Rafaello's Mistress

‘None,’ his father admitted heavily. ‘But you and Glory had been dating such a short time, I thought that you’d soon forget each other. Obviously I was wrong on that score and probably I believed what it suited me to believe.’

‘If I can’t trust my own father, who can I trust?’ Rafaello shot at him in complete disgust.

Benito was grey with strain. ‘I’m sorry. I was afraid that you would turn against me if you found out about Talitha and Sam.’

As Benito walked heavily from the room Glory looked at Rafaello with pained eyes. ‘Go after him. My father wasn’t any keener on us dating back then. If I can forgive Benito, you can too. What are you so angry about anyway? You didn’t exactly break your heart when we went our separate ways!’

‘Do you think all Grazzinis wear their broken hearts on their sleeves?’ Rafaello demanded with a bitterness that took her aback. ‘My father destroyed our relationship. He lied to me about you and he threatened you…I could never forgive that!’

‘Then think of Sam,’ Glory told him in dismay. ‘Sam relies on you and he trusts you. If you’re at odds with Benito he’s going to want to know why.’

‘I am in no mood to overlook what we suffered through no fault of our own five years ago.’ Rafaello framed each word with harsh, angry clarity. ‘I loved you…I was devastated by what happened between us!’

Glory gazed back at him with very wide eyes. ‘You…loved me? But you smiled at me when I said a clean break was the best idea—’

‘The more I feel, the more I hide.’ Brilliant dark eyes grim, Rafaello lifted his proud dark head high. ‘Do you think I would have let you see that you were hurting me? You spoke as though we’d only been casual friends, behaved as though I had never meant anything to you—’

‘I didn’t know how else to behave.’ Tears clogged Glory’s response, for it savaged her to think that she had hurt him without even realising the fact and tore her apart to credit that he too had cared. ‘I knew I loved you but we’d been together just a few weeks.’

‘A few weeks was long enough. That night I delivered you home when you were sixteen, your mother actually warned me off,’ Rafaello revealed, his wide sensual mouth twisting at the memory. ‘As I was leaving I could not resist urging her not to be too hard on you and she saw through me—’

‘Mum warned you off?’ Glory exclaimed in astonishment.

‘I didn’t need the embargo. I didn’t need to be told that you were too young for me when I had seen it for myself. But your mother wanted to be sure that I knew that she knew I was interested in you even then—’

‘You were thinking about me that far back…?’ Glory was enchanted by that admission and she wound her fingers round his with a possessive confidence that she had never before felt with him. ‘I used to hide behind trees and watch you on your motorbike. All my mates knew I was mad about you. When I saw you that night in the bar—’

‘You made a real ass of yourself…but it was kind of sweet because it was all for my benefit,’ Rafaello commented. ‘And very funny—’

‘Funny?’ Glory had swallowed that first less than tactful comment but was unable to tolerate that final term.

Rafaello sent her a sudden wicked grin. ‘You looked so beautiful but you hadn’t a clue how to flirt and it was like watching a ten-year-old trying to be a vamp, every move wildly exaggerated—’

‘It was the drink did that.’ Glory’s cheeks were scarlet. ‘But to get back to what you were saying earlier…if you loved me when I was eighteen, why did you set me up so horribly at the restaurant that night? Letting me turn up and see you snogging that redhead—?’

‘And I wouldn’t have been at all surprised had you sat down at the table with us and wished me well with her,’ Rafaello admitted without the remorse she had been hoping to hear. ‘That was one of the worst nights of my life—’

‘Well, it wasn’t exactly the best night of mine!’ Glory pointed out with some heat. ‘And I’m still waiting for an apology because you were really cruel!’

‘I was cruel?’ Rafaello exclaimed in astonishment. ‘You ditch me and then you really turn the screw by expecting me to still spend the evening with you as though absolutely nothing has happened?’

Glory thought about that angle and winced. ‘I just wanted to spend every last possible moment with you. I didn’t ditch you because I wanted to,’ she reminded him.

‘But I didn’t know that. A real coward would’ve said no to the prospect of that evening but I was set on proving that I could be as cool and unfeeling as you appeared to be…’ Rafaello hesitated, slight colour springing up over his taut cheekbones. ‘So I went home and got very, very drunk. I’m a Grazzini to the backbone where love is concerned. That night I was convinced my life was ruined—’

Glory found his other hand, finding her hold on one was insufficient to demon

strate her need to proffer support and comfort. ‘You got…drunk?’

‘I arrived at the restaurant in advance of you, sat down and informed the entire table that I was planning to d-drink myself under it.’ Rafaello’s dark deep drawl shook with sudden amusement at the memory of that melodramatic announcement. ‘So all my friends were feeling hugely sorry for me and your name was being taken very much in vain. The redhead saw you arrive and just grabbed me. I suppose she was trying to help me save face—’

‘Rafaello,’ Glory muttered shakily, her hands releasing his fingers to work up his sleeves in little comforting squeezes. ‘I was stupid. Because I didn’t know you cared, I didn’t realize what I was putting you through. I can’t bear to think I hurt you—’

‘But I got healthily furious when Benito told me about the five grand a couple of days later.’ Rafaello gazed down at her with lustrous dark golden eyes that made her heart skip a beat. ‘And of course my father’s lies ensured that I wasn’t tempted to go after you—’

‘I just can’t believe that you loved me then.’ Her lovely face mirroring the strength of her regret, Glory released an unhappy sigh. ‘In fact, I just can’t bear that you loved me and we still lost each other—’

Linking her caressing fingers round his neck, Rafaello backed her down onto the sofa. ‘It makes a big difference to me that you didn’t throw up what we had by choice, although I still don’t understand why you didn’t just tell me what Benito was threatening to do.’