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She shrugged defensively. ‘That it’s probably best to leave things as they are. After all, they say you can become accustomed to anything in time.’
‘I wonder if marriage is included in that generalisation,’ he said musingly, and paused. ‘So, as a beginning, can you become used to the changes in this room, mia cara?’
‘I would prefer to have been consulted,’ she said, casting a coolly appraising look around her. ‘You did say the house was my domain.’
Ungrateful, she thought, hating herself. Ungrateful and ungracious.
His brows lifted. ‘Then I apologise. I hoped it would be a pleasant surprise for you. And that it might make the room, you understand, more acceptable.’
Yes, she understood, and knew that if this was a real marriage and she was here for the right reasons, she’d have been in his arms by now, whispering ‘Grazie’ between kisses.
As it was, she needed more than ever to stick to the path she’d chosen.
‘On the subject of surprises,’ she went on. ‘Was it really necessary to carry me into the house in front of Mrs Harris? I could have walked.’
‘Blame my Roman ancestry, mia bella,’ Zac drawled. ‘If a bride stumbled on the threshold of her new home in ancient times, it was considered a great misfortune, so it was deemed better to carry her.’
‘And, of course, our situation is so perfect,’ Dana said tautly. ‘Besides which, I have always regarded Mannion as my own home, as I’m sure you know.’
His mouth tightened, but when he spoke, his tone was pleasant. ‘Then put the incident down as an irresistible impulse, carissima.’
‘You said something too. What was it?’
‘Another old custom. I said, “Ubi tu Gaia, ego Gaius.” It means “Wherever you are mistress, I am master.”’
‘Not everywhere,’ Dana said. ‘Just here in this house. But thank you for the history lesson.’
‘If I did not know better,’ Zac remarked softly, ‘I would think you were trying to pick a quarrel with me, Dana mia.’ He paused. ‘I am permitted to presume that you are mine, I hope, or will that prove another bone of contention?’
She bit her lip, and he sighed. ‘Shall we declare a truce for a while? I have been sent to tell you there is tea on the terrace.’ He paused. ‘Unless you would prefer to remain here and wait for dinner, which I have ordered for eight o clock.’
But would she be waiting alone?
‘Tea,’ she said, ‘would be lovely.’
It was deliciously warm on the terrace and Zac was clearly relaxed, leaning back against the cushions, his dark gaze offering frank appreciation of the first smooth roundness of her breasts revealed by her dress. She might resent his scrutiny, but it was trivial compared with the realisation that, in a few short hours, Zac would have the right to see her wearing nothing at all.
‘When I return from my tour,’ he said, ‘my father wishes us to join him at our house on Lake Como. I believe he wishes us to have our marriage blessed in the family chapel.’
‘Under the circumstances, that seems almost blasphemous.’ Dana lifted her chin. ‘And anyway, I can’t be away. I have far too much to do here.’
He sat up. ‘You cannot spare my father a few days to welcome you as a daughter?’
‘I didn’t realise our deal contracted me to play happy families,’ she returned coolly.
‘Then you know it now.’ His tone did not encourage further argument. ‘In return, I am happy to accompany you to Spain to visit your mother.’
She looked down at her hands, tightly clasped in her lap. She said quietly, ‘Thank you, but that won’t be necessary.’
He said nothing, but she had a sense of harsh anger, rigidly controlled, and began to feel angry herself. Hadn’t Linda suffered enough without having to endure Serafina’s cousin of all people invading her Spanish sanctuary?
Anger was good, she told herself. So was resentment. Feeding them would prevent foolish thoughts. Crazy longings...
She said tautly, ‘And Mrs Latimer? I can’t imagine she’ll be welcoming me to Italy in any guise. Or that she’ll forgive either of us for the fact that I’m now occupying her home.’
‘To begin with,’ he said, ‘this house ceased to be a home for her after the deaths of her husband and her only son. It became an empty shell that she was glad to leave, nor did she care who would live here after her.’
A heap of stone in the middle of nowhere...
