Читать книгу Craving Her Enemy's Touch - Rachael Thomas, Rachael Thomas - Страница 9

CHAPTER THREE

AS DARKNESS BEGAN to descend the car pulled to a halt outside Alessandro’s offices and Charlie got her first view of the place she’d heard so much about from her brother. His calls had always been full of excitement and pride as he’d enthused about the Roselli factory, workshops and test track.

Sadness crept over her too. This was where Seb had spent his final weeks and she could have been part of that if she’d accepted his offer to come out and visit instead of being so tied up in her career. The same career she’d dropped after Seb’s death.

She got out of the car and stood looking up at the buildings, wishing she had come to see what he was doing. ‘I should have come when he asked me to,’ she said softly and was startled when Alessandro responded.

‘Seb always hoped you’d come here one day.’ His voice was gentle and not at all judgemental as he placed his hand in the small of her back. She drew in a ragged breath, her emotions all over the place. Memories of Seb mixed with the undeniable attraction she felt for Alessandro. Guilt added to the mix and washed over her. How could she even be thinking such thoughts? Quickly she blocked them out.

‘I wish I had.’ Her voice was a croaky whisper of raw emotion. She stood next to him in the warm evening air, her emotions exposed and vulnerable, as if she stood before him totally naked. She was certain that not only was he able to see every bit of her skin, but into her heart and soul.

He stopped outside a glass door and keyed in his pass code, his other hand sliding away from her back, the heat of his touch cooling, giving her space to think. Judging by the shiver which had run up her spine, she needed that space. Badly.

‘Why didn’t you?’ he asked, pushing open the door, stepping inside and holding the door open for her, but she didn’t miss the lightly veiled accusation in his voice.

‘It was busy. You know how the end of the racing season gets.’ She saw his jaw tighten, saw the sceptical look on his face and shame heated her cheeks. She’d also been worried about Seb’s blatant attempts at matchmaking. He’d often teased her on the phone about finding the perfect man for her.

She could have come. She’d wanted to come, but she had been a tiny bit threatened by this new life Seb had found. They’d always been so close and when he’d met Alessandro all that had changed overnight. She was pleased he’d found something he was so passionate about; she’d just never expected it to take him so far away from her, physically or emotionally.

He shrugged nonchalantly but she knew what he was thinking. She could almost hear his words, heavy and accented, telling her she was selfish, and she retaliated as if he’d actually spoken. ‘I didn’t know time was against me.’

He let the door go and she stood in the semi-darkness of the large reception. His face was a mask of hardened fury as the accusation in her words hit him. Did he feel any guilt? Did he have regrets? Did he want to go back and change things?

He stepped forward, coming closer, and she wished there was more light, something to lessen the presence of a man who excited and angered her so intensely. She veered wildly between those two emotions as he looked directly at her.

‘Whatever guilt you carry, Charlotte, I do not need it added to what I feel.’ His voice had deepened, become growly, anger lingering dangerously beneath the surface like a serpent waiting to strike. He loomed over her in the dim light, every bit the predator, but she wasn’t going to be his next victim.

‘Just by saying that you are admitting guilt.’ She rounded on him. The hours spent on the plane and in his car, when she’d thought everything through silently, had allowed her temper to brew and now it flared to life.

For a moment his gaze held hers, his eyes hard and glittering. 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 this what he did?’ She stood next to the desk, her fingertips tracing the outline of the car drawing. He noticed her hand shook slightly and, when she looked back at him, hesitation weaved with panic sprang from her eyes. He had the strange sensation his heart was being crushed.

‘Sì.’ His voice was so raw he couldn’t say anything else, painfully aware he was intruding on her moment of grief.

‘What else?’ She looked at him and he saw the gleam of tears collect in her eyes and the pressure on his chest intensified.

Thankful for the diversion, he walked over to the desk and opened the laptop, turned it on and looked across the desk at her. Her pretty face was pale, her eyes wide, reminding him of a startled doe. ‘There are lots of photos on here, as well as all he created in the design programme.’

She hesitated for a moment and he wondered if it was all too much. She stood and watched him as he opened the photos up on the screen and turned the laptop to face her. He felt her scrutiny and questions press down on him.

Slowly she reached out, one fingertip touching the screen. He watched her eyes, the green becoming much more intense as she looked at the photo of Seb sitting in the driving seat of the test car, and he inwardly cursed. Couldn’t he have selected a more appropriate photo for her to see first?

‘When was this taken?’ Her voice was fragile as she continued to look at the screen. She swallowed hard, trying to keep the tears at bay, and for the first time ever he wished a woman would cry. She needed to let out her grief.

He hated the answer he was going to have to give. ‘The day before the accident.’ It took huge effort to keep his voice calm, to keep it steady, but even to his ears each word he’d just said sounded cold. He’d studied the photo since then, shocked to see a hint of trouble in Seb’s eyes. Would she notice too?

She looked up at him and tears filled her eyes, making them shine like gemstones. Before he’d thought about the consequences, he moved around the desk and took her in his arms. Without hesitation, she sought the comfort he offered and pressed her face in her hands, her forehead on his chest as sobs racked her body.

‘Dio mio. This is too much for you.’ He wanted to clench his fists in anger but instead spread them over her back as the sobs continued, smoothing them over her and pulling her closer against him.

‘No, it’s not.’ The strangled words came out in a rush, muffled by her hands and his body.

‘It is, cara, it is,’ he soothed, just as he’d done for his sister many times as they’d grown up, but this wasn’t his sister. This was a woman he desired with every nerve in his body.

‘I should, I should.’ Sobs prevented her words from coming out and, without thinking, he lowered his head, pressing his lips into her hair. She stilled in his arms momentarily and he closed his eyes against the memories of when he’d thought his life was complete. He pushed back the knowledge that he’d failed to be the man his wife had wanted, lifted his chin and took in a deep breath.

It seemed like for ever that he held Charlie as she cried, each sob transferring her pain to him, increasing his guilt for not having been there the night Seb had decided to take the car out again. He would have seen the drink-and drugs-induced euphoria and could have stopped him. The discovery still shocked him now. How had they worked so closely together for all those months without him noticing Seb had such a problem?