Innocent in the Italian's Possession (10 page)

All she needed was a few hours’ sleep.

But she couldn’t close her eyes for when she did, she saw
Stefano’s arrogant face and the dark desire that lit his eyes, which stirred an unsettling restlessness within her. So she paced the large bedroom in the velvet hush of night and prayed for exhaustion to overtake her.

How appropriate that he was as difficult to remove from her thoughts as he was from her life! When her mind grew too crowded with imaginings of what he expected of a mistress, she peeked out into the salon.

It was empty. All was quiet, and why shouldn’t it be since it was nearly four o’clock in the morning.

Gemma slipped into the salon and paused, her brief silk nightgown cool against her bare skin. She debated going back to find a robe or coverlet, then decided not to bother.

She was alone here. Stefano was asleep, and hopefully if she paced between the porthole and exterior door another thirty minutes she’d grow too weary to keep her eyes open, too.

“You should be in bed,” Stefano said, his deep voice reaching her from the dark recesses of the room.

She stopped and stared at him bathed in shadows. How long had he been standing there watching her?

“I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “A problem I’ve had for years.”

“Does nothing help?”

“If I grow tired enough from pacing and fretting, I will usually fall asleep for several hours.”

“You need a better diversion than pacing.”

She was tired and cranky and in no mood to spar with Stefano tonight. “What do you suggest?”

“
Facciamo l’amore
.”

Making love was
not
a good idea, not without her new contract in hand.

“We agreed to begin tomorrow night.”

One broad, masculine shoulder lifted in a lazy shrug, and
as the faint moonlight played over his olive skin she realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Her throat went tight as her gaze lowered, admiring his taut belly ribbed with muscle, lean hips that would make a god proud and the evidence of his desire that jutted hard and long toward her.

Gemma’s legs turned to jelly, refusing to support her. Or maybe the heat from his gaze and the fire now sparking to life within her melted whatever usually held her upright.

She managed a weak, “Oh,” as she crumbled.

But she never hit the floor.

No, Stefano moved like lightning to catch her up against him. Gemma pushed against his chest, but the effort was halfhearted.

Her palms skimmed that unyielding masculine wall she’d longed to touch and she simply forgot how to breathe.

He was hot and strong and oh so sexy. Even in the dim light she could see his eyes weren’t a solid brown but dusted with flecks of gold.

Right now those specks were molten, melting any reservation that dared to cross her mind. Not that much was crossing her mind except how wonderful it felt to be held this close to this man.

“I can’t let you do this,” she said, the words tumbling from her in a breathy whisper as she realized that he was going to kiss her.

Or was she simply seeing what she wanted to see?

The seductive slant of his smile warmed her more than a full sun. “Why try to stop what we both want?”

His mouth captured hers, the kiss long and deep and drugging. Passion sang through her veins in a virtuoso’s concerto, bringing tears to her eyes for the sheer beauty and power that flowed from him into her.

She didn’t know how a kiss could muddle her so, but she
was lost in his embrace, in this moment. He pressed her into the bed without breaking the kiss and she started. How had he carried her to her bedroom without her being aware of it?

Then the question was lost as he stroked her arms, her back, her breasts, taking his time with each. The glide of her silk gown was a barrier she loathed and an aphrodisiac that heightened her pleasure.

Oh, and what pleasure he gave!

His mouth moved over hers with ravenous passion and she trembled, starving for more. Each bold thrust of his tongue parried with hers sent an answering throb to the very core of her.

She writhed against him, wanting something she could only imagine. It was as if she’d slumbered all her life and just came awake now.

“Kiss me,
bella
,” he murmured against her lips. “Kiss me like you want to.”

Dare she? Her experience was laughable, but her desire was great.

Her small hands glided up his bare chest, awed and emboldened by the telling tremors that passed from this tall, muscular man into her. His hands weren’t passive, either, and those long fingers gliding over her sensitized skin adored and teased in turn. How could she have thought this man hard and cruel?

They were chest to breast, yet she ached to be closer. She hooked her legs around his lean hips, the movement pressing her sex to the hard length of his.

The silk of her gown sheathed his penis, yet each shift of their bodies created a delicious friction that shocked and emboldened her. She wanted skin on skin, wanting to know this man as intimately as a woman could.

The desire was bold and totally unlike her. Yet she felt no shame. Just want.

Her mouth played over his, treating him to the same sensual torment he’d afforded her. A deep moan of satisfaction rumbled from him, melding with the blissful sighs she could no longer hold back.

“You are made for loving,” he said, his lips trailing over skin he’d just bared.

Her skin pebbled under his knowing touch, but old promises and new fears threatened to dampen her amorous mood. He made a growling sound of protest and continued his exploration of her neck, her breasts.

“You deserve a lifetime of amorous pleasure,
mio caro
.”

She tried to summon up anger that Stefano only wanted an affair with her. But his mouth settled over one bare nipple and a maelstrom of new sensations exploded within her.

What would be quickly faded into oblivion. Her life suddenly hinged on this sensual fever he ignited in her.

She arched against him and breathed a sigh of relief when he rid her of her gown, the sound of tearing silk more erotic than she could have imagined.

She gloried in those strong, masculine hands that played over her skin, amazed that he knew what she liked, what she craved, more than she knew herself.

In this there were no barriers between them. At least not physical ones.

They were a man and woman in the throes of a passion that was far too intense for her to imagine.
Mio Dio
, if Stefano was that passionately aggressive for an entire month, she’d never purge him from her mind.

No, don’t think on those terms! Don’t think of falling in love with Stefano
.

But how could she not imagine giving her heart to this man when he whispered a litany of love words in her ear. When he made her feel desirable and wanted and loved.

“
Bella
,” he breathed as his sex filled her.

She gasped more from surprise and pressure than any pain that she’d been warned she’d feel this first time with a man. No, any pain she felt was in her mind—for what could never be between them.

He went still, his dark eyes registering a moment’s shock as well. And she knew that he recognized she’d been a virgin.

She could almost read the second doubts he was warring with himself. The surprise that she wasn’t what he’d accused her of being.

She arched against him. “Please, don’t stop.”

His expression became more intense, more possessive. Then his mouth captured hers in a long, drugging kiss that left her awash in pleasure and need.

She raked her fingers down his back and melted against him, reveling in the new sensations. So this was how it felt to be joined to a man.

She hadn’t imagined she’d feel so free. That this moment would feel so right.

Stefano cupped her face in his palms and locked gazes with her, and she marveled that even in the dim light she saw her need reflected in his dark eyes. “You are mine now. Do you understand?”

She nodded, but she refused to read anything into that arrogant comment besides the fact she was now his mistress.

Then he sank into her fully and withdrew before she could catch her breath, only to do it again and again. His mouth dipped to hers and she met him midway, the kiss going as wild and frenzied as his thrusts.

There were no more words, just an explosion of sensations and pleasures that their bodies understood.

She matched his strong, sure movements, clinging to him in helpless abandon. The sensations building within her were too huge, nearly too intense to bear. Just as she feared she’d faint from the sheer joy of finding completion in his arms, they climaxed together.

Gemma had heard the saying of two becoming one, but she hadn’t understood what it meant until now. She felt his heart beat in every pore in her body, felt the tension and power of the man rippling through her in sultry waves.

He rolled to his side and took her with him, still inside her, still holding her close to his heart. She nestled against the solid wall of his chest, his heartbeat loud and steady against her ear.

He was as much a part of her as she of him. She felt branded by his touch, his possession. She felt wanted and desirous and loved.

A delicious, drowsy warmth spread over her. She yawned, her last coherent thought was she’d be content to spend every night just like this.

This was heaven.

This was a delicious dream from which she never wanted to awaken. But she knew before she closed her eyes that it would end all too soon.

For the morning he was sure to pepper her with questions that she still couldn’t answer.

The
whomp-whomp
of the helicopter snapped Gemma from her euphoric dream. She lay in the bed a tense moment, disoriented by the splendor surrounding her.

The yacht.

Stefano.

This bed where they’d made love last night.

His masculine, spicy scent that lingered on the sheets and her skin. The tenderness of her breasts and the flesh between her legs.

She reached to his side. The sheet and pillow were cool. Not even an indentation remained to prove he’d been here.

The helicopter!

She bounded from the bed and winced, her body protesting the sudden movement in the wake of the erotic pleasure she’d gained last night. Her gown lay in a wad of torn silk on the floor.

Impatiently she tore through the closet to find a thick velour wrapper. She bundled up in it and rushed into the salon, still feeling cold inside.

A maid started from straightening the room. “
Scusi
.”

Gemma shrugged aside the woman’s apology. “Where is Stefano?”

The maid looked to the window. “He left.”

“In the helicopter?”

“
Sì
. May I bring your breakfast?”

Gemma shook her head and rushed out the door. She paused a second to get her bearings then darted down the hall toward the large room at the end.

Gaining the upper deck proved easy enough, but she was too late to stop Stefano or even catch his attention. Not that he’d have paid her any heed anyway.

No, he’d loved her to distraction last night and then left her here on his yacht this morning while he went to the hospital to be with Cesare. He’d lied to her!

The reason was clear to her. He didn’t trust her to stay away as he’d asked. He’d brought her here last night to ensure she’d not be able to get to land until
he
decreed it so. The yacht was so far at sea she couldn’t even see land!

Gemma stormed back to her stateroom and slammed the
door. If he’d lied about this, could she trust him to keep his promise regarding the inn?

A cold emptiness expanded in her, freezing any pleasure she’d felt in his arms. The suite where she’d made such passionate love with Stefano now felt like a silken prison.

You are mine now
, he’d said.

But he hadn’t meant it in the sense of them being closer as a couple. No, it had been a possessive comment and nothing more.

He had her under his thumb. Or so he thought.

She was a fisherman’s daughter. She knew the sea and these people. Somehow she’d find a way to get back to Italy.

Gemma
had
to return today to see Cesare, if only to assure herself he was healing after his surgery. Then she must travel to Milan for there was a little girl waiting impatiently for her visit. And what would she tell her about Cesare’s absence?

The truth.

It’d been hidden long enough.

S
TEFANO
paced the near empty waiting room and damned the time that seemed to crawl by—unlike this morning which had flown by in a rush. He’d not wanted to leave Gemma’s side. He’d wanted to get lost in her lush body again.

She’d been a virgin.
Virgin
!

If not for his strong will, he’d have shaken her awake at dawn and demanded to know what the hell she and his papa had been doing all those weekends in Milan. But he didn’t have the time to delve into it now.

And he didn’t trust her to do as he ordered once they reached land. He didn’t want to hear any more of her lies. No, he wanted to hear his papa’s side of this now.

But he’d gotten to the hospital too late thanks to his reluctance at tearing himself from Gemma and then a traffic snarl after he landed in Viareggio.

Now he would have to wait for his papa to recover before he could get answers. That wasn’t something he was even marginally good at doing.

“Stefano, please sit,” his aunt had said, her usually radiant face looking haggard. “You are making me nervous with your endless pacing.”

Maledizione
! He certainly didn’t wish to cause anyone any more grief.

He plopped on the stiff chair beside her and stretched his long legs out. “My apologies. You know patience isn’t one of my strong suits.”

“
Sì
, I know. But I also know my nephew and recognize when something is deeply troubling him.”

“It has been a long morning without word how Papa is doing.”

She clamped a hand on his arm and her tension vibrated into him. “Did you expect them to stop the surgery and deliver a report?”

“No, nothing like that.”

“What is troubling you, Stefano?” his aunt asked.

Gemma.
She invaded his thoughts. Sweet, beguiling Gemma. Sweet,
innocent
Gemma.

But he couldn’t tell his papa’s sister that. Not now when her stress was palpable for she would ask questions that he didn’t wish to address, either. He sure as hell couldn’t tell her he’d blackmailed his papa’s secretary into his bed!

“There are things at Marinetti that require my attention today,” he said.

She stared at him through narrowed eyes. “What about the secretary? Have you dismissed her yet?”

He heaved a sigh, wishing his mamma hadn’t told her sister-in-law about Cesare’s infidelity. Wishing to hell his mamma hadn’t told him her suspicions at all.

“No. It is more complicated than I thought.”

The color drained from her face as she pressed a hand to her generous bosom. “
Addio
! Please tell me this woman is not with child.”

“Nothing of the sort,” he said, and hoped to hell that proved true.

Maledizione
! He hadn’t used protection.

He hadn’t thought it was necessary since she was his father’s mistress.

Except she wasn’t. He only hoped she was on the pill or used some type of birth control. But how likely was a virgin to do that?

Stefano drove his fingers through his hair and called himself ten kinds of an ass. Taking Gemma’s virginity had robbed him of the vengeance he’d sought. It changed everything that he’d planned to do with her.

It forced him to reassess her role in his life and his future. He wanted to blame her for lying to him, except in this she’d told the truth. She wasn’t his father’s mistress—she was his by coercion.

Imbecile
!

He’d never bedded a virgin before. Never wanted to.

He didn’t want to think that he could have fathered a child with Gemma. He didn’t want to think of her at all.

But as the day wore on and his worry for his papa increased, his thoughts continued to turn to Gemma. In his bed. Loving her and knowing that he was the first man to introduce her to sex.

Her sweet scent filled his head. He hungered for another taste of her honeyed mouth. To suckle the pert breasts until the rosy nipples budded on his tongue. To settle between her soft thighs and sup at the erotic essence of her, to drive her wild with ecstasy before covering her and making them one.

Unbidden came an overwhelming swell of possessiveness. She was his now.
His
.

Up until the time he took her virginity, he’d not been tied to her. He could have sent her on her way without repercussions.

He should never have set out to ruin her for in doing so he’d only tangled their lives together.

There was no going back.

He couldn’t walk away. He
wouldn’t
desert her until he knew if she carried his child.

What was done was done. If his seed grew in her, he’d accept his responsibility. He’d marry her without hesitation.

And if there was no child?

Stefano would honor the agreement they’d made for thirty days. Then he’d let her go.

By then this fierce possessiveness he felt toward her would have waned. He wouldn’t be filled with rage over the thought of her moving on to a new lover. Of marrying one day. Of having children.

“I do not like that she is still on the payroll,” his aunt said. “Your mamma’s memory deserves more respect than that.”

He heaved a sigh, vexed that his aunt was still brooding about Gemma. He certainly couldn’t let his aunt go on believing the worst of Gemma but he did not relish telling her the truth, either.

“Mamma was mistaken about her,” he said.

His aunt gaped at him. “Do not tell me she has woven you around her finger as well?”

He refused to dignify that with a denial and settled on facts instead. “Gemma Cardone wasn’t Papa’s lover.”

“I suppose she told you that.”

“She did and I refused to believe her.”

“So what changed your mind?”

He shifted uneasily and made a cutting movement with his hand. “I was her first lover.”

An awful quiet echoed in the waiting room to set his nerves on edge. “When?”

“This is not the time to discuss such things,” he reminded his aunt when a couple entered the room and crossed to the chairs on the other side.

“Now is the perfect time,” she said in a voice pitched low. “Tell me how long you’ve
known
this woman.”

“We spent last night on the yacht.” And in case his aunt had any doubts what he meant, he added, “In the same bed. She hadn’t known any man before me.”

She treated him to a long, assessing look before spitting out a torrent of curses directed at the male of the species. “You are sure of this?”

“Positive,” he said. “She is Papa’s personal secretary. That is all.”

Yet even as he said it he knew Gemma was more to his father than that. There were the unexplained weekends spent in Milan and the small fortune that Cesare had given Gemma.

A man didn’t hand over that kind of money to a stranger unless there was a very good reason. Gemma had never offered an explanation for her good fortune. She couldn’t even look him in the eyes when the subject was brought up.

Stefano knew she was hiding something that involved her and his father. But what?

He’d visited Milan shortly after his mamma had voiced her suspicions about his papa straying, but all he’d discovered was that his papa and Gemma had made weekly visits to a lavish hotel that was owned by an old friend of his papa’s. A friend who claimed to have no idea what business brought Cesare Marinetti and his young secretary to Milan so often.

His father certainly incited loyalty in his friends and employees!

“Cesare was supposed to be in recovery by now,” his aunt said as the dinner hour in the hospital came around and the smells of overcooked food filled the room. “Why is it taking them so long?”

“I wish I knew.”

Unease curdled in his gut. Something must have gone wrong. Stefano knew it couldn’t be good when the doctor strode into the waiting room an hour later, his scrubs damp with sweat, his expression a mask of concern.

“Signor Marinetti?” he asked.

“Here,” he said and rose. “How is my father?”

The doctor motioned to a door. “Please. Let’s go in here where we can talk in private.”

Stefano took his aunt’s arm and guided her into the private room. He’d faced many situations where he had to keep a cool head, but he’d never felt this nervous.

The surgeon didn’t mince words. “The heart surgery went well. But as we were closing the graft site on his leg, your father suffered
colpo apoplettico
.”

His aunt let out a keening sound that mirrored Stefano’s fear for his father’s recovery. The doctor’s grave expression told Stefano the stroke was severe.

“How is he now?” Stefano asked.

The doctor’s lips thinned a fraction, and Stefano guessed the man was trying to soften the blow. “Unconscious. We have stabilized him, but we have no idea of the damage done until he wakes up.”

If he woke from the coma. The back of Stefano’s throat went dry at the thought.

Time. His father needed time to heal before they could begin to think of any treatment.

“When can we see him?” Stefano asked.

“As soon as he’s stable and moved into intensive care. Get some rest.” The doctor left without another word, closing the door behind him to afford them continued privacy.

Stefano paced the smaller room, his emotions on the razor’s edge. He’d never felt as sad and alone as he did now.

“I’m not leaving the hospital tonight, but I’ll have my driver return you to your hotel.”

“You will call me if you need me?” his aunt asked.

“Yes, of course.”

This complication made Stefano more aware of his own morbidity.

He was bombarded with dire predictions.

His papa could die.

As he’d suspected all along, his papa wouldn’t return to his post at Marinetti anytime soon. His papa’s shipyard was in his sole control, along with all the promises and problems he’d run from all his life.

If it was any other failing business he’d acquired, he’d liquidate it immediately. But many of the men in his father’s employ had worked there all their lives. Their chance for finding another job would not be easy.

Stefano was ruthless in business. But he wasn’t heartless. He couldn’t toss good men out onto the street.

Everyone at Marinetti was his responsibility now.

And Gemma. He needed her help more than ever. How the hell did she fit into his papa’s life? How would she fit into his?

Time would tell.

Stefano settled into a chair that would surely give him a backache by dawn and placed a call to the yacht. “Have it brought in to port in the morning but do not let Miss Cardone leave.”

He and Gemma must talk.

He had to know why she and his father had gone to Milan. He must know just what her role was in his papa’s life before he could think of where she belonged in his.

Early the next morning, Gemma stood outside Cesare’s room and watched him through the observation glass in the inten
sive care unit. Her nerves twitched with each
bleep
,
whoosh
and
click
of the intensive care machines. Her heart broke to see the strong man lying so still, his gaze trained toward the ceiling.

She longed to sit beside him for a while and just talk like they had countless times. But nobody was allowed in his room.

Nobody but family and they weren’t around.

“May I help you?” a nurse said, startling her.

“Where is his family?” she asked, annoyed that Stefano wasn’t here by his father’s side.

“His son and sister just left a few minutes ago,” the nurse said, and Gemma wondered if they had gone out for breakfast. Perhaps Stefano was en route to his ship to fetch her. Wouldn’t he be surprised, and not in a good way?

“I expect they will return within the hour,” the nurse said. “Are you a friend of the family?”

“I’m Cesare’s personal secretary. How is he?”

“He suffered a stroke during surgery but he is stable now,” the nurse said.

“His prognosis?”

The nurse shook her head and moved away, leaving Gemma to wonder if she was refusing to answer or if Cesare’s condition was that dire. She feared it was the latter.

Mio Dio
! Cesare had told her this was a possibility during the surgery he faced and she’d refused to believe it could happen to him.

Take care of Rachel
, he’d told her.

That responsibility rested heavier on her now. How could she possibly see to the child’s needs and be Stefano’s willing mistress as well? How could she continue to keep the two worlds apart?

One month. That’s all she had to abide by Stefano’s agreement. Never mind that she’d felt whole and wanted and loved in his arms. Never mind that she hadn’t wanted the moment to end.

Cesare was adamant that Stefano not know about Rachel. He didn’t trust his own son with his love child’s care. But could he have misjudged his son? Could she trust Stefano with the truth?

She wished she knew!

Her head spun just thinking of the needs Rachel still required. The private school and nanny were another matter. Had Cesare made arrangements for Rachel’s future?

She hoped so for she couldn’t turn Rachel down. Not after investing so much of herself in the child’s recovery.

“I’ll take care of Rachel,” she whispered, wishing Cesare was awake and could hear her promise.
But it won’t be easy
, she silently added.

How could she possibly manage it alone?

The scuff of a shoe behind her snapped her from her dire musings. Someone was very close to her, and the energy crackling in the air could only be generated from one arrogant Italian.
Stefano
.

Gemma steadied her breathing the best she could and turned, but her chest felt too tight and her stomach knotted with dread as her gaze clashed with Stefano Marinetti’s flashing dark eyes.

He was the embodiment of a Roman sentry garbed in tailored Armani and a glacial scowl. Anger eddied off him in heat waves.

“A word in private with you,” he said, his voice sharp and disapproving.

“Of course,” Gemma said, not wishing to vent her anger in front of the nurses.

But she lifted her chin to let Stefano know she was not sorry she’d defied him. All show, for her insides quaked with uncertainty and fear. Not fear for herself.