His words mocked her: ‘After that little performance you’re mine.’ She felt like screaming. Unfortunately it had been no performance—which was galling, considering that for most of her life she’d perfected the performance of a spoilt, reckless heiress.
But on a deeper level what had happened last night with Luca terrified her.
For as long as she could remember there had been a layer between her and the world around her and she was still getting used to that layer being gone. She’d first tasted freedom when her father had disappeared and they’d been left with nothing. It had been too much to deal with, sending her spiralling into a hedonistic frenzy, saved only by her sister taking her to England and to rehab.
Since then she’d learnt to deal with being free; not bearing the constant weight of her father’s presence. Her job, becoming independent, was all part of that process. Even if she still harboured deep secrets and a sense of guilt.
But when Luca had been touching her last night—watching her, making her respond to his touch—her sense of freedom had felt very flimsy. Because he’d also been touching a part of her that she hadn’t yet given room to really breathe. Her emotions. Her yearning for what her sister had: a life and happiness.
And the fact that Luca had brought that to the surface made her nervous and angry. All she was to him was a conquest. A woman he believed had betrayed him. A woman he wanted to slake his desire with.
A woman he didn’t like, even if he ever conceded that she might be innocent.
She’d known that the night they’d met first. He’d had a gleam of disdain in his eyes that he’d barely concealed even as she saw the burn of desire.
And yet, damn him, since she’d walked into his office the other day it was as if everything was brighter, sharper. More intense. Bastard.
Serena crashed into Luca’s back before she’d even realised she’d been so preoccupied she hadn’t noticed he’d stopped. She sprang back, scowling, and then noticed that they were on a kind of bluff, overlooking a huge cleared part of the forest.
To be out from under the slightly oppressive canopy was heady for a moment. Ignoring Luca, Serena studied the view. She could see that far away in the distance the land had been eviscerated. Literally. Huge chunks cut out. No trees. And what looked like huge machines were moving back and forth, sun glinting off steel.
Forgetting that she hated Luca for a moment, because unexpected emotion surged at seeing the forest plundered like this, she asked, a little redundantly, ‘That’s the mine?’
Luca nodded, his face stern when she sneaked an illicit glance.
‘Yes, that’s my family’s legacy.’
And then he pointed to a dark smudge much closer.
‘That’s the Iruwaya tribe’s village there.’
Serena shaded her eyes until she could make out what looked like a collection of dusty huts and a clearing. Just then something else caught her eye: a road leading into the village and a bus trundling along merrily, with bags and crates hanging precariously from its roof along with a few live chickens.
It took a few seconds for the scene to compute and for Serena’s brain to make sense of it. Slowly she said, ‘The village isn’t isolated.’
‘I never said it was totally isolated.’
The coolness of Luca’s tone made Serena step back and look up at him, her blood rapidly rising again. ‘So why the hell have we been trekking through a rainforest to get to it?’ She added, before he could answer, ‘You never said anything about it being optional.’
Luca crossed his arms. ‘I didn’t offer an option.’
‘My God,’ Serena breathed. ‘You really did do this in a bid to scare me off... I mean, I know you did, but I stupidly thought...’
She trailed off and backed away as the full significance sank in. Her stupid feeling of triumph for putting up the tent last night without help mocked her now. She’d known Luca hated her, that he wanted to punish her...but she hadn’t believed for a second that there had been any other way of getting to this village.
All this time he must have been alternating between laughing his head off at her and cursing her for being so determined to stick it out. And then amusing himself by demonstrating how badly she wanted him.
Luca sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair. ‘Serena, this is how I’d planned to come to the village, but I’ll admit that I thought you would have given up and gone home long before now.’
His words fell on deaf ears. Serena felt exposed, humiliated. She shook her head. ‘You’re a bastard, Luca Fonseca.’