He thrust his hands in his pockets, gritting his teeth against the throbbing in his head—and in other, more basic parts of his anatomy. I‘m going away for a while.‘
She had moved across to the bed again and was leaning forward, unzipping the case she‘d just finished packing. Her hand stilled. Oh? Where to?‘
A chalet in the Alps. It belongs to a friend.‘
His voice was rough in the quiet room. From a long way off he could just about hear the sounds of the party in the Casino—the pulse of the music and the muffled sound of a lot of voices raised to speak over it. Suddenly he was profoundly glad to have escaped.
To be here.
Slowly she lifted her head and looked up. Her eyes were wide, the blue almost swallowed up by the darkness at their centre.
You‘re going tonight?‘
He nodded, not letting his gaze move from hers. Not able to. I‘m going now.‘
Her tongue darted out and moistened her lips. Alone?‘
It was barely more than a whisper, and it felt like a caress. Cristiano felt desire slam into him with all the force of a head-on collision. The air between them throbbed with sudden possibility.
I hope not,‘ he said softly.
Chapter Four
IT WAS a starless night.
Sitting in the low passenger seat of Cristiano‘s expensive sports car, Kate bit her lip and stared out into the darkness, trying to stop the convulsive tremors that gripped her
The car‘s headlamps lit the empty road ahead, but beyond them there was nothing but velvet blackness. She had no idea where they were, or exactly where they were going. There was no north star to use as a compass, no moon to light the way.
It seemed crushingly symbolic.
The surge of hope she had felt when he‘d told her about his memory loss had completely ebbed away now, leaving a hollow despair in its place. At first she had been overwhelmed with relief that there was a reason why he had forgotten her, that it wasn‘t that she just hadn‘t been significant enough for him to remember. It had all seemed so wonderfully simple—as if someone had handed her the missing part of the jigsaw, the vital clue that made sense of the last four years. She had barely hesitated for a heartbeat when he asked her to go with him.
But it wasn‘t simple at all.
She was nothing more than a stranger to him now. The crash hadn‘t just stolen a few hours from his memory, it had also robbed him of the ability to trust.
If she told him what they‘d shared that night he‘d think she was one of those grasping fantasists he‘d described in the hotel room, not only demanding money and fame but something more sinister and exploitative.
Demanding his heart.
She clasped her hands together in her lap to stop her fingers nervously pleating the blue satin dress she hadn‘t even thought to change out of. At that moment he looked across at her. The greenish light of the high-tech instrument panel gave his perfect face a chilling remoteness which seemed to reinforce her worst fears.
OK?‘
She nodded quickly, struggling to find something harmless to say. It‘s a very impressive car.‘
Alex would adore it, she thought with a stab of anguish.
It‘s the latest Campano sports model,‘ Cristiano said tonelessly, slowing down as a lorry appeared in front of them. I‘m testing it for Silvio so I can casually mention it in every interview I do at the start of the racing season.‘
He was meant to be testing it anyway, he thought wearily, although the way he was driving it tonight was hardly doing justice to its almost mythical capabilities. For some reason having her in the passenger seat was making him stick to speed limits and hold back from overtaking cars he would otherwise have left standing.
How far is it to where we‘re going?‘ Kate asked, looking out to where the first snowy peaks of the Alps loomed palely in the distance.
There was something about her tone that made him think she was regretting coming almost as much as he was beginning to regret asking her. He should have talked to her back in the hotel. Made her go over the events of that night and then left for the chalet in the morning. Alone.
Probably about another three hours. It‘s right up in the mountains, so the roads aren‘t great. Do you ski?‘
She bent her head so that her face was screened from his view by the soft curtain of her hair. I‘m afraid not.‘
She wasn’t your type at all.
Suki‘s words came back to mock him, and he felt his lips quirk into an ironic smile of tacit acknowledgement. All his girlfriends skied and snowboarded and scuba-dived. As well as having supermodel looks, those were pretty much the qualifications for the job.
I‘ll just have to teach you, then.‘
In this?‘ She gave a nervous laugh, her fingers plucking at the slippery fabric of her evening dress. Long fingers, he noticed. Long and delicate. I‘ve hardly got the right clothes for skiing.‘
He looked back at the road again, frowning. I‘m sure Francine has ski stuff there you can borrow.‘
Francine?‘ There was a tiny note of alarm in her voice.
My neurologist. It‘s her house.‘
And her idea, he thought grimly. Right now it didn‘t feel like one of her better ones. Already the thought of being away from the track and the team was making him feel on edge, and that feeling was only exacerbated by the idea of being with Kate Edwards. It would have been one thing seducing her in the hotel, spending the night with her to see if it brought back any memories of the last time, but spending a couple of days alone with her was quite another. The whole point of the exercise had been to relax, per l’amore di Dio.
Anyway, I‘d be rubbish at skiing,‘ she was saying now, in her soft, low voice. And terrified. I‘m the girl who had to be rescued from halfway up an indoor climbing wall on a Clearspring team-building exercise. I‘m the least white-knuckle person on the planet. That night when we—‘
She broke off. Cristiano glanced across at her sharply.
Go on. Tell me.‘
That night in Monaco, you drove me from the track to your house to do the interview.‘ She darted him a sideways look and smiled shyly. I was scared out of my wits by your driving.‘
He gave an ironic smile, but in the light of a passing car Kate noticed that he was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles showed bone-white through his tanned skin. With good reason, as it turned out,‘ he said cuttingly.
Given what happened the next day.‘
Don‘t,‘ she muttered in anguish, closing her eyes and tensing as he pulled out to overtake the lorry they‘d been following for the last few miles. The car surged forward with a powerful, muted roar. When Cristiano spoke again his voice was thoughtful.
You‘re not much of a fan of motor racing, are you?‘
No,‘ she admitted, staring dully out at the dark houses of the small town they were driving through, picturing the children asleep behind the closed shutters.
But my brother was a huge fan of yours, which meant I was just about clued up enough to do the interview.‘
Was?‘
He‘d been killed in a car accident the year before.‘ She attempted a rueful laugh. That‘s probably why I freaked out about your driving—and the fact that my dad had died the same way when I was younger. Cars have always made me nervous, and Will‘s death was still a bit raw.‘
Letting go of the steering wheel, Cristiano rubbed a hand over his face. Did you tell me about it at the time?‘
Kate leaned her head back against the leather upholstery. She felt suddenly very tired. Not while we were in the car.‘ She gave a faint smile. I was too scared to open my mouth then. But we talked about it…later.‘
God, she remembered it as if it was yesterday. She‘d been so disapproving of Cristiano Maresca and what he did for a living, so determined to be cool and professional and not to be swayed by his legendary good-looks and notorious sex appeal. But the moment she‘d reluctantly lowered herself into the passenger seat of his terrifying car her pretence at sophisticated detachment had been completely shattered. By the time they‘d reached his villa in the hills she‘d been a wreck—a fact that had been impossible to disguise. It had also broken down the professional distance between them.
She closed her eyes, shifting restlessly in her seat as jagged arrows of desire pierced her, not wanting to think about what had happened next.
Do you feel scared now?‘
In the velvet darkness behind her closed lids Cristiano‘s voice was like gravel. But still it made her shiver, because it was the voice that she had heard in her dreams for so long.
Mutely she shook her head.
Not of the car or the road anyway. But the strength and force of her own longing, held in check for all these years, terrified her.
As they drove further north the clouds parted and the stars came out. It was suddenly much colder. Stopping for petrol and to fit snow chains on the tyres, Cristiano could feel the ice in the air. The mountains lay all around, like giant slumberous beasts.