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His smile was a sneer. ‘The clever Mr Belisandro must be losing his grip. First he pays over the market price for an empty heap of stone in the middle of nowhere.
‘Next, he’ll have to explain to Papà Ottaviano and Cousin Serafina why he’s polluting the Belisandro name by marrying the village whore’s bastard.’
‘Don’t you dare talk about my mother like that.’ Her voice shook.
‘Don’t give yourself airs,’ he said. ‘I’ve been a mug myself, letting you get away with the “hands off” treatment you’ve been giving me, while you’ve been opening your legs fast enough for Zac and his millions.’
He looked her over lasciviously, his eyes stripping away the towelling robe. ‘So what’s the going rate for demonstrating how you turn him on in bed? Give me something to remember you by when I’m far away? Zac wouldn’t begrudge me a quickie. You’re not the first woman we’ve shared.’
He took a step closer. ‘So, what about it, sweetie? In the bedroom, or here on the floor?’
Dana said nothing, just lifted her hand and slapped him so hard across the face that the blow jarred her arm up to the shoulder.
For a moment, he was silent, glaring at her, then he said thickly, ‘You’re going to regret that.’
‘No,’ Zac said from the doorway. ‘But you will unless you leave now.’
Dana whirled, staring at him, wanting suddenly to run to him. To bury her face against his chest and feel him holding her. Making her safe.
Except that was madness. Zac’s arms were no security zone. She would simply be leaping out of the frying pan into a blazing fire.
Besides, the ugly brutality of Adam’s words and all they implied was keeping her motionless and nauseated. Words that Zac must have heard during his noiseless approach.
She could feel the violence in the room, hot and heavy, as Adam’s mouth stretched in another sneer. ‘You really think you can make me?’
‘No,’ Zac said softly. ‘I don’t think. I know. So walk, unless you want to be thrown down the stairs.’
For a moment, Adam’s gaze was murderous, then, with a shrug, he walked past Zac and was gone, leaving them with the sound of his feet descending the stairs in the conventional manner.
Zac slammed the door and looked at Dana, his eyes cold as he surveyed the bathrobe. ‘Why was he here?’
‘I thought he was Nicola and he just—walked in. He wanted to take me out so I—I told him about—us and he freaked.’ She swallowed. ‘That’s all it was. Truly.’
Zac sighed, pushing his hair back from his face with a restless hand. ‘I was parking my car when I saw him drive up. I thought—Dio—what did I not think?’ He shook his head. ‘Then I heard him—that filth he was saying.’ He smiled thinly. ‘And I saw your reaction, mia cara.’
‘It’s as if I never knew him.’ Dana looked at the floor. ‘He became some—ghastly stranger.’ Her voice cracked. ‘It was—horrible.’
‘It is over,’ he said. ‘And nothing happened. However, I shall not wait for tomorrow, but take you to the hotel tonight.’
She knew she should come up with a token protest at the very least. Pride demanded it.
Except she was lucky to have any pride left. And if she remained at the flat, there was no guarantee that Adam would not return. Even the possibility made her feel sick.
She swallowed. ‘If you hadn’t arrived when you did...’ She paused. ‘Why is that, anyway? I thought you were staying at Mannion.’
‘I intended to do so,’ Zac returned levelly. ‘But our parting was not as I would have wished.’
She looked away. ‘Have you changed your mind about the—the bargain?’
‘No.’ His brows lifted. ‘Our agreement still stands. Why should you doubt it?’
‘I suppose because nothing about today seems quite real.’ She hesitated. ‘Adam said he made you pay too much for Mannion.’
He shrugged. ‘I paid what it was worth to me.’
‘And could you really have thrown him downstairs?’
‘Why, yes, mia bella. Quite easily and enjoyed doing so.’ He smiled faintly. ‘Or did you think you had a monopoly on violent gestures?’
She shuddered. ‘I’ve never hit anybody in my life before.’
‘No,’ he said quietly. ‘But you would often have liked to, I think.’
Flushing, she met the amused challenge in his gaze. ‘Perhaps.’
