VITTORIO'S LOVER (Vittorio Series) (23 page)

If Luca knew he’d impregnated Jenesa, he would break his engagement with Carolyn and convince Jenesa the right thing to do was to marry him. Everyone would know the child had been conceived as a result
of a one night stand and that the marriage was a sham. The only way to avoid ruining so many lives was to convince Jenesa that
he
was the one she’d slept with and make her swear never to tell a living soul that he’d used Luca’s name. He would profess his love for her and ask Jenesa to marry him, and then…then Raffaele would tell the biggest lie of all.

He would claim the baby as his own. 

No one would ever suspect Luca might be the father, and Raffaele would raise the child with the same love and affection as any other children produced from his marriage to Jenesa. People would believe the baby had been conceived from love, and that was as it should be. Was it wrong to keep the truth from Luca and Jenesa? The pangs of guilt he’d felt since making his decision told Raffaele it was very definitely wrong. But it was a cross he would have to bear because there was no other way to handle it without destroying the lives of those he cared for.

Having unprotected sex with Jenesa had been part of the plan too.
She wouldn’t have any reason to believe the baby wasn’t his after making love so many times without the use of condoms. The first time had been a serious oversight, of course, but it had given him the idea of claiming the baby. If she
was
pregnant, there was a very real possibility it was his anyway. 

And if she isn’t pregnant?
 
Raffaele’s brows drew together at the twinge of disappointment that hovered on the fringes of his mind. He didn’t
want
Jenesa to be pregnant, regardless of the fact he’d done nothing to prevent it. The only seed Raffaele hoped he had planted was the belief that he was the only one who
could
have fathered it. Whether she was having a baby or not, he had no choice but to implement his plan before they left the island to avert any chance of Luca or Jenesa discovering the truth.

It would all work out, he told himself. And it wouldn’t be a huge sacrifice on his part to marry Jenesa
; they got along well and had enough in common to build a strong relationship, not to mention the added bonus of being extremely compatible in the bedroom. He
did
care for her and might even grow to love her with time. Jenesa would make a good wife and mother, and he would do everything in his power to be the husband she deserved.

Yes
, Raffaele was confident,
it would all work out
.
  

                                                   TEN

Jenesa struggled to absorb everything Raffaele had just told her, but the pain inside her chest made it difficult to breathe, let alone think. Or maybe she just didn’t want to let the ramifications of what she’d learned sink in because it hurt too damn much. Yesterday had been the most wonderful day of her life, and this morning had been well on its way to surpassing it when she’d opened her eyes to find Raffaele propped up on one elbow sporting an I-can’t-wait-too-devour-you smile pasted on his face.

“Good morning,
bella donna
,” he said in a deep, husky voice that made the muscles in her abdomen clench. 

Raffaele leaned over and kissed her so tenderly she nearly cried. And then he proceeded to kiss every inch of exposed skin, stopping now and then to administer special attention to areas that were particularly sensitive.
He must have known she was sore from the numerous times they’d made love the day before because he took his time easing into her, allowing her swollen muscles to adjust to the invasion before letting his baser instincts take over.

Every touch, every kiss, every guttural moan brought her closer and closer to climaxing.
It excited Jenesa to see the raw desire in his eyes and the strain on his face as he fought to maintain control. It excited her to feel him moving deep inside her, to know she was responsible for unleashing that raw passion and making him so hot that even his iron will couldn’t keep him from exploding. She loved how his body shuddered in the wake of a powerful climax and the way he fell over her afterwards and buried his face in her neck, murmuring her name as if no other woman had ever satisfied him the way she did.

For a long time, he lay with his head on her chest
and one arm slung possessively across her hips. Jenesa was content to let the minutes tick by in silence while they simply enjoyed the comfort of holding one another. It wasn’t stalling, she told herself. There would be time enough to have that unavoidable talk later when they were dressed and had eaten breakfast. She would make a full confession and ask for his forgiveness and everything would work out. 

Except she never got the chance, and for that she was grateful.
The only thing that could have made this whole situation worse was if she had told him how she felt.  How disastrous, how utterly dreadful it would have been to let Raffaele know she’d fallen deeply and irrevocably in love with him and then have to listen to
his
confession.

Raffaele
had waited until after they showered and he’d bundled her into a fresh robe. “Don’t get dressed just yet,” he told her as he tied the belt and ushered her back into the bedroom. “I have something I need to tell you and it cannot wait any longer.”

Jenesa smiled as she followed him to the loveseat near the fireplace. They’d come to know each other fairly well
over the past few days and one thing she’d learned about Raffaele was that his accent was much more noticeable when he spoke of things that stirred his emotions. It happened when he talked about his family, especially his little sister, and became very thick and rich when they were in the midst of making love. Because his voice had taken on that emotion driven texture, Jenesa had no warning, not even the tiniest hint of foreboding until the bomb dropped. 

She sat down, angling her body so she was facing him and waited for him to speak. Raffaele sat beside her, taking her hands in his and turn
ing them over to press a kiss to each palm while her heart skittered with anticipation. Was he going to tell her that he enjoyed their time together and wanted to continue to see her? Or was it possible Raffaele felt the same and was about to say he loved her?
Please, please tell me you love me. Tell me I didn’t give my heart to a man who doesn’t want it.
 

Raffaele let loose of her hands and cleared his throat. “Sometimes…things happen for reasons we do not understand until much later.
The night we met at the party, I was inexplicably drawn to you but I was torn because I did not think I was ready for anything except a casual fling and somehow I knew it could never be like that with you. But I wanted you,
carissima
. I wanted you so much I could not see straight.

I was even foolish enough to believe that in bringing you to this island, I could satisfy this relentless
need
to be inside of you. I thought I could have my fill of you, work you out of my system and then life would go on as it always has. I did not expect…” he stopped and took her hand and held it against his chest. “I did not expect to feel you
here
, deep inside my heart. I love you, Jenesa Harding, and there is nothing I want more right now than to make you my wife.”

“Your…wife?” she croaked out.

“Say yes,
mio amore
, and make me the luckiest man on earth.”

Everything inside her screamed
yes, yes, yes
, and yet she shook her head, reluctant to say the words out loud. “I have to know if…if you’re only asking me to marry you because there’s a chance I might be pregnant. Because if that’s the case…”

“No!” Raffaele said with such force, she knew it wasn’t true. Her heart soared when he
leaned forward and cupped her face in his hands. “I love you, and that is the only reason I want to marry you. If we conceived a child, then it was done so out of love, but I want you as my wife regardless. Now put me out of my misery and say yes, Jenesa.”

This time there was no hesitation.
“Yes,” she cried, flinging her arms around his neck.

He held her tight for several minutes, letting lo
ose long enough to smother her with kisses before locking his arms around her once more. Jenesa was deliriously happy and prayed that Jillian’s unfortunate circumstances ended as joyously as hers had. 

“There is something else,” he said, slowly drawing away from her. “
It was a mistake…one I never would have made if I had known there was the slightest chance I would fall in love with you.”

Jenesa’s throat constricted. She loved him so much and now he was going through hell trying to confess that he wasn’t Luca.
She started to tell him there was no need to go on, that she knew who he was and why he’d felt compelled to protect his brother. After all, hadn’t she done the same for Jillian? But that meant starting from the beginning and exposing all the lies she’d told, which Jenesa wasn’t prepared to do until after she paved the way by assuring Raffaele that what she felt for him was real. So she kept her mouth shut and let him continue. And that was when he let the axe fall, severing the dream of spending the rest of her life with him with one solid blow.

She listen
ed in silence as he began by apologizing for deceiving her and explained that his real name was Raffaele. His troubled eyes pulled at her heartstrings and she couldn’t wait for him to finish so she could tell him it was all right, that nothing he’d said changed the way she felt about him. But she was wrong; it wasn’t all right and never would be again. 

“You…you pretended to be Luca the night of the
Capisano’s
party?” she asked in a voice that wasn’t her own. Bile rose in her throat when Raffaele nodded. 

“I’m sorry for lying, but if I hadn’t told you I was Luca then you wouldn’t have come to the engagement party to confront him for cheating on Carolyn. So, you see what I mean about things happening for reasons we do not understand at the time?”

Jenesa stared at him while her heart shattered into a million pieces. She didn’t understand, not any of it. How cruel fate was to trick her into believing she hadn’t betrayed her sister’s trust by sleeping with Raffaele and falling in love with him. Dear God, if Raffaele was telling the truth, and there was no reason to doubt that he was, then Luca really
hadn’t
cheated on Caroline because it was Raffaele who had slept with Jillian.  It also meant…

A cry of agony forced itself from her lips as she pressed her hand to her belly. If Jillian was pregnant with Raffaele’s child after only one night with him, then Jenesa was most certainly pregnant after
the numerous times she’d had sex with him. How could she tell Jillian that she’d not only slept with Raffaele but might also be carrying his child?  Jillian would never forgive her and neither would Linette. As for marrying Raffaele, it was out of the question. Even if it turned out Jillian wasn’t pregnant, how could she handle knowing her sister had slept with her husband and was still in love with him?

“Jenesa, listen to me,” Raffaele pleaded
softly, but she just couldn’t sit there and hear anymore when it felt as if something had curled up inside of her and died.

“I need time to think,” she said
woodenly, then fled to the relative safety of the guest room.

Staring out the window at the clear blue sky, it suddenly hit her that the phones were probably working now. She had to talk to Linette and f
ind out how Jillian was. If her sister was still torn up about Luca…no, Raffaele, it might give her some direction.  With a heavy heart, she sank down on the edge of the bed and lifted the receiver to her ear. She almost wished they were still out of order, but the dial tone was strong and steady. Jenesa held her breath as the line on the other end rang two then three times.  Maybe Linette was out and she wouldn’t have to…

“Hello?” Linette answered.

“Lin, it’s me. I…I just called to see how Jillian is doing.”

“Thank God you called,” Linette
exclaimed. “I was really starting to worry about you. Listen, Jen, I found out a few things I think you ought to know. Jillian finally pulled herself together and told me she bought one of those early pregnancy tests and found out she wasn’t pregnant, isn’t that wonderful news?”

“Yes…yes, it is,” Jenesa managed to squeak out.

“She also told me that we totally misunderstood her when she was blubbering about the man she’d been with. It seems we’ve been barking up the wrong tree because it
wasn’t
Luca Vittorio.”

Tears pooled in Jenesa’s eyes. “I know.”

“
You know?
How could you possibly know?”

“I…” A strange noise from outside drew Jenesa’s attention to the window.  Blinking back the tears, she s
pied the helicopter that had brought them here approaching the island. At least she wouldn’t have to stick around long after telling Raffaele why she couldn’t see him anymore. “I’ll explain everything when I get home,” she promised her sister.

“And when will that be?”

“Soon.”

“Are you okay? You sound…funny.”

“I’ll explain everything later,” Jenesa repeated and disconnected the call.

Quickly changing back into the dress she’d worn to the party, Jenesa gathered her purse and the spiky heels and headed for the door. Raffaele must have heard the helicopter too and gone downstairs because his door was open and his bedroom empty.  Her eyes migrated to the huge four poster bed where they’d made love only a few short hours ago and was overcome with grief for what might have been.
But she didn’t cry. Later, when she was alone, she would allow herself to fall to pieces. 

With a heavy sigh, Jenesa turned and left the room, steeling herself for the conversation she was about to have with Raffaele. Loving him had come easy; leaving him was going to be the hardest thing she’d ever done.

                                                      ***

Jenesa heard the muffled voices coming from the study just to the right of the grand staircase.
Was it Grady? She couldn’t tell. The massive double doors were closed so she couldn’t make out what they were saying but it was obvious by the heated tones that neither of them was very happy. She stood there for several minutes, contemplating what to do. 

If Grady
came to report that he discovered she wasn’t Jillian, then Raffaele already knew he’d slept with both of them. Based on her reaction when he confessed his true identity, he’d probably guessed that she knew too. And if he believed both she Jillian thought he was Luca all this time, then he must see her as the most vile type of low life for jumping into bed with him after he’d already slept with her sister. 

If only she
had stayed and explained her side of it instead of running off to lick her wounds. But it was too late now, so there was nothing for her to do except face the firing squad with her head held high. Raffaele had every right to say good riddance to both of them, but the least she could do was plead Jillian’s case before he dismissed her from his life. Her stomach twisted into a painful knot at the thought of Raffaele and Jillian reconciling and racing to the altar, but no matter how much Jenesa loved him and wanted to be with him, she’d already done enough damage and couldn’t stand in the way of her sister’s happiness.

Mustering what little bravado she could, Jenesa set her shoes and purse on the stand next to the study, reached for the door knobs and turned them simultaneously and flung the doors open. Her eyes met Raffaele’s surprised gaze as she crossed the room to join them. Only then did Jenesa
look at the other man. It was her turn to be surprised, because it wasn’t Grady as she’d presumed.  It was Luca Vittorio and he looked angry enough to strangle her with his bare hands.

Instinctively, she moved closer to Raffaele, the blood in her veins turning to ice when he
glared at her with cold disdain and took a step backwards as if the idea of physical contact repulsed him. Pain stabbed at her chest. What was Luca doing here, and what had he told Raffaele to make him look at her as if she was pond scum?

When she finally spoke, her voice was as wobbly as the legs that were struggling to keep from crumbling beneath her. “Raffaele, I need to talk to you, to explain…”

Raffaele cut her off. “It is a little late for explanations, don’t you think?”

“No…you don’t understand.”

“Oh, we understand,” Luca ground out. “We understand that you and your sister are a couple of manipulative, gold-digging bitches. When you thought Jillian failed to snare me in her trap, you set your sights on my brother. Somewhere along the line you must have figured out that she wormed her way into a man’s bed alright, but it certainly wasn’t mine.”

“That’s not true,” she denied, cringing at how feeble she sounded.

“I wonder if your sister even knows who the father of her baby is. Was that when she decided to try to pawn her brat on me?”

“
No, no, Jillian’s not like that,” she cried. “I…don’t know who…I mean, she’s not.  Not pregnant, that is.”

Luca shot Raffaele a glance that said,
I told you so
. “What a surprise, that was a lie too.”

“No, she honestly thought she was. Please, I can explain everything
. Well, almost everything. I haven’t talked to Jillian yet so I don’t know…”

“Which version of the story to tell?” Luca finished for her. “Save your breath, we’re not interested in hearing anymore of your fabrications. You’re damn lucky none of this filth has found its way to my fiancé or there really would be hell to pay.
Whatever game you two were playing is over, do you hear me?”

She looked at Raffaele but he was staring into space, his face a mask of granite.  “
It’s not what you think, I swear. Raffaele, please…say something.”

Raffaele
slowly turned his head to look at her, his eyes narrowing into venomous slits. “I’ll notify you of my attorney’s name and contact information in the event a baby was conceived from this…sleazy liaison. I’ll make sure the child is taken care of financially, but you will get nothing else from me. I don’t want to see it or know anything about it, not even its name. God help the poor thing having you as a mother, but that is not my concern.”

Jenesa choked on a sob. “How can you be so cold? Less than an hour ago…”

Raffaele clenched his fists, his voice dangerously low. “Less than an hour ago I didn’t know what a money grubbing little nothing you were. It makes my skin crawl to know I slept with you. God only knows how many men you’ve been with or what disease you may have passed on to me.”

Tears flooded her eyes and spilled down over her cheeks.
“You’re wrong, Raffaele. Wrong about Jillian and me contriving to milk you for money and wrong about me sleeping with other men. You’re the only one I’ve ever been with, the only man I’ve ever…”

“Enough!” Raffaele shouted. “Everything that comes out of your mouth is a lie and I don’t want to hear any more. You disgust me a
nd I want you out of here now.  Go,” he took a menacing step towards Jenesa, “the sight of you makes me sick to my stomach.”

Jenesa recoiled
, the pain of his words worse than any physical blow he could have dealt. He’d tried and convicted her before she’d ever walked into the room and that hurt more than anything. He didn’t love her, he never had. His accusations were unjust, delivered with cruel and malicious intent because he
wanted
her to suffer, wanted his words to gouge a mortal wound into her heart so he could watch her bleed.  Raffaele Vittorio was a horrible, horrible man and if she wasn’t sobbing so hard, she would have told him to his face. 

Crying hysterically,
Jenesa stumbled blindly from the room straight into the arms of Grady Thorpe. She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face, and tried to apologize but couldn’t seem to form the words. His smile was warm and reassuring, but Grady’s act of kindness only served to evoke a fresh round of harsh sobs. Looping an arm firmly around her waist, he paused to grab her shoes and purse and then started to lead her away, calling over his shoulder to other two men.

“I’m taking the corporate chopper, so you two will have to rough it in the small bird. After what you’ve just put
this poor woman through, she deserves to ride in comfort.”

                                                    ***

Oblivious to everything except the sharp barbs that were tearing her heart to shreds, Jenesa didn’t notice they had landed until Grady leaned over to unhook her seat belt. She must have looked like she felt, a complete and total mess, because he offered a sympathetic smile as he took her hand and didn’t let go until she was safely tucked into the front seat of his sports car. At least, she thought it was his because she couldn’t imagine the high and mighty Vittorio brothers riding around in anything that didn’t have a back seat or wasn’t designed to accommodate men of their stature. Not that Grady was much shorter than Raffaele but he was built more like a runner than a linebacker.

She didn’t tell him where she lived and he didn’t ask. Proof that he’d been proactive in the investigation of their company as well as their p
rivate lives. Jenesa resented the invasion of privacy, although she understood why they felt it was necessary to investigate any company they were considering doing business with. As co-owners, all three of the Harding sisters would have been targeted, so the investigation couldn’t have been ordered by Luca for personal reasons. Another misconception on her part, but it hardly mattered now.

Grady hadn’t said a word since they left the airport
, but under the circumstances, polite conversation would have dwindled to nothing within seconds anyway. By the time he pulled into her driveway and killed the engine, she decided Grady probably felt it would be disloyal to the Vittorios if he pried. Jenesa could feel his eyes on her and wondered whether he was waiting for her to get out or if he’d been instructed to warn her not to attempt contact with Raffaele. As if she would go anywhere near him after the nasty things he’d said to her.

“Would you like to talk about it?” he asked softly.

Jenesa shook her head. “No, but…thank you.”

“For what it’s worth, I think Raffaele and Luca treated you unfairly. I know you’re not the woman they think you are and neither is your sister. I tried to tell Luca that on the way to the island but he wouldn’t listen.
Maybe later, when they’ve both had time to cool down, I can try talking some sense into them.”

“
D-don’t get yourself in trouble on my account,” she said with a watery smile.  “They’ve already decided I’m t-trash and I doubt anything you say will change their minds.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Harding. I’m sure you had your reasons for believing Luca slept with your sister, just as Raffaele and I did
, but Luca insists he met Jillian and had a brief conversation with her, nothing more.”

A
s Grady’s words slowly penetrated the layers of dark despair, the air inside the car grew suffocating. “Wh-what did you say?”

“Luca never slept with your sister.”

“No…I mean, before that. You said Raffaele believed Luca slept with her.”

“He did, but
I’m afraid there’s more to it than that. When you showed up at the engagement party, Raffaele assumed
you
were the one who had the…uh…affair with Luca. They look a lot alike so it wasn’t difficult to believe you mistook him for Luca, which he then took advantage of in order to prevent you from causing a scene.”

“But...that means Raffaele didn’t sleep with her either.”

“
Raffaele?
I think you’re still a little confused, Miss Harding. If Raffaele gave you that impression, it’s only because he was masquerading as Luca. He’s never even met your sister and, quite obviously, didn’t know her name until we arrived at the island and Luca told him it was Jillian who was claiming they’d had an affair.”

Jenesa rubbed her temple.  Trying to figure this whole mess out was giving her one whopper of a headache. “You’re right, I am confused. If Luca really didn’t sleep with Jillian, then how could he possibly know she
was the one saying he did?”

“Simple; because he
had never met you or Linette. And once he’d come to the conclusion Jillian was planning to blackmail him, it seemed logical to assume that you were playing the same game with Raffaele.”

“But I wasn’t!” Jenesa exclaimed.
“It had nothing to do with money.”

“
That’s what I tried to explain to Luca. I know you weren’t planning to blackmail Raffaele. How could you, when he’d made you believe he was Luca?”

“Oh, God,” Jenesa groaned, “I
didn’t think it was possible for this to get any worse, but now…” she shook her head, instantly regretting it when the dull throb became a resounding one. 

“Wh
y would that make it worse?” Grady asked. “Even two men as mule-headed as Luca and Raffaele are would have to admit that it proves your innocence.”

“
If that’s the only argument in my defense, I’m afraid you’ll lose the case.”

Jenesa recounted how she’d seen Luca and Caroline in the gardens
and quickly figured out that the man parading as Luca was really Raffaele. She hadn’t planned on telling Grady everything but once she started talking, it all came spilling out. She admitted how she felt about Raffaele and thought he’d felt the same until he turned on her so viciously. Of course, she didn’t come right out and say they had slept together, but she had a feeling Grady knew anyway. Jenesa even told him about the conversation with Linette just before he and Luca arrived.