The Truth About De Campo(44)

Moonlight poured into the room from the skylight, bathing them in an otherworldly glow. He stared up at it, his arms tucked securely around Quinn. He was definitely going to hell. He’d definitely passed Go. He’d definitely collected the girl.

It was a done deal.





CHAPTER NINE

QUINN WOKE WITH the birds, their boisterous song nudging her from a restless sleep that had seen her toss and turn most of the night. She wasn’t used to sleeping with anyone. She and Julian had occupied separate beds for the last few months of their marriage when things had become intolerable, and Matteo’s warm body wrapped around hers, his arm keeping her anchored securely against him was as alien as it was wonderful. She felt claustrophobic, secure and cherished all at the same time.

Light filtered through the skylight, sliding across the bronzed sinewy strength of Matteo’s forearm. Her stomach did a slow roll, her fingers twisting in the whisper-soft silk sheets. Last night had been incredible...unforgettable. But had her need to be human been worth the fallout that was sure to follow? Because she had to recuse herself from the committee now. There was no other option.

Which meant telling her father she had developed a personal relationship with Matteo De Campo.

A wave of perspiration blanketed her skin. Throwing off the sheet, she slid her legs over the side of the bed and slipped quietly to the floor. Pulled on her bikini and padded out onto the patio where the first signs of dawn were tracing a hazy pattern across the sky. It was warm already but she knew the slightly feverish sensation heating her skin was the thought of disappointing her father yet again. Watching the disapproval stain his blue-green eyes until she thought it would be easier just to turn around and take it all back. She pressed a hand to her stomach as her muscles tightened in a full-on revolt. Warren would not understand her letting her personal feelings get in the way of an assignment as big as this. He would be furious—questioning his decision to give it to her.

Standing there, watching the waves roll into shore, the surf rougher this morning after last night’s storm, remembering how slowly, how exquisitely Matteo had made love to her, using his body as an instrument of pleasure, not punishment as Julian had done, she knew she had the answer to her question. She would do it a million times over. She felt as if she had truly honored her feelings for the first time in her life.

Quinn raked her hair away from her face with an unsteady movement. It wasn’t as if she was ignoring the fact that she’d just made the career-limiting move of all career-limiting moves. It’s just that the emptiness wasn’t enough anymore. She’d had enough of it for a lifetime.

More troublesome, really, was who she’d just shared her soul with. Matteo De Campo, whose attention span with a female lasted about as long as his perusal of the morning paper.

She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed in the fragrance of frangipani, gardenia and magnolia. Matteo had said he wouldn’t have sex with her, he would only make love to her. But he didn’t love her. He lusted after her. And therein lay the real foolishness of last night’s actions.

If you were smart, you didn’t wait until Matteo ended an affair with you. You got out first before you were burned. Made a timely exit so the memories were good and the heart was intact.

The humid blanket of air bore down on her. She looked longingly at the clear, turquoise water. Maybe a swim would cool her overheated brain.



Matteo woke to an empty bed and an urge for a woman that would have been disconcerting if he hadn’t been wondering where in God’s name she was. Followed closely by the even more disturbing reality that he had well and truly crossed the line this time and there was no going back.

A throbbing pressure filled his head. Expanded in his skull until it drove him from the bed and onto the cool tile to look for Quinn. It was like déjà vu, her being gone like this again, except this time everything was different. This time he hadn’t slept with Quinn Davis in a self-medicating, over-the-edge fashion. He had made a conscious decision to be with her. To honor his emotions for her which ran so deep into uncharted territory he didn’t care to contemplate them at the moment.

He pulled on his boxers and strode out onto the terrace, but it, too, was empty. Where would she have gone at just after six in the morning? Was she coming down from the high of last night and realizing what she’d done?

He winced as his head throbbed. There were consequences for both of them. Extreme consequences. He was going to have to tell Riccardo what he’d done, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. But he couldn’t do it until Quinn told the board, he knew the lay of the land and he had all his ducks in order. His brother would not see it as the complex situation it was. He would see it as history repeating itself in the worst, most reckless fashion possible. Matteo playing with another multimillion-dollar deal that could make De Campo’s decade.