Page 36 of Royally Roma
Just what did she intend to do? Follow him wherever he went? God, she did, didn’t she?
He didn’t have the patience for this. He’d already sacrificed an entire day of royal obligations in the name of lust. He couldn’t lose another twelve hours. There was a private jet all fueled up and waiting for him at Ciampino International Airport. Right now. “Julia, I’ll see to it that the money is wired directly into your bank account. It will be there first thing in the morning.”
“If you think I’m giving you my banking information, you have lost your pompous mind. I need cash. Cold, hard cash. And you are not leaving my sight until that cash is in my hands.” She smiled at him, as if she were capable of engaging him in this sort of battle. Her naïveté would have been charming, if he had had the time to indulge her.
“And where do you propose we spend the hours until I get my hands on your money?” Moonlight spilled over the Forum, casting the archaic shrines in a golden, otherworldly glow. Sans Cartier, Niccolo wasn’t sure exactly what time it was. He knew he was late. Just as he knew the banks had most likely closed up shop for the night.
She cleared her throat, her gaze shifting uneasily downward. “My flat, I suppose.”
Her flat. What must the virgins be thinking?
Nothing would happen, of course. Under no circumstances could he sleep with her. Spending the day with Julia without disclosing his identity was one thing. Taking her to bed was another entirely. He couldn’t allow himself to do it, no matter how badly he wanted to.
Because he most definitely did. “Why Miss Costa, you shock me. Are you certain that’s a wise idea?”
“Would you prefer the police station? Don’t flatter yourself. This isn’t an illicit rendezvous. This is a business matter. As soon as you’ve paid me what you owe, you’re free to go.” Her mouth compressed. Her lovely, decadent mouth.
A host of inappropriate images began spinning in Niccolo’s head. He allowed himself a brief glance at her wet blouse and teasing, taut nipples. He ached to touch her. Really touch her. Skin on glorious skin. Let her take every penny he owned. The palace and all its contents. Anything.
He met her gaze again. Held it.
This was a bad idea. The worst. He couldn’t trust her. And she sure as hell couldn’t trust him, alone together in her flat.
“Perhaps my idea of a business arrangement is different from yours,” he said hotly. “Because what you’re proposing sounds rather like a hostage situation.”
“Call it what you will.” She shrugged an elegant, enticing shoulder. “It’s getting late. The Forum closes soon. We’ve got to leave, and you’re coming with me.”
So this was how it was going to be? Julia planned on ordering him about, as if she really did have him under her control.
Let her think that, if it pleased her. He would play along until he got her the money. There was a way to get his hands on a few thousand euros at this time of night. Absolutely there was. He was a prince. Nothing was beyond his reach. As soon as they got to her flat, he’d call Piero and make arrangements to have a suitable amount of cash delivered at once.
This would all be over in an hour.
Two, tops.
Surely he could go that long without doing something they would both come to regret.
CHAPTER
TEN
Julia blinked, trying to come to terms with the sight of Nico standing in the tiny entryway to her apartment. He’d ridden behind her on the back of the Vespa and then walked wordlessly beside her up the steep cobblestone hill from the narrow alley where she always parked. And now here he stood, filling up the small space with the enormous intensity of his presence.
Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? She was his captor. She was the one in charge here.
Her mouth grew dry. For all practical purposes, she’d abducted a man. Granted, she had her reasons. Good ones. But she doubted thepoliziawould see things in the same light that she did. At least she hadn’t used a weapon. Unless her cell phone counted.
What had she been thinking? And what in the world was she going to do with him now that she had him here?
To her complete and utter mortification, it seemed her body had plenty ideas of what to do with him. Physically, she was still hot and yearning and had been since that first kiss at the Colosseum. If anything, the hunger his touch had stirred had only grown worse in the hours since she’d issued her impetuous protest.
I’m your guide, not your mistress.
But she wasn’t exactly his guide anymore, was she?
Not that it mattered. There were still plenty of reasons not to sleep with him.Two hundred fiftyof them, actually. She shouldnotbe attracted to him anymore. Not after what he’d done.
To make matters worse, the bed loomed in the center of her little efficiency apartment. A forbidden oasis. Had it always been so big? Why, oh why, couldn’t she have a proper flat with a proper bedroom?
