Hired:The Italian's Bride

“This is not what we budgeted. And you went over our budget for the drapes by nearly thirty percent!”

“It was a great price for a much higher quality fabric. Gina found it and…”

“Gina?” Mari stopped fidgeting and put down her pen. Fighting Luca was difficult enough. But now she had two Fioris to keep up with. Gina had delivered a sculpture, but she also did much of the interior design detail for Fiori Resorts. Trying to keep Gina from spending them into the ground was yet another tick on her to-do list. She couldn’t take them both on. She took a deep breath.

“I told you she was persistent.”

Then she caught a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

And she remembered that mouth on hers.

And his hands on her skin.

And how everything else had vacated her mind during those moments.

He tried to charm her and then ignored the plans they’d already set out for the Cascade. He’d done it more than once already. This was one time when his charm wasn’t going to work.

They had set out a plan. A plan to enhance the hotel while looking after her staff. It was up to her to keep it, especially if he kept looking at her in that way.

She ran a hand over her hair, though not a strand had dared to escape her precisely arranged knot. “Luca, we can’t possibly afford the draperies, let alone the spa. The plans already mean incorporating other space into this expanded spa vision. Need I remind you how expensive that restructure is going to be? But this…this is beyond exorbitant. It’s criminal.”

“I assure you it’s not.” He continued on, unfazed. As cool as could be. “This isn’t a third-class hotel, Mariella. It’s a world-class hotel. That means going with the best.” He lowered his chin and pinned her with his gaze. “Fiori always chooses the best.”

She heaved a sigh, ignoring what she knew he intended to be a disarming compliment. “There must be a way to trim these costs. You promised no shutdowns or layoffs. With something of this magnitude…you won’t be able to avoid it. The money has to come from somewhere.”

“I won’t?” He grinned suddenly. “Oh, Mari, that sounds like a challenge. And I do like a challenge.”

Her heart slammed against her ribs, but she narrowed her eyes. He hadn’t had to say the words to know that he considered her a challenge. And she didn’t like that, not one bit. She’d been a challenge to Robert, she understood that now. She’d been independent and free and she knew the challenge had been for her stepfather to break her. And he’d done a fabulous job of that, for a long time.

But last night she’d proved that his power over her wasn’t absolute. She’d enjoyed Luca’s touch. She’d come alive beneath his hands and had welcomed his kiss. And somehow that made her feel just a little bit powerful. She wouldn’t be under anyone’s thumb ever again. But she refused to be a challenge for Luca.

The trouble was, she wanted to trust him. So far he’d kept to his word about the changes to the hotel, despite his exorbitant taste. And the staff was, for the most part, happy. Luca had a way about him. Even when he’d explained to some staff that in order to stay, they’d have to do different tasks than was the norm, they’d greeted the news enthusiastically. No one had been dismissed or made redundant. In fact, the whole place was running remarkably smoothly, considering.

And the fact that his sudden smile had her entire body warming didn’t help, either. It drew her eyes to his mouth again. And that made her remember last night and how magical his mouth had felt on hers.

For once, in those moments in Luca’s arms, she’d forgotten Robert Langston even existed. And he’d been a constant for the last twenty years, present or not. For once she’d felt sheltered and protected and not defined by what had happened to her before. The world had opened up for her in the moment she’d twined her arms around Luca’s ribs. And it had been exhilarating and terrifying.

Now in the cool light of day, it seemed impossible. For nothing had really changed. Robert was still out there, and nothing could change the things he’d done to her, or her mother. Luca would still be leaving in a matter of weeks and her goal had to be the big picture. Wasn’t that what Luca had said? And the big picture was holding on to this job that she’d worked so hard for.

“It’s not a challenge, it’s fact.” She bolstered her argument with numbers. If they could just keep this about the hotel, and not about them, then she might stand a hope of keeping things clear and professional. “This invoice alone is for over a hundred thousand dollars.”