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‘And yet it’s OK for everyone to think that I’m merely your new bit of fluff?’
‘After the stunt you pulled, I think it’s only fair. And necessary, as I’ve pointed out to you.’
Damn, did she have to be so argumentative? Already he was tempted to shut her up in a very satisfying way.
She turned more fully in her seat. She wasn’t going to make the mistake of standing up in the cabin again. ‘Might I remind you that you were the one who initiated that kiss, not me.’
Dante felt an instinctive need to protect himself. His face was stiff, his hands were clenched. ‘Should I have let you shout out to the world that I was the neglectful absentee father of your sister’s baby? Your sister, who lay in a hospital in England in a grave condition? When I wasn’t even aware of that fact?’
He shook his head, his eyes sparking. ‘Luckily, I remembered your little outburst from the week before, so I had a fair idea of what you were going to say. I had to shut you up, that was all.’
Alicia sat back, deflated. He hadn’t known of Melanie’s accident. She would have been taking an unfair advantage. It killed her to admit that he did, in a way, have the moral high ground in this. And it also killed her somewhere to know that he’d kissed her with pure premeditated efficiency. And even though he’d kissed her yesterday too. She could recall his cool regard straight afterwards, as if he’d been conducting an experiment, as if his whole world hadn’t gone up in flames, like hers had.
Waking up from a deep sleep, Alicia felt terror flood her bones. She was being held tight against a powerful body. It was dark; she didn’t know where she was. She started to struggle fiercely, her mind clouding over in panic.
‘Let me go, put me down.’ The words wouldn’t come out strong enough.
‘Dio! You’re like a cat; will you calm down? I’m only carrying you because even the plane landing didn’t wake you up.’
Alicia tensed and stopped struggling immediately. Clarity rushed in. She was in Dante’s arms. He was striding across the tarmac of the small private Milan airport. She wasn’t working in the aid group any more. And then something she hadn’t felt in such a long time—if ever—rushed through her.
She felt safe.
She looked up and saw a firm jaw clenched tightly. An implacable expression on his handsome face. She fought against relaxing against him and kept herself rigid until they reached a nearby car and he put her down. She couldn’t look at him and just mumbled, ‘I was having a dream … didn’t know where I was.’
‘Well, we’re in Milan. Welcome back to Italy.’
He smiled grimly and Alicia looked at him then. The bottom fell out of her stomach. How bizarre to think she was safe when she knew she’d probably never been in more danger in her life.
He ushered her into the car and within half an hour they were pulling up outside a beautiful crumbling building. Still slightly disorientated from her heavy sleep—the relief of knowing that Melanie was on the mend and being minded meant she could finally relax—she moved as if blindfolded. She let Dante show her into a small, ancient yet luxuriously furnished palazzo, up to a bedroom where she closed the door behind her after a brief sterile goodnight.
She undressed in the dark, crawled under the covers and gave in to the much needed restorative sleep that claimed her again. Tomorrow … was her last thought. Tomorrow I’ll think about what it meant to feel so safe, with him of all people.
When Alicia woke in the morning, it was to a gentle knocking and her door being opened by a shy pretty girl in jeans and a casual top.
‘Buon g
iorno …’
‘Boun giorno,’ Alicia repeated sleepily, a little bemused as the girl came in and pulled back heavy curtains.
She turned and smiled at Alicia. She spoke in halting English, clearly having rehearsed her speech. ‘Signore D’Aquanni said to wake you and tell you that he is in the dining room having breakfast.’
Alicia smiled weakly as orientation rushed back, ‘Thank you. Grazie.’
The girl left and closed the door quietly after her. Alicia flopped back on to the huge pillow. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d woken to feel so clear, restored, refreshed. And so confused and bewildered at the remarkable chain of events.
The memory of waking last night to find herself being carried in Dante’s arms flashed back into her head. She tensed. She knew that she was being a coward, but in an effort to avoid thinking about how that had made her feel, she perversely opted for going directly into the lion’s den.
A short time later she found her way downstairs and into a charming, bright dining room. A big polished table with a stunning vase of extravagant blooms at one end of the polished mahogany. And Dante D’Aquanni at the other end, sipping coffee and reading a paper. He looked up and his eyes seemed to bore right through her.
‘Sleep well?’
The tension that seemed ever present around them hummed like an electrical charge. She nodded. ‘Like a baby.’
She walked over and sat down and the same young girl came in with orange juice, fresh coffee, croissants, fruit. Alicia hadn’t seen such a feast in so long that her stomach rumbled loudly. With her face going pink, she looked over and saw Dante smiling at the young girl as she poured him more coffee. It made the room tilt dizzily. That smile should come with a health warning, she thought, even as she itched to wipe it from his face.
‘Alicia, this is Patrizia, the daughter of my housekeeper, Rosa. She’s working here for her summer holidays and giving her mamma a break.’
