VITTORIO'S MISTRESS

by Kimberley Reeves

  Paige wasn’t very happy about the prospect of telling him but in her heart she knew Chantel was right. Dante may be a little ruthless when it came to getting something he wanted but underneath that tough exterior was a genuinely good man. It was going to come as quite a shock but once he met his daughter, Paige didn’t see how he could keep from loving Daniella as much as she did.

  “I guess telling him about Daniella will answer both burning questions,” Paige finally conceded. “If he’s in love with me and wants to be a father, the news should make him deliriously happy.”

  “Not to put a damper on such a lovely scenario, but what do you think he’ll do if he’s not happy about it?”

  After seeing Dante’s reaction when he thought Marc had kissed her, Paige shuddered at the thought of witnessing him lose his temper again. Thank God he wasn’t a violent man, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be a vengeful one. That frightened her more than anything, and she prayed it was a side of Dante she’d never see.

  Chapter 7

  Dante watched her from across the room where he’d been cornered by two bankers and a stock market broker who were all trying to coerce him into giving them his business, or rather his money. He supposed he should be paying attention to them but the vision Paige presented as she chatted and laughed with his younger brother, Gianluca, was quite distracting. She took his breath away and for the life of him, Dante couldn’t keep his eyes off of her.

  He’d kept her all to himself for the past week but when his personal assistant reminded him on Friday that he’d obligated himself to this social event the following night, he’d been genuinely excited about bringing Paige. He’d woken her early this morning and after a quick breakfast he’d taken her to an exclusive dress shop his mother recommended where she’d tried on several gowns before he selected a slinky number that matched the same stunning blue as her eyes. Dante had been seated on cushy sofa and was actually enjoying watching her try on different dresses so he’d instructed the sales woman to bring in more clothes that were less formal.

  “I can’t let you buy all these things,” Paige had exclaimed after he’d pointed out which clothes he wanted to purchase for her.

  “Why not, you look beautiful in them.”

  She eyed the vast array of clothes with longing before turning back to him. “They’re very expensive,” she’d whispered, as if the sales woman had no idea just how high priced everything was.

  Dante’s lip had twitched in amusement. “Cara, I can afford it so do not worry yourself about it.”

  “But I don’t need three swimsuits, and just look at all the blouses and slacks and dresses you’ve picked out. It’s too much, and I can’t possibly accept it.”

  With just a flick of his eyes, the sales woman left them alone in the private dressing room. “Come here,” he’d ordered. When she got close enough, Dante reached out and pulled her down onto his lap. “So beautiful,” he’d murmured, then kissed her because he couldn’t help himself. “Now listen to me, carissima. I am buying these things for you because I want to and because it brings me a great deal of pleasure to see you dressed in clothes that were designed to be worn by women of your beauty.”

  “But…”

  “This is not a discussion,” he’d told her firmly. “I am a very wealthy man with a reputation to maintain. Do you want people to say I do not provide for the woman I adore in the manner she deserves?” His heart had leapt at that brilliance of her smile. “You do understand the lacy undergarments are for my eyes only.”

  The devil had danced in her eyes when she replied. “I don’t know why you’re spending so much money on items of clothing that will only be stripped off the moment you see me in them.”

  Looking at her now made his blood boil because Dante knew only too well how little she wore beneath her dress. One small scrap of material that barely covered the triangle of curls between her silky thighs, and nothing at all covering her sexy rear end. She was right; it was going to be stripped off the moment he saw her in it.

  Unfortunately, that was still hours away. Nodding politely to the gentleman who’d just finished speaking, Dante excused himself to join Paige. She’d been absent from him for too long and he was anxious to lock her safely by his side.

  “I am not surprised Dante has kept you hidden from the rest of us,” Gianluca was saying. “If you were mine, I would not want to risk having someone steal you away either.”

  “There is no chance of that,” Dante said with a note of warning in his voice. He slipped his arm around Paige’s waist and smiled into her upturned face. “You see the way she looks at me, little brother, as if I am in the only man in the room?”

  “You are,” Paige breathed.

  And she is the only woman. “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight, cara mia?”

  She touched the diamond necklace he’d placed around her neck just before they’d left for the party. “If I am, it’s because of you.”

  “My brother is already insufferable,” Gianluca grunted. “We will not be able to tolerate him at all if you continue to feed his already over-inflated ego.”

  Dante chuckled. “Do not listen to him, Paige. He is envious because I have the most charming woman in the room on my arm while he can only dream of finding someone like you.”

  “I cannot disagree,” Gianluca said as his provocative gaze swept over the delicate features of Paige’s face. “It is my misfortune not to have met you first, bella donna.”

  Gianluca’s sexy smile might have worked on her if she wasn’t so much in love with Dante. As it was, his open admiration of her made Paige a little uneasy because she could tell by the way Dante’s body tensed that he wasn’t very happy about it. She pressed herself closer to his side and forced out a laugh that was convincingly light hearted.

  “I’m flattered you think so, Gianluca, but I don’t think you would have liked it very much when your brother stole me away from you.” She lifted her eyes to Dante’s. “I took one look at Dante and was completely lost.”

  Dante’s chest swelled with pride as well as another powerful emotion he didn’t dare put a name to. “Is she not everything I told you she was?” He said to Gianluca, though his eyes were still locked with Paige’s.

  “Indeed she is,” Gianluca replied with genuine sincerity. “Now if you will excuse me, my fragile ego has been bruised and I am off to find solace by dancing with one of the lovely ladies at this affair.”

  The moment Gianluca left them, Dante whisked her towards a pair of open doors that led to a maze of garden paths. “Take a walk with me. There are a few things we need to discuss and I prefer not to have an audience.”

  His tone was clipped and Paige’s stomach instantly knotted, especially since he was walking at such a fast pace she was afraid she was going to break an ankle trying to keep up. When she timidly complained that her high heels weren’t meant for hiking on cobblestones, Dante merely swept her up into his arms without even breaking stride. His face was a mask of granite and for the life of her, Paige couldn’t imagine why anything she’d said would put him in such a mood. When he finally stopped and lowered her feet to the ground, her stomach was churning with anxiety.

  Dante’s voice’s was dangerously low when he spoke. “My brother is lucky I did not take a swing at him for looking at you the way he did.”

  “You don’t think I encouraged that?” Paige said in alarm.

  “On the contrary, I think you handled the situation very well.”

  “Then…why do you sound like you're angry with me?”

  Dante’s expression softened. “I am not angry with you, cara. It is Gianluca who worked me into a temper.”

  Paige’s eyes widened. “You were jealous?”

  “I was jealous of every man who looked at you tonight.”

  In incredible warmth filled her heart. She moved into his arms and planted a kiss on his lips. “I know how you feel; I was starting to get a little predatory myself. Every time one of those femme fatales ogled
you, I wanted to scratch their eyes out.”

  Dante laughed. “And to think I believed the only place you turned into a wildcat was in my bed.”

  “Now you’ve done it,” she wound her arms around his neck. “I won’t be able to think of anything else for the rest of the night except crawling between the sheets with you.”

  He studied her face for a moment, his mood sobering. “I need to ask you something, Paige. What you said back there to Gianluca about taking one look at me and being lost. Did you mean it or were you simply trying to make light of his blatant flirting?”

  A tremor of fear ran through her. “Dante, I…I know this isn’t what you want to hear but I don’t think I can hide how I feel about you anymore. I wanted you to believe I agreed to be your mistress so I could finally get over you but the truth is…”

  “So this is where you’ve run off to,” an icy feminine voice sounded from behind Paige.

  Dante’s tone was even colder than the glacial look he leveled at the woman. “This is a private party, Francisca. Forgive me if I do not invite you to join us.”

  ****

  Francisca shot him a dismissive glance before turning her attention to Paige. “Ah, the lover de jour. She’s quite pretty, Dante, but not exactly your type. You’d better watch yourself, darling, she looks like the marrying kind and we all know how ardently you avoid that little trap.”

  “That is enough,” Dante’s deep voice shook with anger. “Go find someone else to torture with your waspish tongue and leave Paige out of this.”

  “Leave her out of it when I followed you all the way through this wretched garden just so I could warn her about you? Not on your life, Dante darling.”

  Paige wasn’t sure what to think. Obviously the woman harbored some very serious hostilities towards Dante and wasn’t about to leave until she made sure Paige knew exactly what they were. Francisca was stunningly beautiful, or at least she would have been if her mouth hadn’t been twisted into a vicious snarl.

  Her Italian heritage was evident in the flawless olive skin and hair that was dark as midnight. If Paige had to guess what her occupation was she’d have pegged her as a runway model because she was nearly six feet tall with legs that went on for miles and she couldn’t possibly have weighed more than a hundred and ten pounds.

  If Francisca was indicative of the kind of women Dante had been with over the past four years then he really was straying from the norm by taking a curvy blond haired, blue eyed woman for his mistress. Maybe that was the reason he was attracted to her; it was a change of pace from the stick thin Italian beauties he was used to sleeping with. Just the very idea that he’d touched Francisca in the same sensual manner he’d touched her made Paige sick to her stomach.

  Dante’s eyes narrowed into slits. “I am sure Paige is not interested in hearing your vile lies…”

  “I’m not the one who lies,” she hissed at him. “What is it you said to me that night? You are so beautiful, Francisca,” she imitated Dante’s accent, “I have never wanted any woman the way I want you.” Ignoring the low growl that rumbled in the back of Dante’s throat, Francisca continued her tirade. “You didn’t even have the decency to stay the entire night. You used me,” she shrieked. “You used me and then refused to even take my calls and explain yourself.”

  “What explanation could I have offered?” Dante said harshly. “Would it have made you feel better to know I left so that I would not wake in the morning and feel obligated to have sex with you again?”

  “Obligated,” Francisca eyes shot daggers at him. “I assure you no man has ever felt anything but grateful to sleep with me.” She took a step towards Paige. “Do you see the kind of man you’re getting involved with? He’ll use for a night or two then forget you ever even existed once he gets what he wants.”

  Paige floundered for something to say. She could certainly understand why Francisca felt degraded by what Dante had done but it was obvious he’d made no promises to the woman. Francisca wanted more of him, more than he’d ever intended to give her and though Paige couldn’t condone a one night stand that ended with him slipping out in the middle of the night, secretly she was glad he’d never had any real feelings towards her. Despite the calloused way he’d treated Francisca, she had no right to publically attack him for it.

  Paige’s smile was coolly sympathetic. “I am truly sorry you’ve been hurt by what happened but it has nothing to do with me.”

  Francisca gaped at her as if she’d lost her mind. “How can you say that? Doesn’t it bother you that he’s going to do the same thing to you?”

  “He’s made no promises,” Paige shrugged, “therefore I have only myself to blame if I pretend there’s more to our relationship than there really is.” And wasn’t that just a little too close to the truth for comfort.

  “How naïve you are,” Francisca said with a bitter laugh. “I can see he’s already gotten you so starry eyed that you can’t see him for what he is.”

  Paige moved back into the circle of Dante’s arm, and though her insides were shaking she was the epitome of calm on the outside. “I’m afraid I’ve always been a bit starry eyed where Dante is concerned. I’m sorry if my reaction isn’t what you’d hoped it would be, Francisca, but now that you’ve gotten everything off your chest, maybe you can think of more constructive ways to use your time.”

  If looks could kill, both Paige and Dante would have dropped dead at the woman’s feet. Francisca shot off a few more venomous remarks about Dante, inserting some very colorful and unladylike language, but he didn’t bother to respond. When she failed to get a rise out of him, Francisca stomped off in a huff, the sharp tap of her heels against the cobblestones accentuating just how furious she was. After a few moments of silence, Paige ventured the first words.

  “Well, I must say you certainly know how to make friends and influence people.”

  Dante blinked. “You are not angry?”

  “It wasn’t very pleasant for either of us, but I almost feel sorry for her.”

  “How could you possibly feel sorry for her when she came out here for the sole purpose of causing trouble between us?”

  “Oh Dante, I know it meant nothing to you but to that poor woman…” she shook her head. “I’m not sure how to explain it, but when you slept with her it was purely for the sexual gratification, and maybe she believed she could go to bed with you and enjoy it for the same reasons. The problem is that you have no idea what you do to a woman, the way you make her feel as if she’s the most beautiful thing on earth. She’d have to be inhuman not be affected by your kisses, your touch…” Paige let her voice trail off, painfully aware that she’d said too much and given her own feelings away.

  “I never intended to hurt her.”

  “I know,” she said softly.

  Madre di Dio, if Francisca really had been that affected by the one time he’d been with her, what kind of wounds was he inflicting on Paige by forcing her to be his mistress for an entire month? Dante mentally shook himself. He had to stop concerning himself with things like how she’d feel when it was over or how he’d ever breathe right again once he’d banished her from his life.

  He looked down into her trusting eyes and truly hated himself at that moment. If he had an ounce of decency in him, he’d send her packing now before she fell in love with him, before she became as embittered as Francisca. But he couldn’t, not yet. She was like a drug, and God help him but he was hopelessly addicted to her. If he couldn’t touch her, hold her, kiss her, he’d go stark raving mad. Later…he’d work it all out later when he was thinking straight. Right now all he wanted was to get Paige back to his house, to his bed.

  Dante drew her into his arms. “After what just happened I would not be surprised if you asked me to take you back to your house.”

  Paige leaned into him. Dante’s warmth surrounded her, filled her with desire, made her weak. Just as he knew it would. She cupped his face in her hands and brought his mouth down onto hers, telling him without w
ords how much she wanted him, how much she needed to be with him. She understood the desolation Francisca must have felt when he’d gotten out of bed and left her because until that moment the poor woman had probably believed it was just the first of many nights she’d share with him.

  Paige had to wonder which of them was the greater fool. At least Francisca hadn’t known Dante was only using her for sex or that he was going to discard her when he’d taken what he wanted. Paige had walked into this affair with her eyes wide open, knowing full well she was loving him on borrowed time and that when it was over she’d be left with nothing but a broken heart.

  Still, she couldn’t give him up. If she was going to have her life shattered all over again, let it be after she’d stored up enough memories to see her through the worst of it. In the category of fool, she supposed that made her the queen.