Desire's Captive

If they did nothing was going to stop her from trying to tell them who she was even if she was shot down at least she would have tried—and possibly caused their deaths as well? Saffron knew she couldn't do it.

She had seen Nico drive away shortly after he left her and he returned just as dusk was falling. He had been to send the tape and photographs to her father and Saffron tried to work out how long it would be before they heard from him. Obviously they wouldn't have sent them direct—that would make t

he farmhouse far too easy to trace. So what had Nico done? Sent them to Rome perhaps for onward transmission? It was immaterial really.

Olivia came and unlocked her prison door half an hour after Nico's return.

Appetising smells wafted upstairs as Saffron followed Olivia down, and she realised with a small start of surprise that she was actually hungry.

'Nico bought pasta and sauce to heat up,' Olivia explained when Piero raised his eyebrows and commented that something smelled good.

Saffron noticed how both Guido and Piero sat down to their meal without bothering to wash the earth from their hands, but Nico, who had changed into fresh snug-fitting and faded jeans and a soft white shirt, unbuttoned casually at the throat, rinsed his hands beneath the tap before joining them, even though he hadn't been working outside.

Saffron followed his example without asking permission, closing her eyes in sheer pleasure as the ice-cold water ran over her hot wrists.

'Fastidious, aren't we?' Olivia sneered. 'Hoping to impress Nico with our ladylike ways, is that it?'

'Some of us prefer to be clean and fresh.' Saffron responded woodenly, goaded by the other girl's open contempt.

'Meaning what exactly?' The dark eyes flashed dangerously and as Olivia called, 'Nico, prisoner, or not, I'm not going to be insulted by this little bitch; either you tell her to watch her manners or I'll make sure she does,' Saffron knew that Olivia had deliberately goaded her, but why? So that she would have an opportunity to subject her to more physical punishment? Saffron had noticed already that none of the others dared to flout Nico's commands, and yet in many ways he seemed a little aloof and distant from them; even from Olivia, who was presumably his mistress.

The food had been surprisingly good, the pasta rich and moist, and Saffron was amazed at the speed with which she emptied her plate. Her mind might be in despair but her body still wanted feeding.

It was Nico who escorted her to her 'room' later in the evening. Once inside Saffron waited to hear the closing of the door and the key turning in the lock, but to her surprise he lingered.

'I could arrange for Olivia to take you down to the river so that you can bathe if you wish?' he suggested, almost hesitantly, or so it seemed, and for some reason what Saffron interpreted as pity in the look he gave her drove her to say bitterly, 'What's the matter? Do I offend your sensibilities in my grubby clothes? My body unwashed? Too bad! You'll just have to learn to live with it.'

Immediately the words were uttered she was regretting them, wishing she had accepted his offer, but it was too late to recall her rash statement now, for Nico was already turning back to the door, shrugging carelessly as he did so. 'Have it your own way,' he told her. 'I merely thought you might appreciate the opportunity to ... refresh yourself. From tomorrow evening one of us will walk with you—you must have exercise, and if you don't go willingly you will be forced.'

'Such concern for my well-being!' Saffron marvelled sardonically. 'Why? Don't you think I know how little chance I have of getting out of here alive?'

Unconsciously her voice was full of anguished pain, reflected in her eyes as she looked at him.

For a moment it almost seemed as though he understood and wanted to comfort her, but it must only have been a trick of the light, because he moved and once again his eyes were as cold and hard as they had always been, his voice soft as he asked, 'And if you don't, what would you miss the most? The arms of your latest lover: The feeling of expensive silk against your body? The glitter of jewels?'

'None of those things,' Saffron retorted huskily. 'What I would miss most would be the opportunity to breathe clean, fresh air, untainted by animals like you—Animals.' She laughed shrilly, the sound edged with hysteria. 'Animals don't do things like this to one another. They don't destroy and maim purely for financial gain, without a thought for the misery they're causing. How much have you asked my father for?'

'One million pounds,' Nico told her blandly. 'A nice round sum, don't you think?'

'You planned this right from the start-^at the ball in Rome, didn't you?'

'Yes.' The admission was firm, refusing to betray regret or compassion.

'And knowing what was intended you were still able to ... to ...'

'Flirt with you?' he offered cynically. 'It was necessary, and not hard.' A muscle moved faintly in his jaw, lean and tanned and showing a slight shadow where he shaved. 'You're a very attractive woman, as I'm sure you already know, and the mood was right. What right-minded Italian male would have done otherwise?'

'Fool, fool!' her mind screamed at her. She had believed it meant something. She had behaved like a love-crazed teenager.

'You're a machine, not a man!'

For a moment she thought he was going to strike her again, but instead a look of grim comprehension darkened his eyes.

'You hate yourself because inadvertently you responded to me as a woman,' he stated calmly, his words bringing a surge of colour to her face. 'Do not. It was a perfectly normal reaction in the circumstances; a woman of your experience is bound to be responsive to a man, especially one who has already…'

'Tried to seduce her?' Saffron supplied for him.

He shrugged, his mouth hard.