To say she was terrified of that sudden light that had dawned in his eyes after he’d demanded to know what was going on would be an understatement. And that self-assured smile he’d worn from then on had been an even more ominous sign that whatever he intended to discuss with her tonight would be something she might not be able to deny him.
She tied the knot beneath the bodice of the dress and shakily clipped her hair into a loose knot at her nape. The sleeveless design of the dress would ensure she remained cool in the sometimes sultry evening heat.
And if all hell broke loose, there was also the swimming pool to jump into. She gave a short hysterical giggle and slipped her feet into open-toed platform heels.
Knowing she couldn’t linger any longer, she hurried to Lucca’s room and checked on him, smiling at Emily, who was folding laundry in the walk-in closet, before making her way to the terrace.
The light from fat candles giving off evocative scents blended with solar lamps dotted around the garden and pool.
Next to the table set out for two, a tall silver ice bucket held a bottle of champagne. Romeo was nowhere in sight.
Before she could breathe a sigh of relief from the nerves churning her stomach, she sensed him behind her and turned.
He was dressed in black trousers and a fitted black shirt, his sleeves rolled back to reveal bronzed forearms and a sleek watch. With a few buttons opened at his throat, it was impossible to miss the light wisps of hair or the strong neck and the rugged jaw thrown into relief by all that black. That image of a dark lord, master of all he surveyed, sprang into her mind again.
Maisie swallowed and willed her hormones to stop careening through her bloodstream. But even at this early stage in the night, she knew it would be an uphill battle to continue fighting the need that whistled through her with the ominous sound of a pressure cooker reaching explosion point.
‘There you are,’ he murmured in a deep, hypnotic voice. ‘I was beginning to think I’d been stood up.’
‘I wasn’t aware this was a date,’ she replied feebly. The setting sun, the soft Hawaiian music playing from hidden speakers...the way he looked at her, all pointed to this being all about the two of them and nothing to do with their son.
She took a tiny step back as he came towards her, all dark and brooding. His eyes told her he knew what she was fighting. And the calculating gleam told her he intended to make sure she would lose.
‘Come, sit down.’
He walked past her, trailing an earthy scent of spicy sandalwood and his own potent musk that drew her like a supercharged bee to pollen, and pulled out a chair.
With a feeling of walking towards her doom, Maisie approached and took her seat, then gasped when his fingers trailed the back of her neck.
‘You must be more careful in the sun, gattina. You have mild sunburn right here.’
She shivered and touched the slightly sore spot, berating herself for being disappointed because his touch had been for an impersonal reason. ‘September in Palermo was the hottest weather I’d encountered before Hawaii. I think I might need a stronger sunscreen.’
He sat opposite her, his gaze thoughtful as it rested on her face.
As Mahina served their first course, she held her breath, knowing questions were coming from Romeo.
As soon as the housekeeper left, he asked, ‘You never took holidays abroad when you were younger?’
She shook her head. ‘There was never time for holidays. Or any free time for that matter. Dedication to my studies seven days a week from kindergarten till I graduated from law school saw to that.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘Your parents demanded this of you?’
‘Yes.’
When she didn’t elaborate further, he pressed. ‘Tell me about them.’
‘I thought our pasts were out of bounds?’
Reaching for the chilling bottle, he poured her a drink before serving himself. ‘They are, but I seem to have shared a lot of mine with you without meaning to. I think it’s time we address the imbalance.’
Looking away from him for a moment, she contemplated the last of the lingering orange-and-purple sunset and the stars already beginning to make an appearance.
She didn’t want to talk about her parents, or the single-minded ambition that drove them and had made her childhood an endless drudge of trying, and failing, to please them.
And yet, she found herself nodding.
CHAPTER NINE
SHE PICKED UP her fork and tasted the exotic fruit and prawn salad, and busied herself with chewing while pushing her food around on her plate as she struggled to find the right words.