Damn it! She cursed as she recognised the faintest hint of jealousy in her voice.
Luca must surely have heard it too, but his response confused her. His irate expression disappeared, and some of the tension seemed to disappear from his body.
‘Your internet research again?’ he queried with a brief flash of his sexy smile.
‘While you’ve never earned a playboy tag, you have dated some pretty high-profile, and very beautiful women in the last few years,’ she commented with as much cool indifference as she could inject into her voice. ‘Quite a few beautiful women.’
‘For a bright woman, you’re being foolish,’ he chastised softly.
In the next split-second, her fantasies came true as he pulled her close to him, lowered his head and claimed her lips with his own.
It was heaven.
Olivia melted against the rampantly male, muscular strength of his body as he increased the pressure of his lips against hers.
Hot, demanding and oh so hungry, his kisses were everything she’d dreamed they’d be, and then some, completely overwhelming her and intoxicating her senses. Fierce heat flooded her veins and she lifted her arms up and around his hard frame to rest her hands on his broad shoulders.
‘Mm,’ she moaned into his mouth.
A slight, sensual graze of his teeth on her lower lip and then his tongue drove powerfully between her lips and into the moist interior of her mouth, mimicking the intimate act of lovemaking. The action drove the breath from her body and rendered her senseless to all but the tide of longing he provoked with each stroke of his tongue.
His hands traced down her spine, only stopping when they reached the firmness of her bottom. He moulded the curve of her buttocks and urged the lower half of her against his muscular thighs until the shocking hardness of his growing arousal pressed into her.
Her initial reaction was shock that Luca truly found her desirable. Then, flaming arrows of need blazed across every nerve synapse in her body, burning away all coherent thought. The flames lit a molten inferno of fiery excitement at the juncture of her thighs.
His kisses were fabulous but they weren’t enough.
Her fingertips dug into his shoulders then traced upward to the bare flesh of his neck above his collar as she pressed her body even more intimately against his own. Spearing into the thick texture of his hair, her fingers were frantic in their exploration of his well-shaped head, and her tongue joined his in a dance as erotically sensual as any flamenco.
Just when her legs threatened to buckle beneath her, Luca raised his head away from hers and ended the kiss. It was only then she became aware of the wolf whistles they were receiving from passers-by.
Unsatisfied lust turned to confusion and then to embarrassment as she continued to stand in his embrace, her fingers still threaded through his hair. God! What a spectacle they’d provided not only for the passing crowd, but for his security team as well. It wasn’t going to be easy to face those men again.
‘You’re an incredibly desirable woman, Olivia,’ he breathed huskily. ‘Don’t ever believe otherwise.’
‘Oh my god,’ she gasped, pulling her arms back to her sides and feeling the blood drain from her face. ‘Was that what your kisses were all about? A little confidence boost for poor Aunty Olivia?’
‘No,’ he denied with swift firmness. ‘That was about doing what I’ve wanted to do since the day we left Australia—maybe even before then.’
‘Really?’ She’d recognised her dangerous attraction to him since the day he’d knocked on her door—even while she’d hated him.
‘You heard me.’
‘We … We shouldn’t have done it,’ she stammered in an oddly-pitched voice.
One of his hands settled in the small of her back while he lifted the other to cup her face. ‘Why not?’ He appeared completely calm, ignoring everything and everyone around them.
‘You’ve already told me you’re going to be married,’ she said helplessly, feeling the blood flood back to her face with a maddening rush.
‘But I’m not even engaged yet, and nor are you.’
She jerked her head to the side, away from his hand, and the swiftness of her action almost dislodged her sunglasses from the top of her head. ‘I’m not some neglected toy to be trifled with, Luca,’ she told him, regaining her senses. ‘I doubt your future wife would be impressed with your behaviour.’
His lips twitched into a smile. ‘I don’t think she’d mind.’
‘Well, I would!’ she vented with indignant anger.
‘Would you, cara?’ he teased softly. ‘Would you be jealous at the thought of me kissing another beautiful woman?’
The heat of her blush started to burn into her cheekbones more potently than the Italian summer sunshine. ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ she denied hotly. ‘I didn’t mean I’d mind you kissing another woman, I meant I’d mind if I was your fiancée and you were kissing another woman.’
He was laughing at her and, infuriatingly, her body didn’t seem to care. Contrary to all commonsense, it kept craving him.
Clenching her fists firmly at her sides so she didn’t give in to the temptation of hitting him when she really wanted to throw herself at him—she drew herself up to her full height, refusing to be humiliated. ‘You damned well know what I mean. Don’t you dare laugh at me.’
‘You are beautiful, Olivia—’ he smiled broadly, ‘—even when you’re angry.’
She vented a little hiss of rage. ‘Take me back, Luca.’
‘Yes, Olivia,’ he agreed with mock subservience, taking a step back away from her and giving her a little bow.
The man was unconscionable!
She hid her eyes behind her sunglasses and strode off angrily.
‘Olivia!’ he called after her. ‘You’re going in the wrong direction.’
Damn. Damn.
There was nothing to do but turn back towards him when she was aware he was highly amused by her flouncing off in the wrong direction, and by her self-righteous indignation.
When they reached the car, she turned back to confront him—to leave him in no doubt about her opinion of him for his unfair behaviour.
‘Your billions might afford you female playthings, but I’m not about to be counted as one of them,’ she fired at him. ‘We’re supposed to be friends for Christiana’s sake, but friends don’t behave like that and you had no right to kiss me when you’re considering marrying.’
The verbal bullets made no impact. ‘You’re right. Passionate kisses are best shared by lovers.’
‘That’s hardly an adequate apology,’ she pointed out as she reached for the handle of the car door and willed her eyes to stop devouring him.
His hand arrested her movement. ‘I’m not about to apologise for something I so thoroughly enjoyed—something you enjoyed too. An apology would be particularly hypocritical when I’m longing to kiss you again.’
Her mouth opened in her incredulity.
Humour twitched again at the corners of his sensual lips and she knew he was enjoying her agitation. She cursed the blush which was turning her cheeks into a furnace.
‘By the way, your mother told me one more of your closely guarded secrets,’ he announced as he proceeded to open the car door for her.
Alarm released a spurt of adrenaline into her bloodstream.
What else had her mother said?
There were no other closely guarded secrets she could think of.
Brushing past him in a rage, she still took care to lower herself as elegantly as she could onto the plush leather seat of the limousine. She studiously avoided his eye contact when he sat opposite her and decided she’d have to make sure she was never alone with him in future.
‘I was very grateful Marjorie mentioned it,’ he continued, baiting her.
Her jaw clenched and she glared at him, infuriated beyond belief. ‘Okay, fine,’ she grated out at last. ‘I’ll bite. She told you I was an artist, and she told you I was to be married. What else did sh
e say?’
‘She told me it’s your twenty-eighth birthday tomorrow.’
Chapter 9
Devil or angel in disguise?
In the pre-dawn hours of the morning, Olivia’s brain worked hard at trying to pigeon-hole Luca as she stared unseeingly at the print in her novel. Sleep eluded her so she’d attempted to lose herself in the book, but it was useless trying to concentrate on the story when Luca’s kisses kept replaying in her brain.
She bit relentlessly at her bottom lip, and placed the book on the bedside table.
Yesterday afternoon, she’d returned to his mansion confused and more than a little hurt at the way he’d toyed with her at the Spanish Steps. If he could kiss her so thoroughly when he was planning marriage to someone else, he obviously didn’t respect her as much as she’d hoped.
Quick as lightning, he’d soared in her estimation again after dinner. She and Marjorie had accompanied him as he carried Christiana up to her room to tuck her in for the night.
There’d been no trace of the self-assured billionaire when he’d given Christiana a piggy-back around the room, then settled her into bed so Olivia could read her a bedtime story. The only quality on display had been his wonderful ability to relate to Christiana.
One of the nannies told Olivia Luca often came home to tuck Christiana in, then went back to the office for late night meetings. Christiana’s nurse, who’d also been in the room to complete her observations, quietly relayed a time when Luca had held a meeting in London after midnight so he could fly over after Christiana’s bedtime, attend the meeting, and be back home when Christiana woke up.
In the light of such devotion, Olivia found it hard to stay angry with him.
If Luca was even half as devoted a husband as he was a guardian, the woman he married would be incredibly lucky—provided he didn’t kiss other women as a form of baiting them.
He’d said he didn’t think his future wife would mind. If not, it was a worry in itself. This unknown candidate for marriage was obviously extremely self confident or an absolutely cold fish.
Switching off her bedside light, Olivia settled back down to try to fall asleep.
As her head hit the pillow, she faced up to the sad truth—she was well on her way to falling in love with Luca.
Hell.
Against all her self-cautioning she was doing the unthinkable—making the same mistake as Jane in falling for a Borghetti man.
Would Jane and Antonio have found lasting happiness if Damiano hadn’t interfered?
At least Luca’s wife would never have to worry about him being weak.
She frowned as she thought again about Antonio. Jane’s love had obviously given him the strength to stand up to Damiano considering he’d initiated divorce proceedings. Without Jane’s love though, he’d reverted to type and caved in again under his father’s domination.
Luca was most definitely his own man—confident, commanding, caring and gorgeous.
It was no wonder Christiana brightened every time she saw him. Olivia also changed when Luca walked into a room. The air seemed more highly charged, and she was not only aware of his every movement, but hyper aware of herself.
Was any female in Luca’s radius immune to the charm he could turn on when it suited him?
Still, the passionate kisses at the Spanish Steps had been completely out of line. How was she supposed to look at him again without remembering them? More worrying was how she was going to look his future wife in the eye when they met!
It really hadn’t been fair of Luca to give Olivia a divine taste of heaven—to tempt her with something wonderful when it would never be hers to enjoy.
Angrily, she turned the light back on and tromped out of bed and into the ensuite bathroom.
She’d stay in Rome with Christiana until Luca married. Then, she’d probably need to return to Sydney and the routine of work. It would kill her to leave Christiana, but she’d fly back as often as she could during longer school holidays and there was always Skype or FaceTime which would enable them to communicate every day.
Olivia vowed she’d get over Luca the same way she’d picked up her life after Carl’s desertion. After all, it wasn’t as if she and Luca had been lovers. It’d be awkward to have to keep seeing him whenever she made the trip back to Rome, but she could surely put one kiss behind her?
One searing, passionate kiss.
One toe-curling, heart-thumping sensual kiss.
One … Oh, God. She was never going to be able to banish his kiss from her mind.
Turning on the tap at the basin, she proceeded to splash cold water over her face and wash the grit from her eyes.
Olivia glared at her reflection.
Luca claimed he’d wanted to kiss her for a while. Out-of-the-blue he’d acted on it. There’d been no regard for her feelings. He’d wanted something and he’d taken it. Had he even considered she wasn’t into casual kisses?
Not that there’d been anything casual about his kiss, she amended—far from it. She’d been bereft ever since, missing the physical contact with him, yearning to experience Luca as her lover. But the kiss had meant far more to her than it had to him. For him it’d been a product of a bored Italian man all too aware of his own charms. That was all.
With a groan of irritation she stripped off her pyjamas. It was time to find out whether cold showers really relieved sexual frustration.
***
‘Happy Birthday, darling,’ Marjorie said as Olivia entered the breakfast room a couple of hours later.
Olivia was startled by the well wishes. Despite Luca mentioning it yesterday, she’d completely forgotten it was her birthday. As she received a kiss on the cheek from her mother, her eyes flew to Luca and her heart performed a series of energetic cartwheels at the superb sight of him in his dark, formal business suit.
Cold showers definitely didn’t do the trick for long. She needed some other form of immunity from his charm. It probably should be a condition of travel to Italy to ensure all women were vaccinated against good-looking Italian men—this good-looking Italian man in particular.
‘I brought your present with me from Australia.’ Marjorie went back to the table to retrieve a small gift box.
‘Happy Birthday, Olivia.’ Luca stood up and the space looked smaller. As he walked towards her, his height and presence completely dominated the room and sent her pulse into a frenzied rhythm of awareness.
The little gift box Marjorie handed her became a life buoy on a wild ocean of forbidden feelings. She clutched it as she accepted the casual but firm brush of Luca’s lips against her own. Closing her eyes briefly and breathing in the fresh masculine scent of him, she murmured a brief thanks in reply.
She was acutely aware of her mother’s regard, and forced herself to think of Christiana’s condition to try to prevent a tell-tale blush from stealing across her cheeks. Dropping her head so her hair hid her face from Marjorie and Luca, she busied herself opening her mother’s present.
A small pair of sapphire stud earrings lay in the jeweller’s box. ‘They’re beautiful, Mum,’ she exclaimed, giving her mother a hug. ‘Thanks.’
‘I’m glad you like them.’
‘Christiana and I have a gift for you too,’ Luca announced, ‘but we’ll all need to go up to her room so she can give it to you.’
‘You won’t believe what this wonderful man has done,’ Marjorie gushed.
Oh dear. Olivia hoped it wasn’t anything too grand, but then, her mother would be excited about anything Luca had done. The man could do no wrong in her eyes.
‘I must leave for a meeting shortly. Do you mind coming upstairs before you eat?’ he asked.
‘Of course not.’ Curiosity almost tied Olivia’s stomach up in knots as the trio made their way to Christiana’s room.
‘Happy Birthday, Aunty Olivia,’ Christiana cried.
‘Thank you, sweetheart.’ As Olivia gave Christiana a hug, she was struck anew by the thin, weakened frame of the little girl. Silently she
sent up another prayer that she or her mum would be a suitable bone marrow donor.
The preliminary results should surely have been back by now? She was positive the date the doctor had mentioned was two days before her birthday, so they were definitely overdue. Maybe they’d come today? Finding out she was a compatible bone marrow donor for Christiana would be the best birthday gift of all.
‘Uncle Luca and I have something really special for you, but you have to come with us to see it.’
‘My goodness,’ Olivia enthused for Christiana’s benefit, ‘I can’t imagine what it could be.’
‘Close your eyes, Aunty Olivia.’
Christiana took her hand and guided her across the room. Olivia heard a door open, and then she was pulled forward a few more paces.
‘Open your eyes, Aunty Olivia.’
Oh gosh!
Olivia couldn’t believe what she saw.
Her heart stopped beating.
It was definitely tailor-made for her, but she wasn’t sure she wanted it.
Nerves made the butterflies flap furiously around the confines of her stomach and her first reaction was to turn tail and flee.
‘Do you like it, Aunty Olivia?’ Christiana stood at her side, a little frown marring her expression. ‘Uncle Luca had to get you out of the house yesterday so everything could be set up for you.’
One look at her niece’s fragile expression was all it took for Olivia to drag herself away from all the unhappy memories crashing in on her.
‘It’s wonderful, sweetheart,’ she lied.
The entire room across the hall from Christiana’s room had been set up as an artist’s studio.
Christiana gave a little jump on the spot. ‘Uncle Luca said you’re an artist. Now you can paint something for me.’
Uncle Luca.
Why did he insist on pushing her this way? He’d told her he felt responsible and ashamed for all that’d happened. Were his actions aimed at trying to atone for his father’s sins?
‘Maybe Aunty Olivia can even teach you to paint, Christiana,’ Luca suggested.
‘Or she might paint your portrait,’ Marjorie chimed in.
Olivia gritted her teeth together and completely ignored the adults. Bending down, she picked Christiana up and gave her a kiss and a cuddle. ‘Thank you very much, darling.’
Seduced by the Enemy Page 13
