“You know why this marriage is important to me,” Valentino said quietly, taking a drink of his coffee.
Luca grunted his agreement, but his grandfather continued regardless.
“Your grandmother was the making of me. I loved her. I lived for her. But your father…he was wild and reckless. His brother was no better. We had two children, and they were both spoiled by what they had, by the lifestyle, the freedom. Neither could tolerate work. It is why we raised you boys as we did. I know it might seem that we were hard on you?—,”
Another grunt from Luca.
“I will not allow any of you to turn out as they did.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed. He knew this fear of Valentino’s. His father and his uncle had been foolhardy, careless playboys. They’d died in a light plane crash when Luca was just a boy—a plane crash that had been all their own error. They’d lived hard, fast, and uncaring for anything like responsibility.
“We learned from our mistakes,” Valentino said grimly, and Luca felt his pain. “After the Middle East, I thought you might be going down the same path as him. That is why I have pushed for this, why I made it a condition of you inheriting the company.” He stood, moving toward Luca then squeezing his shoulder. “She is a nice woman who will make you an excellent wife, if you can make a go of this. Let her be the making of you, the way your grandmother was with me. I promise you will not regret it.”
CHAPTER 7
SHE COULDN’T SAY EXACTLY when she’d decided on this course of action. Perhaps overnight, as her dreams tormented her with memories of his kiss and touch? Or perhaps upon waking and realising he’d chosen the chair over the bed, because he’d been fighting temptation with every part of himself.
In any event, at some stage, Ally had realised that if she wanted Luca to give in and become her first lover, to let her revel in this newfound sensuality, she would have to lead the horse—him being the horse—to water. Or her.
Or make it impossible for him to say ‘no’.
She already knew he was tempted. But how to get him to stop fighting that?
Given that it was a warm day, lounging around by the pool in a bikini felt like a good place to start. She’d pulled it on and then draped one of Luca’s crisp business shirts over the top, leaving it unbuttoned as she padded through the house in search of him.
After a few rooms, she found him in a large, state-of-the-art office with sweeping views of the sea. His back was to the view, casting him in golden light and he was so beautiful that she could have just stood there and stared.
But the point was to make him drool, not vice versa. She forced an innocent smile to her face. “Good morning.”
He glanced up, then did a double take and a slow inspection of her body that made her pulse explode.
“Allegra.”
Her heart stammered.
“I’m going for a swim. “
“So I see.”
She held out the plastic tube of lotion. “Would you mind?”
His brows knit together.
“I don’t want to get burned,” she added, batting her eyelashes.
She could feel the war within him.
“I can ask one of the housekeepers, if you’re too busy,” she offered, but he was standing and moving slowly across the room towards her, eyes hooded.
Sparks exploded beneath her skin. “Where’s your grandfather?”
“He’s left.”
“Already?”
Luca’s response was garbled. He took the lotion, a frown tugging at his lips. “Turn around.”
She did as he suggested, shrugging out of his shirt at the same time and letting it drop suggestively to the floor.
