Читать книгу Mills & Boon Christmas Set - Кейт Хьюит - Страница 37

CHAPTER NINE

ANOTHER SLEEPLESS NIGHT. By now Larenzo was well used to insomnia. He’d slept badly in prison, on a thin mattress in a tiny cell with a thousand other prisoners shifting, coughing, and groaning around him. Ironic that he slept just as badly now that he was free, lying on a king-sized bed with the apartment quiet and still.

And Emma sleeping across the hall.

Although he knew he shouldn’t, he imagined rising from his bed, opening his door, and going into Emma’s room. Watching her sleep, her golden-brown hair spread across the pillow, her lithe body clad in those scanty pyjamas he remembered from their night in Sicily.

Then he imagined sliding into that bed with her, taking her in his arms, burying his face in her sweet-smelling hair, burying himself inside her body...

With a groan Larenzo rose from the bed and went to the en-suite bathroom to splash some cold water on his face. He had no business thinking of Emma that way. His libido might have leapt to life since he’d seen her again, but he had nothing left in his heart to give her. No ability to have a relationship, to trust or to love someone.

He loved Ava, because she was sweet and innocent, and she was his. His love for his daughter was rock solid, utterly unshakeable. But loving a woman? Trusting someone with the heart that had shattered into tiny fragments of nothingness?

Impossible.

And the alternative, some kind of fling or affair, would only further complicate what was already a tenuous arrangement. His face settled into a scowl as he thought of Emma’s suggestion. Housekeeper. He didn’t want her here as a housekeeper. She wasn’t his damned employee. She was here because she was the mother of his child, because she belonged—

Larenzo let out his breath in a hiss as he bowed his head. Emma belonged with Ava, but not with him. Not like that. Never like that.

So perhaps, much as he had instinctively disliked the idea, it was better that she act as housekeeper. Perhaps having a clearly defined role would help them navigate this arrangement with a minimum of awkwardness.

A soft cry interrupted the wrangling of his own thoughts and Larenzo realised that Ava had woken up. Quickly he left his room and went to the nursery. His daughter was standing up in her crib, her face streaked with tears. Larenzo’s heart twisted with a powerful mixture of love, protectiveness, and sorrow. Sleeping in a strange place had to be a frightening experience for the child.

He picked her up, and again his heart twisted as Ava settled against his bare chest, her cheek resting over his heart. Larenzo stroked her back and without even realising what he was doing, he began to croon a lullaby in Italian. ‘E dormi, dormi, dormi, bambin de cuna. To mama no la gh’è la a-sé andà via.’

The words came to him unbidden, from a deep well of memory. He stroked Ava’s hair and watched as his daughter’s eyelids eventually drooped.

After several minutes when he was sure she was deeply asleep, he laid her back in the crib and watched her for a moment, her thick, dark lashes fanning her plump baby cheeks.

‘That’s a beautiful lullaby.’

Larenzo stiffened, his gaze moving from his sleeping daughter to the woman standing in the doorway of the nursery. Emma’s hair was tousled about her shoulders, her golden-green eyes wide and luminous. Larenzo dropped his gaze and saw with a hard kick of desire that she was wearing just what he’d imagined: a thin T-shirt that moulded to the shape of her breasts and a pair of boy shorts. He felt his body respond, and in only a pair of drawstring pyjama bottoms he knew Emma would be able to tell if she lowered her gaze just as he’d lowered his.

‘She’s asleep,’ he whispered, and moved quietly out of the nursery, brushing past Emma as he did so. He sucked in a hard breath as her breasts nudged against his chest, and her hair whispered against his cheek. He inhaled the scent of her, sweetness and sleep, and he averted his face from the temptation of hers.

Emma closed the door behind him and they stood in the hallway, only a few inches separating them, the only light coming from a lamp Larenzo had left on in the living room, its warm glow spilling onto the floor.

It was so reminiscent of that night in the villa, the way things had shifted between them in the quiet and dark. Barriers had disappeared, defences had dropped. In that bubble of solitude and intimacy there had only been the two of them, seeking and finding both solace and pleasure.

And there were just the two of them now, standing so close together, the only sound the sigh and draw of their breathing.

‘What did it mean?’ Emma asked in a whisper, and Larenzo forced himself to meet her gaze, to hold himself still, when all he wanted to do was drag her into his arms, forget everything but this, them, for a little while.

‘What did what mean?’

‘The lullaby. I couldn’t make out the Italian. I’m rusty, I suppose.’

‘Oh... Sleep, sleep, sleep, cradle baby. Your mother is not here, she has gone away.’ Belatedly he realised how it sounded. ‘It’s the only lullaby I know. I didn’t even realise I knew it until I started singing.’

‘Is it from your childhood?’ Emma asked, and Larenzo blinked.

‘I suppose it has to be. But I don’t remember anyone singing me any lullabies.’ He heard the note of bitterness that had crept into his voice and he tried to shrug it off. No point in dwelling on the past, just as he’d told Emma. ‘Anyway, Ava seemed to like it.’

‘Thank you,’ Emma said softly, and she reached out and laid a hand on his arm. The touch of her fingers on his skin was electric, jolting his senses as if he’d stuck his finger into a socket. He held himself still, staring down at her hand, her slender fingers curled around his biceps.

She’d touched him like this back in Sicily. And he’d put his hand on hers, and for a moment he hadn’t felt alone. He’d felt as if someone was on his side, someone actually cared...

But that was a lifetime ago, and it hadn’t been true anyway. Their night together had been a moment out of time, out of reality. An aberration.

Larenzo forced himself to shake off her hand. ‘It was nothing,’ he said and without saying anything else he turned and went back to his bedroom.

* * *

Emma woke to sunlight pouring through the windows of her bedroom, and the sound of Ava gurgling with laughter from the adjoining nursery. She stretched, savouring the moment’s relaxation before the day with all of its demands began.

Then she heard Larenzo’s answering laughter and realised he was in the nursery with Ava. Just the rumbling sound of his voice as he talked to their daughter brought the memory of last night back with slamming force. Emma didn’t think she’d seen or heard anything as beautiful, as desirable, as Larenzo cradling their baby to his bare chest as he sang her a lullaby in lilting Italian.

Watching him in the darkened nursery, she’d wanted him almost as much as she’d wanted him that night back at the villa. Wanted to feel his hot, hard skin against hers, his lips on hers as he treasured and cherished her with his body...

For a few seconds, when she’d touched his arm, simply because she had no longer been able to keep herself from it, she’d thought he was battling the same kind of temptation. Thought, and even hoped, that he might give in to it. In that moment she’d known if he’d kissed her she’d be lost, just as she had been before. Nothing would have kept her from him.

But he’d walked away instead, and Emma had spent a restless night trying to banish the ache of longing inside her. Now she got out of bed and hurriedly dressed in jeans and a sweater before going into the nursery.

Larenzo was dressed in an elegant and crisp suit, and he’d already changed Ava’s diaper and was now wrestling her into a bodysuit. Ava was resisting him, her whole body rigid as she stared up at him in stubborn determination.

‘I think she’s winning,’ Emma said, and Larenzo glanced up, his mouth curving wryly.

‘There’s no thinking about it. It’s definite.’

‘Do you want me to—?’

‘Please.’ He stepped aside and with a smile Emma finished dressing Ava, who saw that the jig was up and relaxed her body as she blew a raspberry.

‘Clearly you have the touch,’ Larenzo observed.

‘Years, or rather, months of practice.’ She turned to face him, her heart bumping against her ribs as she realised how close he was. The woodsy scent of his aftershave tickled her nostrils and made heat lick low in her belly. ‘You look smart. Are you going somewhere?’

‘I have a few meetings at the office. But...’ He hesitated, a note of uncertainty creeping into his voice. ‘We can have breakfast first, if you’d like. I went out early this morning and bought some bagels and coffee.’

‘Okay.’ Emma followed him into the kitchen, Ava balanced on one hip. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and toasted bagels made her mouth water. ‘So if you’re not CEO of Cavelli Enterprises,’ she asked, ‘what are you doing exactly?’

‘I’m starting a new company,’ Larenzo answered as he poured them both coffees. Emma settled Ava into her high chair with a few torn-off pieces of bagel. ‘LC Investments.’

‘And what are you going to do?’

‘I hope to invest in start-up businesses, the kind of places that might have trouble getting loans from one of the big banks.’

‘That sounds rather noble.’

He shrugged and handed her a mug of steaming coffee. ‘I have some sympathy for the underdog.’

Because he could relate? And yet Larenzo Cavelli was so powerful, so charismatic, so arrogant. He’d even seemed so back in Sicily when he’d been handcuffed and at the police’s mercy. Standing there now, one hip braced against the counter, his large hands cradling a mug of coffee, he managed to look like the lord of all he surveyed, his confidence careless and yet utterly assured. And yet this man had come from the street.

‘Did you feel like the underdog as a child?’ she asked after a moment.

Larenzo pursed his lips as he considered. ‘I suppose I would have, if I’d thought about it. I was just trying to survive.’

‘I’m amazed at how far you’ve come. You should be incredibly proud of yourself, Larenzo, going from street orphan to CEO.’

His mouth tightened and he shook his head. ‘I had some help.’

Who from? she wanted to ask but decided not to. ‘Even so.’

Larenzo put his empty coffee mug on the dish drainer. ‘I should go,’ he said shortly, and Emma felt his emotional withdrawal like a palpable thing. ‘I don’t know when I’ll be home,’ he added. ‘Don’t wait for me.’

Emma nodded, feeling the rejection even though she knew she shouldn’t, and Larenzo left. He kissed the top of Ava’s head before he went, and Emma sat down at the table to finish her coffee, caught between missing Larenzo and enjoying the prospect of a day spent in the city. She was looking forward to going out and exploring New York, and yet, even though he’d just gone, she already missed Larenzo. She was so curious about him—this man who was hardened and suspicious, who could be so ruthless and cold, and yet also showed such gentleness and kindness.

Her cell phone rang and Emma slipped it out of the pocket of her jeans, and saw that it was Meghan.

‘Hey,’ she said as she answered the call and Meghan drew her breath in sharply.

‘Are you okay?’

‘Am I okay? Yes.’ Emma gazed out of the window at the view of Central Park, and then glanced at the remains of her perfectly toasted bagel. ‘I’m fine. Just finishing breakfast.’

‘Cavelli isn’t...he’s being decent to you?’ Meghan asked cautiously.

‘More than decent. He already has a bond with Ava. He even got up with her in the night.’ Emma pictured Larenzo wearing nothing but his pyjama bottoms, the lamplight washing over his bronzed skin, and she suppressed a shiver of desire.

‘Really,’ Meghan answered, the disbelief audible in her voice.

‘Yes, really. I told you before, Meghan, Larenzo wants to be a part of his daughter’s life.’

‘I didn’t realise you’d become his champion,’ Meghan retorted, and Emma sucked in a breath.

‘Meghan...’

‘Seriously, Emma, you’ve changed your tune since yesterday.’

‘I haven’t—’

‘How do you know Cavelli isn’t just pretending he’s interested in Ava—?’

Emma recoiled at the suggestion. ‘He’s not. Anyway, why would he?’

‘I don’t know, maybe he’s trying to polish his image for the public? Whatever it is, I don’t trust him, Emma, and you shouldn’t either. I know the charges against him were dropped, but you know the saying, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.’

‘And sometimes there’s just smoke.’ The fierceness of her response surprised them both. ‘In any case,’ Emma continued, ‘you know as well as I do that I can’t keep Larenzo from seeing his daughter.’ And she didn’t even want to any more. Not when she’d seen how tender he was with her.

‘You still don’t have to live with him. I talked to that lawyer again and mentioned that Cavelli had practically blackmailed you into living with him. It could provide evidence that he’s unfit—’

‘Meghan.’ Shock as well as anger blazed through her. ‘You have no right to talk about my business with a lawyer.’

‘I’m looking out for you,’ Meghan cried. ‘Emma, obviously you still have some feelings for this man. That’s understandable, considering your shared history. But I think you’re in over your head. You don’t know Cavelli, or what he’s capable of. And someone has to be responsible and think about Ava—’

‘I am thinking about Ava,’ Emma shot back. Her voice shook with the force of her feelings. ‘Trust me, I am. And Larenzo is very good with her. I don’t want to keep him from Ava’s life, no matter what happened in his past.’

‘And what if it turns out he really is dangerous?’

‘It won’t. I trust Larenzo in that.’

‘How can you trust—?’

‘I just do, Meghan,’ Emma cut her off, knowing she meant it. ‘And I need to go now. Ava’s starting to fuss.’

Ava, who was happily chewing on a bagel, looked at her curiously. Emma disconnected the call and flung the phone onto the kitchen counter. Her whole body was trembling.

She wanted to deny everything her sister had said; she wanted to scrub her brain and pretend she’d never heard it. And yet beneath Meghan’s older-sister I-know-best attitude, Emma knew there was concern and perhaps even truth.

She still didn’t know Larenzo at all. It just felt as if she did.

Ava threw the bagel onto the floor, and Emma decided it was time to go out for the day. All of New York was waiting for her to explore, and she could certainly use the distraction.

She fetched Ava’s coat and hat and then buckled her into the stroller, armed with an arsenal of snacks and toys to keep her daughter entertained. Then she hit the streets.

Central Park on a crisp autumn day was one of the loveliest places on earth, Emma decided as she wheeled Ava along the twisting, tree-shaded pathways. She could hear the distant laughter of children on a playground, and some tourists were posing for photographs in front of the statue of Christopher Columbus. Every colour seemed sharp and bright, as if the whole world had been brought into crystalline focus.

As Emma strolled along Ava watched everything avidly; they made it all the way to the Central Park Zoo where they both watched the animal statues dance around the iconic clock. Emma bought a hot dog from a cart and shared it with Ava, enjoying people watching from a park bench, and then when her daughter fell asleep in her stroller she walked back uptown, stopping in front of the gorgeous esplanade with Bethesda Fountain as its magnificent centrepiece.

Every step she took felt as if she were breathing life back into her soul. She hadn’t realised until then just how much of a rut she’d been in, living with her sister and staggering through her days. It had taken Larenzo’s suggestion to get her out of it, and for that she was grateful.

Ava was starting to stir, and so Emma walked back towards the apartment on Central Park West. She stopped at the playground directly opposite the park’s entrance and unbuckled Ava from her stroller before putting her into one of the baby swings. Ava chortled with glee as Emma pushed her, enjoying the autumn sunshine on her face.

She didn’t know how long she spent in the playground with Ava, savouring the day, but it must have been more time than she’d thought for the sun was starting to sink behind the buildings on Central Park West when a hand suddenly clamped down hard on her shoulder.

Emma whirled around, her heart seeming to leap right into her throat, and saw Larenzo glaring at her ferociously.

‘Where have you been?’