No wonder Jane had been distraught.
A mix of rage, sorrow and shame coursed through Luca. His father’s cruel meddling had been responsible for keeping Jane and Antonio apart. Damiano had besmirched Jane’s character, possibly contributed to her death and had certainly caused Antonio’s unhappiness.
A huge chasm of failure also rent Luca apart. In all the grief Antonio must’ve known, he’d not once reached out to Luca for support. Why? Hadn’t he known Luca would’ve stood by him in solidarity had he only asked for his help, or had it all happened so quickly the damage had been done?
Damiano had successfully isolated the brothers by exploiting Antonio’s general lack of confidence and intimidating him.
Luca had never felt such violent rage. Every muscle tight, he willed himself to keep control. There were other questions he needed answered.
‘What about the contract I found in Antonio’s papers? The one signed by Jane agreeing to be a surrogate mother for Antonio and Lavinia?’
Damiano was so arrogant he had no idea how much Luca condemned his actions. The man Luca was ashamed to call his father was enjoying his revelations and chuckled now at his own deviousness. ‘It was my idea. It was a forgery, manufactured after the stupid woman died. It was the only way for Lavinia to forgive Antonio for his infidelity and accept my granddaughter as her own child.’
Luca’s head pounded. He’d disassociated himself from his father the day he’d turned eighteen. He’d only established very limited contact with him again when the court had granted Damiano visitation rights with Christiana.
No judge would insist on visitation rights if they found out what the old man had done. Now Damiano would be out of his life, permanently.
‘I don’t know what possessed you to bring those women into this house,’ Damiano ranted, ‘but you get them to the doctor tomorrow for the necessary tests and send them home again as soon as possible.’
‘That’s not going to happen,’ Luca pronounced.
The old man’s head snapped back like a marionette whose puppeteer had jerked too hard on its strings. ‘What?’
‘You heard me.’
‘You dare to defy me?’
‘I gave my word and my word means something.’
‘Christo! You are my son! You built your own business empire on my name.’
Luca ground his teeth together in bitter denial. ‘I built my business empire—an honest business empire—despite your name,’ he enunciated tightly. ‘I may be your son, but I’m not proud of it.’
‘You—!’
‘Olivia and Marjorie Temple are my guests in my home. They are Christiana’s relatives and are to be treated with respect. What you did to Jane and Antonio—to Christiana’s parents—was unforgiveable.’ He felt the heat of his contempt blazing from his eyes and wondered how Damiano wasn’t incinerated on the spot. ‘It sickens me you show no remorse.’
Another crude, angry curse burst from Damiano’s lips. The old man straightened and stared at Luca. ‘This Olivia has bewitched you.’
‘No,’ he denied automatically.
‘Then why is she here?’
‘Because she’s Christiana’s aunt. Because her bone marrow may be able to save Christiana’s life,’ he paused, ‘and because it’s right Christiana’s grandmother and aunt should have the chance to get to know her—especially when Jane was never a surrogate mother.’
‘It’s right?’ The old man nearly exploded as he got to his feet. Then, he laughed cynically. ‘How much are they charging you for their precious bone marrow test? How much are they charging you for their chance to get to know her?’
‘They wouldn’t accept payment.’
Luca’s declaration stopped his father for a few moments before he said scathingly, ‘Then they’re biding their time. Mark my words, Luca, it’s always about money.’
‘But it wasn’t in Jane Temple’s case, was it? You found you couldn’t buy her off, and the same is true for her mother and sister.’ He shuddered inwardly when he recalled he’d thought the same thing. Dio, but he hoped he wasn’t in danger of becoming as cynical as his father. ‘If it’d been about money, they would’ve filed a law suit against the hospital for Jane’s wrongful death.’
‘Call me when you come to your senses and have sent those women packing,’ Damiano raged as he took a few steps towards the door.
‘When hell freezes over,’ Luca pronounced quietly.
The old man turned around and glared at him.
‘You’ve never been welcome in my home but from now on, your presence will no longer be tolerated here,’ Luca decreed. ‘Leave now and don’t ever come back.’
‘Try to stop me and you’ll face a judge for denying me visitation rights awarded to me by the court.’
‘Once the court knows what you’ve done, you and your poison will never come anywhere near Christiana again.’
‘You wouldn’t drag this through the courts. It’d reflect badly on you and Christiana would resent you for it when she’s old enough to understand.’
Luca folded his arms across his chest and stared his father down. ‘I wouldn’t advise you to try me.’
‘You’ll come to your senses, boy.’
‘I came to my senses a long time ago where you’re concerned.’ It only shamed him he hadn’t realised the truth about Jane and Antonio far earlier. Luca realised he’d brought more distress to Olivia and Marjorie because he’d believed the twisted lies about Jane. ‘Don’t ever try to see Christiana or I promise you I’ll go to court and tell the judge exactly what sort of man you are.’
‘Have you forgotten who I am?’ The old man puffed out his chest and went red in the face. ‘Have you forgotten my connections? If you don’t remove those Temple women from Christiana’s life, I’m more than capable of having them removed—permanently.’
Luca stilled as the blood chilled in his veins at the open threat.
As if Damiano’s actions hadn’t wrought enough destruction on the Temple family.
‘If you don’t get them out of Italy, Luca, it’ll be on your conscience.’
It was time.
It was time to use the ace he’d had up his sleeve since he’d left home at eighteen. Damiano needed to be put in his place. Just two words ought to do it.
‘Carson Industries,’ he enunciated succinctly.
The red heat bleached from Damiano’s complexion at the mere mention of the underworld scandal he’d been involved in.
‘I didn’t leave home without an insurance policy,’ Luca told his father. ‘I have copies of all the dirty deals, all the laundered money and every piece of evidence that ties you into the downfall of that company.’
‘Bastardo!’
‘Possibly.’ He was unphased by Damiano’s wrath. ‘After all your womanising, I wouldn’t blame my mother for having had her own affairs.’
His goading made Damiano’s jaw clench tight—even though they both knew Luca’s mother had been faithful to the grave.
‘How much?’ came the old man’s demand. ‘How much do you want?’
Si. It was the closest Damiano had ever come to being scared. Then again, when he’d screwed a Mafia rival over Carson Industries, he had reason to be terrified if evidence came to light. ‘The evidence isn’t for sale. It’s secure in a bank vault and I stipulated that it only see the light of day if I die prematurely. However, if you give me even the slightest reason to suspect you’ve harmed so much as a hair on either Marjorie or Olivia Temple, I’m sure the Kostini family would be very interested in the documents.’
Damiano told Luca crudely exactly what he could do to himself then stormed out of the library and slammed the door so hard behind him the crystal glass vibrated against the tabletop.
Luca stood rooted to the spot for a few minutes trying to absorb the horror and havoc Damiano had wrought on his brother and Jane.
Inferno! Damiano’s interference had most certainly contributed to Jane’s death.
Antonio had been denied t
he opportunity to follow his heart.
Christiana had been denied the opportunity to know her mother.
Antonio and Lavinia had ended up dead, the Temple family had been severely wronged and Damiano had just threatened them directly.
The mention of Carson Industries was almost guaranteed to protect Olivia and Marjorie from harm, but Luca wasn’t going to underestimate his father’s threats. It wasn’t in Damiano’s nature not to strike back, so the women would need bodyguards whenever they ventured away from Luca’s home.
Luca could never atone for his father’s role in Jane Temple’s death but his sense of decency and responsibility demanded he try to compensate in whatever way he could to make life better for Jane’s mother and sister.
It would be hard for Luca to admit all his father’s wrongdoings but Olivia and Marjorie deserved the truth. Dio, but he hoped Olivia didn’t blame him for all that’d happened. It was vital for Christiana’s sake that their newly formed truce would last.
Chapter 7
Nervousness hurtled through Olivia’s veins like the foam from a white water rapid. She dressed quickly in anticipation of meeting her niece and hoped they’d bond quickly. The mirror confirmed the beginnings of dusky circles under her eyes, indicative of several sleepless nights, but at least she’d recovered quickly from her virus, otherwise she’d have had to stay away from Christiana whose immunity was low after the chemotherapy.
Her wristwatch confirmed it was mid-morning.
Jet lagged and with a lot of thoughts pressing on her mind, Olivia had only managed to drift off to sleep as a slice of sunshine appeared through a gap where she hadn’t fully closed the curtains. If it hadn’t been for a maid bringing her a breakfast tray, she may have still been asleep, wasting more precious minutes with Jane’s daughter.
When she’d been in Australia, Olivia hadn’t considered there’d be any problems in bonding with Christiana. The five-year-old spoke both Italian and English so there’d be no language barrier to breach, but the lifestyle Christiana had been exposed to was vastly different from her own.
The chauffeured limousines Olivia had ridden in to and from the airports and Luca’s private jet were the tip of the iceberg. Last night she’d arrived at the huge mansion he and Christiana called home, seen the tasteful opulence of the décor and identified a couple of masterpiece paintings and priceless objects d’art. If she’d felt daunted by him in her home environment, it was nothing compared to how far out of her depth she felt now and she fervently hoped Christiana hadn’t been spoilt.
How could Jane even have visualised herself fitting in to such a world of wealth when she hadn’t had a materialistic bone in her body?
A knock on her bedroom door interrupted her concerns.
Fastening the last button on her blouse, she went to open the door.
‘Good morning, Olivia,’ Luca greeted.
Instantly flustered, her mouth dried as she was hit again by the full force of his magnetism and stunning good looks. It only took a split-second for her brain to register his white collared shirt was unbuttoned, revealing a delicious V of deep olive skin and a sprinkle of fine, dark hair. She had difficulty dragging her eyes away from the exposed flesh. Meanwhile, her brain broke free of the reins of her control and galloped away, mentally stripping his torso bare and imagining strong pectoral muscles lying beneath the crisp shirt.
‘Did you sleep well?’ His deep voice always sent Olivia’s pulse rate skyrocketing.
‘No,’ she admitted. ‘I didn’t fall asleep until dawn. I kept thinking about meeting Christiana.’
‘That’s understandable.’ His gaze rested on her face before he reached out and tucked a stray tendril of her hair behind her ear.
The brush of his warm fingers against her cheek caused her heart to pound crazily in her chest, and she was unable to meet his eyes in case he saw how he affected her.
‘Your mother asked to be told the instant Christiana woke up. They’ve already spent a few hours together and Marjorie’s now having a late breakfast.’
‘Oh.’
‘I thought it’d be better to introduce you to Christiana individually.’
‘You’re probably right,’ she agreed as he dropped his hand back to his side. ‘How did it go with Mum?’
The warmth from his smile curled right around her, reassuring her, lending her strength, and triggering a reaction of pure longing low in her pelvis.
Damn. Damn. She should never have declared the truce. Now she had no anger to fall back on, she had to talk to him in a civil way and start getting to know him. The change in status quo made her too vulnerable to his blasted sex appeal.
‘Without a glitch,’ he responded as he moved closer and placed a firm hand on her shoulder. Frissons of awareness shot up and down her spine. ‘Christiana accepted her completely and your mother was as you say in English—’ his eyebrows moved as he hesitated and seemed to search for the expression, ‘—over the moon.’
Olivia swallowed again then took a step away from him, ostensibly to gather up a small gift she’d brought with her from Australia but really to try to move out of his force field. ‘Great.’
News of the all-important meeting between Christiana and her mother was overshadowed by every primitive feminine response in Olivia still reacting to his nearness. Her thighs trembled, her breasts grew heavy, and she was sorely tempted to move right back to him so she could be completely in the circle of his arms.
Crazy!
It was certifiably mad to have gone so quickly from fighting tooth and nail to now being all too aware of his attractiveness.
But really, her conscience nagged, you’ve been aware of Luca’s good looks ever since day one, haven’t you?
Lord help her, it was true. It was part of the reason she’d clung to her animosity of him.
***
‘Let’s go.’ His words were crisper than he’d intended as he turned and walked out of her room.
Since he’d realised Olivia was far from the maniacal woman he’d first encountered, she’d made way too many positive impressions on him. Her commitment and loyalty to family was a quality he respected and admired. In a lifetime where he’d known so much family conflict, no affection from his father and been exposed to power-playing games, the love she had for her mum, and the importance she placed on her mother’s happiness was impressive. There was her fierce loyalty to and defence of her sister, and her fervent wish to meet Christiana and do whatever she could to help, even though it’d meant taking leave from her job and temporarily pulling up roots from Australia. Olivia was a woman like no other he’d met. It’d be easy to become very attached to her.
Friendship, he reminded himself. It was what they’d promised as part of their truce and it was what they had to establish for Christiana’s sake.
Aware of her lengthening her stride to keep up with him as she followed him down the hallway, he made himself slow down.
‘You have an amazing art collection,’ she told him. ‘That’s an original Renoir, isn’t it?’
He stopped so abruptly she almost collided with him. ‘You have quite an eye for art. It’s one of Renoir’s more obscure works.’
‘I studied fine art as part of my Bachelor of Arts degree, before I became a teacher,’ she clarified quickly.
‘Your mother mentioned you’d painted all the stage backdrops for a school play. Do you also paint pictures?’
Her body jolted at the question. ‘Not much now.’ Her mouth twisted ruefully and her voice was distant. ‘Teaching’s a pretty full-time job, with lots of take-home preparation. It doesn’t allow a great deal of time for hobbies.’
‘You never dreamed of becoming an artist?’
He watched the movement of her throat as she swallowed. ‘I was in the process of organising an exhibition of my work before Jane died, but after … well … I ended up cancelling.’ She shrugged and looked a little horrified she’d raised the subject. ‘I sort of lost the feel for it.’
Lost
the feel for it?
The impression she gave was that she’d lost far more than the feel for it.
Lost another dream, Luca substituted as he absorbed her troubled air and remembered Marjorie’s words. Olivia took one major emotional hit after another over those few weeks, both personally and professionally. She’s never truly recovered.
Was the professional loss the cancellation of her art exhibition?
An unseen fist punched forcibly into his gut again. The uncomfortable sensation was becoming all-too-familiar. Almost every time he was with Olivia he kept learning the many ways she’d suffered because of her sister’s death—because of his bloody, tyrannical father. It was clear she’d lost not only her father and sister, but also her hopes and dreams. Luca knew he could never make it up to her, but he was damned well going to try. Now, he was determined to find out more about the exhibition—either from Olivia or Marjorie.
‘You should start painting again while you’re here,’ he suggested.
‘Maybe.’ Her shrug was non-committal but her tone of voice screamed denial.
Looking more closely at her he decided he’d been right the first day he’d seen her. She did have a fragility about her beauty.
Beauty.
He frowned as he turned the thought over in his mind. It was true. Olivia had beautiful bone structure and a flawless complexion. If she put on more weight and stopped looking so stressed, she could grace the covers of magazines and sashay down the world’s best catwalks without looking out of place.
Annoyed his mind even went in such a direction, he picked up his pace again and led her towards Christiana’s room.
Dio, but he was ultra-aware of Olivia this morning and felt an overwhelming need to comfort her—to protect her. It had to be the guilt he carried since he’d learned the extent of Damiano’s manipulations and culpability. The need to atone for his father’s sins gripped him hard. This guilt must be twisting his feelings for Olivia and he needed to get a grip on reality.
Only minutes ago, he’d wanted to step into her room and close the door behind him. The urge to enfold her in his embrace and comfort her with kisses had been stronger than anything he’d ever known.
Seduced by the Enemy Page 8
