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She stared at him. His face was all harsh planes and angles; his eyes were slits of obsidian beneath thick, black lashes. Faint stripes of color ran beneath his high cheekbones as a muscle ticked in his jaw.
Alessia wanted to slap his face. More than that, she wanted to run.
But she wouldn’t. She knew better than to show fear to a predatory animal. It was a lesson she’d learned when she was twelve, hiking the golden Tuscan hills alone late one afternoon and suddenly coming face-to-face with an enormous wild boar. Its long, razor-sharp tusks could easily have torn her open.
Despite her terror, she’d stood her ground. After what had seemed an eternity, the creature had snorted, stepped back and faded into the brush.
Now, as then, she forced herself to stand still. Not only wild animals but men, too, measured power in the fear they could engender.
That was why Nicolo Orsini had kissed her, and why she would not run from him. Instead, she drew a steadying breath and then slowly, deliberately, wiped the back of her hand across her mouth.
“If that was meant to impress me,” she said in a steady voice, “it failed in its purpose.”
The slightest smile curved his mouth.
“Did it,” he said.
His tone made it clear the words were not a question. Alessia decided to ignore the implications.
“And I warn you, signore, if you do anything like that again—”
“Spare me the threats. You’re in no position to make any.”
Dio, the man was hateful! Alessia’s chin lifted. “Sei un barbaro!”
“I’m a barbarian, huh?” He grinned. “Come on, sugar. Don’t hold back. Say what you’re thinking.” His phony smile vanished. “What I am is the man who holds the purse strings. Remember that and we’ll get along just fine.”
Alessia stared at the hateful American and the last of her composure slipped away.
“We will not get along at all, signore. There has been a change in plans. The Antoninni Vineyard is not available for investment. You have made a long trip for nothing.”
Nick narrowed his eyes. The principessa stood tall, shoulders back, head lifted in an attitude of defiance. She despised him, which was fine. He didn’t think any better of her. All that was clear and up-front. The only question was, why had he kissed her?
To put her in her place?
A lie.
He didn’t deal with women that way. He had faults, sure, but using sex as a weapon wasn’t one of them. And he was not a man who’d ever take anything a woman wasn’t eager to give.
Aside from all that, if putting her in her place had been what he’d intended, it had backfired. She wasn’t shaken by what had happened; she was as cold and disapproving as ever. He must have imagined that something had changed in the last seconds of that kiss. That her mouth had softened. That her body had yielded to his. That she had parted her lips for him, that she had moaned…
Or had the moan been his?
“Do you understand me, Signore Orsini? Go home. Go back to your people. You have no further business here.”
Nick looked at her. The message was clear. He was not only a barbarian, but he was also a Sicilian thug. An Orsini. And that was more than sufficient for a woman like her.
“We shall, of course, reimburse you for any expenses you’ve incurred.”
The imperial we. The princess, addressing one of her subjects. Nick smiled, folded his arms and leaned back against the side of the Ferrari. It was a smile that those who’d faced him in boardroom battles or desert combat would have known enough to fear.
Hell, he thought coldly, why not live down to her expectations?
“Such a generous offer,” he said softly.
“Yes. It is.” She shot a look at the Ferrari’s bumper. “I see some simple damage. Send us the bill.”
“Shall I send it at the same time I send you a list of…how did you put it? The expenses I’ve incurred?”
