Page 14 of The Italian's Marriage Bargain

Luca didn’t just move in different circles; he inhabited a different world altogether.

Felicity deliberately didn’t look up, not at all sure what he expected from her here. His hand had moved from behind his head now, and from the incessant drumming of his fingers on the bedside table Felicity knew he wasn’t nearly as laid back as he appeared.

‘Anna and I were lovers. In fact we were together for a couple of years. The papers didn’t give a damn then, of course. She was Signorina Anna Ritonni then, so there really wasn’t much for them to get excited about. Our mutual families were delighted, though, sure a wedding was just around the corner.’ He watched for her reaction, but Felicity deliberately kept her face impassive.

‘But there wasn’t?’

‘Not the one our families had in mind. Anna got married six months ago.’

‘So it says here.’ She made her voice light. The fact Luca Santanno hadn’t held onto his virginity until Felicity came along was hardly a shock—and what right did she have to make demands now over something that had taken place before they had even met? But even so her jealousy was curiously tinged with disappointment that a man like Luca, a man about whom she had only so very recently revised her opinion, would have run true to the form Felicity had previously predicted and committed adultery with his ex-lover.

‘We didn’t sleep together.’ His voice was clear, his words measured, and the surge of relief that swept through her as she finally looked at him was inexplicable even to Felicity. ‘And to avoid the confusion of earlier I will qualify that by adding “this time”.’ His dry humour didn’t shift the tension an inch. ‘Since Anna and Ricardo married I haven’t slept with her—though not for the want of trying on Anna’s part. The only problem is no one is going to believe me.’

‘I believe you.’ Felicity gave a small smile as Luca blinked in surprise. ‘But why does this article matter to you so much? I hate to state the obvious, but you’re in the papers every other week with some stunning woman on your arm; surely no one is going to bat an eyelid?’

‘They will this time.’ He let out a long, low sigh, one dark-skinned hand coming up and raking his short hair, then dragging over his unshaven chin before finally he spoke. ‘As I said, wewerelovers. Anna is my public relations manager—although—’ he gave a tiny wry smile ‘—I think on these grounds I wouldn’t have much problem dismissing her.’

‘Careful.’ Felicity wagged a playful finger across the bed. ‘I think she might have a bit of a claim for sexual harassment there.’

He gave a low laugh, but then shook his head, and Felicity knew the time for joking was over. ‘We are from the same village.’

‘In Moserallo?’

Luca nodded. ‘We both still base ourselves there. It’s just a small village, but every time I go home I wonder how I ever left in the first place. It’s nestled in the Italian Alps, and everywhere you look there’s a view to die for, especially now, with the snow on the mountains.’

‘It sounds wonderful.’

‘It is.’ Luca nodded. ‘Of course the fact it’s a three-hour drive to Rome means I don’t get there often enough, and spend most of the week staying in one of my hotels. Though sometimes, if I’m feeling really homesick, I use a helicopter, which makes the journey almost manageable. No matter how luxurious the hotel, it can get too much. Sometimes it is nice to come home.’

‘I can understand that.’ Felicity shrugged. ‘I can’t imagine it, but I think I can understand it.’

He paused for a moment, those beautiful eyes narrowing as he looked at her thoughtfully, weighing up whether to go on or not. Felicity realised she was holding her breath, desperate to pass this imaginary test, to glean whatever she could about this difficult, complicated man.

‘Anna was crazy about me,’ Luca said, his words coming slowly, ‘and I was crazy about her, but we didn’t love each other. As much as she denies that, I know it to be true. Anna loved money, riches, the lifestyle. Not me.’

‘Maybe she loved both,’ Felicity said thoughtfully. ‘The money and you?’

‘No.’ Luca shook his head firmly. ‘A few months ago there were some financial problems—nothing huge, I had already foreseen them and taken care of things, but I didn’t tell Anna that.’

‘You were testing her?’ Felicity, asked her eyes widening.

‘Not at first.’ He shook his head, but she could hear the hint of discomfort in his voice. ‘I honestly didn’t want to worry her, and as you have seen for yourself I don’t really like discussing work when I am in bed. Still, she became more insistent, more…’ Felicity waited, half smiling as again he snapped his fingers. ‘More nervous. I realised she was worried I might lose my money, and even though it wasn’t even a vague possibility I chose not to put her mind at rest, so, yes, I suppose in the end I was testing her.’

‘I assume she failed.’

‘She married Ricardo Giordano two weeks later. He is also from my town.’ Luca’s voice suddenly dropped and she saw his Adam’s apple bob up and down a couple of times before he continued. ‘Ricardo is also the closest thing I have to a father.’

Suddenly things seemed rather more sordid than complicated, and Felicity felt her mouth open slightly, her intention to remain impassive diminishing with every word.

‘He is not in a relationship with my mother.’ Luca grinned, realising in an instant the path her mind had taken. ‘My ownpapàdied when I was eight, and Ricardo has been the man I turn to for advice—I guess he is the father figure in my life. Apart from being a wonderful man, he is also exceptionally rich. He made his fortune in wine. Ricardo makes me look like a poor church mouse, which is why she married him.’

‘You don’t know that,’ Felicity argued, though why she was defending Anna she had no idea—but given that she was tucked up in Luca’s luxury suite maybe she could afford to be generous. ‘Perhaps they just fell in love.’

‘He is sixty years old.’

‘Oh.’

‘With a poor heart.’

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