The Count's Prize (7 page)

Dario’s immense self-confidence transmitted itself to Ferrari, who paced obediently over to the shade of an ancient, almost horizontal olive tree growing at the
wayside. Horse and rider were infused with the arrogant pride of centuries, and all Josie could do was obey.

‘The trunk of this tree slopes gently enough to make a perfect mounting block.’

Josie looked at it speculatively. As there was no alternative, she hopped up onto the lowest point of the sun-warmed tree. While she tentatively edged her way along its trunk, Dario backed his horse in close.

Josie was scared, but couldn’t bear to say so. She looked at Dario, and he saw the fear in her eyes.

‘Don’t think—put your hands on my shoulders and just do it.’

She thought back to the pool, and remembered that moment of exhilaration just after she fell into the water. Dario had caught her up and saved her from drowning, only to flood her with a bewitching torrent of feelings that had tortured her from that moment on.

And it’s starting all over again
, she realised as the heat of his gaze raked over her body.

Sitting astride his horse, he looked and sounded supremely confident. There was no hint of threat about him, merely the majesty of a man on his own land.

He must be right. This will be perfectly OK
, she persuaded herself.

Taking her courage in both hands, she did as Dario told her and found herself sitting behind him, astride Ferrari. She was so scared her lungs almost stopped working. All she could get were little panting breaths of the hot dry air.

‘Relax, Josie! This is the perfect way to travel.’
Dario’s voice was a purr of reassurance, but she was far too tense to appreciate it.

‘Only when you’re used to it,’ she said in a thin, strained voice. It sounded at least an octave higher than normal.

‘You will feel safer if you put your arms around my waist rather than gripping my shoulders.’

‘Will I?’ The doubt in her voice was so obvious she felt his laughter rumble up from beneath his ribs before she heard it.

‘Try it.’

Josie had to summon up a lot more nerve before she could loosen her hands, one at a time, to take a terrifyingly light grip around his ribcage.

‘I won’t break.’ He chuckled, and she felt the movement dance though his whole body.

‘Why is your horse called Ferrari?’ She looked down with apprehension. The ground seemed a horribly long way away.

There was a pause. ‘Because he is very fast, and dangerous in the wrong hands,’ Dario said in a voice rich with meaning.

Josie made a conscious effort to keep her hands loose on Dario’s sides, but it was almost impossible. The warmth of him begged to be experienced skin to skin, without the bother of fear, clothes or anything else.

‘Do you feel safe?’

‘Compared with what?’ she asked in a small, quavering voice. The horse’s back felt very warm and tense beneath her. ‘Does it get any worse than this?’

‘I won’t let it. Loosen up, Josie. I’ll keep you safe.’

Dario’s deep brown voice persuaded her to try to relax. His confidence was infectious. Gradually she felt it loosen her limbs, and so did Ferrari. The surface she was sitting on became mobile in several different directions at once as Dario directed his horse back onto the drove road.

‘How does that feel? Better?’

‘Ask me after I’ve got off at the other end. It’s probably one of those experiences that’s better viewed in hindsight,’ she croaked.

‘A simple OK would do. Or
suffice
, if you like, Dr Street.’

‘Now you’re laughing at me again,’ she accused.

‘No … never. I’m trying to get you to relax, and maybe distract you a little. You’ll enjoy the experience much more if you do. Listen to that—’ He pointed to one of the resident skylarks swinging up towards the heavens. ‘You’d never hear that from inside a car.’

‘No, but I can enjoy the same sounds while I’m safely down in my trench.’

‘Only with the little bit of your brain that isn’t wrapped up in your work. Where is your sense of adventure, Josie? This way you get to enjoy everything my home has to offer, so much more intimately.’ He paused, and she felt his ribcage expand as he drew in a long breath. ‘Mind you, I normally race around at top speed myself, travelling between appointments or chasing deadlines. Taking it this slowly is making me appreciate it more, too.’

‘Don’t you already know every inch of this estate? You and Antonia have both told me how you used to
spend most of your time out here when you were children.’

‘Yes, because it was safer than staying inside the castle,’ Dario said quietly. ‘If our parents were in residence, their fighting could easily spill over onto us. If they were away, on the yacht or at the ski lodge, say, Antonia and I had to run the gauntlet of the staff they’d bussed in to keep us clean and fed. That was always a bit of a lottery. The good ones left when they got fed up with living in chaos, and the bad ones got fired—eventually. We were left to run riot, roaming the hills when it was dry and dodging from house to house around the estate when the weather was bad. They say it takes a whole village to raise a child. That was certainly true in our case.’

Dario stopped suddenly, and Josie realised he’d said more than he’d meant to. In spite of desperately wanting to know more, she managed to act as if he’d simply carried on with small talk and, keeping a firm grip around his waist, looked out across the undulating countryside as he changed the subject and pointed out some of his old haunts.

‘I’ve been invited into quite a few of those places already,’ she told him. ‘Everyone around here is really friendly. They always stop and chat.’

He laughed. ‘I thought you hated being interrupted when you were working?’

‘Yes … but there’s something about this place that makes me want to learn more about the people living here today, rather than being buried in the past all the time.’

‘That’s good.’ In a spontaneous movement, Dario dropped one hand and reached back. He touched her thigh, and patted it briefly. It was only a tiny movement, but it sent powerful messages surging through her body. With a sigh she felt herself submit to the waves of warmth travelling from his body to hers. Gradually she softened towards the experience. As she relaxed against him, her arms closed in around the reassuring solidity of his body. Before she knew what was happening, her cheek brushed his shoulder. It was just for a moment, but long enough to appreciate the clean soap and cologne fragrance of him.

She drew in a long, lingering breath of it. ‘This is wonderful …’ she murmured.

‘Are you enjoying it, Josie?’

As always, his beautiful voice filled her name with colours she had never noticed before.

‘I am. This is lovely.’

‘Good. That’s exactly as it should be. After all your hard work, you deserve a little treat or two. Some time off, and a few hours of indulgence.’

Josie thought about the party. She had so wanted to say yes to that invitation, she wished he would ask her again. Now she felt so safe in his presence, she would have been tempted to accept—but Dario was lost in thought. For some time, the only sounds were the skylarks, the jingle of harness and the regular dull thud of Ferrari’s hooves on the dusty white track.

‘You’re right. I’m a lucky man. This place is wonderful,’ he said at length.

J
OSIE
was in heaven. Once she got used to the gentle rhythm of Ferrari’s gait, she could think of nothing but the sensation of having her arms around Dario’s waist. His body was so warm and vital. She could feel the play of his muscles as they moved beneath the thin white fabric of his shirt. It brought back all the bittersweet memories of their picnic in the wood, her fear … and his kisses … She closed her eyes. With each measured step they took, her breasts nudged tantalisingly against Dario’s back. That made the growing fire inside her burn even brighter.

‘You can lean against me all you like,’ he said softly. ‘If it will make you feel better.’

After a moment’s hesitation, she did. It was hypnotically wonderful. Only the change in sound of Ferrari’s hooves as they moved from the drove road to the gravel outside the stable yard persuaded her to open her eyes again and sit up straight.

‘Wait. I’ll lift you down,’ Dario told her as a stable lad ran to take Ferrari’s reins.

Wide awake now, Josie fizzed with excitement. Dropping lightly to the ground, Dario reached up and put
his hands around her waist to lift her from the horse’s back. When her feet touched the gravel she discovered exactly how much the experience had taken from her.

‘My legs have gone to jelly!’ she whispered, frantically grabbing at him. He put his arms around her to steady her and a shockwave pulsed through her body. Suddenly she was greedy for his touch and didn’t want him to let her go.

‘That’s natural. And I’m in no hurry to go anywhere.’

‘B … but you’ve always got another appointment somewhere or other …’

‘That can wait for a few moments. I would never abandon you out here with jelly legs.’

Josie looked at him and it was well worth it. He was smiling.

He’s going to ask me about the party again and there’s no way I can refuse!
she thought, breathless with panic and anticipation.
There’s no way I can refuse him anything!

But she had misjudged him.

A moment later, his fingers closed on her upper arms and he gently pushed her away. In that instant she felt the electric charge flowing through her body falter and fail as he broke the circuit.

‘Goodbye, Josie,’ he said in a husky voice.

And then he was gone.

All Josie’s fantasies about being able to attend Dario’s party shattered like a Ming vase. She tried to convince herself it didn’t matter, but it did. Putting on a brave face, she walked into the castle to meet Antonia, although
thoughts of what might have been were a permanent loop of regret running through her mind.
Couldn’t she have said yes? Been brave, just for once? What was she going to do with her carefully protected heart anyway—keep it in a museum?

‘Now Fabio’s asleep we can hit the town,’ Antonia said confidently as she skipped downstairs from the nursery. ‘What are you going to wear tomorrow night?’

‘I’m not going.’

‘Oh … still not? Why not?’

‘I’ve got too much to do. You know how it is,’ Josie said with a nonchalance that fooled neither of them.

‘Well,
you
might be able to pass up the chance of a night of glamour and romance tomorrow, Jo, but that doesn’t mean
I
have to. I want you to come and help me choose a dress for the party, and we can talk about your project at the old olive press while we do it. I told you there was plenty to discover here, didn’t I?’

‘You did—and you were absolutely right.’ Josie wasn’t just thinking of archaeology. She gazed through the open
castello
door at the sun-drenched forecourt outside. Dario would have to cross it on his way to or from the stables and garage complex, but the forecourt stayed deserted.

Despite the bright day, it felt as though her life had lost some of its sparkle. ‘I’d love to come with you,’ she said brightly, trying to summon up some genuine enthusiasm.

‘Good. The chauffeur will have the limo here in a couple of minutes,’ her friend said, grinning.

Shopping with Antonia on her home ground was a new experience for Josie. It couldn’t have been more different from her everyday life back in England. Instead of dragging around crowded chain stores getting hotter and more frustrated by the second, this was an expedition into another world.

An air-conditioned di Sirena limousine swept them almost silently to Florence. They were dropped off within sauntering distance of the designer quarter. The streets were shady, with chic little cafés every few yards for the tired of spending. Before they could get too hot, Antonia paused outside her favourite designer’s showroom. To Josie’s amazement, they didn’t even need to open the door for themselves. An assistant threw it back on its hinges at the mere sight of Antonia. They were greeted like royalty, and ushered into cool splendour. Josie decided this must have been what it was like to be shown into an ancient Roman temple, only this building was on a
much
more opulent scale. She stopped and stared, completely overawed by all the gold leaf and pink marble columns until Antonia took her in hand.

‘Come and meet Madame, Jo. She makes all my clothes when I’m at home.’

Madame was a tiny Parisian in towering black stilettos, a chic little black dress and jet-black hair scraped back into a neat bun. She was the consummate European, flourishing her scarlet nails like a matador’s cape to hypnotise and tempt. When they were formally introduced, Josie was so starstruck she almost bowed.

‘Oh, lighten up, Jo!’ Antonia laughed. ‘The staff are here to serve
us
, not the other way around. Take a seat,
dunk your biscotti, do whatever you want. They won’t care!’

Cautiously, Josie let herself be shown to a seat. When Antonia ordered a latte, she did exactly the same, although she would rather have had a cup of tea. Then her friend was shown the finished dresses she had previously ordered from Madame’s autumn collection, together with samples of a dozen new designs in a rainbow of colours. Once she knew she was safely out of the spotlight, Josie began to relax. Soon she was lounging in her comfortable armchair and offering her opinion to Antonia as confidently as Madame.

Then one of the covey of assistants emerged from a room at the back of the salon carrying a single dress reverently in her hands. It was a fluid length of shimmering silk in the most beautiful shade of green Josie had ever seen. She was vaguely aware of Antonia standing up for a closer look, but nothing could distract her from that stunning vision.

‘You’ve got to try that on, Toni,’ she said with longing. ‘With your dark colouring, it would make you look really exotic.’

‘You think?’ Antonia took the ravishing cocktail dress from the assistant, turning its hanger so that light danced over its discreet detail of gold threads. ‘I don’t know … bias cut is awfully unforgiving to a tummy like mine.’ She chewed the inside of her cheek, then appeared to have a sudden inspiration.

‘Tell you what, Jo—why don’t
you
try it on? It would be a brilliant match for your eyes.’

‘I don’t know …’ she said slowly, although deep down
she did. They all did. There was no way any woman alive could have refused such an offer.

‘Oh, come on—it’ll look gorgeous!’ Antonia smiled. ‘You know you want to …’

Josie laughed in spite of herself, and gave in. ‘All right,’ she decided, struggling out of the depths of her comfy armchair before she could change her mind. ‘I’ll do it!’

Swishing the dress from Antonia’s hands, she strode off to where an assistant was waiting to help her change. The changing room was nothing like the tiny curtained cubicles she was used to. It was larger than her flat back in England, and the surroundings made taking her clothes off in front of a complete stranger almost feel natural.

Almost, but not quite!
she thought, blushing.

Unable to look at her reflection while she stripped, she concentrated on the lacy wisps of sweet-pea-coloured lingerie draped artistically around the room. Seeing all those lovely things made her ache to attend the party. For once in her life she would have given anything to dress up and strut her stuff, to show gorgeous Dario a completely different side of her. If only the single decent dress she had brought to Italy wasn’t so old and enormous. She had bought it for her engagement party, but Andy’s subsequent betrayal and her retreat into overwork had seen the weight fall off her. She had thought it would be good enough to wear for private dinners at the
castello
, but that was before she’d actually met Dario. Nothing would have persuaded her to wear it now.

Suddenly shy at dressing up in the lovely green silk dress, she pulled it on hurriedly, half afraid to look. The assistant’s gasp horrified her.

‘Oh, no—don’t say I’ve wrecked it?’

Hideous scenes of split seams or gashed silk filled her mind as she glanced at the mirrored wall beside her.

One glimpse and she stopped, awestruck. The dress was perfect.

And so am I!
she thought before modesty caught up with her. She turned pink at the thought.

The assistant was first to come to her senses. She flung open the changing room door and stood back, motioning for Josie to walk out into the showroom.

The collective intake of breath from Antonia, Madame and all her assistants was worth every second of self-doubt Josie had ever suffered in her life. She instantly felt taller, more self-confident and …

‘Wow, Josie!’ Antonia breathed reverently. ‘You’re
beautiful
!’

‘Yes,’ she said shakily, managing to agree with a compliment for the first time in her life. It gave her a little shiver of shock. She was amazed to find that was another sensation she liked.

‘What do you think they’d say if I walked into the university Christmas ball wearing this, Toni?’

‘They wouldn’t say anything,’ her friend sighed. ‘They wouldn’t be able to.’

Madame was not amused. ‘That dress might have been made with you in mind. You simply must have it, Dr Street.’

With those words, Josie stopped looking delighted
and started looking worried. She discreetly mouthed a desperate question across at her friend.
‘How much is it?’

‘Oh, you don’t need to worry about that,’ Antonia said airily.

‘But I do!’ Josie said aloud.

‘Think of it as a birthday present. Happy birthday,’ Antonia said.

‘But it’s not my birthday.’

Antonia smiled more enigmatically than the Mona Lisa. ‘I know,’ she said mysteriously.

Although she couldn’t wait to get back to the
castello
to try on her new dress again, Josie got her generous friend to take her from the salon to a chain store, where she felt happier and could spend her own money. Now she was discovering how much fun it was to be spontaneous, there was no stopping her.

As she was indulging herself with satin and lace, Dario’s words about wanting to know when she felt like doing something scarily spontaneous came back to her with a guilty rush of excitement.

I wonder exactly how spontaneous I can be?
she thought to herself with a sudden burst of bravado.
I might surprise you yet, Count Dario di Sirena!

‘I could gatecrash …’ she said, not realising that she had said it out loud.

‘Do what?’ Antonia replied absently, her attention on some ankle bracelets.

Josie blushed, but then went for broke. ‘The party. Antonia, can I come to the party after all?’

Antonia looked around at Josie with a broad smile. ‘Yes! I thought you’d never ask!’ she said, throwing her arms around her friend.

‘But I’ve already refused Dario’s invitation, not once, but twice!’ Josie frowned.

‘He won’t mind, but if you’re going to worry you can come as my guest. Everyone’s allowed a “plus one”, so tell yourself you’re mine,’ Antonia said, as quick as a flash.

‘You have an answer for everything.’ Josie shook her head in awe.

Antonia smiled a wicked smile. ‘Of course. It’s called native cunning.’

Dario was in his studio, trying to plan a new painting. He couldn’t settle to anything and had tried to find some way of filling the time while Antonia and Josie were in Florence. First, he’d gone out on Ferrari again. That had been unsettling. Every step of the way recalled Josie’s arms around his waist, her body pressed tight against his. Before he’d known it, he had accidentally reached the old olive press where her boxes of finds and tools stood neatly packed away beneath the awning that protected her work. It was his own land and he had visited the place a hundred times over the years, but it felt like an intrusion to be there alone today. He’d seen the box he had sent her and, looking more closely, noticed she had already unpacked a sketchbook and made a start.

Unused to feeling uncomfortable on his home ground, Dario had turned Ferrari’s head away from the place so full of Josie’s presence. He thought it would be cooler to
ride up through the trees. Instead, his temperature rose as he drew closer to the place in that woodland glade where he had kissed her. Not for the first time, her spirit disrupted his plans.

I’ve only known her a few days, and yet she’s on my mind all the time. I can taste the sweetness of her lips and feel the warmth of her body, even when she’s miles away. What’s the matter with me?
he thought restlessly. He couldn’t concentrate on his work. He decided to try to replace all his thoughts of her with something else, and fast.

That was when he had abandoned the wide expanse of his estate for the contained luxury of his studio. Hoping to lose himself in his art, Dario soon found another of his usually perfect cures wasn’t up to the task. In a complete change of direction, he started to paint a portrait. Things went wrong from the beginning. The subject of his portrait was supposed to be Arietta. To Dario’s irritation, his preliminary sketches kept turning into someone else entirely—and that ‘someone’ looked uncannily like Dr Josephine Street.

When a flash of sunlight danced around the room, he was glad of the distraction. Then he saw it was reflecting off a sleek black car as it slid along the lime avenue towards the front door.

It’s Josie!
He threw down his stick of charcoal, then snatched it up again.