Hired:The Italian's Bride

He put down the spoon of berries he was holding. “I’m sorry?”

Mari straightened her blouse and looked around to make sure she didn’t leave anything behind. She spied a hairpin on the sofa and picked it up, putting it in her pocket, all the while avoiding his clear gaze. “I understand, really I do,” she went on, realizing belatedly that she was echoing his earlier words. “There’s no need to let me down easy with breakfast and such…genteel consideration.”

He stood, his lips thinning with disapproval. “Nothing I’ve done this morning was out of obligation, Mariella.”

“Sure it was. You could hardly wake me up and kick me out now could you? That’s not very good manners, not when we’re supposed to be…what is it we’re supposed to be again, Luca?”

She finally looked at him, but his expression was too guarded for her to know what he was thinking.

“I will confess. I’m not sure what is appropriate to say in this situation. It’s not one I’ve been in before.”

Luca stared at her. That much was completely true. He’d never been in a situation where he cared more about a woman’s feelings than his own. So why was she angry? He’d tried to do the right thing. Look after her, make her day easier, he’d even ordered breakfast for the two of them. He’d wanted to show her that what had transpired yesterday made no difference to him. If anything, it made him respect her more. Everything he’d done…including being here, instead of his office, where he normally would be found at this hour, had been to show her that he cared, that he wasn’t running away. He’d wanted to start the day on an even footing.

Now she was furious with him.

Mari started to walk away, her heart sinking. This probably was a new situation for him. He probably kept his affairs nice and neat and clean. She’d needed him so much that she’d obviously imagined things that weren’t real. If they had been real, this morning he would have awakened her with a smile. He would have inquired how she was feeling after yesterday and he would have told her it was all right.

And maybe he would have kissed her like she had been aching for him to.

But she’d frightened him off. And he didn’t even have the decency to be honest about it.

“I’m leaving now. Thank you for the clothes, but no thank you.”

“Where are you going?” Finally there was something in his tone other than perfunctory manners. Mari nearly paused, but made her feet keep going until she reached the door and opened it.

“Mari, we have a meeting with the spa people in an hour.”

Mari lifted her chin. “I’m sure you can handle it, Luca. I’m taking the day off.”

She went out into the hall and closed the door behind her, without allowing herself to see the expression on his face. She let out a breath she hadn’t even known she was holding.

It was time Mari got back to doing what she did best—relying on herself.

CHAPTER TEN

LUCA resisted the urge to call her house for the sixth—or was it seventh—time.

He’d been here too long. And nothing had made it more clear than the call he’d had to make earlier this morning, while Mari still slept.

He hadn’t known anybody could sleep that long. He kept expecting her to wake throughout the evening, but she hadn’t. He’d scrounged through the snacks he kept in his bar and had thrown together what could hardly be considered a meal—bagel chips and some mix made from organic dried fruits.

And at last, around midnight, he’d lain on the sofa, listening for her, finally drifting into a vague sleep.

It was the first time a woman had ever slept in his bed and he hadn’t been with her.

At a faint ringing sound, he looked down at his computer screen. Another e-mail from his father, an update on their interest in Paris, which had suffered fire damage. His father had not been pleased at being put off yesterday. And was pressing Luca to finish up and take care of their problems in France.

But it was the words at the end that had him running his fingers through his hair.

Gina’s in a mess and Paris can’t wait. You need to come back. The family needs you.

The words left an odd ache in him. The family was everything to him. Except…except, he acknowledged, that he’d given his whole life to the family ever since he’d been a boy. He’d been the big brother Gina needed. He’d looked after the household for his father. And he’d wanted to do it. He’d been happy to do it. But there were times when he longed to just be Luca. To have his own life, separate from the family. To stop being defined by the Fiori brand. He was growing tired of being at his father’s beck and call. Being summoned irritated him.