“Because?”
“Well, maybe you are,” she conceded with a laugh. “But I don’t need luck.”
He laughed, and put an arm around her shoulders. “I’m sure you don’t. Thanks for everything tonight, Emme.”
“You get some rest,” she called over her shoulder, as she slipped out of the storage room and back to the staff locker area. She collected her handbag, slung it over her shoulder then dipped her head low.
Sabato’s eyes haunted her as she stepped out of the staff entrance. His mouth, and memories of the way it had moved over hers, made her breath catch. She almost lost her footing, and might have fallen, had a strong arm not clamped under her elbow.
Emily looked up, preparing to mutter a word of thanks.
And then, the world began to quiver. Her eyes clashed with his. Sabato’s. The eyes that he been haunting her all night.
“It’s you,” she breathed slowly, her chest heaving.
His throat worked overtime as he swallowed down deep emotions. “Come with me.”
Despite the way her heart pulse was thrilling, Emily kept her wits about her. “Last time I ‘came with you’ everything got a bit out of hand.”
He nodded gravely. “Not out of hand enough, believe me.”
“Sir,” she said, stepping away from him and pulling on the cheap vinyl strap of her handbag as though it would tether her back to reality.
“Sab,” he corrected, matching her step, bringing his body back to hers.
“Sir,” she repeated, dropping her eyes to his chest. Misery seemed to float around her. She wanted to go with him. She wanted to put her hand in his and see what the future held. But it was a foolish, stupid, fake, childish dream. To hope or want anything with a man like Sabato Montepulciano was thoroughly absurd. “I’m very tired,” she said, only partially lying.
“Yes, I can imagine.” He pushed his hands deep in his pockets. “Come and watch the sunrise with me. Tell me more about your … toddler’s palette, I believe you called it. Come and tell me more about you.” He wasn’t touching her, but the intensity of his eyes made her body tingle as though his hands were gliding over her.
She stared at him silently, her eyes huge and her body at war with her mind.
“And let me tell you something about myself, cara,” he continued gently. “At your age, I had nothing. I worked very hard, for a very long time to get here. I walked away from a trust fund to make my own life.” Emily tasted her lip with the tip of her tongue. “Determination might as well be my middle name.”
“What are you saying?” She prompted huskily, though she knew.
“That I want you to come upstairs, and so you will.”
“You know, what you call determination is coming off a lot like arrogance.” The curtness was sucked out of her response by the way she was staring at him, as though he was her salvation.
His laugh was warm, melted chocolate. “Is that a yes?”
Emily bit down on her lip. “It’s … complicated. I work here. I don’t especially want any of my colleagues to see me strolling through the lobby with you.”
His smile was bemused. “I’m sorry. I don’t have a cloak of invisibility.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold card. “How about you go ahead of me? If one of your colleagues sees you, they will simply presume you’re still working.”
Her chest was lifting and falling with the hurried breaths she was dragging in. Was she really going to do this?
“You are in charge,” Sabato conceded finally, a rare promise he’d never had to make before. “You stay as long as you are comfortable. Go when you please.”
She nodded finally, slowly. “Okay.”
As soon as she said it, she felt a river of warmth besiege her. It was the right decision. The only decision, she saw now, she could have made. Her acceptance was written in the stars; her destiny to go with him never in question.
Emily had been in the penthouse before, but never as a guest. She had to rail against the instinct to empty the bins and neaten the sofa cushions. She was not overawed by the grandness of the room. Not as she might have been if it was her first time in the luxurious apartment.
Four bedrooms, an enormous, rarely used kitchen, a plush, carpeted lounge area, and a dining space that overlooked Hyde Park all gave the suite a sense of homely comfort. Admittedly, the kind of home that would cost millions of pounds, she thought with a smile. She placed her handbag down on the carpet beside the door and slipped her shoes off. She lined then up neatly beside the bag, and then, she waited.
Not for long.