Boss Meets Baby(70)

‘I know this outfit isn’t perfect,’ Lily said, as if she’d read his mind. Or maybe, he thought, she’d simply read his expression. Although her shocking act of betrayal had made her a stranger to him, he mustn’t forget that they’d lived together for five months. Undoubtedly she’d got to know him quite well in that time. ‘But I don’t have anything else suitable,’ she added.

‘A dress would be better.’ Vito turned to open the huge fitted-wardrobe on her side of the room. ‘Preferably— something with a bit of colour—to brighten my grandfather’s morning.’

‘But…’ Lily stared into the wardrobe in obvious surprise. ‘All my clothes.’

‘You didn’t take them with you.’

Vito selected a soft peach-coloured silk dress he had bought for her in Milan. Lily was always drawn towards natural, pale colours—her favourites were cream and ivory—and, despite the fact he knew they suited her, he’d— always had the urge to liven up her choices. ‘I had to assume none of the items I bought for you were to your taste after all,’ he added.

‘I didn’t pay for any of them,’ Lily said. ‘They were all so expensive—I didn’t think they were mine to take.’

‘Of course they were.’ Vito suddenly felt annoyed. He’d enjoyed buying things for her, and when he’d seen she’d left them behind it had been a brutal reminder of how she’d duped him—like a spiteful smack on the cheek, on top of her shameless infidelity. ‘What did you think I was going to do with them?’

‘I don’t know,’ Lily said, smoothing her hand over her hair in a gesture that revealed how unsettled she felt. ‘Maybe sell them. Or give them away. I never expected to find them still in the wardrobe.’

Vito turned and looked at her, deliberately keeping his expression bland as he laid the peach dress out on the bed. He wouldn’t let himself think too closely about why he’d never got rid of all the things she’d left in his room.

Over the years he had invited very few women to share his home. And, once he had decided it was over, it was over—completely. For the most part they had taken everything with them, especially anything of value, like designer clothes and jewellery. Then any remaining— items had been disposed of quickly, eradicating— any evidence that anyone had ever been in his home.

But when his housekeeper had enquired about Lily’s belongings, he had barked at her to leave them. After that the poor woman hadn’t mentioned them again—and— had left them well alone. Out of sight in wardrobes and cupboards. But not entirely out of mind.

‘You left the clothes and the jewellery,’ he said. ‘But you were quick enough to take every last piece of the lingerie I bought for you.’

‘The clothes, the jewellery—they cost so much,’ Lily said. A pretty flush had risen to her heart-shaped face, making the blood flow faster around Vito’s body.

‘The lingerie was expensive too.’ He took a step closer to her, getting a kick of satisfaction as she refused to back away, even though he had clearly invaded her personal space. ‘You knew that.’

‘What would you want with my lingerie?’ A spark in her hazel eyes and a defiant lift to her chin challenged him. ‘Even you wouldn’t sell second-hand underclothes.’

‘I didn’t want to sell them,’ Vito said, deliberately letting his voice drop to a seductive purr. ‘I wanted them for myself. You were gone, the nights were long…’

Lily gasped, suddenly speechless as she stared at his handsome face. ‘Don’t be so…so…’

‘Don’t looked shocked. It’s a natural desire. You know how good we were together…physically,’ Vito said. ‘There’s nothing wrong with wanting something to remember you by.’

‘Stop it,’ Lily said, hearing an edge of panic in her tone. But Vito’s voice was rumbling through her, making— her remember what it had been like to make love with him.

‘I wanted to hold the flimsy little things in my hand as I thought about the good times we’d spent together,’ he— drawled, with blatant come-to-bed eyes locked onto hers from under sultry, half-closed lids. ‘I longed to smooth the silky fabric against my skin—thinking about the feel of your skin against mine.’

‘Stop it.’ Lily’s cheeks were starting to burn. ‘You could have gone out and bought some more lingerie if you were so desperate.’

‘It wouldn’t have been the same,’ Vito replied, with a meaningful smile on his full, sensual lips. ‘It was knowing that the silk had been next to your body, pressing close to your most intimate places…’