‘I’ll look into your office on Friday…two can eat as cheaply as one!’ Fabian was dropping a heavy hint that he was hoping to share her packed lunch. She almost laughed out loud, and was then ashamed of herself, for Fabian might be a little tight with money but he was also a colleague worthy of her respect and had proven himself to be a kind and reliable friend.
Refusing to look back in Lucca’s direction, for her self-discipline was stretched too thin over her turbulent emotions, Vivien put away her phone and murmured flatly, ‘I’d better get going…’
‘You can’t leave.’
‘Sorry?’ Vivien sent Lucca a bemused glance.
‘The house is surrounded by paparazzi. Bliss managed to slip away but we can’t hope to pull off the same stunt twice in one evening,’ Lucca spelt out drily. ‘You’ll have to stay the night and sneak out in the morning.’
Vivien studied him in dismay and set off regardless towards the front door. ‘I couldn’t possibly stay…that’s out of the question.’
‘The press are waiting out there for you,’ Lucca murmured silkily. ‘Your arrival an hour ago only whet their appetite. They’ll be even more aggressive second time round.’
Daunted by that warning, Vivien paled. ‘I know, but I can’t stay here—’
‘Why not? It’s the easy way out. The paparazzi won’t wait all night and a discreet departure at an early hour tomorrow will take care of the problem.’ Lean, powerful face cool, as though there were nothing more natural than offering hospitality to his unwelcome and soon-to-be divorced wife, Lucca dealt her an expectant appraisal.
Meeting his brilliant dark golden eyes, Vivien went pink and hurriedly tore her gaze from his. She did not wish to remain below his roof, but she had found the paparazzi distinctly intimidating and what Lucca said seemed to make sense. But then, Lucca had always been very practical. If she caught the earliest possible train she would be home in time to greet Marco as he wakened and to take a breakfast tray up to her sister as a thank-you for her helpfulness.
‘Vivien…’ Lucca prompted with a tinge of impatience.
‘Yes…OK, I’ll stay…thank you,’ Vivien added stiltedly.
‘You must be hungry.’
‘No, not at all, ‘Vivien declared, for she had no appetite. ‘It’s been a very long and trying day. Could I go upstairs now?’
Lean, dark face impassive, Lucca gazed back at her with dark-as-midnight eyes as tough as diamonds. ‘You surprise me, cara. I thought you might view our enforced togetherness as yet another opportunity in your campaign to resurrect our marriage.’
Mortified colour swept away Vivien’s pallor. He was making fun of her in the cruellest way. That biting tongue of his had always been the dark side of his keen intelligence. Anger rescued her at what felt like her lowest ebb and her chin came up. ‘Perhaps I need to reconsider whether or not you would be worth more effort.’
‘In terms of cash…yes,’ Lucca countered without hesitation. ‘In terms of anything else, we would have to negotiate.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, don’t want to know.’ Vivien was too worked up to think straight and too exhausted to risk remaining any longer in his vicinity. ‘I just want to go to my room.’
‘I’ll show you up.’
For a self-indulgent instant, she let herself look at Lucca, for she knew she would probably not see him again before she left. Greedily making the most of her chance, she stared and wondered what it was about him that made him so irresistible. His sleek dark good looks, the very masculine beauty of his long, powerful build and that dazzling sex appeal that could shock like a sudden blaze? Or the even more charismatic appeal of his cool, analytical intelligence and that innate reserve that had always shut her out? He had taught her that even with the supposed security of a wedding ring on her finger loving another human being could be agonising.
r /> At the top of the handsome staircase, she paused. ‘You’re very clever at most things but you actually weren’t very good at being married,’ she remarked absently half under her breath.
Disconcerted dark golden eyes locked to her with perceptible force. ‘Say that again…’
‘Marriage was the one thing you hadn’t tried and I was a novelty.’ Vivien stared at a beautiful inlaid cabinet because she was afraid that if she looked at the dark beauty of him she would lose her nerve. ‘You once spent two million pounds on a painting and, after it had hung one night in your apartment, you loaned it out to a museum and I don’t think you ever went near it again. The thrill was in the acquisition.’
His sculpted jaw line hardened as he switched on the lamps in the large bedroom he had entered and stood back to allow her to pass. ‘You’re talking rubbish.’
‘No, I was like that painting. Once you got me, you lost interest,’ she completed gruffly.
‘I don’t propose to distinguish your imaginative comments with a response. Use the phone if you require anything.’ Lithe as a jungle predator, Lucca strolled back to the door, all male, arrogant and oh, so sure of himself and challenging her at every step. ‘Dormi bene.’
Sleep well? Was he joking? A hysterical laugh was stuck in Vivien’s throat and she was trembling all over…
CHAPTER FOUR
REFUSING to surrender to her emotional state, Vivien lifted the phone by the bed to call Bernice. When there was no response at her home, her concern quickened and she rang her sister’s mobile phone instead. It took some time before it was answered.
‘Vivien?’ Bernice’s voice was muffled and hard to hear against the music playing in the background. ‘Why are you calling? Are you trying to check up on me?’