Her Venice Affair (The Albury Affairs) (9 page)

“He left me behind,” Riana whispered, hugging herself
tighter. Her heart ached like it never had before. Why it would hurt so much
that a man she barely knew had left her behind puzzled her, but it didn’t
change the fact that it did.

“Where was he…before he,
ah
, left for the train station?”

He cleared his throat and quietly answered. “The suite
next door,
Signorina
.”

Riana felt her knees wobble under her and she leaned
against the couch for support. She opened her mouth to ask
did he spend the night there, too?
but nothing came out.

“
Signorina
, please don’t cry. I’m sure he had things to
attend to and he couldn’t wait for you,” the man pleaded.

Riana brushed her fingers over her wet cheeks. She
hadn’t realized she was crying. Why was she crying for a man who’d left her in
his bed to occupy another’s?

The suite next door belonged to an Italian celebrity.
The stylist and makeup artist Allan had hired had been gossiping about her
nonstop when they were readying Riana for dinner.

The stranger stepped into the suite and moved past
her. “I’ll just get your luggage.”

She nodded and noticed the relief on his face as he
rushed away. She didn’t blame him. It was pathetic to cry over a man who’d only
brought her along to keep him company in bed.

Riana lowered herself on to the couch. She needed to
sit down for a moment and…and what?

Despite how betrayed she felt, she couldn’t leave. It
was her fault Allan despised her and running away would just make her a coward.
But she couldn’t bring herself to go after him like some trained dog being
fetched by whoever this guy was to be delivered to her master.

 
“
Signorina
, I
think we should leave now.”

Riana nodded, but she couldn’t bring herself to stand
up, not yet. She raised her shaky hands to cover her face.
Oh God, he slept with the woman next door!

He sat next to her, placing a napkin on her lap.
“Maybe we could wait a while, just ten minutes for you to compose yourself.”

That was all it took for the floodgates to open.

* * * *

Allan sat in the cabin, his work papers spread out in
front of him. He’d purposefully began working the moment he settled on the
train so when she came in, she wouldn’t bother him. He was still angry with her
and he wanted her to know it. But it was useless considering he’d been unable
to concentrate on anything but Riana since he abandoned her at the restaurant.

The woman was a sickness and it annoyed him how she
filled his every thought when she wasn’t close by; when he couldn’t touch her,
kiss her, running his hands over her soft skin as he prepared her body for his
possession. The need for her was only worse now that they were angry at each
other. He wanted to make love to her and punish her while doing so.

Hold up! Have sex, not make love! Where the hell did
that come from?

You only make love to someone you love and he didn’t
love her. Did he? The vendor’s words came back to haunt him. What had he seen
that Allan hadn’t noticed yet? Riana clearly didn’t notice it either or she
would have said something. No, she wouldn’t. She was extremely shy…and yet not
so timid to grab his junk to force him to make love—

“Damn it! Sex! We had sex, we didn’t make love!” he
said forcefully.

“
Signore
?”

“What?” Allan barked.

“
Signorina
Albury
has arrived.”

Riana…
he felt the twinge in his chest that was now becoming
familiar every time he thought of her.

Moments after the coachman had announced her, Riana
walked in following the driver who carried their luggage. She went straight for
the couch, falling onto it and hugging the pillow to her chest, her face turned
away from him.

Was she
still mad?
“Unbelievable!” he muttered
under his breath.

Allan stood up and pulled out a tip for the driver, “
Gratzie
…” he
stopped when he noticed how the man stared at Riana, with pity and longing.
Allan stepped before him, blocking his view of Riana. “You can go now!” he
barked.

“
Si, Signore
.”
The man scrambled backward.

“You can also leave,” Allan said to the coachman,
effectively dismissing him.

When the door closed and it was just the two of them,
Allan turned to Riana. She was still curled up on the couch, staring out the
window as the train began to move. She didn’t acknowledge him. She just ignored
him like he wasn’t even in the same room with him.

Fine!
Allan thought going back to the desk to work.

They sat quietly for over an hour, neither of them
willing to make the first move. Allan huffed. He had tried to concentrate on
his work and put her out of his mind, but it was useless. Having her so close
and not being able to touch or kiss her was painfully distracting.

He rubbed his face and raked his hands through his
hair with a sigh. Was the entire trip going to be like this? If so, he was
better off booking her a flight back home. Why hadn’t he done so already?

He turned to look at her. She hadn’t moved from that
spot aside from releasing her hair from the ponytail she had when she walked
in. It looked nice, lying straight on her back. But he preferred it in tight
curls.

“Do you want to go home?” He was surprised the words
came out steady and cold because he felt the exact opposite. He was so afraid
she’d say yes.
Why?
He still didn’t
know.

Riana turned to him then, her cheeks wet and her eyes
red and swollen. “Why? So you can take your new slut on the rest of
my
trip?”

Allan shot out of his seat. How did he not notice she
had been crying…and what was this about a new slut?

“What are you talking about, Riana, and why are you
crying?”

She threw the pillow at him when she sat up straight
on the couch. It hit him square on the chest. It didn’t hurt, but it did
surprise him.

“What the hell?”

She stood up, pointing an accusing finger in his face.
“I stayed up all night crying, scared that something bad had happened to you. I
kept imaging you in a car accident, mugged, hurt, dying in a ditch and I wasn’t
there to help you. Or kidnapped, for the billions you so cherish and I was
pacing the room, waiting for a ransom call wondering who the hell I was going
to call to help you because you left me with nothing, not even your bloody cell
number!”

Allan felt guilty, watching the torment play on her
face. He raised his hand to touch her face. “I’m so—”

She slapped his hand away. “Don’t you dare touch me
with the same hands you touched that slut with!” More tears broke free as she
cried out, “I was in our suite worrying myself sick while you were next door
enjoying yourself in another woman’s arms, you asshole!”

Allan drew her to him forcefully, trapping her hands
against his chest. She bucked and fought, trying to get out of his grip but he
held on, lifting her off the ground.

Big mistake. She kicked him in the knee making him
lose his balance for a moment.

Allan wrapped her hair in his fists and pulled her
head back. “Riana, that’s enough!”

She stopped moving but she kept crying. Her fists
stopped punching his chest and held his shirt tightly. Allan pressed her head to
his chest and held her as she cried. It hurt him just hearing the hurt in her
voice, her tears quickly soaking his shirt.

“I swear I don’t have a new slut, nor did I sleep with
another woman last night. I was in the suite
across
from you. I didn’t use the spare room because I wanted to
stay pissed at you and that was futile if I was to be so close to you. Either
way, it didn’t help much.”

“Why?” Her whisper was muffled against his chest.

Allan chuckled, stroking her hair. “Because I was too
sexually frustrated to sleep. So I woke up to work and I’m not sure I did a
good job either because I kept picturing your naked body on my desk.”

Riana pulled her face away from his chest to stare up
at him. He could see it in her eyes, under her furrowed brows that she didn’t
believe him but that only lasted a moment. She smiled up at him before she
quickly and shyly hid her face from him making him laugh.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered again.

“No I’m sorry. I should have called—”

She shook her head and looked up at him. “Not about
that. I didn’t mean to accuse you of being a vulture last night—”

“You called me a vulture?” he asked laughingly.

Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “In my head I
did. It’s just, I’ve been one of those families and…and it just hurt that the
man I care about was no different from the one who destroyed my family’s life.”

Warning bells rang in his head.
The man I care about?
Did she love him? Was that what the vendor
noticed, her love for him?
God, please
no!

Allan chose to ignore that part and address the other.
“There are so many people in my line of work that are, but I’m not so cold and
heartless.”

She slapped his chest. “Don’t say that! You are not
cold and heartless, even a little bit. Just misguided in your career path. But
not a vulture.”

Allan threw his head back and laughed.

She pinched him hard, making him flinch. “I’m serious,
Allan!”

Alan bit his lips shut to hold back the laugh
threatening to bubble out and nodded. No one had ever called him misguided
either. He should be offended, but it was too darn funny how she tried to find
the good in him after pointing out his faults.

“First you question my integrity then call my career,
my family’s seventy year old business mind you, a misguided choice.”

She shrugged. “Just because it is a seventy year old
family practice doesn’t mean it’s the right choice. I understand that you might
not have had a choice, but had to take the reins from your father, probably
because you are the first-born son and he wanted to retire to a tropical island
with your mother, which is something a couple their age should do. I mean,
they’d given a lot of years to—”

Allan kissed her to shut her up. It was nice to hear
her rambling again and ever better to feel her lips against his. But they
needed to clear the air before things went back to normal.

He broke the kiss and carried her to the desk. He sat
down with her on his lap and opened his laptop. “I want to show you something.”

She draped her arm on his shoulder, her fingers
playing with the hair at the base of his neck, “What?”

He turned the laptop to her, pulled her arousing hand
away from his neck and placed them on the desk. “Read that.”

She gave him a quick kiss on his lips then turned to
the laptop screen. Allan played with her hair as she read, noting her reaction
in her body. She was going to feel like a real ass when she was done.

“Oh Allan, I’m such an idiot.” She turned around to
facing him, cradling his face in her palms. “I’m so sorry!”

Allan smiled. “See, not so cold and heartless?”

“You are not cold and heartless. I should really have
stupid pasted on my forehead. Add this to Steve and Claire—”

“Hey!” Allan barked angrily cutting her off. “You are
not stupid and Steve and Claire betraying you is not your fault.”

She shook her head. “They did it right in front of my
face and I didn’t notice.”

“Then I must be dumber than you because Theresa and
Michael used to fuck right under my nose.”

She scrunched up her nose. “I don’t like that word.”

“What word?”

“The F one,” she responded timidly.

Allan laughed. “Oh, my unicorn!” He grabbed the back
of her head and pushed her to him, pressing a hard kiss on her lips.

She pulled away pushing his shoulders. “No wait. I
should have let you explain. I shouldn’t have attacked you like I did.” She
smiled.

Was that pride he saw in her eyes? Was she proud of
him?

He didn’t know why, but he was elated that she was
proud of him. Weird. The only person he’d ever cared to make proud was his
father and no one else since he decided to leave him. Not until now. He
actually
cared if he made Riana proud of
him. Even more weird.

“You actually have a program that takes care of them
and help them look for jobs. That is the most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen a
human being do for another.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“Well, you can always make it up to me.” He wiggled
his eyebrows.

Riana bit her lower lip, her brow raised seductively.
She moved from his lap and onto his desk. She pushed everything, his papers and
laptop back. She then settled with her legs parted, her ankles touching his
knees, placing him in the middle.