An Invitation to Sin

Making a snap decision, he picked up his car keys. ‘I’m taking my fiancée—’ he frowned slightly as he realised he’d managed to say the word without stumbling ‘—my fiancée for lunch. We’ll meet again tomorrow to talk about the campaign.’

Wondering why no one else shared his vision for the new collection, he strode to the car and drove to the docklands where filming was taking place.

As a Corretti and Taylor’s fiancé, he was allowed through the security cordon without question and he was about to ask someone where he could find Taylor when he saw her stroll through the abandoned docklands buildings, her hair flowing over an impossibly thin dress that floated around her slender frame. And he knew instantly that this was the image he wanted for his campaign. The contrast between decaying urban and floral femininity was exactly the look he wanted. Gianni had wanted a marine theme—docklands could be classed as ‘marine.’

He was reaching for his phone to call Gianni and break the good news that he’d found the perfect setting, when he saw Rafaele striding towards Taylor.

Just looking at the way he walked made Luca clench his jaw. It was more of a swagger than a walk.

The man was a bully, a chauvinist and an idiot.

He watched, assuming they were about to have a conversation, and froze as he saw the other man grab her arm, spin her round and pin her roughly against the dilapidated wall of one of the old docklands buildings. Taylor struggled frantically, her fists pummelling his chest as he trapped her against the wall. She was twisting and turning like a madwoman and when Rafaele locked his hand in her hair, Luca felt a rush of rage.

Pumped up and furious, he abandoned his car, vaulted over the fence that surrounded the area being used for filming and sprinted towards her even as the director grabbed her face and kissed her.

Luca launched himself at the other man with an angry growl, hauling him off Taylor as if he were a savage dog and delivering a solid punch to the side of his face. the director almost stumbled but then came back at Luca with a grunt. Within seconds both of them were rolling in the dust but Luca, younger and infinitely fitter, instantly had the advantage and he pinned the other man’s arm behind his back and pressed his face into the dirt.

‘Don’t ever touch her again.’ The blood in his veins pulsed with fury and he realised how close he was to the edge. Closer than he’d ever been in his life before. ‘You threaten her, you look at her in the wrong way, and I’ll come after you, capisci?’

‘Luca?’ From somewhere in the distance Taylor’s voice penetrated the mist of anger. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I’m doing what someone else should have done the moment he touched you.’ Springing back to his feet, he nursed his throbbing hand. ‘I’m protecting you from him. Where the hell is everyone anyway?’ He glanced round and saw people emerge from The fringes of the set, openmouthed and speechless.

‘I was demonstrating a scene, you idiot.’ The director stumbled to his feet, rubbing his bruised jaw with his palm. ‘She kept getting it wrong.’

‘If she was getting it wrong then it must have been because your direction sucked,’ Luca said coldly, seriously tempted to knock him flat again.

‘You shouldn’t be on my set.’ The other man stood there, covered in dust and fuming. ‘I don’t care if the producer is your cousin. You can’t barge in here and disrupt filming.’

Dealing with a suspicion that he might have overreacted just slightly, Luca turned his attention to Taylor.

Her hair was mussed up and wild, her face as pale as an Arctic winter, her slender frame impossibly fragile in the flimsy dress.

He spent his days dealing with women who were considered the most beautiful in the world but in that moment he knew he’d never seen a woman more beautiful than Taylor.

And suddenly he knew. He didn’t just want the docklands for his advert, he wanted Taylor. ‘This is it.’

‘This is what?’ Rafaele snapped the words but Luca ignored him.

‘This is the place.’ Luca glanced around him, wondering why he hadn’t thought of it before. ‘It will be the perfect backdrop for the new Corretti collection.’

‘Luca…’ This time it was Taylor who stammered his name and Luca strode over to her and smoothed her tangled hair away from her face, worried by how exhausted she looked.

‘I want to do the shoot here and I want you to model the clothes. We can link it with the film. It will be great publicity for both sides of the business. I’ll talk to Santo.’

‘Luca, you just punched Rafaele. And your suit…’ She gave him a strange look. ‘You’re covered in dirt.’