Di Sione's Innocent Conquest (The Billionaire's Legacy)

by Carol Marinelli

  ‘And I intend to keep it that way,’ Matteo said. ‘He killed my mother. She had straightened herself out and his depravity and temper took her to an early grave.’ And then Matteo did what he never had; he exposed his fear. ‘I can’t take that risk, Abby...’

  ‘You’re the biggest risk-taker I know.’

  ‘Not with love.’ Matteo shook his head. ‘The stakes are too high. I’m sorry I can’t give you what you deserve. I never set out for us to get involved, but then, on sight I did. For the past couple of months, since the day we met...’

  She waited.

  ‘It’s been you,’ Matteo said.

  ‘Just me?’

  ‘Abby, I might not be marriage material but it doesn’t mean that I’m not crazy about you. I’m just here to explain why it could never last. I don’t want to sleep with you tonight and for you to expect things to have changed tomorrow. They shan’t have. I’m flying back and the next time I see you...’ He shrugged, but it was a desperate one and Abby looked at a man who dealt in hours rather than days.

  ‘Do you see why I had them pull up such a watertight contract? I’m good for business, not much else...’

  ‘Matteo, I’m not holding out for a ring.’ She wasn’t sure at first what she was saying, but then Abby looked into the dark eyes of the man who had stayed loyal, who had listened, who had helped her work through dark, dark times to a point where a future seemed possible.

  Even if it might not be with him.

  And she was sure.

  Very.

  ‘I’m going to go,’ Matteo said and he stood.

  ‘Please don’t.’ Abby looked up at him. ‘I heard the lecture...’ Their eyes met. ‘And I get it. I just want it to mean something...for us to mean something...’

  ‘You know that we do.’

  ‘And that’s all I need to know.’

  It was.

  Whatever they had amounted to more than a timeframe, what they felt for the other might not ripen with age but could be celebrated now.

  They kissed in a way they had both tried not to, slow, precise and affirming. A kiss that was so tender that the only place it could possibly bruise was your heart. And it punctured his because never, not once, had Matteo allowed himself to even glimpse what another with heart exposed might taste like.

  ‘Sure?’ Matteo checked but Abby had already jumped.

  The haste in his breathing as her hands stripped him of his shirt had their mouths mesh in hot wet kisses that tasted of no holding back.

  Abby’s hands roamed his skin and pressed into his chest, feeling his tension and strength as he dealt with the last of his clothes. Haste left then; still kissing he undid her robe and she shrugged it off like a burden and wrapped her arms around his neck so their tongues could caress as their bodies met. His fingers strummed up her ribs and Abby rose to her toes just so that they might repeat that final ascent to the tender top again before he played her breasts.

  And when his mouth lowered, when she ached for a bruising kiss, he just caressed one nipple with his tongue, over and over. Abby’s knees wanted to give way, but she stayed standing, simply for more, till she bit back the urge to beg. So desperate for more that when his face returned to hers, his kiss drowned her demand and he led her to the bed.

  Matteo’s hand moved between her thighs and he played her so slowly, stroking her slick warmth, till her knees pulled up. She wanted to scream that she would not break. His skin, his scent, his want, did not match this slow perusal. He came over her and parted her legs wide. Abby met his navy eyes and she looked right at him as he first took her. She watched as he drove in slowly but as he met the depth of her desire, as welcoming muscles gripped, the crystal shattered for them both.

  He kissed her eyes and her face; he moved to his side and turned her with him. Matteo stroked her thigh slowly and then down to her calf as he moved within. He positioned her leg higher and brought it onto his hip so he could thrust deeper.

  Abby had given in trying to hide her feelings, and anyway there was nowhere to hide. She was moving with him, sharing intimate kisses, glad of his hands that pushed her hair back just so he could better see her come.

  It felt like no other time; it was like no other time, because the feel of him swell inside her and the sudden haste in him had her sob as she tightened. Her thigh over his cramped but it only heightened the intensity as he parted her wider with deft hips that only angled to get him in deeper as Matteo came hard into her.

  It left him dizzy; it made her the same. It was so intense that for a blind moment Matteo believed all things possible. He straightened her cramped limb; he bought her back down with a kiss—each pain he ironed, while still within, except for the big one.

  And when he went to fix that, when in the rush of a high, he almost lost his head and told her the one thing she wanted to hear, Abby stopped him with a kiss, a hurried one, a necessary one.

  Not for Matteo’s sake, but hers.

  No lies, no promises.

  That it meant something precious was enough.

  CHAPTER TEN

  ‘YOU’RE NOT VERY good for my race preparation.’ Abby sighed as she stretched her body and tried not to give in to temptation and sleep.

  They hadn’t slept, and if she did now, then she might just wake up to a call from Pedro to ask where the hell she was.

  ‘I’m going to ring down for coffee,’ she said, deciding caffeine was in order before facing the world. ‘Do you want one?’

  ‘No.’ Matteo yawned. ‘It will ruin the very long lie-in that I intend to have.’

  ‘How long?’ Abby groaned and pulled a face as, having briefly opened his eyes, Matteo closed them again as he spoke.

  ‘Well, it’s nearly five now and Kedah doesn’t get here till around midday, so about seven hours...’ he said, rubbing in just how little she had slept.

  Yes, it was incredibly hard to peel herself out of bed but she did so and showered and tried to get her head into what had once been the most important day of her life.

  It still was, Abby thought as she showered.

  Last night made it more so but for different reasons.

  By the time she came out, her coffee had arrived. Abby took it out onto the balcony and looked out to the beautiful old buildings and the sparkling Mediterranean and, yes, Monte Carlo truly was beautiful.

  It matched her memories of it now.

  And whatever happened from here on between herself and Matteo, she’d be okay. The last time they had awoken together it had been awkward and difficult. It wasn’t now and Abby was determined to never let it get to that again.

  She did not regret last night and surely never would.

  It had been a very deliberate choice that she had made.

  Abby went back in and Matteo was sleeping and so she dressed in her race-day bottle-green and then headed out to face the most important day of her life.

  Her working life, Abby amended.

  There was more now.

  The build-up to the race passed in a blur.

  Pedro was locked into his video games and Bernadette was doing her own thing, catching up with friends on her phone and present but not getting in the way.

  She was good to have around, Abby thought.

  Matteo and Kedah arrived just after one and there was a sense of calm in the Boucher camp.

  Even if they came last they’d already won.

  They were more united than they had ever been. Pedro was staying on and they had two amazing races behind them.

  As the starting time to the final race of the Henley Cup approached, Pedro came out in his leather and he looked determined rather than tense. Bernadette gave Pedro a kiss for luck and everyone else wished him well but then it was just him and Abby for that last little talk before he took his place.

  This time Pedro’s teeth weren’t chattering with nerves and there was no need to talk him down. Still, Abby carried on with what she had planned to say, that it was the taking part that counted and to remember ho
w far they’d come. The Henley Cup would be the icing on the cake, she told Pedro.

  ‘You always eat the icing first.’ Pedro grinned as he put on his helmet.

  ‘Okay, I lied,’ Abby admitted and gave up on her losers-are-still-winners approach. ‘Bring it home.’

  It was a spectacular race. How could it not be? The scenery was straight from a travel brochure, the weather perfect and the car that Abby loved so took off like a bullet from the chamber and left half the field behind.

  They were off.

  Matteo juggled cola and binoculars as the cars took to the gorgeous hilly streets and then later wished that he hadn’t had so much cola because, with only five laps to go, and the top five a close pack at that, he had to excuse himself, leaving Pedro in fourth.

  Matteo returned to Kedah’s side to be told that Pedro was now third.

  The Lachance team and Hunter were first, the Carter team with Evan at the helm in close second.

  Matteo glanced over to Abby and saw her concentration as she spoke into her mouthpiece.

  Not a stolen glance between them.

  And he loved that about her—her drive, her focus—and so he got back to watching the race but, as he did, something happened.

  Not on the track.

  Well, yes, something happened on the track, because Pedro overtook Evan but, as he did so, hope overtook fear for Matteo.

  Just this quiet second in a noisy world where Matteo lost the dread that he never showed, or rather, his fears that he had shown only to one other—Abby.

  And if Pedro won, he was going to do it, Matteo told himself.

  He was going to somehow put everything right.

  ‘Come on,’ Matteo shouted and it felt like Pedro must have heard because, just past the final bend, Pedro not just overtook Hunter, he almost blew him off the track.

  ‘Bring her home!’ Matteo shouted and, yes, now even he was talking about the car as if it were a person.

  She won!

  It was delicious; it was chaos.

  As Hunter tried to right the car, Evan screamed past and the Carter team took second place.

  There was music and champagne and the cup held high and it was all just a gorgeous blur until it was time for the press conference.

  Abby was trying to locate Pedro and found him talking with one of the organisers and so Hunter and Evan had already taken their places as the victor walked in to applause.

  Abby stood to the side and Matteo, in the middle of the room, looked at her unreadable expression and wondered what was going on in her mind as the questions commenced.

  ‘Congratulations to Pedro,’ Hunter said. ‘He’s an amazing talent. Without him...’

  Hunter looked directly at Abby and tried to tell her she was nothing, that were it not for their driver...

  And Matteo watched as...no, she didn’t struggle to breathe, and neither did she mouth an obscenity, or do any one of the things that she would be more than entitled to do.

  There was more in her armoury than that.

  Abby smiled.

  For one reason only—she was happy.

  And if looks could kill, then a well-timed smile could maim, because after the press conference, to Matteo’s relief, Hunter’s jet took off a lot faster than the Lachance car and finally there was this little moment when it was just Matteo and her.

  ‘You beat him,’ Matteo said.

  ‘No.’ Abby shook her head. ‘We won.’

  She wanted to better explain the change in her, the changes to her heart that he had helped make—to say that, even if there was no future for them, she would treasure the past for ever, but there wasn’t time to do that now.

  ‘Hey, Matteo...’ Pedro shouted over. ‘How about it?’

  ‘How about what?’

  ‘I just got permission, before they take the barriers down. Do you want that ride now?’

  ‘Matteo has to head off,’ Abby said, covering for him, as she knew that the very thought of a ride in a racing car made him feel ill, but then, as always, Matteo surprised her.

  ‘I’d love to, Pedro.’

  Matteo suited up and the face that disappeared into the helmet was grey but this was something he wanted—no, needed—to do.

  Abby watched as he came out of the shed and her eyes drifted over his leather-clad body just as his had over hers that first day.

  ‘Is it wrong to say just how much I fancy you now?’ Abby asked.

  ‘You’re not doing it for me, Abby,’ Matteo said and blew out a breath.

  ‘You don’t have to do this.’

  ‘Oh, but I think that I do.’

  He climbed in and took his seat and pulled down the harness and then Pedro did something—he came over and carefully checked Matteo’s helmet and harness before getting in himself.

  And therein was the difference.

  Pedro was nothing like Matteo’s father.

  Pedro was an expert.

  He trained for this, slept for this; every morsel that passed his lips was to better himself for this and Pedro kept to the rules.

  And so, too, could Matteo.

  Matteo wasn’t his father either.

  All those thoughts buzzed louder than the engine as Matteo found out firsthand just how fit you had to be to deal with the G-force and heat and demands on the body as the vehicle cornered, as well as that Pedro had to focus.

  Yes, it was terrifying but exhilarating and it was one of the best experiences of Matteo’s life, and as he climbed out it was to a world that looked different.

  ‘I feel like I’ve laid a ghost to rest,’ he admitted to Abby as he took off his helmet.

  Abby nodded.

  Last night, so, too, had she.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  AS MUCH AS he had wanted to stay and join in with the celebrations, Matteo really did need to leave and head back to New York.

  Even more so than before now.

  With time differences and flying time, it felt odd that it was still Sunday, albeit late in the evening when he drove towards the Di Sione estate.

  Giovanni had appointments all week and, if Matteo wanted to speak with him, then it had to be tonight.

  Matteo had told Giovanni that he was coming and he knew that the old man would be hoping it was because Matteo had good news for him.

  He wondered how his grandfather would take the news.

  Alma let him in and said that Giovanni was in the lounge and Matteo thanked her and walked through.

  Giovanni was sitting, staring out to the lake, and Matteo knocked on the open door to alert him that he was here.

  ‘Matteo!’ He turned and gave a smile of delight and went to stand but Matteo waved him down and went over and kissed him on the cheeks.

  A pang of guilt hit Matteo when he felt the frail shoulders beneath his hands and saw his grandfather’s tired, lined face.

  ‘You’ve been busy,’ Giovanni said.

  ‘Yes, I have to say I like the motor racing world.’

  ‘I see your team won the cup. I got up early and watched the race.’ Then Giovanni’s face grew serious. ‘It’s not good news, is it?’

  It felt like good news to Matteo.

  He was crazy about someone for the first time in his life but, no, there was no need for Giovanni to know all that.

  ‘Not really,’ Matteo said and he took a seat. ‘I tracked down the necklace. It had been bought by...’

  ‘Ellison!’ Giovanni rolled his eyes. ‘I guessed that much when I saw you with his daughter. I don’t think you’ve ever been with a woman that long.’

  ‘Her name’s Abby,’ Matteo said. ‘And I’ve been sponsoring her team. When I first met with Ellison he said that he wanted me to get his daughter to a function that he’s holding this Friday. If Abby’s wearing the necklace, then it’s mine.’

  ‘And?’ Giovanni frowned. He didn’t see the problem. ‘Surely she can wear it for just one night?’

  ‘It’s her mother’s necklace,’ Matteo said. ‘Abby wore the necklace th
e night that her team placed first. I’m sure it must mean a lot to her and I’m not going to take it from her.’ He continued. ‘I can’t.’

  ‘Even though you know it means everything to me.’

  ‘Even knowing that,’ Matteo said.

  ‘You’re in love?’

  ‘I think so.’ Matteo admitted as much as he dared, because love wasn’t a place that he knew. ‘What I do know for sure, though, is that I care about her and I’m going to do whatever it takes not to cause her pain.’

  He was not his father’s son, Giovanni realised.

  Matteo was very much his own man.

  ‘I hate letting you down.’ Matteo continued to speak as Giovanni took the news in. ‘I know that I told you I’d bring the necklace to you but, at the end of the day, I can’t do that to her.’

  Giovanni sat back in the chair and looked out to the lake. He wanted the necklace so badly. A part of him had hoped that finding the Lost Mistresses, and having them together again, might somehow heal his fractured family. And yet, while he ached to have the necklace that meant so very much back in his possession, maybe its magic had already worked. Giovanni had never heard his youngest grandson speak of anyone in this way.

  ‘Could I see it again,’ Giovanni asked. ‘Do you think, if you explained things to Abby, that maybe she would let me hold it one more time?’

  ‘I think so.’ Matteo’s response was cautious. ‘The thing is...’ He blew out a breath. ‘It might take a bit of time to get her to agree. I’m going to have to tell Abby that the necklace is the reason I first got in touch. If I know Abby at all, then that isn’t going to go down very well.’

  ‘You’re going to be in trouble again.’ Giovanni smiled.

  ‘For sure,’ Matteo agreed. ‘Let me work on it.’

  And work on it he did.

  It was quite a busy few days for Matteo but he did make the time to call Abby and he could hear the surprise in her voice.

  ‘I just wanted to see how everyone pulled up after the celebrations,’ Matteo said.