‘I asked you to.’
‘And I jumped at the chance. You’re right, Dante. I need to be needed. I want to be wanted. If I’m not useful, then who am I?’
‘Maddie, you are a warm, compassionate woman. A warm, compassionate, hardworking and intelligent woman. You don’t need other people’s approval to validate you.’
She looked up at him, her eyes so dark a grey they were almost black. ‘I shouldn’t but I do. Pathetic, I know. That’s the worst part—I do know and yet I make the same mistakes over and over.’
‘Maddie.’ Dante stepped forward and laid a hand on her shoulder, her skin impossibly smooth, impossibly silky, and his hands ached with the memory of how soft she had been under his hands. How warm, how welcoming, how comforting. How intoxicating. ‘I need to apologise for this last week. I put you in a very difficult position and I want you to know how much I appreciate it. It was always going to be hard lying to Luciana without adding in other complications...’
‘By complications you mean sleeping together? That was my decision, Dante, and I own it. Let me have that at least.’
‘But I allowed our intimacy to scare me away and that was wrong.’
‘You’ve been avoiding me.’
‘I have,’ he confirmed. A wry smile escaped him. ‘Which, considering I was simultaneously paying you to pretend to be my girlfriend, was foolish as well as rude.’
A brittle laugh escaped her. ‘All you’ve done is convince Luciana that we are mad for each other. She’s noticed how we never touch or look at each other and she’s decided it’s because we’d spontaneously combust if we did.’
‘She might be right,’ he said hoarsely. Satisfaction ran through him as Maddie quivered under his hand. ‘Every time I look at you I remember what you feel like, what you taste like...’
‘Please. Don’t. It’s hard enough.’
He stepped back, his hand dropping to his side, his whole body chilled despite the heat of the summer’s day. ‘I should never have asked you to lie for me. I just wanted...’ He closed his eyes briefly, trying to find the right words. ‘Sometimes, Maddie, it seems that all I do is hurt people—Violetta, Luciana, you—and yet all I want is to do what’s right. I know that anything grounded in deceit is wrong and yet I blundered on and here we are. I should have been honest with Luciana in the beginning. Maybe it’s time she and I have that conversation.’
Maddie frowned. ‘I can’t disagree; I think a lot of heartbreak could have been saved if you had been honest earlier. And maybe it is time to have a real, proper talk with your sister. But I also think you should wait until after the ball. Enjoy the next few weeks; save the serious discussion for afterwards. She looks so much better than when she arrived; wait till she’s even more rested.’
‘I can’t ask you to keep pretending...’
‘Yes. You can. You can ask—and then it’s up to me to decide whether I am happy to carry on or not. But, Dante, if I do say yes there will be some rules. I may be your employee but that doesn’t mean I don’t deserve to be treated with respect.’
‘Understood. I should never have made you feel that was in doubt.’
‘No. And I shouldn’t have allowed you to. Deal?’ She held out her hand and Dante took it.
The feeling of coming home as he clasped her cool hand, felt her fingers enclose his, was so profound it almost hurt. Hurriedly he let go. ‘Deal.’
‘Okay. I’d better go. I have a feeling Luciana will have already stirred the entire staff up into a frenzy and we do have two weddings to host before the ball.’ But although she shifted as she spoke she didn’t actually move, her storm-coloured eyes fixed on his.
‘This might be your last moment of calm for two weeks. If I were you I would enjoy it. I have a feeling everyone is going to be turning to you a lot over the next few days.’ He hesitated. ‘Maddie. You can tell me to go to hell but I have to ask. Why do you need other people’s validation? You’re clever and organised and brilliant with people. You’re creative, clear-thinking—Guido has been singing your praises for months. The castello is actually beginning to pay its way and a lot of the credit for that goes to you. And, not that it should matter, but I have to be honest and point out that you are also incredibly beautiful and sexy as hell. The world should be at your feet. I see that, we all see that. Why don’t you?’
Maddie just stood and stared at him, her mouth half-open in surprise. ‘I... No one has ever said that to me before. Thank you.’
‘Then you are surrounding yourself with the wrong people.’
‘That is probably true. The problem is, I’m related to half of them.’ She smiled but it was a half-hearted attempt.
‘Didn’t you single-handedly turn around your family fortunes?’
‘Pretty much.’
‘I’ll love Arianna no matter what she chooses to do, but if she shows a tenth of the initiative and drive you did when she’s sixteen I’ll be unbearably proud. How can they not be?’
Maddie’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. ‘The problem was, I was born first. That meant my parents had a couple of years of worry until my brother came along and made sure the title and estate were safely secured. You understand that; you have the Castello Falcone. It’s bred into you. Part of you. Everything the whole family does is about preserving it, readying it for future generations. That’s implicit. But if, like me, you’re not destined to inherit, then you spend your whole childhood knowing you have to leave it. That you’re only ever a visitor, a footnote in the family history, not the main character.’
She sighed and then began to walk along the path again away from the castello, Dante falling into step beside her as they rounded a bend and began to climb away from the lake and through the pine forest. After a long pause she began to speak again, almost as if she were speaking to herself. He just a bystander. ‘It didn’t make sense when I was little. I was the oldest—not that being the oldest necessarily makes anyone the perfect heir, but still—so why was Teddy going to inherit? I just couldn’t understand it. But every time I pointed out how unfair it was for women to be excluded from the succession it was as if I was committing family treason—it was even worse when I got briefly involved with a pressure group of other women pushing for change in the archaic laws.’
‘Did your family feel as if you were criticising them?’
‘Maybe. I didn’t mean any of it personally, but of course my father had an older sister; his father too. I can see why they were—are—so resistant.’ She sighed. ‘They weren’t even that comfortable with all the work I did to make Stilling Abbey profitable—because the money goes with the title. It wasn’t really my place to get involved. I just didn’t know my place, that was the problem—is the problem. Now I don’t know where I belong at all. That’s what I need to figure out.’
‘You must have been lonely.’ Dante couldn’t imagine it. He too had been brought up in a grand old house owned by generations of his forebears, although he knew, unlike Maddie, that one day it would pass to him to look after. But, although he and Luciana had been brought up in a house that was larger than the norm, older than the norm, it was still filled with love and affection.
‘I was. You know, Teddy’s school reports were exclaimed over, mine ignored, even though my marks were better. My mother wanted to know why I wasn’t making the right friends, going to the right parties—fitting in and making social contacts were more important to her than any grade. My dad praised me when I looked nice, or if I was in some stupid catwalk show, or won a gymkhana, but he didn’t ever praise my maths grades. I just wanted them to be proud of me. Is that so wrong?’
‘It’s not wrong at all.’
‘They gave me my head for a time, but when Teddy finished university it was made clear that I had got too close. That I needed to step back, step away. Oh, they never said anything outright, but they froze me out.’ Her voice broke and instinctively Dante re
ached for her hand and she grasped it as if he were a lifeline. ‘That’s when I went on a visit to Theo’s parents’ and I just never left. They needed me and they were so grateful for the smallest thing. It was intoxicating. I just wanted to be part of them, their family, their home. To be wanted and needed and appreciated. Marrying Theo would give me all that—a family. Only he didn’t want or need me at all.’
‘Then he’s a fool.’
‘No. He’s not, although it’s very kind of you to say so.’
‘Maddie.’ Dante halted, pulling her to a stop, and she looked up at him, her eyes still darkened to stormy grey. All he wanted was to wipe away the doubt and sadness he saw there. ‘I can tell you honestly that everyone at the castello will miss you when you leave. And not just because you are hardworking, but also because you’re you. When Guido heard you were leaving at the end of August he threatened to walk out unless I paid you enough to make you stay.’
Maddie’s smile was tremulous. ‘That’s very kind of him.’
‘Nonsense. No one cares about your name or family here. They care about you.’
Her smile was tremulous. Dante couldn’t tear his gaze away from her full mouth, wanting to kiss the doubt and unhappiness away.
‘I don’t mind helping with the ball because I think it will be fun to see the castello in its full glory. And personally I would feel uncomfortable if Luciana knew we’d deceived her. I like her and I don’t want things to be awkward. So I’d rather keep pretending until the ball is over if that’s okay with you—I leave a few days later anyway.’
‘Your ticket’s booked?’ Dante didn’t want to think about why that thought disturbed him.
‘I did it yesterday. Thank you. And for the bonus. It was more than I was expecting.’
‘Enough for the sloths?’
‘Oh, yes. I’m planning a whole week hanging out near the sloth sanctuary before I head down to Peru for trekking and culture. With the bonus and my savings I’ve enough to travel through Central America; I won’t need to look for work until I get to Australia. So, do you agree? That it’s best we keep pretending?’
Dante swallowed. ‘I think that will work. I do have a suggestion though.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Back on the boat, in Verona, we said we’d see how things went. Remember? I think we—I—have made a mess of this week. I’d like to do better.’
‘Oh?’ Maddie’s mouth trembled. ‘And how are you proposing to do that?’
‘I was hoping...’ He stepped forward, deliberately backing her up until she was leaning against a tree, her eyes shadowed by long lashes as he looked down at her. ‘I was hoping we could seal our new start with a kiss.’
He waited, unsure whether he had overstepped, whether it was too late, whether reigniting the passion that had flamed so brightly it had almost burned him was a mistake. But all he knew was that he couldn’t spend two more weeks with Maddie and not kiss her. Not touch her. Not consume her as she consumed him.
‘A kiss? Is that wise?’
‘Are kisses meant to be wise?’
‘Maybe not,’ she said and looked up at him at last, her eyes vulnerable in their trust, with their need. ‘Maybe that’s the point. Maybe that’s what we both need, some carefree kisses.’
‘Maybe.’ But there was nothing carefree about kissing Maddie as his hand travelled down her arm to her waist, as his other hand tilted her chin, as his skin thrilled to her touch and his heart beat in unison with hers. As their eyes locked, as his mouth slanted towards her, as he heard her sigh in anticipation and his whole body thrilled in response he knew that every kiss would have its price. But there was no way he was going to stop. Could stop. Not while her touch urged him on, her body melding into his. Whatever the price, he was willing to pay.
CHAPTER TEN
‘OH, MADDIE! THIS is wonderful. You are a genius.’
‘I’m not sure about that,’ Maddie said, laughing at Luciana’s exuberance. ‘Although the castello does look rather magical. But I had a lot of help. Everyone has worked so hard.’
They had. Not only the castello staff, who had pulled double shifts and forgone days off, but most of the village had turned out as well, offering their services as waiters, cleaners, pot-washers—anything that needed doing to ensure the ball was a success. Apparently it was a tradition for the villagers to help out at castello events, not just because they were well-paid for doing so, but also because the staff party that followed on was legendary and no one wanted to miss out. It was a little odd to see the schoolteacher mixing cocktails and the woman who cut Maddie’s hair serving canapés, but it also made the whole ball feel even more like a family affair with everyone pitching in.
Luciana had insisted that Maddie should attend, despite her protestations that it was much easier to deal with any last-minute hiccups if she wasn’t in a long dress and heels. But she’d been overruled. Maddie suspected that her friend just wanted to watch Dante and Maddie dance together. It looked as if Luciana would get her wish. Maddie had promised him one dance.
Just the one. Because tomorrow Luciana and her family would be departing back to New Zealand and there would be no reason for Maddie and Dante to pretend they were anything other than two lonely people who had made a temporary connection any more. This Cinderella would be jumping on a plane in just a few days and the Conte would return to Rome and his life there. It was time for their summer idyll to come to an end.
Which was all for the best because the last two weeks had been terrifying—a pretend girlfriend by day and a secret lover by night. The days had been easy. As predicted, she’d been far too busy to spend much time with Luciana and her family. The few moments she had been able to snatch away from her work she’d been busy booking accommodation in the US and Central America, making sure as much of her first month was organised as possible.
But at night...that was Dante’s time and he made the most of it. Maddie was existing on barely any sleep and yet she’d never felt more energised. She finally understood why her friends had glowed at the beginning of a relationship, the potent, heady mixture of hormones and sex and desire making every nerve end come alive.
If only it were just sex. That she could handle. After all, she was well overdue an indulgent affair. But it was so much more—and that she was finding a lot more difficult to manage.
It wasn’t that Maddie didn’t appreciate the late-night lakeside picnics—and the late-night skinny-dipping. Or the evening trips back to Lake Garda for dinner on board the boat as it sailed out across the lake. Or the dinner in the tiny mountaintop restaurant. Or even the night he had brought pizza to her apartment and they’d eaten it in bed whilst he’d helped her plan out her first month’s travels. No, she appreciated every moment of it. Only, in a way, she had preferred the morose man who couldn’t even look at her.
Because that man would have been easy to leave.
Unlike the man whose smile still hit her with its sweetness, the man with the knowing touch, the sweet kisses and who seemed to know exactly what she wanted before she did.
She knew the rules. No strings, no ties, for a few weeks only. She’d helped write them after all.
She just hadn’t appreciated how easy they would be to break.
‘You look beautiful.’ Arianna appeared at her side and was gazing up at Maddie with a worshipful expression that caught at Maddie’s heart.
‘So do you,’ she said honestly. The usually grubby urchin who lived her life in shorts and a T-shirt was wearing a red dress, her dark hair shining as it fell down her back confined with a large bow.
Arianna pulled a face. ‘Zia Luciana insisted. I would have refused, but she’s made the boys wear suits.’ She pointed over to the other side of the medieval hall where three small boys were standing scowling mutinously, each of them spic and span in neat blue suits. ‘That’s far worse, isn’t it?’
; ‘My sons look very handsome,’ Luciana said indignantly. ‘Come on, Arianna. Let’s make sure your nonna is ready for her grand entrance. She wants all her grandchildren to escort her.’
‘And then we can play!’ Arianna twirled round, her skirts swirling around her knees. ‘Maddie, will you dance with me later? The boys don’t dance. They think they are too cool.’
‘No one is too cool to dance, don’t worry, Arianna. I bet we can get those boys on the dance floor and having fun.’
‘Run over to your cousins, Ari.’ Luciana ran a hand through her small niece’s hair. ‘And take them up to Nonna’s room. I’ll be there in a minute. I just need to check everything is in place.’
‘Luciana,’ Maddie said, laughing as she watched Arianna strut over to her cousins, every step proclaiming that she was in charge. ‘Everything is in place. We’ve been through it ten times.’
‘The band know the signal?’
‘Yes.’
‘The guests all know to be in the hall?’
‘I have people rounding up any strays.’
‘Dante has his speech ready?’
‘He was pacing up and down and muttering it to himself, so, yes, I believe so. Go, get your mother and we can get this party started.’
‘You are an absolute treasure. There is no way I could have done this without you.’
‘Nonsense!’
‘I am serious. And my brother looks happier that I have seen him in a long time. Forgive me for saying this, but it’s a different happiness to before. More measured, less feverish. He was a boy then. This is a man’s happiness.’
‘Luciana...’ Maddie shifted, uncomfortable with the topic.
‘And Ari adores you. My heart used to break for her, but I can go back to New Zealand happy, knowing that you are here.’ Luciana leaned forward and embraced Maddie with a kiss on both cheeks, before turning and heading out of the hall. Maddie stood and watched her go, her chest tight.
Summer Romance with the Italian Tycoon Page 12