by Abby Green
The lift jerked softly to a halt and almost against his will Luca found his hand going to the small of Serena’s back to touch her. The minute his hand came into contact with the bare, warm, silky skin left exposed by the backless design she tensed more.
He frowned as something had dawned on him. ‘Are you...nervous?’
Serena’s eyes flashed with some indefinable emotion and she quickly stepped out of the open doors of the elevator, away from his touch, avoiding his narrowed gaze.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. It’s just been a while since I’ve gone to anything like this, that’s all.’
Luca sensed that there was a lot more to it than that, but he gestured for her to precede him out of the building, realising too late what awaited them outside when a veritable explosion of light seemed to go off in their faces. Without even realising what he was doing he put his arm around Serena and curved her into his body, one hand up to cover her face, as they walked quickly to his car, where a security guard held the passenger door open.
In the car, Serena’s heart was pumping so hard she felt light-headed. The shock of that wall of paparazzi when she hadn’t seen it in so long was overwhelming. And she couldn’t help the fierce pain of betrayal. Everything Luca had just said was lies...and she hated that she wouldn’t have expected it of him.
She was a sap. Of course he was intent on—
Her hand was taken in a firm grip. She clenched her jaw and looked at Luca in the driver’s seat. His face was dark...with anger?
‘Serena, I had nothing to do with that. They must have been tipped off.’
He looked so grim and affronted that Serena felt something melt inside her. Felt a wish to believe him.
‘It won’t happen again.’
She took her hand from Luca’s and forced a smile. ‘Don’t worry about it.’
The imprint of Luca’s body where he’d held her so close was still making her treacherous skin tingle all over. The way he’d drawn her into him so protectively had unsettled her. She’d felt unprotected for so long that it was an alien sensation. Maybe he hadn’t planned it. She recalled him biting off a curse now, as if he’d been as surprised as her...
Once they’d left the paparazzi behind she pushed a button to lower her window, relishing the warm evening Rio breeze and the tang of the sea.
‘Are you okay?’
Serena nodded. ‘Fine—just needed some air.’
The setting sun was bathing the sky in a pink glow, and from somewhere distant Serena could hear cheers and clapping.
She looked at Luca. ‘What’s that?’
Luca’s mouth twitched. ‘Every evening sunset-worshippers applaud another stunning sunset from the beaches.’
Serena couldn’t take her eyes off the curve of Luca’s mouth. ‘I love that idea,’ she breathed. ‘I’d like to see the sunset.’
She quickly looked away again, in case that dark navy gaze met hers when she felt far too exposed. Her cheeks were still hot from that moment when she’d been captivated by the way he filled out his suit so effortlessly. The obviously bespoke material did little to disguise his sheer power, flowing lovingly over defined muscles.
‘Where do you live when you don’t stay at the apartment?’ Serena blurted out the first thing she could think of to try and take her mind off Luca’s physicality.
He glanced at her, his hands strong on the wheel of the car.
‘I have a house in Alto Gavea—it’s a district in the Tijuca Forest, north of the lake...’
She sneaked a look. ‘Is it your family home? Where you grew up?’
He shook his head abruptly, and when he answered his voice was tight. ‘No, we lived out in the suburbs. My parents wouldn’t have approved of living so near to the beaches and favelas.’
Serena thought of what he’d told her about his parents so far and asked, ‘You weren’t close to them?’
His mouth twisted. ‘No. They split up when we were six, and my mother moved back to her native Italy.’
Serena had forgotten about that Italian connection. ‘You said we... Do you have brothers and sisters?’
She could sense his reluctance to answer, but they weren’t going anywhere fast in the evening traffic. Luca sighed. ‘Yes, I have a twin brother.’
Serena’s eyes widened. ‘Wow—a twin? That’s pretty amazing.’ Her mind boggled slightly at the thought of two Lucas.
He slid her a mocking look and said, ‘We’re non-identical. He lives in Italy; he moved there with our mother after the divorce.’
Serena processed this and turned in her seat to face him. ‘Wait...you mean you were split up?’
The thought of anyone splitting her and Siena up at that young age made her go cold. Siena had been the only anchor in her crazy world.
Luca faced forward, his voice emotionless. ‘Yes, my parents decided that each would take one of us. My mother chose me to go to Italy with her, but when my brother got upset she swapped us and took him instead.’
Serena gasped as that scenario sank in. ‘But that’s...horrific. And your father just let her?’
Luca looked at her, face hard. ‘He didn’t care which son he got as long as he got one of us to be his heir.’
Serena knew what it was to grow up under a cruel tyrant, but this shocked even her. ‘And are you close now? You and your brother?’
Luca shrugged minutely. ‘Not particularly. But he was the one who bailed me out of jail, and he was the one who arranged for the best legal defence to get me out of Florence and back to Rio, avoiding a lengthy trial and jail time.’
His expression hardened to something infinitely cynical.
‘A hefty donation towards “the preservation of Florence” was all it took to get the trial mysteriously dismissed. That money undoubtedly went to corrupt officials—one of whom was probably your father—but I was damned if I was going to hang for a crime I wasn’t even responsible for. But they wouldn’t clear me completely, so every time I fly to Europe now I come under the radar of Europe’s law enforcement agencies.’
Serena felt cold. She turned back to the front, staring unseeingly out of the window, knowing it was futile to say anything. She’d protested her innocence till she was blue in the face, but Luca was right—his association with her had made things worse for him.
They were turning into a vast tree-lined driveway now, which led up to a glittering colonial-style building. When Luca pulled up, and a valet parker waited for him to get out, Serena took several deep breaths to calm her frayed nerves.
Luca surprised her by not getting out straight away.
He turned to her. ‘I’m not interested in the past any more, Serena. I’m interested in the here and now.’
Serena swallowed. Something fragile seemed to shimmer between them...tantalising. And then he got out of the car and she sucked in another shaky breath.
He came around and opened her door, extended a hand to help her out. She took it, and when his gaze tracked down her body and lingered on her breasts a pulse throbbed between her legs.
He tucked her arm into his as they moved forward and joined similarly dressed couples entering a glittering doorway lit by hundreds of small lights. It was a scene Serena had seen a million times before, but never heightened like this. Never romantic.
She asked herself as Luca led her inside, greeting someone in Portuguese, if they really could let the past go. Or was that just what Luca was willing to say so that he could bed her and then walk away, with all that resentment still simmering under the surface?
‘Do you think you could crack a smile and not look as if you’re about to be subjected to torture?’
Serena glanced at Luca, who had a fixed social smile on his face. She sent up silent thanks that he couldn’t read her thoughts and said sweetly. ‘But this is torture.’
&nbs
p; Something flared in his eyes—surprise?—and then he said, ‘Torture it may well be, but a few hours of social torture is worth it if it means that a favela gets a new free school staffed by qualified teachers.’
Serena felt immediately chastened. ‘Is that what this evening’s ball is in aid of?’
Luca looked at her assessingly. ‘Among some other causes. The global communities charity too.’
Serena thought of that sweet little girl in the village—a million miles away from here...and yet not.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said huskily. ‘You’re right—it is worth it.’
Serena missed Luca’s speculative look because a waiter was interrupting them with a tray of champagne. Luca took a glass and looked at her when she didn’t.
She shook her head quickly and said to the waiter, ‘Do you have some sparkling water, please?’
The waiter rushed off and Luca frowned slightly. ‘You really don’t drink any more?’
Serena’s belly clenched. ‘No, I really don’t.’ She made a face. ‘I never liked the taste of alcohol anyway. It was more for the effect it had on me.’
‘What was that?’
She looked at him. ‘Numbing.’
The moment stretched between them...taut. And then the attentive waiter returned with a glass of water on a tray for Serena. She took it gratefully. Luca was getting too close to that dark place inside her.
To her relief someone came up then, and took his attention, but just as Serena felt hopeful that he might forget about her she felt her heart sink and jump in equal measure when she felt him reach for her hand and tug her with him, introducing her to the man.
* * *
Luca was finding it hard to concentrate on the conversation around him when he usually had no problem. Even if he was with a woman. He was aware of every tiny movement Serena made in that dress, and acutely aware of the attention she was attracting.
He was also aware that she seemed ill at ease. He’d expected her to come back into this kind of environment and take to it like the proverbial duck to water, but when they’d first come in she’d looked pained. It was just like in the jungle, when she’d proved him resoundingly wrong in his expectations of her.
Now her head was bent towards one of the executive team who managed his charities abroad, and they were engaged in an earnest conversation when Luca would have fully expected Serena to look bored out of her brains.
At that moment her head tipped back and she laughed at something the other woman had said. Luca couldn’t breathe, and the conversation stopped around them as she unwittingly drew everyone’s eye. She literally...sparkled, her face transformed by her wide smile. She was undeniably beautiful...and Luca realised he’d never seen true beauty till that moment.
His chest felt tight as he had a vision of what he’d subjected her to: dragging her into the jungle on a forced trek. She’d endured one of the most painful insect bites in the world. She’d stayed in a rustic village in the depths of the Amazon without blinking. She’d endeared herself to the tribespeople without even trying. It had taken him years to be accepted and respected.
And the miners—some of the hardest men in Brazil—weathered and rough as they came—they’d practically been doffing their caps when Serena had appeared with him, as if she was royalty.
Luca could see the crowd moving towards the ballroom and took Serena’s hand in his. She looked at him with that smile still playing about her mouth and a sense of yearning stronger than anything he’d ever felt kicked him in the solar plexus. A yearning to be the cause of such a smile.
As if she was reading his mind her smile faded on cue.
‘Come on—let’s dance,’ Luca growled, feeling unconstructed. Raw.
He tugged Serena in his wake before he remembered that he didn’t even like dancing, but right now he needed to feel her body pressed against his or he might go crazy.
When they reached the edge of the dimly lit dance floor Luca turned and pulled her with him, facing her. The light highlighted her stunning bone structure. That effortlessly classic beauty.
Unbidden, he heard himself articulate the question resounding in his head. ‘Who are you?’
She swallowed. ‘You know who I am.’
‘Do I really?’ he asked, almost angry now. ‘Or is this all some grand charade for the benefit of your family, so you can go back to doing what you love best—being a wild society princess?’
Serena went pale and pulled free of Luca’s embrace, saying angrily, ‘I’ve told you about me but you still don’t have the first clue, Luca. And as for what I love best? You’ll never know.’
She turned and was walking away, disappearing into the vast lobby, before Luca realised that he was struck dumb and immobile because no woman had ever walked away from him before.
Cursing under his breath, he followed her, but when he got to the lobby there was no sign of a distinctive red dress or a white-blonde head. The way she’d stood out in the crowd mocked him now. His gut clenched with panic.
He got to the open doors, where people were still arriving. He spotted the valet who had taken his car and accosted him, asking curtly, ‘The woman I came with—have you seen her?’
The valet gulped, visibly intimidated by Luca. ‘Yes. Sir. I just saw her into a taxi that had dropped off some guests.’
Luca swore so volubly that the valet’s ears went red. He stammered, ‘Do—do you want your car?’
Luca just looked at him expressively and the young man scurried off.
They were on a hill overlooking the city. Luca looked out onto the benignly twinkling lights of Rio and the panic intensified. He recalled Serena saying she wanted to see the sunset... Would she have gone to the beach? At this time of night?
Panic turned to fear. He took out his phone and made a call to Serena’s mobile but it was switched off. Rio was a majestic city, but at night certain areas were some of the most dangerous on earth. Where the hell had she gone?
* * *
Serena stalked into the apartment and the door slammed behind her with a gratifyingly loud bang. She was still shaking with anger, and her emotions were bubbling far too close to the surface for comfort.
She kicked off her shoes and made her way out to the terrace, taking deep breaths. Damn Luca Fonseca. It shouldn’t matter what he thought of her...but after everything they’d been through she’d foolishly assumed that he’d come to see that she was different.
This was the real her. A woman who wanted to work and do something worthwhile, and never, ever insulate herself against life again. The girl and the young woman she’d been had been born out of the twisted machinations of her father.
Her hands wrapped around the railing. Self-disgust rose up inside her. To think that she was willing to go to bed with a man who thought so little of her. Where was the precious self-esteem she’d painstakingly built up again?
She knew where... It had all dissolved in a puddle of heat as soon as Luca came within feet of her. And yet she knew that wasn’t entirely fair—he’d treated her as his exact equal in the jungle, and earlier, in the charity offices, she’d been surprised to find that he’d already put in motion discussions on her idea for a high-end tourist shop showcasing products from the villages and credited her with the plan.
She heard a sound behind her and tensed. Panic washed through her. She wasn’t ready to deal with Luca yet. But reluctantly she turned around to see him advancing on her, his face like thunder, as long fingers pulled at his bow-tie.
She still got a jolt of sensation to see him clean-shaven. It should have made him look more urbane. It didn’t.
CHAPTER EIGHT
LUCA THREW ASIDE his bow-tie just before he came onto the terrace and bit out, ‘Where the hell were you? I’ve been all over the beachfronts looking for you.’
H
is anger escalated when he saw Serena put her hands on her hips and say defiantly, ‘What was it? Did you think I’d hit some nightclub? Or that I’d gone to find some late-night pharmacy so I could score some meds?’
Luca stopped. He had to acknowledge the relief that was coursing through his veins. She was here. She was safe. But the rawness he felt because she’d walked out on him and looked so upset when he’d suggested she was acting out a charade was still there.
An uncomfortable truth slid into his gut like a knife. Perhaps this was her. No charade. No subterfuge.
And just like that, Luca was thrown off-centre all over again.
He breathed deeply. ‘I’m sorry.’
Serena was surprised. She blinked. ‘Sorry for what?’
Honesty compelled Luca to admit, ‘For what I said at the function. I just... You...’
He looked away and put his hands on his hips. Suddenly it wasn’t so hard to say what he wanted to say—as if something inside him had given way.
He dropped his hands, came closer and shook his head. ‘You confound me, Serena DePiero. Everything I thought I knew about you is wrong. The woman who came to Rio, the woman who survived the jungle, the woman who gave those villagers the kind of courtesy not many people ever give them...she’s someone I wasn’t expecting.’
Serena’s ability to think straight was becoming compromised. Emotion was rising at hearing this admission and knowing what it must be costing him.
Huskily she said, ‘But this is me, Luca. This has always been me. It was just...buried before.’ Then she blurted out, ‘I’m sorry for running off. I came straight here. I wouldn’t have gone near the beaches—not after what you said. I do have some street-smarts, you know.’
Luca moved closer. ‘I panicked. I thought of you being oblivious to the dangers.’
Now Serena noticed how pale Luca was. He’d been worried about her. He hadn’t assumed she’d gone off the rails. The anger and hurt drained away, and something shifted inside her. A kind of tenderness welled up. Dangerous.
She had to physically resist the urge to go to him and touch his jaw. Instead she said, ‘I’m here...safe.’
