Her Mediterranean Playboy Page 5

  She clenched her hands in determination. She had to get Alex through this. If it took every ounce of courage, every atom of her being, to see her sister come out the other side in full health again it would be worth it.

  There was a knock at the door, and, hoping it was the cheerful little Ghita, with fresh water for the jug Ally had almost drained, she rose to answer it.

  Vittorio’s tall figure stooped as he entered the room, his eyes immediately going to the door that separated his room from hers. ‘I notice you have not locked the door,’ he commented, turning back to look at her. ‘What does that mean, I wonder? Is it that you trust me to keep my side of the bargain, or are you hoping I will change my mind and be tempted to sample you for myself, as Rocco has done?’

  ‘I wouldn’t sleep with you if you paid me a king’s ransom,’ she spat back venomously.

  ‘You slept with my brother-in-law for what you could get out of him,’ he said. ‘If money and notoriety is what you want then I can give you much more of both than Rocco ever could.’

  Her mouth tightened as she held his challenging look. ‘I told you why I slept with him, and it had nothing to do with money.’

  ‘Ah, yes.’ His mocking smile was back. ‘You fell in love with him. Or perhaps it was the size of his wallet, no? I am sure you checked that out before you—’ he made the finger sign of quotation marks in the air ‘—“lost your heart” to him.’

  She frowned at him. ‘You don’t think it’s possible for someone to fall in love not knowing anything about the other person?’ she asked. ‘What about instant chemistry? Or connecting on some other level, such as intellectually or spiritually?’

  His eyes glinted at her. ‘You are as convincing as Rocco warned. He said you had ways and means about you that would make any man crazy with lust for you.’

  She upped her chin, her brilliant blue eyes challenging him. ‘But not you, Mr Vittorio-Never-Makes-an-Error-of-Judgement-Vassallo? Right?’

  His eyes locked with hers. ‘How much would you want to make this affair a real one?’

  She looked at him as if he had just asked her to straighten the Tower of Pisa with one fingertip. ‘What did you say?’ Her voice came out like a squeak.

  He stepped up close to her, one of his hands threading through the silk of her silver-blonde hair, coiling it around his fingers, tethering her to him. ‘How much to be my mistress?’ he asked again, softly this time, smoulderingly, seductively.

  Ally’s eyes went wide with both apprehension and attraction. She could barely make sense of it. One part of her wanted to slap that arrogantly confident look off his too handsome face. The other part of her—the part she didn’t even recognise as herself—wanted to wind her arms around his neck and bring that sensual mouth down to hers. She could feel the seductive pull of his inscrutable dark gaze as it warred with hers, and she could see the flare of his pupils signalling the desire he was no longer bothering to conceal. The thought of him possessing her intimately made her knees sag and her legs go weak. She could feel her inner body beginning to pulse with an ache for fulfilment she instinctively knew he would be more than capable of satisfying. She felt it in his touch; she breathed it in his male scent. The power and potency of him was making her whole body leap to fervent life.

  ‘I am a very rich man, Ally,’ he said into the erotically charged silence. ‘What is it you want? Diamonds? An apartment? An all-expenses-paid holiday to somewhere exotic?’

  Ally moistened her lips, wondering what he would say if she told him what she really wanted. She wanted her sister to be well most of all—and she would do anything, and give anything to bring that about.

  But for herself personally? That was simple. It was what most women wanted. Ally wanted to be loved, to be swept off her feet and adored by a man who would remain faithful to her, supporting her through all of life’s ups and downs. And she wanted to have children, so she could experience the stability of a loving family unit and make up for all she and Alex had missed out on in the past.

  ‘I want security,’ she said in the end, taking the middle ground. ‘It is how women are made. It’s in our genetic code. We choose partners on the basis of how good a provider they can be. There is nothing sinister or avaricious about it. It’s just the way things are.’

  His mouth slanted in a smile as he slowly unwound her hair from his fingers. ‘So you are making a science out of seduction, no?’

  Ally pursed her lips at him, trying not to shiver in reaction as each hair on her head responded to his touch. ‘I’m not trying to seduce you, Vittorio,’ she said. ‘I am trying to be sensible about this…this unusual situation we are in.’

  His charcoal eyes bored into hers. ‘It is, as you say, unusual—but that does not mean it cannot be mutually satisfying,’ he said. ‘You apparently made the mistake of falling for a married man. I dare say a lot of women have done so many times before, and no doubt very many will continue to do so in the future. But I am not married, and you are now free, so why not explore the possibilities?’

  ‘W-what do you mean by p-possibilities?’ she asked, stumbling over her words as he cupped the nape of her neck with the warmth of his palm.

  His gaze went to her mouth. ‘Do I need to spell it out for you, Ally?’

  Her throat moved up and down as his gaze locked on hers. ‘I’m not ready for…for any…er…entanglements…’ she said.

  ‘Do not tell me you still have hankerings after Rocco?’ he asked as his index finger began a slow caress from the shell of her ear right to the corner of her mouth.

  Ally gave a mental gulp as he stopped just short of her tingling, quivering lips. ‘N-no, this is not about Rocco,’ she said. ‘I care nothing for him.’

  He hooked one brow upwards, his dark eyes still watching her intently. ‘Nothing at all, eh?’

  She gave her head a little shake. ‘No…he means nothing to me…er…now.’

  He studied her features in silence for a moment or two before saying, ‘I will leave you to prepare for our first public outing this evening. I have already phoned my older sister Justina and her husband, and told them of our affair. They will accept you as my current love interest—you will have no need to feel uncomfortable around them if you happen to meet them over the next few days. They believe, as I had hoped, that the press made a stupid mistake.’

  ‘What about Rocco? Have you told him about us?’ Ally asked.

  ‘Yes, but he was not happy about my solution to the problem,’ he said, his dark, mysterious gaze piercing as it held hers. ‘I found that intriguing, considering he begged me to do something about you hassling him.’

  Ally sent her tongue out to moisten her lips. ‘Perhaps your brother-in-law hasn’t told you everything that went on between us? Have you considered that?’

  ‘I am looking into it from all angles, so to speak, in case one or both of you is not being up-front and honest with me,’ he said with another penetrating look. ‘But I think I already know who is lying. It is so obvious, is it not?’

  Ally felt her nerves start to fray at the edges at his cat-and-mouse tactics. ‘I will not be toyed with by you as I was by your cowardly brother-in-law,’ she said tightly. ‘I am not some cheap tart who can be bought and then thrown away when you’re finished with me. I’m telling you now if I was really involved with you I would not go away without a fight.’

  He moved forward again, before she could counteract it, and tipped up her chin with his hard fingers, his eyes clashing with hers. ‘Then you have just met your match, Ally Sharpe,’ he said with a smouldering look. ‘For I like nothing better than a showdown, and this one I can feel in my blood is going to end up with us in bed.’

  Ally pulled out of his hold and glared up at him. ‘Get out!’ she shrieked. ‘Get out of here you bast—’

  He put his hand over her mouth, blocking the rest of her words. ‘Do not shout at me, cara,’ he said in an infuriatingly calm tone. ‘The household staff will think we are not as in love as we claim to be.’


  Ally tried to say I hate you against the firm pressure of his palm, but it came out muffled. So instead she sank her teeth into the pad of his thumb, hard enough to break the skin. He put her from him with a muttered curse, his mouth covering the place where hers had been. There was something disconcertingly intimate about the action; his mouth was now in contact with traces of her saliva.

  She took a step backwards, shocked at her behaviour, ashamed by how she was reacting to him. ‘I—I’m sorry,’ she said, her colour rising. ‘Are you…are you OK?’

  He wrapped his thumb in his handkerchief before he met her anxious gaze. ‘It is nothing—just a scratch.’

  She stepped forward and took his hand, carefully unwrapping the makeshift bandage and looking at the imprint of her teeth on his skin.

  She looked up at him, his hand still cradled in hers. ‘Please forgive me. I can’t believe I just did that. I’m not normally the type of person to lose control like that.’

  His dark eyes seemed to be particularly intent as they held hers. ‘Not according to my brother-in-law. And do not forget I have photographs of you acting very much out of control.’

  Ally bit her bottom lip as she let his hand go. ‘I’m not really myself right now,’ she said with unintentional irony. ‘I have been having some problems lately…’

  ‘What sort of problems?’

  ‘Emotional stuff,’ she said, lowering her gaze a fraction. ‘I’ll be fine now. I’ve finally accepted Rocco is not available. I was naïve to get involved with him. I should have seen the signs. I’m hopeless at reading people—married men in particular. Some are just flirting for the sake of it. I should have left him alone, but I became a little obsessed. I feel embarrassed thinking about it now. It was so out of character and immature of me.’

  ‘It is of no importance now,’ he said. ‘We have resolved the situation rather cleverly, have we not? In two weeks it will all be over. You can go back to London or Australia and resume your former life.’

  ‘Yes…’ Ally said, thinking longingly of her neat, ordered life back at home. She didn’t want to think about how boring and empty it seemed in comparison. Doing so made the last few hours seem like a hair-raising rollercoaster of emotion—emotion she had never thought herself capable of feeling.

  Vittorio moved to the door. ‘I will see you downstairs at seven. I will send Ghita up to show you the way.’

  Ally watched as the door closed behind him. She felt as if she was trapped inside with all her lies, each one she had told circling above her head like a hornet waiting to strike.

  She gave a little shiver and turned away—only to confront the door that connected Vittorio’s sleeping quarters with hers. She drew in a prickly breath and walked across the cloud-soft rug. She lifted her hand to turn the key, but before she had even placed her fingers on the key she heard the sound of the door being locked from the other side. Her hand fell back by her side, her breathing shallow and uneven as she thought about what had motivated Vittorio to lock the door himself.

  Was it because he didn’t trust her? Or, even more alarming, was it because he didn’t trust himself?

  Ally took her mobile into the bathroom with her and called her sister, only to be told by one of the clinic staff that Alex was having a particularly bad time of it and had had to be heavily sedated again.

  ‘I am afraid she began self-mutilating,’ the psychiatric nurse informed her soberly. ‘Somehow she found something sharp. The doctor has changed the dosage of her medication, so she should be feeling better in a day or two. I will tell her you called.’

  Ally felt her stomach clench in anguish. ‘Do you think I should come straight there as soon as I can get a train or a flight?’ she asked.

  ‘No, it is better for us to deal with her. Sometimes visits by family members can make things harder in the early stages of rehabilitation. We have a wonderful therapist who is assigned to Alex. She is confident she can bring your sister back to full health. Try not to be too concerned—she is in very good hands. We just have to be patient until she is stabilised.’

  In spite of the clinic nurse’s assurances, Ally felt sick with worry as she closed the face of her phone. But she had other things to be concerned about besides her sister’s health. In less than two hours she had to meet the press in her role as Vittorio Vassallo’s mistress. How on earth would she maintain her composure if he decided to kiss her, as she was almost certain he had intended to do earlier? Her lips were still buzzing from that feather-light touch that had come so tantalisingly close to her mouth.

  She wasn’t used to men like Vittorio Vassallo. He was too powerful, too arragantly male, too disturbingly attractive, and way too clever to be outwitted by someone as hopelessly inadequate as her. She was living on a razor edge; every moment was fraught with the possibility of being exposed. She realised she would have to tread even more carefully now. The last thing she needed was to fall in love with Vittorio Vassallo. Not only was he way out of her league, since the moment they had met she had done nothing but deceive him…

  After a short rest Ally had a cool shower—only to come out of the en suite bathroom and find Ghita had unpacked her suitcase. She was now trying to unlock Alex’s case, fortunately without success.

  ‘It’s all right,’ Ally said, securing the towel around her breasts. ‘I don’t need that one unpacked.’

  The young housemaid looked at her in surprise. ‘But Signor Vassallo told me to unpack all of your things. I must do as he says or I might lose my job.’

  Ally took the case and, sliding open the large wall-to-wall wardrobe, shoved it in and closed the door again. ‘There,’ she said, turning to smile at the girl. ‘Now he’ll never know. It can be our little secret.’

  Ghita still looked worried. ‘You do not have much with you,’ she said. ‘I pressed your clothes while you were in the bathroom, and it did not take me long. You only have one evening dress in that bag. You will need more than that if you are to live with Signor Vassallo.’

  Ally unwound the towel she had turban-like on her head, keeping her gaze averted from Ghita’s curious one. ‘I don’t think I will be staying here all that long. I am sure you have seen many of his women-friends come and go before. I’m surprised he hasn’t fitted a revolving door on his bedroom.’

  Ghita giggled. ‘He is…I do not know how to say it in English…alesato facilmente.’

  Ally turned to look at her blankly. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand.’

  Ghita’s brow wrinkled as she searched for an alternative. ‘He is agitato.’

  ‘Agitated? Restless?’

  The young housemaid smiled. ‘That is it! Restless and easily bored. You are helping me so much with my English. I have not studied as hard as I should. I left school too early—but I had to as my mother became ill. She is better now, but I did not want to go back to school.’

  ‘I think you speak very well indeed,’ Ally said.

  ‘Grazie, Signora Sharpe,’ Ghita said, blushing slightly.

  ‘Please call me Ally,’ Ally insisted. ‘I hate being addressed by my married name.’

  ‘What is your maiden name?’ Ghita asked.

  ‘Benton,’ Ally said.

  ‘That is a nice name.’

  ‘Thank you…I mean grazie, Ghita.’

  Ghita grinned. ‘You will be speaking Italian like a native in no time.’

  ‘I don’t think I will be here long enough to pick up more than one or two phrases,’ Ally said as she selected underwear from where Ghita had neatly stored it in the wardrobe.

  ‘It is true Signor Vassallo does not settle very long with anyone, but you are the first he has brought here to his palazzo,’ Ghita said. ‘My mother says he is looking for the perfect woman—but who is perfect? There is no such thing. Women are human, sì?’

  ‘Yes, very much so,’ Ally agreed.

  ‘Do you need help getting dressed?’ Ghita asked.

  ‘No, thank you, Ghita, I can manage. As you say, I only have the one
dress, and it won’t take me long to dry my hair and put on some make-up.’

  ‘I am sure Signor Vassallo will buy you many beautiful things while you are with him. He is very generous with his lovers.’ Ghita smiled wistfully. ‘I am sure he is magnifico in the bedroom, no?’

  ‘I really wouldn’t know about—’ Ally began, quite flustered.

  Realising she might have overstepped the mark, Ghita sheepishly returned to her work.

  Ally was relieved when the young girl left her to dress in peace. She didn’t want to hear about Vittorio’s past lovers or his prowess in bed. She didn’t want to even think about him with another woman. In fact she didn’t want to think about him at all—but that was going to be impossible with whatever he had planned for her for the next two weeks, living with him in his palazzo under the watchful eye of the media. How on earth was she going to bear it?

  Vittorio was standing looking out of the west-facing terrace windows when Ghita led Ally into the room. He turned and felt a shockwave of red-hot desire pulse through him at the vision of her standing there, so elegantly tall in her heels, her slim body perfectly showcased in a pastel blue satin cocktail dress that clung lovingly to every delightful curve of her body. Her face was delicately made up, neither too little nor too much, just enough to bring out the unusual deep blue of her eyes and the creamy perfection of her skin.

  Her appearance confirmed everything he had learned in a few choice phone calls a few minutes ago. He wanted to be angry at her, but instead he felt as if she had unlocked his hardened heart in a way he had never imagined possible. It would perhaps be mean of him to allow her to continue her charade for a little longer, but he found her act so delightfully charming now some of the pieces of the puzzle had slipped into place. She was so endearingly naïve, so devoted to keeping her façade in place, she had no idea how many clues she was dropping without realising it. Leaving her handbag in the car had been one of them. What he had found inside had confirmed his suspicions. But he wanted to find out a little more before he showed her his hand.