“Your girlfriend Sophia accosted me in the lobby this morning.”
His eyes narrowed. “Define accosted.”
She shrugged slim shoulders. “Maybe not accost, but she certainly gave me an earful.”
“She is in the past,” he told her carelessly.
Her eyes blazed at that.
“Don’t dismiss me, Piero. That woman told me that you were engaged to her and how much the two of you were in love.”
“Am I with her?”
“Oh Jesus! Are you for real? You are not with her because she up and married someone else. She said the two of you had a stupid fight and she went with someone else and got pregnant. She wants you back and told me so herself.”
He leaned back against the padded cushion and made a mental note to have a talk with Sophia. He did not appreciate being placed in this uncomfortable position and he hated scenes. To him it was unproductive and a waste of emotions.
“And her saying that is going to make me go back to her? Take things up back with her? I am married to you, Lauren, and that should tell you something.”
“What exactly should it tell me? That you are over her? Are you?”
“There is no point to this discussion, and I would like it to be shelved. I find it distasteful and upsetting.”
“So do I, but I want to iron this out right now.”
“There is nothing to iron out, as you put it.”
“Are you in love with her?” she demanded, incensed that he was brushing off what to her was something akin to disastrous.
“She has nothing to do with us.”
“There you go again, avoiding the question which gives me the answer.”
“I am sure it does not.” His eyes glinted coldly. “I will make sure she does not bother you again.”
“What are you going to do? Pacify her with a roll in her bed? Silence her by agreeing to see her on the side?”
His face hardened and for a moment she shrank back at the look on his handsome face, realizing that she did not really know this man she had married.
“I will not dignify that with a response. I will give the allowance because you are upset, but I do not appreciate being talked to like that. I would like to ask you very firmly to cease and desist from this topic of conversation because I refuse to prolong it. I find it distasteful and ill-timed. I will summon the waiter over to remove your plate and to bring something else.”
“Go to hell!”
He went rigid at that, his dark eyes going flat. He stared at her for a moment before taking a sip of his wine before responding.
“Be very careful Lauren.” His voice was silky soft, his face expressionless.
“Or what? You are going to divorce me?”
He laughed mirthlessly, the sound grating on her exposed nerves. “That is out of the question.”
“Why did you marry me, Piero?”
“I thought it was pretty obvious. I cannot keep my hands off you.” His dark eyes wandered over the exposed flesh over the scooped neckline of her De Luca dress and he felt the familiar stirring of desire in his loins.
“That’s it? You have an itch for me and thought that marrying me was the best thing to do? We could have had an affair,” she said bitterly.
“You are beautiful and highly desirable. Marrying you was something I had to do.”
Chapter 4
“Marrying you was something I had to do.” The words reverberated inside her head as they made their way back to the hotel. The evening had gone downhill from then, and after a few minutes, he had summoned the waiter to clear away their plates and had suggested that they go back to the hotel. The half hour ride had seemed interminable with her scooting as far away from him as possible and staring out at the night. He had taken her elbow, dismissing the manager who had rushed towards them and asked if there was anything they needed and guided them towards the elevator. He had also ignored the heads that had turned to track their progress. Lauren had wondered if he even noticed the eyes staring at him and realized that it was something he had become accustomed to. Piero De Luca had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth and had eyes on him since his birth. He had taken it for granted, but it was something new to her. She was also starting to wonder how on earth they were going to make a marriage work with photo lenses pointed at them every second of the day. She had seen a reporter lurking behind the fern in the lobby and knew that he had gotten a shot or two of them coming inside. She wondered if he had caught the look of dissension between them. Her husband’s face was expressionless, but hers looked as if the relationship had turned sour. She was not an actress and could not turn off her emotions at will.
“I am going to the bathroom,” she told him abruptly and without waiting for a response. She stalked away, slamming the door shut behind her and securing the lock in case he had the idea to come after her. Plopping the lid down, she sat on the toilet and buried her face into her hands. It stands to reason that she had a lot of thinking to do. Her husband obviously had feelings for another woman. It made her feel weepy and angry, but what did she expect? They had known each other for two months! People have been with each other for years and still did not know each other. Her mother had said something to that effect. “Honey, your husband is a complex man with a lot of power and money at his fingertips. He is not some simple man next door, with a nine to five job. On top of that is the way he looks. He is Italian and practically royalty – there are layers there and I doubt you have seen a quarter of it.”
Lauren feared that she was right. She did not know him – he was complex and aloof, and she had a feeling that it was only when he was in the throes of passion that he truly reveals his humanity. She remembered the first time they had made love and how he had stared down at her with a baffled expression on his handsome face.
“You surprise me,” he had explained as she asked him about it and had refused to explain what he meant by that. She had a feeling that he had not expected the passion to be so intense between them and it was frustrating him. She jumped at the knock on the door.
“Are you going to be staying in there all night?”
Even the sound of his slightly accented voice had the power to affect her.
“It is nice enough to sleep in,” she taunted. “I think I might just do that.”
“I have no intention of sleeping without you Lauren, even if it means breaking the door down.” His voice was silky, but she had a feeling that he meant every word.
“I need a minute.”
“You had several and I want you in my arms. I also want you to stop this nonsense and come out so that I can avail myself of your delectable body.”
“Is that all I am to you? A piece of flesh?” She demanded.
“I refuse to grace that question with a response.” He paused and waited for her to say something. “Lauren?”
Without responding, she got up from her perch and went to open the door. He had already taken off the clothes he had worn for dinner and had put on a robe, the sash tied loosely around his waist, giving her a glimpse of tanned skin and furrows of dark hair, showing that he was not wearing anything under the robe. She started to push past him, but he caught her arms and hauled her against him.
“I do not expect you to put a locked door between us. It is childish and it pisses me off. I will not allow it, do you understand?”