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Nikki heard his deep groan of pleasure as the small, tight sheath of her body grasped at him, the honeyed warmth enveloping him totally. He tried to control his thrusts to keep them slow and not too deep, but she was having none of it. She clung to him, her fingers digging into the tautness of his buttocks to keep him where she wanted him.
She felt herself begin to climb the mountain again, the pinnacle getting closer and closer with each surging movement of his body within hers.
The overwhelming power of his release surprised her, as did her own. It was like an earthquake rumbling between them, rocking them back and forth, shaking them, shattering them into a thousand tiny pieces.
She held him against her as his breathing gradually came back to normal, the skin of his back raised in tiny goose-bumps, under the soft pads of her fingertips.
He lifted himself up on his elbows to look at her, his dark eyes full of wonder. ‘Do you realise what you have just done, Nikki?’ he asked.
‘W-what?’ she asked, a shadow of uncertainty flitting across her face.
‘You have made me fall in love with you,’ he said. ‘For ever.’
Nikki felt her throat tighten. Oh God! What had she done? This should not have happened. She should not have let it happen. She had no right to sleep with a man to whom she could offer nothing but a one-night stand, for that was all it could ever be.
He reached past her to take something out of the bedside drawer. ‘I have something for you,’ he said.
Nikki tensed as he retrieved the small package. Throughout the week he had bought her gifts—not expensive ones, which had made it easy for her to accept them, with perhaps not an entirely clear conscience, but she’d reasoned she wanted something to keep as a reminder of what she could have had if life had dealt her a different hand of cards.
She took the tiny package from him, her fingers beginning to tremble slightly as she felt the cushioning of velvet beneath the tissue wrapping. ‘What is it?’ she asked, her voice sounding rusty.
‘Open it and see,’ he said, smiling at her.
She began to undo the tiny silk ribbon, each movement of her fingers meticulously slow. The tissue fell away, and the red velvet box lay in her hand like a square of blood. She knew what was in it before she opened it, knew too that she should have handed it straight back and told him the truth, but instead she slowly lifted the lid.
A diamond solitaire ring gleamed up at her, its sheer brilliance taking her breath away.
‘Put it on,’ he said into the silence.
Nikki had never hated herself more than at that moment. The shame of her past was nothing to what she was experiencing now. But as if her fingers had a mind of their own they lifted the ring from its velvet home, and slid it on her ring finger where Joseph Ferliani’s ring was supposed to be. But, unlike the heavy, cumbersome cluster Joseph had insisted she wear, Massimo’s ring was exquisitely delicate, suiting her slim hand perfectly.
‘Will you marry me, Nikki?’ Massimo asked as he took her hand in his. ‘I know this is terribly rushed, but I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you.’
Nikki bit her lip in anguish, tears springing in a crystal stream from her eyes as she met his. ‘I don’t know what to say…’ she began. ‘It’s been so sudden…so totally unexpected.’
He brought her closer to the warmth of his body and, holding her hand to his heart, smiled down at her. ‘It looks like I will have to be patient and wait for your answer on my return,’ he said. ‘That will give you time to talk it over with your family. I am forgetting how very young you are. I am nine years older than you, so it is reasonable to expect you to be feeling a bit overwhelmed—especially now, after we have made love for the very first time.’
She was overwhelmed, but with guilt. It prodded and poked at her from every angle like a thousand pointed daggers. How could she have let things get to this stage? What had she been thinking? She should have known from the beginning that a man like Massimo Androletti would want more than a quick fling. She should have had one drink with him that first night and left, then he would not have had to suffer the pain of rejection, and she would not have known what it felt like to be truly in love, only to have to walk away because of circumstances beyond her control.
‘Massimo, there’s something I need to tell you…’
He bent his head to press a soft kiss to her mouth. ‘No, cara,’ he said. ‘Do not give me your answer until we meet again. I am flying to Palermo on Sunday. I am sorry I cannot spend the day with you tomorrow, but I have an engagement to attend which I cannot get out of.’
‘It’s all right,’ she said, inwardly blowing out a breath of relief. ‘I have something on as well.’
He held her close, his arms strong and protective around her. ‘I will miss you, Nikki. Every day we are apart I will miss you.’
‘Me too,’ she whispered, her heart breaking into a million pieces.
He put her from him. ‘I will not say goodbye, but vederla presto.’
She looked up at him in puzzlement. ‘What does that mean?’
‘It means “see you soon”,’ he said, and sealed his promise with a burning kiss.
CHAPTER FOUR
NIKKI arrived at the church in her stiff-as-meringue dress, the lace itching her all over as she walked up the aisle, her bouquet feeling as heavy as her heart in her hands. She didn’t recognise any of the faces, but then it wasn’t as if she had a large circle of friends to invite. Ever since she’d moved from Perth with Jayden, there hadn’t been time to socialise even if she had felt inclined to do so. Holding down a job in order to pay for her brother’s care had taken up every bit of available time.
She just wanted this bit to be over so she could help her younger brother get the extra support he needed. Joseph had offered her a large sum of money in exchange for her hand in marriage. He had told her he needed a trophy wife, and was prepared to pay her a wage on top of the amount he’d promised for as long as she lived with him. He had assured her he was not interested in consummating the union due to his health problems, which he’d insisted no one was to know about. To all intents and purposes, their marriage was to appear normal, and Nikki had only agreed because she knew it would be worth it to see Jayden settled into Rosedale House where he would receive the twenty-four-hour care he so desperately needed.
Finally the vows were over, the register signed and the organ playing as they came out of the church to a cloud of confetti.
It was only then that Nikki saw him.
She stumbled in her tracks, her hand digging into Joseph’s arm to steady herself as Massimo Androletti stepped from the crowd to stand in front of them, his black gaze glittering with a rage so intense she felt as if her skin was going to peel away layer by sensitive layer under its scorching heat.
‘I would like to be introduced to your new wife,’ he said, addressing Joseph in a seemingly polite tone, although the way he said the word ‘wife’ made it sound more like an insult.
‘Nikki,’ Joseph said, ‘this is my stepson, Massimo Androletti, who has graced us with his presence this afternoon, after telling me for weeks he wouldn’t be seen dead at any wedding of mine. Massimo, this is Nikki, my new wife.’
‘Il piacere è tutto mio,’ Massimo said, and with a sardonic curl of his lip translated, ‘The pleasure is all mine.’
Nikki felt the heat of his fingers as he took her hand, the hint of steel in them as they brought it up to his mouth sending a tremor of terror through her body. She knew her face was every shade of red, but there was nothing she could do about it. She had never dreamed that such a fateful coincidence could occur, but, thinking back over the last week, she realised there had been a hundred clues if she had taken the time to reflect on them. But then she hadn’t wanted to think about anything, but that precious time with Massimo, for she’d known it had to end.
‘So you decided to come after all,’ Joseph said to Massimo. ‘What changed your mind?’
‘I had heard you were marrying your new secretary,’ Massimo said, swinging his hardened gaze to Nikki, running it up and down her body insultingly. ‘But I had no idea she was so very young and beautiful.’
Joseph’s arm came around Nikki’s waist in a territorial manner. ‘She is to be the new face of the Ferliani Fashions advertising campaign. She is delightful, is she not?’
‘Exquisite,’ Massimo drawled insolently. ‘But then you always want the best, and do whatever you can to get it.’
Joseph gave him an imperious smile. ‘Get over it, Massimo. This is one time you are not going to win. I have it all—a beautiful wife, a business that is thriving, and money to play with.’
‘What a pity none of it is really yours,’ Massimo ground out, his eyes flashing. ‘Even your angelic-looking wife is a slut. Why don’t you ask her what she was doing all last week?’
Nikki felt the colour of her shame brand her from head to foot. She wanted to sink to the ground at their feet, but a last vestige of pride made her hold her head high.
‘Nikki was having a well-earned rest before the wedding,’ Joseph said, but even she could see the doubt in his hazel eyes as they came to rest on her. ‘Weren’t you, Nikki?’
‘T-that’s right,’ she answered, lowering her gaze slightly.
‘Yes, well, she certainly spent a lot of time relaxing,’ Massimo said with another venomous glance in her direction. ‘But perhaps you had better ask her whose bed she was in last night.’
‘I think it might be time for you to leave,’ Joseph said, indicating for one of his burly staff members to come forward. ‘Gino, please show Signore Androletti the way out.’
‘You lying little whore,’ Massimo said to Nikki as he brushed off the man’s hands as if they were pieces of lint. ‘I will make you pay for this. I will not rest until I have you begging for my mercy, I swear to God.’
Nikki swallowed convulsively as he stalked out of the church grounds, the tolling of the bells ringing in her ears like an omen for the future…
The car coming to a halt jolted Nikki out of the past. She felt Massimo’s burning gaze still pressing against her in accusation. ‘You knew who I was that first night, didn’t you, Nikki? It was all a game to you, to make me appear a lovesick fool, while you were busily planning your marriage to another man—the one man I hated more than any other.’
‘You are entitled to your opinion, but I can assure you it is wrong. Anyway, it was a long time ago,’ she said with carefully measured calm. ‘It can hardly have any relevance to here and now.’
‘It has everything to do with here and now,’ he returned with chilling determination. ‘You see, Nikki, the time has come for my revenge.’
Nikki refused to allow him the satisfaction of seeing how much his words frightened her. She sat casually in her seat, one finely arched brow lifting in scorn. ‘This is the twenty-first century, in case you hadn’t noticed. The days of an eye for an eye, and what have you, have long gone.’
‘We will see,’ he said, and unfolded himself from the car. He turned to offer her a hand, but she ignored it as she too exited the vehicle on legs that were not as steady as she would have liked.
She looked up at the imposing mansion before throwing him a questioning glance. ‘I take it this is your house?’ she said.
‘It is.’ He turned to the driver. ‘Ricardo, you can take the next couple of hours off. Mrs Ferliani and I have business to discuss. I will call you when I need you.’
‘Right, boss.’
Nikki pulled her mouth tight as the limousine drove away.
‘I have no desire to discuss anything with you,’ she said. ‘I have things to see to at home, in any case.’
His dark brows lifted expressively. ‘Home?’ he asked. ‘Now, which home are you referring to, I wonder?’
She ground her teeth. ‘Even if what you say is true, that the house is now yours, by law I don’t have to move out with out notice.’
‘On the contrary, as the new owner I can evict you at a moment’s notice,’ he said. ‘You have already been living there for several months rent-free—or did your husband not inform you of that?’
Nikki swallowed against the solid lump of dread in her throat. ‘What are you talking about?’ she asked, her heart stumbling in her chest.
He gave her a cool smile. ‘Your husband approached me for financial help in the months before he died. He begged me to dig him out of trouble—but of course I refused.’
‘You unfeeling bastard,’ she bit out. ‘How could you twist the knife like that in a dying man?’
‘As you know, I had a score to settle,’ he said. ‘He took it very well, all things considered. He handed me everything—the house, the cars, the business, and…’ He paused deliberately, his gaze locking meaningfully with hers.
Don’t ask, Nikki told herself firmly. You already know the answer, so what would be the point?
‘You do not want to know what else your husband put up for purchase?’ he asked.
She met his sardonic gaze with a flare of resentment in hers. ‘If by any chance you are presuming to lump me in with the goods and chattels, then forget it—I am not for sale.’
His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes as he came to stand right in front of her. ‘He paid you to marry him,’ he said. ‘He even told me how much. You put quite a high price on yourself, did you not?’
Nikki ran her tongue over her dry lips as his eyes burned into hers. She refused to answer out of a mixture of pride and anger. Let him think what he liked. What did it matter now? Joseph was dead, and if what Massimo had said was true she was going to have to find a way to scrape what she could together to keep Jayden in care. She’d been down on her luck before and pulled herself out of it. It would be hard, but she’d damn well do it for her brother’s sake.
‘Of course, I will be very generous in my payment for your services,’ he said. ‘Very generous, indeed.’
She clenched her fists at her sides, her chest heaving against the tide of anger raging within her. ‘I am not going to sleep with you,’ she said. ‘Not for any price.’
The look he gave her was full of icy disdain. ‘You are very convincing, but I know what you are up to, Nikki. You are used to a high standard of living. You want to make sure it continues, do you not?’
Nikki felt as if her heart was being crushed between two solid bookends. ‘Joseph would not have left me with nothing,’ she said again, dearly hoping it was true. ‘He told me I would be left well-provided for on his death.’
‘I already told you, Nikki. Were you not listening? He left you with nothing. Nothing but debts that will take you years to clear, but fortunately for you I have come up with a plan to help you offload them more or less immediately.’
Nikki moistened her lips again, panic beating like a primitive tribal drum inside her chest. ‘What p-plan would that be?’ she asked, wishing her voice didn’t sound so thin and scared.
He gave her one of his inscrutable looks. ‘I want you to be my mistress of convenience.’
She frowned as she tried to make sense of his statement. ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to explain what you mean,’ she said after a heart-chugging pause. ‘I’m unfamiliar with the term.’
‘I have recently ended a relationship,’ he informed her in a dispassionate tone. ‘The woman I was involved with is not finding it easy to let go. I have always found the best way to deal with such stubbornness is to have physical evidence that I have now moved on with my life.’
‘I’m still not sure what it is you want me to do,’ she said guardedly.
‘You are being deliberately obtuse, are you not?’ he asked. ‘I want you to do everything for me that you did for my stepfather.’
Nikki couldn’t imagine Joseph revealing the unconsummated nature of their relationship, and wondered if he had told Massimo a mountain of lies instead in an effort to maintain his sense of male pride.
Massimo waved a hand towards the mansion behind him. ‘You see this house?’ he asked.
She looked past his shoulder at the huge, two-storey mock-Georgian building before bringing her gaze back to his. ‘Yes…’
‘I want you to move in with me.’
Her eyes widened. ‘I’m afraid that’s out of the question,’ she said. ‘I can’t possibly live with you.’
He gave her an ironic glance. ‘You find the position I am offering beneath you?’
She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘What’s this about, Massimo? Some petty payback scheme to make me regret our stupid little fling five years ago?’
‘I need a trophy mistress,’ he said. ‘You need a job—it is as simple as that.’
Nikki felt her stomach lurch sideways in alarm. ‘I already have a job, if you remember,’ she said, moistening her bone-dry lips again. ‘I am still the face of Ferliani Fashions. I only took off the last six months to nurse Joseph.’
His eyes were unreadable as they held hers. ‘As the new owner and CEO of Ferliani Fashions, I have decided not to renew your contract,’ he said. ‘I have other plans for you.’
She gave him a fiery glare. ‘What do you want me to do, scrub your floors and fold your socks?’
‘That, and a whole lot more.’
Her eyes narrowed into wary slits. ‘How much more?’
‘I have a busy life,’ he said. ‘I do not have time to cook proper meals or maintain an immaculate house. Joseph told me what a wonderful wife you were in that respect. He told me how you refused to have a housekeeper—that you preferred to do it yourself. I need someone running things here twenty-four-seven. I am willing to pay you generously for each month the arrangement continues.’ He named a sum that sent her brows winging upwards, and added, ‘It is twice what you were earning from the Ferliani contract.’
‘There are hundreds of women who would give anything to have this job,’ she said. ‘But I’m not interested.’
‘Ah, but you have no choice, Nikki,’ he said. ‘For if you do not agree you will have to pay back every cent of the money your husband borrowed from me in your name a month before he died. Your signature is on the documents.’
