His Final Bargain(24)

He looked at her for a lengthy moment. 'Why not just be yourself?'

She gave a little cough of despair. 'I don't even know who that is any more.'

His hands came down on the tops of her shoulders, a gentle but firm  hold. His eyes were very dark as they meshed with hers, but not with  anger this time. 'Who was that girl in the bar four years ago?'

Eliza twisted her lips in a rueful manner. 'I'm not sure. I hadn't met  her before that night. She came as a bit of a surprise to me, to be  perfectly honest.'

He started massaging his thumbs over the front of her shoulders, slowly  and soothingly. 'She came as a bit of a surprise to me, too. A  delightful one, however.'

She felt a wave of sadness wash over her. How very different things  would have been if she had been free to commit to the relationship he  had wanted. 'Did you really fall in love with me back then?' She was  shocked she had asked it but it was too late to take the words back.  They hung in the silence for a beat or two.

'I think you were right when you said I was looking for stability after  my father died. Losing him so suddenly threw me. I think it's hard for  an only child-no matter how young or old-to deal with the loss of a  parent. There's no one to share the grief with. I panicked at the  thought of ending up like him, all alone and desperately lonely.'

'I'm sorry.'

He gave her shoulders a little squeeze before he dropped his hands.  'You'd better get some clothes on. You're starting to get goose bumps.'

Eliza watched as he effortlessly hauled himself out of the pool. He was  completely unselfconscious about being naked. He stepped into his  trousers and zipped them up without even bothering to dry himself. He  bent to pick up his shoes and, flinging his shirt and tie over one  shoulder, walked into the villa without a backward glance.

When Eliza came down to the salone later that evening Leo was standing  with his back to the room with a drink in his hand. There was something  about his posture that suggested he was no longer in that mellow mood  he'd been in down by the pool. He turned as she came in and gave her a  brittle glare. 'Alessandra informed me you'd taken her outside the villa  grounds on not one, but two occasions.'

She straightened her shoulders. 'We didn't go very far. She'd never been to the beach before.'

'That's completely beside the point.' His eyes blazed with anger. 'Do you have any idea of the risk you were taking?'

'What risk is there in allowing her to walk down the street or put her  feet in the ocean, for God's sake? I was with her the whole time.'

'You went expressly against my instructions.'

Eliza frowned at him. 'But you said we'd go to London next week. I thought it would be good preparation for that.'

'I said I'd think about it.'

'That's not the way I heard it. You said if I thought Alessandra would  cope with it then we'd make a little holiday out of it. I was preparing  her to cope with it and she did very well, all things considered.'

Anger pulsed at the side of his mouth. 'Did anyone see you? Were there paparazzi about?'

'No, why should there be?' she asked. 'No one knows who I am.'

'That could change as soon as we are seen in public together.' His eyes  pinned hers. 'Have you thought of how you're going to explain that to  your fiancé?'                       
       
           



       

Eliza raised her chin defiantly. 'Yes, I have thought about it. I'll tell him the truth.'

His brow furrowed. 'That I'm paying you to sleep with me?'

She gave him an arch look. 'It's the truth, isn't it?'

He shifted his gaze and let out a gust of a breath. 'It wasn't why I asked you to come here.'

'So you keep saying, but it's pretty obvious this is what you wanted right from the start.'

He took a large swallow of his drink and put it down, his muscles  bunched and tight beneath the fine cotton of his shirt. 'You haven't  forgotten you're forbidden to speak to the press, have you?'

'No.'

He faced her with a steely look. 'You're not very good at obeying rules, are you, Eliza?'

'You're very good at making them up as you go along, aren't you?' she tossed back.

His mouth started to twitch at the corners. 'I wondered when she would be back.'

She frowned again. 'What … who do you mean?'

'The girl in the bar-that spirited, feisty, edgy little temptress.' His eyes glinted darkly. 'I like her. She turns me on.'

She made a huffy movement with one of her shoulders, trying to ignore  the wave of heat that was coursing through her at that smouldering look  in his gaze. 'Yes, well, I liked the guy by the pool this afternoon much  more than the one facing me now.'

'What did you like about him?'

'He was nice.'

'Nice?' He gave a laugh. 'That's not a word I would ever use to describe myself.'

'You were nice four years ago. I thought you were one of the nicest men I'd ever met.'

His dark eyes gleamed some more. 'Even though I practically ripped the  clothes from your body and had wild, rough sex with you the first night  we met?'

'Did I complain?'

'No.' His frown came back and the ghost of a smile that had been playing  about his mouth disappeared. 'Why did you come up to my room with me  that night?'

'I told you-I was tipsy and jet-lagged and feeling reckless.'

'You were taking a hell of a risk. I could have been anyone. I could have hurt you-seriously hurt you.'

'I trusted you.'

'Foolish, foolish girl.'

Eliza felt a shiver run up along her arms. She could see the desire he  had for her. She could feel it pulsing like a current in the air between  them. 'The way I see it, you were taking a similar risk.'

The ghost of a smile was back, wry this time as it tilted up one corner  of his mouth. 'I find it hard to see what you could have possibly done  to hurt me. I'm almost twice your weight.'

But I did hurt you, she thought. Isn't that why I'm here now?

'Are you going to pour me a drink or do I have to jump through hoops first?' she asked.

'No hoops.' He came to stand right in front of her. 'Just one kiss.'

She tilted her head back and held his dark brown gaze pertly as the blood all but sizzled in her veins. 'Is that an order?'

He tugged her against his rock-hard body, his eyes scorching hers. 'You bet it is.'





CHAPTER ELEVEN


WHEN ELIZA BROUGHT Alessandra downstairs for breakfast the next morning  Leo intercepted them at the door. He reached for his daughter and held  her close against his broad chest. Seeing such an intensely masculine  man hold a tiny child so protectively made Eliza's heart instantly melt.

Was it her imagination that he seemed a little more relaxed this  morning? It wasn't as if he was particularly rested, but then, neither  was she. Their lovemaking last night had been particularly passionate  and edgy. She could still feel the little pull of tender muscles where  he had thrust so deep and so hard inside her. It was such a heady  reminder of the breathtaking mastery he had over her body. But as much  as she loved the heart-stopping raciness of his lovemaking, there was a  tiny part of her that secretly longed for something a little more  emotional. Maybe he didn't have the capacity to feel emotion during sex.  It was just a physical release for him, like any other bodily need  being attended to, like hunger and thirst. But it wasn't like that for  her … or at least not now …

'I thought we could have breakfast out on the water this morning,' Leo said. 'Would you like that, mia piccola?'

'In the pool?' Alessandra asked.

'No, on my boat.'

'You have a boat?' Eliza asked.

'It's moored down at the marina. I thought Alessandra might enjoy being  out on the water. I've never taken her on it before. Marella's packing  us up a picnic to take with us.'                       
       
           



       

Eliza could see he was making an effort to spend more time with his  daughter. He was relaxing his tight control over where she could go. She  could also see what a big step it was for him to take. A trip out on a  boat might be a relatively simple and rather enjoyable adventure for a  sighted child, but in Alessandra's case there were many considerations  to take into account. Her experience of the outing would be different  but hopefully no less enjoyable. Besides, she would be with her father  and that was clearly something that made her feel loved and special.

'Breakfast on the water sounds lovely, doesn't it, sweetie?' she addressed the little girl.

Alessandra hugged her arms tightly around her father's neck and smiled. 'Can I take Rosie with me?'

'Who's Rosie?' Leo asked.

'Rosie is the toy puppy Eliza made for me,' Alessandra said. 'She has long floppy ears and a tail just like a real puppy.'

Leo met Eliza's gaze over the top of his daughter's little head. 'Eliza  is a very clever young lady. She is talented at many things.'

'I want her to stay with me for ever,' Alessandra said. 'Can you make  her stay with us, Papà? I want her to be my mamma now. She tucks me in  and reads me stories and she cuddles me lots and lots.'

Eliza felt emotion block her throat like a scrubbing brush stuck halfway  down. She blinked a couple of times and shifted her gaze from Leo's.  Alessandra needed someone there all of the time, someone she could rely  on-someone to love her unconditionally.