VITTORIO'S WOMAN (The Vittorio Series) (10 page)

“You have a vivid imagination
.  There is nothing between myself and Lilly.  I like her well enough, but she is the hired help and that is as far as our relationship goes.  Besides,” he drawled, “she is hardly my type.”

Gabriella’s eyes danced with amusement.
  “Simon, she is a woman, a very beautiful one, and that alone makes her your type.  As for simply being the hired help, we both know it would not be the first time you have slept with someone under the Vittorio’s employ.”

Simon grinned, knowing she was referring to Annalisa.
  “I should never have confessed that to you.”

“But you did, and it makes me wonder if perhaps history is repeating itself with your charming Lilly.”

Simon didn’t bat an eye.  “You are fishing in the wrong pond, Gabby.  As you pointed out, Lilly is sweet and innocent, quite the opposite of Annalisa.  I prefer a woman with experience, one who does not have to be taught what pleases her lover.”

Gabriella leaned forward, a knowing smile on her face.
  “If that is true, my darling, then you and I have much in common…”

 
                                                            ***

Luc took Lillie’s arm and led her away, a dark scowl on his face.
  “He should not have said those things.”

Her smile was thin.
  “Why not, he’s just being honest.  At any rate I shouldn’t have eavesdropped on his conversation, so I guess I got what I deserved.”

“But to say you are only the hired help as if you are beneath him.”
 He shook his head, frowning.  “It is not like Mr. Vittorio to talk like this.”

“It doesn’t matter…”

“It
does
matter,” Luc said fiercely.  “It matters because he has hurt you.”  He stopped abruptly and gripped her shoulders, both anger and concern playing across his face.  “It is true what Gabriella said, you are in love with Simon.  Do not deny it,” he said when Lilly started to shake her head.  “It is in your eyes, Lilly
,
you cannot hide it.”

Tears welled up and spilled down over her cheeks.
  “I feel like such a fool, Luc.  How could I be so stupid?  I thought he cared for me, I thought…”

Luc wrapped his arms around her, drawing her to his chest in an effort to comfort her.
  “Do not cry, Lilly.  He does not deserve you if he cannot see the beauty inside of you.”

“Oh
, Luc, what am I going to do?  I want to stay and help Simon get better but how can I now that I know how he really feels?”  She sagged against him, grateful for the strong arms that kept her from crumbling to the ground.  “The worst part of all is that I knew this would happen but I just couldn’t seem to stop myself.”

He laughed softly, absently stroking her hair.
  “We cannot choose who we fall in love with,
carissima
.  Even when our heads tells us it is foolish, our hearts do not listen.”

“Have you ever been in love?”

“Just once.”

Lilly tipped her head back, her own heart aching for the sadness in his voice.
  “What happened?”

“Nothing.
  She does not see me in that way.”  He reached up and wiped away her tears with the tips of his fingers, a wry smile on his face.  “You are not the only one whose heart has been captured by a Vittorio.”

Her eyes widened in surprise.
  “You’re in love with Milana?”

“For as long as I can remember.
  So we are both fools for loving someone who will never love us in return, are we not?”

“I guess we are,” Lilly sighed.
  “How do you do it, Luc?  How do you keep Milana from knowing the truth?”

“It is easier now that she is staying with Simon, but when she comes to his country estate I try to avoid her as much as possible.”

“That wouldn’t work for me.”

“No, but there are other ways.”

“Like what?”  Lilly looked up at him, desperate to find a way to ease this awful pain in her heart.

“You must keep your mind focused on something else when you are together and avoid looking directly at him.”
  Luc gazed past her, his voice growing distant.  “You will lose yourself if you look into his eyes, and you will also give yourself away.”

“We’re a fine pair, aren’t we?”

He tilted his head for a moment, a slow smile spreading across his face.  “Yes, we are.  But perhaps there is a way we can help each other.”

“You’re already helping just by being my friend.”

“Yes, but I am talking about becoming more than just friends. 
Much
more.”

Lilly pulled away from him.
  “Luc, I really don’t think…”

“Just listen to me before you say no.”
  He waited until she nodded then took both her hands.  “You must be honest with me.  Do you believe that Simon has feelings for you?”

“I’m sure he does.
  The problem is I don’t know how deep those feelings run.”

“Then I propose we find out.”

She eyed him warily.  “And how would we do that?”

“By making sure he notices that you and I are becoming infatuated with another.”

“Pretend we’re more than friends so he’ll be jealous?”  Lilly shook her head.  “It wouldn’t work.  Simon has Gabriella here, why would he care if I was suddenly interested in you?”

“He would care a great deal if he was in love with you.
  And if there is no reaction…at least you will know it was not meant to be.”

She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
  “You said we could help each other, so I presume the object is to see if Milana will be jealous too.  How is it going to work when she’s not even here?”

“She is only visiting her parents for a few days, after that she will return to the country estate for a day or two.
  If you could get some time off…”

“I can,” Lilly jumped in.
 “As a matter of fact, I’ve already told Simon I was going to take a short vacation since he has Gabriella to look after him.”

“It is perfect then.
  We will let Simon see us together and then we will both leave the island at the same time and let him worry about what we are up to.  You can take a few days for yourself and still be at the country estate before Milana arrives.”

“How can you be so sure she’ll even go there before coming back to the island?”

Luc grinned, his eyes sparkling with amusement.  “Because Milana always needs some time to gather herself after a visit with her parents.  She says they drive her crazy.  And as long as you are not going too far away, there will be plenty of time to reach the estate before she does.  Milana will call the day before she arrives to give the staff time to prepare her rooms and make sure the cook has time to shop for her favorite foods.”

Lilly sighed wistfully.
  “Their lives are so different than ours, Luc.  Are we deluding ourselves by believing we would fit in?”

“You would fit in anywhere,
Lilly.  You have beauty and grace and it would make any man proud to have you by his side.  It will be much harder for me.  I have spent many years building up my business and trying to make myself worthy of Milana, but I will never be as wealthy as the Vittorio’s no matter how successful I am.”

Lilly was pleasantly surprised to hear Luc had his own business.
  “I thought you worked for Simon, taking care of his country home.  When do you have time to run a business too?”

“It started out as a small investment, buying and trading commodities online.
  I learned everything I could about running a business solely through the internet and discovered there was much money to be made if one was cautious and did not take major risks.”

“Is that what you did?”

Luc gave her a sheepish grin.  “No, I was too anxious to earn my first million so I could pursue Milana.”

“Why Luc Santini, are you telling me you’ve actually made a million dollars?”

“Several times over if my accounting is accurate.”

Lilly stared at him incredulously.
  “I don’t understand.  If you’ve made that much money, why are you still working for Simon and why on earth haven’t you gone after Milana before now?”

“It is difficult to explain.
  It was important to make the money for my own peace of mind, so that I could take care of her properly if I was ever lucky enough to win her love.  But I did not want it to be the
reason
she finally saw me as something other than a friend so I have been very careful to hide my wealth.  I know it does not make sense…”

“Oh
, but it makes perfect sense, Luc.  You want her to love you for who you are and not for the things you have or what you can buy her.”

“Do you think that is possible, Lilly?
  Sometimes the way she looks at me makes believe it is, and other times…” he shrugged, looking as scared about the uncertainty of his future as Lilly was about hers.

“I guess there’s only one way for us to find out.”

Luc rose to his feet, pulling her up with him.  “Where do we begin?”

“Well, Simon and Gabriella were out on his balcony when we left for our walk.
  Maybe we could just…hold hands or something so he could see us.”

“Holding hands is good,” Luc said with a smile as they started back down the path.
  “He may only break my nose for that slight offense.”

Lilly slipped her hand to his, laughing when he made another remark about Simon’s temper and the consequences Luc was likely pay if he dared to kiss her.
  She had no idea just how believable they looked as an adoring couple, not until they rounded the last corner and caught sight of Simon and Gabriella sitting at the table. 

Gabriella’s eyes widened in surprise when she spotted them walking hand in hand, but that wasn’t what concerned Lilly.
  It was the murderous look on Simon’s face that made her stomach clench and her insides tremble with fear.

It was a really, really bad decision to make Simon jealous, Lilly thought as his narrowed eyes skewered the man beside her.  She tried to slip her hand out of Luc’s but he only tightened his grip and tugged her along with him; a man with a death wish if ever she saw one, because Simon’s expression was definitely
not
getting any friendlier the closer they drew to the table.  She half expected him to come flying out of his chair at Luc when Gabriella broke the silence and everyone’s attention suddenly riveted to her smiling face.

“What are you two lovebirds up to, or should I ask?”

Certain that Gabriella’s comment would only enrage Simon even more, Lilly was disheartened to see it seemed to have the opposite effect.  Although his body remained tense, the gaze that met Lilly’s was so indifferent it chilled her to the bone.  What had she expected him do, launch into a tirade and demand to know why she was carrying on with Luc when she belonged to him?  No, it was obvious whatever feelings he’d had for her were fleeting at best and had dissipated the moment Gabriella came into the picture. 

“Lilly was just telling me how fortunate it was you are here to take care of Simon,” Luc returned her smile.
  “It will allow her some time off to return to the mainland and enjoy a night or two out on the town.”

“I plan on doing a little shopping too,” Lilly said nervously.
  “I could use some new clothes and…”

“You will have plenty of time for shopping during the day,
cara
,” Luc said with a sexy grin, “but you must leave your evenings free for more…relaxing endeavors.”

Simon’s jaw flexed, every muscle in his body taut as a bowstring ready to snap.
  Nothing would have given him more pleasure than removing that lecherous grin off Luc’s face with his fist, but doing so would have far worse repercussions than just causing physical harm to a man he once considered a trusted employee.  Lilly’s reputation was at stake for one thing, and his earlier protests that there was nothing going on between them would hold little credence if he beat the hell out of Luc in a jealous rage.

Springing up out of his chair would probably come as quite a shock too, and he highly doubted she
would believe he was suddenly miraculously cured.  Even if he could convince her it was true, she would have even less reason to stay with him once she knew he could walk, and that was a risk Simon simply couldn’t take.      

“Luc will show you a good time,” Gabriella assured Lilly, “and do not worry about Simon, I will keep him entertained.”

Lilly’s stomach lurched dangerously.  What the hell had she been thinking, leaving Simon all alone on the island with a beautiful, desirable woman while she ran off and pretended to be interested in someone else?  She didn’t want to go.  Every minute she was away from him would be pure agony and would no doubt be spent torturing herself with images of Gabriella
entertaining
Simon. 

She looked at him, her eyes begging him to say something, anything, to show that he cared for her and wanted her to stay.
  But he didn’t utter a single word, and it was his silence that killed the tiny shred of hope she’d been clinging to. 

 
                                                             ***

If it hadn’t been for the arm Luc had casually looped around her waist, Lilly wasn’t sure she would have made it back to the house under her own steam.
  His eyes were sympathetic as he watched her pack her suitcase but he didn’t offer any comfort other than keeping a firm grip on her as they descended the stairs and made their way to the car.  Maybe he sensed she was just a heartbeat away from falling to pieces or maybe he knew there was nothing he could say that would help anyway and thought it best to remain silently supportive. 

Rightly assuming she didn’t want to be alone, Luc instructed the pilot to take them directly to the country estate
.  Less than hour later, Lilly found herself being ushered inside what once had been a carriage house.  She was impressed with Luc’s taste; it was masculine in every sense of the word and it suited him. 

He led her upstairs and into a bedroom that seemed a bit incongruous with the rest of house because it was obviously designed with a female occupant in mind.
  Had Luc taken a mistress while he waited for Milana to take notice of him?  Lilly’s eyes wandered over the white down comforter and lacy pillows.

“Does Luisa visit you here?”

“No, if my parents come here it is only because Simon plans to stay for awhile.  They have their own suite of rooms in the big house.”  He chuckled when she glanced at the vanity then back at him with a questioning arch of her brow.  “Milana said I needed at least one room a woman could retreat to that was feminine.  I know she was not speaking of herself, but I asked if she would decorate the room for me and this is what she came up with.”

“But she’s never…stayed here?”

His eyes grew solemn.  “No one has ever slept here.”

“Luc, maybe I should stay in another room or go to a hotel.”

“It is not a shrine, Lilly.  I just did not feel right about inviting another woman into the bedroom Milana had decorated.”

“How have your girlfriends reacted to that?
  And don’t try to convince me you haven’t had your fair share of them.”

“I am not a saint, but neither have I over indulged in female companionship.
  I have never brought a woman to my home because none of them meant enough to me to want them involved with my personal life.”

“Now you sound like Simon,” she snorted.
 

“Perhaps you are right,” he surprised her by agreeing.
  “There is only one woman who could ever possess my heart, just as there is only one woman who will ever possess Simon’s.”

Lilly turned away from him and wandered over to the window.
  “I hope he finds her,” she said softly.  “I just wish…”

“That it was you?”

“Silly, isn’t it?  Considering how miserably our experiment failed, you’d think I would just let it go.”

“Failed?”
  Luc crossed the room and gripped her shoulders, turning her around to face him.  “I thought you were upset because he did not confess his love and order me off the island.  Lilly, we did
not
fail.”

“How can you say that?
  Simon acted as if he didn’t care one way or another if I ran off with you.”

Luc’s lip twitched.
  “Perhaps you missed the daggers his eyes were throwing at me.”

She shook her head, giggling at his apt description of Simon’s expression when he’d spotted them.
  “No, I didn’t miss it.”

“Then you must also have seen the way his shoulders tensed and his hands clenched into fists.”

“So he was a little worked up at first, he certainly got over it fast enough.”

“Oh,
Lilly, you are so wrong.  Simon was fighting his temper with every ounce of restraint he had.  He was very careful to keep his poker face on,
and
he did not say a word to either one of us.”

Lilly heaved an exasperated sigh.
  “What does that prove?  Nothing,” she answered her own question.  “He didn’t say anything because he doesn’t care about me.  He probably couldn’t wait for me to leave so he and Gabriella could have a little play time.”

“Is that what you think?
  Lilly, I know you are hurting but you have to believe what I am telling you.  No matter what Simon said to Gabriella or how he acted when he saw us together, the man is in love with you.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat and slowly shook her head.
  “No, Luc, if he was in love with me he would have tried to keep me from leaving with you.”

 
                                                               ***

“
Come stupido posso essere
?”  Simon paced restlessly from his room to Lilly’s and back again.  “How stupid can I be?”

He let her go.
  He sat right there while Luc all but told them he planned on taking Lilly to bed and he hadn’t done a damn thing to stop her from leaving.  So what if her reputation had gotten a little tarnished because of Gabriella’s loose tongue, everything would have righted itself once he and Lilly were married.  Hell, he practically pushed her into another man’s arms, and for all he knew, Lilly might be so hurt by what he had done she would turn to Luc for comfort.  But would she sleep with him?  That was the question that tore at Simon’s heart.

He had to do something.
  The chopper wouldn’t make it back to the island for another hour and it would take another forty-five minutes to reach his estate on the mainland.  God only knew what he would find when he got there.  And if by some miracle Luc hadn’t seduced Lilly into his bed yet, Simon would still play hell getting her to come back to the island because she’d know he had been lying about being paralyzed.  Simon raked his fingers through his hair irritably.  Okay, so he couldn’t go to her, but he
could
call her.

“And say what?
  I know I acted like an insensitive ass but I would like you to come home now?”

Why not?
  It was worth a try.  He strode purposefully to his room and stopped short when he got to the nightstand, a strained laugh erupting from his lips.  He couldn’t call her, at least not from his room because Lilly had taken his phone out the first day she’d been here. 
The intercom
.  He would ask Luisa to retrieve his cell phone from the study and bring Lilly’s phone number with her. 

He knew Lilly had a cell phone, he’d overheard her talking to her sister on a few occasions but he’d never had any reason to ask for the number until now.
  He only hoped Luisa wouldn’t ask any questions about why he wanted it, but Simon knew the moment she stepped briskly into his room that he wasn’t going to get out of this unscathed.  To his chagrin, Luisa planted herself in front of his wheelchair and clicked her tongue, blatantly ignoring his outstretched hand.

“What did you do to Lilly?”
 she demanded to know, her tone accusing.

“Nothing!
  I gave her a few days off, that is all.”

Luisa snorted.
  “I see her face when my Luc take her away.  She no happy.”

“So you just assume I am the reason,” Simon snapped, more angry with himself than Luisa

“You treat her bad, like she is invisible and mean nothing to you.”

Simon grimaced.
  “I had to, Luisa.  You know how Gabriella is.  If she knew I was in…”  He stopped abruptly, afraid he’d said too much already.

Luisa smiled and held the phone out
, along with a scrap of paper with Lilly’s phone number scrawled on it.  “You will tell Lilly why you treat her this way?”

“
Dio
, does everyone know I am in love with Lilly?”

“Everyone but Lilly.”
  She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.  “Tell her Simon, before it is too late.”

“I will,” he promised, “but not over the phone.
  I will get her to come back and tell her in person.”  He looked up at the older women, uncertainty clouding his eyes.  “Luisa…do you think…I mean, she
did
go off with Luc and he seemed very intent on becoming more than friends…”

Luisa’s smile was indulgent.
  “Love has affected your ability to think straight if you believe she has eyes for anyone but you.  As for my Luc, his heart belongs to another so you do not have to worry that he will act inappropriately towards Lilly.”

He found solace, not only in her words but in the conviction with which they were spoken.
  If Luisa had figured out he was in love with Lilly, then she must be right about Lilly’s feelings for him.  And though her assurances that Luc wouldn’t make a play for Lilly alleviated some of his anxiety, he would feel a whole lot better if he knew Luc hadn’t carted her off someplace cozy to offer a comforting shoulder to cry on.  Drawing in a deep breath, Simon keyed in Lilly’s number and pressed the send button just as Gabriella breezed into his room.

“Be a darling and zip the back of my dress, would you?”
  She presented her backside and dropped down onto his lap.

“Gabriella,” he choked, blindly stabbing at the phone to disconnect the call, “get off of me!”

“Zip me and I will.”  She glanced over her shoulder, laughing at the scarlet slashes on his cheeks.  “Oh come on, Simon, you have seen me in far less…”

 
                       ***

Alone in her room, Lilly stared blankly at the wall as the phone slipped from her hand and landed with a dull thud on the hardwood floor.
  The pain that ripped through her was so intense she could barely breath, and for several minutes she could do little more than stand there desperately fighting to draw air into her lungs.  Was it some kind of cruel joke?  Or had Simon even been aware that she’d was listening to the conversation taking place after what had obviously been a very intimate interlude?