Too Cold To Love (16 page)

"What do
you
want? Haven't you
caused enough grief for one night?" She tried to slam the door shut, but
he wedged his foot in the way, before she succeeded.

Oh she so had it with these overbearing,
arrogant Giovanni men.

"Take your blasted foot out of the door
right now, or..."

"Or what?" Giorgio smiled that
infuriating, lazy smile of his, whilst pushing the door open wider until he
towered over her.

"Relax, I didn't come to cause trouble. I
only wanted to talk to you before Marco drags you off again."

He raised one hand to absentmindedly touch her
hair and flinched when Elise slapped his hand away.

"I'm not
her."

Giorgio visibly shook himself before his easy
smile once again masked the flash of emotion in his eyes. He took a step back
and murmured almost to himself, "More’s the pity."

Seriously
? What
was it about the male of the species? Last night, when he'd thought she was Jem
he'd looked ready to murder her, and now – now that look made her incredibly
uncomfortable. Especially as she sensed that it wasn't really her, he was
seeing, but Jemima.
 
Goodness only knew
what the history was between these two. As handsome as Giorgio was, he did
absolutely nothing for Elise.

Seemed it was only a pair of storm blue eyes in
a scowling face that did.
Just my damn luck! Oh Jemima, I am going to kill
you when I get back to
London
for getting me involved in all of this.

"So, have you come to just stare at me, or
was there a reason for your visit?"

Elise was quite proud of her sarcastic voice.

Yeah, see girl you can do this easy peasy.
Now all you have to do is manage this with Marco, and then you'll be fine. Oh
and there is that formation of pigs again.

Giorgio's next words had her doubting her
hearing.

"I came to apologize, actually. I really
thought you were Jemima. I didn't like the idea of her with my cousin. He's
been through enough to have your sister foisted on him, no offence."

Elise snorted at that. "None taken I assure
you. She is not my most favorite person at the minute. In fact I am going to
kill her when I'm back in
London
."
Giorgio’s dry chuckle made Elise smile, despite the grim circumstances.

"I think Marco may do that for you, and
besides I don't believe for a minute that you will. Why put yourself through
all this to protect her in the first place? You did do all this to protect her,
didn't you?"

Elise shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and
nodded.

"Thought so, I said as much to Marco last
night after he stormed out of your room."

"You did?" Elise looked up.
Goodness
the hits just kept on coming.

"Yes, I did, but he wouldn't listen. All he
can see is the two of you colluding and endangering Mimi. Where that little
girl is concerned he takes no prisoners. I'm afraid he's going to make your
life pretty miserable from now on. Last time I saw him this angry was when he
found out about Jennifer."

"Jennifer and you, you mean. You can't blame
him for being angry that you slept with his wife. Thanks for that by the way.
He seemed convinced I would follow in her footsteps.
As
if! You may
think you're god’s gift to women, but you do not impress me!"

Giorgio burst into amused laughter, and Elise
once again marveled at the truth of that statement. He looked so much like
Marco. Dark, handsome, tall, with impossibly broad shoulders, and that easy
smile that made a woman feel like she was the only person in the room, yet she
noticed all these features with complete detachment.

Oh girl, you are such a hopeless case!

"Not that I expect you to believe me, but I
didn't sleep with her. And besides they weren't married at the time, and I did
it to protect him."

"Do I look stupid to you, Giorgio? Is that
what you tell yourself, so you can sleep at night?"

Giorgio's short laugh rang round the room.

"To quote you, my dear, I don't really care
whether you believe me or not. But that
is
what happened. We'd all known
her for years, of course. Practically grew up together and then her parents
sent her away to boarding school. She was a different person when she came
back, not that Marco seemed to realize that. He was besotted with her, and even
though she hit on Alex and then me, fuck, any male in her vicinity, he just
didn't see it."

Elise had to remember to shut her mouth.

"She hit on Alex?"

"Yeah, he told her to get lost. He was,
after all, engaged to Irene at the time. Count yourself lucky you never met
her. Anyways, I thought if he found her in my arms it would show him what
Jennifer was really like, but he just made me into the scapegoat, and went and
married her anyway. Stupid fool."

Elise hugged herself as a sudden chill grabbed
her. Oh hell, no wonder Marco was so cynical and always believed the worst of
people.

"I'm only telling you all this because he
won't. Like I said, I haven't seen him this angry since then, so for what it's
worth, I think you're under his skin more than he realizes. Don't give up on
him just yet, eh? And I'm sorry, I stirred things up, really I am."

He did look sincere, and Elise found some of her
anger evaporating. What a sorry mess this all was.

"And talking of Marco, let me help you with
those bags. The man is ready to leave and is chomping at the bit, so you best
not keep him waiting."

Elise followed Giorgio. Her heart rate picked up
automatically at the sound of Marco's voice, only for ice cold fingers to grab
and squeeze the beats out of it, when she really listened to what he was
saying.

"I'm well aware what the time is, Jones, but
your social life is not my concern. Like I said double the fee, if I have what
I ask for by the time I get back to
London
....
I realize that, but I want her watched twenty four/seven, the sister,
too....She's staying at my wife's flat... I'm not interested in your opinion;
just do your job!"

Marco snapped the phone shut. He turned round,
and the full frost of his eyes hit her like a physical slap.

"There you are. I take it you're ready to
leave?"

Elise just nodded. She didn't trust her voice.
After everything she'd just learned she ached to put her arms around him, and
make it all better for him, but she knew not to try. Her loving, funny, sexy
husband was gone. In his stead was an angry, hurt – yes definitely hurt, she
recognized the tight set of his shoulders and the grim line to his mouth –
slightly scary version of him.

They made their goodbyes from Giorgio, and the
pity she saw in his eyes did little to alleviate the tendril of dread fast
enveloping her. When she climbed into the waiting taxi, she scooted as far away
from her husband as she could in the small confines of the back seats.

The tension pulsed between them and only
increased when Marco flipped his phone open again and started talking in rapid
Italian. Elise could just about make out that he was talking to Mamma G. When
Mimi's name was mentioned, the first genuine smile she'd seen since last
night's fiasco lit up his face, before he glanced at her, and the mask came
down again.

A heavy silence stretched between them. Elise
couldn't help herself. She couldn't just sit and stare out of the window and
ignore him. A glance at his profile showed a bone weary man, his shoulders
slumped, dark shadows under his eyes, his jaw tightly clenched.
 
He hadn't bothered to shave this morning, and
he wore a stained shirt. That more than anything told Elise the strain he was
under. She had never seen Marco look anything but perfectly groomed.

He turned his head, and their gazes collided.
Elise forgot to breathe at the myriad of emotions she glimpsed in those stormy
depths.

"What?" he snarled and broke the
spell.

"I was just wondering how Mimi is?"
Elise asked.

He threw her such a look of contempt that she
had to bite the inside of her mouth to stop herself from reacting. He shook his
head and turned his back on her.

"I asked you a question, Marco. I want to
know how Mimi is!"

"Do not concern yourself with my daughter;
she is just fine."

"She is my daughter, too, Marco."

 
His
furious rumble made the taxi driver look back at them in alarm.
 
Elise forced a smile for the man. Marco
barked something at him in Italian that made the middle aged man blanch and
turn his attention back to the road.

Elise almost wished the ground would be able to
swallow her up, when Marco's whole unspent fury hit her with full force, his
voice a deadly whisper.

"Mimi is my daughter, woman. Don't you
ever
forget that. You have no claim to her. You and your sister have done enough
damage."

"How dare you, Marco Giovanni. I've done
nothing to harm Mimi, and I never would. For god's sake the only reason I
agreed to all of this was to help Mimi; you know that. I wanted to resign,
remember? You wouldn't let me. And like it or not we are married, and that
makes Mimi my stepdaughter, and I care about what happens to her."

"Save it, woman, you only did what you did
to save your twin's miserable ass." Elise reeled back at the venom in his
voice. "You couldn't care less about me, or Mimi, or any of us; that much
is clear."

Those dratted tears threatened again, and Elise
ruthlessly fought them back. Her hands clutched the upholstery to stop herself
from wiping that look off his face with a well-deserved slap.

"You're being completely unfair. I love
Mimi as though she were my own. As for Jem,
 
I'm not defending her actions,
but
she never harmed Mimi."

"By the grace of God she didn't! And that's
the only reason I haven't had her already arrested for fraud, or you for that
matter, wife."

Damn, damn, damn the man.
Elise knew he was reeling from everything he'd learned, but did he
have to so bloody obnoxious about it all?

"And the fact that you need me to get rid
of Mimi's mother has nothing to do with it of course, you arrogant fool."

A muscle ticked in his tightly clenched jaw as
his eyes once again locked with hers. The sudden heat in that gaze scorched
Elise from the inside out. She had to break eye contact, her breathing heavy as
though she had just run a marathon. His large hand grabbed her roughly under
the chin, forcing her to look up.
Damn
, when had he gotten so close?

His mouth hovered over hers. Their breaths
mingled, and Elise simply melted under that intense stare. Every one of her
female senses went into hyper drive in anticipation of his kiss. Instead of
kissing her however, he shoved her away.

"Save it, wife. I wouldn't touch you if you
were the last woman on earth." The contempt behind the
 
words brought her out of her sensual haze
with the force of an ice cold shower.

"Though I agree, we need to keep up
appearances until all the hearings are over. So, you, wife, will be my adoring
arm candy if you know what's good for you and your lying bitch of a
sister."

"And if I don't?"

The mouth that descended upon her out of nowhere
was harsh and unforgiving. It stoked her own anger to such a degree that she
bit the tongue he was trying to force inside her clenched lips. He pulled away
with a muttered oath.

"You can't have it both ways, Marco. Don't
touch me in anger ever again, do you hear me?"

She stared him down, her own heart hammering so
fast, she was starting to feel faint. He gave a small nod, murmured something
in Italian, and retreated to his side of the back seat.

They stayed silent for the rest of the trip,
only talking when the situation and other people demanded it. Elise was too
emotionally wrought to appreciate the scenery or the first class air travel
back to Heathrow. In fact by the time they went to land she was so highly
strung that she only just made it to the toilets before losing what little of
the airplane breakfast she had managed to eat.

When her shaky legs carried her out of the
cubicle she collided with Marco. He grabbed her by the elbow and steered her
back to her seat with a muttered, "I was going to get the cabin crew to
open that damn door. We are landing in a minute, so stop the theatrics."
But the hand on her arm gentled, and he handed her a fresh bottle of water,
after searching her face with another muttered Italian curse.

Elise shook his hand off.

"I'm fine. Don't pretend to care. Save it
for an audience, will you?" Her curt retort earned her another curse
before he went back to ignoring her.

They were now parking outside his house, and
Elise's heart gave a little pang. They were home.
 
Mimi was in that house, and part of her sang
in anticipation of Mimi's little arms around her neck. She'd missed the little
tyke, much more than was wise, she was sure. So much had happened since the
first day she'd walked up that gravel drive, wondering what Jem had gotten her
into now. She'd hopelessly fallen in love with the adorable toddler and her
complicated father. Heaven help her, what was she going to do?