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That change of subject and the information that his watch had been found momentarily distracted Kathy and her brows pleated.
‘But there is one thing that I cannot understand,’ Sergio continued with a slow shake of his handsome dark head. ‘Why on earth did you admit to stealing my watch in the first place?’
‘What else could I do? You didn’t believe me when I told you I hadn’t taken it!’
‘You didn’t persist in pleading your innocence for very long. When you offered to play me for my watch, I naturally took it as a confession of guilt and I acted accordingly.’
‘You acted appallingly.’ Anger drove colour up over Kathy’s slanted cheekbones as she voiced that contradiction.
‘I’m not a soft touch. If you offend me I fight back. Circumstances weren’t in your favour. You are a convicted thief and it did colour my judgement.’ Sergio traded that defence without hesitation. ‘But if you had not challenged me to that game on the terms that you did, I would not have slept with you last night.’
Kathy trembled with rage. ‘So, even
though you have apologised, it’s really all my own fault?’
‘That was not what I said. I fired my security chief over this affair today—’
‘The ex-policeman? You gave him the sack for jumping to the same conclusion about me that you did?’ Kathy exclaimed in disgust. ‘How can you be so unjust?’
Disconcerted by that reaction, Sergio breathed, ‘Unjust? How?’
‘Unlike you, that man never met me and had no personal knowledge of me. He was only doing his job. You should blame yourself for misjudging me, not him.’
‘Your compassion for Renzo surprises me. Why don’t we discuss our differences over lunch?’
‘I’d have to be starving to eat with you!’ Kathy flung back, unimpressed.
‘I love your passion, but I am less fond of drama, cara mia.’
Powerful dissatisfaction gripped Kathy, for she felt like a wave trying to batter a granite rock into subjection. He was stonewalling her. Her accusations had washed clean off him again. Her pain and anger were rising in direct proportion to her inability to break through his ice cool façade. ‘Last night I was afraid you would call the police. I was terrified of ending up back in jail. That’s the only reason I slept with you and I truly hate you for it—’
‘You’re angry with me. I accept that and I’m prepared to make amends by whatever means are within my power. But I do not accept that you only shared my bed out of fear.’
Fury roared through Kathy in an energising flood. ‘Of course, you’re going to say that!’
‘But we both know that that claim is untrue.’ Sergio rested glittering golden eyes on her in a challenging look as scorching as his touch.
The atmosphere was electric.
Kathy was so tense her muscles ached. Her heart thumped inside her tight chest. She sucked in a ragged breath. ‘Don’t tell me what I know.’
‘Then admit the obvious. The sexual chemistry between us is extraordinarily strong. Don’t you know how rare it is to feel this much excitement just being in the same room with someone?’ Sergio murmured huskily.
Her legs felt weak and wobbly. The butterflies were back in her tummy and her mouth was running dry. ‘That doesn’t matter—’
‘It always matters.’
A fleeting encounter with his brilliant predatory gaze pierced her with a flood of erotic awareness. The sensitive peaks of her breasts tingled. She remembered the taste and the urgency of his mouth on hers. Her slender hands tightened into defensive fists. Excitement was like a dangerous drug in her veins, powering a sensual awakening. She shivered in the grip of that madness and fought her weakness with all her might, her anger surfacing again. ‘I don’t want anything more to do with you—’
‘But if I touched you now you’d burn up in my arms, delizia mia,’ Sergio savoured that forecast with blazing assurance.
‘Don’t even think of getting that close!’ Her reaction was raw in tone. ‘I’m not stupid. I know how you think of me. You were too quick to remind me today that I’m a convicted thief. You said that in virtually the same breath as you apologised for accusing me of stealing your watch.’
Sergio rested unrepentant dark eyes on her. ‘I won’t lie or prevaricate. How do you expect me to feel about your history as a former offender? It’s not acceptable. How could it be?’
Kathy was stunned to feel a prickly surge of tears threatening the backs of her eyes. She wasn’t the tearful sort, but around him she was not her rational self and her emotions were in a chaotic tangle. How would he react when she told him that regardless of her shameful history she had conceived his child? Just then she couldn’t handle the thought or the prospect of that humiliation. She focused studiously on the balcony where she could see the corner of a table and a crystal wineglass. ‘I hope I’m getting a lift back to work,’ she said tightly. ‘I only get an hour for lunch and I’m already late.’
‘I want you to stay,’ Sergio spelt out.
