The Italian's Ruthless Seduction

by Miranda Lee

  ‘I need to finish Sergio’s birthday cake,’ Maria said as she hurried back into the kitchen. ‘Bella, there are not enough towels in the other guest room. Men need many towels. Could you take some more up for me? The big white ones. You know where they are.’

  ‘Yes, of course,’ Bella agreed.

  ‘After the cake is done I must go. I told Sergio this morning I could not stay all day. I have another cleaning job on Mondays. Could you say happy birthday for me?’

  ‘Yes, of course.’

  Bella collected a couple of the luxurious white bath sheets from the cupboard in the laundry and carried them upstairs with her, walking along the corridor past her bedroom door, past the master suite and along to the furthest guest room. When she knocked, however, there was no reply. A second knock got no answer either. Possibly Jeremy was in the shower. Thinking laterally, she went back to her room and made her way across it and out onto the balcony in the hope that Maria had left the French doors open. It seemed likely, given the heat of the day. They were open, and Bella peeped inside to check that the room was empty before she went in. It was. She’d just placed the towels on the foot of the bed when Jeremy’s slightly muffled but still-audible voice reached her ears.

  ‘Right, Sergio,’ it said. ‘I’ve done what you asked. Now what gives where Bella is concerned?’

  The voice was coming from the en-suite bathroom, echoing off the marble walls and carrying through the door. Bella knew she should leave the room immediately. No good ever came from eavesdropping. But she was a woman. A woman in love. Desperately in love. How could she possibly leave after her name was mentioned? She actually moved a little closer to the bathroom door.

  ‘Yes, I see,’ Jeremy said after a long silence. ‘Awkward that. So she knows nothing about your plans to marry a nice young Italian girl who will adore you and give you the family you want without causing you the slightest trouble.’

  Bella clasped her mouth to stop herself from crying out. But, oh, the pain that seized her heart. She’d never realised that a broken heart was literally that. She could actually feel her heart breaking. Because Sergio did not love her. Not only that, he’d lied to her, claiming he wasn’t interested in getting married at the moment. And all the while he’d planned on marrying an Italian girl. A young Italian girl, Bella thought bitterly.

  ‘I have to confess you’ve surprised me, Sergio,’ Jeremy went on after another lengthy silence. ‘I know you always had the hots for Bella, but I thought you despised her. Still, I understand perfectly that the temptation to seduce the woman was too great to resist. Lust isn’t one of the seven deadly sins for nothing. But I would advise you to think carefully about where you go from here. No doubt she’s good in bed. Very good. It’s easy to become sexually obsessed with a beautiful woman who knows all the right moves. Or so I’ve been told. Obsession of that kind is not something I’ve ever experienced. Have you considered keeping her as your mistress, perhaps? That might work.’

  Bella couldn’t bear to listen to another word. Somehow she made it back to her room without throwing herself off the balcony. Not that it was high enough to guarantee death. By the time she threw herself onto her bed, however, her heartache was turning to outrage, and anger. So Sergio had despised her, yet had the hots for her at the same time. What a charming thought! And there she’d been, thinking he’d invited her here because he was kind, and good. Everyone kept telling her what a good man he was. Well, he wasn’t. He was an out and out bastard. He’d done nothing since she arrived but use her. Her body and her brain. It was to be thanked that she’d never told him she loved him. That would have been the ultimate humiliation. This way she could at least extricate herself from this appalling situation with her pride intact.

  Rolling onto her back, Bella stared blankly up at the ceiling and tried to work out how best to handle things. But it was a struggle to think, especially when all she wanted to do was surrender to self-pity and cry her heart out. But where would that get her? Bella had never been a habitual weeper or wringer of hands, another legacy from her hard-as-nails mother. When tears actually dared to fill her eyes, she dashed them away with a furious sweep of her hands, hardening her freshly broken heart at the same time and focusing her thoughts on what she should do.

  She had to leave Lake Como, of course. And as soon as possible. She would ring Luigi and organise for him to pick her up first thing in the morning. Thank God she’d kept his business card. And thank God she hadn’t said anything to Sergio about the movie offer. This way, she had the perfect excuse to fly to New York ASAP. It was a pity that she couldn’t exit the villa before Sergio arrived home but that would be too odd. Facing him, however, knowing what she now knew, seemed an almost insurmountable hurdle. But Bella was used to facing insurmountable hurdles. You didn’t get to be a Broadway star without developing a lot of character, not to mention a hide as thick as an elephant.

  Bella hoped she was as good an actress as Charlie kept telling her she was, because she was going to need all her acting skills in the coming hours. In a perverse kind of way she would almost enjoy telling Sergio that she had to leave tomorrow. He might not love her but he sure as hell enjoyed making love to her.

  Though of course it wasn’t making love, was it? It was just sex. Jeremy had accused him of being sexually obsessed with her. Another depressing thought. Still, it wasn’t the first time a man had become sexually obsessed with her. In the past, such obsessions had quickly waned, once they’d discovered she was a bore in bed. This time, however, she’d been anything but boring in bed. She’d responded and behaved like the woman of the world Sergio obviously believed she was; the bed partner of many bad-boy lovers who was prepared to do anything and everything in pursuit of physical pleasure.

  Maybe he didn’t believe she was promiscuous any more—surely he’d gleaned something of her true character by now—but the truth was he had thought exactly that in the beginning. But he’d still seduced her, oh, so cleverly, had still had her every which way a man could have a woman, had still tied her to his bed and done things that didn’t bear thinking about. And all the while he’d been planning to marry another woman and keep her on the side as, yes...his mistress.

  So much for your silly dreams, Bella. So much for love.

  Suddenly, she could not wait for Sergio to get home. Couldn’t wait to tell him that she was leaving the next day. Couldn’t wait to pretend that it was of no concern to her. They were just ships passing in the night. Just friends with benefits. And when he suggested coming over to visit her—and he would, she just knew he would—she would tell him very casually that it would be best if they called it a day.

  It’s been a lovely interlude, Sergio darling, she could hear herself say. But now I have to get back to my real life. I’m sure you understand.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  SERGIO WASN’T AT all prepared for Bella’s announcement later that night that she had to fly to New York the following day. He stared at her with sinking spirits as she explained that she’d accepted the lead role in a movie version of An Angel in New York, and had been summoned to the producers’ table ASAP. He struggled to find the words to congratulate her, knowing immediately that all his plans to make Bella his wife had just been seriously derailed.

  The evening—which so far had been quite good fun—suddenly lost all its lustre.

  ‘Well, that’s wonderful!’ Jeremy exclaimed with hearty enthusiasm. ‘Isn’t that wonderful, Sergio?’

  It was no use. He simply could not pretend to be happy for her when he wasn’t.

  ‘I thought you didn’t want to go into the movies,’ he said grumpily.

  ‘I never actually said that. And this isn’t any old movie. I would never turn down an opportunity to make An Angel in New York.’

  ‘Fair enough. But why do you have to rush off like this? Surely you can stay another week or two. Tell the powers that be
that you’re still suffering from a serious case of burnout and need some more time off.’

  ‘But that would be a lie, Sergio darling. The last couple of weeks I’ve spent here have worked wonders. I’m sleeping like a log every night and have more energy than I know what to do with, so I have no legitimate excuse not to get back to work. Trust me when I say when an excellent opportunity like this comes along, you don’t make waves. If a top agent like Josh says jump, you say how high.’

  Sergio just stared at her, unable to find the right words. Never in his life had he experienced such confusion. He’d always known what to say when things got tricky, or sticky. Always had a clear head under pressure.

  Bella’s imminent departure, however, had thrown him for six.

  ‘I’ve booked Luigi to pick me up very early in the morning,’ she went on. ‘My flight goes around nine so I have to be on the road by six.’

  ‘You didn’t have to do that,’ Sergio said more sharply than he’d intended. ‘I would have driven you to the airport.’

  ‘That’s sweet of you, Sergio, but I thought you might like to spend some extra time with Jeremy, since he’s gone to the trouble of coming all this way. No, I think it’s best that I go with Luigi, but thank you for the offer.’

  Her smile, he thought, was oddly false, pricking a memory of a feeling he’d had when he’d first arrived home and she’d been overly vivacious with him. He’d wondered at the time if it was because of Jeremy’s presence, the way she’d thrown her arms around him and kissed him before wishing him a happy birthday and apologising profusely for having forgotten.

  ‘Thank God for Maria telling me this morning,’ she’d fairly gushed. ‘It gave me the opportunity to buy you a present.’ Which she’d pressed upon him, smiling when he’d opened it and seen that the cologne she’d bought him was called Seduction. ‘An appropriate name, don’t you think?’ she’d added flirtatiously.

  Sergio recalled being taken aback at the time, because it wasn’t like Bella to be either gushy or overly flirtatious.

  Neither was it like her eyes to go cold when she looked at him. As they were doing now.

  Something was wrong. He could feel it.

  ‘If you’ll excuse me, I must go and pack,’ she said before he could work out what was going on. ‘Then I might turn in. I’m sure you two boys have lots to talk about, and some more of that fabulous wine to drink. So I’ll love you and leave you. I dare say I might not see you in the morning, Sergio, so I’ll say my goodbyes now.’ He struggled not to shrink back when she came over to give him a very platonic peck on the cheek.

  ‘You’ve been a wonderful host,’ she continued as he just stared up at her. ‘I haven’t had a holiday this relaxing in years. I’ll send you a text once I’m in New York, let you know I arrived safe and sound. Lovely to have met you, Jeremy,’ she tossed off as she headed for the doorway. ‘Ciao.’

  She was gone before Sergio could jump up and stop her. Though what he could possibly say at that juncture he had no idea. He was totally flummoxed by Bella’s total change of character. This wasn’t the warm, wonderful woman he’d come to know and love. None of this was making any sense to him.

  He whirled towards Jeremy, who was sitting with legs outstretched at the kitchen table, a glass of red in one hand and a half-eaten slice of pizza in the other.

  ‘What in hell did you say to Bella after I rang you?’ Sergio demanded angrily.

  ‘Absolutely nothing,’ Jeremy said, indignation in his voice. ‘I didn’t even see her again till you came home. After we spoke, I had a shower, then lay down and fell asleep. For pity’s sake, Sergio, what kind of blithering idiot do you take me for?’

  Sergio’s shoulders sagged as he slumped back in his chair. He still could not believe that she was leaving him like this; that she was leaving him at all! He’d been so sure this last weekend that she loved him, convinced that only a woman in love would trust him with her body the way she’d trusted him. He’d almost told her he loved her a dozen times. He wished now that he had. Because then he would at least know the truth. As it was, he was now left floundering with a whole host of conflicting thoughts and emotions.

  ‘If you want my honest opinion,’ Jeremy said, ‘then I think her leaving could be all for the best. It’s perfectly obvious that she doesn’t have the same intense feelings for you that you have for her. If she did, she wouldn’t be bolting off back to New York like this. Bella’s one priority in life is her work. That’s why she’s never married. Because she’s married to her career.’

  Sergio winced at Jeremy’s brutally honest assessment. There had to be some truth in what he said. Bella had never married, yet surely at least one of her past lovers would have proposed. At the same time, he still could not accept this sudden decision of hers to leave tomorrow, some inner instinct telling him that something was very wrong.

  ‘You could be right,’ Sergio ground out, ‘but I’m not going to let her go without telling her how I feel about her.’

  ‘Not a good idea,’ Jeremy warned when Sergio stood up.

  ‘Possibly not,’ Sergio bit out. ‘But it has to be done.’

  Jeremy sighed. ‘Be it on your head, then.’

  * * *

  Bella was slowly packing and trying not to cry when the inevitable knock came on the bedroom door. She’d known he would come; known he wouldn’t let her get away as easily as that. Frankly, she’d been bargaining on it.

  Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the door and only half opened it, standing there so that he couldn’t come into the room itself. The sight of the obvious distress in his eyes almost undid her determination to be as ruthless as he had been. She’d expected him to be upset with her. Just not this upset. Till she reminded herself that he was obsessively in lust with her. Of course he wouldn’t want to let her go just yet. He obviously hadn’t had enough. Maybe after yesterday he’d been planning on even more kinky fun and games.

  This was exactly the train of thought she needed to steel her spine and harden her heart.

  ‘Yes, Sergio?’ she asked crisply. ‘What is it?’

  His dark brows drew together in a frustrated frown.

  ‘What is it?’ he threw at her, his head shaking from side to side in seeming disbelief. ‘You ask me that after what we’ve shared this last couple of weeks? I thought what we had was special, Bella. Clearly, I was wrong,’ he snapped.

  She found a smile from somewhere. ‘Oh, no, Sergio, you were quite right. What we shared was very special and I will be eternally grateful to you. If it wasn’t for you, I’d foolishly keep believing that I could only enjoy sex with the sort of man I even more foolishly keep falling in love with. Now I know that all I need is a gorgeous-looking male friend like you. Admittedly, I doubt I’ll find too many male friends in future who are built as impressively as you are, darling, but that’s the way it goes. Look, I know I said I wanted you to come visit me in New York once in a while,’ she rattled on, ‘but I honestly think we should leave things as they are...’

  The icy coldness in his eyes sent tiny shards of glass stabbing into her already broken heart.

  ‘I see,’ he bit out. ‘There’s no more to be said, then. Goodbye, Bella. Good luck with the movie.’

  And he was gone, striding off down the corridor without a backward glance. With a strangled sob, she closed the door, then put her head in her hands and wept.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  ‘OH!’ MARIA EXCLAIMED when she walked into the kitchen just after seven the following morning. ‘You are already up. And dressed.’

  Her eyes narrowed at this last remark, noting perhaps that her boss looked as if he’d slept in his clothes. Which he had. After that last soul-destroying encounter with Bella, he’d returned downstairs where he’d polished off two more bottles of wine all by himself, at which point Jeremy had told him he’d had eno
ugh, then helped him up to bed. He’d woken when he’d heard Luigi’s car on the gravel around six, not rising till Bella was safely gone, at which point he’d come downstairs where he’d proceeded to have two mugs of strong coffee in a vain attempt to make a dent in his hangover. He was now on his third.

  Maria’s frown deepened. ‘Something is wrong,’ she said. ‘Where is Bella?’

  ‘Gone,’ Sergio growled, then gulped down some more coffee. He didn’t want to talk about Bella. Or even think about her. He should have known what she’d be like all along. She was Dolores’s daughter, after all.

  ‘Gone where?’ Maria persisted.

  ‘Back to New York. To make a stupid movie.’

  ‘But...but she is coming back, is she not?’

  ‘No, she is not!’ he snapped.

  ‘But she loves you,’ Maria exclaimed, sounding truly horrified. ‘And you love her.’

  Sergio laughed. ‘Well, you got that half right, Maria. I do love her. At least I did. But she doesn’t love me back. She told me so.’

  ‘Oh, pah, that is rubbish! She told me she love you very much. But like you, she is not sure you love her. She said she die if you don’t. She want to marry you. Be your wife. Have your bambinos.’

  Sergio’s heart flipped right over. ‘She honestly said that? That she loved me and wanted to marry me?’

  Maria’s hands found her hips as they did whenever she was exasperated. ‘I do not tell lies! So what happened to make her leave? What stupid thing have you said now?’

  Sergio struggled to think. ‘I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.’

  ‘Everything was good yesterday. Maybe Mr Jeremy said something when she took him up the towels.’

  ‘What? When was that?’

  ‘Just before I go. He went upstairs to shower and I worry he might not have enough towels. I ask Bella to take him some more.’