Sweet Seduction (18 page)

Suddenly he saw his empty, shallow life with such clarity it hurt. He was a hollow shell. Nothing.

Nothing without Sienna.

He pulled her into his arms. Without Sienna the world was black.

He wanted to live again.

He kissed the top of her head and trailed more kisses down her face until he reached her lips. He wanted her urgently now and forever.

‘Antonio,’ she whispered.

He kissed the words from her lips and lifted her into his arms. Now he knew what he needed to do. Wipe away her pain and give his life to Sienna. Then maybe, just maybe, he could learn to live again.

‘Morning,
cara
.’

Sienna blinked. Propped up on his pillow, Antonio stared at her. She rubbed her eyes.
It wasn’t a dream.
All night long, passion had consumed them. And there was Antonio, still alongside hers in the morning. She smiled and stretched. ‘You’re still here?’

‘Where else would I be?’ he asked.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. ‘How long have you been awake?’

He smiled a killer smile and slid his finger down her neck and between her breasts, taking the sheet with him. ‘A while.’ His eyes raked over her.

Her naked body leapt to life.

‘What – no meetings, no email, no rushing off to make a phone call?’ she said, sliding her hand down his chest. Her explorations revealed he too lay naked beneath the sheets.

‘Oh, I have work to do,’ he said, caressing her breast and circling her nipple with the tip of his finger. Quivers of pleasure spread through her body as he teased her with his lips. She arched back as he nipped her hardened peaks. She ached with longing. To feel him inside her.

She pulled at him to smother her body with his.

‘Wait,’ he said, kissing his way down her torso.

‘Antonio . . .’ But every coherent thought evaporated from her mind as his tongue found her hot, wanting core. She clawed at his shoulders as he licked her, driving her to heights she’d never known. Wave after wave of pleasure crashed over her. Every guest must have heard her cries. She tipped over the edge, blind to everything except Antonio and his power over her.

He slid up her body and plunged inside her while she still throbbed with ecstasy. She kissed him fervently. Nothing stood between them now. He moved inside her fast and hard. She climaxed again and shuddered as exquisite sensual pleasure rocked her body.

Antonio tensed over her with a low groan. He held himself taut for a moment then collapsed, his body covering hers, his breath coming fast and shallow.

‘I love you,’ she whispered too quietly for him to hear. She’d fallen dangerously and absolutely in love.

‘We’ll start at Moltrasio, then have lunch at Carate Urio and end the day with a glass of wine at Laglio.’ Antonio squeezed Sienna’s hand as they descended in the lift.

He couldn’t seem to bring her close enough. Even as they’d showered this morning, he’d had to have her again up against the tiles.

‘And you’ve really left your phone behind?’ Sienna’s tone revealed her incredulity.

‘I don’t need my phone. I have everything that’s important to me right here,’ he said.

She looked unconvinced. He couldn’t blame her.

‘Frisk me,’ he replied standing back, allowing her access.

‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ she said. ‘I can already see myself on that rail with my knickers around my ankles.’

‘Sounds good to me,’ he said, reaching for the stop button.

She grabbed his hand. ‘I think that might confirm every negative thought Sergio has about you if we’re caught.’

He sighed. ‘You’re probably right.’

The lift opened and Rosa accosted them as soon as they reached the lobby. ‘Everything all right?’ she asked. ‘The captain of the
Cristallina
came in looking for you last night. Said you had a dinner cruise booked but . . .’

‘Everything is perfect, Zia,’ Antonio reassured her. ‘We just decided to have a night in instead.’ He slipped his arm about Sienna’s waist and kissed her on the cheek.

Rosa smiled knowingly and patted Antonio’s shoulder. ‘Of course you did,’ she said.

Sergio appeared from the dining room. ‘What are your plans for today?’ he asked.

‘I’m taking Sienna for a tour of the lake.’

‘Lunch at Fiorelli’s?’

‘Of course, Zio.’

Antonio hadn’t seen his uncle smile since the wedding. The old man’s face now showed a trace of approval. Something snapped inside him. Antonio pulled Sergio into a hug.

‘Thank you for having us to stay, Zio,’ he said. ‘I know I’ve been a disappointment, but that’s all going to change.’

Sergio’s eyes filled with tears. He looked everywhere but into Antonio’s eyes. ‘Good, good,’ he muttered as he turned and disappeared into the dining room.

Rosa pulled Antonio into her arms. ‘We’ve missed you so much,’ she said, her voice choking with happiness. She clasped Sienna’s hands. ‘Thank you for bringing him back to us. We thought we’d lost him.’ Rosa stepped away. ‘Go, go,’ she said, waving them out the door. ‘Go, have fun today.’

As Antonio manoeuvred the car through the narrow lanes, the world seemed bright for the first time since the accident. Even the lake shimmered more vividly.

‘So, you and Villa Paradiso,’ Sienna said, slipping her hand onto his thigh. ‘That’s why it’s so important. It’s the last place you were . . .’

‘With my family,’ he finished for her, glancing over at her gorgeous face. He’d dated the most beautiful and the most famous women in the world. Not one of them came close to the wonder he found in her.

‘I scattered their ashes in the rose garden here,’ he said turning his eyes back to the road. ‘It was my mother’s favourite place. Losing the Villa Paradiso would be like desecrating their graves.’

‘No wonder,’ Sienna mused.

‘It was okay while Rosa and Sergio owned the hotel. They honoured my family’s memory as much as I did.’ He changed down gears to take a hairpin corner. ‘You probably noticed how well tended the rose garden is.’

‘It’s exquisite,’ she said.

‘I couldn’t bear the thought of a group of strangers responsible for it.’ He gripped the wheel slightly tighter. ‘That’s why I must have the hotel.’

‘It makes perfect sense,’ she said, running her fingers softly down his cheek. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘You know why.’ He threw her a crooked smile. ‘I don’t trust anybody.’

‘I take it that’s changed now,’ she said, dropping her hand to his thigh again.

‘Careful,’ he said in a low voice.

She threw him a sexy smile. ‘Why?’ she teased.

‘You keep that up,’ he said, nodding towards her hand, ‘and we won’t even make it to coffee.’

Her intoxicating laugh tested every ounce of his self-control. It would be so easy to pull over and book a room at a
pensione
. Her lush hair fanned out around her face in the wind. She looked over at him and smiled. Gripping the wheel tightly, he cupped his other hand around the back of her neck and kissed her hard, but quickly, on the lips.

‘How did I ever live without you?’ he asked, dragging his eyes back to the road.

She threw him a beautiful smile. ‘I have no idea.’

Antonio couldn’t remember a day more perfect. Sienna had wanted to drive home, so he’d enjoyed watching her all the way home to the hotel.

Rosa met them in the lobby. ‘You enjoyed yourselves?’ she asked brightly.

‘Wonderful,’ Antonio said. ‘We —’

‘Antonio.’ A woman’s voice cut him short.

He froze.
Amy
.

The three turned together and stared as one of the most famous women in the world walked towards them. Sienna’s hand clenched in his own.

Rosa gasped next to him, accusations clear in her eyes. ‘What is the meaning of this?’ she demanded.

‘Talk to her,’ Sienna said, dropping his hand.

‘Are you sure?’ He searched her face for absolution.

‘Go,’ she said, pushing him forward

Amy waited at a respectable distance.

Sergio appeared at the dining room door. He took in the scene quickly, his face reflecting his disgust. When Sergio’s gaze settled on Antonio, his eyes communicated a lifetime of disappointment.

Antonio couldn’t deal with him now. He needed to handle his past life. He didn’t want anything to come between him and Sienna. Now he’d found happiness, he’d never let it go.

He walked over to Amy.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Amy began, tears welling in her eyes.

‘Come out into the garden,’ he said. ‘We can talk privately there.’

‘No we can’t,’ she said. ‘They’ve found —’

A flash blinded him, then another. Before he knew it the lobby seemed filled with paparazzi. He jerked his head around to see Sienna escorting Rosa and Sergio into the dining room and out of the way. Once she had them secured, she headed for the lifts. Before she disappeared, she gave him a nod. He understood. Getting out of the picture gave the vultures less of a story.

‘Come with me,’ Antonio said as he guided Amy to the stairs. ‘We’ll talk upstairs.’

The paparazzi thronged towards them.

‘It is true about the baby?’ a journalist shouted.

‘Does Sienna know you’ve been two-timing her?’

Antonio turned on the stairs. ‘Any journalist or photographer found in the building will be arrested,’ he announced.

The horde paused.

‘You have ten seconds to vacate or I’ll prosecute each and every one of you for trespass.’

The words had the desired effect and the lobby emptied quickly. Antonio grabbed a key from reception and followed Amy to the first floor.

Amy, the paparazzi, his relatives. Funny, just a day ago all this would have caused him concern. Now he didn’t care. He had Sienna and nothing would ever worry him again.

Sienna looked tentatively over the balcony of their suite. Suddenly a stream of photographers flowed from the building. She stepped back quickly before anyone noticed her. She imagined Antonio downstairs with Amy. She smiled. Funny, she wasn’t jealous at all. She trusted him.

Antonio’s distinctive mobile phone ringtone sounded in the main room. She hated that sound. Walking towards the noise, she realised he’d packed the phone in his briefcase. As soon as the call went to voicemail, another call invaded the silence. She winced.

Then another. And another.

She waited for the noise to stop, but the phone rang incessantly. She yanked open his briefcase and dug around until she found the offending item. It took her almost a minute to turn the damn thing off.

When she threw the phone back onto the pile of papers in the case, a document caught her eye.
Plaza Fraud.

She stared at the words, unable to move. Needles of foreboding pierced her skin. She reached slowly for the document. It was a report from Brad. She flipped open to the first page. After reading the introductory paragraph, she sat heavily on the sofa to digest the rest.

Her accountant had developed a complex scam that skimmed large sums of money from the business before the dollars even hit the books. She rubbed her temples. How could she not have known? She read on. She took little comfort from the fact it had taken Brad some time to uncover the scheme.

She slumped back on the cushions, finding it hard to breathe. Antonio had known about the fraud and hadn’t told her. The report revealed that Brad had strongly recommended getting her involved from the start, but Antonio hadn’t said a word. The pages slipped from her lap to the floor. She needed a drink, but couldn’t stand.

She tugged distractedly on her hair. This could mean only one thing. Antonio hadn’t planned to tell her at all. She followed the thought to its logical conclusion. He’d plotted to allow the fraud break her, bankrupt her, then the Plaza would be his, quickly and cheaply.

She leapt to her feet. She had to get out of here. Antonio had played her in every possible way. Running to the bedroom, she searched for a suitcase. She spied the one she’d brought from Australia. It’d stood packed and unopened since she’d arrived in Italy. She yanked the battered old thing from the back of the wardrobe.

That case told the real story. The one that had been clear from the start. She’d never fitted into Antonio’s world of big deals, wealth, sophistication and manipulation. She was out of her league. Antonio had used her. Downstairs he was talking to his real mistress, the one that made all the sense in the world.

She lugged the suitcase across the room. Propping open the door, she looked back at the report on the floor. She hesitated then scooped up the incriminating pages. She’d need the evidence.

‘
Cara?
’ Antonio stood in the doorway. He looked from her eyes to the suitcase and back to the pages in her hand. His smile dropped. ‘What are you doing?’

She looked into the eyes of the man she loved. The man who’d given her life passion, fire and ecstasy while he betrayed her so completely. He’d taken her heart and her body and would take her hotel. Her heart ached. She wanted to scream, to pound his chest, to make him the man she thought he’d become.

Instead she blinked back hot tears. She walked bolt upright to the door and seized the handle of her case. ‘Leaving.’

As Sienna pushed past, Antonio grabbed her arm.

‘It’s not what you think,’ he said, mentally kicking himself. Why hadn’t he told her about the Plaza fraud? At that moment he couldn’t even explain it to himself.

She turned on him, eyes glittering in defiance. Her cheeks flushed bright. ‘Oh, I think it’s exactly what I think,’ she said, her eyes hollow with disappointment. ‘You plan everything. A few months of fun with me while my hotel drowns in debt. Even with a reprieve on the loan payments, Brad’s report shows I’d be broke within the year. Planned to perfection.’ Her voice wavered, heavy with bitterness.

‘How can you believe I’d do that to you?’ But even as he spoke, he knew exactly why she would believe it. He’d forced her into deceiving his own family. She’d have no doubt about his ability to swindle her, a relative stranger, out of her hotel.

‘You can’t go,’ he said, the idea tearing at his insides. ‘I’m not that kind of man.’ His fingers encircled her wrists. He wouldn’t let her leave. ‘Please, Sienna . . .’