They were a good-looking family with their dark eyes and patrician profiles. But, now she had met his extended family, there was something that set Ettore apart. Those gold eyes maybe or the intensity of his focus when he looked at you as if there were nothing in the universe that mattered except you.
No wonder Valentina’s grandmother had cast aside centuries of silence and shared the secrets of her cookbook with him.
‘And she took a shine to you. I’m guessing that must happen all the time to the Marchesi heir apparent.’
He waited a moment, and she knew that he was forming sentences in his head, editing them, maybe deleting them, but then he nodded.
‘My name has brought benefits, but since theCostituzione della Repubblica Italiana—the creation of the constitution in Italy—there has been no state recognition of my title. However, many noble families like mine continue to use their titles socially, as a matter of tradition and custom.’
She thought of Checco. Over dinner he had been charming, easy company. But there was an arrogant tilt to his chin when he spoke not just to the staff but to his girlfriend.
‘But you don’t.’
The change in him was subtle. There was no flaring of nostrils, just that slight tightening of his mouth and she knew why. It was because he had only recently become the heir apparent and under circumstances that he would rather forget.
And it hit her then that she’d found out more about Ettore in the last few days than she had during the entire time they were together two years ago.
‘That’s probably another reason why the kids all think you’re cool.’
His forehead creased. ‘I’m pretty sure the kids think I’m a fossil.’
‘Al contrario, Signor Marchesi,’ she said with a flourish, enjoying the gleam in his eye as she practised her Italian. ‘Giulia told me that they think you’re “cracked”, which is allegedly high praise from a group of teenage boys.’
He laughed then, and it was so genuine and unforced, so unlike the artificiality of the previous few days that she laughed too, and something that had been hard and frozen inside her chest softened and thawed a little. She felt loose and warm as his dark golden gaze hovered on her face.
‘It’s gamer slang for good.’ His eyes met hers. ‘Although they might have downgraded me on my performance today. I was a little off my game. Then again, maybe they gave me a pass because my wife is so beautiful.’
The skin of her face felt scorched.
‘Did they say that?’
‘No. But I was thinking it.’
His mouth crooked into a smile that made it a little hard to breathe and then he reached over and smoothed a stray strand of her hair behind her ear and every single cell in her body shivered into a state of high alert.
‘Your Italian accent is excellent, by the way. You’re rolling your r’s beautifully.’
‘Grazie,’she said, inclining her head in a perfect imitation of his uncle, and was instantly rewarded as his smile reached his eyes.
She felt a breeze and she stared round dazedly, shocked to realise that not only had they stopped moving but Silvio had managed to get out of the car and walk around it to open her door all without her even noticing.
Judging by the expression on Ettore’s face, he hadn’t noticed either. Heart juddering like the floor polisher she used to clean the parquet at the college in Cambridge, she watched him draw back his hand, flattening it against the palm of his other hand.
As if he needed that pressure to stop himself from reaching out again.
Just as he had done yesterday evening in the moonlight.
And it felt like fire under her skin, and the heat of it lingered like sunburn as she stepped out of the car and waited for Ettore to join her. She felt his hand against the small of her back as they walked inside.
‘I’m just going to check on my father.’
‘Okay.’ She nodded. ‘I might go and take a quick shower.’
His pupils dilated and she had to resist the urge to squirm beneath his gaze as she had a sudden, sharp-edged memory of his body beside hers, water trickling down his neck and shoulders as his hands moved to cup her breasts…
‘I’ll join you in a moment.’
Their eyes locked together, and she swallowed audibly.
