Hired:The Italian's Bride

Only in danger of what I feel for you, she thought. That was the part she couldn’t tell him. That was the one thing she couldn’t let him know. She had known from the beginning that there would never be anything serious between them. He was Luca Fiori, based in Florence, heir to the empire. They were from two different worlds and were simply in the same place at a particular time.

He couldn’t know that with each passing day, with each gesture, she was falling deeper in love with him. What was she to do with those feelings? She certainly didn’t feel equipped to handle them, let alone share them. The one thing that she was sure of was that it wouldn’t turn out well. And she valued him too much to let things turn bitter and angry.

“Are you afraid now? Of your stepfather? What about your mother? Where is she?”

She wasn’t sure how much to tell him, how much he could handle. It wasn’t a pretty story. She paused too long and he backed away.

“I apologize. I’ve overstepped. You don’t want to talk about it, and I respect that.”

“No!” Mari got up from the sofa. “I’m not trying to shut you out, Luca…you must understand. No one here knows about this. I started a new life, built it from scratch. And I thought I’d left it all behind me. I did therapy. I thought it was all okay. Only I have just realized I can’t leave it behind—Reilly showed me that—and right now…”

She needed him. Luca, complicated, arrogant, and temporary—wasn’t that a kick in the pants.

“Right now—” her voice shook “—you’re the only one keeping me from losing it. Today brought it all back, all of it. I…I need you, Luca.”

She half expected him to run screaming. What man would want an emotionally crippled woman clinging and crying all over him?

“Tell me,” he said softly, holding out his hand.

She took it. “Robert Langston spent seven years in prison for the attempted murder of my mother…and of me.”

CHAPTER NINE

LUCA sat beside her on the plush sofa, tucking one leg beneath him so that he was sitting sideways, facing her. His warm hand enclosed hers and she clung to the thought of it, a link that kept her from feeling groundless and out of control. Now that she said the words they sounded surreal. Like it couldn’t have possibly happened. But it had, and she squeezed his hand in response.

She didn’t talk about that day. Not ever. But perhaps now she needed to. This afternoon had taught her that it wasn’t behind her as she’d thought it was. And the scary truth was Robert was out of prison and knowing it had chipped away at her safety barrier more than she cared to admit. Being with Luca was the only thing holding her together right now.

She looked up at him. His dark eyes were steady on hers, waiting for her to begin, giving her the time she needed. There was such a strength about him, even now when he was being gentle and nurturing. Luca was a man to be relied upon, so much more than the media’s Fiori heir who liked fast cars and beautiful women. That wasn’t the real Luca.

The real Luca was sitting before her now, a safe port in the storm, willing to be whatever she needed.

She stared at the sensuous curve of his lips, feeling a little wonder that a man like him had kissed a woman like her, and on more than one occasion. Things like that didn’t happen. Real life wasn’t like that.

They certainly didn’t happen to a plain Jane from Ontario. Not one who was mediocre at best. But here he was, waiting. Not running. Not arguing. He was caring for her, and knowing it unlocked something she kept hidden deep inside. For the first time in her life, she wanted to give of herself to another human being.

“Mariella, you don’t have to tell me if it’s too difficult. It’s okay.”

She was brought back by the warm sound of his voice. She lifted their joined hands and kissed the top of his, holding it against her lips. She closed her eyes, grateful he was there. Even now he was being understanding and her appreciation ran long and deep. When she was with him, Robert somehow lost his power.

“When I was six, my mother married Robert Langston.” She focused on Luca’s face to keep the images away. “I never knew my real father. She’d brought me up on her own all that time and she said that things would get better, we’d have a new family. Only it didn’t turn out that way.”

“It wasn’t the fairy tale you expected.”

She nodded. “The abuse didn’t happen right at the beginning, but that doesn’t matter now. What is important is that when it did start it escalated quickly and completely, and we were essentially terrorized. He had complete control. He ruled us with fear, and it was awful. The years were…”