A Night of Living Dangerously (8 page)

His innocent virgin was transforming into a wanton sex goddess in front of his eyes.

Rosy-skinned and exhausted, they’d fallen into bed a few hours before dawn and woken up starving a few hours later. They’d made love a fourth time, fast and hot, then ventured downstairs for breakfast.

Alessandro found himself wanting to impress her. He’d given his staff the weekend off, so he made her his signature breakfast dish, a sausage frittata. As he cooked, she scooted around the kitchen wearing an oversized robe, gathering ingredients for her French toast, a delicious confection of nutmeg and cinnamon sugar. They sat together at his kitchen table, basking in the morning light, drinking freshly squeezed orange juice and feeding each other bites of food.

For the first time in Alessandro’s adult life, he had no desire to check in with work, or catch up on the morning news. All he wanted to do was look at her, touch her, be with her. He couldn’t get enough of her exquisite skin and her curvaceous, soft body.

But it was more than just her body.

Being around Lilley made him feel … different. Made him
feel
his own heart beating. After so many years of being empty and bored, playing the game, making money to keep score, sleeping with women he barely knew and dodging the constant onslaught of people begging for his attention, he could let down his guard. Lilley asked for nothing. She would never hurt him or lie to him. Her openness and honesty reminded him of the person he’d been long ago, before everyone he loved had betrayed him.

For some reason, Lilley liked him. Not his money or his title or even just his body. She liked
him
. The man inside. And looking at her in the morning light, Alessandro realized that whatever he’d promised her yesterday, he had no intention of giving her up. He didn’t care if it was selfish.

He wanted more than a one-night stand.

“This is delicious,” Lilley murmured, leaning forward at the breakfast table. Her oversized robe fell open to reveal her delectable breasts as she took another bite of frittata. She gave him an impish smile. “To be honest, I didn’t expect cooking to be one of your talents.”

A moment before, he’d been finishing his last piece of French toast, licking the crumbs off his plate. But looking at her state of undress instantly made him want her again, made him want to sweep their dishes to the floor and make love to her on the table. He swallowed. “I usually don’t cook. You inspired me.”

She smiled at him, her trusting warm eyes the color of deep, dark caramel, her beautiful face suffused in the soft glow of morning light as she whispered, “Not half as much as you inspire me.”

Alessandro stared at her, lost in her gaze. He could no more stop himself from wanting her than he could stop breathing.

But keeping her would be wrong. Very wrong.

I have no reason to feel guilty,
he told himself fiercely. He’d tried to let her go once already. She’d made her own choice. He’d told her up front he could never marry her or love her. She could protect her own heart.

Reaching his hand out to her cheek, he slowly stroked down her neck to her swelling breasts half revealed by the gape of her robe. Her lips parted in surprise and he could not resist the invitation. Leaning over the table, he kissed her. He felt her soft lips move against his, matching his passion, and nearly groaned. Selfish or not, nothing on earth could make him give her up. Not now. Not yet.

Rising to his feet, Alessandro pulled her from her chair.

Untying her sash, he dropped her robe to the floor, leaving her naked skin glowing in a pool of morning light. He gave a shuddering intake of breath. “Walk ahead of me,” he said hoarsely. “So I can see you.”

Her eyebrow quirked. In a quick movement, she jerked open his own robe, dropping it to the floor beside hers.

“You first,” she suggested sweetly.

Thirty seconds later, Lilley was giggling with little screams of laughter as he chased her, both of them naked, back upstairs. They didn’t even make it to his bedroom, but ended up on the priceless heirloom rug in the upstairs hall.

They spent the rest of Sunday making love in every room of his villa. In the garden, in the library, in the study, and finally, long past midnight, back in his bed. They fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.

But now, just a few hours before Monday’s dawn, Alessandro was wide awake as Lilley slept beside him. He’d lost count of the number of times they’d made love in the last thirty hours. More than ten. He paused, then shook his head, amazed. Less than twenty?

Each time he possessed her, instead of being satiated, he only wanted her more. His passion for her consumed him, and his hunger only grew.

But their weekend was over. He looked down at her, kissing her forehead softly as she slept in his arms. He listened to her breath. She clung to him, naked, sighing sweetly in her sleep as she whispered something that sounded like his name.

Guilt, a very unfamiliar emotion, blew through Alessandro like an icy breeze. Virgins fell in love. He knew that too well. They were not experienced enough in the ways of the world to separate their bodies from their hearts. And a girl like Lilley, so warm, vivid, brilliant and kind, deserved a man who could give her a future. A man who could actually love her.

Unlike his usual sort of mistress, Lilley Smith was not a ruthless coquette who used her body as a weapon for power and gain. He wondered if he could ever again be fully satisfied by a cold-hearted woman like Olivia Bianchi. How could that ever compare to Lilley’s intoxicating warmth and joy as she gave all of herself, body and soul?

Already Alessandro wanted her again.

Angrily, he clawed back his hair, which was still damp from the sweat of their passionate night. Careful not to wake her, he rose to his feet and walked naked through the balcony doors, out into the warm, clear August night. Moonlight stretched over his vineyards, frosting the hills with silver as he looked out at his land, trying to calm his unquiet heart.

He closed his eyes, feeling every bit of his thirty-five years. His soul felt old and dark compared to hers. Was that his intention—to suck up her youth and optimism like a vampire, feeding on her innocence until his own darkness consumed her?

“Alessandro?” he heard her murmur sleepily.

Gripping his hands, he went back into the bedroom. He found her lying in bed, her gorgeous curves covered only by a sheet. She sat up in surprise when she realized he’d been standing naked on the balcony. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he said.

She swallowed, biting her lip. “Do you regret our time together?” she whispered. “Are you thinking about—Olivia?”

“No!” Shaking his head, he said the first thing that came to mind. “I’m thinking about the Mexico City deal. Wondering how our design team in San Francisco will update the Joyería designs once they take over.”

Alessandro closed his mouth with a snap, shocked at his own stupidity. He’d been so concerned about not hurting Lilley, he’d blurted out something he should never have revealed to anyone except his board of directors. If it became public, it would ruin everything. He’d given Joyería’s current owner, Miguel Rodriguez, some legally vague reassurances that he would keep the Mexican designers on staff and the studio in Mexico City separate from Caetani Worldwide’s offices in San Francisco, Shanghai and Rome. If Rodriguez heard about his plans to economize, the man could well cancel the deal and sell the company to a competitor.

Alessandro looked at Lilley sharply, but she seemed completely unaware of the import of the information he’d unthinkingly shared. She smiled, shaking her head.

“You always work, don’t you?” she said softly. “That’s why you’re so successful.” Her gaze grew troubled as she hugged a pillow over her breasts. “Maybe if I were more like you, I wouldn’t be such a screw-up.”

He frowned. “A screw-up?” he demanded. “Who said that?”

Her smile became sad. “No one has to say it. I came to San Francisco to start my jewelry business, then chickened out.” She looked down at the bed. “I’m not brave like you.”

He sat down beside her. “There are all kinds of bravery in the world,
cara.
” Reaching over, he lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “You have an open heart. You trust people in a way I could not. And your jewelry is unique and beautiful. Like you,” he said huskily. Setting his jaw, he gave her a decisive nod. “You will start your business when the time is right. I know it.”

Her large brown eyes looked up at him with almost painful hope. “You do?”

“Yes.” He dropped his hand. “I failed many times, in many different businesses, before I made my first fortune. Selling children’s plastic bracelets, of all things.”

She gave an amazed laugh. “You? Selling plastic bracelets? I don’t believe it.”

He gave her a sudden grin. “It’s true. The trend exploded across America and I made my first million. I was determined to succeed. No matter how many times I failed, I wouldn’t give up.” He stroked her hair. “You are the same. You just don’t know it yet.”

“You think so?” she breathed, her eyes huge.

He nodded. “If it’s important to you, you’ll make it happen. Whatever it costs.”

“What made you so driven to succeed?”

His lips flattened. “When my father died, he left debts I had to repay. I dropped out of college and worked twenty hours a day.” He looked away. “I will never feel powerless again.”

“Powerless? But you’re a prince!”

“Prince of nothing,” he said harshly. “An empty title I inherited from a fifteenth-century warlord. The men of my family have always been corrupt and weak.”

“But not you.” Her clear eyes met his. “You are the leader of Caetani Worldwide. You built a billion-dollar company from nothing. Everyone loves you,” she whispered.

He felt uncomfortable with the adoration he saw in her eyes. “I’m nothing special,” he said gruffly. “If I can start a business, so can you. Start a business plan, work through the numbers.”

“That might be hard, since I read letters and numbers in the wrong order.”

“Dyslexia?”

She nodded.

“What is it like?”

“It’s different for different people. In my case the letters and numbers won’t stay put.”

He barked a laugh. “And you’re working in my file room?”

She gave him a sudden cheeky grin. “Now you understand why I was working late.” Her voice became wistful. “I’ve never been really successful at anything except making jewelry. Maybe that’s why my father thinks I’m hopeless at taking care of myself. He threatened to disinherit me if I don’t come back to Minnesota and marry one of his managers.”

“Disinherit you!” Alessandro pictured a hard-working farmer with a small plot of land in the bleak northern plains. “He wanted you to marry a manager on his farm?”

Lilley blinked, frowning at him. “My father’s not a farmer. He’s a businessman.”

“Ah,” Alessandro said. “He owns a restaurant? Perhaps a laundromat?”

Her eyes slid away evasively. “Um. Something like that. My parents got divorced a few years ago, when my mother was sick. The day she died was the worst day of my life. I had to get away, so I found … a job … with a distant relative. My cousin.”

She stumbled strangely over the words, looking at him with an anxiety he couldn’t understand.

“I’m sorry,” Alessandro said in a low voice. “My mother died a few years ago, and my own relationship with my father was always complicated.”
Complicated
was an understatement. His father, Prince Luca Caetani, had married Alessandro’s mother for her money, then spent it on his mistresses. He’d died when Alessandro was nineteen, leaving debts and an unknown number of bastards around the world. Alessandro was his father’s only legitimate child, the heir to the Caetani title and name, but every year some stranger came out of the woodwork, claiming blood ties and asking for a handout from the company Alessandro had built with his own two hands.

Just wait till you’re older, son,
his father had gasped on his deathbed.
You’ll be just like me. You’ll see.

Alessandro had vowed he would never be anything like his father. He was selfish, but not a monster.

Right?

“I actually thought about going back.” Lilley’s trusting eyes shone at him. “But now I know I won’t. You make me feel … brave. Like I can do anything. Risk anything.”

Alessandro’s heart gave a sickening lurch. He gripped his fists so tightly the knuckles turned white.

Lilley was half in love with him already. He could see it in her face, even if she herself wasn’t aware of it yet. If he kept her as his mistress, how long would it be before he obliterated her light completely? Until she, too, had a heart as dark and empty as night?

He’d crossed a line. He’d violated her innocence in a way he could never take back.

If that wasn’t the work of a monster, what was?

With an intake of breath, he turned away. In just an hour or two, dawn would break across the purple hills. But there could be no sunrise for Alessandro. He felt cold to the bone.

There was only one way to cut her loss. One way to leave her heart bruised, but not shattered. He exhaled, closing his eyes.

He had to let her go.

“It’s almost morning,” she said, sounding sad. She splayed her small hand against his chest. “In a few hours, I’ll go back to the file room. What about you?”

He opened his eyes. “Mexico City.”

Lilley took a deep breath. “Alessandro,” she whispered, “I want you to know that I—”

Turning to her almost violently, he put his finger against her lips. “Let’s not talk.” Pulling her down on the mattress beside him, he breathed in the scent of her, the intoxicating smell of sunshine and flowers. He gloried in her warmth and beauty for the last time.

“This has been the happiest day of my life,” she whispered. “I’m just sad to see it end.” She gave him a crooked smile. “In a few hours, you’ll forget I ever existed.”

He looked down at her. “I’ll never forget you, Lilley,” he said, and it was the truth.

“Oh,” she breathed. Relief and gratitude filled her eyes. She thought his words meant they might have a future. She didn’t know they were the death knell for any relationship they might have had.