’t believe it.”
“Believe.”
“So, to save me embarrassment, you chose to humiliate me instead?” she asked in incredulity. If that was how the male mind worked, no wonder women had such a hard time understanding them.
“To kiss Luciano di Valerio is not a humiliation.”
“But to be publicly rejected by you is!”
CHAPTER FOUR
A MUSCLE ticked in his jaw. “Explain.”
She was only too happy to do so. “I spent three hours as the butt of every joke in the room. Poor hopeless Hope, throwing herself at the gorgeous Italian,” she mimicked with savage pain. “Did you see how he had to practically tear her arms off of him? We always knew she was hopeless, but to be that desperate.”
The cruel voices echoed in her head as if it had just happened and the painful mortification sliced her heart.
“This cannot be true. I kissed you. Surely the other guests saw that. Porca miseria! I rejected that tall blonde’s advances to do it.”
“Oh, yes, the model.” Hope’s body went taut with remembered emotion. “You know that old saying about a woman scorned? Well, she epitomized it. She told anyone who would listen that I pushed her out of the way to get to you.”
Without the model’s interference, Luciano’s rejection would have remained a personal source of pain, not become a public humiliation.
“What is her name?” The chill in his voice surprised Hope.
“What difference does it make?” Did he think he could do something about it at this late date? The time for his action on her behalf was past. “Anyway, I don’t know her name. I just hope I never see her again. I wish I never had to see any of them again.” Impossible when so many of the party guests had been her grandfather’s business associates and she often acted as his social hostess, albeit a quiet one.
He swore in Italian. She didn’t recognize the word, but she knew that tone. It was the same one her grandfather reserved for certain four-letter words.
“Do you know how many of the male guests offered to give me what you supposedly wouldn’t?” she asked in driven tones. “Strictly as an act of charity, mind you.”
As if no man would ever want her enough to go after her. Well, David wanted her. He’d told her she could come to his room tonight. Maybe she would. At least he wouldn’t think he was doing her some kind of favor.
“I want the names of these men.” The rage in him was a palpable force and quite frightening.
She stepped back from him. “Why?”
“They insulted you.” He said it as if those three words should explain everything.
They didn’t. “So did you.”
“Tell me their names.” He totally ignored his own culpability, but the deadly tone of his voice indicated he was far from ignoring the insult offered to her by the other guests.
Why was he taking this so personally?
“I don’t think I should.”
“Nevertheless, you will.”
“Don’t try to boss me around, Luciano.” She would have sounded a lot more convincing if her voice hadn’t broken on his name, but suddenly he was looming too close and she felt way more intimidated than she wanted to.
“I am a bossy guy by nature, ask my sister. It is something you will have to get used to, cara.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I want the names of the men who made importunate remarks to you.”
“There really weren’t that many.” Two to be exact, but at the time it had definitely been two too many.
“So recalling their names should not be a difficulty, Si?”
She sighed. “What are you going to do if I tell you?”
“I will have words with them.”
“That’s all? Just words.”
His expression was unreadable. “Just words.”
She named the two men who had gone out of their way to be so objectionable. One had even trapped her in the hallway and kissed her. After Luciano’s kiss, any other man’s mouth was a repugnance and she had kicked him in the shin, leaving him hopping on one leg and cursing her.
“You must believe I did not intend such a thing to happen.”
“I know.” At least she did now. His shock and rage were too real. “However, you have got to see that it would be better for me if you just left me alone. I know I’m introverted and my looks are nothing to speak of, but I’m a woman with feelings and I don’t want to be hurt any more.”