Capelli's Captive Virgin

She knew instinctively that this man must be Alessio’s mysterious and elusive client and the reason he looked familiar was because he was a major Hollywood film star whose films she’d seen on many occasions.

And it was immediately obvious to her that Alessio hadn’t invited her for a romantic evening at all.

He’d invited her because his client had arrived.

Lindsay stopped dead, wanting to slink back to her villa, but knowing that if she moved they’d see her.

What was she supposed to do?

It felt surreal, seeing such a famous man in person, when she was used to seeing him on the big screen. Remembering that guaranteed privacy was one of the many benefits of Kingfisher Cay, Lindsay felt a flash of panic and wondered whether she’d better leave.

The rich and famous obviously had a silent pact not to betray the whereabouts of their set, but she wasn’t one of them, was she?

Uncertain and uncomfortable, she was just about to retreat when Alessio lifted his dark head and saw her.

For a moment his eyes locked on hers, then they slid slowly down over her bare shoulders and down over the dips and curves of her body accentuated so lovingly by the bold red dress.

Heart thumping, Lindsay waited in breathless anticipation for his reaction, but when he finally lifted his eyes back to hers they were blank of expression.

Nothing.

Instead he lifted a hand and beckoned her over and she went, of course, because the delicious red dress was already drawing attention that she didn’t want, and because he wasn’t the sort of man you said ‘no’ to.

It was ironic, she thought miserably, that the only man she’d wanted to notice her didn’t appear to be noticing her.

She’d got it so, so wrong.

He hadn’t invited her to spend a romantic evening with him. He was expecting her to join in a meeting with his client. But what was still more embarrassing was the undeniable fact that he was aware of her mistake. That one single glance had told him that she was dressed for sex and passion, which accounted for the tightening of his hard mouth and the sudden cooling of his gaze.

Alessio knew.

In her mind she could hear him saying, ‘You should be so lucky, tesoro. You had your one night. That was it.’

Mortified, Lindsay was too busy wishing she could crawl back to her villa and hide to feel remotely star struck by meeting the famous actor.

Telling herself that the presence of another person would make the whole difficult evening a great deal easier, Lindsay joined them, noticing that if anything this huge star was even more handsome in real life than he was on the screen. His eyes were bluer and shone with a hint of humour that was usually absent in the roles he played.

Lindsay glanced around her, expecting the other guests to be staring, but then she realised that the people who came here were all similarly famous. She recognised the lead singer from an extremely famous rock band, a supermodel and a billionaire industrialist who was never out of the news.

In this company, the ‘A’ list actor blended comfortably.

She was the odd one out.

It felt surreal, sipping her drink next to a man whose love life had been played out across the pages of the world’s gossip magazines.

Desperately miserable, Lindsay glanced briefly at Alessio, and then wished she hadn’t because once her eyes rested on the sharp lines of his profile it was impossible to look away.

The actor was outlining his personal situation and Alessio angled his dark head, his gaze sharp and acute as he sifted through the facts. You can almost see his brain working, Lindsay thought helplessly, watching his unwavering focus on his client. His astonishing intelligence was evident, not only in the observations that he made, but also in the sharp glitter of his eyes and in every line of his hard, handsome features. He was clever. Clever and strong.

Lindsay’s eyes drifted to the dark shadow of his jaw. He was a man to whom decision-making came easily. Not for him the agonies of ‘shall I shan’t I’ suffered by lesser mortals. No wonder people trusted him with their darkest secrets and their biggest problems. He was coldly analytical and decisive, which explained why he wasn’t remotely impressed or intimidated by the presence of Hollywood’s favourite film star.

Most men would have faded into the background.

Not Alessio.

Lindsay smiled politely as Alessio introduced them, fighting down a spurt of panic as she realised that, although she was with one of America’s biggest film stars, the only man she wanted to stare at was Alessio.

The Sicilian lawyer was actually more startlingly handsome than the man whose presence on the screen had made him the object of fantasy for millions of women worldwide.