Page 27 of Bound by Their Christmas Baby

‘The ca

stle is amazing,’ she agreed. ‘I can see why you were drawn to it.’

‘I doubt that,’ he said under his breath.

‘What do you mean?’

He was quiet for a moment. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

Curiosity exploded inside her. Was there more behind his purchase of the castle? Suddenly, she wanted to know everything. She wanted to pick Gabe’s brain, to understand him completely and unequivocally, but she suspected he wouldn’t willingly accede to that.

He turned at a large pine tree and the snow-covered road gave way to one that was ever so slightly less so, as though it had been swept clear an hour or so earlier. Just the lightest dusting of white had fallen over it since.

‘The castle was the heart of this village. It was once a great agricultural stronghold and supported all of the people who lived here.’

But Abby heard Gabe’s words in the very back of her mind. She was leaning forward in her seat, her breath held, as she stared out of the windscreen at Fiamatina. It was, without doubt, the most charming and exquisitely beautiful place she had ever seen. The buildings all looked to be very, very old and, like the castle, they were built of stone. Mostly, they were joined together, forming rows and rows of cottages with ancient windows, creating streets so narrow that two cars couldn’t have been accommodated at the same time. In deference to this, or perhaps to allow Abby to see everything they passed, Gabe went slowly, winding the car through street after street. Swathes of greenery were hung between the walls, covered in snow now, giving the Christmas decorations even more of a hint of festivity. The shops they passed were decorated too, and Abby was itching to explore properly.

When Gabe turned the corner again, the village opened into a square with a large Renaissance statue in the centre—the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, also topped with snow. A garland had been laid at their feet recently enough that it was still fresh.

Gabe brought the car to a stop. ‘I will be a few hours. I presume you will be able to entertain yourself without getting into any trouble, for that short space of time?’

Abby lifted her eyes to his, frustration zipping through her. ‘This doesn’t exactly look like the kind of place that invites trouble.’

‘Still, you are particularly good at finding your way into it,’ he said, his words not showing a hint of humour or kindness. ‘Try not to seduce any of the local businessmen, tempesta. You will not find their secrets worth keeping. Nor their wealth worth having, compared to mine.’

She sucked in an angry breath, her chest burning with the unfairness of his accusation. ‘I didn’t seduce you…’

He laughed and then shook his head as if sobering with the speed of lightning. He reached across and gripped her chin between his forefinger and thumb. ‘You seduced me a year ago, make no mistake. But I have your measure now; you will not find me so foolish again.’

She wanted to tell him to go to hell, that she wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot bargepole for a million dollars, but already her body was making a liar of her, warming beneath his touch, filling with remembered pleasures.

His eyes roamed her face, dark emotions spiralling through them. ‘Did you make a habit of doing your father’s bidding?’

A soft sigh fell from Abby’s lips. ‘I love him,’ she said simply. ‘He’s my dad.’

Something flickered in Gabe’s expression and he dropped his hand. ‘He’s a fool.’

Sadness began to ricochet through Abby. ‘It’s not that simple,’ she demurred with a small shake of her head. ‘He’s just… Since losing Mom, the business is all he has. He’s so proud of his company but since Bright Spark came onto the scene it’s been so hard for him.’

‘My products dominate because they are, simply, better.’

His arrogance was no less galling because it was the truth. ‘I’m trying to explain that he would do anything to succeed…’

‘Including sending his only child to bed with a man she barely knew.’

‘God, don’t be so… You make it sound so sleazy,’ she said with a shake of her head. ‘It wasn’t like that.’

‘No?’ Snow had begun to fall and it was blanketing the windscreen, removing the square from their view and vice versa. In the distance, she could hear beautiful Benedictine-type music, those lovely melodious chants, and she wondered if there was a church nearby.

‘What was it like then?’

Abby swallowed, drawing her gaze back to Gabe’s. ‘He just wanted me to find stuff out about Calypso,’ she said, her eyes falling away again almost instantly. His fury and contempt were not easy to face. ‘The going to bed with you thing was all me.’

‘So you remained a virgin until twenty-two, only to fall into bed with someone you barely knew? That sounds unlikely.’

It sounded preposterous. How could she explain that he wasn’t like anyone she’d ever known? That he had been bone-meltingly perfect and every cell in her body had recognised that they were meant to sleep together, that he was what she’d been waiting for?

The thought was one she certainly didn’t appreciate.

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