"It looks like you were bargaining with the wrong Bellucci, Cade." She turned and walked out of the villa. Climbed into the car, and drove away.
****
"What did she mean?"
Cade frowned. Melo's bombshell had come as a total shock. There'd been no hint the land wasn't Marco's to do with what he wished. The old man had placed him in an impossible situation by stating he'd decided to buy the land. As if Cade was the driving force behind the sale, rather than just a buyer invited to the table.
Nothing was decided. He hadn't agreed to purchase it, although the thought of Felix Mezzuti building one of his overblown eyesores on Paradise Beach stung and burned in his gut. If he turned Marco down, Mezzuti would win by default. The mere thought was enough to force ice into Cade's veins. The nightmare scenario of Mezzuti owning the land would be harsh punishment for Melo's mistake. So harsh it would destroy her.
"A misunderstanding." Marco shrugged.
"No!" Rosa sprung up from the chair, shaking her head in vehement refusal. "Nonna left the beach to Melo! We all knew it. What are you saying Papa?" She pulled in a deep breath, quivering at her father's words.
"Yes, Marco. Rosa is right." Mary nodded. "It was her legacy to Melo. She put it in her will. We don't have the right to sell." She clenched her hands together and stared at her husband, shock in her eyes.
Unused to open rebellion in his family, Marco frowned. "The beach was not my mother's to give. Her husband always told her it was her beach, but never transferred title. Everything my father owned came to me, as his heir." His jaw clenched tight. "It is unfortunate Melo feels the property is hers, but under the law it is mine to do with what I wish. And I wish to sell."
Marco's mouth set in a determined line.
Crunch point. Cade pushed a hand through his hair. The money Marco wanted for the beach would be easily raised. After all, the West Hotel empire was so profitable it had made him millions. Cade could buy the beach from his personal funds to keep it safe while he considered his options. It would give the family a vital breathing space-and see off the threat from Mezzuti once and for all.
Melo had looked stricken, devastated. His whole body reverberated with the echoes of the hurt she felt when her father shattered her dreams, and yet Marco hadn't flinched, hadn't reacted at all. And even now the wily old man waited for Cade's reaction like a fat spider sitting in a web. Cade was under no illusions. If he refused, Marco would be on the phone to Mezzuti before the day was out.
But there was more at stake now. There had been shock, horror, and disillusionment in Melo's eyes. Cade's hands curled into fists. Despite the legal situation, the beach patently belonged to Melo. Her mother and sister were as shocked as she was at her father's words. He needed to find her.
Cade had a reputation for ruthless negotiation, but he had no stomach for this. "I shall buy the land, but first I need Melo's blessing," Cade said.
Marco's mouth opened, and then closed at the resolve in Cade's eyes.
Cade glanced at Rosa. "Where will she be?"
****
She couldn't run forever. The wedding was tomorrow. The day she'd spent so long planning, making sure everything was perfect. The events of today had shattered that; ruined everything. Melo drove up the winding road, higher into the forest. Away from civilization; away from Cade. She couldn't even feel sorry Rosa's day wouldn't be as happy as she planned. For Rosa, this latest upset was about money. That was all. She still had her fiancée, and tomorrow she would be a bride. Secure in the love of her new husband, with her whole life stretching out ahead of her.
Melo turned off the main road down the track leading to the little restaurant hidden under the Cork Oak trees. The black stripes of stripped bark gave the trees a surreal appearance, and she breathed in deeply as she pulled over and stopped. The restaurant was closed, this time of day, but she could still get a drink. She strode out of the car and made her way inside. Greeting the restaurant's owner Antonio, by name, she ordered a freshly squeezed orange juice with plenty of ice, and took it to a table under the trees.
They'd come here as a family when she was younger. For birthdays and other celebrations. She'd sat at this same table with her grandparents, the air filled with the excited chatter of her happy family. The memories were painful, and for a moment she regretted her decision to drive here. But everywhere else Cade knew about. Everywhere else, he could find her. She swallowed a mouthful of the cold orange, appreciating the citrus zing after the heat of the car.
He'd stared at her in the house. His hand had reached out to her before dropping to his side at the look in her eyes. He wouldn't leave it, in fact she was pretty sure right about now he'd be on his way to her beach to talk to her. To seduce her with his caring attitude, his sexy smile. Her hand tightened on the glass. He must think she was a complete idiot, and of course, he had every right to his opinion didn't he? She'd set right out to seduce him the moment he arrived on the island. Had fallen right into his arms. He hadn't even had to work to get her into bed, and all the time …
Her stomach clenched with the totality of his deceit. All the time, he'd been talking to Marco, making plans for her land. Her heart sank. She'd revealed all her worries about the family business to him, confided her deepest secrets. But he knew them all the time, didn't he?
Black despair took hold as another possibility formed and solidified in her mind. Marco must have told him about her claim to the beach. He'd taken her to bed, anyway. What for her had been a culmination of a teenage dream, the longed for moment when she and Cade finally made love, had been a cynical ploy by Cade to tip the balance in his favor.
He'd looked furious when Adam confronted her. In panic, she'd held Cade's hand, let his strength infuse her, and almost melted when he told Adam and Rosa to back off. She'd thought he was angry because they were shouting at her. Melo rested her head in her hands as the true awfulness felled her. Cade was angry his secret was about to come out. It was all about the land, none of his anger was about her. Nothing was about her, she'd been a fool.
"Is everything okay, Melo?" Antonio stood by the table, his expression full of concern. They'd been in school together, and he'd always known the restaurant would be his. It was his inheritance. His destiny. Just as the beach had been hers.
"Just overwhelmed with all the things to do for the wedding." Melo smiled weakly.
Antonio nodded. "I know how hard you've been working with all the preparations. My sister tells me every time she's seen you since you've been back, you've been in your car, driving people around."
Antonio's sister was doing the flowers for the wedding. Melo had been in and out of the shop constantly, organizing last minute details.
He patted her shoulder. "You need time for yourself. Time to relax." He picked up her empty glass, and his gentle, warm smile soothed her. He gestured toward a hammock stretched between two ancient cork oaks. "Go. Lie down. I'll bring you another drink, and some biscotti."
"No, Antonio, I … "
"Take some time to rest. You're always the one in charge. The one who fixes everything, but you're exhausted."
Melo felt the threatening prick of tears. He was right. She always put everyone else first. She was a total doormat, and where had it got her?
"I'll put the orange and biscotti on the table there." He pointed. "You'll be able to reach them from lying down, no need to even sit up for them." His teeth flashed white in his tanned face. "I should know-I've spent many an hour lazing under the trees." He pulled her to her feet, and patted her back. "Don't worry; I'll wake you if you fall asleep."
"Grazie, Antonio."
Melo walked to the hammock and sank down into it. She gazed up into the green canopy and let the stress leach out of her aching shoulders. A breeze rustled the leaves above as she breathed in the heated air, redolent with the scent of the sage growing wild under the trees. The canvas swung slowly as she shifted her weight, curved around her body as Cade's had done.
For a moment, she forced the bittersweet memories away. Then closed her eyes, and surrendered to them. His smile as he pushed her back onto the crisp sheets, the way his body had trembled as his lips trailed over her neck, and his hands cupped her breasts. The wonder of their lovemaking had been everything she'd dreamed of.
But she'd been in love with a ghost. A boy who captured her youthful imagination. That boy didn't exist. Maybe he never had. She'd made love with a shadow, a shadow of her own imagining. The real Cade was someone different. Her body flushed with his remembered caresses as her mind struggled with the truth. She'd given herself to a man she barely knew. A man with a wallet where his heart should be. And really, she had no one to blame but herself. These moments thinking of Cade would be the last ones. A final morbid wallow in the memories of a dead dream.