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Wishing he weren’t studying her quite so intently, Lindsay followed his directions and pushed open a door. Had circumstances been different she would have been amazed by the beautiful bathroom that confronted her, but as it was she felt too ill to react with anything other than relief at the prospect of privacy.
Closing the door carefully behind her, she put her hand on her stomach and took a deep breath. How long was the flight to the Caribbean? She hadn’t even asked, but without her medication she knew that she was going to be ill for all of it. And it was going to be horribly embarrassing.
Why now? Why now, when she really needed to have her wits about her?
Her head throbbed and she just wanted to lie down, but the thought of doing so in front of Alessio prevented her from returning to the cabin. Instead she sat down on a chair and leaned her head against the cool, marble wall, closing her eyes.
If only the pain would stop—
She didn’t know how long she sat there. She was in too much pain to move; so much so that when the bathroom door opened, she barely reacted.
‘Maledizione,’ a rough masculine voice cursed softly, ‘how long have you been like this? Are you ill?’
‘Migraine. I’ll be OK. Just leave me alone for a bit.’ Her eyes tightly shut against the light, Lindsay felt a firm masculine hand touch her forehead and then he muttered something under his breath in Italian.
‘I thought you were looking pale. Why didn’t you say something before?’
‘Alessio, please just go away,’ she muttered. ‘You’re difficult enough to deal with in good health. Trust me, you don’t want to be in here. I think I might be sick.’
Apparently undeterred by that warning, he scooped her easily into his arms and carried her through a door that led to a bedroom. Then he laid her gently on the enormous king-size bed. The soft pillow was cool against her cheek and it felt so wonderful to lie down that she gave a moan of gratitude.
‘Maybe you’re not all bad,’ she mumbled. ‘At this moment in time I almost like you.’
His eyes gleamed. ‘Stop talking, Lindsay. You might say something you regret.’
‘Sorry. Forgot you don’t want women to like you.’ She winced as another bolt of pain shot through her head. ‘Well, this must be a first for you. Tucking a sick woman into your bed.’
‘Do you have tablets in your bag?’ He sounded cool and efficient and her eyes drifted shut, her teeth gritted against the pain.
‘Forgot them. Packed in a hurry.’ She snuggled deeper into the pillow. ‘I didn’t even know planes came with beds. I guess it’s an essential item for a man like you.’
‘Believe it or not, I don’t use it for seduction. Being able to sleep when I need to makes me more efficient,’ he said dryly, pulling a heavy silk cover over her. ‘So—what am I going to do with you?’
The pain was agonising and she winced as a shaft of light penetrated the window. ‘You’re going to pass me my phone. I need to try calling Ruby again—’
‘Stop thinking about your sister and think about yourself for once.’ A frown in his eyes, Alessio leaned across and closed the blinds, shutting out the beams of sunlight. ‘Better?’
She never would have believed him capable of being so thoughtful. But her stomach was still churning and she was terrified that she was going to be sick over his handmade shoes. ‘I think you’d better leave now—for your sake.’
It seemed as though he was following her advice because he rose to his feet and left the room. But he returned moments later with a bowl and placed it by the bed, apparently unfazed by the situation. ‘I’m going to fetch you a doctor.’
If she’d had more energy Lindsay would have laughed. They were in mid-air, for goodness’ sake. Where was he going to find a doctor?
Perhaps he meant that he was going to talk to a doctor on the phone, but what good would that do?
The pounding in her head was unbearable, but when she heard voices next to her she gingerly opened her eyes and saw a man standing with Alessio.
With a frown, he sat down on the bed, asked her a few questions and then opened his bag.
Dimly in the back of her mind Lindsay was wondering how Alessio had managed to produce a doctor in mid-air, but her head was hurting too much to care and she was almost sobbing with gratitude as the doctor gave her medication and then left the room. Moments later, something deliciously cool was placed gently against her throbbing head.
She opened her eyes a slit and saw Alessio sitting next to her. He’d removed his tie and the sleeves of his white shirt had been rolled back to reveal strong forearms shadowed with dark hairs. As always he looked strong and capable and, surprisingly perhaps, not the slightest bit put out by her sudden illness. ‘The doctor thought this might help.’
‘Thank you. That feels wonderful. Why are you still here?’ But she felt intensely vulnerable and pathetically grateful to him for not walking out and leaving her alone. ‘I suppose your ego won’t allow a woman to claim a headache when she’s in your bed.’ Her remark made him smile.
‘Be quiet and go to sleep, Lindsay.’
‘You really are impossibly good-looking,’ she muttered as the medication started to take effect and her eyes drifted shut. ‘It’s a shame you’re such a selfish bastard.’
CHAPTER FOUR
SHE woke to find the pain gone and Alessio sprawled on the bed next to her, his eyes closed.
Still sleepy, Lindsay gazed at his dense lashes and the hard lines of his perfect bone structure.
So this was what it felt like to wake up next to a really, really gorgeous man. Like not getting up, she thought dreamily. Like spending all day lying in bed staring at him; counting those incredible eyelashes, studying the blue-black stubble that darkened his jaw, following the sensuous curve of his firm mouth.
Even relaxed and asleep, he looked strong and hotly masculine.
She was still in the process of contemplating his mouth when his eyes opened and he looked at her. His gaze locked with hers and for a sizzling moment they shared something agonisingly intimate. The response of her body was instantaneous and without thinking what she was doing, Lindsay lifted a hand and touched his cheek.
She felt the roughness of his jaw against her sensitive palm—man against woman—and then she saw his eyes narrow slightly.
‘I gather you’re feeling better?’ His voice was roughened by sleep, but it was enough to pierce her dreamy state and return her to full consciousness.
Completely awake now, she snatched her hand away and stared at him in horror.
‘Oh—’ Skidding away from him, she quickly sat up and her hair slid over her shoulders. Only then did she realise that, not only had someone removed the clips from her hair, but they’d also undressed her down to her underwear. She was horribly embarrassed, and her first impulse was to leap from the bed and lock herself in the bathroom, but without clothes she was trapped. Clutching the satin quilt to her throat, she glared at him. ‘What are you doing in my bed?’
‘It’s my bed, tesoro.’ He closed his eyes again and a slight smile played around his firm mouth. That gorgeous mouth that she’d been examining in such detail. ‘My plane. My bed.’
‘But—’ she kept the covers up to her chin ‘—what I mean is—why are you lying next to me?’
‘Sorry to disappoint you, but this plane only comes with one bedroom. I don’t generally find that I need guest accommodation.’
‘You could have slept on the couch.’
‘I could have done, yes.’ Eyes still closed, he smiled. ‘But that would have made me thoughtful and caring, and I’m a selfish bastard, Lindsay. Remember?’
Lindsay tightened her fingers on the covers. ‘That was incredibly rude of me. I shouldn’t have said that—I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did.’
‘You were honest about how you felt,’ he said dryly, ‘I suspect for the first time in your life.’
Lindsay hesitated. ‘But I was wrong,’ she said quietly. Yes, he’d obviously sprawled next to her for a few hours’ sleep, but only after he’d brought a bowl, fetched a doctor and generally made sure that she was as comfortable as possible. ‘Who undressed me?’
‘I did. I must say, for a relationship counsellor you choose extremely seductive underwear.’ He gave a half smile. ‘You’re full of surprises.’
‘You shouldn’t have undressed me.’
‘I felt sorry for you strapped up in that starched suit. You couldn’t possibly get the rest you needed. Is the headache gone?’
She moved her head slightly to test it and then nodded gingerly. ‘Yes. Thank you. Where did you find a doctor in mid-air?’
‘In the cockpit of my plane.’ In no apparent hurry, Alessio sat up, suppressed a yawn and then sprang from the bed with unconscious grace. He strolled to the far side of the bedroom, yanked open a cupboard and removed a fresh shirt. ‘My copilot is medically trained.’
It didn’t matter what he was doing or what he was wearing, he was unfairly good-looking, Lindsay thought helplessly. Whether he was stripped to the waist and sweaty from exercise, sleek in a suit, or rumpled from a few hours’ rest on the bed, he still managed to look gorgeous.
With a moan of frustration, she closed her eyes, reminding herself that his looks concealed an ice-cold temperament and a complete lack of emotional intelligence.
But that wasn’t quite true, was it?
He could have walked away and left her to her agony, but he hadn’t. Nor had he been remotely fazed by the fact that she’d taken ill on his plane. Remembering the glass of water he’d held to her lips at one point, she turned her head into the pillow, terrified by her feelings.
It didn’t change a thing, she told herself desperately. All right, so perhaps he did have a human side. But that didn’t alter the fact that he didn’t believe in love, had no desire to sustain a relationship and made his living from ripping the guts from people’s marriages.
It didn’t change who he was.
And it didn’t change who she was, either. Didn’t change the way she felt inside.
She opened her eyes and found him looking at her.
‘Are you all right?’ He frowned. ‘Headache back?’
‘No. I’m fine.’
‘Good. We’ll be landing in another two hours. I’m going to take a shower and then make some calls. Help yourself to the bathroom.’
‘Wait.’ Scooping her hair away from her face, she raised herself on her elbow. ‘You haven’t even told me where we’re going. You just said it was the Caribbean.’
‘We’re going to Kingfisher Cay, west of Antigua. One hundred acres of isolated palm-fringed beaches and guaranteed isolation.’
‘I’ve never heard of it.’
‘The only people who have ever heard of it are the people who can afford to go there,’ he said dryly. ‘A holiday on Kingfisher Cay is by personal invitation of the owner.’
‘And your prospective client is holidaying there as we speak?’
‘He needed a rest from the publicity surrounding his disintegrating marriage. He’s treating himself to some rest and relaxation.’
‘And you’re taking advantage of his vulnerability by turning up and offering him legal counsel?’
Alessio gave a cool smile. ‘A good divorce lawyer is what makes him able to relax. Without me protecting his interests, he wouldn’t be able to risk turning his back on the scheming hussy he married.’
Lindsay’s mouth tightened and she gripped the quilt in her fingers. Clearly the thoughtfulness he’d displayed during the night had just been a blip.
‘Don’t you think the owner of the island might object to you using his exclusive Caribbean hideaway for your own commercial interests?’
‘No.’ Alessio looked as though something had amused him and she frowned.
‘Does he know you’re bringing me?’
‘Why does it matter?’ A dangerous light in his eyes, he strolled purposefully towards her, his smile widening as she retreated to the far side of the bed.
The closer he came, the harder it was to breathe and she felt as though her body were on fire. ‘There might not be enough accommodation.’
‘We can always share.’
Lindsay flattened herself against the bed head. ‘I’d rather sleep with the sharks.’
He stopped, his expression mocking as he registered her growing agitation. ‘Then you’d better hope that your little sister did at least one part of her job correctly and booked two suites.’ With that disconcerting observation, he turned and walked through to the bathroom, leaving her with a pounding heart and a guilty conscience.
Ruby.
She hadn’t even thought about her sister since she’d woken up and she knew why, of course. There had been no room in her brain for anything or anyone except Alessio Capelli.
She needed to call Ruby. She needed—
With a groan, Lindsay flopped back down onto the pillows. What she really needed was to be back in London living her life. Not trapped in a private jet, en route to a billionaire’s Caribbean hideaway.
The seaplane soared above a sparkling turquoise sea.
‘Oh, my goodness,’ Lindsay breathed softly, her gaze drawn to yet another emerald-green island surrounded by deserted sandy beaches. ‘It’s incredible. So beautiful. I had no idea. I’ve never before understood everyone’s obsession with accumulating wealth, but if wealth means seeing a place like this—’
It was idyllic. If it weren’t for her anxiety about Ruby, she might even have been able to relax.
Lindsay frowned, realising how ridiculous that was. If it hadn’t been for Ruby, she wouldn’t be here! And if she started thinking that this was a holiday, she’d be in trouble. The only way to survive a week with Alessio Capelli was to be businesslike.
Absorbed by the contents of the file on his lap, Alessio appeared unaware of her inner turmoil. ‘You’ve never been to the Caribbean?’
‘No, I—’ She broke off. She didn’t want to reveal anything about herself to this man. What would someone like him make of her disordered, disastrous childhood? He’d laugh or make one of his sharp, lawyerlike comments that always made her shrink. ‘I haven’t really travelled.’ Not wanting to think about her past, she peered down at the surf breaking on a beach below her. ‘Is that where we’re going?’
‘Yes.’ Unlike her, he hadn’t once glanced out of the window, instead concentrating on working his way through the thick sheaf of documents. Occasionally he scribbled a note in the margin, sometimes he underlined, rarely he frowned and crossed out a chunk of text with big, bold strokes of his black pen.
Did he ever relax? She studied his profile for a moment. He’d showered and shaved and was now dressed in lightweight trousers and a cool shirt.
‘Why do you work so hard? Is it all about the money?’ She blurted out the question and he lifted his head and looked at her.
‘Money is important up to a point. After that, the amount becomes irrelevant.’
Lindsay tried to imagine having so much money that the total became irrelevant. ‘Well, you’ve long passed that point,’ she muttered, ‘so why do you carry on?’
‘Because it entertains me.’ He slid his pen into his pocket and closed the file. ‘I enjoy the process.’
‘You mean you enjoy making people miserable.’
His eyes gleamed. ‘On the contrary, I free them from misery to begin a new life.’
‘Don’t you ever worry that you’ve taken apart something that could be fixed?’
