Boss Meets Baby(94)

She made her way to the en suite and ran herself a deep, luxurious bath. With her hair piled haphazardly on top of her head, she lay back in the soft bubbles and thought about what had happened with Vito. She could feel a blush rising to her cheeks as she remembered how wildly she’d behaved with him. His touch had sent her up in flames. They’d made love before—many, many times. But it had never been so intense.

Maybe that had been her body’s way of letting her know that she loved him.

Up until last night her mind had certainly rejected that possibility, after the way he had treated her. But perhaps it was impossible to change the reality of her deeper feelings simply by telling herself what she ought to believe. Her heart still knew the truth.

However, she knew that loving him made her vulnerable. A small sigh escaped her as she stepped out of the bath onto the marble mosaic floor. She must never let him guess the depth of her feelings.

She dried herself briskly and set about getting dressed for her visit to Giovanni. She liked to wear something nice for him. He didn’t see many people, and he often complimented her on her appearance.

Suddenly she caught sight of herself in the mirror, and stopped and stared. Her eyes were shining brightly, her cheeks were flushed, and her hair was bouncing wildly about her shoulders in a riot of curls.

She couldn’t visit Giovanni looking that that! The sharp-witted old man would guess immediately what had caused such a change in the way she looked. She’d simply feel too self-conscious—like a deflowered virgin the morning after her wedding night, wondering if everyone knew what she had just experienced for the first time.

She sat down at the dressing table and pulled her ceramic straighteners from the drawer. Then she hesitated. Vito had said he liked her hair curly. If she straightened it again, it would seem like she was making the point that she didn’t care about his opinion. But, on the other hand, she definitely didn’t want to make it appear that she would do anything to please him—she’d already been down that route when she’d started straightening her hair because of an apparently meaningless— comment he didn’t even remember making.

In the end she did her hair in the same smooth style she’d worn since returning to Venice. She was already late for Giovanni, and she couldn’t let herself waste time worrying about silly details. She had more important things to concern her, like whether the old man would ask her straight out if she’d managed to ease the tension that he had detected between her and Vito.

As it turned out she need not have worried. Giovanni was tired that day and spent most of her visit dozing. When he was awake he told her about the great flood of 1966. It had been more than forty years ago, but his memories were sharp and his descriptions vivid as he told her how the sea level had risen by two metres, washing right through the ground floor of Ca’Salvatore, and causing untold damage to the city.

Walking back home to the palazzo, Lily reflected on her new friendship with Giovanni. He was old, and according— to his doctors did not have long to live, but Lily was so grateful for the time she was able to spend with him. He had accepted her so warmly into his family, and his personal stories about his life and the city that had always been his home meant a lot to her.

Whatever happened with Vito, in years to come she would tell her child how happy Giovanni had been, knowing his grandchild was on the way. She would remember the stories he had told her, so that her child would know about his or her Italian family—even if Vito still refused to acknowledge them.

Vito paced back and forth across his study impatiently. He’d come home to see Lily, but she hadn’t returned from her daily visit to his grandfather.

She was late. And he wanted to see her now.

He’d spent the morning totally distracted, until finally he’d given into his desire to come home and ravish her.

Sex with Lily had always been good, but last night they had taken it to a new level. It had been utterly mindblowing,— and he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it all morning. Thinking about doing it again and again.

He strode over to the window, cursing himself for his lack of control.

Why was he letting Lily get to him so badly? Was it simply that he’d been too long without a woman, and now last night had reminded his body what it had been missing?

He looked at his watch, wondering again what time she would return. Perhaps he should go out in search of her, but although Ca’ Salvatore wasn’t far away there were several routes she could take home.

Suddenly he found himself questioning why she kept visiting Giovanni even though she knew there was no future in it. What did she hope to gain, either for herself or for her child?