by Sarah Morgan
‘And you gave her one.’ She couldn’t keep the reproach out of her voice and he gave a dismissive shrug.
‘There was a vacancy in my administrative team. Ruby is decorative, sociable and a relatively competent secretary.’
‘Relatively?’
Alessio’s mouth curved into a faint smile. ‘Well, she’s not here, is she? She does have a tendency to become—easily distracted.’
‘By your playboy brother, presumably.’ Frustration mingled with anxiety and Lindsay shook her head. ‘You didn’t think that throwing the two of them together might not be a good idea?’
‘I allow my sibling to lead his own life. And unlike you I don’t see anything wrong with animal passion. On the contrary, I endorse animal passion. It’s one of the few truly honest human emotions.’ With a casual movement Alessio unhooked the towel and threw it carelessly over the nearest bench. ‘You ought to try it some time.’
Blinded by a disturbing vision of raw masculine perfection, Lindsay felt her mouth dry and looked away quickly. ‘You’re doing this on purpose,’ she muttered hoarsely, ‘trying to unnerve me.’
‘Does it unnerve you my being naked?’ As relaxed as she was tense, he ripped the packaging from a fresh shirt and thrust his arms into the sleeves. ‘That’s interesting. Next time you’re analysing behaviour, you might want to dwell on that. Deep down, buried underneath that layer of control, is a real woman trying to get out.’
‘Ruby.’ Her voice hoarse, Lindsay kept her eyes fixed on a point on the wall, trying to erase the shockingly vivid image of dark body hair and substantial manhood. ‘We were talking about Ruby. You don’t even care that she might have gone off with your brother.’
‘On the contrary, I do care. I’m as keen as you are to contact her. You can look. I’m decent.’
‘You are? I mean—you want to know where she is, too?’ Relief flooded through her. Perhaps she’d misjudged him. He did, after all, have a human side. ‘Then what have you done so far? Have you tried to contact your brother?’
He’d pulled on a pair of beautifully cut dark grey trousers, but the white shirt still hung loose, affording a tantalising glimpse of masculine chest hair shading hard muscle. ‘Like your sister, he isn’t answering his phone. I suspect they’re otherwise occupied.’
Lindsay made a distressed sound. ‘But you can find them. I know you have contacts. It won’t take you long to track them down.’
The snowy-white silk shirt seemed to emphasise his masculinity and Alessio threw an amused look in her direction as he fastened the buttons with slow, deliberate movements of his long fingers. ‘Your belief in the degree of my influence is quite sweet. Do powerful men turn you on, Lindsay?’
‘Please stop it.’ A hoarse whisper was all she could manage because her body was in such a turbulent state. ‘Please, please stop it. I’m just relieved that you’re as keen as I am to intervene before this relationship goes too far.’
‘I have no intention of intervening in the relationship.’
Confused, Lindsay frowned. ‘But you said—’
‘I said that I am as keen as you are to find out where Ruby is—’he reached for his silk tie ‘—but not because I intend to counsel her on her choice of men. I believe in letting people make their own mistakes in life.’
Lindsay just stared at him. ‘Then why are you keen to find her?’
‘Under the terms of her contract, your sister was obliged to give notice if she intended to terminate her employment. She hasn’t.’ With skilful grace his fingers produced a perfect knot and he eased the tie up to his bronzed throat. ‘If she doesn’t turn up for work by four o’clock this afternoon, she loses her job. I thought it only fair to warn her of that fact.’
There was a buzzing in Lindsay’s ears. ‘You’re going to fire her?’ The words came out as an appalled squeak. ‘That’s ridiculous.’
‘That’s business. I employed her to do a job. She’s not doing it. Be grateful I’m not suing her for breach of contract.’ His tone hardened and she gazed at him in shock.
‘Even you can’t be that hard-hearted.’
His eyes held hers. ‘What would you say if I went back to my office this afternoon and fired someone on the spot?’
‘I’d say you were a megalomaniac,’ Lindsay said faintly and a smile flickered at the corners of his mouth.
‘You’d say I was unfair. Employers and employees have a certain responsibility towards each other. I’m a fair employer but I expect the same degree of fairness in my employees. I expect a certain code of behaviour. Your sister broke that code. I intend to make an example of her.’
Lindsay closed her eyes. If she’d thought things were bad before this conversation, they were fast becoming worse.
‘No.’ She shook her head in disbelief. ‘Please don’t do this—Ruby really likes working for you.’ Although she’d never understood why. ‘Losing her job would be devastating.’
‘It will send a clear message to other employees to think twice before they wilfully abandon their contracts.’ Showing not a glimmer of remorse or uncertainty, he reached for his jacket. ‘Your sister has until four o’clock. If she isn’t on my plane, ready to do the job for which she is employed, then her time with my company is over.’
‘Alessio, I’m begging you not to do this—’
His gaze lingered on her face. ‘Normally I have no problems with a woman begging, but on this occasion you’re wasting your time. If she isn’t here within the hour, she’s fired.’
CHAPTER TWO
LINDSAY stood in stunned silence, wondering how a bad situation had suddenly become so much worse.
Ruby was about to lose everything. ‘Please don’t take her job away from her. When her relationship with your brother crashes, Ruby is going to be devastated.’
‘Only if she has unrealistic expectations about relationships, which, being your sister, she undoubtedly will have.’
Reminding herself that an argument on that topic would get her nowhere, Lindsay bit her lip. ‘If she loses her job as well, it will finish her.’
‘Or perhaps it will teach her an important lesson about loyalties, priorities and the fact that actions have consequences.’ His tone was unsympathetic. ‘Ruby is employed by me to do a job. If she can’t or won’t do it, then I don’t want her on my team.’
‘She’s a junior member of your secretarial staff. I’m sure you have literally hundreds of people who could easily take her place on this trip of yours.’
‘That isn’t the point. This is Ruby’s responsibility. If she lets me down, she’s out.’
‘If she lets you down then you should fire your brother!’ Lindsay glared at him. ‘He’s as much to blame for this situation as Ruby. More because he’s eight years older than her!’
‘My brother runs his own area of the business—his actions are of no interest to me.’ Displaying not a whit of sympathy, he slipped his Rolex onto his wrist and fastened it. ‘Stop trying to run her life. You can’t protect her from everything. This might be just the wake-up call that Ruby needs. I’m sure it will prove to be a useful life experience for her. There’s nothing quite like a few knocks to toughen a person up.’
What did someone like him know about knocks? He went through life giving them, not receiving them. Someone with his wealth and confidence knew nothing about struggling to survive. Nothing about uncertainty and insecurity.
‘Ruby needs this job. And she’s usually very responsible. This isn’t like her. I don’t understand it.’
‘My brother and Ruby couldn’t keep their hands off each other. It’s called passion,’ he said dryly. ‘It happens to the best of us.’
‘But they didn’t have to act on it. They’re not children,’ Lindsay said tartly. ‘They should have known better.’
His gaze dropped to her mouth and lingered there with disturbing intensity. ‘You’ve never been so overwhelmed by passion that you throw caution to the wind?’
Her face burned scarlet. ‘I’m an adul
t, Alessio, not a teenager. And one of the characteristics of adulthood is the ability to exercise self-control when the need arises.’
For some reason he seemed to find that amusing. ‘That comment makes me wonder whether that legendary self-control of yours has ever been truly tested.’ His gaze lifted to hers, his dark eyes burning with sexual challenge. ‘When did you last struggle not to rip a man’s clothes off, Lindsay?’
When she’d first met him—
Before she knew who he was and what he did for a living.
Her heart was bumping against her chest. ‘We were talking about Ruby.’
He smiled. ‘So we were. Well, your sister is either lacking your iron self-control, or she is a master tactician who has her eye on a higher prize. There’s always the possibility that she’s hoping that my brother will marry her.’
‘Ruby isn’t interested in marriage.’
‘All women are interested in marriage if the prize is high enough.’ His tone was deeply cynical and Lindsay shook her head.
‘Ruby knows that your brother isn’t the marrying kind any more than you are.’ But he’d scattered doubt in her mind. Did her sister know that? Or was she deluding herself, as so many women did once they were in the throes of passion? ‘We both know that their affair isn’t going to last five minutes.’
Alessio raised his eyebrows. ‘They did your CRAP test?’
Lindsay flushed. ‘We both know that they’re not in love. Theirs is a relationship based on casual sex. To be successful, a relationship has to be founded on real intimacy. But that’s something I don’t for a moment expect you to understand.’
He gave a slow smile. ‘I don’t have any problems with intimacy, Lindsay. In fact, intimacy is my favourite method of relaxation.’
Her entire body warmed under his lazy scrutiny and she straightened her shoulders, instinctively rejecting her response. ‘I’m talking about emotional intimacy.’
He leaned his wide shoulders against the wall, a wicked sparkle in his eyes. ‘By emotional intimacy I assume you mean a cuddle after sex.’ Tilting his glossy dark head to one side, he pretended to consider the point for a moment. ‘I’m not totally averse to that, providing the woman in question has pleased me. I can be generous when it suits me.’
She knew he was winding her up and she also knew that she was getting herself deeper and deeper into trouble. The atmosphere was suddenly impossibly tense and she told herself that it was just because they were talking about sex. ‘Let’s just not even discuss this,’ she muttered faintly. ‘You and I will never agree on what makes a good relationship.’
Under the penetrating force of his dark gaze she felt heat rush through her body.
‘A good relationship is one that ends when it is time for it to end,’ he said dryly, ‘and doesn’t struggle along for years in mortal agony.’
‘Oh, please.’ Determined to ignore everything that was happening to her, Lindsay made an impatient sound. ‘Next you’ll be telling me that divorce lawyers do the human race a favour.’
‘Not the whole human race. Just a select few who I believe to be worthy of my particular skill set.’
‘You make money out of people’s misery.’
‘So do you,’ he returned instantly, the glint in his eyes suddenly hard. ‘The difference between us is that I’ve built a successful business based on reality, whereas yours is based on fantasy. You peddle dreams. Fairy tales. Happy ever afters.’
‘That isn’t true—’
‘Expecting a relationship to last in today’s society is the stuff of fantasy.’
‘That isn’t true either—’
‘Then why is my phone always ringing? Why am I busier than I’ve ever been?’ Cool and calculating, he watched her. ‘Because people are finally accepting that expecting to be hooked to someone for life is totally unrealistic. Better to do what my brother and your sister are currently doing—have wild exciting sex until it is no longer exciting. Then move on.’
Listening to him rip holes in everything she believed in, Lindsay felt her limbs tremble. ‘I completely disagree with you.’
His eyes lingered on her mouth. ‘Well, of course you do. If you didn’t, you’d be out of a job. I watched you on television last week, recommending ways in which a certain Hollywood actress could save her marriage. Lindsay Lockheart, relationship expert. You look cute on the screen, by the way.’ His voice was dangerously soft. ‘Cute and convincing, which is all the more surprising when you bear in mind that Lindsay Lockheart, relationship expert, has never actually had a relationship herself.’
Ignoring the mockery in his eyes, Lindsay defended herself. ‘It’s true that I’ve never been married, if that’s what you mean.’ Her heart pumped hard because he was pressing in close to a subject she avoided.
He studied her in silence, his expression thoughtful. ‘It wasn’t what I meant. Do your clients know that you’re a fraud, Lindsay?’ His tone pleasant, he slipped his arms into his jacket and her face flamed.
‘I’ve had relationships, Alessio.’
‘I’m not talking about a dinner date or a dignified trip to the opera.’ With unconscious grace, he strolled purposefully towards her, suddenly looking every inch the sophisticated, successful lawyer. Gone was the street-fighter image of moments earlier. The transformation from rough and tough to slick and sophisticated was complete. Dressed in a dark grey suit that moulded his powerful shoulders to perfection, he exuded wealth and success. The only thing that hadn’t changed was the air of raw power that clung to him like a second skin.
Lindsay felt her heart rate double and fought the impulse to take a step backwards. No way was she going to let him have the upper hand. He’d stop in a moment—he had to.
But he didn’t.
He strolled right up to her and backed her against the wall, decisive, masculine and very much the one in control.
Flustered, she lifted her hands and then dropped them again. ‘Alessio, for goodness’ sake—’
‘I’m not talking about a staid exchange of views over a quiet drink in one of your English country pubs. I’m talking about an explosion of passion, real intimacy.’ He planted a powerful arm on either side of her head, blocking her escape route. ‘I’m talking about real intimacy, Lindsay. Hot, sticky, exciting intimacy—intimacy that makes your heart race and makes you forget that you have responsibilities—’
‘Alessio—’
‘Intimacy that’s out of your control. Intimacy that drives you to bad decisions. I’m talking about man-woman stuff.’ His eyes glittered, dark and dangerous, and his mouth was suddenly terrifyingly close to hers. ‘Animal instinct.’
‘Alessio!’
‘Ever felt that, Lindsay—’ his breath was warm against her mouth ‘—the sort where logic and self-control don’t get a look-in?’
He was going to kiss her.
This time, Alessio Capelli was going to kiss her.
There was a buzzing in her ears, her knees felt like jelly and her stomach burned with wicked sexual excitement. Even as her brain struggled to resist it, she could feel herself going under, submerged by swirling waters of dark, dangerous passion.
The damaged child inside her was screaming at him to go away, but the woman inside her wanted him right where he was.
His gaze held hers for a long moment and then his arms dropped to his sides and he took a step backwards. ‘That’s the sort of relationship I’m talking about, little Lindsay.’
Her heart was pounding so hard that for a moment she was terrified that she might actually pass out. She blinked several times to clear her vision and forced herself to breathe slowly. And then humiliation rushed through her veins because she knew she’d been microseconds away from sliding her arms round his strong neck and pressing her mouth against his. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ It wasn’t disappointment she was feeling. It absolutely wasn’t going to be disappointment.
‘I know you don’t. And that’s the point I’m making. How the hell has
someone like you managed to carve out a career for yourself advising couples on their relationships?’
It wasn’t safe to be this close to him. And not because of him.
She just couldn’t trust herself—‘Just because I haven’t made a mistake—’
‘Your idea of a mistake is another person’s idea of a life,’ he said dryly and she clasped her hands in front of her.
‘You’re talking about meaningless sex—’
‘And you don’t think two people can have a relationship based on meaningless sex?’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Trust me, tesoro. A relationship based on meaningless sex is the best sort.’
His remark restored her common sense. ‘Which brings us right back to the point I made earlier—’ strength ran through her veins and she met his gaze bravely ‘—that you don’t know anything about true intimacy. Intimacy is not a cuddle at the end of sex. Intimacy is about sharing. Real love is about sharing thoughts and feelings, hope and fears.’
Alessio gave a faint smile. ‘Then I’m truly relieved that I’ve managed to avoid your type of “intimacy”,’ he drawled. ‘And people’s spurious belief in something they call love is what keeps my phone ringing.’
Lindsay gave an exasperated sigh. ‘Love exists. And if you’ve never experienced that first-hand or witnessed it, then I feel sorry for you. It must be very cold and lonely in your bed.’ She regretted the words instantly and, sure enough, his sensual mouth curved into a wicked smile.
‘Generating heat in my bed isn’t one of my problems,’ he drawled softly, ‘so any time you need a practical demonstration of alternative energy sources, just bang on my bedroom door, tesoro.’
Lindsay lifted her fingers to her forehead and breathed deeply. ‘I suppose it’s your job that’s made you so very cynical—’
‘Realistic,’ he slotted in helpfully. ‘It’s made me realistic. Which is why I haven’t had to pay out a fortune in alimony.’