She looked unconvinced. He couldn’t blame her.
‘Frisk me,’ he replied standing back, allowing her access.
‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ she said. ‘I can already see myself on that rail with my knickers around my ankles.’
‘Sounds good to me,’ he said, reaching for the stop button.
She grabbed his hand. ‘I think that might confirm every negative thought Sergio has about you if we’re caught.’
He sighed. ‘You’re probably right.’
The lift opened and Rosa accosted them as soon as they reached the lobby. ‘Everything all right?’ she asked. ‘The captain of the Cristallina came in looking for you last night. Said you had a dinner cruise booked but . . .’
‘Everything is perfect, Zia,’ Antonio reassured her. ‘We just decided to have a night in instead.’ He slipped his arm about Sienna’s waist and kissed her on the cheek.
Rosa smiled knowingly and patted Antonio’s shoulder. ‘Of course you did,’ she said.
Sergio appeared from the dining room. ‘What are your plans for today?’ he asked.
‘I’m taking Sienna for a tour of the lake.’
‘Lunch at Fiorelli’s?’
‘Of course, Zio.’
Antonio hadn’t seen his uncle smile since the wedding. The old man’s face now showed a trace of approval. Something snapped inside him. Antonio pulled Sergio into a hug.
‘Thank you for having us to stay, Zio,’ he said. ‘I know I’ve been a disappointment, but that’s all going to change.’
Sergio’s eyes filled with tears. He looked everywhere but into Antonio’s eyes. ‘Good, good,’ he muttered as he turned and disappeared into the dining room.
Rosa pulled Antonio into her arms. ‘We’ve missed you so much,’ she said, her voice choking with happiness. She clasped Sienna’s hands. ‘Thank you for bringing him back to us. We thought we’d lost him.’ Rosa stepped away. ‘Go, go,’ she said, waving them out the door. ‘Go, have fun today.’
As Antonio manoeuvred the car through the narrow lanes, the world seemed bright for the first time since the accident. Even the lake shimmered more vividly.
‘So, you and Villa Paradiso,’ Sienna said, slipping her hand onto his thigh. ‘That’s why it’s so important. It’s the last place you were . . .’
‘With my family,’ he finished for her, glancing over at her gorgeous face. He’d dated the most beautiful and the most famous women in the world. Not one of them came close to the wonder he found in her.
‘I scattered their ashes in the rose garden here,’ he said turning his eyes back to the road. ‘It was my mother’s favourite place. Losing the Villa Paradiso would be like desecrating their graves.’
‘No wonder,’ Sienna mused.
‘It was okay while Rosa and Sergio owned the hotel. They honoured my family’s memory as much as I did.’ He changed down gears to take a hairpin corner. ‘You probably noticed how well tended the rose garden is.’
‘It’s exquisite,’ she said.
‘I couldn’t bear the thought of a group of strangers responsible for it.’ He gripped the wheel slightly tighter. ‘That’s why I must have the hotel.’
‘It makes perfect sense,’ she said, running her fingers softly down his cheek. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘You know why.’ He threw her a crooked smile. ‘I don’t trust anybody.’
‘I take it that’s changed now,’ she said, dropping her hand to his thigh again.
‘Careful,’ he said in a low voice.
She threw him a sexy smile. ‘Why?’ she teased.
‘You keep that up,’ he said, nodding towards her hand, ‘and we won’t even make it to coffee.’
Her intoxicating laugh tested every ounce of his self-control. It would be so easy to pull over and book a room at a pensione. Her lush hair fanned out around her face in the wind. She looked over at him and smiled. Gripping the wheel tightly, he cupped his other hand around the back of her neck and kissed her hard, but quickly, on the lips.
‘How did I ever live without you?’ he asked, dragging his eyes back to the road.
She threw him a beautiful smile. ‘I have no idea.’
Antonio couldn’t remember a day more perfect. Sienna had wanted to drive home, so he’d enjoyed watching her all the way home to the hotel.
Rosa met them in the lobby. ‘You enjoyed yourselves?’ she asked brightly.
‘Wonderful,’ Antonio said. ‘We —’
‘Antonio.’ A woman’s voice cut him short.
He froze. Amy.
The three turned together and stared as one of the most famous women in the world walked towards them. Sienna’s hand clenched in his own.
Rosa gasped next to him, accusations clear in her eyes. ‘What is the meaning of this?’ she demanded.
‘Talk to her,’ Sienna said, dropping his hand.
‘Are you sure?’ He searched her face for absolution.
‘Go,’ she said, pushing him forward
Amy waited at a respectable distance.
Sergio appeared at the dining room door. He took in the scene quickly, his face reflecting his disgust. When Sergio’s gaze settled on Antonio, his eyes communicated a lifetime of disappointment.
Antonio couldn’t deal with him now. He needed to handle his past life. He didn’t want anything to come between him and Sienna. Now he’d found happiness, he’d never let it go.
He walked over to Amy.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Amy began, tears welling in her eyes.
‘Come out into the garden,’ he said. ‘We can talk privately there.’
‘No we can’t,’ she said. ‘They’ve found —’
A flash blinded him, then another. Before he knew it the lobby seemed filled with paparazzi. He jerked his head around to see Sienna escorting Rosa and Sergio into the dining room and out of the way. Once she had them secured, she headed for the lifts. Before she disappeared, she gave him a nod. He understood. Getting out of the picture gave the vultures less of a story.
‘Come with me,’ Antonio said as he guided Amy to the stairs. ‘We’ll talk upstairs.’
The paparazzi thronged towards them.
‘It is true about the baby?’ a journalist shouted.
‘Does Sienna know you’ve been two-timing her?’
Antonio turned on the stairs. ‘Any journalist or photographer found in the building will be arrested,’ he announced.
The horde paused.
‘You have ten seconds to vacate or I’ll prosecute each and every one of you for trespass.’
The words had the desired effect and the lobby emptied quickly. Antonio grabbed a key from reception and followed Amy to the first floor.
Amy, the paparazzi, his relatives. Funny, just a day ago all this would have caused him concern. Now he didn’t care. He had Sienna and nothing would ever worry him again.
Sienna looked tentatively over the balcony of their suite. Suddenly a stream of photographers flowed from the building. She stepped back quickly before anyone noticed her. She imagined Antonio downstairs with Amy. She smiled. Funny, she wasn’t jealous at all. She trusted him.
Antonio’s distinctive mobile phone ringtone sounded in the main room. She hated that sound. Walking towards the noise, she realised he’d packed the phone in his briefcase. As soon as the call went to voicemail, another call invaded the silence. She winced.
Then another. And another.
She waited for the noise to stop, but the phone rang incessantly. She yanked open his briefcase and dug around until she found the offending item. It took her almost a minute to turn the damn thing off.
When she threw the phone back onto the pile of papers in the case, a document caught her eye. Plaza Fraud.
She stared at the words, unable to move. Needles of foreboding pierced her skin. She reached slowly for the document. It was a report from Brad. She flipped open to the first page. After reading the introductory paragraph, she sat heavily on the sofa to digest
the rest.
Her accountant had developed a complex scam that skimmed large sums of money from the business before the dollars even hit the books. She rubbed her temples. How could she not have known? She read on. She took little comfort from the fact it had taken Brad some time to uncover the scheme.
She slumped back on the cushions, finding it hard to breathe. Antonio had known about the fraud and hadn’t told her. The report revealed that Brad had strongly recommended getting her involved from the start, but Antonio hadn’t said a word. The pages slipped from her lap to the floor. She needed a drink, but couldn’t stand.
She tugged distractedly on her hair. This could mean only one thing. Antonio hadn’t planned to tell her at all. She followed the thought to its logical conclusion. He’d plotted to allow the fraud break her, bankrupt her, then the Plaza would be his, quickly and cheaply.
She leapt to her feet. She had to get out of here. Antonio had played her in every possible way. Running to the bedroom, she searched for a suitcase. She spied the one she’d brought from Australia. It’d stood packed and unopened since she’d arrived in Italy. She yanked the battered old thing from the back of the wardrobe.
That case told the real story. The one that had been clear from the start. She’d never fitted into Antonio’s world of big deals, wealth, sophistication and manipulation. She was out of her league. Antonio had used her. Downstairs he was talking to his real mistress, the one that made all the sense in the world.
She lugged the suitcase across the room. Propping open the door, she looked back at the report on the floor. She hesitated then scooped up the incriminating pages. She’d need the evidence.
‘Cara?’ Antonio stood in the doorway. He looked from her eyes to the suitcase and back to the pages in her hand. His smile dropped. ‘What are you doing?’
She looked into the eyes of the man she loved. The man who’d given her life passion, fire and ecstasy while he betrayed her so completely. He’d taken her heart and her body and would take her hotel. Her heart ached. She wanted to scream, to pound his chest, to make him the man she thought he’d become.
Instead she blinked back hot tears. She walked bolt upright to the door and seized the handle of her case. ‘Leaving.’
As Sienna pushed past, Antonio grabbed her arm.
‘It’s not what you think,’ he said, mentally kicking himself. Why hadn’t he told her about the Plaza fraud? At that moment he couldn’t even explain it to himself.
She turned on him, eyes glittering in defiance. Her cheeks flushed bright. ‘Oh, I think it’s exactly what I think,’ she said, her eyes hollow with disappointment. ‘You plan everything. A few months of fun with me while my hotel drowns in debt. Even with a reprieve on the loan payments, Brad’s report shows I’d be broke within the year. Planned to perfection.’ Her voice wavered, heavy with bitterness.
‘How can you believe I’d do that to you?’ But even as he spoke, he knew exactly why she would believe it. He’d forced her into deceiving his own family. She’d have no doubt about his ability to swindle her, a relative stranger, out of her hotel.
‘You can’t go,’ he said, the idea tearing at his insides. ‘I’m not that kind of man.’ His fingers encircled her wrists. He wouldn’t let her leave. ‘Please, Sienna . . .’
Antonio held his breath through the long, brittle silence.
‘You’ll always be that man.’ The pain in her face broke his heart.
She pulled free. He stood frozen, staring after her. The lift doors opened and she disappeared.
He fell back against the wall. The seconds ticked by, but it could have been minutes. The lift opened, his heart leapt. He ran down the corridor. Sergio emerged from the lift. Antonio looked past his uncle, hoping against hope Sienna was with him.
‘Sienna?’ he said, gripping his uncle by the shoulders. ‘Have you seen her?’
‘I’ve seen enough to know that you are not deserving of the Moretti name,’ the old man said, shaking himself from Antonio’s grip. Antonio’s gaze flashed to his uncle’s face. For the second time, disgusted disappointment burned back at him.
‘Mistresses, shotgun weddings, illegitimate children . . .You bring disgrace upon the family with everything you do.’ Sergio stood, his old face shattered in shame.
‘Zio, I’m sorry. I don’t have time for this,’ he said, trying to move past his uncle. He had to find Sienna before . . .
Sergio gripped his arm with surprising force. ‘You will listen to me,’ Sergio said, his voice strangled. ‘This life you lead, do you think your parents would have been proud? Do you think Rosa and I are ignorant about why you came here?’ he said, his voice cracking. ‘Rosa wanted to believe . . .’
Antonio stared into Sergio’s tired, proud eyes.
Sergio shook his head sadly. ‘You have no honour.’
‘Zio . . .’ Antonio began, but what could he say? He was everything his uncle accused him of and more. He was right. His parents would be horrified at the things he’d done.
He slid from Sergio’s grip. Why would Sienna love him? Why would anyone love him? Nausea gripped at his stomach. Sienna was right to leave. He only knew one way – to use people for his own ends. Sienna deserved more.
‘You will never get your hands on this hotel.’ The words were cold and exact.
Antonio barely heard them. He watched the old man walk slowly away. Strangely, winning the Villa Paradiso seemed unimportant.
He leant heavily against the wall. Without Sienna, nothing seemed important. He closed his eyes. She’d been so happy this morning, the wind in her hair, laughter in her face . . .
He bolted upright. What was he doing? He didn’t know whether to laugh hysterically or cry. Suddenly everything was so clear. His life was nothing without Sienna. Everything turned to hell without her. He didn’t need to shut himself away from the world – he needed Sienna. Sienna was his path back to a real life, to happiness – to love.
He froze. The air shot from his lungs.
I love her.
He ran and hurled himself down the five flights of stairs just as he’d done as a child.
I love her!
Racing through the lobby, he was vaguely aware of Sergio discreetly comforting Rosa behind the reception desk. He’d make that right later. Breaking out into the afternoon light, he looked wildly around the gardens. Nothing. He ran to the pier, the rose garden and then back towards the hotel. Breathing hard, he wiped the sweat from his face.
A flash on the hill road out of town caught his attention. His Maserati disappeared from sight, Sienna at the wheel.
Chapter Twelve
Icy rain dripped down the back of Sienna’s shirt. Melbourne in the winter could be vicious. The freezing wind howled up from the Antarctic and cut through the fabric of her old black suit.
The trip home to Australia had been hell, with numerous flight delays. She’d just missed a baggage handlers’ strike in Italy only to find herself in the midst of industrial action in London. It had taken her over three days to arrive. Then, half a kilometre from the Plaza, the airport bus had broken down. Of course she could have caught a taxi and charged it to Antonio’s credit card, but she didn’t want to owe that man anything.
She stopped and wiped the rain from her eyes. The modern buildings looked dull under the muted glare of the streetlights. Not a cobblestone in sight and the excitement and wonder of Italy was now just a memory. How could she slot back into her old life? Now that she’d tasted love and passion, how could she go back to the beige confines of the Plaza?
Taking the handle of the bag, she pulled it roughly up the hill. She needed to get home, to see her father and save the hotel. Trundling her bag towards the Plaza’s entrance, she noticed the driveway had been repaired. She frowned. Where had the money come from for that?
No one staffed the entrance. Due to the financial difficulties, she’d had to let the late-night bellboy go. She reached for the door, but it swung open before she could push it.
‘Welcome to
the Plaza.’ Antonio held the door, his light tone contrasting heavily with the apprehension in his eyes.
Her jetlagged body leapt to attention. Sienna’s case fell to the ground as she stared, open-mouthed, at the man who had turned her world upside down. The man who’d introduced her to everything she’d ever wanted then shattered her life.
It took every ounce of her strength to pick her bag and push past him. ‘As you can see, I’m back. You and all your cronies can leave. Now.’
‘I’m not going anywhere.’
How could he sound so annoyingly calm when the tangle of emotions flooding her body threatened to overwhelm her?
‘I’ve nothing to say to you.’ She hated the way her voice wavered.
He smiled, his eye twinkling. ‘I don’t believe that for a second.’
His fingers brushed her hand as he took the suitcase from her and put it aside. For a moment she could think of nothing more wonderful than falling into his strong arms, having him hold her close. Then the words in the report flashed before her. Exhaustion. Jetlag. Lack of sleep. They were messing with her mind. She hated him. Every smile, every kind gesture – all manipulation to get what he wanted.
He took her hand. ‘I have plenty to say to you,’ he said.
She yanked her hand from his grasp. ‘What – how the contract is null and void since I left without finishing our fake honeymoon?’ Her voice cracked.
‘Something like that.’
His smooth tone infuriated her. ‘You can shove your contract! Now I know about the fraud, I can make the hotel work without you.’
‘Good idea,’ he said. Pulling a sheaf of papers from his pocket, he held them up for her to see. She recognised the contract she’d signed a few weeks earlier. Gripping the ends, he ripped it down the middle and handed her the torn pages.
‘Consider our contract annulled,’ he announced.
Okay, she hadn’t expected that.
‘And the marriage.’ She swallowed hard. ‘I suppose it can be annulled too.’
‘No,’ he said, reaching for her coat and sliding the sodden garment from her shoulders. She was too tired and defeated to protest. The familiar scent of his citrus aftershave teased her senses.
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