VITTORIO'S LOVER (Vittorio Series) (18 page)

She’d caught a glimpse of Raffaele’s temper in the gardens and shuddered to think of
him turning the full force of it on her. Somehow, she had to extract herself from the awful predicament she’d gotten herself into,
and
she needed to do it as quickly as possible while her heart was still intact. Which meant she absolutely, positively could not, under any circumstances whatsoever, spend another night in his bed. Or kiss him. Or touch him. Or look into those dark eyes of his. Or…

“God, you are such a spineless jellyfish,” Jenesa groaned.

She would have to be on her guard, that’s all. No caving into the pangs of longing that assaulted her whenever she got within ten feet of him, and no melting like pat of butter in a frying pan every time his eyes swept over her. Piece of cake. No problem. When the memory of making love to him streaked through her mind, she would simply press her thighs together to ease the throbbing and ignore the way her tummy muscles clenched so tight it hurt.

The whole idea of confronting Luca had been insane right from the start and had gotten crazier from the moment she arrived at the party. Jenesa saw that now with mortifying clarity. The instant Raffaele kissed her, everything began spinning out of control, whirling around and around until she was so dizzy it was impossible to think straight.
It was a house of cards, built on lies, that was about to come tumbling down around her if she didn’t curb her growing attraction for him.

What she really needed was some time to think everything through; something she should have done before crashing the Vittorio’s party.
Damage control wouldn’t be easy, but it wasn’t impossible; as long as she kept some distance between them while they were here and then avoided him like the plague once they returned. Granted, his pride might be bruised when he discovered she had duped him, Jenesa reasoned, but it wasn’t as if she’d committed a crime by sleeping with Raffaele. And once he realized she wasn’t after his money, there would be no grounds for retaliation. At least, not on that score.

It all hinged on whether Jillian was pregnant or not
.

Shoving the covers aside
, Jenesa climbed out of bed and hurried across the room. The door was open just a crack and, feeling a little foolish, Jenesa peeked through the narrow slit for any sign of Raffaele before opening it wide enough to peer down the hall. Scurrying the few feet to the guest room, she slipped inside and leaned against the door for several minutes. She didn’t want to face him and couldn’t imagine carrying this farce any further without letting something slip that would make him suspicious.

Spying a pile of neatly folded clothes on the nightstand, Jenesa pushed away from the door and ventured over to inspect them. Two sundresses and a black pajama set, along with a pair of sandals; all appeared to be about her size
. Given the severe weather, she probably would have debated the wisdom of his selections except for one thing; despite the storm that was still sending torrents of rain down on them, the temperature inside was pleasantly warm. Thoughtful as the gesture was, something nibbled at the back of her mind. She stared at the clothes for a long time before it finally hit her. 

What on earth was she supposed to do without clean panties?

                                                   EIGHT    

Raffaele hesitated at the bottom of the grand staircase, eager to spend time with Jenesa, and yet reluctant to return to his room where she was
probably still sleeping. With clenched jaws and a determined lift of his chin, Raffaele started up the stairs. 

After an unpleasantly icy shower, he
’d brewed a pot of strong coffee and taken a steaming cup to the sun porch just off of the kitchen. For a while he’d enjoyed a blissful sort of peace; stretched out on a lounger, sipping his coffee and listening to the rain while the storm clouds gathered for another battering. Inevitably, Jenesa invaded his thoughts, forcing him to consider a plan of action that would do more good than harm to all the parties involved. 

Luca may not be in love with Caroline, but
he cared enough about her to propose marriage. A broken engagement over a one night stand might damage his brother’s reputation and cause the family some embarrassment, but the initial sensationalism would soon wear off and the gossip hounds would look elsewhere for a story. But what of poor Caroline? With her parents gone, and only distant relatives to turn to, she would be all alone and suffer far worse consequences than Luca. The humiliation of having her fiancé’s infidelity broadcast to the public was bad enough; it would be infinitely worse if that brief liaison produced a child. How would Caroline endure the pain of betrayal or being the object of pity?

Luca, of course, would do the honorable thing and marry Jenesa, which was precisely why Raffaele had to intercede.
Eventually, he had to tell Jenesa his real name, but that was a minor problem. He would tell her it had been him all along, and that
he
was the one who’d gone to that hotel room with her. The simplest explanation for using Luca’s name was that he believed at the time he was only interested in spending one night with her. To avoid complications, he assumed his brother’s name because he thought she would be too embarrassed to seek him out once she learned of Luca’s engagement to another woman.

The more Raffaele thought about it, the more he became convinced it would work. Jenesa was falling for him, he was positive of that, so it
wouldn’t be difficult to coax her into forgiving him for one small fabrication. He would stay with her until he was sure she wasn’t pregnant and then decide what to do. If he hadn’t tired of her and wanted to continue the affair, he saw no reason to end it once they established Jenesa hadn’t conceived. Like all of his previous relationships, it would run its due course, they would agree to part, and she would be out of his system for good.

And if she was pregnant?

Raffaele had strolled back to the kitchen and poured a second cup of coffee while he contemplated the options. Returning to the lounger, he thought it over for quite some time before coming to the same conclusion he had the night before. Too many lives would be negatively impacted if Jenesa bore Luca’s child, so it was up to him to make sure it never happened. It was a sacrifice on his part, but what else could he do?  Scrubbing a hand down his face, Raffaele acknowledged the enormous amount of guilt he was heaping on his shoulders; guilt he would carry with him for the rest of his life.

Was it worth it
? A rhetorical question really; he knew Luca would do the same for him if the situation was reversed. Family came first; Raffaele firmly believed that, and was unshakeable when it came to their welfare. The lies he was destined to tell were bound to sit like stones in his belly, but he would learn to live with it. He had to, for all their sakes. Maybe he could even forgive himself in time, although he didn’t place much stock in that particular hope because he hated lying to his family, and this was one secret he would have to take to his grave.

Raffaele had continued to roll the idea around as he trudged back to the kitchen and rinsed out his cup.
Once he made the decision to go through with it, there could be no second guessing himself, no back peddling or trying to undo what he’d done. Above all, Jenesa must never know it was deliberate. Like it or not, he had a genuine soft spot for the woman and didn’t want the knowledge of his treachery to hurt or embitter her. Whatever the outcome, Raffaele would do his best to see that she wasn’t crushed in the process.

As he reached the top of the landing and started down the hallway to his bed
room, Raffaele scowled as his footsteps faltered.  Being indecisive was
not
a term people associated with his name. It was a sign of weakness; a trait that commanded no respect from him and even less tolerance, so why was he hesitating to implement his plan when he had every reason to believe it would work? 

He shook his head,
stubbornly refusing to analyze the dull throb in his chest whenever he considered the possibility of causing Jenesa pain. It was too close to emotion and he couldn’t afford to let anything as volatile as personal feelings dictate his actions. Besides, as long as he never breathed a word of it to another living soul, there was virtually no chance she would even suspect there was a web of lies to unravel.

As it turned out, Raffaele’s concern
s that Jenesa was still asleep were unwarranted. A quick glance at his bedroom door standing wide open was all it took to surmise she had gotten up and returned to the guest room. At least he was spared the agony of finding her curled up in his bed looking sexy as sin in the t-shirt he’d helped her into last night. One sleepy smile aimed in his direction and Raffaele would have hopped back into bed and shown her the proper way to greet the morning. That dangerous thought was making a second loop through his mind when the door behind him was flung open.

Raffaele turned around to wish her a good morning, but the second he caught sight of
Jenesa, the smile slid from his face.
Madre di Dio
, he was not going to make it through breakfast without pouncing on her, let alone last another two days! Because Jenesa’s breasts were much fuller than Milana’s, he’d picked out a sun dress made of stretchy material. A colossal mistake. His mouth went dry as his eyes feasted on the vivid blue cloth clinging to each perfect breast. His gaze migrated down, past the flare of her hips to the smooth lines of her thighs, envying the material that so lovingly hugged her voluptuous figure. She was, quite simply, the most exquisite woman he had ever laid eyes on.  And
that
presented a problem; how was he supposed to keep his hands off of her when she looked so…inviting.   

“You can’t wear that,” he croaked.
 

Jenesa
drew in a sharp breath and recoiled as if he’d just delivered a malicious insult. She crossed her arms in an obvious attempt to cover herself, which only made matters worse because her cleavage was now more prominent than before. Raffaele watched the color slowly drain from her face and was astonished to realize that she
had
taken it as an insult and was completely clueless as to the effect she had on him. If he didn’t find less revealing clothes for her to wear, he was either going to wind up reneging on the hands-off promise or spend the duration of their stay on the island in vat of ice water! 

“What I mean is that it is too…too…”
Raffaele floundered for the right word.

“Too tight,” Jenesa supplied with a
shrug. Although the gesture was meant to be nonchalant, he could tell she was embarrassed because she attempted to make light of it by adding, “I’m afraid being a super model was knocked off my list of possible career choices a long time ago.”

She wasn’t very good at masking her emotions
; yet another contradiction of character that refuted his initial assessment of her as an experienced liar. Raffaele was perplexed. He’d always been an ace at seeing through the smoke screen people hid behind in order to disguise their true nature, so why couldn’t he seem to get a handle on what made this woman tick? She was two sides of the same coin; confident and insecure, forthright and secretive, innately sensual and innocent, and it was driving him mad trying to figure her out.

“I was going to say it was
too provocative and…distracting,” Raffaele told her.

Her eyes narrowed fractionally
, clearly giving very little credibility to the honesty of his declaration and sticking to her own verdict that it was too tight. “My dress isn’t much better, but I
could
wear the t-shirt you lent me over the top of this one.”

The t-shirt he’d dreamed about stripping off of her?
He didn’t think it would be any less of a distraction and started to tell her so, but she’d already whirled around and gone back into the room. Emerging a few minutes later, Jenesa seemed more at ease without her generous cleavage on display. Much as he’d enjoyed the view, Raffaele had to admit that concealing her enticing body
did
make it easier to contain his growing sexual appetite.

Glancing down at her attire,
Jenesa crinkled her nose in a mock grimace. “Not exactly a fashion statement that will set the industry on fire, is it?”

“I don’t know…”
Raffaele pretended to scrutinize her outfit for a moment. “Add a flashy gold belt, some dangly earrings, a pair of spiky heels, and you just may have something.”

“
That would certainly jazz it up,” she laughed.

“I’ll see what I can round up later. Right now,” he took her hand and tucked it in the curve of his arm, “I shall escort you to the kitchen so you can keep me company while I prepare breakfast.”

Jenesa’s lip twitched in apparent amusement. “You
do
realize you’ll jettison to the top of the most eligible bachelor list if the media hounds get wind of your culinary talents, don’t you?”

“You mean to tell me it’s not enough to be incredibly handsome, highly intelligent, and have millions to my name?”

Jenesa laughed at his arrogance, as he’d hoped she would. “Naturally, those other qualities help but there’s just something appealing about a man who is willing to cook a meal for you. Don’t get me wrong,” she continued as they descended the grand staircase, “it’s perfectly lovely to be taken out to a nice restaurant, but the only effort required for that is remembering to make the reservations…or getting your personal assistant to do it for you.”