Rich and Outrageous: His Poor Little Rich Girl / Deserving of His Diamonds? / Enemies at the Altar
his tight expression. ‘Don’t apologise,’ he said. ‘You’ve only been here a couple of days. For now I would like simply to spend time getting to know you as a person. I have just invested a large sum of money into your business. I want to know everything there is to know about you.’
‘There’s not much to tell,’ Rachel said.
‘I am sure you are underselling yourself,’ Alessandro said. ‘For instance, I did not know you could cook. What other talents do you have now that you didn’t have before?’
‘They’re not really talents,’ Rachel said. ‘More like interests, I guess you would say.’
‘Such as?’
‘I love wandering around art galleries and museums,’ she said. ‘I once spent the whole day in The Victoria and Albert Museum in London.’
‘When did you visit London?’ Alessandro asked.
‘A couple of years ago,’ she said. ‘It was after my father lost everything. I wanted to escape for a while.’
‘How long were you abroad?’
‘Two months,’ Rachel said. ‘I went to Paris too. I spent days and days wandering around there. It’s such a beautiful city.’
‘It can be a very lonely city on your own,’ he said. ‘It is best to be there with a lover.’
‘I am sure you have been there many times with many lovers,’ Rachel said.
‘I know Paris very well,’ he answered with a ghost of a smile. ‘I will look forward to sharing it with you next week.’
Rachel tried not to think of all the beautiful women he had escorted all over Europe. She’d bet he had not rejected their advances the way he had hers just now. Her doubts and insecurities haunted her all over again. Craig had berated her so often on how she turned him off. It was hard to know if Alessandro was experiencing the same turn off or whether he was still struggling with the limitations from his illness. Either way she felt ashamed about admitting so openly how much she wanted him. It gave him so much more power over her.
‘You didn’t think of coming to Italy during that trip?’ Alessandro asked.
She looked at his expression but couldn’t read it. ‘I did think of it. I had heard you had become successful over here. But I didn’t think you would want to see me after what I did.’
‘So you think I should have forgiven you by now, do you, Rachel?’ he asked, still with that unfathomable look on his face.
‘I think being bitter doesn’t help anyone in the long run,’ she said. ‘I have many regrets over the past. But I like to think I have put in place steps that will stop me making the same mistakes I did back then.’
His dark eyes held hers for a lengthy moment. ‘I guess the next two and a half weeks will prove that one way or the other, will they not?’
‘I want to make amends, Alessandro,’ she said. ‘I really do.’
He didn’t answer immediately. She watched as he rose from the sofa and reached for his crutches. ‘Goodnight, Rachel,’ he said. ‘I will see you in the morning.’
Rachel got to her feet, her hands going to a twisted knot in front of her body. He was dismissing her again, showing her he was not the lovesick young man of the past. He was all sophistication and control now. He had kissed her but he had so easily pulled away while her body still hummed and throbbed like a tuning fork struck too hard.
‘Goodnight,’ she said, her voice coming out soft and husky, but he had already turned and left the room.
WHEN Rachel came downstairs the next morning Lucia was bustling about in the kitchen. She looked up from her task of brewing coffee and smiled. ‘Signor Vallini told me you are staying on for the rest of the month,’ she said. ‘That is very good. It will be good for him to have company. He needs to be distracted from work. He works too hard. No wonder he got sick. I tell him all the time. All work no play makes for a very out-of-balance life.’
‘He’s certainly very driven,’ Rachel said.
‘You knew him before, sì?’ Lucia asked.
‘Yes, did he tell you?’
Lucia chuckled. ‘He didn’t need to tell me. I am not blind. I see the sparks that fly.’
‘He hates me,’ Rachel said with a slump of her shoulders. ‘We were dating for a short time five years ago but I ended up engaged to someone else.’
‘Ah, now it all makes sense,’ Lucia said.
‘There isn’t a day that’s passed that I haven’t regretted what I did,’ Rachel said. ‘I was too young to see what I was throwing away. If we’d had more time together things might have been so different.’
‘He will forgive you in time. He is a passionate man. It is the Italian blood in him. He is proud too. Very proud.’
‘Is that coffee for him?’ Rachel asked, pointing to the tray the housekeeper was setting up.
‘Yes,’ Lucia said, handing it over the counter. ‘He is in the study.’
The door of the study was closed so Rachel had to balance the tray on one bent knee in order to free her hand to knock on it.
‘Entrare.’
She entered the room and Alessandro looked up from his computer screen. ‘Where’s Lucia?’ he asked.
‘I thought I’d give her a hand,’ Rachel said. ‘Where would you like this?’
He waved a dismissive hand to a side table near the window overlooking the gardens. ‘Leave it over there,’ he said, returning his gaze to his computer screen.
Rachel placed the tray where he said and came to stand by his left shoulder. ‘What are you working on?’ she asked.
He looked at her irritably. ‘Don’t you have things of your own to do?’ he asked.
Rachel stood her ground. ‘Why are you being so prickly this morning? Did you get out on the wrong side of the bed or something?’
His dark blue eyes clashed with hers, a tussle of wills, a heated exchange, and the unmistakable sexual tension building with each pulsing second. Almost without realising she was doing it Rachel reached out with her hand, a butterfly touch to the lean shape of his jaw. Her soft skin snagged on the masculine stubble even though he had shaved that morning. She trailed a finger down to his mouth, outlining his lips, top and bottom, all the while feeling her stomach dip and dive as his eyes darkened immeasurably.
‘What do you think you are doing?’ Alessandro asked in a voice that sounded deep and scratchy.
‘I’m not sure …’ Her hand fell away as her creamy cheeks bloomed with a soft tide of pink.
Alessandro captured her hand and brought it back to his mouth, his lips moving against the tips of her fingers, watching as her grey-green eyes flared with desire. It pleased him that she wanted him. It was part of the plan: to make her want him and then walk away from her the way she had done to him. Making love with her was something he had dreamed of for years. He dreamed of the silk of her skin moving against his, the movement of her lips, the way she met his tongue with hers, dancing around it until she finally capitulated. Their kiss last night had almost undone him. He wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to touch her and caress her until she remembered only his touch, no one else’s. He wanted her like a force that came from somewhere so deep inside him he had no idea how to turn it off. It consumed him. He had lain awake last night burning with need, his body hot and hungry for her and only her. But he was not sure if he could trust his body just yet. What if he couldn’t perform as she hinted