His fingers lifted from her shoulder and fanned across her cheek. “No, you’re the best.”
They both turned at once and their lips met. There was no timidity. No hesitation. Instead, there was a raw hunger—a fiery passion. And it stemmed from both of them. Their movements were rushed and needy. Their breath mingled as their arms wrapped around each other. Reality reeled away as though it was lost out there in the sea.
&
nbsp; Right now, the only thing Kayla needed or wanted was Angelo. If they were to have only this one moment together, she wanted it to be everything. She wanted memories that would keep her warm on those long lonely winter nights back in New York.
Angelo moved his mouth from hers. His hands held her face as his forehead rested against hers. His breathing was ragged. “I don’t want to leave you tonight.”
She knew her response without any debate. “I don’t want you to go.”
For once, she was going to risk it all to have this moment with the man she loved—even if he didn’t love her back.
The limo pulled to a stop at the foot of the palace’s sweeping white stairs that were lit with lanterns trailing up each side. Angelo didn’t follow protocol. He opened the door before the driver could make it around the car. Angelo turned back and held out his hand to help her to her feet.
With both of them smiling like starstruck lovers, they rushed up the steps and inside the palace. Brushing off offers of assistance from the staff, hand in hand they swiftly moved to the second floor. They stopped outside her bedroom door and Angelo pulled her close. His mouth pressed to hers. He didn’t have to say a word; all of his pent-up desire was expressed in that kiss.
When he pulled back, he gazed into her eyes. “Are you sure about this?”
She nodded and opened the door. She’d never been so sure about anything in her life. She led the way into the room. This would be a night neither of them would ever forget.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
WHAT IN THE world had he let happen?
Angelo raked his fingers through his hair, not caring if he messed it up or not. He’d already messed things up big-time with Kayla. In the bright light of the morning sun, he stood on the balcony of his suite in the royal palace. He’d woken up in the middle of the night after a nightmare—a nightmare he’d thought he’d done away with long ago.
After leaving Italy, he’d had nightmares about his father turning him out—of his father throwing his clothes out in the drive and telling him that he was not welcome there ever again. In his dream, and in real life, his mother had cried, but she didn’t dare go against her husband’s wishes even if it meant sacrificing one of her own children.
But last night his nightmare had been different. It was Kayla who’d turned him away. She’d told him that she never wanted to see him again. He’d begged and pleaded, but she’d hear none of it. Her face had been devoid of emotion as she slammed the door in his face. With nowhere to go, he’d walked the dark streets of New York. When a mugger attacked him, Angelo had sat up straight in bed. His heart had been racing and he’d broken out in a cold sweat.
Angelo gave his head a firm shake, trying to erase the haunting images. Of course, he knew that he wasn’t going to end up homeless, but he also knew that the dream was a warning of looming trouble. If his own parents could turn him out, why couldn’t Kayla? How could he risk getting close to her, knowing how unreliable relationships could be? After all, his own parents were quite familiar with the divorce courts as they broke up and got back together on a regular basis. Angelo’s chest tightened.
The only thing he could do was end things with Kayla—quickly and swiftly. There was no way to put the genie back in the bottle, but that didn’t mean that they had to continue down this road—no matter how tempted he was to do just that. He couldn’t put his tattered heart on the line only to have it shunned again. The price was just too high.
A knock at his door alerted him to the fact that their car was waiting to take them to the airstrip. It was time to return to Italy. More than that, it was time to face Kayla. He didn’t know what to say to her—how to explain that everything they’d shared was a big mistake.
By the time he made it downstairs, Kayla was already in the car. Not even the clear blue sky and the sight of the beautiful gardens could lighten his mood. He was in the wrong here. Things had spiraled totally out of control yesterday, and it had been all his doing.
“Good morning.” He settled in the seat next to her, making sure to leave plenty of room between them.
Her face was turned away. “Morning.”
That was it. The only conversation they had as his luggage was loaded in the rear. Time seemed suspended as he waited for the car to roll down the driveway. This was going to be a very long trip back to Italy. And a very quiet one.
It wasn’t until they were on his private jet and airborne that he realized ignoring the situation wasn’t going to make it go away. They still had to work together.
“We need to talk.”
Kayla turned to him. “Funny you should pick now to talk.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you didn’t have time to talk last night. You had one thing on your mind and now that you’ve gotten it, you want to give me the big kiss-off.”
“Hey, that’s not fair. I didn’t set out to hurt you. You were as willing for last night as I was.”
“You didn’t even have the decency to face me this morning. You slunk away in the middle of the night.”