'Has he got another woman?'
'Of course he hasn't!' Darcy said, aghast.
'He's not violent or alcoholic or anything like that, is he?'
'Karen!' Darcy took a deep breath. 'He just doesn't love me.'
'This is the problem that has you moping about like a wet weekend?' Karen breathed incredulously. 'Luca ar¬ranges to fly me up here in a helicopter to have lunch with you as a surprise... he hangs on your every word, watches your every move...I mean, the guy's so besotted he's prac¬tically turning somersaults to impress!'
Darcy shrugged, unimpressed, gloom creeping over her again. They were sleeping in separate bedrooms. He hadn't made the slightest move to change that. It was as if sex didn't exist any more. And she couldn't forget that he had once admitted that possibly his belief that she was a thief had been the most dangerous part of her attraction. And it was as if her sex appeal had vanished overnight. Yet, aside from that, loads of really positive things were happening in their relationship...
Although she wasn't sure that being more hopelessly in love with Luca than ever was a positive thing. He was being caring, kind, supportive and considerate of her every need bar the one. He never lost his temper—no, not even when Zia had drawn all over a set of important business documents that had had to be replaced at supersonic speed before a big meeting.
He took her out to dinner all the time. He took her to parties. He behaved as if he was very proud of her and paid her lots of compliments. He laughed, he smiled, he was a dirty great ray of constant sunshine, but when night fell he climbed into his own bed.
'Have you mentioned that you love him yet? I don't think it would be immediately obvious from your current de¬meanour,' Karen opined rather drily. 'Or maybe he's just not very good with the words.'
An hour after Karen's departure for home, Zia bounced into her mother's bedroom to show off the latest pair of new frilly socks on display. They had three layers of hand-made lace round the ankle. She was tickled pink with them. Zia was just one great big sunny smile these days. She had her mother, her adoring father and a devoted nanny, not to mention shelves groaning with toys. As she danced out again, a restive bundle of energy, Luca strolled in.
'Did you enjoy seeing Karen?' he enquired.
'Yes, it was great...I should've invited her up myself, but I knew she wouldn't want to be away for long, not with her romance with Richard hotting up the way it is.'
Just looking at him, she felt her mouth run dry and her pulses race. So she had learnt not to look at him directly. One quick, sneaky glance and then away again. If he didn't find her attractive any more, then the very last thing she needed was for him to guess that she was suffering with¬drawal symptoms of the severest, cruellest kind. But that one sneaky glance she stole was enough to send her dizzy. Either Luca literally did get more gorgeous with every pass¬ing day, or she was more than usually susceptible.
In her mind's eye, she summoned him up. Casual silver-grey suit, superbly fitted to his wide shoulders, lithe hips and long powerful legs, worn with a cashmere sweater the colour of charcoal. He radiated sex appeal in waves she could feel. In much the same way that secret radar could feel the impact of those stunning dark eyes of his watching her.
'Darcy...I invited Karen here in the hope that you would relax with her,' Luca imparted tautly. 'But it doesn't seem to have done much good.'
'You can't put a plaster on something that isn't broken.'
'Is that one of those strange English nursery sayings?' Luca enquired.
Darcy didn't even know why she had said it, except to fill the tense silence, so she wasn't able to help him there. She twisted back to him but didn't meet his eyes.
'You know something, cara mia?' Luca breathed in a dangerous tone. 'I have decided that tact, patience and sen¬sitivity do not work with you.'
'Probably not,' Darcy conceded, wondering why he had raised his voice slightly.
'In fact any man foolish enough to devote himself to the hopeless task of winning your trust would probably hit his deathbed before he got there.'
'Winning my trust?' Darcy repeated.
'What the hell do you think I've been doing for the past month?' Luca suddenly splintered at her in raw frustration.
And the strands of pain in that intonation made her look straight at him. She saw the same lonely ache there that she saw in her own face every time she stared in the mirror, and she stilled in shock.
Luca spread his hands in a familiar gesture that tugged at her heart. 'One minute you give me hope, the next you push me down,' he groaned. 'I don't need you to tell me that I made an appalling hash of our relationship, but I've been trying really hard to make up for that...only you seem to be getting further and further away from me, and I can't bear that when I love you so much!'