by Annie West
That dimple danced again in her cheek as she leaned in and let her rosy nipples sway across his torso.
She shifted, moving to kneel before him, except Massimo knew one touch of her mouth would have him detonating. He wanted to make this last. He grabbed her under the arms and lifted her off her feet, watching her eyes widen and her mouth form an O of surprise.
Heat smacked him as he watched her lips.
He had to be crazy, denying himself. But as he lifted her onto a clear space on the wide marble counter, he felt nothing but anticipation and satisfaction at the picture she made, all milk-white skin and burnished, silken hair. Softness and beckoning invitation.
Gina wriggled right to the edge of the counter and spread her knees wide in invitation.
Dimly Massimo thought of the conversation he’d planned to have with her. The understanding they had to reach, the past issues they must discuss. But it could wait. His need, and Gina’s, were too pressing right now.
See, she was impatient with even this small delay. She grabbed his hand and licked across his palm, right down to his wrist then slowly back again, finally taking his finger in her mouth and sucking so hard her cheeks hollowed.
His erection jerked in response and a flurry of pinpricks scattered across his upper back and chest while his groin tightened impossibly.
Gina dragged his finger from her mouth with an audible pop. Her lips glistened as she looked up at him, her expression sultry. ‘I want you now, Massimo.’
He was only too willing to oblige. Which was how he came to ravish his wife on the marble kitchen worktop. After which they were both too exhausted to do more than tumble back into bed and hold each other close.
They never did get around to having that important discussion.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
* * *
Frustration warred with pride, delight and anticipation as Massimo wrapped his arm around Gina’s slender waist and ushered her into the party.
Frustration because, after sleeping late, he’d had to race out of the apartment before Gina woke. Milan meant business and as a CEO Massimo couldn’t afford to slack off just for pleasure. Not when he’d invested seven years of his life, plus, he recognised with a pang, his marriage, to drag the company to this point of success.
So he and Gina hadn’t talked, not properly. He’d worked all day and by the time he returned she was out doing interviews for her latest film.
What little time they’d had in the apartment had been spent tumbled on Gina’s bed, driving themselves to a pinnacle of passion that by rights should have prevented them moving afterwards.
No wonder he smiled broadly as he introduced Gina to the great and the good who’d turned out for tonight’s gala. Great sex made even tedious socialising bearable, especially with Gina snuggled up against him, looking like a goddess in that stunning dress of shimmering gold. Later, after he’d ripped it off her, he’d have to find out who designed it. The House of Conti was always looking for new talent.
He caught Gina’s eye and saw his own awareness reflected in her glowing look. Satisfaction filled him, and the anticipation of spending the night making love to his gorgeous wife.
Yet he wanted more. Gina had stopped running from him. She touched him all the time, as if, like he, she was powerless to resist the attraction burning so bright between them.
But Massimo didn’t merely want a sexy lover. He wanted Gina. The whole package. The woman who’d fascinated him from the first. The woman he’d loved. The woman he’d believed had loved him back...until she walked out on their marriage when he needed her most.
Someone buffeted them from behind and he clamped his hand onto her hip, pulling her close. Her slender form shaped perfectly against him. He splayed his fingers possessively, eliciting a smoky glance full of promise. Fire roared through his veins.
Who knows? After last night she might even be pregnant with his child. For the first time ever he’d been too out of control to take precautions, plus he’d assumed she was protected. It had come as a shock when she’d admitted she wasn’t using birth control. That she, like he, hadn’t been with anyone else during their separation.
Discovering that had sent a confused tumble of emotions through him. Paramount among them had been gratitude. Because surely it meant she cared, that their marriage still meant something to her.
Her face had flushed when she’d told him. Almost as if she’d been embarrassed to admit it. Her gaze had collided with his, fierce and proud and just a little unsure. In retrospect, he should have recognised she was as uncertain about their relationship as he was, and seized the opportunity to talk. Instead, the news Gina had never been with anyone but him had ignited such a surge of possessive triumph that Massimo had let his libido do the thinking, and seduced her all over again.
Massimo shifted his gaze from the film fan who was talking eagerly to Gina. He wondered if, despite the networking he needed to do tonight, he could get away early and have that heart to heart with Gina. The sooner they established an understanding the sooner—
His thoughts splintered as he looked across the room and saw a tall, older woman, svelte and elegant in a black dress and minimal yet stylish jewellery.
She turned and caught his stare. Even from this distance he read a query in the lift of one eyebrow and in her grey-green eyes. Then she turned to speak to someone and disappeared into the crowd.
What the hell was his mother doing here? Last he heard she was at home looking after his father as he recovered from a winter flu.
*
Gina made her way back from the ladies room, head pounding and nerves on edge. It wasn’t the strangers at the party who bothered her. It was Massimo.
No, that wasn’t right. It was herself.
Ever since last night when Massimo had seduced her, and she’d been weak enough to let him, she felt as if she inhabited some fantasy world far removed from reality.
He’d all but dared her to have sex with him and had she resisted? No, she’d melted in a puddle of lust and let him do whatever he wanted with her.
The tragic thing was she’d wanted everything he did to her. And more besides.
Heat crawled up her throat as she remembered how she’d leapt on him as soon as she’d walked in the door this evening. And last night, she’d sashayed naked into the kitchen because when she’d woken alone, fear and loneliness had snaked through her, destroying the fragile Eden they’d created together. She’d had to follow him.
That fear had been reinforced when Massimo wanted to talk. He’d looked so serious she’d panicked, shying from the prospect and deliberately distracting him with sex. Since the febrile glitter in his eyes was purely carnal, she’d guessed he wanted to extend their affair.
Even in her desperate state she knew that would be dangerous. Staying with him longer only fed the hope that this time things could be different. That Massimo wanted the real Gina, not some modified version who’d come up to his exacting standards.
When Massimo had revealed he hadn’t been with any other woman since her, he’d yanked at her heart. It felt like he’d dragged it from her body, till it lay beating helplessly at his feet. She was so vulnerable to that man!
She’d wanted to see his celibacy as proof he cared for her. But if he cared, why be so awful to her in Venice? Why treat her that way? Physically it felt as if she touched heaven when she was with him, but emotionally... Did she dare lay herself open to even more pain than she’d already endured? Did she dare stay with him in the hope that he’d changed?
Gina was torn between hope and fear. The trouble was that life, and Massimo, had taught her to be a realist.
She’d told herself for so long that Massimo was selfish and unsupportive. That she was well rid of him. Yet he only had to crook his finger and here she was, playing the masquerade he’d devised, and worse, stripping herself bare.
It might be just sex for him, but Gina understood with a certainty that lay like a dead cold hand across her heart, that she’
d crossed a dangerous boundary. When she gave herself to Massimo she gave everything. Her body but also her heart, her mind, her whole being. She feared when this was over, she’d shatter as she had seven years before, only this time she wouldn’t be able to glue the pieces together again.
Because she still loved her husband.
What was she going to do?
‘Signorina Moretti?’
Gina looked up to see a handsome older woman step away from the shadows of the anteroom that separated them from the party. There was something familiar about her features. Her eyes were the same colour as—
Gina swallowed hard, recognising the family resemblance.
‘Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Giulia Conti, Massimo’s mother.’
The woman who’d abused her over the phone all those years ago. Gina’s stomach cramped and her chin lifted defensively. Massimo’s family hadn’t approved of her and no doubt they didn’t like seeing him hooking up with her again – an illegitimate actress whose family tree was hardly illustrious. Was she here to warn Gina off?
‘Signora Conti.’ Gina inclined her head stiffly.
‘Could we go somewhere more private? I need to talk with you.’ The older woman looked over her shoulder towards the open doorway to where the party was in full swing. The movement emphasised her patrician profile and the exquisite cut of her smoothly styled hair.
Everything about her spoke of money and refinement. Even her nose seemed designed to look down on lesser beings.
‘I’m happy to talk here.’ Gina stood straighter, bracing herself for the worst. Surely the woman wouldn’t berate her here, though she’d probably hand out a warning about not getting too comfortable with Massimo.
Gina’s stomach lurched. As if she could do that! She was living a brief fantasy and she knew it. She hadn’t been able to resist the blaze of desire and had finally surrendered to it in the vain hope it would burn itself out.
‘Very well.’ Giulia Conti lifted her chin and firmed her lips. But instead of appearing disapproving, Gina was intrigued to discover the woman looked nervous. What had she to be nervous about?
‘You and Massimo look...happy together.’
Gina didn’t respond. What could she say? That they were deeply in lust? Not the thing to share with his mother.
The older woman shook her head and sighed. ‘I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.’
Gina watched curiously, finally taking in Giulia’s death grip on her evening purse and the way she kept swallowing as if her throat were dry.
Gina stifled a sigh. ‘What can I do for you, Signora Conti?’
Might as well get this over with. She just hoped it wasn’t going to be too poisonous.
‘I...I’m so pleased to see you and Massimo together.’ The woman’s grey-green gaze, so like her son’s, stopped darting around the small room and fixed on Gina with an intensity that rocked her back on her feet.
‘Pardon?’
Giulia’s mouth turned down. ‘Of course you’re surprised.’ She paused, swallowing yet again. ‘I’m afraid I don’t precisely remember everything I said to you all those years ago, but what I do recall is enough to mortify me.’
Gina opened her mouth then shut it, unable to think of anything to say.
The other woman waved one elegantly tapered hand in an abrupt, jerky motion. ‘I must apologise for that. Later on, when I realised...’ She lifted her shoulders. ‘I’d thought I’d have a chance to say sorry in person when you joined Massimo but I never got the opportunity.’
Strangely, Gina didn’t hear the censure she’d expected over the fact she hadn’t gone to Massimo to live in his family home. What was going on?
‘So I’m taking the opportunity now.’ The woman’s narrow jaw rose and once more she met Gina’s bemused stare. ‘I don’t know how much Massimo has told you about what happened at that time.’
‘He said your husband was ill and you needed him there.’
‘That’s all?’ Giulia’s eyes narrowed and slowly she nodded. ‘I did, desperately. That day you rang I’m afraid I was rather hysterical. To be blunt I was having a complete meltdown. I’d just discovered...things about my husband, about our situation, that rocked me to the core. My world had turned on its head. It was no excuse for the way I reacted to your call and I apologise. You must have thought me a complete harpy.’
Gina had, but seeing the older woman’s trembling sincerity, her sympathy rose. There was no doubt this woman was genuinely remorseful.
‘Thank you, Signora Conti. I appreciate that.’
Giulia’s mouth turned up in a wry smile. ‘Signora Conti. That’s both of us, even if it’s not publicly known.’
Gina’s eyes widened. She kept thinking in terms of Massimo’s family, Massimo’s mother. It was strange to think of this earnest woman as her mother-in-law.
As if she’d read her mind Giulia continued. ‘When I heard you and Massimo were together here, I had to see you.’
Here it comes. The sting in the tail.
Gina lifted a hand to brush her hair back off her face in an attempt to appear insouciant. She suspected it didn’t work.
Cool, bony fingers closed around her hand as she lowered it, eliciting a ripple of surprise. ‘I know it’s years late but I wanted to welcome you to the family, my dear. I hope you can forgive me for the things I said to you. They truly weren’t about you but about...other matters.’
Gina felt her eyes round. ‘They weren’t?’ she finally managed to whisper.
‘No. Though to my shame I’m sure it sounded like it. The truth is I’ve relied on Massimo far too much, we all have. And supporting us has taken its toll. He deserves happiness. When I saw you both tonight, how happy you are together, it just proved you’re the woman for him.’
‘Please, Signora Conti.’ Gina’s head was reeling. It felt like the floor rippled beneath her feet as the world tilted out of alignment. ‘You don’t understand—’
‘Mother!’ The word was whiplash sharp, flicking around them. Giulia stiffened, her hold tightening on Gina’s fingers.
‘Massimo. I was just making Gina’s acquaintance.’
Gina turned to see Massimo scowling at them. Obviously he wasn’t happy to see her and his mother together.
Because he doesn’t want anyone making the mistake of thinking you’re a permanent part of his life?
After all, he’d specified he wanted her for a single week. That was all he needed to use her name for his company. And her body for his pleasure.
For some bizarre reason Massimo hadn’t taken another lover but it seemed for him that was all they shared - a phenomenal sexual attraction. He hadn’t spoken of love, just of want, even in the throes of passion. Maybe he hoped this week would cure him of that? The idea shredded her fragile hopes.
If he’d loved her and aimed to re-establish their marriage he’d have told her in Venice. He wouldn’t have been so brutal, forcing her here as his hostess, his pretend partner.
Or, the idea emerged out of nowhere, was this masquerade some sort of twisted payback? Because she hadn’t been an obedient wife all those years before?
Suddenly the shock that had held her immobile smashed and hurt poured through the cracks. Gina stepped back on unsteady legs, away from both Contis.
She couldn’t think here. She needed to be alone to grapple with her fears and work out what to do.
‘Gina, are you all right? You look pale.’ The concern in his voice might have been convincing if Gina hadn’t spied the gossip columnist who’d appeared in the doorway behind him, her gaze going avidly from one to the other.
Damage limitation. That’s what Massimo was doing. He must know they were being watched.
Gina was sick of the pretence. Sick of everything.
She pasted on a stiff smile. ‘It was a pleasure to meet you, Signora Conti. But I’m afraid I have to leave. I have quite a headache.’
‘I’ll take you.’ Massimo stepped forward and the pain piercing Gina’s chest tu
rned into an ache that spread through her whole body.
‘No. Stay and chat with your mother. You still have a lot of people you need to see. I’ll catch a taxi.’ With that she turned and hurried away.
The glittering crowd was a blur as she stumbled through it. People called her name and once or twice she caught the flash of a camera but she kept going.
Finally, at the entrance to the grand old building she managed to breathe again. Soon she’d be alone. Soon she wouldn’t have to pretend she was all right. Then perhaps she’d be able to wrap her head around what had just happened.
One more step forward and Gina was looking through the glass doors for a taxi when a hand closed hard and hot around her elbow.
Gina didn’t turn. She knew Massimo’s touch, his presence, his fresh outdoorsy male scent.
A quiver ran through her. She could pretend all she wanted but in reality she was tied to this man by more than sex or his sordid blackmail deal. A silly part of her had thrilled to hear his mother welcome her to the family.
As if there was any chance they could mend their marriage! What they’d shared for those few brief months had been a sweet, heady illusion. They couldn’t go back.
‘Come, tesoro. I’ll see you home.’
Gina didn’t have the energy to respond but her mouth curved in a crooked smile. Home was the one place she suspected he’d never take her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
* * *
It didn’t take long to get back to the apartment. Fortunately Massimo didn’t press her to talk on the way. She felt utterly exhausted and not from lack of sleep. Gina was weary with a marrow-deep exhaustion that was emotional, not physical. Every bone and sinew ached with the effort of keeping her head up, her expression bland.
It had been a mistake giving in to Massimo and coming to Milan. It was a mistake spending any time with him at all, as it only made her aware of how invested she still was in him.
But they couldn’t continue like this. The time had come for a reckoning. Silently she preceded him into the apartment and made straight for the kitchen. She was turning on the coffee machine when his deep voice wound around her like a physical caress.