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‘Ovviamente.’ Despite his assurance, she couldn’t mistake the terseness in his voice or his tense frame as he held out his arm to her. ‘Shall we?’
She slid her arm through his, allowing him to lead her into the private lift and then downstairs to the restaurant where they were meeting their clients.
Rocco slid effortlessly into host mode. But throughout dinner, she caught his gaze returning to her repeatedly, the expression in his eyes unreadable. Her unease heightened as the dinner drew to a close.
Knowing she wouldn’t be able to rest until she got to the bottom of what was threatening their albeit new but shaky status, she smiled at the client as coffee was cleared away, ready to make her excuses. But it turned out Rocco had other ideas.
‘I’m eager to show Mia a slice of night life before we leave Macau. Would you care to join us?’
Mia barely managed to keep the astonishment off her face. ‘You are?’
On previous nights, Rocco had bristled with impatience to get her back to their suite, barely waiting for the door to shut behind them before divesting her of her clothes.
Rocco smiled her way but it didn’t cause quiet chaos in her. Probably because the smile didn’t reach his eyes. ‘We leave tomorrow, cara. We’ve done nothing but work for the past three days. I think you deserve to see something of Macau. After all, we have to report to Nonna when we get back, don’t we?’
Of course. She’d forgotten that this was supposed to be a purported honeymoon as well as a business trip. Sure, the intimacy side of things had been thoroughly fulfilled, but she could hardly cite that, or recite the particulars of blueprints and steel samples when asked about her honeymoon, could she?
She let herself be ushered out of the restaurant and into a gleaming limo. Easy conversation flowed as they were driven into the heart of Asia’s gaming capital. They alighted in front of a towering hotel, one of the many that had helped earn Macau the title of Vegas of the East.
A personal welcome from the owner of the hotel and the presentation of a huge pile of chips later, Rocco took over the blackjack table in the VIP section of the casino.
Mia tried not to gape in alarm as thousands of dollars changed hands at the careless throw of a dice. She would’ve been sickened by the sight but her husband defied the odds and, even in a game of chance, repeatedly emerged the winner. A performance that garnered a small crowd he seemed oblivious to, one possessive arm clasping her to him and the other tossing dice with reckless abandonment.
It was only when he caught her trying to suppress a yawn for the dozenth time that Rocco finally stepped back from the table and brushed a kiss across her temple.
‘I think my lucky charm is done for the night,’ he drawled.
Amidst good-humoured laughter, he took a hand, pressed a kiss to her knuckles.
Questions still teemed in her mind as they re-entered the limo, but this time, with just the two of them riding back to their hotel, Rocco had other ideas. The moment the doors locked behind them, he dragged her into his lap, sealing his lips to hers before she could utter a word.
As if he was on a mission, he didn’t relent, drugging her with his kisses and greedy, fevered touch until they drew up in front of the hotel. Then he proceeded to slay her with passion, sweeping her off her feet, the moment they entered their suite.
An hour later, too exhausted to speak, think or even breathe properly, she fell into a blissful sleep.
Rocco stared down at his wife, guilt eating at him as he watched her sleep.
The phone call he’d received from his lawyers just before they left for dinner still sent shock waves through his system.
Alessandro had orchestrated everything.
His cousin had systematically and cruelly worked to hide the existence of his son from him, while attempting to bury Mia in a fraudulent claim.
Rocco could barely fathom it, had been reeling all through dinner at the thought that his own flesh and blood had gone to such deplorable lengths.
For what?
Power?
Had he not given Alessandro every opportunity? How had he found Mia so threatening that he had done this? Questions chased through his mind until they drove him out of bed.
Pacing the living room, he grappled with another decision.
He couldn’t tell her.
Not yet. He’d only just managed to secure his position in her life. Discovering what Alessandro had done to her, to their son, might tip the scales into him losing everything. Everything he hadn’t even known existed two weeks ago. He couldn’t let that happen.
When the time was right, he would reveal everything to her. But not just yet.
