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‘That’s what stopped him getting in touch with me? Are you sure?’
Burying his head in his hands, Luca squeezed his arms together, as if the hurt inside him had to be held in.
Lifting his head, he stared at her with incomprehension. ‘My brother couldn’t tell me that he was gay?’ And then, quietly, ‘Am I such a monster?’
‘No, Luca. No—’
‘How did he think I’d react? Raoul was my brother. I loved him unconditionally. Don’t tell me that that’s what made him gamble? No. No—’
‘Luca, please...’
Coming around the library table, she reached for him, but he pulled away.
‘My love for Raoul was absolute, unquestioned. I only ever wanted him to be happy. What went wrong?’ he asked softly.
‘He loved you,’ Jen said with confidence. ‘Raoul couldn’t bear the thought of losing your love.’
‘He could never lose my love,’ Luca exclaimed fiercely.
‘But what about your father?’
Luca made an angry dismissive sound.
‘And the islanders?’
He shook his head firmly at this. ‘There are no people on this earth more loving and accepting than the people who share our island home.’
‘Then, it must be your father who stopped Raoul coming back. I got the sense during some of our conversations that Raoul had tested the waters and found them deeply unwelcoming.’
‘There was a conversation between me and my father at Raoul’s funeral,’ Luca remembered, narrowing his eyes as he thought back. ‘I didn’t think anything of it at the time.’
‘And now?’
‘And now I know I’m a fool, because I should have protected Raoul better than I did. I should have been there for him when he needed me. I wish he’d trusted me enough. I’ll never be able to make it up to him now—’
Hurt was bleeding from him as surely as if he’d been shot. She reached out. ‘Blaming yourself won’t help, Luca.’
‘But Dio! It hurts.’ Balling his hands into fists, he rested them on the library table, with his head down, grimacing as if a real physical pain had gripped him. ‘You have no idea how much it hurts.’
‘But I do,’ Jen said gently, ‘because I hurt too. There are always things left unsaid, and things we wished we’d had time to say, or do, when someone we love dies, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t love Raoul enough, or I didn’t love Lyddie enough. It just means that life can be cruel sometimes, taking those we love without warning.’
When Lyddie died there were so many things left unsaid. How much worse must it have been for Luca who had been estranged from his brother before Raoul’s death? Both the brothers were the losers in this. Their father didn’t have the capacity to love anything apart from his secret hoard of jewels, it seemed to Jen. She felt sorry for Don Tebaldi, for the love he’d wasted.
‘Are you sure you’ve told me everything?’ Luca demanded, searching her face.
‘Not everything, no,’ Jen admitted. ‘But I’ve told you everything I can without breaking my pledge to your brother. I can tell you this. It wouldn’t help you to know anything more, so why don’t you let Raoul’s secrets die with him?’
‘I can’t do that.’ Luca’s voice had gained a hard edge. ‘And I don’t appreciate you deciding what you will and won’t tell me.’
‘It’s up to me what I tell you,’ Jen said without rancour, making allowances for how upset he was.
‘Why?’ Luca demanded, his expression blackening.
‘Because I’m protecting the living as well as the dead.’
‘And what do you mean by that?’
‘That’s all I’m prepared to say.’ She would keep her word to his brother. ‘I promised Raoul that if I ever got the chance to meet you, I would tell you as much as I have. I begged him to get in touch with you. I told him that if you were anything like him, all you’d care about was Raoul’s happiness.’
‘You were right to do that, and I tried, but Raoul always kept me at arm’s length, which was why we drifted apart.’
‘Perhaps you were both partially responsible,’ Jen suggested.
Luca shook his head. ‘I can’t answer that,’ he said grimly, ‘but there are things I have to know.’
‘What things?’ Jen demanded tensely, flinching away from the harsh expression on his face, which seemed to be directed at her. ‘You’re talking in riddles, and I’ve already told you that I can’t help you any more than I have.’
‘You must—’
‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘I can’t.’
In his frustration at her refusal, Luca grabbed hold of her. She was acutely aware of every inch of him pressed up hard against her curves, but making love in anger was impossible for her, and she told him so.
He stared at her in a fury of grief, and then groaned. ‘Forgive me. This is not the way it’s supposed to be. I loved Raoul so much, and now he’s gone, and if I’m not careful, I’ll drive you away.’ His face softened as Jen inhaled sharply with surprise. ‘And then who will catalogue my father’s collection?’ he teased.
Jen slowly shook her head. ‘You’re impossible.’
‘I do my best,’ Luca agreed with a wry tug of his mouth.
It took her a few moments to relax completely and accept that, just as she could be overwhelmed by her long-neglected emotions, so could Luca.
‘Forgive me,’ he murmured.
Things changed rapidly when Luca took her in his arms. The anger between them subsided and another emotion altogether filled the gap. She was acutely aware of the insistent thrust of Luca’s thick erection, and the very last thing she wanted to do was to argue with him. The moment he kissed her, she knew she was lost. She returned his hunger with matching heat. All she could think about was claiming him and reliving the pleasure they’d so recently shared. Whatever they’d said, and whatever accusations had flown between them, there was only one imperative now, and that was to be one with Luca.
Their tongues tangled. Her fingers bit into his shoulders. She ground her body against him, seeking more contact, but it could never be enough. She needed to be one with him, hot flesh to hot flesh, and, groaning with need, she clasped his buttocks to bind him tight to her.
Wordless sounds of need accompanied her actions as she released him to work on his belt buckle. She had it free in a couple of seconds. Next she tackled the button at the top of his zipper. Her hands were shaking as she fumbled to push it through the mean little hole, but to her relief his zip came down smoothly. Her first sight of his erection was her reward. Clearly visible through his black silk shorts, it was a prize she was determined to lose no time claiming. Cupping him in her hands, she sank to her knees. Freeing him from his shorts, she took him deep into her mouth. Working him, she had the satisfaction of hearing Luca groan. Tangling his hands in her hair, he cupped her head to keep her close. For every pass she made, and every groan he gave, she was also becoming increasingly aroused, but her greedy body would have to wait, because this was all for him.
‘Yes,’ Luca ground out on a stifled breath.
She teased him mercilessly with her tongue, before increasing the suction and taking him deep again.
‘Enough!’ he exclaimed. ‘Or you’ll be so frustrated, you’ll never come down—’
‘I’ll risk it for you,’ she said recklessly.
Luca disagreed, and sweeping her into his arms, he arranged her to his liking on the firm seat of the Chesterfield. Bringing her skirt to her waist, he exposed her flimsy thong.
He had placed her over the sidearm of the sofa so her upper body was stretched out on the seat and she could see everything he was doing to her. That was his intention, she was sure. The thought alone was enough to excite her. She had never imagined that anything could be as arousing as this. Her hips were
lifted high on the padded arm when Luca nudged his way between her thighs. He stared down at her, his face, so full of the promise of pleasure to come. She cried out on a shaking breath as he slowly drew the smooth dome of his erection down the length of the infuriating barrier that was her thong. Throwing her head back, she closed her eyes to concentrate on the ache of pleasure. Hungry for more, she arced her hips in an attempt to catch more contact. With a sound of denial, Luca pulled back. Reaching down, he cupped her. The warmth of his hand, and the knowledge that those skilful fingers were so close to doing what she needed them to do, was a rocket to her senses. She thrashed her head about as he allowed her a couple of passes, and gasped noisily with excitement when he lifted her to dispose of her thong. Having done this, he spread her legs wide. She was completely exposed, completely at his mercy.
‘Please,’ she begged.
‘Do you need this?’ Luca enquired in a gentle, seemingly concerned tone.
‘You know I do,’ she gasped as he fisted his erection.
He laughed softly as he ran the tip across her heated flesh, making her whimper from the extremes of pleasure. And he did this not once, but several times. The sensation was exquisite torture. She never wanted it to end, and, desperate for more, she lifted her hips, hoping to catch more of him, but he always moved away in time. She thrust her hips again, and this time almost caught him. She wouldn’t trust to luck next time. Capturing his buttocks in her hands, she bound his hips to hers, and, with a deep groan of surrender, Luca plunged deep.
‘Oh, yes...yes...’ This was what she wanted...this was what she needed. Working fast and hard, she moved with him, and moments later fell.
‘More?’ Luca murmured when she was quiet again.
She laughed contentedly. It was the only answer he needed. Her body was still pulsing with pleasure when he plunged deep again. Hard and flexing, he was as hungry for this as she was. Reaching up, she invited herself into his arms. Lifting her, he held her securely as she wrapped her legs around his waist. On a joint breath of noisy approval, he thrust up and into her, hard and deep. This time it was an even wilder dance towards release. They were both fierce. She couldn’t get enough of him, and it seemed Luca felt the same. She had to have him...this!
