An Invitation to Sin

‘If you want to. But it’s not easy to follow in the dark and it’s steep. Car would be faster.’

‘Then let’s take the car.’ Suddenly she wanted to be home with him and she sprang to her feet and tugged her clothes out from under him. ‘I have no idea what happened to the wig.’

‘Doesn’t matter. It served its purpose.’ The serious nature of their conversation forgotten, he took her hand and they sprinted back to the car.

Taylor sat, covered in sand and happiness, wishing her life could always be like this.

‘I enjoyed being Teresa. It was fun.’ And she rarely did anything for fun. Fun wasn’t part of her plan.

‘Having fun suits you. You were built to have fun.’ He shot out a hand to steady her as the car lurched up the road. ‘Only next time let’s have fun in the Ferrari. I don’t mind buying you a wig but I draw the line at driving this car again.’

‘Where is the Ferrari?’

‘Hopefully back in the garage with no damage to the paintwork.’

‘I’m covered in sand. What if Geovana sees us?’

‘She’ll thoroughly approve, but I’d rather avoid that conversation if possible.’

Like naughty children, they sneaked into the house, trailing sand on polished wood.

‘We are going to be in trouble tomorrow.’ She gasped as Luca nudged her into the shower, removed her clothes for the second time in one evening and turned on the jets.

‘Then it’s a good thing I’ve never been frightened of trouble.’

Taylor opened her mouth to ask what would happen when everyone found out their relationship was fake, but then closed it again.

Tonight, she didn’t want to think that this was fake. And this part wasn’t, was it? The engagement—sure, that was fake. But everything else?

No, not this part, with his hands in her hair and his mouth hot and demanding on hers. This was definitely real, and she closed her eyes and let the water wash over her. Felt his hands move lower, gasped at the skilled slide of his fingers over the most sensitive parts of her and after that she stopped thinking at all and just let herself feel.

They fell into a routine—work during the day and each other at night. Neither of them used the word relationship, nor any other word that might have implied their arrangement had in any way veered from the original plan.

Taylor found working with Ella, the new director, fulfilling and fun.

Of Rafaele she’d heard nothing and even her phone was silent.

She started to relax for the first time in years. It occurred to her that maybe Luca had frightened him off.

And although she and Luca kept up their public appearances, he was remarkably good at protecting her privacy and giving her space.

It was several weeks after Rafaele’s departure when she woke one morning to find herself alone in the bed.

Luca was standing on the balcony of the bedroom wearing nothing but a pair of hastily pulled-on jeans, nursing a cup of strong coffee as he stared into the distance.

Taylor slid out of bed and walked over to him. ‘You have the board meeting today. Is that why you’re awake?’

‘I’m enjoying a few moments of smug satisfaction that my interior make-over has had such an impact on profits. Profits of Corretti Home are up by thirty per cent and I have a team working on a strategy for Corretti Bambino. Would it make you laugh to discover I was studying population forecasts yesterday?’

She laughed and slid her arms round his waist, enjoying the peace and the privacy. ‘Have you always lived in Sicily? Did you grow up in this house?’

‘No.’

His lack of response frustrated her and she drew away slightly. ‘You never tell me anything about yourself.’

‘There’s nothing to say.’

‘Of course there isn’t. You had no life before you met me.’ She kept her voice cool and his hand shot out and he hauled her back so that she was eye to eye with him.

‘Don’t do that. Don’t pretend you don’t care and that I haven’t just hurt your feelings.’ His voice was rough and sexy, his jaw dark with stubble. ‘Don’t tuck the real you back inside the fake you. It’s too much effort to dig her out again, but if I have to I will, because there’s only one version of Taylor that interests me.’

‘Fine! If you want honesty I’ll give you honesty. Yes, it hurts my feelings when you strip me naked and have sex with me all night, every night, and then won’t answer a single question about yourself.’

They were eye to eye, nose to nose, flat up against each other and she could feel the warmth of his chest against her skin.

And then he released her and raked his fingers through his hair. ‘Get dressed.’ His voice was unsteady and she felt a sudden lurch of horror.