Page 21 of The Sicilian’s Deal For 'I Do'

CHAPTER FIVE

MIAKNEWTHAT,no matter what she might say to Luca, she was willing to go along with this the minute she sent the text message to her mother.

Have gone to Rome to meet with a potential buyer, I’ll be back tomorrow.

It was a little white lie, a courtesy to Jennifer because if Mia simply didn’t arrive home, Jennifer and Gianni would worry—and it was only a slight bending of the truth anyway, as Mia had indeed held an online meeting with a buyer in Rome that morning.

She tilted her face to the sun, the warmth almost unbearable. She had no spare clothes, and the outfit she’d worn to work that morning didn’t exactly scream ‘relaxing by the pool’, but maybe that was a good thing? She didn’t want Luca to know how readily she’d acceded to his heavy-handed plans. Perhaps her corporate clothes could be seen as a form of silent protest? Only, it really was very hot, and so, with a sigh, she finally gave in and removed her jacket, placing it over the back of one of the loungers. But that was as far as she intended to go in a concession to comfort!

‘It’s a private pool. A private beach.’ He gestured behind them, and her eyes followed his hand, her heart tripping at the beauty of it all. ‘You do not need bathers,cara.’

Her stomach swirled. This man had seen her naked. He’d worshipped her curves—not once had she felt as though he wished she were skinnier. But when she looked at him, in just a pair of black boxer briefs, so toned and tanned, she became self-conscious again, her mother’s repeated barbs hitting their mark, even now, years later.

‘I’m fine,’ she said, prim-sounding. ‘You go ahead.’ She crossed her arms over her chest, seeking refuge in irritation rather than allowing herself to relax into this paradise.

‘Suit yourself.’ He shrugged before diving into the water, his dark head sleek when he emerged at the other end a moment later, his powerful body mesmerising as it tore through the water. He was built like a swimmer, she realised, with those broad shoulders and a slim, tapered waist, powerful legs, all lean and muscular. He looked completely at home in the water, like Poseidon, Greek God of the Sea. And Earthquakes, if she was remembering her ancient myths correctly. Which made a lot of sense, given how unstable the ground felt whenever she was near him.

Prevaricating a moment, she kicked off her shoes and placed them neatly beneath the lounger, then walked to the edge of the pool, choosing a part that wasn’t splashed with water and sitting down, dangling her feet and calves in. It was divine. The perfect balm to such a warm day.

You’ve been kidnapped, her brain tried to remind her.

But there was a small part of Mia that wondered if maybe she hadn’t actually been saved. For a moment, she rested back on her palms, face tilted to the sky, and pictured herself as some kind of modern-day Rapunzel, brought down from the tower and carried away on a horse. But Luca was no knight in shining armour, and she wasn’t a damsel in distress. She was determined not to be. Mia was taking control of her own life and destiny. Marrying Lorenzo would be her ticket to freedom. She was going to make sure of it.

His hands around her calves jolted Mia out of her thoughts. She looked down at Luca and her heart skipped a beat. For one perfect moment, she let herself imagine that this was real.

That her other life had been a dream. An awful nightmare.

She imagined that Luca hadn’t left her on their wedding day. That they’d married and lived here, just the two of them, in this picturesque paradise, far from her parents, from anything and anyone. She imagined that instead of marrying Lorenzo, she was already married to Luca. It was an illusion, a balloon she had to burst, and so she spoke quickly, needing to drag herself—even if inwardly kicking and screaming—back to reality.

‘Where did you go anyway?’

His sexy smile made her blood pound. ‘When?’

‘The night before our wedding.’

His smile dropped. His face was thunder. He didn’t want to answer.

‘It’s a straightforward question.’

His jaw was clenched. Perhaps he disagreed, but after a beat, he spoke. ‘It’s no secret. I went to America.’

‘Why?’

‘I have an office in New York.’

She furrowed her brow. ‘And you suddenly needed to be there?’

‘Is that so hard to believe?’

She tilted her lips to the side. ‘Well, so far as I knew, you were planning to marry me.’ A thought occurred to her, one that made ice trickle down her spine. ‘You were going to marry me at some point, weren’t you? You didn’t set out from the beginning to humiliate me like that?’

‘No, Mia, no. Up until I uncovered your father’s...disingenuity, I believed you and I would marry. It was part of the deal.’

She nodded slowly. It should have mollified her, but hearing him describe their marriage as part of the deal—even when that was a very accurate assessment—made her insides hurt. ‘But you didn’twantto marry me.’

His eyes didn’t quite meet hers. ‘Before your father suggested it, I never intended to marry anyone.’

‘So why agree to that term?’

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