Bound by the Italian's Contract(81)

                He nodded and crossed his strong arms over the muscled chest she’d loved to snuggle against. “I will. And please, if you discover you need anything more after you arrive at Tregore Lodge, just tell my assistant. She’ll make sure you get it.”

                Not Luciano. No, he wouldn’t want to hear from her once she stepped on that plane. When she left Italy and him.

                “Goodbye,” she said and slid into the backseat of the luxury sedan, not waiting for another clipped reply from him.

                She wanted out of here, away from the temptation of going to him, of begging him to let her stay. That would never work. And if it did, it would be counterproductive to her forward progress.

                By focusing on that thought, she endured the lengthy drive to the airport in silence. Once on the plane she asked the attendant for a sleeping aid and silently prayed that it would banish the insane desire to tell the pilot to turn the plane around and take her back to Luciano.

                Her prayers were answered. When she awoke the next day, she was in Colorado. She was home, or an hour’s drive from where she could watch the renovations of Tregore Lodge.

                That alone made her deliriously happy. Or it should have. But she could barely manage a smile because she’d left something vital back in Italy. Her heart.





                                      CHAPTER TEN

                “YOU’RE AN IDIOT,” Julian said between breaks on the bench press Caprice had designed for upper-body strength and endurance.

                For weeks, Luc had heard the same thing again and again, and he was tired of it. “Can’t you think of anything else to say to me?”

                Julian shrugged. “Nothing that makes me nearly as happy,” he said, and resumed another set of reps, granting Luc a moment’s peace.

                Not that it would last long. Not that he was really complaining.

                He’d gotten to where he enjoyed these early-morning workouts with Julian. It was like old times, save the fact his brother was using specialized equipment to suit his ability, and the unnerving fact that his brother was talking to him much more, though his favorite topic of late was to extol Caprice and her program at every opportunity.

                Again, he couldn’t complain or disagree. Julian had made remarkable recovery in such a short time, so much so that the old choking guilt that had held Luc responsible for the crippling accident had begun to wane. But it wouldn’t totally go away, not when the ghosts from his past still hovered about, tossing kindling onto his guilt.

                The memories of the accident continually scraped over his emotional wounds, keeping them from healing. Being with Caprice and watching her personal struggle allowed him to realize that flaw in himself.

                He’d seen firsthand the welcoming change in her once she’d unveiled the secrets that had emotionally chained her. It was time he came to grips with his past as well, accepting his guilt and moving beyond it.

                “Next week Tregore Lodge hosts its grand opening,” Julian said after finishing another impressive workout, his upper body gleaming with sweat, detailing muscles that hadn’t been that well defined since the accident. “Do you plan to go?”

                Luc stopped his tenth set of reps on the leg press and gaped at his brother. “I’m the last person she’d want to see there.”

                “Why would you think that? She loves you.”