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‘When this house was built, the architects thought of everything. I even have my own well.’ Luca indicated the central stone structure.
Beth stepped up onto its plinth and planted her hands on the gritty surface of the well’s wide stone lip. Leaning forward, she looked over the edge.
‘I can’t see the bottom. How deep is it?’
Luca shrugged. ‘It was intended as a private water supply in times of siege, so it has to be deep enough to make it secure.’
Inspired, Beth glanced at him again. This time she risked a smile.
‘Does it grant wishes?’
Luca narrowed his eyes and gave her a look that was enough to melt any woman, and Beth was lost. Her heart hesitated, and then almost stopped as he raised one dark eyebrow.
‘Try it, and see,’ he murmured.
She didn’t need to be told twice. Rapidly churning through the contents of her bag, she managed to find a single Euro and tossed it into the blackness. Luca watched with amusement as she craned over the edge, listening, and then smiled at her childlike excitement at the resulting ‘plop’.
She caught him watching her, and sparkled.
‘I really hope it works, Luca.’
A warm glow began to stroke over her body. It shimmered with tension, and she blushed. If he can read my mind I’m in trouble now, she thought breathlessly. Although not the sort of trouble I would want to avoid…
‘Oh, it does, Beth. In fact, that well works a lot harder than many people I know,’ he said, already starting off up a narrow stone stairway leading to the next floor. ‘No visitor can resist testing its powers by throwing in money, so we dredge it regularly. The coins we pull out help to pay the bills.’
‘Luca!’ Beth laughed, running to catch him up. ‘And you used to be so romantic!’
His laughter echoed off the ancient walls. ‘Experience has taken its toll on me, cara.’
Beth’s heart bounced again at the casual endearment. Then she caught sight of his expression. It was full of pride in ownership, nothing more. She should have known better. Luca never put his real feelings into words until it was far, far too late. Of all people, I should know that, she thought. Lost in memories, she hardly took in anything as Luca escorted her around a series of ever more stately apartments. She was so distracted when he merely waved a hand in the direction of his own rooms, she did not ask to see them. It was only when they reached a separate wing of the building she managed to rouse herself.
‘This is where the official tour ends,’ he said with some relief. ‘These final rooms have always been called Tiepolo’s bridal suite, as he is supposed to have been the last decorator.’
Beth guessed Luca was trying to make a point by running down the work of such a grand artist, so she said nothing. Stepping past him, she went straight into the suite. It was dark in the reception area. The still air was heavy with the fragrance of lavender. She stopped, afraid of blundering into anything in the gloom. Luca strode straight past her and, one by one, opened all the pairs of tall shutters at the far side of the room. Watery evening sunshine streamed in and, despite all the other wonders she had seen, Beth gasped. She was stunned.
For a few seconds, all she could do was walk around in a small circle, gazing at the high, graceful beauty of the apartment.
‘I thought the rest of your home was lovely, but this place is truly magical,’ she breathed, lost in wonder. The entire ceiling was decorated with exquisitely painted gods and goddesses billowing across pink and silver clouds. Every surface was transformed into heaven. Wandering on into the suite, Beth was glad the click of her stilettos was silenced here. It would have been an intrusion. Thick antique rugs softened the cold acreage of marble, and muffled the echoes that made the rest of the palazzo feel so formal and unwelcoming. All the carpeting here was in shades of rose and old gold. The softly upholstered chairs picked up these colours and everything was reflected in the highly polished sheen of ancient oak furniture.
Beth walked from the reception area into the private apartments in a daze. At the heart of the suite stood an enormous bridal bed, canopied with gauze and lace hangings. These fell in sumptuous folds from somewhere near the ceiling, and she looked up to see how it was done. Then she began to have second thoughts about her dream apartment.
‘It’s awfully dark up there. Are you sure there aren’t any bats?’
‘Anyone would think you were afraid, Beth.’
‘No,’ she retorted nervously. ‘It’s just that…’
He laughed. ‘Let me put your mind at rest. Though…I think electric light is too harsh for such a setting, don’t you?’
Beth heard a rasping sound and light flared in the dusky gloom. It danced over a golden crown, suspended high among the ancient, smoke-blackened beams of the ceiling. She turned to see what Luca was doing. He had lit a candle. Setting it into a sconce on the wall, he took several more candles from a drawer and touched their wicks alight from the first flame. Shadows leapt up all around, moving softly through the evening light.
‘Your apartments are on the other side of the building where it’s so formal and cold, Luca. Why don’t you use these rooms instead? They feel much more friendly and welcoming,’ she asked as he went around the room fixing lights into more of the specially designed holders on the walls.
‘I don’t need places to be “friendly”. And, besides, why would I need a bridal suite?’ He paused and turned to look at her. ‘I am not cut out for marriage.’
She had used that jibe on him in their distant past. Now her own words were being bounced back at her. Tears stung her eyes as she looked around the room. She soon spotted another good reason why Luca wouldn’t sleep here. It was decorated with dozens of cupids.
‘It was a silly question, I suppose. You aren’t one for all these baby dimples, that’s for sure.’
‘These are merely an artistic ideal, not a literal representation of what this room was expected to produce.’
Beth swung around and gaped at him. That remark and its language were totally at odds with the Luca she had always known. What she saw now was equally amazing. He was looking over the wall paintings with the air of a true connoisseur, pointing out the quality to her with one expressive hand.
Once she had got over the shock, Beth could not resist a sly dig at him.
‘Careful, Luca—you’re beginning to sound like my father!’
He dropped his arm, and hooked a thumb into one of the belt loops of his jeans. Her sarcasm did not bother him at all. He put his head on one side, and looked at her with an expression close to pity.
‘I always take my responsibilities seriously, Beth. When I arrived here, my great-uncle’s art business was failing. I was not about to sit back and watch it die. Neither was I going to let my disappointment at having to leave the army blight the rest of my life. With plenty of spare time on my hands, I began to read. You saw the library here earlier.’
Beth nodded. The palazzo’s reading rooms held more books than she had ever seen in one place at any one time.
‘With my great-uncle always on hand, I untangled the mysteries of art appreciation for myself. That meant I could combine new knowledge with my organisational skills, and propel Francesco Fine Arts into the twenty-first century. From there it was an easy move into international markets. I never waste my time, Beth. If I see something I want, I go for it. In this case, the project was to make a success of my family’s business.’
‘And there’s no doubt at all you’ve succeeded.’
Beth thought back to the efficiency of his head office, the copy of Time magazine, and the priceless luxury in which he lived. She wandered over to a small side table, made of glistening yew wood. A pretty little porcelain dish sat on it. She picked it up, turning over the delicate, shell-like piece in her hands. Its base was marked with cobalt-blue crossed swords.
‘You put Meissen on display in a room you never use?’
‘I may not use it, but I have plenty of guests.’
Luca gave a wolfish smile. Beth guessed he meant most of them were women.
‘That makes it worse,’ she muttered. Bewitched by the room’s beauty, she had hardly taken in the fine details at first. Now she began to look at its contents more closely. Some of her father’s enthusiasm for his work had rubbed off on her, and Beth could recognise the styles of Chippendale and Wedgwood. There were many other exquisite pieces of furniture, glassware and porcelain that she could not identify, but they all murmured of quality and taste. She had no doubt every item was as genuine as Luca. The things in this bedroom alone must be worth hundreds of thousands. She gave a silent whistle of amazement.
‘But you’re such a perfectionist, Luca. Aren’t you afraid your lovely things will get broken or stolen?’
‘What sort of a host would I be, if I worried about little things like that?’ he said airily, strolling over to the window.
Beth watched him walk away from her. In the past, she had done it dozens of times, but always when feeling the normal fear of any soldier’s partner—that he might not return to her arms. Back then, the pain had been all in her mind. Now, Luca’s new coldness had stamped it all over her heart as well. She gazed at his broad back and wide shoulders. The fine designer cut of his blue silk shirt could not disguise the power of his body. Gradually, her pangs dissolved into need. This time, she was feeling the agony of a separation from him that could never be repaired.
Her anguish was so real it trembled through her body, willing her to rush up and throw herself on his mercy all over again. As she watched he put up a hand to push aside the gauzy curtains with his slender bronze fingers. She saw the contrast of his olive skin against the white net. She remembered his touch so vividly that it hurt. Thoughts of what they had shared tugged at her like stitches in a wound that would not heal. Unable to fight her desire any more, Beth felt herself drawn across the few metres separating them. Although the thick Amritsar rug muffled all sound, Luca still sensed her movements. Turning his head, he looked at her with limpid dark eyes. They told her nothing. She was so close now she could breathe in the warm, familiar fragrance of his cologne, although the faint shadow along his jaw line showed it was hours since he had last shaved. Her whole body ached with the desperate urge to reach out and touch him—to feel his raw masculinity.
All he did was look at her, silently and steadily. It was a tigerish expression, daring her to get within his danger zone. There would be no open invitation any more. Beth had to risk making contact on instinct alone. Nervously, she raised her hand until her fingertips could no longer resist the magnetic attraction of his proud, carved cheekbones. His skin felt exactly as she remembered. As her index finger traced the slope of his jaw she felt where the smooth, flawless surface of his cheek became roughened at his beard line.
As inflexible as Sansovino’s statue of Mars, Luca allowed her caress to move slowly to his hair. Hardly daring to breathe, she continued to stroke him. Her touch drifted down around his neck to the front of the plain white fabric of his shirt. All the time his unblinking stare challenged her to continue, to tempt him beyond endurance. But there was not any direct response. Finally, Beth closed her eyes. She could not carry on laying her emotions bare like this without any encouragement. Her hand faltered and fell away. She was unable to go any further, in case he rejected her.
Then she sensed a sudden darkening of the world outside. Opening her eyes again, she saw Luca had moved his hand and let the curtain fall. Now they were both completely surrounded by shadows. He stood before her in his magnificence, a coiled spring perfectly contained by his tall, lean body. The challenge of his eyes was replaced by the defiance of his stance.
‘How does it feel to be denied the one thing you desire, tesoro?’ His native language whispered into the growing darkness but the endearment could not help her. His tone had been too painful.
‘Oh, Luca…it’s unbearable, especially when you speak to me like that.’
Her voice was hardly strong enough to tremble the nearest candle flame, but there was no doubt Luca heard it. In response, he moved towards her until barely a dream could slip between them. Beth dropped her head, unable to stand the pain of feeling him so close, and yet so far away. And it was then that he placed a finger under her chin and lifted her head so her gaze connected with his.
He met no resistance as he took possession of her as easily as he had always done. Beth should have known what was coming next, but she was still surprised when his mouth closed over hers. His tongue penetrated her with all the fierce passion she craved. For a few moments it was as though they had never been apart. Beth could fool herself she had never said goodbye to him, on that last terrible night in Balacha.
Luca’s thrusting urgency fired Beth’s desperate need for him. She clung to him with urgent hands. For five years she had quashed every emotion he inspired in her. Now her feelings rushed out in a torrent of release. She fretted over his body with her lips and tongue and fingers, but as quickly as he had embraced her he stood back.
He was breathing fast; his expression was masked. Beth felt herself crumble—Luca hadn’t changed at all! Despite everything, he was still, and always would be, in control. He might allow her to touch his body, but she would never reach his heart and soul. This was no bitter-sweet reconciliation between friends. All her fierce desire and need were useless in the face of his iron will. He was rejecting her as easily as he had snatched her up.
‘Don’t you want me after all?’ she asked, wide-eyed with realisation.
His eyes narrowed. ‘Want, certainly. But you answer your own question with those two little words “after all”, Beth. After all that has happened over the past few years I don’t need you,’ he said, his voice dangerous and dark.
Beth felt his scorn like a blow. She tried to take a deep, steadying breath. Seconds before, the perfume of lavender and candles had seemed so romantic. Now it seared her lungs like acid.
Luca smiled, but while his mouth might have softened, his eyes did not. He was watching her like a cat watching a mouse.
‘What is the saying— “Once bitten, twice shy?” I’m surprised a clever girl like you didn’t remember that, tesoro.’
Her hands reached out to him, but dropped to her sides before they made contact. Passion was still burning within her, but he had discarded her.
‘Luca…you were enjoying yourself… The feeling wasn’t only on my side, was it?’
He gave an eloquent shrug. For a few glorious seconds, they had been pressed together so tightly, the smallest movement of his body had rubbed against hers with wicked intent.
Beth lost every shred of self-respect. She had come so far she could not give up on him now.
‘Luca…look at me, please! Then tell me you didn’t enjoy what we were doing just then.’
Candlelight flickered in the black pools of his eyes. It was a long time before he spoke.
‘I enjoyed it very much.’
He could hardly deny it. Beth had felt the unmistakable, insistent pressure of him crushing against her. But now the look on his face mocked the flames of light dancing around the room.
‘If I wanted to, I could take you right here and now, Beth. But as it would mean nothing to either of us, there would be no point.’
‘You don’t know that.’ She looked up at him with the hopeful ghost of a smile.
‘I know enough. Self-knowledge is a wonderful thing, Beth. I could have you any time I wanted, but it won’t be today.’
She took a step back and stared at him, confused.
‘What?’
He checked the Rolex on his wrist. ‘It is getting late, Beth. My pilot will take you home, before your new neighbourhood comes alive—if you know what I mean.’
Beth groaned. The fear of what might be waiting for her back at that horrible apartment squashed all her deepest physical needs in an instant.
‘Don’t worry. I shall tell my pilot to see you right to your door,’ Luca added quickly. ‘He will have instructions not to leave until you are safely inside. And remember—don’t open that door to anyone overnight. Not even me.’
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