The Italian's Christmas Secret

Aware of the sudden race of her heart, Keira suddenly felt intimidated. As if she was being backed into a corner, only she didn’t know why. ‘Just under a year ago.’

‘When, exactly?’ probed the redhead.

Keira wasn’t the most experienced person when it came to social etiquette, but even she could work out when somebody was crossing the line. ‘Does it really matter?’

‘I’m curious, that’s all. It wouldn’t happen to have been two nights before Christmas, would it?’

The date was burned so vividly on Keira’s memory that the affirmation burst from her lips without her even thinking about it. ‘Yes, it was,’ she said. ‘How on earth did you know that?’

‘Because he was supposed to be meeting me that night,’ said Donatella, with a wry smile. ‘And then I got a call from his assistant to say his plane couldn’t take off because of the snow.’

‘That’s true. The weather was terrible,’ said Keira.

‘And then, when

he got back—nothing. Complete radio silence—even though the word was out that there was nobody else on the scene.’ Donatella’s green eyes narrowed thoughtfully. ‘Interesting. You’re not what I expected.’

Even though she hadn’t eaten any of the canapés which had been doing the rounds, Keira suddenly felt sick. All she could think about was the fact that another woman had been waiting for Matteo while he’d been in bed with her. He must have had his assistant call Donatella while she’d been in the bath and then preceded to seduce her. Had it been a case of any woman would do as a recipient of all that hard hunger? A man who’d been intent on sex and was determined not to have his wishes thwarted? What if all that stuff about not finding her attractive had simply been the seasoned technique of an expert who’d recognised that he needed to get her to relax before leaping on her. She swallowed. Had he been imagining it was Donatella beneath him instead of her?

‘Well, you know what they say...there’s no accounting for taste.’ From somewhere Keira dredged up a smile. ‘Great meeting you, Donatella.’

But she was trembling by the time she located Matteo, surrounded by a group of men and women who were hanging onto his every word, and maybe he read something in her face because he instantly disengaged himself and came over to her side.

‘Everything okay?’ he questioned.

‘Absolutely lovely,’ she said brightly, for the benefit of the onlookers. ‘But I’d like to go now, if you wouldn’t mind. I’m awfully tired.’

His dark brows lifted. ‘Certamente. Come, let us slip away, cara.’

The practised ease with which the meaningless endearment fell from his lips made Donatella’s words seem even more potent and in the car Keira sat as far away from him as possible, placing her finger on her lips and shaking her head when he tried to talk to her. She felt stupidly emotional and close to tears but there was no way she was going to break down in front of his driver. She knew better than most how domestic upsets could liven up a sometimes predictable job and that a chauffeur had a front-row seat to these kinds of drama. It wasn’t until they were back in the villa, where a fire in the drawing room had obviously been kept banked for their return, that she turned to Matteo at last, trying to keep the edge of hysteria from her voice.

‘I met Donatella,’ she said.

‘I wondered if you would. She arrived late.’

‘I don’t give a damn when she arrived!’ She flung her sparkly scarlet clutch bag down onto a brocade sofa where it bounced against a tasselled cushion. ‘She told me you were supposed to be meeting her the night we got stuck in the snow!’

‘That much is true.’

She was so horrified by his easy agreement that Keira could barely choke out her next words. ‘So you were in a sexual relationship with another woman when you seduced me?’

He shook his head. ‘No, I was not. I’d been dating her for a few weeks, but it had never progressed beyond dinner and the occasional trip to the opera.’

‘And you expect me to believe that?’

‘Why wouldn’t you believe it, Keira?’

‘Because...’ She sucked in a deep breath. ‘Because you didn’t strike me as the kind of man who would chastely court a woman like that.’

‘Strangely enough, that’s how I like to operate.’

‘But not with me,’ she said bitterly. ‘Or maybe you just didn’t think I was worth buying dinner for.’

Matteo tensed as he read the hurt and shame which clouded her sapphire eyes and was surprised how bad it made him feel. He knew he owed her an explanation but he sensed that this went deeper than anything he’d had to talk his way out of in the past, and part of him rebelled at having to lay his thoughts open. But he sensed there was no alternative. That despite the ease with which she had fallen into his arms, Keira Ryan was no pushover.

‘Oh, you were worth it, all right,’ he said softly. ‘Just because we didn’t do the conventional thing of having dinner doesn’t change the fact that it was the most unforgettable night of my life.’

‘Don’t tell me lies!’