Out of nowhere came the unwelcome feeling that he was behaving badly, married to an intense desire to care for her protect her keep her safe kiss that lovely, vulnerable mouth until it melted into passion until desire and wanting replaced the stress in those beautiful stress filled eyes.
She was descending the stairs now. Slowly, uncertainly. Cesare closed his eyes briefly to shut her out and cursed himself for reacting like a green fool an immature sucker for an exquisitely feminine face and form.
The vulnerable, little girl lost look had to be an act; he had to remember that or he'd find himself believing he was behaving like a monster! That he was wrong.
He was never wrong! Like her twin, she would have left innocence and purity behind her soon after she'd first climbed out of the cradle! Despite her perfect unsullied beauty-the opposite of her twin's brash in-your-face would-be sexiness-she was just as devious and deceitful as her freeloading, thieving sister he reminded himself with brutal firmness.
And later this evening-let her stew a little longer, not knowing what he expected of her in her role as Jilly-he would tell her what he knew and shock her into telling him where her twin was.
She would know', of course she would. Back in England she hadn't corrected his initial belief that she was the absconding Jilly, as she surely would have done had she had an honest bone in her body! As soon as he'd left she would have contacted her sister-who might even have been skulking in the flat above for all he knew. They would have concocted the plan between them. As long as Milly could keep up the deception Jilly would be free to disappear again cover her tracks completely. And as soon as she thought her sister was safe from his demands for retribution Milly too would slope away in the night.
As she drew level he forced a light tone a smile. ‘Let's go.' And turned away before she could sense the anger
buiIding inside him .
'Wait.' Firmly said but inside she was a quaking wreck. At some moment during the time she'd spent searching through her careful of Jilly's cast offs for something remotely resembling walking shoes it had hit her that she couldn't go on with this. With every moment that passed the deception became more distasteful. Intrinsically honest, she hated living a lie and, to be brutally truthful, she wasn't brave enough to face his formidable anger when she gave herself away-as she surely would.
Better to confess first. That way she could show herself to be not all bad in his eyes. Though why his opinion of her should matter one way or the other she brushed aside as being unimportant.
True, so far he hadn't had any suspicions that anything was wrong, that she wasn't who she was pretending to be. He'd actually been rather nice flirtatious at one unforgettable point. Intent on getting Jilly back in his bed even though the No Marriage proviso was still writ large? After all, as he saw it, Jilly was in no position to refuse his demands.
Opening her mouth, telling him to wait prior to making her confession she'd had a sudden blinding mental flashback to the way her twin had always been so protective of her when they were growing up. She couldn't let her down now. Somehow she was going to have to find a way to track Jilly down before he did.
The broad shoulders beneath the soft white cotton stiffened perceptibly and after a strained moment he slowly turned. The smile he gave her was breathtaking, one ebony brow was raised slightly, half questioning, half humorous adding even more charisma to those lean hard features. 'You want to borrow some footwear that won't disintegrate after the first dozen yards'?'
‘No.' If only it were that simple! If she were to carry on with this ridiculous deception, then for her own sake she had to get things straight-never mind how Jilly would have reacted in this situation.
Slim shoulders tense, her soft mouth firm, she levelled at him, ‘I want to know why you thought it necessary to bring me here.' A deep breath. 'And where you'll be sleeping tonight.'
CHAPTER SEVEN
|YOU KNOW WHY I brought you here,' Cesare responded lightly and with the apparent sincerity that hid the initial much darker intent. ‘As I said to Nonna-in your hearing, as I remember-after your recent loss you need a break. I am not a complete monster.'
As her lovely eyes darkened with pain at the reminder of her mother's death Cesare fisted his hands and cursed himself, bitterly regretting the glib distortion of his motives.
A devious little liar she might be, but she was capable of having deep feelings.
Unlike her twin.
The hedonistic Jilly would have shed a few facile tears at the loss of a parent, he assessed. But, knowing her as he did he couldn't imagine her having a single unselfish emotion. When pressed about her family she'd dismissed them with that irritating tinkling laugh, claiming her mother to be small-town, small-minded and her kid sister as being practical and deadly dull, too boring-Not our kind of people, not worth talking about, darling.
But this one-Ebony brows clenched he narrowed his eyes on her expressive features. Silky lashes were lowered to veil her dark green eyes, her soft pink mouth trembled just slightly and he glorious breasts were heaving with suppressed emotion.
Yes this twin had deep feelings, despite her manifest faults- some.' His voice soft with sympathy and regret for his own insensitivity, he slotted an arm around her shoulders, drawing her into the sunlight. ‘We will walk, relax.' Unbidden, his long fingers caressed the firm warm flesh of her upper arm before he realized what he was doing.
When he did he suffered the sharp reminder of her duplicity and his arm dropped back to his side in double quick time. His voice was flat with cynicism as he made himself focus on her deception and the punishment he was meting out.
‘As for the sleeping arrangements there is a ground floor bedroom beyond the kitchen. If that is a disappointment to you, you only have to say so. On the other hand-' his voice purred now surpri
sing him by its husky quality a-you might find yourself sleepless wondering when I will give in to my baser instincts and seek the pleasures of your bed.'
'More pasta'?' His voice was slow deep and nerve-quiveringly sexy.
Milly shook her head trying to cope with the sudden highly unwelcome way her tummy muscles went into hot spasm. Nothing to do with the spicy tomato sauce and spaghetti they'd cooked together, working companionably enough with just the odd tingling frisson when they'd touched, hands brushing or bare arm gliding against bare arm and everything to do with the way he made her feel.
As if she were walking a tightrope in a high wind without a safety net.
He'd been lying when he'd said he'd brought her here to give her a break', did he think she was stupid enough to believe that? He thought she was Jilly, his ex-lover, the woman he was blusteringly angry with. This so-called break was a punishment. And the worst thing was she had no idea what form that punishment would take.