Page 15 of The Italian's Marriage Bargain

‘Oh.’ Glancing down at the picture, Felicity shook her head. ‘What a waste,’ she said slowly. ‘Poor Anna.’

‘Hardly poor,’ Luca pointed out, but Felicity shook her head more firmly.

‘She is poor, Luca. Money can’t buy happiness.’

‘Anna thinks it can,’ Luca argued. ‘After all, it bought her a first-class ticket to Melbourne when her husband thought she was doing business at the Singapore hotel. She wanted to pick up where we left off, wanted us to still be lovers. I told her no, of course. I neither need nor want to sleep with another man’s wife. The trouble is, this picture will be in the Italian papers now and any minute my mother will ring.’

‘So tell her what you told me.’

Luca shook his head.

‘It is not that simple.’

‘Of course it is,’ Felicity argued. ‘If you really didn’t sleep with her, your mother will know you are telling the truth.’

‘My mother wouldn’t mind if I was sleeping with her,’ Luca responded, to Felicity’s utter bemusement. ‘My mother probably expects it! What will upset her is our lack of discretion.’

‘Hold on a minute.’ Felicity shook her head, sure she must have misheard. ‘Your mother wouldn’t mind you sleeping with a married woman?’

‘Why would she? A lot of men have mistresses. It is our indiscretion she will not forgive. Shaming Ricardo so publicly—that is what is unforgivable. Even this so-called article—’ he picked up the paper and tossed it across the room as Felicity sat there, blinking rapidly ‘—is better than the real truth. The fact that Anna cannot bear to be with Ricardo, does not want him near her and that still I rejected her, would bring the ultimate shame to all our families. Whatever way I look at it, it is a mess.’

‘Goodness.’ Nibbling the skin around her thumbnail, Felicity stared at the picture, scarcely able to believe that someone so beautiful could make such a mess of things. ‘Is Anna worried?’

‘She will be when she sees this,’ Luca said darkly. ‘I told her yesterday that she needs to respect her husband, her family. That it is definitely over between us.’

‘And what did she say?’

‘She agreed. She was embarrassed, a bit upset. And when I spoke to her, told her how I felt, she begged me not to let anyone find out. I think she finally realised she must work at her marriage.’

Felicity doubted that. Being rejected by Luca would hurt like hell. She had only spent one night in his arms and already she was out of her depth. To have known such perfection for two years and then have it snatched away—well, it defied rational thought.

Picking up the paper, Felicity stared at the picture once more. Anna’s dark calculating eyes sent a shiver of mistrust through her.

Anna had more than saving her marriage on her mind.

‘I tell you, when my mother reads this she will go crazy.’ Luca’s worried voice broke into her thoughts and Felicity smothered a smile. But it was too late for Luca’s sharp eyes. ‘What is so funny?’ he demanded.

‘You just don’t seem like the sort of man who’d be worried about what his mother would think.’

‘Why? Do you think a man can only be macho if he disregards the people he loves?’ Luca snapped as Felicity swallowed her response. ‘That I should not care if I shame my mother, if I disappoint her? These press don’t know the hell they create. You are not the only one who cares about their parents, Felice. My mother is older now, she wants her son married, settled, yet she turns a blind eye, accepts I am not ready to settle down. But when she thinks I am sleeping with a family friend’s wife and not even bothering to be discreet, then…’ He stood up, and this time he did pull on a robe, tying the belt in fury. The incessant pacing started again as Felicity looked on. ‘Then I hurt her.’

‘It’s night time in Italy.’ Her small voice stopped him in his tracks. Swinging around, he shot her an incredulous look.

‘What the hell has that got to do with it?’

‘The papers won’t be out yet. You’ve got a few hours to come up with something—something to tell your family.’

‘I don’t need a few hours.’ The haughty face softened then, an almost apologetic smile brushing over lips. ‘Because I already have a solution.’

‘You do?’ Smiling, Felicity sat straighter, perking up with interest. ‘Well, why didn’t you say so?’

He didn’t answer, just walked over and sat down, one hand pulling hers across the bed, those dark blue eyes staring intently now. The bob of his Adam’s apple as he cleared his throat made Felicity suddenly awash with the strangest sense of foreboding, the weirdest feeling that his solution wasn’t a simple one.

‘Anna and I could be just friends,’ he started, and Felicity’s eyes darted nervously. ‘Perhaps if I had fallen head over heels in love, it wouldn’t be out of the question for her to have flown over for a bit of feminine insight.’

‘Insight?’ Felicity squeaked, her mind working overtime, his calculated words coming too fast at her.

‘Insight,’ Luca repeated. ‘I’m hopeless with jewellery, things like that, and with something as important as an engagement ring I’d want to get it right.’

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