Sweet Seduction (15 page)

‘Amy sent an urgent text. I needed to deal with her before we left.’

‘A little dangerous, don’t you think? What if the press caught you?’

‘They didn’t. Let’s talk about something else,’ he muttered.

The waiter arrived with the wine and poured for Antonio to taste. Antonio nodded and the waiter filled a glass for each of them.

‘This complication with Amy affects me too,’ Sienna said in a low voice.

‘Don’t worry, it’s very simple. The baby can’t be mine. It’s impossible.’

‘Mistakes happen.’

‘Not to me.’

‘How can you be so sure?’

‘I always insist on double protection.’

‘You didn’t with me.’

He took a sip of wine and leant back in his chair. ‘You’re on the pill.’

Sienna sat rigid in her chair. ‘And how do you know that?’ she asked accusingly. She’d been on the pill since she was a teenager to help with painful periods.

‘You left your toiletries bag open in the bathroom.’

‘You went through my things?’ Her voice rose louder than she intended.

‘Absolutely not,’ he said calmly. ‘The packet was there in open view.’

She scooped up her wine and took a generous gulp. She wanted to be angry, but he hadn’t really done anything wrong.

‘Two types of protection,’ she said finally. ‘That’s very careful of you.’

‘Don’t want any mistakes.’

‘Looks like things haven’t worked out as planned with Amy.’

‘It’s not my child.’

‘But what if it is?’

Antonio lifted his wine glass slowly to his mouth, took a draught and set the glass carefully back on the table.

‘Amy is quite capable of providing for the child financially,’ he said. ‘If required, I’ll assist in that regard.’

‘That’s it,’ Sienna said, aghast.

Antonio set his mouth in a fixed line. ‘I’ve always been very clear with the women I date.’

‘In what way?’

‘I’m clear up-front that I don’t want any commitments. Any complications.’

‘Wow. Such a romantic.’

‘It’s honest.’

‘It’s pathetic.’

Antonio’s eyes grew dark as they bore into her. ‘Relationships, family, children, commitment. It’s not for everyone,’ he said dangerously.

‘No, just okay for ninety-nine per cent of the human race,’ Sienna muttered as a waiter placed a plate of sumptuous scallops in front of her.

Antonio didn’t answer. He skewered a square of ravioli and slid it into his mouth. His expression told her in no uncertain terms that this line of conversation was over. The restaurant’s muted interior that had at first seemed so romantic now felt suffocating.

Each time Sienna thought she’d glimpsed something more than the hard, cold businessman in Antonio she ended up disappointed. There’d been moments when she’d been sure she’d seen – what? She stabbed some food onto her fork. Those fleeting moments were clearly aberrations. Looking after the lost boy. His relationship with his staff. The way he’d made love to her last night.

The ravioli stuck in her throat. She grabbed her wine and gulped it down.

‘Are you all right?’ Antonio said, reaching across the table and laying his hand on hers.

Her body responded instantly to his tenderness. She swallowed hard, and slipped her hand back into her lap. Why did he have to be incapable of real feelings?

‘Something stuck in my throat,’ she said. ‘It’s gone now.’

‘Can’t let anything happen to you,’ he said, his gorgeous eyes glittering in the candlelight.

There it was again, a glimpse of a different man. There had to be more to Antonio than he presented to the world – to her.

‘Not when we are so close to getting what we want,’ he continued.

Disappointment flooded her veins. His concern for her welfare was only to ensure she delivered on their contract. She wanted to stab the fork into his hand – then he’d feel something.

‘How long do you think we need to spend at Villa Paradiso?’ she asked, trying to keep the tension from her voice.

‘Depends on how well we play our parts.’

She picked up her wine and matched his unwavering gaze.

By the time I’m done, I’ll be nominated for an Oscar.

Antonio slowed the car as he climbed the last hill before their descent into Cernobbio. He hadn’t been back to the lakeside town since —

As the car crested the hill, the lake spread out before him. His heart froze, needles of pain slicing through him. He gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white. He’d forgotten how to drive. Yanking the steering wheel, he pulled off the road.

‘Wow,’ Sienna exclaimed, opening the car door. ‘It’s so —’

‘Get back in the car.’ His heart slammed against his ribs. He couldn’t drag enough air in his lungs.

He couldn’t be alone.

He couldn’t go back to that place.

Sienna stared at him, frozen in position half out of the car. ‘What is it?’ she said, glancing around as if something were poised to attack.

‘Get back in,’ he repeated, his voice numb. The ability to find words failed him. His seatbelt felt as though it had turned to lead. He yanked it off, throwing it aside.

Sienna quickly slipped back into her seat. ‘You’re white,’ she said touching the back of her hand to his cheek. Fear leapt into her eyes. ‘You’re burning up,’ she said. She pressed his neck. ‘Your heart’s racing.’ She laced her arm about his shoulders. ‘Take deep breaths,’ she said calmly, as she rubbed her hand gently down his arm. ‘I think you’re having a panic attack.’

Panic? He never panicked.

He hauled in a deep breath. The world came back into focus and the pain in his heart eased. Sienna’s skin felt cool and comforting against his own. Turning in his seat, he clasped her face in his hands. He didn’t want to think, he wanted to blot out the world.

Work. Wine. Sex.

One of them always did the trick.

He kissed her hard, pressing her back into her seat. She tasted sweet, of dark chocolate and coffee. He forced her lips apart, delved deep with his tongue.

Sliding his hand up her chest, he felt her nipples peak under his fingers. Heat pulsed through his body. His hardness strained against his trousers. He wanted to own her, possess her – have her scream out his name. A car screeched past them. A long horn blast exploded around them.

She tensed. Her hands came up against his chest. Her lips left his. ‘Stop,’ she said.

He pulled her hands aside and used the weight of his body to pin her in her seat. He kissed her again, his lips brutal.

She shoved him off. ‘Stop now.’

The sharpness of her voice snapped his mind back from the lust that consumed him.

She buckled her seatbelt and fixed her gaze ahead.

He stared at her beautiful face. She blinked hard. He slumped back in his seat. What had he become? Forcing himself on a woman, on Sienna, in an open-topped car in broad daylight. Self-loathing crushed him viciously as he slammed back in his seat.

He was fit for no woman. Definitely not a woman like Sienna: beautiful, principled, undamaged.

Slamming the car into drive, he accelerated down the hill. He would always be alone and that’s how it should be. He had nothing to give but a black, hollow soul. Sienna deserved more than that. But as he thought about her leaving, a darkness fell over him even more frightening than the dull aching pain he carried with him always.

Sienna sat stunned in her seat. What had happened? She stole a glance at Antonio as he manoeuvred the car expertly through the narrow streets of the little lakeside town. His tightly clenched jaw betrayed a man under severe stress. His eyes never left the road.

Although the wind whipped past, the atmosphere in the car felt heavy, smothered with unspoken words. The man who had just kissed her was not the same man who had made love to her on her wedding night. Then, Antonio had been passionate, attentive, had made her feel as though she were the only woman in the world. Who was this man who wanted to have her quickly in the front seat of the car?

‘Villa Paradiso,’ he said, indicating ahead with a nod.

Her gaze lingered on his face for a moment longer before she turned to look. She gasped. She hadn’t expected anything so grand. How on earth did Sergio and Rosa manage such a huge, opulent hotel?

Set back from the lake, the ivory and gold building was surrounded by lush, manicured gardens. Bursts of colour from bougainvillea-covered trestles and jasmine-laden rock walls punctuated the greenery. A stone fountain sprayed water high into the air, a rainbow shining in its mist.

‘Wow,’ she whispered. No wonder Antonio wanted this so badly. She’d never seen such a magnificent hotel.

‘It was built in the seventeenth century for a cardinal,’ Antonio said. ‘It’s been in the Moretti family for nearly two hundred years.’

Antonio parked in front of the reception. A bellboy raced to open Sienna’s door as Rosa rushed out to greet them. Rosa hugged Antonio then pulled Sienna into her arms.

‘I’m so glad you’re here.’ Rosa’s face glowed. ‘Thank you for bringing him,’ she whispered in Sienna’s ear and gave her arm a squeeze. The woman put her arm about Sienna’s waist and urged her into the hotel lobby. Antonio strode ahead. Sienna watched Sergio and Antonio shake hands. Both men stood stiffly, waiting for the women to join them.

‘We’ve put you in the honeymoon suite,’ Rosa said, pressing the lift button.

‘Welcome,’ Sergio said, kissing Sienna on both cheeks.

‘Your hotel is just magnificent,’ Sienna said. ‘I’ve never seen such a magical place. Thank you so much for having us.’

Sergio pressed his lips together as though preventing himself from speaking.

The lift doors opened and the four of them walked into the splendid nineteenth-century lift. Sienna saw disdain cross Antonio’s face, as Rosa had to push the heavy buttons a number of times before the doors closed. It seemed an age before the lift shuddered into an ascent.

‘Antonio said this was built in the seventeenth century,’ Sienna said, desperate to break the awkwardness made worse by their close proximity.

‘Yes,’ Sergio answered. ‘It was a cardinal’s summer residence. My family converted it into a hotel in 1873.’ There was no mistaking the pride in his voice.

‘Lord Byron, Puccini and Mark Twain have all stayed here.’ Rosa could hardly contain herself. ‘Elizabeth Taylor stayed in your room.’

‘What an incredible history.’

‘A history that not everyone respects,’ Sergio said tightly.

Sienna relaxed a little when the lift doors finally opened. Sergio walked ahead and opened the door marked as the honeymoon suite. He held the door for Sienna and she walked into paradise.

Steeped in old-world charm and elegance, the room’s golden furniture shone in the light pouring in from the enormous balcony. Rosa took her hand and drew her out onto the terrace. The view was incredible. Sienna walked along the terrace, running her hand across the white stone balustrade. A finger caught in a crack and a lump of stone disintegrated as it hit the marble floor.

‘Oh,’ Sienna cried, trying ineffectually to repair the damage.

‘Please. Leave it,’ Rosa begged. The woman sighed. ‘As you can see, the place is getting too much for us.’

‘Why don’t you let Antonio help?’ Sienna asked.

‘Because he would tear the heart out of the place. He only likes modern designs.’

‘Why don’t you talk to him? Perhaps you could come to a compromise.’

Rosa raised her eyebrows. ‘Talk? Antonio hasn’t spoken to us since the accident,’ she said in a low voice.

Accident?

Sienna felt Antonio’s presence behind her. Rosa turned, reddened slightly and looked out at the view.

‘Don’t you get any ideas about visiting George Clooney,’ he teased, slipping his arms around Sienna’s waist from behind. ‘His house is a few doors down.’ He held her gently, flush against his body. Her heart fluttered as he kissed her neck.

‘In that case it’s best you don’t tell me which house it is,’ Sienna said, laughing lightly.

‘You’re not going anywhere,’ he said, pulling her body in tightly to his.

Rosa looked on. The woman couldn’t hide her delight. ‘Well, we’ll go now,’ she said, a little flustered.

As they walked back inside, Antonio held Sienna’s hand.

Sergio was supervising a porter as he placed their suitcases in the bedroom.

‘Sergio,’ his wife called. ‘Let’s let them settle.’

Sergio gave Sienna a nod and left with his wife.

The moment the door closed, Antonio dropped her hand and walked into the bedroom; she heard the door of the bathroom click shut. For a moment she stared ahead. She felt lost.

So many questions and no one to ask.

She slumped down on the sofa. Everything felt wrong. Sergio and Rosa seemed to be lovely people and here she was complicit in deceiving them. But what choice did she have? She couldn’t protect them and her father. Antonio had put her in an unwinnable position. No matter what happened, someone would be hurt.

She stood and walked back onto the terrace. She gazed at the lake. The emerald-coloured water glittered in the late afternoon sunlight. She heard the suite door click and turned just in time to see Antonio leaving. Her mouth dropped open. He’d left her without a word. She shook her head in frustration.

Turning angrily back to the view, she gripped the rail. How could this deception work if Antonio kept refusing to communicate? His relatives might be old, but they weren’t stupid.

The mountains surrounding the lake, so glorious before, now looked dark and depressing. The water turned dark green with an eerie gloom as a cloud moved slowly across the sun.

A movement in the garden caught her attention. Antonio walked through the greenery, under a stone arch and out onto the long pier that jutted into the lake. He trudged at a painfully slow pace all the way to the end of the wooden structure. A lone eagle circled silently above him. The bird emitted a distressing cry as it dived and then soared again into the blackening sky.

Everything around her turned grey and ominous. Small drops of rain melted into the fabric of her dress. A wall of heavy rain threatened from across the lake.

Antonio didn’t move. Hadn’t he seen the rain? He’d be soaked if he didn’t move fast. She opened her mouth to call out, but stopped. Why should she care? It wasn’t like he cared about her. She turned and walked into the suite.