Hired:The Italian's Bride
CHAPTER SIX
WHEN she walked into the room it was like someone punched him in the solar plexus, strangling all the air from his lungs.
Mari wasn’t Mari tonight. She deserved the fullness of her name. She was Mariella. Every inch of her, from her hair to her toes, was elegance and shy sexuality. He hadn’t known she could look like that. He had imagined what would happen if she let her hair down and left her tidy suits in her closet. But even that image had fallen woefully short.
“She is beautiful, Luca. An ingénue.”
Gina’s voice interrupted beside him as they watched Mari speak a moment to the hostess, a smile lighting her face.
“She keeps me on my toes.”
“There is something between you then.” She put her hand on his arm.
He shook his head. “No, Gina. She’s the manager here and she’s good at what she does. We work together. That’s it.”
Mari turned from the hostess and made her way to them. Luca tried to ignore the thrumming of his pulse at the gentle sway of her hips. Mari had legs. Yards of them, it seemed. Navy silk draped and clung in all the right places in the wrap-style dress, revealing shapely calves that curved elegantly into matching strappy heels. The neckline rose up from a V to cover her shoulders with barely an inch of strap.
“I see how you look at her, Luca. Trust me, you’ll be happy that I’m here to free up some of your time.”
Luca tore his eyes from Mari’s image and glared at Gina. “If you think you’re going to hang around here and be a thorn in my side…”
Gina smiled sweetly. “Dear brother, I consider it a family duty. She looks at you the same way.”
Mari stopped in front of them and smiled, and for a moment his heart stopped.
“I hope I haven’t kept you waiting.”
It was Gina who replied when Luca remained silent. “Not at all. We just arrived ourselves. I had a refreshing nap and now I’m ready to sample your chef’s delights.”
Luca moved to pull out Mari’s chair first.
“Thank you,” she murmured, and he caught the first scent of her perfume.
“That dress is stunning. You have fabulous taste, Mari.” Gina smiled disarmingly. “I hope Luca’s not bullying you into making all his changes.”
Mari smiled. “Thank you. And he tries, believe me.”
Luca sat down. “I’m very fortunate to be sitting with the two most beautiful ladies in the room.”
Gina laughed lightly. “Only the room? Mariella, I think we should be insulted.”
But Luca’s eyes had locked with Mari’s. She’d left her hair down and his fingers itched to touch it, to be buried in the mahogany richness of it. It curved around her face and shoulders, and as she brushed a little of it back, he caught sight of her necklace, a silly little creation of silver and sapphire leaves.
He wanted to lift her tiny hand and press a kiss to it, but he knew she’d frown on it. “I can see I won’t stand a chance with the two of you.”
Mari smiled and her eyes twinkled at him. “Somehow I think you can hold your own.”
Luca ordered champagne and sat back, listening to Mari and Gina speak as if they’d known each other forever. But Gina had always had that way about her. Open and interesting. She had the grace and ease about her that brought Mari out of her shell like he hadn’t been able to. And seeing Mari relaxed made her shine. She was open in a way she’d never been with him.
They were partway through the second course when one of the waitstaff approached Mari with a problem.
“I’ll get it, you enjoy yourself,” Luca said, beginning to push back his chair.
“No, I will.” She smiled easily. “It is my job, after all. I won’t be a minute.”
He stood while she rose from her chair and sat again, watching her as she followed the staff member toward the kitchen.
He looked over at his sister, who kept insisting she was happy in her marriage. Was Luca the only one who could see what she was doing? She kept saying Angelo was her happy ending and he wouldn’t be the one to shatter the illusion. He wanted it for her, after all they’d been through as children when their mother had abandoned them. He remembered holding her when she was little, when she cried for their mother in the night and didn’t want Papa to hear. Remembered the summer he’d suspected there was something between her and Dante. But then Dante had gone to Paris with him and when they’d returned, she’d been engaged to Angelo. And he’d known she was trying to make up for the life they hadn’t had and he’d been powerless to stop it.
He’d been by her side during the darkest time in her life. He’d been the older one. He’d understood more. He sincerely hoped Gina wasn’t in for the same heartbreak again. He certainly wasn’t in the market for a fairy tale happy ending. Neither were the women he usually dated, and that suited him just fine.