****
It was their last weekend together and though she was excited about spending the next few days on the small island that was jointly owned by the Vittorio family, she felt physically ill knowing the end was so near. Dante acted no differently than he had over the past month and she wondered, hoped, that he’d forgotten her stint as his mistress was up. And since he didn’t mention it, neither did she. But Paige couldn’t help the tension that was mounting inside her on Saturday evening as the sun dipped below the horizon, marking her last night with him.
They watched it together from the deck of the bungalow they’d been staying in, standing side by side yet worlds apart. Dante stood with one arm looped loosely around her waist, sipping a glass of wine while Paige stared out over the ocean until the light was too dim to even see the shoreline. He set his glass on table then took her hand, and without a word Dante led her back inside to the cozy bedroom. He undressed her in silence then removed his own clothes before stretching out beside her on the massive bed.
Paige had laughed when she’d first seen it because it took up most of the room and she’d teased him about having it flown in especially for this weekend because he knew that’s where they’d spend most of their time. He’d given her a sexy smile before informing her that was exactly what he’d done and then they’d proceeded to break it in properly. He was as magnificent then as he was now, kissing her with such aching tenderness she could almost believe he loved her.
Dante made love to her in the same tender manner, and for the next few hours Paige was lost in a sea of sensuality while he lavished her body with the kisses and caresses she so craved from him. But when it was over, she turned onto her side with his warm body curled around her and silently cried herself to sleep.
It was just like their first night together; one or the other would wake and begin touching and kissing and the love making would start all over again. By morning she was exhausted, not only because they’d barely slept but because she’d been plagued with nightmares that centered around the enormous loss her heart was already feeling.
In one dream she’d been lost in a dense fog and couldn’t find her way out. Through the haze she could see a shadowy figure that gave her hope but whenever she ran towards him the fog grew thicker and she was lost again. In another dream she was all alone in a small dingy that was being tossed about in the ocean. Out of nowhere, an island appeared and on the shore was Dante. He called to her, begged her to come to him, so in desperation Paige jumped from the boat and began swimming towards him.
She’d no sooner started for shore when the waves grew rougher, rising so high they obscured the island. The harder she kicked, the farther away she got until she could no longer see the island or Dante. The despair that ripped through her was so great, she’d simply given up and let herself float to the bottom of the ocean where she lay staring up into the murky water; not quite dead but not alive either.
“It was selfish of me to keep you awake half the night,” Dante said when he opened his eyes and found her watching him. “You look as if you have not slept for a week.”
Paige reached out and stroked his face. “I’ll go to bed early tonight and be good and rested by Monday.”
He pressed his lips together and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. “You are undoubtedly relieved to know you will be able to sleep the whole night through.”
He pulled her tight up against his body and looked deep into her eyes as if he was searching for the answer to a question he’d posed. Paige couldn’t have stopped the love from shinning through even if she’d tried and for one breathless moment she thought she saw the same thing reflected in his eyes too.
But before she could discern just exactly what she’d seen, Dante caught her up in a kiss that was so fiercely passionate she was certain he was going to make love to her again. Disappointment and then a cold fear wound its way through her when he ended the kiss abruptly and then just as abruptly rolled away from her and got out of bed.
“I will have my attorney send you the deed to the center first thing in the morning,” he said over his shoulder as he headed for the bathroom.
A few timeless minutes later Paige heard the shower running, and for that she was grateful. It helped drown out the sound of her pitiful sobs.
Chapter 8
Paige stared blankly out the window on the drive to Dante’s house. It felt as if she was on her way to a funeral, so dismal was the mood that shrouded her in a bleak vortex of fear and hopelessness.
She’d allowed herself to cry while Dante was in the shower which had thankfully been longer than he usually took. When she’d heard the water stop running, Paige had dried her tears and scampered out of bed to gather the clothes she’d be wearing that day so she wouldn’t have to dress in front of him. She managed to keep her face averted as she skirted around him to duck into the bathroom and take her own shower, and if he thought her behavior was unusual he never said anything.
When she emerged from the bathroom thirty minutes later Dante was gone but he returned a short time later with some freshly baked crescent rolls and the news that he’d arranged for his pilot to fly them out within the hour. All the kindness and warmth was gone from his voice, and if he spoke to her at all during the flight home it was in a short, clipped tone that told her Dante had found the closure he’d been looking for. He no longer wanted her, and that knowledge was the only thing that kept her from throwing herself in his arms and begging him not to let her go.
The tension between them was unbearable but she was glad he wasn’t trying to make small talk because she didn’t trust herself to speak for fear she’d burst into tears. The worst part was that she couldn’t blame him, couldn’t even bring herself to resent the way he was treating her now because he’d been straightforward with her right from the beginning. She wished she could hate him, wished she could be like Francisca and despise him for using her instead of being consumed with this overwhelming sense of desperation.
Dante parked his car in front of the house. He had no intention of dragging this on and there was no use pretending there was anything left to do put pack up her things and take her home. He wished he hadn’t insisted on picking Paige up on Friday instead of letting her drive to his house like she normally did because he wasn’t sure how much longer he could tolerate the uneasy silence he’d endured on the journey home.
He had to get away from her as quickly as possible before he did something stupid like telling her that thirty days wasn’t enough, not nearly enough. It felt as if someone was driving a stake through his heart every time he thought about letting her go, but the game was over. He’d accomplished what he’d set out to do; Paige was in love with him.
Somehow he’d imagined revenge would be sweet, that he’d be able to kick back and savor it, but it wasn’t like that at all. There was no sense of triumph when he’d looked into her eyes this morning and seen straight to her heart, there was only an incredible warmth that had spread through his entire body like wildfire.
Dante had been shaken to the core because he realized how dangerously close he was to falling into the same snare she’d caught him in before. Loving Paige meant giving her the power to hurt him and he’d already been down that road. He would not allow himself to love her again and that’s all there was to it.
Paige didn’t wait for Dante to come around and help her out of the car, and she made certain to keep a few steps ahead of him on the way up to the house. She was barely holding herself together and it wouldn’t take much to send her plunging over the deep end so she was careful to avoid any physical contact. If he touched her now she’d fall to pieces and lose what tiny scrap of dignity she had left. Oh God, it hurt.
Dante led the way upstairs, toting the two suitcases they’d taken with them to the island. “I will empty these so you can use them for your clothes,” he told her once they’d reached his bedroom.
“That’s not really necessary,” she replied stiffly. “The one I b
rought with me is large enough.” Paige retrieved the small suitcase from the closet and set it on the bed next to the two larger ones Dante had placed there. “Except for a few toiletries and my red high heels, there’s not much to pack.”
“What do you mean? You have a whole closet full of clothes and a couple of drawers filled with lacy underwear. How do you propose to get all of that in one tiny suitcase?”
“I don’t.” Paige opened up the suitcase she’d used over the weekend and plucked out the few items she’d brought from home. “I’m only packing what’s mine.”
Dante’s brows furrowed. “You are not making sense.” His eyes followed her to the closet where she grabbed up her shoes and a few blouses he recognized as ones she’d purchased herself. “What about all the other clothes in the closet?”
Paige left everything else behind and tossed the shoes and blouses into her suitcase. “They don’t belong to me.”
“Of course they…” Dante let out an exasperated sigh and trailed after her to the bathroom. “Of course they are yours. I bought them for you.”
“No, Dante,” she scooped up her shampoo and crème rinse and the brush she’d bought a few weeks ago when she’d forgotten the one from home. “You didn’t buy them for me. You bought them for your mistress, and I am no longer your mistress.” She swept past him and dropped the last of her things in the suitcase then snapped it shut. “I’m ready to go. Would you mind calling me a taxi?”
“You are serious,” he shook his incredulously. “You are going to leave all the things I bought you behind?”
Paige shrugged. “Give them to your next mistress, I’m sure she’ll love them.”
“My next…” Dante raked his fingers through his hair irritably. “I am not in the habit of buying my women clothes or jewelry and would not pass them from one to the other even if I was.”
“Then donate them to charity, throw them out, burn them. I don’t care what you do with them once I’m gone.” She lifted her chin, determined to maintain her composure until she reached the sanctity of her own bedroom. “Are you going to call a taxi for me or shall I do it myself?”
Dante strode across the room and snatched her suitcase off the bed. “I will take you home.”
Paige pressed her lips together. What was the use of arguing with him when it would only prolong the agony of saying good-bye? She took one last look around the room and the massive bed where they’d shared so much passion over the past month then turned and followed Dante out of the room. Outwardly, she maintained an air of cold indifference as she climbed into the car but inside…inside she was slowly dying. Every mile that brought her closer to home filled her with dread.
It can’t be over, her mind screamed. She didn’t want it to end like this. She didn’t want it to end at all. But he doesn’t want you. You’ll only make a bigger fool of yourself if you beg him not to leave you. You’ll survive, just like you did the last time, and someday you’ll find someone new and forget all about Dante Vittorio and the strangle hold he has on your heart. Paige squeezed her eyes shut. Liar, liar, liar. She’d never get over him, not as long as she lived.
“We are here,” he said so softly Paige wasn’t even sure he’d spoken until she opened her eyes and realized he’d pulled into her driveway.
She climbed out of the car, clutching her purse in her hands while she waited for Dante to retrieve her suitcase from the trunk. She’d intended to take it from him and end it here but he strode right past her and carried it up to the front door. Paige had no choice but to join him on the porch and hope he didn’t try to kiss her good-bye. She wasn’t strong enough to hold it together much longer, and it was only sheer determination that kept her from trembling when she stood in front of him and waited for his parting words.
****
Dante drank in her beauty, memorizing the curve of her lips, the delicate line of her jaw, the hue of her blue eyes. No woman had ever touched his heart the way Paige had, but no woman had ever betrayed him the way she had either and he couldn’t forgive her for that. He’d come damn close to it though.
Every time she turned one of those brilliant smiles on him or looked at him the way she’d done that night at the party, he forgot all about the endless hours he’d spent agonizing over why she’d left him and the gut wrenching pain he’d endured for months afterwards. But he remembered it now and it hardened his heart.
“Take care of yourself,” he said evenly.
Paige watched him walk away, numb with pain, numb with fear. She’d never see him again, never feel his arms around her or experience the rapture of making love to him. How could he do this? How could he just walk out of her life as if she meant nothing to him? Surely there was some small part of Dante that loved her or at least cared enough about her that he couldn’t just wipe her from his memory. She’d given him everything, everything, and he was leaving her with nothing.
“Dante, wait!” Paige flew down the steps and raced after him, her heart catching in her throat when he caught her up in his arms and kissed her.
Dante had kissed her countless times in their relationship, but never like this. It was hard and hungry, and as fiercely possessive as the arms that crushed her to his chest. Tears of joy seeped from her eyes and slid down her cheeks. Thank God. She hadn’t lost him. He still wanted her, still needed her as much as she need him. And now that she knew Dante wasn’t going to leave her, she could tell him about Daniella. Maybe he’d be angry at first, but Paige was certain he’d forgive her once he knew she’d only done it because she loved him so much.
“I couldn’t let you go,” she murmured in between kisses. “Dante, I love you, I love you. I never stopped…”
Her words made his heart surge which in turn only enraged him because it was too late to salvage what they’d once had. Dante gripped Paige by the shoulders and firmly separated her body from his.
“This is good-bye, Paige. I thought you understood that.”
“No,” she choked, “you can’t mean that, not after the way you kissed me just now.”
His laugh was cold. “You are a beautiful woman, cara. When you threw yourself at me, I merely responded as any red blooded man would.”
“Dante…”
“Let me explain something to you, then perhaps you will not be so quick to profess your undying love for me. I planned everything; the meetings in the park, the purchase of your bank loan, even the way I would lavish you with so much attention that you would have no choice but to fall in love with me.” Dante blocked out the look of confusion that stole over her face, refusing to acknowledge his cruelty was any worse than hers had been. “Revenge. That has been my goal from the very beginning.”
“Revenge?” She repeated faintly. Oh God, did that mean he knew about Daniella? “I…I don’t understand.”
“Oh, I think you do,” he ground out bitterly. “I cared deeply for you once.” Not loved, he never loved her, Dante told himself. “You made me believe you felt the same, made me believe that what we had was special.”
“It was special,” she cried.
“Was it, cara? If that is true then why did you leave? You did not even have the guts to tell me to my face that it was over.” His expression hardened when he recalled the raw pain and utter desolation that had torn through him when he’d found the note. “Was it another man? Someone with more money perhaps?”
“No! There was never anyone but you.”
“Then why did you leave? And do not try to convince me it was because you thought you were holding me back.”
“But it’s the truth! You were so determined to make your mark in the business world, I was afraid you’d start to resent me for slowing you down.”
“Slow me down,” he said with a derisive sneer. “That is the best excuse you can come up with for throwing away what we had together?”
“I didn’t throw it away,” Paige’s voice wobbled. “I gave it up, Dante, and it hurt more than you’ll ever know. I walked away because I loved you and I didn�
��t want to ruin your life. I knew how hard you were working and that you spent every spare minute at your office. Our relationship would have drained you because I wanted more of your time than you could give and I didn’t want to put you in a position where you’d have to choose.”
Dante’s anger flared. “You should have told me how you felt and let me decide if I could handle the demands of my job as well as a relationship with you. But you did not trust me, did you? You did not trust that my feelings were strong enough and thought I would choose my career over you. That is the real reason you left. You were not afraid of holding me back, you were afraid my drive to succeed would push our relationship into the background and you did not like the idea of taking second place to my job.”
“You’re wrong,” she said, visibly shaken by what he’d said. “You’re making me out to be selfish and petty, and that’s not the way it was.”
Dante studied her face for a moment. “There is more,” he said with certainty. “What is it that you are not telling me, Paige?”
VITTORIO'S MISTRESS Page 10
