Page 17 of The Sicilian’s Deal For 'I Do'

Luca’s laugh was so quiet it was almost inaudible but to Mia, whose nerves were stretched tight, it not only reached her ears but seemed to wrap around her, so she ground her teeth together, wishing there were some way she could inoculate herself against his masculine charms. Hating him apparently wasn’t going to cut it.

‘Relax, Mia. It’s just one night. Perhaps two.’

‘Two?’ Disbelief rang through the word. ‘I can’t stay with you for two nights. Listen to me, Luca, my parents will have kittens if I’m not home after work.’

‘Your parents will survive.’

She narrowed her gaze, connecting the dots. ‘Did you kidnap me...to hurt them?’ She frowned. It didn’t make sense. It was Luca who’d let her family down. Her parents were the ones who had every right to be angry, not the other way around.

‘Why do you hate us so much, Luca?’

He scanned her face, as if trying to comprehend something, then leaned forward. ‘I cannot tell if this is an act, or real.’

‘What?’

He reached out, smudging his thumb over her lower lip. As if he could wipe away whatever was making it difficult to read her and see more clearly.

‘You don’t think I have a right to despise them? And even you, a little, Mia? Perhaps you, most of all.’

Her heart twisted.

‘You were willing to go further than either of them.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘You were willing to sell yourself, and your virginity, to the highest bidder, to cover up their scam. How exactly should I feel about you?’

She flinched, his words making absolutely no sense. Scam? Her parents had a lot of faults, but they were hardly grifters. ‘You’re delusional.’

He moved closer, eyes flecked with brown and caramel. ‘Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?’

‘Find out what?’ she asked with urgency. She needed to understand what he was accusing them of, even when she knew it couldn’t be true.

‘Perhaps another buyer might not, but I am always cautious when I invest. Did you think our marriage would be enough of an inducement to make me look the other way?’

‘Please stop talking in riddles,’ she demanded haltingly, ‘and tell me what you’re accusing us of.’

He was very quiet, and the engine idled, then cut altogether. A moment later, Pietro, Luca’s driver, was at the door, opening Luca’s side. He immediately resented the intrusion but concealed that from his long-time staffer.

Luca took the briefest possible moment to give some instructions to Pietro then came around to Mia’s side, opening the car door and waiting for her to step out. She glared up at him, heart pounding, tempted to refuse to move, but she had no doubt he’d simply reach down and lift her from the car—which had every possibility of leading to the kind of passion they’d just shared. Fighting made them spark.

Something about them was instantly combustible.

Or, maybe sex was always like this? She hoped so.

Because, no matter what was happening between her and Luca, she had no intention of walking away from her engagement, and her marriage. Her heart gave a painful lurch, because she needed to remember what was fantasy and what was real—and nothing about Luca was real. This was a dangerous game they were playing, dangerous because there were no rules and no clear path to victory for either of them.

Despite her misgivings about this place, she couldn’t help but admire the villa at which they’d arrived. A wide gravel drive led to a turning circle with a pale yellow fountain at its centre. Four ancient statues of robe-draped women formed an elegant pyramid that led to a dolphin spouting water over their breasts and down into the water below. The sound was beautiful and relaxing. The driveway was surrounded on one side by a grove of citrus trees, fragrant with blossoms at this time of year, and on the other by a garden that might have been quite formal at one time but that was now delightfully overgrown. Wisteria ran rampant over the arbour, and half of the house, and a stone bench seat was covered in lichen and ivy.

The air hummed with bees and the smell of sweet flowers.

She hardened her heart. Against the beauty, and the seductive temptation of this.

The doors to the villa had ornate brass hinges, very old, she guessed, and the doors themselves were wide, timber and painted a lovely turquoise colour that perfectly complemented the glistening ocean beyond the house. The sound of the gently lapping waves called to Mia, but she heard her mother’s voice, as clear as a bell, and knew she wouldn’t indulge her childish desire to sprint down to the hot sand and into the refreshing ocean.

‘You have to take me home,’ she said, moving to Luca and pulling on his sleeve.

‘Why?’ he demanded, looking completely untouchable. In fact, it was impossible to recognise the passionate man she’d just made love to with the determined glittering in his dark eyes. ‘So your parents can raffle you off to the next highest bidder? So you can simper and smile across the table, all wide-eyed innocence, for your next target?’

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