VINA IN VENICE (THE 5 SISTERS)

by Kimberley Reeves

  “Vina,” he said on a sigh as he claimed her mouth.

  She was glad they were sitting down. Travis Malone was every bit as heady as the champagne, and Vina was fairly certain her knees would have buckled under the onslaught of his intoxicating kisses. The butterflies kicked into high gear, along with her pulse, and her body temperature jetted up so fast and furious, she wouldn’t have been surprised to find a rash of fever blisters forming.

  She’d never felt like this before, so out of control, so…greedy for more. It shocked her to realize how quickly she’d developed a sexual attraction for him, how deeply she needed the physical closeness that had never been part of their relationship before. Was this how the other women in his life had felt when he kissed them, touched them? As if they would burst into flames from the heated desire he aroused?

  Vina felt sorry for them, and for herself as well. Because there was no turning back now, no pretending she and Travis hadn’t gone past the boundaries of friendship, or that their friendship would survive if this new aspect of their relationship didn’t work out. Her mind abandoned its restless wandering when Travis pulled her more snugly against his body and deepened the kiss. Would it be worth it? Oh, yeah, she thought as his hand glided slowly up her thigh, whatever the cost in the end, I will never regret a single moment spent in his arms.

  Through a haze of tingling nerves and raw emotion, it gradually registered that the speakers were no longer piping out music. Vina stifled a groan when the soft crooning was replaced by Catrina’s cool, crisp voice instructing them to buckle up in preparation for landing. It wasn’t quite the same as being doused in ice water, but it came pretty close, and as much as she regretted relinquishing his lips, Vina drew her head back.

  “That woman is a real mood killer,” she grumbled as she dug between the cushions for the safety belt.

  “Oh, I don’t know about that,” Travis grinned, the devil dancing in his eyes. “As I recall, she was responsible for sparking that bout of jealousy which ultimately set the mood for an extremely pleasurable encounter.”

  “Yes,” Vina replied dryly, “and as I recall, she cut that pleasurable encounter short too.”

  ***

  A water taxi carried them to The Palazzo Vendramin, which was everything Travis said it would be. After making sure Vina was safely in her suite, Travis left to unpack and get settled into his own suite, which adjoined hers. She didn’t bother unpacking just yet, preferring instead to explore her new surroundings. The living room was spacious and elegant with access to a private balcony that overlooked the lagoon. Floor to ceiling windows insured a breathtaking view of the lagoon and St. Mark’s Square just across the waterway.

  There was also a large terrace, complete with a pool and Jacuzzi, where the scent from numerous jasmine bushes permeated the air. The two luxurious marbled bathrooms had the same floor to ceiling windows and panoramic views as the rest of the suite, and the smaller of the two even led out onto a garden terrace. From the window, she could see a path from the garden that trailed down to a private dock where a motor boat was moored for their personal use. Upon their arrival, they’d been informed that a master captain would be at their disposal to guide them through the coves and islands.

  Vina wandered from room to room, admiring the rich but tasteful furnishings and stopping to smell the fragrant flowers adorning every room. She also took note of the impressively well stocked private bar where a bottle of champagne was chilling. Everything about the suite was utter perfection, including the lavishly decorated bedroom. She was contemplating going next door to see if Travis’ suite was as amazing as hers when there was a brisk rap on her door. A happy smile lit her face. Apparently Travis had the same idea.

  Admonishing herself for wanting to race to the door, Vina’s steps were deliberately measured as she went to greet Travis. It seemed foolish to get so flustered at the thought of seeing him when they’d just spent so many hours together on the plane, but she couldn’t help it. Ever since that first kiss she’d had her head in the clouds, but that didn’t mean she had to be so transparent about it. Schooling her expression so she didn’t look like a love-sick teenager, Vina opened the door and was shaken to discover it wasn’t Travis.

  As she stood in the open doorway, it occurred to her how foolish it was not to look through the peek-hole first. Normally very safety conscious, Vina stared at the tall middle-aged Italian man and realized that if he meant her any harm, he could easily overpower her. True, he was immaculately dressed in a dark suit and didn’t look threatening, but looks could be deceiving.

  “May I help you?” she asked warily.

  It was obvious by the man’s apologetic smile that he realized Vina was startled by his appearance. “Perdonilo…forgive me,” he said in a heavily accented voice, “perhaps I should have not come unannounced, but the Marchese and Marchesa Andollina requested that I deliver this to you personally upon your arrival. I am Cayo Bavetta, the Andollina’s chief security officer.”

  “Of course,” the tension instantly left Vina’s body as she took the envelope he held out to her, “I remember you now. Goodness, I haven’t seen the Andollina’s for years,” she said, opening the envelope and scanning the invitation inside. “I had no idea they lived in Venice now, or that they knew I would be here.”

  “They do not live in Venice year round. However, they do have a home near the Palazzo and always arrange to be here during Carnival. I believe the Marchese and Marchesa were informed of your impending arrival by your solicitor, Sheldon Davis.”

  “Sheldon told them?”

  His voice was gentle, the expression on his face sympathetic. “As instructed by your parents, Miss Moore. My sincere condolences on your loss.”

  “Thank you,” she replied, swallowing the lump in her throat. “Tell the Marchese and Marchesa I would be happy to join them for dinner.”

  “Then I shall be here tomorrow evening at six o’clock to escort you. They will be delighted that you have accepted, as will the rest of the family.”

  Vina’s face lit up. “The boys will be there too?”

  Cayo chuckled. “You were not joking about how long it has been since you have seen them. They are hardly boys any longer. Fine young men, all three of them, and they are eager to renew your acquaintance.”

  “Are they now?” A familiar male voice said from behind Cayo.

  The friendly stance Cayo Bavetta had displayed with Vina was quickly dispensed with as he switched into the role of security officer. Every bit as tall and muscular as Travis, Cayo wasn’t daunted in the least by the decided chill in Travis’ tone or the equally cold glare. Vina was shocked to see the two men eying each other with open suspicion and was genuinely afraid one wrong word from either of them would result in a test of physical strength.

  She supposed it was in Cayo’s nature to take a defensive stand, given his profession. But she’d never seen Travis behave like this before and didn’t quite understand why he was doing it. Granted, there was a strange man at her door, but since he’d overheard at least part of their conversation, clearly Cayo was someone she knew. In an attempt to restore the balance of testosterone to a normal level, Vina slipped past Cayo and planted herself between them.

  “I don’t know where my manners are,” she said with a smile. “Travis, this is Cayo Bavetta. He’s chief of security for the Marchese and Marchesa Andollina, who were very dear friends of my parents. And this is Travis Malone,” she told Cayo. “He’s my escort during our stay in Venice, and also…”

  “Ah, your bodyguard,” Cayo visibly relaxed.

  Travis shook the hand Cayo offered, although Vina noted his manner was still unyielding. “I am not Vina’s bodyguard,” he said stiffly, “but I am here to insure her safety.”

  Cayo looked at Vina. “Did I misunderstand?”

  “Travis and I have been friends since high school,” she explained. “He’s here to watch over me and make sure I don’t get into any trouble. Isn’t that right, Travis?” Vina smiled f
or Cayo’s sake, but there was no mistaking the warning in the glance she shot at Travis.

  “Personal escort and friend, that’s me,” Travis replied, his expression as devoid of emotion as his tone.

  If Cayo noticed the tension between her and Travis, he gave no indication. “Had the Marchesa known you were not traveling alone, I am sure she would have extended the invitation to include Mr. Malone. Shall I inform her there will be an extra guest tomorrow evening?”

  “Please do,” Travis said before Vina could respond.

  “I will see you both tomorrow then. Enjoy your stay in Venice.”

  Vina waited until Cayo was out of earshot before turning to Travis. “Would you care to explain what that display of male hormones was all about?”

  “Inside,” was all he said as he brushed past her and entered the suite.

  Unsettled by his brisk manner, Vina trailed after him, acutely aware that he was unhappy with her, although she couldn’t fathom why. Surely he wasn’t upset that friends of her parents had invited her to dinner, especially since Cayo had also invited Travis. She closed the door behind her and following him into the living room. Travis was standing in the middle of the room with his arms crossed, a dark scowl on his face.

  Vina put up a brave front as she approached him, despite the nervous flutter in her stomach. “Why are you mad at me when you’re the one who acted like an over protective ogre?”

  “Because we had an understanding,” his voice shook with anger, “or at least I thought we did until a few minutes ago.”

  “What are you talking about? I accepted an invitation to dinner, Travis. What does that have to do our relationship?”

  “What relationship?” he bit out. “As soon as that muscle bound goon mentioned the Andollina’s three sons, my status was reduced to traveling companion and old high school buddy.”

  Vina stared at him incredulously. “You’re not serious.”

  “Do I look like I’m joking?”

  “This is absurd! I haven’t seen the Andollina boys since I was seventeen.”

  “Did you date any of them?”

  “No, I didn’t,” she snapped defensively. “They were college students the last time we visited and had no interest in a shy, teen-aged girl.” Vina guiltily omitted to mention she’d had a crush on Emilio, the youngest of the three brothers. “Look, I’m sorry if I underplayed our relationship, but in all honesty, I wasn’t sure you wanted to announce it to the world when we really haven’t established any boundaries.”

  “You didn’t have any problem announcing it to Catrina,” he argued. “As a matter of fact, you went out of your way to make her believe we had a very intimate relationship.”

  Vina’s cheeks burned a furious red. “I hardly think the circumstances are the same. Cayo wasn’t attempting to coax me into the bathroom for a quickie.”

  “No, he was just making sure you knew there were three men eager to renew their acquaintance with you. And since you made it clear there was nothing between us, I’m sure he was only two happy to report back that you were unattached and just as eager to see them.”

  “Now you’re being ridiculous. If this petty jealousy and possessive attitude is what I have to look forward to, then I’m not sure I even want to continue what we started.”

  As soon as the words left her mouth, Vina regretted them. Yes, she was angry with him for the way he was behaving, but she didn’t want to call a halt to the relationship that had begun to develop. She wanted to apologize, to retract what she’d said and assure Travis he had no reason to feel threatened by the Andollina brothers. Before she could say any of those things, Travis took a step towards her, his face a mask of granite.

  “If that’s the way you want it,” he said evenly. “As long as you understand that if you’re a free agent, so am I.”

  “Fine,” Vina replied numbly.

  “I’m going to my room. Call me when you’re ready to go grab something to eat. I made a promise to your parents to be your escort and I intend to fulfill that promise whether you want me to or not.”

  Vina blinked back the tears. “I…I’m tired. I think I’ll just order room service.”

  For a few breathless moments, she thought Travis was going to give in and attempt to make up. His arms dropped to his sides and he leaned towards her, his expression softening briefly before it turned cold again.

  “I’ll arrange to have a pager sent up to your room in case you need to reach me.”

  “Is that really necessary? I mean…I can just call your room or…knock on your door if…”

  “I may not be in my room,” he cut her off.

  Vina flinched as a sharp pain stabbed at her chest. “Travis…”

  “Enjoy your first night in Venice,” Travis said, then strode past her, leaving Vina standing there with tears streaking down her cheeks.

  Wrapping her arms around her waist, Vina swayed unsteadily. Her first night in Venice and she was spending it alone in her suite. She felt like a glass vase that had been hurled at a brick wall; shattered into a million pieces and hopelessly beyond repair.

  Chapter 10

  What the hell was wrong with him?

  Travis nodded to the cocktail waitress and swallowed down the last of his whiskey sour just as she returned with a fresh drink. With a surly frown, he eyed the pager on the table but it remained mutinously silent. He could hardly blame Vina for not calling after the way he’d behaved, but that didn’t make him any happier about it.

  Okay, so throwing a jealous fit over the Andollina brothers was just as ridiculous as Vina claimed. And walking out on her after declaring they were both free to pursue relationships with other people was a notch above pure stupidity. Obviously they’d stepped outside the boundaries of friendship, but that didn’t tell him how deep her feelings ran. It was driving him crazy, and as much a Travis hated the irrational way he’d responded, he couldn’t help perceiving all other men as potential threats.

  “So much for your great plan to make her fall in love with you,” he mumbled to himself.

  At least Cayo the Barbarian had been gracious enough to include him in the invitation for tomorrow night. It meant he’d be able to keep an eye on Vina and prevent her from being alone with any of the brothers. One way or another he would make it understood that she was spoken for, although he’d have to be subtle about it. The last thing he wanted was for Vina to get her dander up and refute his claim that they were a couple.

  He needed a plan, Travis thought, as he emptied his drink and signaled the waitress to bring another. No games, no tricks, just a solid plan to insure the only man she wanted to spend time with was him. It would require a monumental effort on his part to keep his temper in check should any of the Andollina’s flirt with Vina, but he would pull it off somehow. After tomorrow night, he would keep her so busy sightseeing, there wouldn’t be time for any more dinner parties or visits with long lost friends.

  Travis glared at the pager. Vina was his, and before they left Venice they were going to come to a clear understanding about that. And a few other things too. As a matter of fact, maybe he would just go up to her suite right now and set the record straight. He mulled that thought over while he polished off another drink, then dropped a healthy tip on the table and stood up to leave. Through an alcohol induced haze, Travis realized that drinking on an empty stomach probably hadn’t been one of his better ideas.

  He closed his eyes for a moment but it didn’t help much; the room was still spinning when he opened them again. After taking a few cautious steps, he decided that cautious was definitely the key word here, especially since he was swaying like a sapling in a stiff summer breeze. Staying focused was a bit of a challenge too, but he managed to get outside and onto the path leading back to his suite. Now, if he could only remember which suite he was in…

  ***

  Vina sulked for quite some time after Travis left. His behavior and the things he’d said still hurt, especially the part about being free agents, followed b
y his assertion she would need a pager to reach him because he wouldn’t be in his room. As if she would page him when he was probably down at the bar scoping out the dark-haired beauties of Venice. It wouldn’t take long for him to find a female companion either, she thought despondently. All Travis had to do was walk into a room and women noticed him.

  Admittedly, she shouldn’t have made the remark about being unsure whether she wanted to continue what they’d started, but she hadn’t really expected him to throw in the towel so easily. How could he display such blatant jealousy of the Andollina brothers, which indicated he had strong feelings for her, and then turn around and call it quits as if she meant nothing at all to him? It didn’t make sense.

  She was standing out on the bedroom balcony, desperately trying to keep her mind from conjuring up images of Travis with another woman when she heard a strange noise coming from inside the suite. A sliver of fear raced up her spine when she realized just how alone she was at the moment. If someone had broken into the suite, there was no way to get out to the living room where the pager was.