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This time, Alessio Capelli was going to kiss her.
There was a buzzing in her ears, her knees felt like jelly and her stomach burned with wicked sexual excitement. Even as her brain struggled to resist it, she could feel herself going under, submerged by swirling waters of dark, dangerous passion.
The damaged child inside her was screaming at him to go away, but the woman inside her wanted him right where he was.
His gaze held hers for a long moment and then his arms dropped to his sides and he took a step backwards. ‘That’s the sort of relationship I’m talking about, little Lindsay.’
Her heart was pounding so hard that for a moment she was terrified that she might actually pass out. She blinked several times to clear her vision and forced herself to breathe slowly. And then humiliation rushed through her veins because she knew she’d been microseconds away from sliding her arms round his strong neck and pressing her mouth against his. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ It wasn’t disappointment she was feeling. It absolutely wasn’t going to be disappointment.
‘I know you don’t. And that’s the point I’m making. How the hell has someone like you managed to carve out a career for yourself advising couples on their relationships?’
It wasn’t safe to be this close to him. And not because of him.
She just couldn’t trust herself—’Just because I haven’t made a mistake—’
‘Your idea of a mistake is another person’s idea of a life,’ he said dryly and she clasped her hands in front of her.
‘You’re talking about meaningless sex—’
‘And you don’t think two people can have a relationship based on meaningless sex?’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Trust me, tesoro. A relationship based on meaningless sex is the best sort.’
His remark restored her common sense. ‘Which brings us right back to the point I made earlier—’ strength ran through her veins and she met his gaze bravely ‘—that you don’t know anything about true intimacy. Intimacy is not a cuddle at the end of sex. Intimacy is about sharing. Real love is about sharing thoughts and feelings, hope and fears.’
Alessio gave a faint smile. ‘Then I’m truly relieved that I’ve managed to avoid your type of “intimacy”,’ he drawled. ‘And people’s spurious belief in something they call love is what keeps my phone ringing.’
Lindsay gave an exasperated sigh. ‘Love exists. And if you’ve never experienced that first-hand or witnessed it, then I feel sorry for you. It must be very cold and lonely in your bed.’ She regretted the words instantly and, sure enough, his sensual mouth curved into a wicked smile.
‘Generating heat in my bed isn’t one of my problems,’ he drawled softly, ‘so any time you need a practical demonstration of alternative energy sources, just bang on my bedroom door, tesoro.’
Lindsay lifted her fingers to her forehead and breathed deeply. ‘I suppose it’s your job that’s made you so very cynical—’
‘Realistic,’ he slotted in helpfully. ‘It’s made me realistic. Which is why I haven’t had to pay out a fortune in alimony.’
‘You have no experience whatsoever of sustaining a loving, intimate and accepting relationship.’
His gaze was mocking. ‘Of course “loving, intimate and accepting relationship” can be conveniently shorted to LIAR, a word which effectively describes everyone who claims to be happily married.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘Fascinating and absorbing though this discussion is, I have an anxious client waiting in my office, eager to eradicate the last LIAR in his life, and I’m due to fly to the Caribbean immediately after that.’
Flustered, she tried to marshal her thoughts. ‘But Ruby—’
‘Console yourself that Ruby is, at this moment, probably having the best sex of her life. If she happens to have the sense to show up at the airport, I’ll suggest that she calls you,’ he said in a cool tone. ‘If not, then next time you do speak to her, you can advise her to start looking for a new job.’
Emotionally shattered by her encounter with Alessio, Lindsay sat alone in the café, her tiny cup of espresso coffee untouched on the table in front of her.
It had been worse than she’d feared. So much worse than she’d feared.
Despite all her efforts, just being near the man unsettled her and it had become harder and harder to think of Ruby.
Even now, as she tried to focus on her sister’s plight, her mind was haunted by Alessio Capelli’s dark, sardonic smile.
Lindsay stared blankly at the dark, pungent coffee in the tiny cup, wishing for the millionth time that her sister had never taken the job.
For Ruby—young, impressionable and so desperately wounded after her last disastrous relationship—the lure of a job in sun-baked Italy, in the employment of a sophisticated billionaire, had proved too tempting to turn down.
A fresh start, she’d called it.
More like ‘out of the frying pan into the fire’, Lindsay thought wearily, remembering just how hard she’d tried to persuade Ruby to see sense.
‘Alessio is a typical Sicilian male. He might seem very modern and charming, but underneath—’ she tried hard to make Ruby see the truth ‘—underneath he’s ruthless, macho and his view of women is firmly stuck in the Stone Age.’
Dark eyes staring into hers, demanding her attention.
‘You didn’t think he was so unbearable when he saved our necks that night by the Coliseum. If he and his brother hadn’t happened to be passing—’ Ruby gave an expressive shudder. ‘They were amazing. I mean it was like something out of a movie, wasn’t it? The two of them taking on that gang of thugs and they beat them easily.’
Lindsay just looked at her sister helplessly, not knowing what to say.
It was all too easy to see how Ruby might have been seduced by the romance of the whole situation, because for a short time she’d felt the same way.
Once Alessio Capelli had dispensed with the gang who had surrounded them, he’d lifted her gently but decisively to her feet, his sexy dark eyes faintly quizzical as he’d studied her in the dim light.
For that one breathlessly exciting moment, she’d forgotten who, and where, she was.
With his broad shoulders and superior height, he’d seemed so powerful and safe that she’d actually swayed towards him, driven by the delicious and unfamiliar curl of desire low in her pelvis.
Looking back on it now, she realised that she probably would have been safer with the gang that had attacked them.
Fortunately for her, Alessio had released her before she could make a complete and utter fool of herself, but not before he’d awakened a part of Lindsay that she’d previously refused to recognise.
The two brothers had taken them to the bar of the most expensive hotel in Rome, a venue so exclusive that Lindsay wouldn’t have had the courage to put her toe inside the door of such a place if she hadn’t been with them.
Overawed by the opulent surroundings, it had been several minutes before she’d noticed the deference of everyone around her and several more minutes to realise that the arrogant, powerful man currently extending a glass of champagne in her direction actually owned the hotel. Vastly entertained by the fact that she had no idea who he was, he’d introduced himself properly and it was at that point that everything had fallen apart for her.
Alessio Capelli.
Of all the men who could have come to her rescue, it had been Alessio Capelli, the ruthless divorce lawyer who had a reputation for protecting his male clients from ‘gold-digging’ women.
The irony was, she knew him. Their paths had crossed professionally. They’d never met in person, but they’d been interviewed on several occasions by reporters keen to publicise their opposing views on relationships. And as she’d familiarised herself with his opinions, Lindsay had gritted her teeth and fumed. When asked to comment on some of her techniques for predicting marital success he’d been scathing and derogatory in his remarks.
And as if that weren’t enough, she’d worked with some of his clients on an individual basis. She’d seen first-hand some of the damage he’d wrought.
‘Alessio Capelli crushes women,’ she told her sister flatly, but Ruby simply shrugged.
‘Not all women. Just the greedy ones. You didn’t think he was so objectionable when he used his muscle to save you from that lowlife. I bet he’s a fantastic kisser.’ Ruby gave her a wicked look. ‘Rumour has it that what Alessio Capelli doesn’t know about seducing women isn’t worth knowing. Come on, Linny. I know you always use logic and common sense, but you have to admit he’s gorgeous. And if you don’t like your men dark and intimidating, there’s always his cute younger brother …’
Lindsay clamped her lips together, deciding not to point out that only two weeks earlier Ruby had been so devastated over the end of a relationship that she hadn’t seen the point of living.
‘Ruby—try and be a bit more analytical,’ she urged. ‘Think beyond the handsome face. Do you have the same views on life? Do you share the same values? Do you have what it takes to sustain a relationship?’
‘I’m just having fun, Linny. Not planning a wedding,’ Ruby snapped at her. ‘You’re so serious. You should have an affair with Alessio Capelli. It would do you good. A week of sun, sex and hot Sicilian man.’
Closely followed by a lifetime of heartache.
‘I’m not interested in a meaningless affair with someone whose values I don’t respect. And we’re talking about you, not me. I just don’t think you should get involved with anyone else for a while,’ Lindsay said tactfully and Ruby’s eyes clouded slightly.
‘Don’t worry. I’ve learned that lesson.’
Lindsay stared at her cold coffee now.
Had she?
Or was Ruby in the middle of yet another wild, crazy affair that would undoubtedly lead to another major emotional crash?
Her thoughts driving her almost demented with worry, Lindsay reached for her phone and called everyone she knew one more time. But still no one had any news of Ruby.
So now what?
Feeling helpless, she glanced at the clock on the wall of the café. Ruby had less than an hour to make the flight.
She tried to think positively.
There was still time for Ruby to turn up. She knew the importance of reliability in the employment market—she wouldn’t let Alessio Capelli down …
Suddenly Lindsay felt an ominous stabbing pain above her eye and winced as she recognised the beginnings of a migraine. Oh, no, not now. And not here, in a foreign country where nothing was familiar.
Gritting her teeth, she reached into her bag for the packet of tablets she carried with her. But there was no sign of them. With a frown, she emptied the contents of her handbag over the table and rummaged through it. No tablets.
Infuriated with herself for forgetting to replenish the tablets last time she’d used them, Lindsay swept the items back into her handbag and tried to think clearly. Normally she’d take a tablet, lie down for a few hours and emerge revived.
This time she had no tablets and the hands of the clock were relentlessly moving towards four o’clock. She didn’t have time for a headache. She knew what Ruby was capable of doing—
Drenched with sudden panic, Lindsay forced herself to breathe slowly—to think.
What could she do?
With something approaching desperation, Lindsay pressed her fingers against her temples, searching for alternative options.
The knifelike pain in her head increased and she closed her eyes. But with her eyes closed she had a sudden vision of Ruby’s pale lifeless face and she shot to her feet in the grip of an overwhelming panic. It took a moment to wrestle her overactive imagination back under control and remind herself that she had no evidence that anything bad had happened to Ruby.
There was probably a perfectly simple explanation for all this.
Perhaps her phone was broken, or perhaps she’d simply lost track of the time and had every intention of returning to the Capelli offices in time for the Caribbean trip.
Perhaps she was there now, offering an apology for her lateness to Alessio Capelli.
Keeping that thought uppermost in her mind, Lindsay reached for her bag and paid for her coffee.
Perhaps, she thought as she left the café, this whole nightmare would have a swift and happy ending.
CHAPTER THREE
ALESSIO CAPELLI rode the glass elevator down to the ground floor of his office building, ignoring the insistent buzz of the telephone that was tucked in the pocket of his suit.
He should have been rejoicing. In one short meeting he’d gained another high-profile, influential client and, more to the point, he’d ripped him away from a rival law firm. Ruthlessly competitive, Alessio waited for the usual high that came from defeating an adversary, but this time there was nothing.
Instead his brain was dominated by a picture of a pair of troubled blue eyes and blonde hair so tightly secured at the base of her slender neck that not even a strand was likely to escape.
Control, he thought dryly. Lindsay Lockheart was big on control. She controlled her hair, she controlled her emotions, but most especially she controlled her little sister.
For a woman who made her living trying to modify human behaviour, Lindsay was appallingly naïve when it came to understanding the actions of her younger sibling.
He’d never met anyone so serious. She acted as though she were ninety, and yet he knew she was only in her late twenties.
He strode across the polished marble floor of the lobby, through the revolving glass door and out into the street where his car awaited.
As if conjured straight from his thoughts, there was Lindsay Lockheart. She was standing by his car wearing the same crisp white shirt and slim black skirt that she’d had on earlier, her small overnight bag clutched in her fingers. Her delicate chin was held at a certain angle and there was a hopeful look in her eyes that melted into anxiety as she saw that he was on his own.
His driver shot him a look of nervous apology and Alessio sighed, lifted a brow in sardonic appraisal and focused his gaze on her pale face. ‘If you want to spend more time conversing, then I’m going to have to bill you.’
She stepped towards him. ‘Has Ruby turned up?’
‘You are obsessed with your sister’s movements.’ He handed his case to his driver, noting the way her cheeks blanched. It was a strange sibling relationship, he mused. Just how far was Lindsay prepared to go for her wayward sister? And, more interestingly, why?
‘I love my sister,’ she said huskily, ‘and I won’t apologise for that. Nor do I intend to explain myself to you.’
‘A decision that leaves me quite weak with relief,’ Alessio confessed in a lazy drawl, his eyes drawn to the tempting thrust of her breasts through her perfect white shirt. ‘I can’t imagine anything more likely to challenge my attention span than a summary of your family history. So, if you haven’t come to bore me, why are you here?’
‘I was checking whether you’d heard anything. I thought she might have turned up to do her job.’
‘Sadly for Ruby, the answer is no.’
Her slim shoulders sagged slightly as he delivered what was clearly a very unwelcome piece of news. ‘Could you give her a few more minutes? Just in case?’
‘No,’ he said gently, ‘I couldn’t.’
She closed her eyes briefly and he saw that her lashes were long and thick, the skin on her eyelids as pale as the rest of her face. ‘Please—’ Her voice cracked and when she opened her eyes again there was desperation there. ‘I—I know we don’t agree on things, but this is really important to me. Is there anything I can do to stop you firing her?’
The wild and wicked side of him took over. ‘Come in her place.’
He made the demand in absolute confidence that she would refuse.
The way they lived their lives was diametrically opposed.
On the surface they clashed, conflicted and disagreed.
But perhaps the biggest discordance lay under the surface. The powerful pull of sexual attraction disturbed her and he had a strong feeling that the roots of that disturbance were to be found deeper than the obvious restrictions posed by her ridiculously idealistic belief system.
He knew there was no way that Lindsay would ever voluntarily put herself in his path, so when she responded with a shocked ‘I can’t do that,’ he shrugged, reflecting on the fact that being constantly right could border on the tedious.
‘Of course you can’t.’ He couldn’t resist goading her a little more. ‘To be trapped with me in a romantic Caribbean hideaway would be a completely unfair test of your willpower. I understand.’
