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How much had she heard?
His vision dimmed, the sudden claustrophobia forcing him to move.
‘Nick, are you all right?’ she whispered, reaching out.
‘I’m fine.’ He shrugged off her fingertips as he strode past her, through the palazzo’s marble lobby and straight out of the entrance doors. The burning heat of the afternoon sun did nothing to dispel the shocking chill creeping into his bones.
He was running away all over again.
But he had to get out of here, get away from his grandfather’s misguided trust—and the sparkle of distress on Eva’s lashes.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
‘NICK, come back.’ Eva rushed down the steps of the palazzo after Nick’s retreating back. Kicking off her heeled sandals, she left them on the hot stones and ran barefoot, desperate to catch him as he headed towards the dock at the end of the waterfront.
She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop. Hadn’t meant to listen in to what was clearly a private conversation. But when she’d entered the pleasantly cool lobby after her exhausting trip to Milan, she’d been flushed with pleasure at the sound of the muted voices coming from the dining salon. How wonderful to hear Nick finally conversing with his grandfather in full sentences. But then she’d stood in the doorway, heard the raw emotion in Nick’s voice, had actually registered the words—and been stunned into silence.
Why was he so angry and upset at the thought of inheriting the Alegria estate? And why would he think he didn’t deserve it?
The crippling sense of responsibility had hit her first. Nick had come to Italy to help her get her job back. But that had been swiftly followed by the desire to soothe the hurt and panic she had seen in his face.
He’d looked stunned and had clearly been horrified she had witnessed his outburst. But how could she ignore his pain and confusion now she had?
Seeing him step onto the cherry-red power cruiser moored at the end of the dock, she picked up the hem of her skirt and ran down the worn wooden boards.
She could help, but only if she caught up with him.
‘Nick, hang on.’ She skidded to a halt on the dock, panting as the duca’s dock keeper released the thin nylon line mooring the cruiser to the quay. ‘Where are you going?’
‘For a ride.’ He caught the line the dock keeper threw across. ‘Alone.’
After sending a perfunctory salute to the man beside her, and tying off the line, he crossed the boat’s deck and leapt up the steps to the pilot’s c
abin.
The powerful boat kicked to life, water churning as it glided away from the dock. Without taking time to think about it, Eva took two steps back, and then ran at full pelt, squeezed her eyes shut and launched herself off the dock and into mid-air.
The soles of her feet slapping on the deck were accompanied by the alarmed shout of the dock keeper. She pitched onto her knees then grabbed onto the handrail, her knuckles whitening as the boat lurched forward.
Okay, that wasn’t the most graceful thing she’d ever done, but at least she hadn’t drowned.
Fighting the sway of the boat as it rode the swell, she clambered up the steps to the cabin.
Nick glanced at her, a dark scowl on his face as he swung the boat’s steering wheel into a turn to direct the boat onto the open lake. ‘You little fool, you could have hurt yourself.’
‘You could have waited for me,’ she said, unperturbed by his reprimand, and perched on the leather bench seat behind him.
With his legs akimbo, his T-shirt moulded to his muscular chest and his caramel brown hair whipping about his head he looked savage and uncivilised. Like a pirate captain at the bow of his ship, ready to maraud and pillage anything that took his fancy.
Eva shook off the fanciful thought. This wasn’t a romantic fantasy. It was real life. And she wasn’t scared of Nick. Not any more.
‘I wanted to be alone.’ He glared at her, a muscle in his jaw twitching as his gaze narrowed. ‘What part of that didn’t you understand?’
She clutched the leather cushion as the boat skimmed over the wake of a couple of windsurfers and rounded the point, leaving the cove that sheltered the palazzo behind. ‘You don’t always get what you want.’
Nick let out a harsh laugh. ‘You don’t say,’ he murmured, his voice thick with innuendo as his gaze flicked to her cleavage.
Eva’s cheeks hit boiling point, awareness shimmering, but she refused to rise to the bait. He was trying to provoke her. And divert her attention.
