by Sarah Morgan
Rafaele’s lips curled. ‘Taylor always responded well to direction.’
Luca stepped forward but Taylor’s hand gripped his arm.
‘I can handle this. I just want to do my job.’
‘Good—’ Rafaele gestured to one of the crew ‘—because today we’re filming the scene where you discover the husband you thought was dead, is alive.’
‘Obviously going to be a laugh a minute,’ Luca drawled, turning her away from Rafaele and towards him. ‘I’ll leave you to it, tesoro, and pick you up at the end of the day. The board want evidence that you’re real so we’re going to a drinks reception at the hotel. Not my favourite way to spend an evening. I’d much rather be alone with you.’ Before she could say anything, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her slowly and deliberately on the mouth. The kiss was for the benefit of Rafaele but the moment their mouths met they were lost in it, the passion raw and elemental. He kissed her hungrily and she kissed him back, their surroundings forgotten, everything forgotten until the blare of a car horn cut through the sexual storm. Luca lifted his head, disorientated.
He stared down into her shocked blue eyes, saw his own confusion reflected right back at him and released her instantly. ‘I should get to work… .’
‘Me too.’ Her voice was husky and Luca, unsettled by how badly he wanted to kiss her again, backed towards the car and crashed into Rafaele, who made his frustration known.
‘Look where you’re going!’
Luca was too shaken to bother responding. Instead he slid behind the wheel of his Ferrari and started the engine, instantly comforted by the throaty roar. At least something in his life felt familiar which was more than could be said for his feelings.
He couldn’t remember a time when he’d been so out of control with a woman. When had he ever before lost track of time or place? Never.
Pulling onto the road that led to the office, he told himself that he’d got a little carried away with his role. After all, she’d questioned his acting ability, so it was only natural that he would try and prove how wrong she was, wasn’t it? He was as competitive as the next guy and any suggestion that he might not be convincing in his role as ‘fiancé’ was guaranteed to result in a performance worthy of Hollywood.
Having justified his behaviour to his satisfaction and confident that he had the situation completely under control, Luca relaxed.
He’d helped her deal with that slimy bastard Rafaele and she, in turn, could turn on her charm for the board.
So far their plan was working magnificently.
‘So, Taylor, I admit we never saw this happening. Luca has never shown any degree of responsibility in anything he does. He’s chosen to live his life on the fringe of this family.’ The air on the sunlit terrace of the Corretti flagship hotel was thick with cigarette smoke and disapproval of Luca.
Taylor, who knew exactly how it felt to feel disconnected from the family you’d been born into, disliked the pompous chairman on sight. ‘I’m confused.’ She smiled her most feminine smile and had the satisfaction of seeing him blink, dazed. ‘You say Luca has no sense of responsibility and yet he’s built a staggeringly successful business worth a fortune.’
‘Luca appears more interested in the models he employs than he is in taking business seriously.’
‘I disagree. Luca is a man who works hard but also plays hard. He appreciates beauty. To be able to achieve the level of success he has achieved and yet still have fun seems to me to indicate a man who appreciates the importance of work-life balance.’
‘Your defence of him is to your credit.’
‘But should a man need defending from his own family?’ Taylor was beginning to understand why they drove Luca mad. She glanced up and saw him surrounded by members of the hotel management team. He didn’t even bother to conceal his boredom and she hid a smile because she sensed he went out of his way to live up to his terrible reputation.
And suddenly she realised what a clever strategy that was. Because he didn’t appear to hide anything, no one looked deeper. No one suspected there was anything more to expose, which gave him an extraordinary level of privacy.
He lifted his head and caught her eye.
Just for a moment they looked at each other and the sexual charge was so powerful she felt the punch of it from across the room.
Her stomach tightened as she remembered the way it felt to kiss him and be kissed by him.
Turning away quickly she reminded herself that a kiss, even an exceptionally skilled kiss, wasn’t trust. A kiss was a type of sensual manipulation. Trust was something different.
And trust was an indulgence she didn’t allow herself.
Extracting himself from the group of grey-suited businessmen, Luca joined her.
The chairman smiled. ‘You’ll be pleased to hear your fiancée was defending you vigorously. We were discussing your addiction to beautiful women.’
Feeling Luca’s tension, Taylor slid her arm through his. ‘I’m thrilled Luca appreciates beauty.’
‘Many women would be jealous.’
‘Perhaps. But not me. We’re with each other through choice. Love cannot be bound and held captive. It has to be freely given.’
Luca was looking at her strangely but he didn’t say anything and the chairman beckoned to an overweight man in a suit. ‘Taylor, this is Nico Gipetti, manager of our flagship hotel. You’re his idol so he’s been hoping for an introduction.’
Nico Gipetti’s face turned scarlet up to his ears as he shook her hand vigorously. ‘I love your work.’ Having stammered his way through a stream of compliments, he turned to Luca. ‘Any news from Matteo?’
‘Not a sound.’ Luca was looking at her mouth. ‘But I suppose that isn’t so surprising in the circumstances.’
The manager’s features tightened in disapproval. ‘What does he think he’s doing?’
‘I should think right now he’s probably smashing his way through all ten commandments,’ Luca murmured and then winced when Taylor drove her elbow into his ribs.
‘What Luca means,’ she said swiftly, ‘is that he’s probably keeping a low profile out of sensitivity to Alessandro’s feelings.’
‘So you have no idea when he will be back?’
Luca suppressed a yawn. ‘No, but while he’s away I intend to increase your profits by an indecent amount so I suggest you all relax and let me get on with it. I work much better alone.’
And why was that? Taylor studied him thoughtfully, wondering why he was so determined to keep himself apart, both in work and in play.
‘It’s a difficult time for the market,’ Nico snapped. ‘What makes you think you can do what we can’t? You know nothing about the hotel business.’
‘And that is precisely why I will make it a success.’ Luca paused to study the cut of the suit of a man walking past, a perusal that ended in a disbelieving shake of his head. ‘I don’t come weighed down with preconceived ideas, nor am I working from a palette of ideas that have been used a million times before by both yourselves and the competition.’
The chairman joined in the conversation. ‘Perhaps this is a good time to give us some detail. I’m sure Nico is interested to hear how you intend to add value to the brand.’
‘That’s easy. Your occupancy is down because you have no appreciation of style or beauty,’ Luca said bluntly and Taylor almost laughed at the shock on their faces.
She loved his honesty. He didn’t care what people thought, which meant he wasn’t afraid to speak the truth. Working in a profession where people rarely told the truth, she found it a refreshing change to be with someone who spoke his mind.
Sadly Nico didn’t agree. ‘Perhaps we should talk in Italian so that we don’t bore Taylor with our business.’
Luca scooped up two glasses of champagne from a pretty waitress with a wink and a smile. ‘Taylor doesn’t speak Italian—’ he handed her a glass ‘—and unlike you, Nico, I have no problem with my fiancée expressing an opinion. I’d like her to b
e part of the conversation.’
They put him down at every turn and yet he was bigger than all of them, she thought. He had an innate confidence, a powerful belief in himself that resisted all their attempts to diminish him. They tried to make him look small and yet each time they knocked him down he rose higher, towering above them in every way.
She felt a flash of pride and then wondered why she would feel pride in a man who wasn’t hers.
Unsettled, she sipped her champagne and asked the question no one else seemed interested in asking. ‘So do you have a plan for the hotels, Luca?’
Luca didn’t hesitate. ‘We’re going to refurbish the top six from the latest Corretti Home collection. Out with bland, hotel uniformity and in with style and originality. Instead of guests walking away with white waffle dressing gowns they could purchase from any retail outlet, they come away with ideas for decorating their own homes and recreating luxury in their everyday lives. They leave not just rested, but inspired.’
Nico spluttered over his drink. ‘The Corretti name is already a strong brand. We don’t need your help with that.’
Luca smiled. ‘By the time I’ve finished Corretti won’t be a brand, it will be a lifestyle.’
There was a stunned silence.
Nico hadn’t touched his drink. ‘You’re assuming people would want your lifestyle.’
‘How could they not?’ Luca slid his arm round Taylor, who smiled up at him in full-on adoring-fiancée mode, but this time the act was easy because her admiration was genuine.
‘So you’re giving people the message that if they stay in a Corretti hotel, they soak up some of the Corretti style—that’s a totally brilliant idea.’
A faint frown touched his forehead. ‘Grazie, bellissima.’ He hesitated and then lowered his head and kissed her gently. ‘And now I think about it, you’d be perfect to front the campaign I have planned. Corretti Hotels—First Choice for Taylor Carmichael, Movie Star.’
‘I’d have to stay in it first, just to check it has my approval.’
His smile was intimate. ‘Once the hotel has been refurbished, we’ll christen the Presidential Suite.’
Her gaze collided with his. Her stomach twisted. the chemistry between them rocketed off the scale. Through the thick, lazy heat of sexual awareness she heard the chairman clear his throat.
‘It seems Luca has extravagant plans for the business, but what about the two of you?’ He beamed at them. ‘You’re just so perfect for each other. It occurred to us that a Corretti wedding would focus attention away from Matteo’s untimely elopement.’
‘Was it untimely?’ Still looking at Taylor, Luca raised his eyebrows. ‘I thought the timing was perfect.’
Taylor, still shaken by the depth of the physical connection between them, decided that goading the board was a sport to him.
‘What Luca means,’ she said quickly, ‘is that there is never a good time for such a thing to happen.’
‘Perhaps not.’ The chairman didn’t look convinced. ‘But there is no doubt that your wedding would divert attention and give the press something positive to think about. You should marry without delay.’
It was a suggestion she hadn’t anticipated and Taylor felt Luca’s arm tighten around her.
‘A rushed wedding would lead people to assume Taylor was pregnant and none of us want that.’
The chairman’s smile faded. ‘You don’t want to be pregnant?’
‘Of course she wants to be pregnant.’ Luca’s gaze drifted over the heads of the people around them. ‘But not before we’re married.’
The chairman relaxed slightly. ‘The press is full of pictures of your romantic dinner together last night. Love has transformed you, Luca. A big family is exactly what you need. I assume Taylor will be giving up her career once you’re married?’
Taylor choked on her champagne and Luca thumped her on the back.
‘Taylor can’t wait to have children,’ he said smoothly as he gave her time to compose herself. ‘To the world she’s this fantastic, glamorous movie star but underneath all she wants is to walk barefoot round my kitchen, cooking my dinner and nursing my babies. She’s a real earth-mother type, aren’t you, angelo mia?’
Taylor had the feeling he was enjoying himself hugely. ‘Babies—’ she played along ‘—I can’t wait. We’ve agreed on at least six, haven’t we, Luca?’
‘Six?’ It was his turn to be startled. ‘Of course, bellissima. I’m all too happy to make as many babies as you would like as long as you’re sure you can cope with them while I’m away on business. Which might be often.’ His sensual mouth flickered at the corners and she found herself looking at that mouth and thinking of the way he kissed.
‘We’ll travel with you, my heart.’
‘Bene! I’ll be working on my laptop while six adorable little children, all dressed in Corretti Bambino crawl all over you wanting you to read to them, play with them and tuck them in at night.’
The image he painted was so vivid she couldn’t breathe. It was supposed to be a private joke but Taylor didn’t feel like laughing. How would it feel, she wondered, to have a family like that? A family that supported one another? It wasn’t a life she’d ever imagined for herself. Whenever she looked into her future she saw herself alone because any alternative scenario involved trust, and she knew she wasn’t capable of that.
Sadness squeezed her chest, as unexpected as it was painful.
The chairman patted Luca on the shoulder. ‘We’ll leave you two young things to mingle.’ Smiling benignly, he drew Nico away and Luca and Taylor were left alone in the crowd.
Realising that some response was expected from her, she gave a wan smile. ‘I didn’t realise you had a Corretti Bambino range.’
‘We don’t, but I’m just realising what an opportunity we’re missing. I’ve finally found a use for children—I can use them to increase my profits. And the idea has potential to be expanded into the hotel group—a range of clothes to give guests the chance to make sure their child co-ordinates perfectly with their hotel suite. If we do it well, they won’t even know the children are there.’
She knew she was supposed to laugh. She knew he was being outrageous on purpose, but the lump in her throat was wedged so securely she didn’t trust herself to speak and the feelings were so unexpected she had no idea how to deal with them.
Registering her lack of response, his smile faded and he tilted his head slightly. ‘You’re furious with me? I was joking, tesoro. I know you wouldn’t want all that barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen stuff, but it was what they needed to hear.’
‘Yes.’ Her voice husky and she changed the subject quickly. ‘Your family seems about as supportive as mine. Why do you want to work with them when you already have your own successful business?’
‘Because they think I can’t do it.’ Luca removed her empty glass from her hand and gave it to a waitress. ‘I have a congenital urge to prove everyone around me wrong. And I’m a Corretti. We were born competitive.’ As he talked, Taylor felt herself relax and decided she was just tired. Everyone had strange thoughts when they were tired, didn’t they?
‘But you’re not just Corretti, are you? You’re Marco Sparacino’s grandson.’
‘Have you been looking me up?’
‘Maybe.’
‘Non importa. I looked you up too.’
‘I’m boring, but your grandfather was a fashion legend. Right up there with Chanel and Dior. I read his autobiography, A Life in Colour. It was fascinating. What was it like growing up with him?’
‘It was hell. He used to criticise what we were wearing. It drove my mother insane. No matter how she dressed, he used to tell her what she should be doing differently. It made her deeply insecure and she grew up thinking every problem could be solved if you were wearing the right thing.’ There was an edge to his voice that made her want to delve deeper but it wasn’t the right time or the right place, with people pressing in on them from all sides.
‘I’ve se
en photos of your mother. She’s always so elegant.’
Luca’s fingers tightened on the stem of his glass. ‘Appearance was—still is—important to her.’
‘The daughter of Marco Sparacino—how could it not be? So how did you handle him? I can’t imagine you did what you were told.’
‘I got so fed up with my grandfather telling me I was wearing the wrong thing that I once turned up to a lunch stark naked.’ Luca drained his glass. ‘When he bawled me out I told him there was no point in getting dressed because he always told me to get changed anyway. He never criticised me after that.’
Taylor laughed. ‘I can imagine you saying that. How old were you?’
‘Nine, I think. I don’t remember. All I remember was learning that pleasing people is a thankless task and you’re much better off pleasing yourself.’
‘But you made him proud. You’ve turned Corretti into something that people associate with luxury and elegance.’
‘When I took over, the focus was on couture. I persuaded them to take a more integrated business model. We expanded into ready-to-wear and accessories and then we launched Corretti Home. Furniture, lighting, bed linen…’ He gave a mocking smile. ‘You can date in your Corretti dress and then go home and have sex on your luxurious Corretti sofa wrapped up in Corretti sheets.’
‘Is that your tag line? Corretti—Bedlinen for Better Sex?’
‘Not officially but I think it’s possibly an improvement on the one we picked for the campaign. Thank you, by the way—’ his tone was casual ‘—you were brilliant tonight. I haven’t had a chance to ask how it went today on set. Did Rafaele behave himself?’
‘It went well.’ She chose not to divulge just how awful the day had been but Luca’s gaze was steady on her face and she had a feeling he knew.
‘If he steps out of line, tell me.’
‘He’s my problem.’
‘You’re my fiancée.’
Her stomach curled and knotted. And that, she thought, was turning out to be more complicated than she’d ever imagined.