Delucca's Marriage Contract

She affected a nonchalance she didn’t feel and said airily, ‘Fine, just fine.’ And then panic that he might see something of her tumultuous emotions made her say, ‘I wanted to talk to you actually.’

He frowned and folded his arms, which only made things worse. ‘Me too, you go first.’

Keelin was relieved. She didn’t really want to hear what he had to say before she got out her bit. She avoided his eye, focusing on a spot near his shoulder. ‘Look, last night was good.’

A hand snaked out and fingers caught her chin, tipping it up. Those dark eyes were flashing now. ‘Good? That’s all you can say about it?’

Keelin felt as if someone had jerked a rug from under her feet. ‘Well, what did you want me to say?’

Gianni let her chin go and stepped back, cursing softly. ‘I would have thought it merited a description slightly more compelling than good. I felt you come around me, Keelin, you broke apart.’

She flushed and hated him right then. ‘Well, maybe I did. Okay, it was good sex.’ She threw her hands up. ‘What would I know? It was my first time!’

He stalked closer, vibrating with danger, and growled softly, ‘Believe me, cara, it was more than good, or great. I’ve never had sex like that.’

Now Keelin lurched to intense vulnerability; she hadn’t expected this. ‘You haven’t?’

He shook his head. ‘No.’

She swallowed, not liking the way this confession made her feel weak. ‘Maybe it was just because I was a virgin?’

Gianni reached out and pushed one side of her robe aside to cup her breast intimately. Immediately her breath seized and fire licked through her veins. He shook his head again. ‘Next time, it’ll be even better. And all the next times, mia moglie.’

My wife. Now there was something triumphant in his expression, and acting on an instinct, Keelin slapped his hand away and yanked her robe back over her breasts. She felt way too exposed and raw after last night and needed to assert some sense of reality, before her see-sawing emotions made her forget reality entirely.

‘Nothing’s changed, Gianni. I still don’t want to be here.’

His hand dropped and his face darkened. ‘Do you ever stop fighting?’

Emotion made her chest tight. ‘I don’t think I know how.’

Gianni turned away from her as if sick of the sight of her when moments ago he’d been cupping her flesh, arousing her all over again. His back was smooth and broad, tapering down to slim hips. His sweatpants riding low. Keelin had to battle a rogue urge to move forward and press against him, sliding her arms around him.

He turned back and she flushed.

‘Do you or do you not want to contribute to your family business?’

Keelin had to focus. Damn him for making her forget the most important thing. ‘Of course my priority is O’Connor’s but I shouldn’t have to prove it through a marriage.’

Gianni came closer and looked intimidating, but she felt no fear. Only a need to stand up to him.

His voice was stern. ‘You are my wife now, in every sense of the word.’

Keelin’s hands grabbed the lapels of the robe, and she blurted out, ‘Just because we slept together, it doesn’t mean anything.’

Liar.

Gianni looked as if he might explode for a moment. That was probably one of the worst things you could say to a possessive Italian man.

She found herself asking, ‘Why is it so important to you? This deal?’

Keelin thought he might not actually answer and then he ran a hand through his hair impatiently. For some reason the gesture tugged at her, as if she could sense a kindred sense of turmoil.

He looked at her. ‘It’s important because I want to atone for my father’s actions, as well as create my own business.’

She frowned. ‘What do you mean? It wasn’t your fault he was the way he was.’

Gianni shook his head. ‘I don’t mean like that.’ He sighed and continued with obvious reluctance, ‘My grandfather, his father, set up our family business in Sicily before moving it onto the mainland, just outside Rome, to try and grow it. It was my grandfather’s pride and joy, and a major achievement that he’d managed to get out of Sicily and make a life for himself and his son. His wife had died in Sicily.’