Читать книгу Mistress To a Latin Lover - Кэтти Уильямс, Jane Porter, Cathy Williams - Страница 8

CHAPTER ONE

“YOU’RE certain you want to do this?” Emilio asked, his tone mocking. “It’s not too late to leave.”

Cass stood perfectly still on the palazzo’s steps, briefly blinded by the intense light of the setting sun, and refused to let herself see-think-feel beyond the moment.

She had to do this.

She didn’t have a choice.

“The second you walk through the doors it’ll be too late.” Emilio was still talking, his words rushing over her like the warmth of the dazzling Sicilian sun. “If you’re going to run scared, do it now.”

Cass’s head jerked up and she forced herself to look at him, focus on his face. Emilio’s lips were curved and yet his eyes were hard. This was no game.

“Once inside those doors, you’re committed.” Emilio leaned toward her, dominating her. He’d once been Maximos’s best friend and former business partner but the two were enemies now. “Don’t think you can run away then.”

The ugliness in his eyes repelled her. She turned her head, smoothed her black skirt, made sure her fitted lace blouse lay flat over the waistband of her narrow skirt. “I’m not running,” she said huskily, before glancing up at the imposing face of the palazzo, the Giuliano family villa. The tall slender stone columns flanking the doorway supported a lovely iron balcony. Smaller iron balconies framed each of the white painted French doors overlooking the medieval piazza. It was a beautiful impressive home.

But why shouldn’t it be? Maximos was a beautiful impressive man.

Beautiful, impressive and cruel.

For a moment Cass felt nothing but grief. Grief borne of loss, the pain nearly as stunning as it had been six months ago when it felt as though Maximos had driven an iron nail into her heart.

Every breath hurt.

Every thought blistered.

Every emotion, pure agony.

She drew a sharp breath, remembering, reliving the pain. He’d destroyed her. Shattered something precious inside her. In the blink of an eye. In the parting of lips. In the single beat of the heart.

Fire raced through her veins now. Fire, anger, grief.

She’d loved him. Loved him more than she thought she’d ever love anyone and it had meant nothing. She’d just been a body. In his bed.

Emilio’s hand shot out, touched her arm. “If this is to work, he’s got to believe we’re together, that our relationship is serious.”

“He’ll believe it.” She swallowed hard, fighting the surge of emotion. She’d never liked Emilio—not when Maximos first told her about him, and her opinion hadn’t changed after a day traveling with him from Rome—but she needed him. He was her ticket into Maximos’s home. “I haven’t come this far to fail now.”

“So when are we getting married?” Emilio persisted.

“April 16.” Cass’s eyes burned. Maximos despised Emilio—no, despise wasn’t a strong enough word—make that hate. Maximos hated Emilio, and once Maximos saw the two of them together—she inhaled hard, sharply, pain splintering through her—he’d hate her, too.

“Where did we meet?”

“At the EFFIE Awards and we immediately hit it off.”

Emilio smiled. “And how did I propose?”

“During a romantic weekend in the Seychelles. The wedding is now just six months away. Did I forget anything?”

Emilio reached out, brushed a golden-brown tendril of hair from Cass’s brow. “He’ll never forgive you.”

For a moment she couldn’t breathe, her chest burning, heart on fire.

She didn’t want Maximos to hate her…didn’t want him to see her as the enemy. She’d once been his. She’d belonged to him body and soul…but wasn’t that why she’d agreed to do this in the first place?

Close the door on the past?

Focus squarely on the future?

Establish a future?

She put her hand to her middle, her insides churning, stomach knotting. It had been over six months, six months since the end of their relationship and she was still barely functioning, still dragging herself through the days, stunned, broken, catatonic.

Intellectually she knew this couldn’t continue. She was dying at work, losing accounts, losing respect. She couldn’t let a broken heart ruin her life.

It was time to move forward. She had to move forward, which is why she’d agreed to play the part of Emilio’s adoring fiancée.

“It won’t be pretty,” Emilio said, his voice dropping, the warning clear and yet he was also eager. Exhilarated.

It boggled her mind how much men loved war. And this was war, a horrible war that used love and betrayal instead of bullets and guns.

Emilio had invited her to join him at Maximos’s sister’s wedding, suggesting they pretend to be romantically involved because he wanted blood, Maximos’s blood, and she’d accepted Emilio’s invitation because in her own way, she wanted blood, too.

Her chest burned, fire, fire, and she felt only desperation to put an end to this madness. That she could have ever loved Maximos so deeply… that she could have ever given three years of her life to him, waiting, always waiting…

“Fine,” she said softly, facing the fire, letting the awful heartbreak burn, and it raged. Hot. Furious. Feverish. She’d been torn in half by love and now she’d fight, and fight hard. “I don’t want it pretty. I just want peace.”

She’d spent the worst six months of her life, the absolute worst months imaginable, trying to accept that she and Maximos were over. Finished. Through. And even after her body had stopped the wretched aching—experiencing a brutal physical withdrawal—her mind played games, turning every night, every dream, every man on the street into phantoms of Maximos.

She’d lived without him six months. It had felt like six years. She’d died a hundred times in the months since they said goodbye and in all that time, in all those months, there hadn’t been a call. A card. A word.

He simply let her go. But why shouldn’t he? She was just his mistress. He was entitled to have who he wanted, when he wanted. He was entitled to take and forget. After all he was Maximos Giuliano and she’d never asked for anything from him but sex.

Abruptly Cass moved forward, quickly climbing the villa’s broad stone front steps, the sun behind them painting the door a violent red. Before she could entertain second thoughts, she rapped hard on the stately front door and stepped back.

Seconds later the immense wooden front door opened. Emilio turned to Cass, flashed her a cunning smile. “Congratulations, Cass, darling. You’ve done it now.”

There was no time for regrets as the butler was ushering them through the vaulted entry into a grand salon off to the right, the salon’s high ceiling stenciled in gold and rose and pale blue.

Emilio kept his arm loosely slung around her waist as they entered the salon even as the enormity of her decision, the incredible stupidity, hit her, a violent blow to the side of the head and she exhaled with a whoosh.

Why had she gone for the dramatic end, the death of hope, the burial of love?

Make that the burial of her love as he’d never loved her. He’d worshiped her body, and only then, when he’d found her convenient and available, the brutal truth made clear six months ago when she dared to ask…to whisper…for more.

Ice coated her heart and for a moment she felt like little Oliver Twist from the Dickens novel, begging, begging. Please, sir, can I have some…more?

And just like that Maximos had roared back, More? Did you say more?

Actually he hadn’t shouted. He hadn’t even asked her to repeat what she’d said. He’d simply given the Maximos acceptance, a half shrug, the calm, unruffled approach he took to all matters pertaining to her. To them.

Them. What a horrible little word. Them, just “the” with an m tacked on at the end.

Them.

But them, in terms of Maximos and Cass meant only one thing—sex. Hot, hungry, insatiable.

Just thinking of sex—Maximos—her body ached inwardly, the terrible craving still there, beneath the surface, her emotions still so volatile.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

The familiar voice sent icy prickles rippling down Cass’s spine. Maximos.

She stiffened helplessly, the hair rising on her nape. Slowly she turned toward the voice, her body hot and then cold and hot again. From the beginning she’d been aware of Maximos as pure energy, a life force, a life force that completely overwhelmed her own. And then she saw him.

Maximos.

Dressed impeccably, elegantly, in a dark suit that fitted him as only an Italian cut suit could, he wore a sage-green shirt and tie and his golden-olive skin looked more burnished than ever, his onyx hair more polished, his hard features more beautiful. No one had eyelashes thicker, darker, longer than Maximos. No one had a mouth that smiled so rarely but kissed so beautifully.

Her belly knotted. The desire nearly as painful as the heartbreak.

She tried to look away but couldn’t. She’d missed him too much. Missed his height. His build. His face. His body. She’d missed everything about him. But particularly his body. Missed the way his body stretched to cover hers, missed the way his hands wrapped around her wrists, missed the way he held her, made love to her, missed the tension of him—them—together.

There was sex, and then there was passion, and what they had was sex and passion—the hottest, most explosive, most intoxicating passion, the kind that grabbed hold of you by the throat and didn’t let go. The kind that owned you, possessed you, made you its slave.

There were other big men in the room, other men with height, but no one carried himself the way Maximos did. No one with his confidence. His arrogance. His intense physical presence. Even from across the room she felt aware of him. Too aware. And just looking at him she felt sick with longing. Missing. Desire.

Nothing in her life had ever felt as good as Maximos with her, against her.

Nothing in her life had ever felt as awful as Maximos leaving her, walking out the door.

“Good to see you, too,” Emilio said, filling the awful silence.

“You’ve no business being here,” Maximos said, ignoring Cass completely and she wasn’t entirely surprised. Once he moved forward he didn’t look back. He didn’t harbor regrets.

“I was invited,” Emilio answered, raising his wineglass in a mock salute.

“Not by my family.”

Emilio allowed himself a small smile. “No, by the groom’s family. My father and Antonio’s father go way back.”

“How extremely unfortunate.”

Emilio grinned. “Are you going to call off the wedding now?”

“No. I’ll just have to dispose of you. Quietly. Quickly.” Maximos flashed teeth, a savage wolf snarl. “Shouldn’t be difficult.”

“Not with the connections you have.”

“If I had the mafia connections you say I do, you wouldn’t still be around.” Maximos turned his head, fixed his dark gaze on Cass. “And I would have known about you,” he added softly, his tone velvet with danger.

Cass’s heart stopped, flipped, as Maximos’s hard gaze rested on her.

She felt him consider her, felt the uncomfortable weight of his close scrutiny, and his expression, like the rest of him, was closed. Detached. Unreadable.

She’d never really known him, had she? She’d never really had him, either. And the shock of seeing him again, especially like this, was almost too great, her body awash in heat and ice, her stomach heavy, nauseous.

She’d planned this, she’d come here to confront him and yet she wondered now what she’d thought she’d really achieve.

How could there ever be peace between them? How could there ever be any resolution?

She’d loved him and he hadn’t cared. The memory was like a knife cutting inside her, slipping between her heart and breast bone. How could she be so easy to forget? So easy to lose?

How could she have meant so little to him…?

Remnants of the old pain rushed through her, and she sucked in her breath, lifted her shoulders so that the straps of her silk bra cut into her skin. Cass stared straight forward, stared at the hard lines and angles that shaped Maximos’s fierce face.

A man without tenderness. A man without softness of any kind.

Yet wasn’t he—their relationship—so perfectly her? So perfectly Cass? She’d never taken the easy road, never wanted that which was simple or familiar. No shortcuts for her. Just hard work. Incredible challenges. And impossibly high standards.

“Let me show you two to the door,” Maximos said now, his expression hard, blank, as he gestured toward the entry.

“Sorry to disappoint you, friend,” Emilio answered, wrapping his arm around Cass and kissing her temple. “But we’re going nowhere. Cass and I’ve traveled a long way and intend to stay.”

For a moment Maximos didn’t speak, his features blank, only his dark eyes betraying his anger. “This is my sister’s wedding.”

“Romantic, isn’t it?” Emilio answered.

But Maximos wasn’t paying Emilio attention. He only had eyes for Cass and his expression was hard, dangerous, so dangerous that Cass inhaled sharply and reminded herself to be brave. Fierce.

“You’re really here with him?” Maximos asked her, his deep voice pitched even lower.

Emilio drew Cass even closer to his side. “You have a problem with that?”

“I’m not talking to you,” Maximos answered, his eyes never leaving Cass’s face. “I want to hear it from her.”

“Why?” Cass whispered, mouth suddenly too dry, her heart hammering hard. “You walked away from me, if I remember correctly.”

Maximos’s lips curved and yet it wasn’t a pleasant smile at all. “But Sobato, Cass? Why him?”

“Because I knew it would make you crazy.” She smiled brazenly, hiding her pain, hiding the hurt wrapping her heart. She had to do this, had to get through this, had to get her old life—and confidence—back.

“Bitch.”

He’d cursed her so softly, his voice filled with so much hurt and anger, that hot tears, hot hateful tears, burned the back of her eyes.

“You, bitch,” he repeated roughly and this time Cass went icy and still on the inside.

She’d never heard Maximos speak to her with so much contempt in his voice and even though she’d expected it, it still cut deep, like the honed edge of a hunting knife.

She watched him turn away, his features so naked, so savage, that her heart pounded harder. Her mouth dried. She wasn’t ready for this, didn’t know how to do this, how to hurt the man she’d loved for so long.

This is wrong, she thought, panicked, desperate. I can’t do this, and instead of tough, fierce, she felt shattered all over again, felt the awful crack inside her chest. It hurt. Her chest. Her heart burning, breaking inside. The pain was back, returning full force, a demon awake.

Maximos’s head suddenly turned and his gaze met hers, his dark eyes hot, filled with rage and contempt. He was big, tall, broad through the shoulder, narrow hipped, with long strong legs. He chewed on life, tore it apart with his teeth. From the beginning she’d admired his fierceness, his tenacity, his unflinching ability to do what he wanted when he wanted. It was one of the things that drew her to him initially and it was one of the things that kept her at his side.

“You will pay,” he said softly, oblivious to all but her. “Don’t think you won’t.”

Maximos stomach churned, acid burning his gut, even as his thoughts burned black, nearly as black as the anger in his heart. To think this was the woman he’d once wanted more than any woman he’d ever known…to think this was the woman he’d trusted. Trusted.

And yet even feeling such anger and loathing, he still felt the impact of her lush honeyed beauty, her sensuality blatant, her curves ripe and full. Her black lace blouse molded her breasts, skimmed her narrow waist, played up her gold and amber coloring, her hair and eyes a striking topaz, glinting with fire and light. She didn’t need makeup to be beautiful. She didn’t need clothes or jewelry. No accessory in the world could make Cassandra Gardner more feminine or seductive than she already was.

“I’m not afraid,” Cass flashed, taking a quick breath even as she clutched her wineglass more tightly.

But Maximos noticed her quick breath, her lips parted, her lips a glossy tawny lipstick a shade darker than her honey-gold complexion.

He nearly reached out to rub the lipstick off her beautiful lips, wanting to feel her skin, wanting to make her his again.

She didn’t belong with Emilio Sobato. Sobato was trash while Cass was…

His.

His woman.

His.

There was no other way to think of her. No way he could ever think of her. She was his.

Only his.

“You should be,” he answered, remembering everything. Like the way she looked in his bed. The way she felt beneath him. The way he could never get enough of her, how he’d reach for her two, three times a night, night after night. “I know you, Cass.”

Cass took a step back, fingers damp around the stem of her wineglass. She was shaking on the inside, undone by his proximity and the intensity of her feelings.

She was still so attracted to him. Far too attracted. It was madness coming here. Stupidity. She was chasing him…chasing. God. She’d lost her mind completely.

She saw his gaze drop, sliding over her, a close and very intimate inspection as he examined her face, the pale skin between her breasts exposed by the cut of her blouse, the narrow fit of her black skirt as it skimmed her hips. He still liked her body.

But he didn’t like her.

Cass tried to ignore the horrible emotion building inside her. You can’t care, she told herself, you can’t let yourself be crushed or intimidated now. You came for closure. Get your damn closure and then get out of here.

“You knew the old me,” she said, chin tilting, expression bold. “But you don’t know me anymore.”

His dark gaze met hers, clashed, held. “And you’ve changed?”

“I’m not with you anymore, am I?”

Maximos smiled. Smiled. And she longed to knock that smug, self-satisfied expression off his face. “You would be, if you could,” he murmured.

Despite Maximos’s elegant shirt, the hint of sheen in the flawless fabric, the expensive dark suit, he looked more beast than man. Panther. Predator. And Cass flushed, feeling caught. Trapped. Exposed by a lie because of course he was right.

If he hadn’t left her, she would still be with him. There was no way she could have ever left him. She wasn’t that strong. She’d needed…wanted…him far too much.

“I hate you,” she said, the words slicing her heart into shreds.

He was not beautiful, she told herself, sucking in a defensive breath, not in any way beautiful. Yet with her eyes locked with his, she could feel the heat between them. The fire hadn’t died. Maybe there was no love here, but there was hunger. Fierce, carnal hunger. Touch, possession, desire.

Desire.

She swallowed, trying to suppress the curl of feeling in her belly, that electric sizzle of awareness, of knowledge. His touch had always lit a firestorm of need, his skin on hers warm, so warm, his body a pleasure and a torment.

“I’m not surprised.”

She blinked, gathered her composure, willing herself to be calm, regain her cool. She couldn’t lose it here, now. Not with Emilio hanging on her every word. Not with fifty-odd guests filling the palazzo’s grand salon.

She turned to Emilio, touched his arm, missing the leap of flames in Maximos’s dark eyes. “Should we get another drink?” She smiled up at Emilio, smiling to keep herself focused, to keep tears from welling in her eyes. She should have realized how hard this would be, should have remembered how intense the physical attraction had always been.

Hot. Dangerous.

“If you’re thirsty, Sobato will be happy to get you another drink,” Maximos answered. “You and I haven’t quite finished yet.”

She barely glanced at Maximos. “I think we have.”

“And I think you forget, carissima, whose home you’re in. You’ve trespassed,” Maximos answered, stepping toward her. “You’ve invaded my home, violated my privacy. Don’t think these transgressions come without a price—”

“Then name it,” she interrupted, finding the courage to stand up to him, even as she ignored the shivers racing down her spine.

“What is the penalty?” she added, furious with him, furious with herself. It was all coming back, the memories rushing through her, of love and loss, memories of him, memories of the midnight trip to the hospital, memories of intense pain, and loneliness. “Tell me what it is. I’m dying to know.”

“Do you two need a minute alone?” Emilio asked, suddenly helpful, deceptively innocent. “Because I could go get us drinks.”

“A great idea,” Maximos answered, cutting her own refusal short.

But it was all the encouragement Emilio needed, and with a casual gesture Emilio indicated he was off to find fresh drinks.

Eyes narrowed, lips thin, Maximos watched Emilio saunter off. “Your fiancé doesn’t seem too inclined to protect you.”

She, too, watched Emilio walk away and she hated the way her body suddenly felt weak, her legs flimsy beneath her. “Maybe because he knows you’re no threat.”

Maximos laughed, the sound deep, harsh, so harsh it scraped her heart, abrading her senses. “You know so little, cara, it scares me.” For a moment he was silent, and then his head turned and he considered her. “So what are you doing here?”

“I already told you—”

“No. Not that bullshit. I want the truth.”

“The truth?” Her voice cracked as his dark eyes settled on her, scorching her. He made her too aware of her own skin and body. They weren’t touching and yet his hands might as well be all over her. Her heart thudded hard and fast. Her insides felt hot and tight. Her knees shook beneath the slim skirt.

How was it possible to still feel so strongly? To still crave so much?

Cass felt wildly out of control, empty, suspended in air. Her insides felt tender, bruised, her insides felt turned out, exposed to air.

She needed peace. More than anything she craved peace. But with Maximos there was no peace. Just anger. Just pain. Just need.

“The truth,” he repeated. “Or has Sobato turned your head so completely you don’t even know that anymore?”

“Emilio’s been a perfect gentleman—”

“Impossible,” Maximos interrupted. “But go on, tell me whatever it is you and Sobato worked out between the two of you. Give me the truth…if you can remember to keep your story straight.”

Her mouth opened, shut. Shame swept her. Shame and indignation. Thank God there were no weapons here, nothing heavy to throw or swing, because otherwise she’d knock his smile away, knock his horrible arrogant smile off his face.

She hated him.

Hated.

How could she have ever felt any closeness, any sense of intimacy? Had the whole sexual aspect of their relationship colored her perceptions so thoroughly? Had his prowess in bed, his sexual expertise, made her believe there was more between them…or made her believe there could be more?

Now she wondered at it all, wondered at the idea they’d ever been anything but bed partners, that she’d been the way he satisfied his sexual needs.

A release, she taunted herself, and the taunting was like pouring acid on an open wound.

He suddenly reached out and touched a strand of her brown hair shot with honey-gold. “You’re not really with him, are you, bella?”

Bella. Beautiful. He’d always called her bella when he touched her, made love to her and the word had buried inside her, burrowing deep into her soul.

She blinked, holding back grief and tears. Shoulders lifting, she shrugged. “But I am.” She swallowed around the horrible lump filling her throat. “We’re engaged.”

“Engaged?” he repeated as if it were a word he’d never heard before.

Scalding tears burned the back of her eyes. “We’re getting married in April.”

For a moment he said nothing. His hand simply smoothed the silken strands of hair back from her face, tucking them behind her ear. “Why are you doing this, Cass?”

Her chest squeezed, lungs compressing. She didn’t want to do this anymore. “Doing what?”

“Pretending—”

“It’s real.” She forced a smile, smiling to hide the sheen of tears in her eyes. “We’re getting married. In April. In Padua.”

The color drained from his face. “Padua?”

“Yes.” She hoped her smile didn’t look as fake as it felt and reaching up, she tugged on her earlobe, jingling her dangling gold chandelier earring. She felt sick, hideous, horrible. Just get this over with, she told herself, finish what you started so you can go home and get on with the rest of your life. “That gives us six months to plan the wedding and reception.”

A small erratic pulse beat at his throat. “Why Padua?”

“Emilio said—”

“What?” Maximos was staring at her as if he’d seen a ghost, his dark eyes glazed, unseeing.

“That the city has a special significance for him.”

Abruptly Maximos turned away. His features had hardened, the skin taut, pale, like polished stone. “Get out.” His voice was low, raspy. “Get out before I personally throw you out.”