Di Sione's Innocent Conquest (The Billionaire's Legacy) (11 page)

‘It’s not going to happen again,’ Abby said.

‘I’m not saying that it is,’ Matteo said. ‘But you’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest and he’s angry.’

‘Did you say anything?’ Abby demanded.

‘He knows that I know what happened.’

‘What did you say to him?’ Abby shouted. ‘Matteo, you didn’t do...’

‘I didn’t do anything,’ he snapped. ‘He already thought I knew at the press conference. I just let him know tonight that I did. Abby, that guy swaggers around... I swear that he’s going to do whatever it takes to mess with your head.’

‘He’s already messed with Pedro’s,’ she admitted.

Matteo was right, Abby realised—it was no accident that Hunter was here.

‘Stay,’ Matteo said. ‘I’m not going to try anything.’ And then he shouted, nicely if that was possible, ‘I just want you in my bed with me!’

‘Matteo, you’re not always going to be around,’ Abby pointed out.

But he was the master of instant fixes. ‘Let’s just get through tonight.’

Matteo was shaken, in a way that he never had been about another.

Sex really was the last thing on his mind tonight.

It wasn’t anything to do with that.

In fact, for Matteo, it was more concerning than that, because when he stripped off and got into bed, he just needed her skin beside his.

Abby stood there as Matteo stripped off.

Completely.

She guessed it wouldn’t enter his head to get into bed any other way.

She could ask for pillows between them, or get into bed, her robe tied and her reluctance evident, only she wasn’t reluctant.

It was her feelings for Matteo that scared her.

Not him.

She took off her robe and got in beside him and he switched off the light and just rolled into her.

He kissed her shoulder, the back of her hair and he ran a hand the length of her thigh and to her waist and then the
thump, thump
of his heart slowed and Abby lay there, listening to him sleeping with his hand resting on her stomach.

Abby slowly acclimatised to the feeling of sharing a bed with someone. She kept waiting for his hand to move, or for Matteo to change his mind about not trying anything. But Matteo was sleeping the sleep of the dead and so she found out what it was like to be held naked through the night with no expectation.

It was possibly the nicest gift of all and in that moment her world was the nicest place.

In the dark, next to him.

CHAPTER EIGHT

A
T
FIRST
A
BBY
thought that she had jolted awake but then realised that the movement had come from Matteo.

He was still asleep but Matteo just had the familiar sensation of falling.

Only it wasn’t him falling from a tree this time.

He was standing at the door to an elevator and watching the carriage drop down with Hunter and Abby in it and grabbing out for the cable and missing.

Yes, he jolted but then in that same instant felt her warm next to him and knew it was a dream and straight back into deep sleep he went.

Abby lay there, not thinking of the race ahead today but instead the man next to her now, and she didn’t want the alarm to go off.

Of course it did.

Matteo groaned at the intrusion and pulled her closer into him.

Their temperatures matched, their muscles were loose and relaxed and she felt him slowly harden and the nudge of him at the back of her thigh, which seemed to Abby to be at odds with his regular breathing.

Her breathing wasn’t in the least regular. She could feel his hand on her stomach and she lay locked in private thoughts and aching with want. She lay in a body that was finally ready to commit, next to a man who never would.

Abby turned over to face Matteo and his arms, even in sleep, moved to accept her.

He really was asleep.

All the tension from last night had left and his mouth was just a little open and she was so close to leaning over and kissing him awake, just giving in to and exploring the want that hummed through her now.

The snooze alarm went off and she watched his face screw up and his hand reached for a pillow, pulling it over his head and, in that moment, Hunter left every equation.

There were no more thoughts of revenge, no past to overcome, just the quiet of morning and a feeling of peace as she lay next to a man who plucked the strings of her heart.

Just that.

Abby rolled over and turned off the alarm and he pulled her back to his side. ‘Matteo, I’ve got to go.’

He fought to wake and the events of last night started to filter in. ‘I’ll walk you down,’ he mumbled and moved to sit up.

‘Stop it,’ she said. ‘I don’t need a bodyguard.’

She just needed
him
; yet Abby knew Matteo had checked out on love.

‘Go back to sleep.’

She went and had a quick shower and dressed in the clothes that he had fetched for her last night and then came back into the bedroom, where he lay awake now, looking at her. He looked sulky and angry and she knew why—Hunter was around.

‘You’re going tomorrow, Matteo. I’m here for a few more days, dismantling the car and then straight on to Monte Carlo, so it seems a bit stupid to be walking me to my room today.’

He said nothing.

Matteo didn’t know what to say.

Abby was right—tomorrow at six in the morning he’d be gone and, more to the point, he had never been another’s shadow.

Silence hung between them.

It wasn’t a row; it was Check.

His heart was under threat of capture and Matteo didn’t like that feeling in the least.

‘Good luck today,’ Matteo said but it came out in a rather forced voice.

So, too, was hers. ‘Thanks.’

He lay there when she had gone. Yes, tomorrow he would be back in Manhattan and, Matteo decided, he was going to go and get laid.

It had been...

He didn’t really want to do the math. Matteo didn’t want to admit that since their first dinner in Dubai, he’d lost interest in that half of the world population that had once been his playground.

No, he wouldn’t be getting laid any time soon.

Matteo knew he was lying to himself. Instead the next couple of weeks were going to be spent stressing at the thought of her in Monte Carlo with that animal around.

He reached for the hotel phone.

* * *

Abby stepped into her hotel room to change into her lovely bottle-green outfit. She opened the chocolate that was on her pillow and as she popped it into her mouth she picked up the note that was beside it.

Dear Abby,

You need new underwear. Shall I take you shopping or can I choose?

Matteo

And then her phone rang.

‘Did you get my note?’ Matteo asked.

She knew he was ringing to check that she’d got back okay, but it was nice that he didn’t have to admit it.

‘I did.’ Abby smiled. ‘You can choose.’ And then she was serious. ‘Nothing’s going to happen today, Matteo. All anyone is thinking about is the race.’

‘I know and I meant what I said, even if I didn’t say it very well—good luck today.’

‘Thanks.’

Matteo had quite a morning in a very lavish boutique.

A few women nudged and laughed but he cared not and amassed quite a collection, which he asked to all be wrapped and then sent up to her room. Then Matteo had lunch and finally he took himself trackside.

The streets were packed and lined with spectators and when he finally made it to the Boucher sheds he, as always, stayed back, though Pedro stopped playing video games and came over and they chatted for a few moments.

Abby saw Pedro was smiling at something Matteo had said, and whatever her personal feelings were towards Matteo, she was very glad to have him as their sponsor. He was very good with Pedro, unlike the sponsor they had had last year who had demanded far too much, especially before a race.

But then, as the race commenced, there were no thoughts of Matteo, nor revenge—all Hunter was, was the car that was ahead of them.

As were eight others.

For the next two hours the team worked intently, working out the best refuel times. Matteo watched Abby relaying instructions and giving Pedro some insights as to the cars ahead of him.

The Italian crowd were even more vocal than in Dubai and it was a loud, exciting couple of hours and by the last three laps Pedro had inched the car into fifth place.

Hunter’s experience on the course showed, yet Evan pushed him hard and suddenly a roar went up as Pedro overtook into fourth.

Matteo found that he was chewing his nails.

And then it was into the final lap.

He looked over to Abby, whose face was pale but she was talking very calmly to Pedro through her mouthpiece, even though she must be feeling frantic. Hunter was well ahead of Pedro, Evan was in close second; it was a battle for third and, holy smoke, Matteo thought as Pedro accelerated out of the turn, he was going to get there.

Abby was right; this kid was a genius. The pale, sickly faced twenty-one-year-old that had climbed into the car, sure he would place last, got out a triumphant third, as the Boucher team cheered and embraced.

And no, Matteo wasn’t on her mind right now because Abby nearly broke her neck just to get over to a jubilant Pedro.

‘What the hell!’ she screamed at him, her face split in a shocked smile.

‘She flew!’ Pedro roared back, simply elated. ‘She just took off.’

And they were back to talking about the car as if she were a person. This third was even sweeter than placing first.

The press conference was very different to last time. Abby and Matteo were out and stood hand in hand as Hunter droned on and on about his experience. Evan, a man of few words, just shrugged when asked his predictions for the final race.

They were neck and neck—it could be any one of the three.

Pedro sat with a satisfied grin.

‘We’ll just have to wait for Monte Carlo,’ was not just the gist but practically all Pedro said.

Yes, it was a different type of celebration tonight.

The Boucher team filled a gorgeous restaurant. Abby didn’t have time to change but no-one cared. She had the best squid pasta she had ever tasted and Pedro made a speech and said that she, the car, was perfection.

It was wonderful; the party was moving on now to wild and Abby and Matteo decided to head back to the hotel but, before they did, Matteo pulled Pedro aside and had a word.

‘Another shopping spree?’ Abby checked but Matteo just shrugged.

Oh, he’d been speaking with Pedro but about something rather more serious than shopping, not that he’d tell Abby that.

Yes, things felt different tonight and as Abby and Matteo got out of the elevator at the tenth floor Matteo reminded her of their deal.

‘What happens when we make podium?’ Matteo asked and, because there was no one around, he reminded her what happened with his mouth.

Hot and sexy, they were straight back to where they had been in Dubai as he kissed her up against the wall.

Only this time there wasn’t the surprise element of his kiss, just hungry need, and she held his cheeks in her hands and kissed him back, her shoulders digging into the wall but her groin pressed hard into his.

It seemed miles to her hotel room and so they continued to kiss while walking—a hungry, laden kiss that had them tripping over a tray the next room had left out until finally they fell into her room.

‘Hell,’ Matteo said as he backed her to the door, undoing the black belt and buttons on her men’s bottle-green trousers, and as he looked down he even laughed. ‘This feels wrong...’

It felt pretty right to Abby.

He just kissed her until they stood, breathless and facing the other and both half-dressed.

‘I’m not ready.’ She was panting, feeling a tease but consumed with want.

‘For what?’ Matteo checked, slipping his hands into her trousers and feeling her as damp as he knew she would be. He stroked her clitoris through her panties and resumed the kiss, probing her mouth with his tongue for a moment and feeling the tightening of Abby’s thighs. He pulled back his mouth but not his hand as she simmered nicely.

Oh, Abby simmered. She wanted to, she wanted, wanted, wanted, but she was more scared of losing her heart than her control.

‘How about a fashion show?’ Matteo said and she glanced over his shoulder and saw for the first time all the parcels lying on her bed as his hand remained between her legs, his finger lightly stroking her and teasing her, while teasing himself, but then he removed it.

It was do up her trousers or take them off and Abby chose the latter.

‘You’re quite neat, aren’t you,’ Abby commented as he picked up her shoes and trousers and threw them in the wardrobe.

‘A bit,’ Matteo admitted. ‘But I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life and I’ll scare the hell out of myself if I wake up tomorrow and see them by the bed.’

He made her laugh.

Matteo made her feel fine, just fine, to be wearing nothing except ugly panties and the dark green shirt.

She opened the parcels one by one as he did the same with the buttons to her shirt.

Some of the underwear he had chosen was the colour of summer—gorgeous lemons and pale mint greens—while others were the shades of sin.

‘Do you know why I chose those,’ he said, having peeled off her shirt so she was down to her bra as Abby held some dark violet panties.

‘Because they’re crotchless?’ Abby laughed when she poked her fingers through the hole.

‘Actually, I didn’t know they were,’ Matteo said. ‘I chose them because they’re not just velvet on the outside.’

They weren’t. The inside was just as soft and hidden-seamed.

‘I thought they might feel nice.’ Matteo explained his thought process.

Abby swallowed.

‘Put them on.’

‘I’m not ready to sleep with you, Matteo.’

He just shrugged and removed her bra so that her breasts dropped that aching inch and he toyed with her nipples, stretching them out. ‘A lovely come would be nice though.’

He said it as if he were choosing from the restaurant menu, only some things weren’t as easy as picking up the phone.

Or were they?

She thought of this morning—how turned on she’d been and how turned on she was now—and Abby handed herself over to him and nodded.

Even a little come would be a miracle!

Slut that Matteo was, the second that Abby nodded her consent he was happily stripping off and turning the heating up to rival Dubai at midday.

And then he told her that was his intention exactly! ‘Remember that fashion show we had to sit through?’ he reminded. ‘I kept picturing you in all the underwear they were parading. Most uncomfortable half hour of my life...’ He gave her a smile that had her nearly rock on her heels as she knelt on the bed. ‘You were my Dubai fantasy—look how far we’ve come.’

Clearly they were here for the night.

He was almost clinical about it.

It was a very sexy clinic she was in though, Abby thought as Matteo chose a brandy from her minibar and then lay on the bed, naked, his erection lifting off his thigh, and she took her underwear and headed to the bathroom.

‘Take some heels with you,’ Matteo called.

Yes, look how far she’d come! Abby stood in the sexiest underwear in the world and added said heels. She even clipped up her hair and put on some lipstick.

It was a game to him and that helped Abby—why, she didn’t know, but it just did.

Maybe because it was about fun, rather than Matteo throwing in sentiments that could never be met by the cold light of day.

And so she came out of the bathroom and as she did, Matteo remembered the shy, nervous beauty who had walked out of the elevator in a silver dress.

That woman had gone for good now.

Abby stepped out and briskly walked the length of the room and then turned.

Nervous but not shy.

‘They walk more with their hips,’ Matteo said and took a sip from his bottle as she crossed the room. ‘That’s better, but more slowly.’

‘Are you going to model for me?’ Abby checked, strutting her stuff.

‘Any time,’ Matteo agreed and she looked at his erection and that he was playing with himself and her lips pressed together, wondering if she could ever lie there and do the same with him.

God, it was hot.

‘Take off your bra.’

Even with double velvet her nipples were sticking out, and as she took off her bra he could see the spread of colour on her chest and that her stomach was taut with desire, and he could wait no more.