CHAPTER NINE
‘HANGON. WHAT are you wearing?’
He turned to face her, a sardonic look of enquiry on his face that made her simmer with desire. ‘Brioni, I believe.’
‘A suit? But whatever for?’ After all, in the week since their first time together, Olivia and Luca had barely left bed, except to eat or swim, and even then they’d been naked.
‘I have a meeting and I’m pretty sure, though not one hundred per cent, that nudity would be frowned upon.’
‘A meeting? With other people?’ She reached out a hand, drawing him to her, her eyes an invitation Luca couldn’t resist.
‘With the chairman of Azzuri Bank, in fact.’
Olivia tilted her head to the side, considering that. He’d only mentioned it briefly, but she hadn’t forgotten the fierce look of determination that had gripped him as he’d referred to the bank that had refused to lend money to him when he’d been starting over in life. She knew what this meeting would mean for him.
‘I’ve been out of the office way longer than intended,’ he continued, conversationally. Calm. In control. Just like always.
‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’
‘As it was intended.’ He pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose, aware that if he didn’t pull away from her, he’d start undressing, adding a delay to his schedule he couldn’t afford. ‘You have no need to do anything so horrible as pull on clothing. In fact, I’d suggest you don’t.’
A smile tipped her lips. ‘Oh? What shall I do all day, then, Luca?’
‘Lie naked in bed and wait for me.’ He grabbed her hand, pressing it to her sex. ‘Think of me. Miss me.’
Her heart stumbled and pleasure burst through her, but it was quickly followed by a surge of panic so fierce it took all her energy to conceal any display of it. Wait for him? Think of him? Miss him? What happened to the independence she was fiercely chasing? To never wanting to be like her mother, so stupidly loyal and in love she forgave Thomas anything and everything?
Olivia angled her face away on the pretence of scoping out the weather. ‘It’s sunny again today. I might go and explore. I fear clothes will be necessary for me, too.’
‘My driver can take you anywhere,’ he offered, after a slight pause.
‘I’d prefer to walk.’
He lifted his shoulders in a shrug then straightened. She didn’t fight his departure—she’d had a wake-up call and it had been a vital, timely reminder. Do not depend on him. Do not ask him for more.
‘Suit yourself. Don’t get lost.’
He moved to the door, all casual, breezy, non-committal, so she felt silly for having experienced a sense of panic. They were nothing like her parents. This was nothing like their marriage. Olivia would never be beholden to another person as Angelica had been Thomas.
And yet, a powerful need to underscore that drove through her, so she called to him, when he was almost out of the door. ‘Only three weeks to go, Luca. Let’s make the most of them.’
It was the affirmation she needed, words that were a balm to her soul, even when they pulled at something in her chest, leaving her scrambling, a little, to draw sufficient breath. Life after Luca loomed, and she no longer knew exactly what shape it would take.
It was precisely because he was thinking of Olivia almost constantly that Luca remained at his desk until after seven, that evening. He was getting close to securing the deal of the century. It wasn’t final yet, but he finally had the support of the chairman of the Azzuri Bank. It had taken years of delicate negotiations, but he’d done it, and there was vindication in his success. Revenge, too. Because they kicked him while he was down, and he’d sworn he’d never forget it.
He hadn’t.
And now the bank would be all his; he was sure of it.
It should have been all he could think of, the success of his day’s meetings monopolising his thoughts, but instead, Luca found his mind wandering to Olivia, obsessing over his memories of her in his bed, of the way she’d looked when he’d left, so beautiful, so distracting.
While it was true that he had mountains of work to catch up on after his spontaneous wedding, honeymoon and protracted post-honeymoon holiday here in Rome, and that his time was therefore very well spent in the office, it was far more accurate that he was challenging himself to resist her. Or, proving to himself that, after a week spent almost exclusively in bed, she had no greater hold on him now than she had on the first day they’d met. That was to say, she was a woman he found desirable, that he enjoyed sleeping with, who he’d walk away from without a backwards glance when the time came. And the time would come—more surely than in any previous tryst—because they’d agreed on that. Three more weeks of Olivia, and then she’d be gone from his life, just as they both wanted.
Having worked late, Luca had every expectation that Olivia would be at home when he returned. He was so sure of it that he’d already started fantasising about how it would feel to pull her into his arms and strip the clothes from her body, to kiss her until she was a puddle of desire, begging him to make love to her. He stormed into the palazzo, already hard, wanting her with a strength that should have terrified him. But it didn’t, because this was simple and clear-cut—they both knew what they needed from this relationship.
Only, Olivia wasn’t home, and the frustration that gripped him was dark and intense. He stopped walking, having inspected the house thoroughly, a frown on his handsome face. He contemplated heating himself some dinner, going for a solo swim, just as he would have in his pre-Olivia life, but her parting words still rang in his ears.
‘Only three weeks to go, Luca. Let’s make the most of them.’