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If anything, it angered him to feel this way toward her. Toward a D’Angeli.
“He had money, cara, and a title. Women like that sort of thing, whether they are young or old.”
“Not all women,” she said.
“This has not been my experience.”
She looked haughty. “Then maybe you’re not meeting the right kind of women.”
“If they are women, then they are the right kind.”
She made a noise that sounded like disgust. “How did I ever fall for your smooth words that night?”
He reached out and stroked his fingers along her soft cheek. She gasped as he did so, but did not pull away. Sparks shot through his skin at the touch, made his body hunger sharply for hers.
Her violet eyes were wide. He wondered if she knew they glittered with heat and need. Whatever this was, she felt it, too. Perhaps, for her, it was the lure of the forbidden. Or perhaps it was simply that he was a man and she a woman and they were attracted to each other.
It didn’t have to be complicated, and yet it felt as if it was the most complicated thing on earth.
“You fell,” he said softly, “because you wanted to.”
She had no signal. Tina tossed her phone onto the bed in disgust. She’d tried several times to send a text to Lucia, but there was no signal out here in the middle of this lake.
This place was, she had to admit, magnificent. She pushed open the double doors onto the balcony, which ran the entire width of the house, and stood in the sunshine. The sun’s rays were lengthening as it neared dusk, but her view of the surrounding area was not yet diminished. Castello di Casari sat in the lake, but ringing the lake were mountains punctuated by small villages while vacation homes of the rich and famous perched high on the rocks.
The mountains were deep emerald, blooming with plants and flowers; in the distance, the tallest peaks were wreathed in white. Tina sighed. She could see civilization, but she could not reach it. The castle was built on a small island in the lake, its massive towers and walls taking over the entire island.
She went over to the stone balustrade and leaned against it. Below her, the lake rippled in deep blue currents. There was a sailboat a distance out, and a motorboat zipping by closer in. Pots of pink bougainvillea spilled over in regular intervals around the balcony, and there was a grouping of tables and chairs not too far away. She walked over and sat in one of the chairs, content to sit still and be at peace for a while.
She’d been relieved to find that she had her own room, though she hadn’t truly expected Nico would try to share a room with her. What for? He clearly didn’t want her anymore, no matter that he strummed his fingers over her skin and her body ached for him.
He had simply done it to prove a point. She had fallen because she’d wanted to, he’d said.
And he was right. She had wanted to. Because she’d been overcome by the feelings and sensations ricocheting through her that night, and because she’d wanted more. She’d wanted to see where the feelings led her.
He, however, had seduced her because she was a woman and she was willing.
Tina snorted in disgust. His father had died in bed with a twenty-year-old. Nico would no doubt do the same someday. What a fine father he would make for her baby. She was beginning to understand why her mother had been so secretive—what if her own father had been so terrible?
Renzo knew who his father was, and it had done nothing but cause him pain. He had not told her that, but their mother had. Renzo’s pain was the reason her mother gave for not telling Tina what she wanted to know.
Maybe she’d been right after all.
She sat in the sun until it disappeared behind the mountain. It was still light out, but growing darker much faster now. She still wore jeans and sandals, but she’d removed her jacket and scarf. Now she returned to her room and retrieved them.
There was a knock on her door. The man who had greeted them at the landing pad was there, smiling at her pleasantly. “Signorina, his lordship asked me to tell you that dinner is prepared. You can reach the terrazzo by going out on the balcony and taking the steps down to the next level.”
“Thank you,” Tina replied. She wanted to refuse to join Nico, but she was surprisingly hungry. The anti-nausea medication the doctor had given her had worked wonders and she actually had an appetite for once.
She didn’t change for dinner, determined that she would not do that at least. She was here under protest, not as a willing guest, so to hell with the niceties. Frau Decker would be horrified at her lack of manners, but Frau Decker was in Switzerland. Besides, her old teacher had never addressed a situation in which a lady might be held captive by a gentleman against her will.
Tina frowned wryly. Whatever would the good woman say if she could see this place and the man who waited at the dinner table? Quite probably, like most women, she would giggle and fawn over him.
Tina went onto the balcony and walked the length of it before finding the stairs down to the next level. There, a large table and at least ten chairs had pride of place beside a stunning view of soaring cliffs directly across the lake.
The table was set for two, with crisp white napkins, crystal goblets, silver flatware and pristine white plates. Nico stood with his back to her, looking out at the cliffs and holding a glass of wine from which he occasionally took a sip.
She studied his broad back, reluctant to interrupt his thoughts and turn them toward her once more. He’d changed, she noted with surprise. Instead of the suit, he wore a pair of stonewashed jeans and a black shirt. His hair curled over his collar, and for a moment she longed to go over and slide her fingers into the silkiness of it as she had done that night.
Tina shivered involuntarily, but not from cold. Her body was hot, her blood thick and syrupy in her veins. He did that to her, and it disconcerted her that he still could.
She took the rest of the steps down and Nico turned, his gaze skimming her lightly as he did so. She tilted her chin up, as she’d been taught, and bore his scrutiny as if it were nothing.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“I’ve been better,” she replied.
He appeared concerned. “Do you still feel nauseous?”
Guilt pricked her. “I’m not ill anymore, thanks to the medication. No, I was thinking more along the lines of how this is my first abduction.”
She didn’t expect him to smile, but he did, and it caught at her heart though it should not. “Mine, too.”
“How fortunate,” she said crisply. “We can enjoy the experience together.”
He came over and pulled her chair out, and she realized she’d actually been standing there as if she’d expected it. How silly, and how very like her at the same time. She only hoped he didn’t notice how she blushed.
His fingers skimmed over her shoulders after he pushed her chair in, and twined in her hair. She went very still, sparks zipping along her spine and behind her ears. It hurt, and it felt like the most wonderful thing all at once.
She wanted him to keep touching her, to slide his fingers against her scalp and then along her neck, down to her breasts. She wanted it far more than she should.
And then his breath was in her ear, and a deep shiver rolled through her.
“I would not say enjoy so much as endure, perhaps,” he said before dropping his hand and taking his own seat.
Tina picked up her water and took a sip. She felt raw inside, exposed, as if he’d seen to the deepest heart of her and knew that her body betrayed her every time he was near. “I was being sarcastic.”
His eyes glittered darkly. “Yes, I realize this. And I was simply saying what you were thinking.”
They were silent while the food arrived. There was an antipasti platter, a delicate angel-hair pasta in sauce, broiled fish, verdure and an array of cheeses. The women who’d brought the meal disappeared and Nico proceeded to serve her. She didn’t say anything while he filled her plate. Once he finished, he poured more sparkling water into her glass.
She waited while he began to fill his own plate, but he stopped and looked at her. “Eat, Valentina.”
“I will,” she said softly. “I’m waiting for you.”
“Don’t wait.”
“It’s not polite to start eating.”
“To hell with polite. Eat.”
She picked up an olive and popped it into her mouth. “Everyone calls me Tina,” she said. “You might as well, too.”
“If you prefer it.”
She shrugged. “I don’t, but it’s what my friends call me.”
He arched an eyebrow, and she couldn’t help but think he looked like the devil, all sinful and dark and tempting. “Are we friends then?”
“Hardly. But Valentina makes me think I’m in trouble.” She ate another olive and sighed. “Which I suppose I am, really.”
“Are you?”
“It certainly seems that way. I started the day in Rome and I’d made plans to go to Capri. This is not Capri.”
He inclined his head. “No, it’s prettier. And more exclusive.”
She took a bite of pasta. It was delicious and she nearly moaned with the pleasure of eating solid food again for the first time in days. A light breeze blew over them then, and she was glad she’d put her jacket on again. It wasn’t unpleasant, far from it, but it would be too cool without sleeves. “Did you grow up here?”
“No.”
“I imagine your family has a lot of homes.”
“Yes.”
Tina pushed an olive around her plate. “Which was your favorite?”
His gaze speared into her then, intense and dark and forbidding. His smooth jaw was tight, and she realized that she’d stumbled into something he didn’t want to discuss. It made no sense to her. He’d grown up with so much, while she and Mama and Renzo had lived in tiny apartments in back alleys for most of her childhood.
“I have no favorite,” he said shortly. “I spent much of my time away at school.”
Sympathy flooded her, though she couldn’t imagine his experience being bad. He was an aristocrat, wealthy and very beautiful. He would have been the sun around which the other kids orbited.
“I did, too, once I hit fifteen,” she said. “It wasn’t a good time to go away.”
“It never is.” He took a sip of wine. “I went to school when I was six. I came home on breaks until I was seventeen.” He shrugged. “So I have no particularly favorite house. I spent more time at school than I did here, or in any of the Gavretti estates.”
“I didn’t know,” she said softly. “I’m sorry.”
His eyes were as hard as diamonds. “There is nothing to be sorry about. I received a spectacular education and went to a top university.”
“And spent summers with Renzo in the garage,” she added.
“Yes.”
Tina let out a heavy sigh. “Did you at least enjoy the time you spent with us? I had thought you did, but I was young. It’s just that you seemed … happy.”
She thought she might have said too much, but he only looked toward the cliffs and didn’t say anything for a long moment. “I was,” he finally said. “I enjoyed building the prototype with Renzo.”
“And yet you left. And Renzo refuses to speak of you to this day. What happened?”
His head whipped around again, his eyes spearing into her. “It’s not important.”
Impulsively, she reached for his hand, grasped it in hers. His skin was warm, and the blood rushed through her veins just from this contact, making her feel lightheaded and confused.
“It is important, Nico. I want you and Renzo to be friends again. I want it to be the way it was.”
She thought he would jerk away, but he turned her hand in his, traced his fingers in her palm while she shivered deep inside. “It can never be the way it was, cara. You are a woman now, not a child. You know life does not move backward.”
Hot tears pressed against her eyelids. “I wish it did. For the sake of our baby, I wish I could fix whatever is wrong between you and Renzo.”
Because, no matter what happened between them, he was a part of her life now. Through this baby, the Gavrettis and D’Angelis would always be connected. And it made her sad to think it would not be easy for any of them.
He sat back and let her go. The air wafting over her skin made her feel cold suddenly. “You cannot fix it, Tina. No one can.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “I refuse to believe that.”
“Then you are a fool.”
She looked at him for a long moment. “I refuse to believe that, too,” she said, her throat aching.
“Believe what you like, but it does not alter reality,” he told her coolly. “Now eat, or we will never leave this table.”
She did as he commanded, but only for the baby’s sake. The food, which was delicious, failed to give her any pleasure. The more she thought of Nico and her brother, of the way they used to be and the way they were now, the less she tasted of the food.
There had to be a way to repair whatever had gone wrong, if only one of them would tell her about it. She thought of Renzo in the Caribbean with his wife and was thankful they were away for now. She shuddered to think what would happen if he were at home.
It would be a true clash of the titans the next time these men met, and she could not bear the idea she would be the catalyst.
Tina dropped the fork. “I want to know what happens next,” she demanded, her heart hot with feeling. He’d taken her from Rome, brought her here, but for what purpose? He couldn’t really intend for her to stay with him indefinitely.
Nico glanced over at her, seemingly impervious to the turmoil raging within her. “Dessert, I imagine.”
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
The look he gave her was long and heavy with meaning. Her pulse snapped in her veins until she was certain he must see it thrumming in her neck. Dread lay thick inside her the longer he watched her without speaking.
“Tell me,” she said when the silence was more than she could bear. “I have a right to know.”
“What do you think will happen, Tina?”
She darted her tongue over her lower lip. “I’m not quite sure. I doubt you intend to keep me here for the next few months, no matter what you implied earlier. That would be ridiculous. And unnecessary.”
“I disagree,” he said, his voice as smooth as fine wine. “It is very necessary.”
“Why?” she asked, apprehension twisting her belly into knots. “I want you to be a part of the baby’s life. I won’t deny you access.”
One dark eyebrow arched. “You say that now. But what about when Renzo returns?” He shook his head. “No, that is not acceptable. You aren’t going anywhere, Tina. You’re staying here with me.”
Tina gripped the edges of her seat and willed herself to be calm. “You can’t force me to stay,” she said, her voice brittle to her own ears.
He leaned back and spread his hands to encompass their surroundings. “Can I not? We are on an island. The only way on or off is by helicopter or boat—and I control both of those things.”
Her stomach plummeted through the stone floor of the terrazzo even as a chill shuddered through her. “You’re being purposely contrary. Renzo will come looking for me. You can’t prevent that.”
Nico took a leisurely sip of wine, studying her through lowered lids. She endured the scrutiny, though he reminded her once more of a cat singling out prey. She sat very still, waiting for him to spring, knowing she was caught even before he did so.
All she could do was wait and see what manner the attack took.
“No,” he finally said, “I can’t stop Renzo from looking for you. But even he cannot separate a man and his wife.”
Chapter Five
TINA’S breath was a solid ball in her chest. It sat heavy and thick and she couldn’t force it in or out for a long moment.
“You look surprised,” Nico said mildly.
Surprised? It was too mild a word for what she was feeling right now.
“I can’t marry you, Nico,” she choked out.
“Why? Because your brother won’t approve?” He made a sound of disgust. “He won’t approve of you being pregnant, either. If you cared about his approval, you would not have slept with a strange man that night.”
It was too close to the truth, but it angered her nevertheless. “I suppose I deserve that, but it doesn’t change the fact that you don’t love me. I won’t marry a man who doesn’t love me.”
She didn’t know quite where that had come from, but the moment she said it, she knew it was what she felt.
His eyes glittered in the candlelight flickering brighter now that dusk was deepening. “Then you should have thought of that before you spread your legs for me.”
Tina gasped, stung by his cruel words. “That’s not fair. Women are allowed to take lovers without wanting to marry or have babies with the men they choose.”
“Yes, but they are typically more prepared than you were that night.”
Her cheeks were aflame. “Oh, yes, it’s all my fault, right? But I’m not the one who used a faulty condom.”
“And I’m not the one who chose a random stranger for my first sexual experience. You were lucky you got me, and not someone who might have treated you with less delicacy than the situation required.”
“Well, bravo to you then,” she snapped. “But I’m still not marrying you. There is no reason for it.”
“I can think of a few reasons, not the least of which is that I’m not giving you—or your brother—a chance to change your mind about letting me be a part of the child’s life.”
She bowed her head demurely, though her heart was racing a million miles a minute. “I understand why you’d think that, but we can have papers drawn up. I’ll sign anything reasonable. We’ll make sure everything is spelled out.”
He threw his head back and laughed, and a feeling of foreboding ricocheted through her. “How perfectly civil of you, cara. But this is not a negotiation. I don’t trust you or Renzo. There’s nothing you can say, nothing you can promise, that I will believe.”
“I give you my word,” she said.
“Your word means nothing to me.” He shook his head, leaned toward her and trapped her hand in his. “No, you will marry me, and just as soon as possible.”
Tina thrust her chin out defiantly, though her heart hammered and her insides churned. “Even you cannot compel a woman to marry you because you decree it,” she said sharply. “I won’t do it.”
His eyes narrowed. “How selfish you are, cara. You would deprive this child of my name? Of my status? You would allow him to grow up without a legal right to my legacy? Do you think he will thank you for it someday?”
Her heartbeat slowed as his words twisted in her brain. God, she hadn’t thought of that. She’d grown up with her mother’s name, just as Renzo had, and they’d been just fine in the end—though it hadn’t always been easy. There’d been no estate to inherit, no vast sums of money to distribute among heirs. There’d been nothing at all, until Renzo made his fortune.
“It’s not about money,” she said with certainty. “I have money, and our child will want for nothing.”
Not only did she have the money from her trust fund, but she’d also been investing a chunk of it over the years. She now had quite a handsome sum that was all from her own hard work. Her brother might not let her work for him, but she did work—managing her money—and she did a damn good job at it, too.
“I went to boarding school, Tina. I know what it was like. Those girls would have made your life hell, and a big part of that would have been your lack of pedigree. Do you want that to happen to your child?”
Fury vibrated through her then. “I won’t send my baby away to school, you can be sure of that.”
“It’s not only school, though, is it? If you want this child to have every advantage, to have doors open for him and to be accepted everywhere, then you will see that marrying me is the only way to achieve that.”
She wanted to press her hands to her ears. “You make it sound so medieval, and yet this is the twenty-first century.”
“People are not so changed, though, are they? Especially not in my circles.” He leaned forward and trapped her hand where it lay on the table. She tried to pull away, but his grip was as solid as the stone cliffs in the distance. “But there is another, even more pressing reason, darling Tina. If you do not agree to this marriage, I will destroy D’Angeli Motors.”
A layer of ice coated her heart. Fear pumped into her in waves. “You cannot,” she said, proud that her voice did not break. “If you could, you would have already done so.”
He let her go and sat back. “You forget, cara mia, that I am a much richer man than I was only a few weeks ago. And I will use that wealth—and the power that comes with this title—to destroy your precious brother if you do not agree to marriage.”
Horror seeped into her then. She thought of Renzo, of Faith and baby Domenico, and a wave of guilt swept her. Renzo was happier than she’d ever known him to be now that he’d found Faith. He laughed a lot more these days, and he no longer risked his life on the track. His leg was also on the mend now that the surgeons had removed the scar tissue that had built up over time, and he would very likely be walking without a cane once it healed.
He had everything. How could she put his happiness at risk, especially when she’d created this mess by indulging in a single impulsive act solely for her own pleasure? Renzo had done everything to make sure she had a good life, and this was how she repaid his generosity?
“You are really very cruel, aren’t you?” Tina asked, her heart throbbing with fury and hurt.
Nico’s expression didn’t change, though she thought the corners of his mouth tightened. “Life is cruel,” he said. “I am merely doing what I must to protect my child.”
“Our child.”
“Yes, our child.” He said the words plainly enough, and yet there was an inflection there, an unspoken threat. Our child if you do as I say.
Tina shivered. It did not go unnoticed.
“Are you cold?”
“A little,” she said, unwilling to admit that her shiver was born more out of apprehension than the breeze.
“Then let us go inside.”
He came and held out a hand to her. She didn’t accept it, pushing herself to her feet without his help. He didn’t move away, however, and she found herself trying to take a step backward.
The chair stopped her. He was so close. Too close. She could feel his heat crawling into her, surrounding her. His scent filled her senses, spice and man mingled with the aromas of leather and wood.
Heat blossomed in her belly, flowed like a river of syrup into her limbs. She felt as if she’d been drinking when she had in fact not had a drop. He did that to her, had done from the first moment she’d met him on the docks outside the palazzo in Venice.
No, he’d always made her feel funny, though when she’d been younger it had only been a hot, hollow feeling right beneath her breastbone. She’d crept into the garage to feel it, to gaze upon him and daydream.
How deluded she’d been about him. How very, very naive. He was not her dream man, not the husband or lover she could have wished for. He was arrogant, cold and very determined to get his way, no matter the consequences to anyone else.
She despised him. And her body wasn’t getting the message. Her body was zinging with sparks, melting, aching. Wanting.
Tina sucked in a sharp breath, reminding herself why she couldn’t allow that to happen.
She could never allow it to happen again. He’d consumed her the last time, and she’d willingly let it happen. She’d only panicked when she’d known who he was, not because of what had transpired between them. No, she’d been half-ready to do it again, but she’d let her curiosity get the best of her.
If only she’d never removed his mask!
Tina’s first instinct was to drop her gaze from the intensity of his, but she forced herself to look him in the eye. Unflinchingly.