He only meant to create some distance between them.
But the moment she realized what he’d done, her eyes widened. Furious color rushed up her neck and she sidled off his lap as if she were on fire. Or maybe it was he who was on fire.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… I just…”
Pretending a calm he didn’t feel, Raphael poured a glass of water and handed it to her.
Did the woman still not realize how close he had been to kissing her again? Was she really that naive? Did she not realize her appeal, as unconventional as it was? Had the lowlife she’d mentioned shattered her confidence completely?
It was still nowhere near what Enzo with his kindness and Stefano with his schemes would do to her.
The thought shattered his desire. He couldn’t let Stefano get his dirty hands on the company he had made into a global leader. But he was also running out of options.
Options that didn’t involve Pia. And getting involved with Pia, his gut told him, was not a path from which he could turn back. Even if he wanted to.
He felt as if there was an invisible noose tightening around his neck.
It made his voice harsh when he said, “What is your solution, Pia?”
“You should pretend… I mean we should pretend to be interested in each other.” When his frown morphed into a scowl, Pia hurried on. “As if we were dating each other. As if we were…violently attracted to each other and nothing else, no one else would do. It’s the perfect solution,” she added when he just stared at her.
“How?”
She folded her hands, realized how defensive she looked and dropped them. Did the man have to look so displeased just by the notion of them dating? “Gio thinks the world of you. If you weren’t so utterly out of my league, I think he would have pushed you and me toward each other.”
“What?”
“Do you need me to spell it out? It’s all I’ve been hearing from Gio, from everyone’s mouths since I arrived in Milan. About the kind of women you go for. Even Gio isn’t foolish or stubborn enough to wish for something between us. Which, perversely, makes it the perfect solution.”
“I have to admit your scheming does prove you have Vito blood.”
“Most of the men I’ve met over the last few weeks, Enzo included, wouldn’t dream of coming near me if you made it clear that I belonged to you. They are all in awe of the force that is Raphael Mastrantino,” she added caustically.
His lips twitched. “Are you mocking my reputation?”
Pia smiled. His eyes lit up; he looked incredibly gorgeous. “I wouldn’t dare.”
“And you would be okay belonging to me?”
She shuddered. “It’s archaic, but nothing else, I fear, would keep them away. This way, you can rest easy that I won’t get my hands on Gio’s fortune. Gio would be thrilled that I have somehow enthralled you and I… I can make plans. As much as I’m making a deal with the devil.”
“I am the diablo?” he said in a soft croon that sent shivers down her spine.
“Si,” she replied.
But Raphael was no devil. Nor Prince Charming either. He was more like the big bad wolf. But sometimes it was the wolf that provided the most protection. It was the wolf you could trust to keep others at bay.
How she would survive a fake relationship when she couldn’t even look at him without melting on the inside she didn’t know. But this was the only way.
For Gio and for her own peace of mind.
He reached out to her and tilted her chin up. “What plans would those be?”
“Plans that don’t concern you.”
“If we start this charade, I will know everything about you, Pia.”
Why did that sound like a declaration of possession? “What does it matter when you can keep me away from the till?”
Just silence. And those intense black eyes. Pia squirmed like a fish on a line.
“I… I’ve been thinking about staying beyond summer. Last night, seeing Gio’s reaction… I realized I was just fooling myself about returning. There’s nothing there for me. Not anymore.
“At the risk of confirming your worst suspicions, I want to stay here and take care of him. The thought of leaving him alone, with all his relatives who really don’t care about him, leaving him with hired help, it twists my stomach.”