He laughed, then sobered. ‘It wasn’t your father, was it?’
‘No, it wasn’t.’
He stared down at her for a long time, then nodded. ‘I did some research while you were asleep. I know about your parents.’
‘Oh?’ She couldn’t help the wave of anxiety that washed over her.
His eyes narrowed. ‘Has it always been like that with them?’
That mingled thread of pain and humiliation when she thought of them tightened like a vice around her heart. ‘You mean the crazy circus?’
He nodded.
‘Until I went to college, yes. I didn’t return home afterward. And I have minimal contact these days. Any more and it gets...unpleasant.’
‘For whom?’
‘For everyone. My father is a serial adulterer who doesn’t understand why I won’t condone his behaviour. My mother doesn’t understand why I don’t forgive my father every time he strays. They both want me to join the family business. The same business for which they shamelessly exploit their fame, their family, their friends—’ She ground to a halt and tried to breathe around the pain in her chest.
His hand stroked down her cheek. ‘You hate yourself for the way you feel.’
Feeling exposed, she tried to pull away. He held her firmer. ‘Ruby mio, I think you’ll agree we went way past business when we spent the night together in my bed. Talk to me,’ he coaxed.
She drew in a shaky breath and reassured herself that they were talking. Just talking. ‘I hate that my family is broken and I can’t see a way to fix it without being forced to live my life in a media circus.’
‘And yet you chose that avenue to fund your business.’
‘Believe me, it wasn’t my first choice.’
‘Then why did you do it?’
‘We’d tried getting loans from the banks with no success. Simon heard about the show and convinced me to enter. Taking three weeks out of my life to be on the show felt like a worthy sacrifice.’
‘So you returned to the thing you hate the most in order to achieve your goal.’
‘Does that make me a fool?’
‘No, it makes you brave.’
The unexpected compliment made her heart stutter. Silver eyes rested on her, assessing her so thoroughly, she squirmed. Of course the movement made her body rub dangerously against his.
He emitted a leonine growl and the arm around her waist tightened. One hand caught her bent leg and hitched it higher between his legs. The bold imprint of his erection seared her thigh. Heat flared between them, raw and fervent.
‘So you don’t think it’s wrong to do whatever it takes to achieve one’s dreams?’
His eyes darkened. ‘No. In fact, it’s a trait I wholeheartedly admire.’
Her throat clogged at the sincerity in his voice. The barriers she’d tried so hard to shore up threatened to crumble again. A pithy, mocking Narciso was bad enough. A gentle, caring Narciso in whose eyes she saw nothing but admiration and praise was even more dangerous to her already fragile emotions.