Boss Meets Baby(93)

‘You were always hot.’ In a flash he was kneeling over her, taking hold of her crushed dress and pulling it down over her hips. ‘That’s better—this is how I like you best. Totally naked, apart from your glorious curly hair.’

‘I thought you liked it straightened.’ Lily forced herself to reply even though she was crying inside. All he saw was a naked woman to share his bed. All she saw was the man who would never return her love. ‘I always straightened it for you.’

‘Why?’ Vito asked. He rolled onto his back and lifted her astride him so that her long, loose hair tumbled down over her shoulders and pooled on his broad chest. ‘What made you think that?’

‘Something you said—a compliment you paid me,’ Lily replied, remembering one of their early dates when, despite his reluctance to behave like a tourist in his own city, he had taken her on a gondola. He had pulled her into his arms and run his hands through her hair, saying it was as smooth as spun gold and looked like a liquid sunrise reflected in the lagoon on a glorious winter dawn.

‘I don’t remember.’ Vito’s dismissive words cut into her like a knife. She had made a habit of straightening her hair based on cherished words of flattery he had spoken to her. But it had all been meaningless to him. ‘This is how I like it now,’ he continued. ‘Wild and wanton, like you.’

Lily looked down, letting her hair fall forward to shield her expression.

She’d just realised the most monumental fact—she loved Vito. And yet at every turn she saw again and again just how little she meant to him.

‘We have a lot of time to make up for.’ The words caught in Lily’s throat, but she hoped he’d mistake her shaky tone for rising passion. If she was going to survive in this marriage she had to find a way to shield her heart and her true feelings from him.

‘What do you want to do now?’ Vito asked, running his hands over the curve of her hips and snuggling her closer to his erection.

‘No more talking,’ Lily said, dipping her body forward— to run her tongue over the sensitive skin of his throat. Her nipples tightened as they brushed against his chest, and desire was already building within her, mercifully blotting out the pain in her heart.

She couldn’t bear to hear any more words that made her realise how little she’d meant to him, even back when she’d thought they were happy. Before he believed she’d betrayed him.

He had been everything to her. He still was.





CHAPTER NINE


LILY was still asleep the following morning as Vito dressed for work. He moved quietly around the room so that he didn’t disturb her. It was the first time since he’d brought her back to Venice that he’d seen her in a really deep sleep. Most mornings when he’d got ready for work she’d already been up. And most evenings, even if she’d been in bed pretending to be asleep, she’d been restless.

She made a small sound and rolled over, reaching above her head to flip the pillow over, then snuggled back down, surrounded by a wild mass of long blonde curls.

Vito smiled, recognising the action. Even in her sleep she liked the cold side of the pillow. She was such a warm-blooded creature that she always liked cool things. Iced water, ice cream. And now that she was pregnant it was like a tiny furnace was glowing inside her. He wondered how she would cope as the summer heated up. He’d take her away to his estate on the Veneto plain. Or even up to his retreat in the Dolomite mountains. But he’d need to keep her medical care in mind—he— couldn’t allow anything to happen to her or the baby.

He gazed down at her. Possibly for the first time in months he really let himself look, safe in the knowledge that she was oblivious to his attention. She was lying on her side with one knee drawn up and the other leg stretched out. She looked like a graceful gazelle, frozen at the height of an elegant leap.

An unexpected feeling prickled through him, and he acknowledged it for what it was: he’d missed Lily, missed what he thought they’d had together before he’d discovered her betrayal.

This marriage was all about doing what was right for his grandfather—Giovanni deserved to reach the end of his life knowing that his legacy would go on.

But if things continued like last night—their lovemaking— had been nothing short of incendiary—it was going to be much more pleasant than he’d thought when they were still at daggers drawn.

Lily slept late that morning, and when she awoke her body was filled with the languid glow of complete sensual satisfaction. She rolled over and stretched, noticing the time with surprise. But, after the utter lack of inhibition she’d shown with Vito the night before, she was pleased he’d already left for work. She wasn’t entirely sure that she was ready to face him yet.