French, she registered, barely discerning a word or two…and wondered how many languages he spoke.
Business, she determined, and let her gaze drift across the pool to the harbour beyond.
‘I have to meet with two business colleagues. Their scheduled stopover was cancelled and they took an earlier flight,’ Diego relayed as he returned to the table. ‘I’ll be an hour or two.’ He drained the rest of his coffee, then leant down and took brief, hard possession of her mouth. ‘We need to talk.’ His lips caressed hers with a soothing touch.
She wasn’t capable of saying a word, and he uttered a husky imprecation.
‘Cassandra—’
The insistent sound of his cellphone brought forth a harsh expletive, and she saw the flex of muscle at his jaw as he sought civility. ‘Dammit.’ He raked fingers through his hair.
‘It’s OK.’
His eyes darkened. It was far from OK. Yet delegation was out of the question. There were only two associates capable of handling the current negotiations, and neither were in the same state.
‘I should be able to tie this up within an hour or two.’
‘Go,’ she managed quietly. ‘They,’ whoever they were, ‘will be waiting for you.’
He shot her a piercing look, then turned and made his way through the house, collected his briefcase and keys and entered the garage.
Minutes later Cassandra stood to her feet, cleared the table, then dealt with dishes and tidied the kitchen.
Stay, or leave.
If she stayed, she’d be condoning an affair. And while she could live with that if mutual love was at its base, she found it untenable when the emotion was one-sided.
She wasn’t an ‘it’s OK as long as it lasts’ girl. Nor could she view hitching up with a man for whatever she’d gain from the relationship.
No contest, she decided sadly as she made her way upstairs.
It didn’t take long to pack, or to pen a note which she propped against the side-table in the foyer. Then she crossed to the phone and called for a cab.
The cat greeted her with an indignant sound and a swishing tail. The message light on her answering machine blinked, and she organised priorities by feeding the cat, then she tossed clothes into the washing machine, fetched a cool drink, then she ran the machine.
Siobhan…‘Tying the knot in Rome next weekend. Need you there, darling, to hold my hand.’
Cameron…‘Flying home Tuesday. Let’s do dinner Wednesday, OK?’
Alicia…‘Hope you’re enjoying the ride. It won’t last.’
Cassandra didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the latter. The ride, as Alicia called it, was over.
Keeping busy would help, and when the washing-machine cycle finished she put the clean clothes into the drier.
The contents of the refrigerator looked pathetic, and she caught up her car keys. Milk, bread, fresh fruit and salad headed her mental list, and she took the lift down to the basement car park, then drove to the nearest store.
There was a trendy café close by, and she ordered a latte, picked up a magazine, and leafed through the pages while she sipped her coffee.
It was almost five when she swept the car into the bricked apron adjacent to the apartment building’s main entrance, automatically veering left to take the descending slope into the basement car park.
It was then she saw a familiar car parked in the visitors’ area. As if there was any doubt, Diego’s tall frame leaning indolently against the Aston Martin’s rear panel merely confirmed it.
For a few heart-stopping seconds she forgot to breathe, then she eased her car towards the security gate, retrieved her ID card and inserted it with shaking fingers and drove down to her allotted space, killed the engine, then reached for the door-clasp…only to have the door swing open before she had a chance to release it.
She tilted her head to look at him, and almost wished she hadn’t, for his features appeared carved from stone.
‘What are you doing here?’
‘Did you think I wouldn’t come after you?’
She felt at a distinct disadvantage seated in the car. By comparison he seemed to tower over her, and if they were going to get into a heated argument she needed to even the stakes a little.
With careful movements she slid from behind the wheel, then closed and locked the door before turning to face him. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Yes, you do.’ His voice resembled pure silk, and she swallowed the sudden lump that rose in her throat.
‘Why didn’t you stay?’
‘There was no reason to,’ she managed. ‘We don’t owe each other a thing.’
‘All obligations fulfilled,’ Diego accorded with dangerous softness.
It almost killed her to say it. ‘Yes.’
‘No emotional involvement. Just good sex?’
She was breaking up, ready to shatter. ‘What do you want from me?’ It was a cry from the heart that held a degree of angry desperation.
‘I want you in my life.’
‘For how long, Diego?’ she demanded. ‘Until either one of us wants it to end?’ As it would. ‘Nothing lasts forever, and lust is a poor bedfellow for love.’
A car swept close by and slid into an adjacent space. She recognised the driver as a fellow tenant, and she met his concerned glance.
‘Everything OK, Cassandra?’
Diego hardly presented a complacent figure. She managed a reassuring smile. ‘Yes.’
The tenant cast Diego a doubtful look, glimpsed a sense of purpose in those dark eyes, and chose to move on.
‘Let’s take this upstairs.’
If he touched her, she’d be lost. One thing would lead to another…
It was better to end it now. ‘No.’
Diego barely resisted the temptation to shake her. ‘Tell me what we share means nothing to you.’
She couldn’t do it. Her eyes clouded, then darkened as she struggled to find something to say that wouldn’t sound inane.
Some of the tension eased in his gut as he reached for her. He cupped her nape with one hand and drew her in against him with the other, then his mouth was on hers, moving like warm silk as he took possession.
When he lifted his head she could only look at him.
‘You’re a piece of work,’ he accorded quietly. ‘No woman has driven me as crazy as you have.’ His lips curved into a warm smile. ‘A year of being held at a distance, when you’ve politely declined every invitation I extended. I’ve had to be content with brief, well-bred conversations whenever we attended the same social functions.’
Cassandra recalled each and every one of those occasions. The edgy onset of nerves the instant his familiar frame came into view; a recognition on some deep emotional level she was afraid to explore, fearing if she entered his space she’d never survive leaving it.
‘Marry me.’
Cassandra opened her mouth, then closed it again. ‘What did you say?’
‘Marry me.’
She could only look at him in shocked silence.
‘Do you really want our children to learn their father proposed to their mother in a basement car park?’ Diego queried gently.
This was a bad joke. ‘You can’t be serious.’
‘As serious as it gets.’
‘Diego—’
‘I want to share the rest of your life,’ he said gently. ‘I want to be the father of your children and grow old with you.’
There could be no doubt he meant every word. It was there in the depth of his dark eyes, the heartfelt warmth of his voice, his touch.
Joy began a radiating spiral as it sang through her veins, piercingly sweet and gloriously sensual.
A faint smile lifted the edges of his mouth as he gave the concrete cavern a sweeping glance. ‘I’d planned on different surroundings from these.’
Cassandra’s lips parted in a tremulously soft smile. ‘I don’t need soft music, dimmed lights, fine food or wine.’
Diego brushed his fingers along the edge of her jaw, tilting her chin a little as he caressed the curve of her lower lip with his thumb. ‘Just the words, querida?’
She felt as if she was teetering on the edge of something wonderful. ‘Only if you mean them.’
‘You’re the love I thought I’d never find,’ he said gently. ‘I want, need you. You,’ he emphasised gently. ‘For the rest of my life.’
For a moment she didn’t seem capable of finding her voice. It overwhelmed her. He overwhelmed her. In an instinctive gesture she pressed her mouth against his palm.
‘I didn’t want to like you,’ Cassandra said shakily. ‘I especially didn’t want to fall in love with you.’ She’d fought him every inch of the way, hating him for forcing recognition their souls were twin halves of a whole.
‘Because of my so-called dangerous past?’ he queried with teasing amusement.
‘It shaped and made you the man you’ve become.’ Providing the tenacity, strength of will and integrity lacking in many men his equal.
He fastened his mouth on hers in a kiss that was so evocatively tender it melted her bones.
Minutes later Diego caught hold of her hand and began leading her towards the lift. ‘We need to get out of here.’ His smile held the heat of passion over-layed with a tinge of humour. ‘Your place or mine?’
‘You’re letting me make the decision?’
He paused to take a brief, hard kiss, tangled his tongue with hers, and felt the breath catch in her throat. ‘You have a sassy mouth.’
‘That’s a compliment?’
Seconds later the lift doors opened and they entered the cubicle. ‘Foyer?’ Diego queried as he indicated the panel. ‘Or your apartment?’
‘There’s the cat—’
‘Not the foyer.’
The lift began its ascent towards her floor. ‘I need clothes,’ Cassandra continued.
‘The cat will adjust.’
‘To what?’
‘Her new home.’
She looked at him, and melted. ‘I love you.’
‘Love me, love my cat?’ he quizzed with amusement.
‘Uh-huh. She’s with me.’ The lift slid to a stop, and she preceded him into the lobby.
He took the keys from her hand and unlocked and entered the apartment, then he closed the door behind them.
‘I take it that’s a yes?’
Her expression sobered as she looked at him. The love was there, for her, only her. She doubted anyone had ever seen him so vulnerable, and it moved her more than anything he could have said.
‘Yes,’ she said simply.
He needed to show her just how much she meant to him…and he did, with such thoroughness the end of the day faded into night, and it was after midnight when they raided the fridge, made an omelette, toast, and washed them both down with coffee.
‘Groceries!’ Cassandra exclaimed in despair. ‘I left them in my car.’ She thought of spoiled milk and other comestibles, and shook her head.
‘Do you have any specific plans over the next few weeks?’ Diego queried idly. She looked adorable, sparkling eyes, warm skin, and gloriously tumbled hair. He reached out a hand and pushed an errant swathe back behind her ear.
‘Any particular reason?’
His smile assumed musing indulgence. ‘A wedding. Ours.’
There would come a day when nothing he did or said would surprise her…but she had a way to go before that happened.
‘Something low-key, in deference to your father. Just family, a few close friends. If you have your heart set on a traditional ceremony, we can reaffirm our vows in a few months.’
‘Weeks?’ Cassandra reiterated with a sense of stunned amusement. ‘I’m due in Rome this weekend for Siobhan’s wedding—’
‘Perfect. We’ll fly in together, spend some time there—’
She put up a hand. ‘Whoa! You’re going too fast.’
‘And arrive back in time to meet our marriage-application requirements,’ he concluded.
‘The honeymoon before the wedding?’ She tried for humour, and didn’t quite make it.
‘You object?’
How could she, when all she wanted to do was be with him? ‘You take my breath away,’ she admitted shakily in an attempt to get her head around organising a wedding, travel plans for Rome. Then there was work…
He witnessed her emotional struggle, and sought to ease it. ‘All it involves is a series of phone calls. Let me take care of it.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ROME was magical, with Siobhan’s wedding to her Italian count a glamorous event with much love and rejoicing.
The week that followed became a special time as Diego indulged Cassandra in a tour of the city’s galleries, the exclusive jewellery boutiques, with leisurely lunches in one trendy trattoria or another. At night they visited a theatre, or lingered over dinner.
And made love with a passion that was both evocatively sensual and intensely primitive.
They flew in to Sydney three days before their own wedding was scheduled to take place. Days which merged one into the other as Cassandra ran a final check with the dressmaker, the florist, caught up with Cameron, and organised the last remaining items from her apartment to Diego’s home.
Sunday dawned bright and clear, and within hours the last-minute touches were being made by various people employed to ensure every detail represented perfection.
Gardeners put finishing touches to the grounds, and florists lined the gazebo with white orchids. An altar was set ready for the marriage celebrant, and the caterers moved into the kitchen.
Cameron arrived ahead of the guests, and Cassandra accepted his careful hug minutes before they were due to emerge onto the red-carpeted aisle that led to the gazebo.
‘Nervous?’
‘Just a little.’
‘Don’t be,’ he reassured, and she offered a shaky smile as the music began.
Diego stood waiting for her at the altar, and Cassandra’s heart skipped a beat as he turned to watch her walk towards him.
Everything faded, and there was only the man.
Tall, dark and attractive, resplendent in a superbly tailored suit. But it was his expression that held her entranced. There was warmth, caring…and passion evident. Qualities she knew he’d gift her for the rest of his life.
In an unprecedented gesture he moved forward and took her hand in his, raised it to his lips, then he led her the remaining few yards to the gazebo.
It was a simple ceremony, with a mix of conventional and personal vows. By mutual consent, they’d agreed to choose each other’s wedding ring.
Jewellery design was her craft, and Cassandra had selected a wide gold band studded with a spaced line of diamonds. It was masculine, different, and one of her personal designs.
There had been a degree of subterfuge in Diego’s choice, for the ring he slipped onto her finger was a feminine match of his.
‘For what we’ve already shared, what we have now,’ Diego said gently, adding a magnificent solitaire diamond ring together with a circle of diamonds representing eternity. ‘The future.’
She wanted to cry and smile at the same time, and she did both, one after the other, then gave a choking laugh as Diego angled his mouth over hers in a kiss that held such a degree of sensual promise it was all she could do to hold back the tears.
It was later, much later when they were alone, that she took the time to thank him.
Instead of booking a hotel suite, they’d opted to remain at home. It seemed appropriate, somehow, to spend their wedding night in the bed where they’d first made love.
‘You’re welcome,’ Diego said gently as she slid her arms high and pulled his head down to hers.
‘I love you.’ Emotion reduced her voice to a husky sound. ‘I always will.’
He brushed his lips across her forehead, then trailed a path to the edge of her mouth, angled in and took his time. ‘Mi amante, mi mujer, my life.’
A deliciously wicked smil
e curved her lips. ‘Gracias, mi esposo.’
Diego gave a husky laugh, and uttered something incomprehensible to her in Spanish.
‘Translate.’
He offered a devilish grin. ‘I’ll show you.’
And he did.
On the edge of sleep he curled her close and held her…aware one lifetime would not be enough.
The Martinez
Marriage Revenge
Helen Bianchin
CHAPTER ONE
‘CAN WE HAVE another turn? Please.’
The noise and colour of the carnival was all around them. Loud music, laughter, childish shrieks in wonderment of the merry-go-round, the Ferris wheel … so many sideshows to capture the attention of a young child.
There were striped tents providing exciting adventure for children, booths selling candyfloss, hot dogs, and stands offering a variety of stuffed toys as prizes for knock-em-down revolving ducks.
Beauty in miniature, Nicki’s smile was to die for, her sunny nature a blessing, and Shannay caught her young daughter close in a loving, laughing hug.
Small arms wound round her neck. ‘We’re having fun, aren’t we?’
Shannay felt the familiar pull on her heartstrings for the gift of an unconditional trusting love of a child, in all its innocence.
‘One more time,’ she agreed, and paid for another ride. ‘Then we really need to leave.’
‘I know,’ Nicki capitulated sunnily. ‘You have to go to work.’
‘And you need a good night’s sleep so you can be bright-eyed at kindergarten tomorrow.’
‘So I can grow up and be clever like you.’
The music grew loud, the merry-go-round began to move, and Nicki clutched the reins attached to the brightly painted horse.
OK, so she’d graduated from university with a degree. But not so clever, Shannay mused reflectively, when it came to her personal life.
A broken marriage less than two years after vowing to love and cherish for a lifetime couldn’t exactly be viewed as a plus, despite mitigating circumstances.
Water under the bridge and no regrets, she assured herself silently as the merry-go-round slowed and drew to an easy halt.
The Helen Bianchin Collection Page 67
