Sweet Seduction (16 page)

A chilling cry split the air. Icy fingers of alarm slid through her body. Holding her breath, she strained to hear over the increasing drum of the rain.

The eagle. It must have been the eagle. She didn’t want to consider the possible alternative . . .

Pulling off her high heels, she rushed onto the terrace and into the torrent. The rain stung as it struck her bare skin. Sienna could only just see Antonio’s silhouette in the deluge against the backdrop of wild water. He stood motionless as the storm raged around him. She brushed the water from her eyes and shivered. Thunder rolled overhead. She cringed and ran for the protection of the suite, the image of Antonio’s motionless figure seared into her mind.

When Antonio didn’t return, Sienna decided to take a shower. As she towelled herself dry, she couldn’t shake the thought of Antonio and his strange behaviour at the pier. What drove a person to stand in a storm? The more time she spent with Antonio, the less she felt she knew him. No doubt he’d appear and act as if nothing had happened.

Sienna slowly dressed as she pondered Antonio’s mysterious behaviour. Stepping back from the mirror, she examined her image. The black evening dress hugged her body and fell just short of her knees. Expensive clothes certainly made a difference to one’s appearance. She added the diamond earrings and necklace Antonio had given her. At least she looked as if she belonged in Antonio’s world of wealth and extravagance.

She walked into the suite and stopped short. Antonio sat in one of the armchairs, reading the newspaper, already changed for dinner.

He glanced up. ‘Ready?’

‘Ah, yes.’ As predicted, he acted as though everything were perfectly normal. As though he hadn’t left her alone, stood in a raging storm and cried out in pain. Perhaps she was starting to understand him.

He stood. ‘You look beautiful,’ he said in a mechanical tone. No smile, no enthusiasm. His face an expressionless mask.

‘Thanks.’

He looked incredible in a dark suit and open-necked shirt. Taking her hand, he led her to the door. She hesitated.

‘What?’ he asked. His brow creased. At least that was something of an expression.

‘Are you going to tell me anything about this afternoon?’

His eyes narrowed. ‘What do you mean?’

‘You, the pier, the rain, the . . .’ How could she ask,
Was that your desperate cry?

‘I needed some air after the drive.’

‘We were in a convertible,’ she said, the frustration clear in her voice as Antonio whisked her down the corridor to the lift.

‘We’ll be late for dinner. Rosa has organised a private table on the terrace by the lake.’

‘Should I be expecting any hidden lenses?’ She didn’t even bother hiding the bitterness in her voice.

‘No,’ he said.

‘Anything else you might have failed to mention?’

‘No, Sienna, ‘ said Antonio, capturing her with his eyes, ‘I only expect you to give a good performance of a loving wife on her honeymoon.’

‘And what about you?’

His eyes darkened. ‘What do you mean?’

‘What do you think your relatives thought of your performance, standing like a lunatic in the rain?’ She could see in his face she was pushing too far, but she didn’t care.

The lift arrived. He held the door for her and pressed the button for the lobby. The door slid slowly shut. ‘That is not your concern,’ he said, staring straight ahead. ‘Just do what I’m paying you to do.’ His voice had grown hard.

She shook her head, a bitter taste in her mouth. This man was unbelievable. Less than twenty-four hours ago he’d held her tightly in his arms. She’d stood naked before him and he’d told her she looked beautiful. She’d believed him. Every word. Hell, she was probably the easiest seduction of his life.

She looked at the floor. To him, this was just a game. He was playing her, just as he played everyone else. The desire to slap him nearly overwhelmed her. She wanted him to feel some of the hurt he’d inflicted. Instead she said nothing, and turned her gaze to the numbers as they slowly indicated their descent.

The door opened.

‘Smile,’ he commanded in a low voice.

She held her ground. How could she sit through dinner pretending to love this man?

Her mother’s face drifted into her mind.
He’ll need you, darling
. Her mother’s last words rushed up and hit her with full force.
You’re strong but your father won’t survive without you. This hotel is his life. You have to help him.

At the time the words had hardly registered through the tears as her mother fought for her final breaths. It was only after she’d died that the words had hit home. Her father fell apart and the responsibility for organising the funeral, running the hotel and all other aspects of the family’s affairs had fallen heavily upon her shoulders.

‘Sienna, this way,’ Antonio ordered.

She stepped from the lift and stood tall. She had to succeed. The future of the De Luca family depended solely upon her. Plastering a smile across her face, she hooked her arm through Antonio’s.

‘Whatever you say, darling,’ she said sweetly.

Antonio glanced at her, a slight frown marring his annoyingly handsome face. Why couldn’t he have been an ugly billionaire?

Rosa fussed around them as she settled them to their table. Finally she left them alone and wished them a lovely meal.

When Antonio ordered for them, Sienna didn’t bat an eyelid. If he wanted to be a controlling, emotionless moron, so be it. This was a game and she intended to play and win.

During dinner, Sienna kept up banal chatter about the weather, Italian architecture and the natural beauty surrounding them.

‘Stop,’ Antonio said in a whisper.

‘What?’ Sienna asked, reaching for her wine and taking a sip.

‘Why are you speaking like this?’

‘Why not?’ she asked. ‘Isn’t this the way strangers speak to each other?’

He leant closer to her across the table. ‘I thought we’d moved a little beyond polite acquaintance.’

‘Why would you think that?’ she asked in a bored voice.

‘Our wedding night,’ he said, fixing her with his intense dark eyes.

‘Strangers sleep together all the time,’ she said with a shrug. ‘It’s called a one-night stand.’

‘Is that what you think of our night together?’

‘Of course,’ she said lightly. ‘What else would it be?’

He placed his cutlery on his plate and reached across for her hand. ‘We’ll be married for a year. I thought —’

She pulled his hand from his grasp. ‘I think it’s best if we keep this contract simple,’ she said, prodding at her food. ‘Don’t you?’

His eyes dipped to her mouth. She groaned inwardly. He made her feel wanton just by looking at her.

‘No,’ he said with quiet force.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter, the contract states —’

‘Where is this coming from?’ he asked. ‘Last night you were screaming out my name and tonight . . .’

‘It was a mistake,’ she said, unable to meet his eyes, sure he would see the lie for what it was. ‘The vows, the champagne . . . it clouded my judgement.’

‘I don’t believe it.’

‘I don’t care what you believe,’ she said. A new potato suffered rough treatment on her plate.

Suddenly Rosa hovered over them. ‘Everything all right?’ she asked.

‘Absolutely,’ Sienna said, beaming up at her. ‘Antonio and I were just reliving our wedding day.’

Rosa couldn’t contain the joy on her face. ‘Wonderful, wonderful,’ she said, patting Sienna affectionately on the shoulder. ‘You’ve brought our nephew back to us.’ Tears welled in the old woman’s eyes. She opened her mouth to say more, but instead blinked hard and walked away.

‘You’re totally heartless,’ Sienna muttered. ‘How can you deceive your aunt like this?’

‘I’m heartless.’ Antonio’s clenched his fists. ‘My aunt is prepared to sell this hotel to the government for pocket change rather than sell it to her own nephew for a fortune.’ He placed his hands on his chest. ‘Her own flesh and blood.’

‘Perhaps she knows you better than you know yourself.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ he asked, his voice dangerous.

‘It means you’re incapable of feeling anything for anyone.’ She hurled the words at him.

He stood. ‘Dinner’s over.’

‘I haven’t finished.’

‘Stand up, take my hand and come with me.’ His eye glittered, incendiary in the candlelight.

A twinge of fear touched her skin and she found herself doing exactly as she was told.

Antonio took possession of her waist. As they approached Rosa at the entrance to the restaurant, his grip intensified.

‘Early night?’ asked Rosa, a twinkle in her eye.

‘Yes,’ Antonio said, giving his aunt a wink and kissing both her cheeks.

Sienna swallowed her disgust and said goodnight.

Antonio walked Sienna quickly to the lift. She tried to pull from his grasp but he wouldn’t relent.

‘Rosa’s watching,’ he said through gritted teeth.

She didn’t care. The man was a brute. She twisted from his grip. He pinned her against the wall and his lips came down hard. She struggled against him.

‘I won’t stop until you kiss me back,’ he rasped in her ear.

He kissed her again, his tongue taking possession of her mouth. She wanted to push him away. Shout. Scream. But instead she relented, hating herself as he easily seduced the fight from her body. He pulled her into the lift and she staggered to the side and held the rail. The doors closed.

‘Insult me like that again and our contract will be null and void. The Plaza will be mine and you’ll be left with next to nothing. Are we clear?’

Her body tingled with unsated desire and yet he could turn his emotion off like a tap. She despised herself. She wanted him and hated him at the same time.

‘You’re a pig of a man,’ she hurled at him.

His eyes darkened. ‘I don’t know why you keep expecting me to be anything else.’

Antonio slammed the button for the top floor. Although he had his back to her, he could feel Sienna’s presence so powerfully it hurt. He wanted her as he’d never wanted any woman before. He could hear her breathing, dragging in short, sharp breaths like those she’d taken when she’d lain beneath him on the wedding night. He leant heavily against the side of the lift, his hands clenched at his side. He steeled himself to ignore her.

The doors finally opened. Antonio strode to the honeymoon suite and flung it open. He could feel the heat emanating from her body as she walked past, her face fixed and defiant. It took every ounce of his self-control not to haul her against him. Kiss her. Touch her. Possess her. But not like the others. He wanted to lose himself in her, with her, not just obliterate his mind with sex.

Her fragrance lingered after she passed. He shut his eyes and breathed deeply. ‘Go to bed,’ he commanded.

Sienna turned on him, eyes flashing. ‘Stop telling me what to do. You don’t own me.’

‘That’s where you are wrong.’ Grasping her hand, he dragged her to the bedroom. She struggled uselessly against his grip. He hated manhandling her, but the alternative wasn’t an option. He wouldn’t lose control. He forced her to sit on the bed and then walked to the door.

‘You disgust me.’ She flung the words at him like daggers.

He glanced back to her. ‘No more than I disgust myself,’ he muttered.

The anger in her eyes wavered.

‘See you in the morning,’ he said and shut the door.

He heard her call his name, but walked quickly from the suite. No waiting for the lift – he took the stairs two at a time. He stormed out the hotel’s back door and into the cool of the night. The light breeze did nothing to sooth the fire burning inside him. He tore his jacket from his body and flung it over a stone bench.

He wanted to give Sienna the world, but she deserved so much better than him. She needed a man who could protect and care for her in any circumstance. He wasn’t that man.

Before he knew it he found himself at the entrance to the pier. The wind picked up and the leaves rustled around him. He shuddered. Suddenly it all seemed so real. Wood splintering, people screaming, water consuming.

Death.

He dragged his hands roughly over his face, hoping somehow to scour the images from his mind. It had been all his fault. He looked out into the blackness. Nothing would bring them back. He slumped down on a nearby stone bench and stared up at the stars.

He should never have come back.

Sienna sat on the bed unable to move. What had he meant? She repeated the words: ‘No more than I disgust myself.’

She shook her head, unable to process Antonio’s statement. Sienna could not believe he was capable of self-reflection, let alone self-loathing.

She stood and paced the room. Being with the arrogant, self-interested, dominating Antonio had proved easy, fun even. She could poke and prod to her heart’s content, confident in the knowledge that nothing would hurt him. But now . . .

Opening the French doors, she walked onto the terrace. Her heart missed a beat. A figure sat down by the lake – Antonio. As if he sensed her there, he turned and looked up. She held her breath. He stood perfectly still for a heartbeat, then walked along the lakeshore and disappeared into the night.

She didn’t know how long she stood there staring after him, but the cool wind finally forced her inside. Moving quietly, listening for the door, she prepared for bed. She sat in bed waiting. For what, she wasn’t sure. Just after two in the morning, she flicked off the lamp and slumped back on the pillows.

Blinking in the darkness, she knew she would not sleep that night.

The clink of cutlery woke Sienna. Leaping from the bed, she rushed into the main room of the suite. She stopped.

‘
Buongiorno
, Signora Moretti.’ A young woman in a crisp uniform bobbed her head and lifted a plate from a trolley. She placed it on the dining table laid for one. ‘Signor Moretti thought you might be hungry.’

‘Thank you,’ Sienna said, walking in a daze towards the table. ‘Signor Moretti, he’s already eaten?’

‘Yes, early in the dining room.’

Sienna smiled so the waitress wouldn’t see the disappointment in her eyes.