Rome for Always (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Collection) (11 page)

He gave Arie’s fingers a squeeze. “Yes, Daniela and I
were in a relationship before I met you. But it wasn’t real, Arie. At least,
not to me.”

Not surprisingly, she gave him a look of confusion. “What’s
that supposed to mean?”

He let her go then got to his feet and shoved his hands
deep inside his pockets. He was not proud of how he’d handled his love life
before he met Arie. His back to her, he began to speak in a low voice. “Daniela
and I were together because of our parents.”

“Come again?”

He didn’t turn around at her question but she had every
right to ask it. They were in the twenty-first century, for Christ’s sake. These
days, who went into relationships for the sake of their parents? It was past
embarrassing. It was pathetic.

“Daniela and I have known each other since we were kids.
Our parents are old friends. Business associates, too. Ever since we were kids
they kept saying that Daniela and I should marry, that it would be the perfect
partnership. We’d end up with a multi-billionaire dollar conglomerate.”

“An arranged marriage?” Arie’s voice was faint with
obvious disbelief, and how could he blame her? He wouldn’t believe it himself
if he weren’t the one caught in the middle of the whole fiasco.

“An arranged marriage of sorts,” he said on a grunt. “It
wasn’t real. It was nothing formal. It was just that Daniela and I knew that
was what our families wanted and we never even questioned it. We just sort
of…fell in line.”

“So…what happened? How did you end up…with me?”

He turned around then and looked down at Arie, at her
face so earnest, her eyes almost pleading. “Daniela got tired of the farce. She
broke up with me, said she’d fallen in love with someone else. Thank God she
did. It brought a close to something that should have ended ages before.”

“So you don’t love her anymore?” Arie’s eyes searched
his face like she wasn’t quite believing what she was hearing.

“I’m not even sure I ever truly loved her.” Rome
shrugged. “I guess I was just taking the easy way out. It was what our families
wanted. It was expected that we would be together. I was too complacent, too
lazy to bother to rock the boat.”

"But what if you’d met someone else? Fallen in
love?”

He shook his head. “Never happened.” Then he paused as
he stared down at her. “It never happened until I met you.”

For a moment Arie just sat there, silent, seeming to
ponder his words. Then she cocked her head to one side and gave him a solemn
look. “That was pretty convenient, wasn’t it? Daniela moves on and you meet me
then all of a sudden you’re in love. Why should I believe any of this?”

“Because it’s true. No matter how it sounds, that’s the
way it happened and I’m not going to apologize for it.”

“Oh, really? And what happened just now, what was that
all about?” Arie gave a snort of disgust. “You certainly didn’t act like a man
who was in love with me. You had your hands all over her.”

“No, I didn’t. For some strange reason Daniela wanted it
to look that way.” Rome let his breath out in a hiss of frustration. “Since we
parted I haven’t kept in touch with her. You asked what that was about? I’m
asking myself the same thing.”

Arie grimaced, seeming deep in thought, then she let out
a soft sigh and when she looked at him again the worried wrinkle in her brow
was beginning to smooth. “So there’s nothing between the two of you?”

“Absolutely nothing,” he said, his tone emphatic. “You
are the one and only woman in my life.”

On hearing his declaration Arie’s brows smoothed just a
little bit more and it was only then that Rome began to breathe easier. “You
have to believe me,” he said as he watched the emotions play across her face. “I’m
telling you the truth.”

She folded her hands on her lap and looked up at him,
her face earnest. “I want to believe you,” she said, “but can I really? I mean,
it’s your word against…her actions,” she dropped her eyes, “and all that stuff
your father told me.”

“Damn what he told you.” Rome spat the words out, he was
so pissed. “My dad had his own agenda. I can see that now. My mother and my
father, both of them do. They set me up.” He balled his hands into fists. “I
can’t believe they would stoop so low.”

Arie bit her bottom lip and when she released it, it
began to tremble. “I told you they’d hate me. Why didn’t you listen?”

The dejected look on her face pulled at his heart. He
dropped to his knees in front of her and took her hands in his. “No, Arie. It’s
not that they hate you. It’s that they’re holding on to an illusion. They can’t
let go of the dream of Daniela.”

Arie shook her head and gave him a sad smile. “Wishful
thinking, Rome. And what you said about Daniela being over you? You’re wrong. She
still wants you. I can see it even if you can’t.”

“What can I do to make you believe-”

“Enough.” Arie put up a hand, silencing him. “I’ve had
enough of talking. It’s good that you didn’t take my things from the car. Please
take me back to the hotel. I don’t want to stay here a minute longer.”

The look on her face told him her mind was made up. There
was nothing he could say that would make her stay. And it was all the fault of
his family. They’d messed things up…royally. Then again, maybe he should lay
the blame squarely at his own feet. How could he have been so naïve as to think
they would accept Arie, no questions asked, with open arms?

Releasing her hands he stood up. “I’ll take you back to
the hotel,” he said, “but there’s something I have to do first. Wait here until
I get back. Please.”

Arie’s mouth was set in a stubborn pout but she folded
her arms across her chest and settled back in the seat. She looked like she
would stay put.

Grateful that she hadn't put up a fight, Rome turned on
his heel and strode out the door.  Even if he couldn’t repair the damage
already done there was one thing he was determined to set straight before he
left.

He had to tackle this problem that had reared its ugly
head – the new and confusing and dangerously seductive element of Daniela
Scalise.

CHAPTER NINE

Rome found Daniela relaxing in the solarium, having tea
with his mother. After stirring up so much trouble the woman sat there looking
as comfortable as could be.

He didn’t bother with pleasantries. “Daniela, we need to
talk.” His voice was grim as he walked into the room. “Mama, can you excuse us
for a minute?”

Lily looked from Rome to Daniela then back to Rome. “What
did you want to talk about?” she asked, her voice uncertain. In fact, she
looked darned nervous right at that moment and she had every reason to be.

“This is between Daniela and me, Mama,” he replied, his
tone curt. After the way she'd conspired to mess up his life he owed his mother
no explanation. “Could I have a minute with Daniela?” he asked again. “Alone.”

To her credit, despite her look of doubt his mother did
not question him again. Resting the teacup on its saucer she got up from around
the table, whispered her excuse to Daniela and walked out of the room.

Rome waited a full three seconds after she’d gone then
he walked over to close the door firmly behind her. Then he turned to the
object of his anger.

“Tell me something,” he said, his voice deceptively
soft, “do you take pleasure in screwing up other people’s lives? What the hell
is this game you’re playing?”

Looking totally unperturbed, Daniela didn’t answer. Instead,
she raised her teacup to her lips and took a leisurely sip. After savoring the
liquid she swallowed and only then did she turn her dark eyes on Rome. “Game?”
she asked, her tone cool. “Who says I’m playing a game?”

Rome’s gaze narrowed as he watched her. She was trying
to tick him off, he could see that much. The question was, why?

Instead of flaring up in fury as he guessed Daniela was
expecting, he decided to take it cool and calm just like she was. Two could
play that game quite well.

He could see she was surprised when he walked over and
sat down next to her, taking the chair his mother had just vacated. “Daniela,”
he said as he picked up a spoon and began to toy with it, “if you’re not
playing a game, what exactly are you doing?”

For some reason the question made her laugh. “Ah, Rome,
if you only knew.”

He kept toying with the spoon, not looking at Daniela,
focusing his attention on the utensil in his hand. It was either that or
explode and he wasn’t going to do that. He would not give her the pleasure. “What
should I know, Daniela?” he asked, his tone deliberately pleasant. “You’re
dying to tell me so why don’t you?”

She chuckled. “You know me so well.” Then she reached
over and took the spoon from his fingers and dropped it with a clatter onto her
saucer. “I’m not playing games,” she said with a sly grin. “I’m simply doing
someone a favor.”

He raised an eyebrow then sat back in the chair. “A
favor. Can you be a bit more specific?”

She shrugged. “If you insist. I’m doing your mother a
favor. She asked me to…scare off a certain someone who’s no good for you. After
all we meant to each other how could I say no?”

“My mother set you up to this? So this wasn’t you trying
to start up where we left off?”

“Goodness, no. Of course not.” Daniela looked like she
thought it was the most ridiculous idea in the world. “I’m happily engaged to a
wonderful man, a man I truly love. Why would I want to get back together with
you?”

“Why indeed?" He shook his head, knocking the
thought loose from his mind. “So you’re engaged,” he said, turning thoughtful. “Does
my mother know this?”

The question made Daniela hesitate. “No, I guess not. I
never mentioned it.” Then she shrugged. “But that’s not important. She knows
I’m in a relationship. After all, that’s why you and I broke up.”

She said it so casually, like it was what everybody did.
You’re in the middle of a relationship until you find someone you like better
and then you move on, just like that. Not that he was complaining, though. She’d
done him a huge favor when she’d fallen in love with someone else.

“What do you know about the woman I’m in love with?”

“N…nothing.” Daniela blinked. “Why do you ask?”

“I ask because I find it a bit strange that you’re so
quick to destroy my relationship when I willingly gave you the freedom to
pursue yours.” He could see his words were having an effect on her so he
pressed on. “You know what it is to fall in love. Why are you so happy to deny
me that pleasure?”

“I…it was your mother. She said the woman wasn’t right
for you.” Daniela swallowed. “I was only trying to help her.”

Rome gave a snort of annoyance. “Don’t do anybody any
favors, especially not my mother. Not where I’m concerned, anyway.” He folded
his arms across his chest. “Do you remember how your family reacted when you
broke up with me?”

Daniela winced then she nodded. “They thought I was
being an idiot. They didn’t want me to be with Warren at all.”

“Exactly. They would have loved it if we’d stayed
together but you made your choice and I respected that even if it took your
family a while to accept.” He tightened his lips and when he spoke again his
voice was cool. “Now I would appreciate it if you would pay me the same
courtesy and respect my choice and stay the hell out of my business.”

A crimson blush crept up Daniela’s neck and she dropped
her eyes. “I’m sorry, Rome. I didn’t think…”

“Well, please do,” he said, not letting her off the hook.
“There’s a lady sitting in another room in this house who was hurt by your
thoughtless actions. I’m going to have to work real hard to make things up to
her.”

“I’m sorry,” she said again and this time she actually
looked like she meant it.

But now that he understood her motive Rome had no desire
to spend another minute with Daniela. It was time to tackle his parents.

Without another word he pushed back his chair, got up
and walked out of the room.  He could feel Daniela’s eyes boring into his back
the whole time.

He could only hope that when it came to affairs of the
heart she’d learned her lesson – to mind her own freakin’ business.

***

“I can’t believe you guys.” Rome had to fight to keep
from raising his voice at the two people who had cared for him since birth. He
could not believe they would go to such lengths to sabotage his life and his
chance at love. “How could you do this to me?” he demanded, his voice hoarse
from the strain of holding on to his temper. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“It’s because we love you, Rome. We only want what’s
best for you.” Lily made as if to go to him but the look on his face must have
told her that was the last thing he wanted just then because she stopped short
and began to twist her hands nervously in front of her.

“I didn’t expect this from you, Mama.” He didn’t try to
hide his disappointment. He knew Vittorio could be ruthless at times. He’d
demonstrated that side of his personality in more than a few business dealings.
But his mother had always been a source of support, nothing at all like the
woman who had convinced Daniela to be her accomplice in deceit. What had come
over her?