The Italian's Blushing Gardener

by Christina Hollis

  Much, much later, Stefano swam back to consciousness through warm waves of satisfaction. Then the gravity of his feelings pulled him back to real life. Something incredible had happened last night. His seduction hadn’t gone as planned; it had been spontaneous and reckless in a way he had never experienced before. The realisation opened his eyes wide. Then two words hurtled back at him and he shut them again, fast.

  Love me.

  Had he really said that? No, it wasn’t possible. He wouldn’t have—couldn’t have—said it. He’d never done such a dangerous thing in his entire life. Although…he definitely remembered those words pulsating through the heat of his passion. Twice, in quick succession.

  He must have imagined it. Yes, that was it.

  With an exhalation of relief, he opened his eyes again. The room was still close and shadowy in the purple light before dawn. The sun outside had not risen high enough to penetrate the trees sheltering their refuge. He moved to check his wrist, but it was bare. He had tossed his watch aside in case it rubbed harshly against Kira’s delicate skin. It was the first time he had ever done something like that, too. He wondered idly what time it was, but found he didn’t care. Kira wouldn’t mind, either. She liked it here on Silver Island as much as he did. They had lain awake for hours, listening to the mournful night birds outside, and wondering about the bright star that flickered down at them through the jalousie slats.

  He tried to move, but couldn’t. He had fallen asleep with Kira wrapped protectively in his arms. Until she wanted to escape, he was trapped.

  Escape…The word rang through his head like an alarm.

  Suddenly he stopped wanting Kira to wake. More memories were racing back to taunt him. Before the wonderful abandon of bed, they had talked about her past last night—and his. That would mean she could never look at him in the same light again. Her image of him would be tainted by what she knew about his past. When she woke and gave him that lovely smile, what would be going on behind those beautiful eyes? His heart began to race. What exactly had they talked about last night, before words became unnecessary? He dimly remembered saying something about life being hard for the weak. Him? Weak? A hot wave of resentment washed over him, throwing more conversational flotsam back in his face. He had admitted turning his back on all his relatives. This, after Kira had been desperate to believe in some idealised dream of Italian family life. Well, he had shattered that illusion beyond repair!

  Talking after sex, stargazing…Stefano was losing count of the number of firsts he had shared with Kira last night. There was no knowing where all this might lead, but he had his suspicions. Mercifully, another memory came back to him. He had stressed his independence again to her, hadn’t he? She must understand that by now. Surely a man who could abandon his family couldn’t be expected to be faithful to anyone else. In any case, where women were involved, Stefano considered himself a hunter, not a pet. Kira knew he was a lone wolf. Animals like that walked alone.

  Beside him, she moved in her sleep. It was a luxurious movement, stretching out across the bed and freeing him.

  A wolf walks alone, Stefano told himself. He hadn’t been backed into a corner by anyone since he was a child.

  Taking his chance, he began inching his way towards the edge of the bed. He had to escape. Last night, Kira had seen past his act of emotionally detached, successful businessman. She had captured some of his spirit. If he stayed by her side any longer, she would surely consume the rest.

  He had to go. Now.

  Peeling his body away from the last temptations of her touch, he eased his legs over the edge of the bed and inched into a sitting position. His clothes were scattered all over the place. As he reached for them, he tried not to think of the spectacular passion he had shared with Kira only hours earlier. Pulling his still-buttoned shirt on over his head, he stood, stifling a sigh of relief—but not well enough.

  The rhythm of Kira’s breathing changed. Stefano froze. So did she—and then she rolled over to greet him with that smile…

  He swung away, unable to look her in the face.

  ‘Stefano? What are you doing? It’s too early to get up.’

  Her voice was as velvet smooth as the touch he could never risk experiencing again. He shook his head.

  ‘I’m sorry, Kira. I—I have to go. It’s business. An urgent call. You know…’ His voice disappeared. When Kira sat up and the silken sheet slipped away from her stunning nakedness, his willpower almost followed his voice.

  ‘I never heard anything?’

  ‘My phone was on vibrate. I really didn’t want to wake you,’ he added, with a sudden attack of the truth.

  ‘So tell me—what is so important that it can pull you out of my arms?’

  ‘You don’t want to know.’ Stefano went on dragging on his clothes.

  ‘Yes, I do. Everything you do interests me, and I don’t know the first thing about your work. All you’ve told me about so far is your past.’

  He stopped and stared at her.

  ‘Dio! Forget that. I shouldn’t have said anything,’ he muttered hurriedly. ‘I—wanted to see how you’d react if I shot your dream of Italian family life down in flames. It was nothing. Forget everything I’ve told you.’

  ‘No!’ With a giggle she reached out to him, ready to tug him back into bed with her. ‘First you try and sneak off without waking me, now you’re backtracking on everything else as well. What’s the matter, Stefano?’

  He leapt back as though her touch was a threat. ‘I’ve told you. It’s nothing.’ Making his face as bland as possible, he stared at her, daring her to contradict him. ‘I must go.’

  Kira had stopped laughing. The silence that fell between them now was deadly. There could be only one reason for his sudden coldness. He was leaving her. She gazed at him, unable to quite believe it.

  ‘Why are you going? Tell me. I want to know.’ Her voice crackled with emotion.

  Stefano reached for his jacket and pulled it on. With short, sharp movements he checked that it contained his keys and wallet. ‘All right—if you insist. I’m not going to lie to you, Kira. Have you thought you might not be the only one who could have second thoughts about all this?’

  There was frostbite in his voice.

  ‘It sounds like you’re getting ready to abandon me.’ Her voice barely trembled, but the tension was there.

  ‘Of course that’s what you must think.’ Stefano’s reply ricocheted back like a bullet. ‘After what you’ve been through, it’s only natural.’

  Kira watched him brace himself, and take a step towards the bed. If kissing her goodbye took such a visible effort, she didn’t want it. She sat back on her heels, distancing herself from him.

  ‘Can you blame me, Stefano, when all men are so alike? I thought last night was something exceptional, but now it turns out every move you made, every word you spoke, was fiction,’ she snapped.

  Stefano drew back. The rising sun outside lit a shimmering aura around him. Despite the growing dawn, no bird or insect dared disturb the horrible silence as he formed his next argument. ‘That’s not true. But don’t say you’ve never felt the need to nip a situation in the bud, before things get out of hand?’

  She could hardly believe what she was hearing. Clutching the sheet against her body like a shield, she tried to make sense of this sudden change in him.

  She was losing him. Unable to think of anything she had done or said to make him cool so abruptly, she began to panic.

  ‘What is it? What can possibly have changed between us since last night, Stefano?’ she implored.

  ‘Nothing…and everything.’

  His face was hard with an alien emotion. Kira gazed at him. The man who had seduced her with soft words and intoxicating caresses stared back at her in bitter disillusion.

  ‘My US agent rang with details of an ideal investment property in upstate New York. That’s where I’m going,’ he said at last, each word drawn out and hesitant.

  Kira’s heart leapt. For a moment
things didn’t seem so bad. Looking around Sir Ivan’s old house with Stefano had been wonderful. Maybe she could persuade him to include her in this next invitation? Her excitement was quashed by his next words.

  ‘I’m leaving right away to go and view it. You can stay on here for as long as you like. Just tell one of my pilots when you want to go home.’

  ‘So…you’re flying to America alone?’ Kira said slowly. With heart-rending effort, she managed to stop her smile sliding straight into despair.

  He nodded. Grabbing his phone from the bedside table he dropped it into a pocket. Motionless with shock, Kira could not do or say a thing. It didn’t matter. Stefano was perfectly prepared to do the talking for both of them.

  ‘When I want to get away from people, I get right away from them. Once you’ve finished checking out Silver Island, you can go back to living in the grounds of Bella Terra, and working at my town house in Florence. While you’re doing all that and flitting from one place to another, I’ll keep well out of your way, until you’ve finished.’

  ‘Why? There’s nothing to stop you coming and going wherever you please. I’m won’t be in your way,’ Kira said, confused.

  ‘I need space. I can’t let you interfere with that.’ Stefano’s voice soared through the silence that fell between them.

  It wasn’t just a statement, it was a warning. Kira didn’t need to be told twice. Gathering up her last reserves of courage, she stared him out.

  ‘Don’t worry on my account, Stefano. You know I’m happier alone,’ she said brusquely. ‘I’ll be fine. Once I leave here, I’ll be totally absorbed by the Florence project. Go and find yourself another new house. Maybe you’ll have better luck turning that one into a home, although I very much doubt it.’

  ‘I can hope,’ he said coolly.

  ‘It won’t take me more than a few hours to do my preliminary checks here. I’d be grateful if you’d arrange for me to be flown home this afternoon,’ Kira countered, turning to hide her rage and shame as she got out of bed. Wrapping the sheet tightly around her body she stalked towards the bathroom. Ice-cold reserve was the only way she could deal with this situation. She expected Stefano to agree to her demand without question. His reaction came as a shock. As she strode past him, he grabbed her by the elbow.

  ‘No. Stay here, on the island.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘That way I’ll know where you are.’

  ‘Now, wait a minute!’ Kira flared. ‘I may be on your payroll, but that doesn’t mean you’re in charge of my schedule. When it comes to my work, everything has to be done in the right order.’

  And first on the list is getting you right out of my system, she thought painfully.

  ‘I’ve got so much admin work to do back at home, I’ll need to get started on it as soon as possible,’ she went on, pulling her arm roughly from his grasp. ‘Then there’s the prince’s project to sign off, and that’s before I’ve even thought of starting work on your town house…’

  Hugging the sheet tightly to her body, she started for the shower again. Hearing Stefano take some quick steps in pursuit and knowing that if he laid another hand on her she would be lost, she turned to confront him. She didn’t want his touch clouding her judgement.

  His expression gave her another jolt. He looked white-faced, almost lost, and as far from the smooth, composed Stefano as she had ever seen him. A moment later, and he was impenetrable once more.

  ‘I’m glad you’ll be keeping yourself busy,’ he said, with all the passion of a diplomat.

  Kira met his chilly good manners with a hard frost of her own. ‘Don’t talk about my work as though it is a hobby, Stefano. I signed that contract for you, don’t forget.’

  Her glare drew down shades over his expression. Any softening of his manner was instantly hidden from her, and from the world.

  ‘How could I?’ he said bitterly.

  Stefano stormed away from Silver Island. He didn’t need his newest employee lecturing him, even if her name was Kira Banks. Her anger worked away at his pride like a mountain stream running over rocks. An endless loop of her words went around and around in his head, and worse still, for the first time ever, Stefano could not settle to work on the plane journey. He hardly heard a word his agent said as they drove towards his latest dream property. His mind was a complete mess of regret and confusion. What did he want with another soulless palace? None of the others had brought him a moment’s happiness or satisfaction. He had found both in Kira’s arms, and then turned his back on her. Where was the sense in that? All he needed in his life was Kira, and her homely touch. Why had he ruined his only chance of happiness by letting slip his murky past, and the way he had abandoned his family? It would only reinforce her picture of him as a shallow pleasure seeker, flitting from one set of values to another. Kira deserved better than that, and she knew it.

  She wouldn’t want him now.

  He barely noticed the colonial mansion he had travelled thousands of miles to inspect. Unable to make a decision on it, he retreated to Manhattan. His apartment on Fifth Avenue was as cheerless as any of his other homes. He roamed about, trying to put Kira out of his mind. It was hopeless. From the contrast between her cosy little home and his soulless apartment to the sight of lovers strolling hand in hand through Central Park, everything reminded him of her.

  Finally, he went out, throwing himself into the surf of crowds and noise swirling through the city streets. It was supposed to block thoughts of Kira with the white noise of chaos. It didn’t work. Each woman he saw was automatically matched against her memory, and found wanting.

  Eventually, he washed up at an all-night club. The atmosphere was intended to stifle Kira’s memory. Instead, her voice echoed in his brain. It cut straight through the racket, as he remembered how she had chosen to spend the evening with him on Silver Island—no distractions—rather than be wined and dined in the city. They wanted the same things out of life. Why didn’t he trust himself to share them with her? The answer to that circled him like a shark but he didn’t want to face it. Instead, he told himself that he’d done the right thing. She had been hurt before, and he’d only hurt her again—he had left her to protect her.

  After a sleepless night, he went into the Manhattan offices of Albani International. That was another disaster. He lasted twenty minutes. Unable to work, he spent the whole time resisting the urge to pick up the phone and ring Kira. In the end, he had to walk out and ask a secretary to order a car for him. He couldn’t trust himself to make one simple, innocent business call. Once he lifted that receiver, he knew he would end up ringing Kira instead.

  Kira tried to make a full and detailed assessment of Stefano’s tropical paradise. It was impossible. She made some silly mistakes, and couldn’t complete the simplest calculations. Her emotions were too raw. He had swept her up to heaven, and then dropped her the morning after. It was history repeating itself, and she felt empty, completely crushed. As soon as she had filled a few pages of her notebook, she made arrangements to board one of his private jets and leave the island chain.

  The flight home was agonising. She did her best to make it look as though she was enjoying every second. She had a lifetime’s experience of putting on a good show. She watched a romantic comedy, and took care to laugh in all the right places. She smiled and chatted to the cabin crew, and ate every meal and titbit they offered her. In contrast, she took only a solitary glass of white wine with her dinner, and most of that went back to the galley untouched. No way was she going to let anyone think Stefano Albani had driven her to drink!

  One of his fleet of cars was waiting for her at the airport. The chauffeur said he had instructions to whisk her straight back home to La Ritirata. Kira had other ideas. She asked to be taken directly to Stefano’s town house in Florence. That would put some distance between her and the valley she had left with such high hopes, only a couple of days before. Stefano had already infused the entire Bella Terra estate with so many memories for her. They had talked and
laughed there. His new town house did not mean quite so much to her. As long as she kept well away from the place where he had seduced her, it had no hold over her. Stefano’s offer to let her stay there while she worked on the project had seemed wildly overgenerous. Now she was glad of the opportunity. A break from La Ritirata was exactly what she needed. It would give her some time away from his memory.

  Stefano suffered through another sleepless night, and that morning he knew he had to come to his senses. He couldn’t think of anything but Kira and there could be only one outcome. He wanted her, and he would never get any rest until she was safely in his arms again. He didn’t need to think any further than that. Summoning a car, he headed straight for the airport. Then he blazed a trail across the world. He hadn’t thought beyond the fact that Kira had bewitched his mind and his body, and he could not live without her for a moment longer. All he wanted to do was reach her side. This was such a new sensation he had no idea what he was going to say, but right now, he didn’t care. He needed her. The moment he saw her, the words would come. He knew it.

  Driving towards the Bella Terra villa felt like coming home. It reinforced all his deepest feelings. This was where he wanted to spend the rest of his life. Now he was going to claim the woman he wanted by his side for all eternity. Leaping out of the car before his chauffeur had brought it to a standstill, he strode straight across the valley towards La Ritirata. He still hadn’t worked out his argument, but words could wait. His first kiss would tell Kira all she needed to know.

  He was so consumed by what he would do, it took him a while to realise something was wrong. The day was hot and the sky stormy, but all the windows of Kira’s little home were tightly closed. As he registered that fact, he smelled smoke. The countryside was dry as dust. Fire was a constant threat, but now he saw it was a reality. Smoke was curling up from the back of La Ritirata. He started to run.