VITTORIO'S LOVER (Vittorio Series) (20 page)

Of course, it would be easier
carry out his plan if she was in love with him, but did he really want to deal with that complication? He might not have a choice, Raffaele conceded. Judging by the way Jenesa looked at him sometimes, she was half way there already. And despite whatever scheme she’d had up her sleeve when this whole thing started, he didn’t like the idea of hurting her. Which really put his determination to remain unaffected by her to the test.

“Tell me what made you decide to go into business with your sisters,” he said, steering the conversation into safer waters.

Jenesa smiled. “It wasn’t exactly a conscious decision. My little sister, Jillian, is the social butterfly of the family. Drop-dead gorgeous, tall, disgustingly thin and always has hoards of people vying for her attention, while my other sister, Linette, cringes at the thought of being in the limelight. Growing up, the poor thing was painfully shy and never dated or attended school functions. It made me…sad to know Lin was missing out on so much.  I was determined to draw her out of her shell.

At the beginning of Linette’s senior year in high school, Jillian and I devised a plan to coerce her into coordinating a party. She
’s a chronic organizer so we figured she would jump on it, which she did, and it couldn’t have worked out better. Not only did Jillian’s parties become the rant of the school, but in the process of overseeing everything, Linette gradually grew less timid around other people.”

She rose from the table and returned with the coffee pot, refilling both their cups and setting the carafe back on the warmer before taking her place across from him to continue her story.
Raffaele was disturbingly conscious of how natural it felt to have her here. It gave him an inexplicable sense of comfort to watch Jenesa pour his coffee and chat with him over breakfast as if they’d done it a million times. It was…nice. 

Raffaele polished off his meal and leaned back in his chair while she explained how her parents financially backed Linette when she started the company fresh out of college.
After Jenesa and Jillian graduated from high school, Linette convinced them to join her and hired them on part time while they attended college, making them full partners once they obtained business degrees. She had a pleasant voice and an amusing way of telling a story.  Had it ever felt this
easy
to be with a woman, this
effortless
to simply enjoy a conversation without mentally mapping out his escape or debating whether he wanted to see her again? 

Granted, with the storm raging outside, it wasn’t as if he could hasten their departure even if he wanted too. The
point
, Raffaele admitted to himself, was that he did not feel compelled to outline the parameters of their burgeoning relationship as he usually did with a new lover. He was content to listen to her talk and admire her beauty, ignoring the warning bells in his head that cautioned him to cement the wall around his heart before she discovered a crevice and squeezed through.

Over the course of the next
two hours, they exchanged childhood memories, getting up once to wash the dishes together and start a fresh pot of coffee. When they’d drained the last of it, Raffaele suggested a tour of the mansion; an invitation that was eagerly accepted.
A means of further assessing their wealth or perhaps to uncover any family secrets hidden within its walls?
An unfair judgment, he quickly decided; Jenesa expressed more enthusiasm for the children’s play room than she did for the priceless paintings and artwork his parents had collected over the years.

“It’s magnificent!” she exclaimed
when they entered the brightly colored room.

He’d never really thought about it before. To Raffaele, it was just a room with lots of toys where his nieces and nephews played. Looking at it now through Jenesa’s sparkling eyes, it truly was a
magical place. He watched Jenesa slowly turn a full circle, her gaze darting from the storybook murals and tiny tables set with miniature tea cups and plates, to the shelves lined with books and dolls, toy trucks, and stuffed animals.  There was even an area set up with child-size easels for painting with water colors, along with tables that had trays in the middle filled with color crayons and pencils. 

Games for children of various ages
were stacked inside built-in cubby holes, a special area with thick tumbling mats for the babies, and space designated for reading where adults could sit in over-stuffed chairs or loveseats and have story time. There were costumes and vanities with make-up for the girls, cap-guns and swords that lit up for the boys; everything a little one could possibly imagine for entertainment was contained inside the play room. It was designed to perpetuate happiness, smiles and lighthearted laughter, which apparently worked on adults too because Jenesa’s face was lit up like a Christmas tree.

His eyes shifted to her belly. The soft roundness of it
was hidden beneath his t-shirt, but it couldn’t obscure the vision Raffaele had of Jenesa in the final stages of pregnancy. Considering where they were at the moment, it was only natural that his mind conger up images of her carrying a baby, especially when the possibility still remained that she had conceived. What he found disturbing was the depth of emotion that punched a hole in his chest and curled around his heart.

                                                      ***

Jenesa noticed the strange look that stole across Raffaele’s face as his eyes skimmed her body.
As if he’d eaten something that disagreed with him
. Or was he regretting having slept with her now that he’d gotten a good look at her in the light of day? It was a crushing blow to her fragile ego and she fervently wished she’d shown more sense than to get herself stranded alone on an island with him.
No, it wasn’t her understated beauty
, she thought when his gaze lingered on her mid-section. Was it the idea she might be carrying his child that Raffaele found so distasteful? 

Her suspicions were confirmed a
few seconds later when he grabbed her hand and practically dragged her from the room.
You shouldn’t be so quick to jump to conclusions
. Isn’t that what he’d told her? Except, it wasn’t much of a leap to conclude it was preying on his mind when his feelings were as transparent as fine crystal. Jenesa glared at his back as he tugged her along, the stride of his long legs making it necessary to double step just to keep up. What right did he have to make her feel inadequate, as if she wasn’t good enough to be the mother of his child?

Whoa!  Time for a reality check, she silently admonished.  First of all, she was
not
going to have a baby! The timing was wrong and they’d only had sex once so the chances of conceiving were infinitesimal. Secondly,
any
man would be unnerved at the prospect of becoming a father, and Raffaele had more to be concerned about than an unplanned pregnancy. It couldn’t be very…palatable to know that if she
was
pregnant, there was some question as to whose baby it was. After all, he believed she was the one who’d spent the night with his brother and undoubtedly still harbored misgivings about her motives. A wealthy man had to be wary if he was going to hang onto that wealth.

She didn’t stand a chance with him, Jenesa thought dismally.
Unless…unless she could come clean and explain how things got so out of hand. If Raffaele knew the truth, he would be free to make his own confessions, and once the lies and deliberate omissions were out in the open, maybe they could start again. Considering he was guilty of the same sins, surely he would forgive her. 

And she would encourage Jillian to do the same with Luca.
How selfish she’d been to think only of herself when Jillian’s situation was even more uncertain than hers.  Regardless of the outcome, both men deserved honesty from the Harding sisters. Having made up her mind to call Jillian as soon as Raffaele finished showing her around the mansion, she was a little surprised when he announced the tour was over only a few minutes later.   

“It seemed much larger from the outside,” she commented as they arrived at the grand staircase.

“
I’ve only shown you a portion of it,” Raffaele replied. “I’m sorry to cut it short, but I just remembered some business I need to attend to. You can wander around if you like or return to your room and rest.”

Despite the sheer elegance of the mansion there was
an undeniable warmth to it, but she felt little of that now and shivered beneath his steady gaze. There was nothing of the emotion that she’d glimpsed earlier behind those dark eyes and she had the sinking feeling he was anxious to be rid of her. Maybe she’d read him wrong all along and the attraction she thought he felt for her really was contrived. It hurt more than it should, but she managed a weak smile by telling herself it was just as well because she didn’t fit in his world anyway. 

“
You think too much,” Raffaele said, cupping her chin and gently forcing her head back, “while
my
thoughts seem determined to follow one track that leads straight to the bedroom. I enjoy your company very much,
mio bello
,” his deep voice dropped an octave, “but the impulse to kiss you is far too strong to ignore. You understand why I cannot be around you right now?”

“
I…yes,” Jenesa answered, because she understood all too well. 

It was impossible to bank memories that spontaneously reignited at the slightest provocation. Like the feel
of his hands on her skin and the slow, sensual exploration of his mouth traveling over bare flesh, or the way she’d bucked beneath his muscular body as each feverish, frantic thrust filled her so completely Jenesa hadn’t been able to hold back. The burst of heat that shot through her was as shocking as it was pleasurable and she’d hardly recognized the sultry, breathless voice that begged him not to stop.

And he hadn’t stopped, not until she’d convulsed her way through half a dozen mind-blowing climaxes
and was zapped of the energy to do anything except admire his masculine strength as he continued to make love to her. She’d touched him then; tentatively at first and then more boldly, gliding her palms over his muscular arms and chest, her breath becoming more ragged as his soft moans spurred her on. With her fingers splayed, Jenesa expanded her exploration to his back where the muscles rippled with each sensual movement of his beautiful body. At the base of his spine, her hands stilled when Raffaele expelled her name with a groan and lowered his head to kiss her

It was
unlike any of his previous kisses, which had been hot and hungry, crushing her lips beneath a passionate assault that she’d eagerly returned. This was…different, softer and gentler, a long, slow, deep kiss that affected Jenesa in ways she’d never experienced before. Her racing pulse had grown sluggish despite the butterflies that were flailing around in the pit of her stomach, and she’d felt so…so
complete
inside, as if the connection between them went beyond the physical joining of their bodies.

But of course, it hadn’t. And maybe that was the reason for Raffaele’s comment about having a one track mind that led to the bedroom. He was making it blatantly obvious that his feelings didn’t run any deeper than the shallow end of the lust pool. 
Extracting a promise to keep his hands off had done nothing except insure she was deprived of his company while he doused himself in cold water. On the other hand, it
did
give her a sense of female satisfaction to know she had the power to put a chink in his armor, even though the point of vulnerability hit closer to his libido than his heart.

“I’ll be fine,” she told him
with a bright smile. “If you’ll be kind enough to lead me back to my room, I’d like to call my sisters and make sure I haven’t left them in a bind.”

“
Of course, I’ll escort you to your room,” Raffaele replied, “but calling your sisters, or anyone else, is out of the question.”

                                                  NINE

Jenesa stared at him for a moment
, her smile slowly fading when the comforting warmth of his hand fell away from her face. “What…what do you mean it’s out of the question?”

“
Sorry,
carissima
, but your cell phone won’t pick up reception on the island and the house phones aren’t working due to the storm. I’m afraid you’ll be incommunicado for a few days.”

“
But…my sisters will be worried when they don’t hear from me.”

“By now, Grady will have advised them about the storm and the possibility
of losing communications.”

“Grady? Your
pilot
?”

Raffaele smiled. “Grady is more than just a pilot
. He’s head of security at Vittorio Enterprises, takes on the role of private investigator when the occasion calls for it, and he’s a damn good friend. He knows heavy storms like the one we’re having interferes with the phones and will have taken the initiative to inform both our families as to why they won’t hear from us for a day or two.”

Jenesa started to ask how Grady could possibly know how to reach her sisters
when the answer suddenly came to her. The note in Luca’s office, the one that read: Get with G. – RE: full report on JLJ. The G stood for Grady, and Luca had enlisted him to investigate Jillian and their company. Except…something didn’t seem quite right.  True, it was dark outside when they boarded the helicopter so Grady couldn’t have gotten a very good look at her, but he’d had a clear view of her once they landed. A man who was head of security and did investigative work on the side would naturally be observant; even the briefest of glances would have clued him into the fact she wasn’t Jillian.