It was a stroke of genius on her part to run away from him after his win at Monza, pretending she really wasn’t interested in him after all.
Knowing how many other women had tried and failed to get his ring on their finger, she’d done the one thing guaranteed to bring him to his knees.
Beautiful, amoral Olivia Duchess was the perfect match for Luc’s dashing, amoral brother.
Little did Cesar know that while she was waiting for him to catch up to her, she’d made for Ischia last night while Luc had been asleep, hoping to catch a prince. There was no limit to her ambition, as Cesar would find out one of these days. Luc wished them the joy of each other.
But in the meantime they were stuck on Monte Cristo, and she was unable to be a temptation to anyone since no one in the world knew where she was except Luc.
While they were marooned here, it might be an interesting experiment to see how long she could keep up this adventurous facade before she started to crack. Every human had a breaking point. More than anyone else, Luc would appreciate learning what it was. Even better, he’d enjoy watching it happen.
Curious to know if Cesar was hot on the trail yet, he walked back to the bunk and reached inside the pillowcase for his cell phone. He wasn’t surprised to see a list of callers that included everyone close to him except his brother.
Taking advantage of Olivia’s absence, he phoned Nic, who’d left half a dozen messages.
“Luc—it’s a relief to hear your voice. How’s the leg?”
“Couldn’t be better. What’s the real reason behind all your calls?”
“Max phoned to find out if I knew where Olivia is. I thought she was in Monza with Cesar, but apparently he said she left after the race and went to see you. Later I found out that Greer spoke to her at your house night before last. What’s going on?”
Good question.
Night before last Luc had listened in while Olivia had tried to reach Piper in Genoa. That meant the first phone call to the house had been from Greer, not Cesar. Why had Olivia pretended otherwise?
“Greer and Piper are both upset because they’ve had no contact with Olivia since,” Nic explained further. “If you know where she is, tell her to do everyone a favor and get in touch with her sisters so they’ll stop worrying. Max would like to enjoy his honeymoon.”
Luc chewed on his lower lip for a moment. “Right now she’s playing a very dangerous game.”
“What do you mean?”
He glanced out the window once more. There was no sign of Olivia yet. “How much time have you got?”
“It’s been a half hour since we ate lunch. Time for your water therapy.”
After finishing off the fish, Luc had sat in the sun to read, effectively shutting Olivia out. Since she’d returned from her exploration of the island, something about him had been different. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but he was less approachable, which didn’t come as any great surprise. He’d removed the elastic wrap and bandages where the doctor had drawn off the fluid. Olivia couldn’t tell the procedure had even been done.
But maybe his leg was hurting him, and he didn’t want her to know.
If that was the case, hopefully a swim might make it feel better. He’d donned his black suit in anticipation. The trick was to get him in and out of the boat without injury.
Olivia stood up from the padded bench and removed the T-shirt she’d been wearing over her swimsuit to protect her shoulders. Because the sun was so strong, Luc had also put on a shirt he’d left unbuttoned.
She walked over to him and took the book from his hands. By the way his features seemed to harden as his narrowed gaze swept up her body to confront hers, it had been the wrong thing to do. But it was too late to worry about that now.
“Ready?”
He rose to his full height and started to remove his shirt. She put the book on the bench so she could help him. He had an extraordinary male physique. The desire to touch him had become a driving need, but he shrugged out of his shirt so fast, she was denied the pleasure of physical contact.
Before she could catch her breath, he dove off the side of the boat into the water which was at a depth of about twelve feet. She followed him in and swam circles around him while he tread water.
The sun had warmed his olive skin, bringing color to the surface. His eyes glinted silver. With his wet black hair sleeked back, and drops of water beading his dark brows and eyelashes, he was the personification of male beauty. As she looked at him an ache passed through Olivia’s body so intense, she looked away.
When she felt she was under control again, she swam over to him. “If you’ll lie back and let me support your head and shoulders, you’ll be able to exercise your leg the way you need to.”
“Since when did you become a physical therapist?”
Olivia forced herself not to react to his rancor. “In the early stages of cancer, mother enjoyed a swim if we girls helped her. She tired easily.”
In the silence that followed her remark, she could feel him digesting what she’d said. Then without her having to say anything else, he turned over on his back as a signal she should help him.
Hoping he couldn’t tell she was trembling, she slid her hands under his arms and steadied him while he propelled them around with his legs. Cocooned as he was in her arms, she could bury her face in his hair and he was none the wiser that she was in a state of ecstasy.
“Was skiing your favorite sport?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
“One of them.”
“How soon does the doctor say you can ski again?”
“Never again.” There was a wealth of emotion in those words.
“Knowing you, you’ll probably end up an Olympic swimmer.”
Before she could blink, he’d jerked out of her arms and had turned so he was treading water in front of her. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know of you,” she fought against the bitterness in his accusation. “Despite the fact that you almost lost your leg in that accident, Cesar told me how you gave CPR to several of the injured skiers and kept them alive until the paramedics arrived. Your action saved their lives. That kind of heroism is rare.”
His eyes clouded with emotion she couldn’t decipher. “It couldn’t save Nina’s.”
“According to Cesar, no one could have done anything for Nic’s fiancée. Your little brother lives in awe of you, you know.”
She thought his face lost color. “Then we’re not talking about the same person.”
The next thing she knew, Luc had rolled over on his stomach. Like a torpedo, he took off for deeper water, leaving Olivia to ponder his words.
She felt the weight of them as she headed for the boat and pulled herself up the rungs of the ladder. Joy had gone out of her day because she realized that something terrible had torn the two brothers apart.
If Luc had serious issues with Cesar, then it explained why Cesar was so intimidated by his elder brother despite his hero worship of him. And somewhere in the middle of all this sat Olivia.
It killed her that two wonderful, remarkable brothers had reached such a terrible impasse in their lives. Though her sisters irritated her at times, Olivia couldn’t comprehend being estranged from them. Life wouldn’t be worth living if that were the case. No wonder Luc and his brother were both suffering.
She could see him in the distance. It didn’t look as if he would be coming back for a while. Since she couldn’t bear to sit around on the boat in agony because of all the things she didn’t know about the Falcon brothers’ complicated relationship, she decided to get started on her latest project.
Once she’d pulled on Luc’s navy T-shirt and had found her sneakers, she grabbed another of her own T-shirts and went ashore to hunt for rocks. There were all kinds with interesting pink and red colors the size of Ping-Pong balls strewn across the island.
It took her a couple of hours to gather them into a sizable pile. She carried them in the T-shirt she’d made into
a pouch, and took it down to the water’s edge to wash them off.
If they were polished, they’d be quite pretty.
Pleased with the results, she lugged them back to the boat. To her surprise, the sun had dropped a lot lower in the sky. She’d been out longer than she’d realized.
When Luc saw her on the ladder, he put the book aside and took the pouch from her while she climbed into the boat.
He lifted it up and down, as if trying to guess its weight. That mocking smile was in evidence once more. “What have we got here?”
“Treasure. Want to take a peek?” She plucked the pouch from his hand and put it on the bench to open it.
He stared at the contents. “I don’t see anything but a pile of rocks.”
“Your psyche’s too scarred to see their individual beauty.”
She felt his body stiffen and rejoiced that she’d hit a nerve. It was about time she won one round in the battle for his love.
“For your information, I’m going to start a new business with these.”
“What happened to your calendar business?”
“It was Greer’s idea, and Piper’s the artist. I’ve decided I want to do something solely on my own for a change.”
“These stones are too big to make into pendants.”
She let that intentional dig go by. “Not pendants. Paperweights. The perfect gift for the discerning customer.”
A deep chuckle rolled out of Luc.
“Laugh now, but one day I’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.”
“You’re hoping to make a fortune on these?” he taunted.
“I know I will.”
“Why bother when the Prince of Monaco will be able to shower you with everything you could ever want.”
Good. Luc hadn’t forgotten. He possessed a mind that worked like a steel trap.
“I’d rather marry for love, and earn my own money. There’s tons to be made on the Internet. My sisters and I found that out when we advertised our calendars online.”
His hands went to his hips in a totally masculine gesture. “Just how are you going to get people to buy your rocks?”
“If you had any romance in your soul, you wouldn’t have to ask that question.”
“Romance…” He made it sound like an evil word.
“Yes. There’s probably no more famous adventure novel in the whole world than the Count of Monte Cristo. Even if people haven’t read the book, they’ve heard of it.
“My hook will read, ‘Enjoy a piece of living history. Treasure straight from the Island of Monte Cristo. Every paperweight is different in size, shape and color. Beneath its polished surface lives the story of two men: Abbe Faria who loved God, Edmond Dantes who loved revenge more.”
Luc was so quiet at this point she said, “I’m thinking of charging fifty dollars a piece. It’s not too steep for the person looking for that perfect gift for the discerning shopper.
“In a way I hope we’re not rescued for another day because I need to gather as many rocks as I can. After we leave here, I’d like to head to Elba and collect rocks from there. In case my business takes off, I could sell them as mementos of Napoleon’s exile. History buffs would love them!”
“I thought you were anxious to get to Ischia.”
“I am, but a few more days delay shouldn’t matter.”
“What if the Prince is gone when we arrive?”
“Then I’ll use you and your connections to find out where he went.” She smiled and stretched. “This trip is turning out a lot better than I’d hoped. In a way I’m glad Fabio’s boat wasn’t available. If we’d gone with him, we wouldn’t have come here, and I wouldn’t have stumbled onto my future.”
He frowned. “Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself? These rocks might turn out to be a weight around your neck.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I can feel success in my bones. It has made me hungry. What do you want for dinner?”
“Surprise me.”
“Would you like it served on deck, or below?”
“Below.”
“I don’t blame you. To think the Mediterranean is known for its unmatched beauty, and here we are marooned on the only ugly, flat rock pile out in the middle of nowhere.”
His lips twitched. He was gorgeous when he even halfway smiled.
Relieved that the dark mood he’d been in earlier seemed to have passed, she headed for the galley determined that one day soon she would break him down enough to learn his secrets.
Half an hour later she told him dinner was ready. They ate a meal of ham and cheese melts at the little drop-down table. She found a bottle of wine, and threw in some plums for dessert.
“Tell me about these robots of yours,” she said after biting into the fruit. “If we brought one out here, could it pick up rocks for me?”
He drank some more wine. “The one I’m working on is an automobile that can drive itself and enter a war zone to deliver supplies in hostile territory. If you want a worker robot, the Japanese have developed ones that pick fruit, scour sewers, clean the windows of skyscrapers. The list is endless.”
Totally fascinated, she leaned closer to him. “I want to hear more about your invention. How long have you been working on it?”
“While I was at the University of Parma a few years ago, I designed a prototype of an intelligent vehicle. The hardware and software platform enabled it to drive automatically in real traffic conditions.”
“How far did your car end up traveling without a driver?”
“Two thousand miles of Italian motorways and back roads.”
“No accidents?”
“None.”
She shook her head. “How incredible! I would love to have seen it. Like a remote-control car without the remote.”
“That’s a good way to put it. Inside it’s interfaced with many layers of sensors, cameras and computers that react on multiple levels.”
“Something like the human brain?”
“Close.”
“What made you go into that aspect of engineering?”
“I grew up reading science fiction, and imagined myself creating a world of robots to do my bidding.”
“Since Cesar dreamed of being at the wheel to drive fast cars himself, he obviously didn’t share your interest.”
The comment had just slipped out because the joy of interacting with Luc had made her forget how much he despised her. But the mere mention of Cesar and the tension was back. She could tell by the way his hard-muscled body stiffened.
“Why is it that whenever his name is brought into the conversation, you act as if I’d committed high treason?”
When he refused to answer her, something snapped inside her. “Would you rather we talked about the reason why you’re so certain he doesn’t worship the ground you walk on?”
CHAPTER SIX
LUC’S eyes pierced hers like lasers. “Have you always gone where angels feared to tread?”
“My sisters would tell you yes.”
“If you’re that curious, why don’t you discuss it with Cesar the next time you see him.”
“You mean I have your permission?”
“Would it stop you if I said no?”
She let his question hang in the air and got up to clear the table. “Tell me something. Are you just naturally bitter because it’s a trait inherited through your Falcon genes? Or was it the tragedy that turned you into a dark facsimile of your former self?”
He bit out something unintelligible while she washed the dishes and straightened up the kitchen. When she reached the doorway, she paused. “Do you need another massage before we turn in?”
“I’ve exercised it enough for one day.”
You have your answer, Olivia. “I’ll go up on deck and get the book.”
“I finished it.”
Her eyes closed tightly for a minute. “Good. Now I’ll have something to read before I go to sleep. Anything else you need from above?”
“No.”
> Olivia had thought she could withstand whatever verbal blows he thrust at her, no matter how mean or cruel. But she was wrong… His hateful remarks were slowly crucifying her.
Wretched, wretched man. She would love to throw something at him, but she could hear her father whisper, “Handle it like a Duchess.”
“Then I’ll say good night.”
She made a detour to the bathroom to brush her teeth. He was still seated at the table drinking the rest of his wine when she passed the kitchen on her way to the stairs.
If he craved his solitude so much, then she would let him have all he wanted. There were several more bottles of wine in the cupboard. He could drink himself into oblivion for all she cared.
The darkness had brought an even heavier mist than last night. Clouds she’d seen in the far horizon had moved much faster than she would have imagined. She shivered involuntarily, glad the boat was moored to the island since there was virtually no visibility at the moment.
By sitting next to the light at the end of the boat, she was able to read. It was almost impossible to concentrate, but she was determined to stay away from Luc until he’d gone to bed and had passed out for the night.
After an hour she noticed the breeze had kicked up. There was a drop in the temperature. Without anything covering her bare legs beneath her shorts, she was starting to get uncomfortable, but she kept on reading.
In another few minutes she felt the first drops of rain. Unable to lie there any longer, she got off the bench with her book and headed for the stairs. No sooner had she passed the kitchen than the lights flickered several times before going out. Great!
Luc must have heard her surprised cry because he called to her from the cabin. “Did you just shut off the power?”
“No.”
“The rain must have shorted out some wiring. I’ll take a look at it in the morning. Do you need help coming to bed?”
It was pitch black. “No. Just keep talking and I’ll follow your voice.”
“Don’t move! There’s a flashlight in the locker where I found the flare. I’ll get it.”
To Win His Heart Page 8
