Tension stretched almost to breaking point between them as silence settled after her angry words. In her head she could hear her heartbeat, the fast thump of blood rushing around her body. It should have been ignited by her anger, but the flutter in her stomach as he stepped closer made it something else entirely.
It was raw attraction. Something she didn’t want to feel. Not now and not for this man.
He stepped even closer, his height towering over her in the darkness, and she looked up into his eyes, wanting to appear fearless but afraid he’d see just what an effect he could have on her. Could he hear her heart pounding? Had he noticed her breath, ragged and unsteady?
‘Dangerous words, cara.’ Each word was low and soft like a cat purring, but she sensed the coil of tension in him, the cool detachment from the emotions that careered inside her. He was more like a tiger preparing to strike.
‘I came here to see what Seb had been working on,’ she said, trying hard to beat down the flutter of emotions, and walked away from him towards the stairs. ‘So, can we just do that? Then I’d like to check into a nearby hotel.’
She didn’t wait for his answer, didn’t look at his face, but every nerve in her body told her he was watching her—intently. She was about to go up the stairs when light flooded the reception area and she blinked against it and turned to face him. The sleek clean lines of the interior of the building were exactly as she would have imagined and, unable to help herself, she looked around her, trying hard to ignore the man who stood in the centre of the marble floor and the superiority which radiated from him.
‘This way,’ he said and passed her as she waited at the foot of the stairs, his scent of musk and male trailing in his wake. ‘We’ll take the lift.’
She bit her bottom lip, anxiety rushing at her. Was she really ready to see what Seb had been working on? She wasn’t, but this was what she had to do, what she needed to do before she could put the last year behind her.
She became aware that Alessandro was watching her, waiting for her to enter the lift. ‘We don’t have to do this tonight.’
Was that genuine concern in his voice? Her gaze locked with his and everything around them spun. Everything blurred as the dark depths of his eyes met and held hers. Time seemed to be suspended, as if everything was standing still. She lowered her lashes. Now was not the time to get fanciful. She’d never been that way inclined, had never hankered after notions of instant attraction. So why now? And why this man?
‘I want to.’ The words rushed from her as she stepped quickly into the lift. ‘I just hadn’t anticipated it. Today started just like any other, then you arrived...’ Her voice trailed off and she looked down at her hands, feigning interest in her unpainted nails.
‘I should have contacted you first but I didn’t think you’d see me.’ His tone was calm and so matter-of-fact she glanced up at him. He appeared totally unaffected by the whole situation.
‘I wouldn’t have.’ She flashed him a smile and, from the expression on his face, he hadn’t missed the sarcasm. ‘I wouldn’t have seen you and I would never have come here.’
The lift doors opened onto a vast office but she paid little attention to the hard masculine lines and marched out of the lift, drawn inexplicably to the wall of windows, offering an unrivalled view of Milan’s twinkling skyline.
She should feel too irritated by his assured presence to notice even one thing about his office, but that was so far from the truth it was scary. She should be thinking of Seb, should be focusing on what he’d done here, not the man he’d worked with.
‘Grazie.’ The deep tone of his voice unsettled her and, as she stopped to look out over the city, she saw his reflection behind her, saw him move closer.
‘What for?’ Her gaze met his reflected in the glass and a coil of tension pressed down inside her. She knew at any minute it could snap.
‘Your honesty. Saying you wouldn’t want to see me.’ His reflection shrugged nonchalantly, his gaze so intense it obliterated the view. All she could see was him. Then her heart plummeted in disappointment. None of this really mattered to him. It was all about the Roselli image and launching a new car.
‘I have no reason to conceal my dislike of you, Mr Roselli.’
Liar! a voice called in her head. She didn’t dislike him. She should. The fizz of attraction was at war with the blame she still laid at his door, despite his earlier assurances that the accident had been nothing more than a tragedy.
‘Dislike. Is that not a bit strong?’ He moved unbearably close, his eyes holding hers in the reflection in the window.
She had to stop this now, whatever this was. Something she couldn’t control was happening between them and she didn’t like it. Or did she?
‘Oh, I dislike you intensely, Alessandro.’ She turned, her words a hurried whisper. Who was she trying to convince? ‘And right at this moment I have no idea what I’m doing here.’
His eyes turned blacker than the night sky, their swirling depths mesmerising. She couldn’t break eye contact. The power he’d had as he’d looked at her reflection had been intense, but this all-consuming fire which had leapt to life in her was too much.
‘You are here, cara, because you couldn’t help yourself.’ His voice was deep and gentle, caressing every heightened nerve in her body into submission. ‘Because this is what you need to do—for Seb.’
At the mention of her brother’s name the spell slipped away like morning mist as the sun came up. She could see everything sharply and in focus again. She was here for Seb—a fact she had to keep in the forefront of her mind—or lose it to the seductive charms of the worst man she could possibly fall for.
‘Exactly.’ Her eyes maintained contact with his and she saw the moment they turned to glittering blackness. ‘So I’d like to see where he worked, what he did.’
* * *
Alessandro couldn’t move, mesmerised by the intensity of what had just passed between them. For the last few weeks he’d been irritated at the thought of contacting Seb’s sister, had put the moment off for as long as possible. But, whatever he had been expecting when they’d finally met, it wasn’t the raw desire that coursed wildly through him.
If she’d been any other woman he’d have acted upon that need; he would have kissed her and explored the passion that lingered expectantly, just waiting for the touch-paper to be lit so it could explode into life.
‘Si, così,’ he instructed her to follow, unable to gather his thoughts quickly enough to use English, a situation he’d never known before.
‘Thank you.’ Those two words were so soft, so seductive he almost couldn’t move. He fought the urge to press his lips to hers. Thankfully, she stepped back, enough to remind him what he should and definitely shouldn’t be doing.
With intent, he made his way across the vast expanse of his office, resisting the urge to look in the windows and see her reflection following. He didn’t need to. His body told him she was; even if he hadn’t heard her footsteps on the marble behind him he would have known she was there.
‘This is where Seb worked.’ He went through a door at the end of his office into the room Seb had claimed as his own, the emptiness of it almost too harsh. On the far wall was the first drawing that Seb had done of the car. But still the office looked stark.
Something akin to guilt touched him. He should have brought Charlie here sooner and not left it until the last days before the launch. He should have done this a long time ago, but he’d been anxious to conceal the truth—for Seb’s sake as much as his sister’s.
As Charlie walked past him he caught a hint of her perfume; instantly he was transported back to her garden and the sweet smells of an English summer. Her deep ragged breath, inhaled quickly, drew his attention back to the present.
‘Is