Scandal and the Runaway Bride (Heirs to an Empire 1)

He lifted his hand and brushed a finger over her cheek. “I want to say yes, but this is too...” He growled. “It’s such a damned mess. If only it had been anyone but you.”

“If only I’d met you first...”

He reached down and gripped her fingers tightly. “Don’t say that. We have to focus on doing the right thing here.”

Her heart hammered as her chest rose and fell with breathlessness. She knew what he meant—minimizing the fallout from the wedding, and to secure Baresi Textiles to the benefit of both companies. He was right, but that didn’t address the very real problem of them. “And what about us?”

He looked away and his jaw tightened. “Gabi, I don’t see how there can be an us. It would be better if we could be friends. And business associates.” He swallowed tightly and his gaze touched hers again. “We leave sex out of it.”

Sex. For a flash of a moment that word pulsed through her, leaving an indelible impression of what that glorious event might be like. Sex with Will. Desire flooded her body but she tamped it down ruthlessly.

She stepped away from the trunk of the olive tree and heaved a sigh that was full of frustration and resignation. “Even if I know you’re right, I don’t have to like it.” Gabi kicked at a small rock with her toe. “I have such a talent for meeting men at the exact time they’re unavailable.”

William chuckled a bit, relieving some of the tension around them. “Everyone has a skill,” he said, and she couldn’t help but laugh despite herself.

“I’d like to develop a different one.” She lifted her chin. “So what, we go back to the villa and that’s it, friends only?”

“I think we have to. For everyone’s sake, including ours. It’s messy, but I also don’t want to hurt you, and I think I could.”

She wondered if she could hurt him. She doubted it. And that alone was reason enough to walk away. Her eyes burned with regret and sadness. “We should get back, then.”

“Can I kiss you once more?” His eyes pleaded with her. “I don’t want the last time to be, well, the last time. One more to take away with me.”

Torture. This was torture of the sweetest kind.

She lifted her face and opened her lips slightly. “One more.”

He cradled her face in his hands and kissed her with such gentleness she wasn’t sure what to do with all the feelings that crowded her heart. Why did it have to be this way? Why did the perfect guy have to show up now and be completely unavailable? Why did he have to be so damned ethical and loyal?

He pulled away, leaving her empty and bereft. Without speaking, and now without holding hands, they made their way back toward the villa, where her parents and sister waited. The day after tomorrow Stephen would arrive. The day after that her father would have his surgery. And then the Pemberton brothers would walk out of her life forever.

CHAPTER SEVEN

WILLIAM COULDN’T REMEMBER the last time he’d had such a wonderful meal.

It wasn’t just the food, though that was spectacular. The chicken was to die for, and he sopped up the sauce with the most amazing bread. Then there was almond cake for dessert, and the most delicious wine to go with it all. But the real wonderfulness was in spending time with the Baresi family.

Giulia’s boyfriend, Marco, was there, so the table rounded out at six. It was clear he’d been close to the family for a while, and Will grinned at how he teased Lucia and made her laugh and how he’d wink at Giulia and make her blush. Despite his illness, Massimo’s laugh was big and booming, and Will could tell they were a family who enjoyed being together.

The Pembertons were like that as well, but it had been different since his father’s death. Not so much laughter. An empty spot at the table when they were all together. Cedric had died and taken a lot of the family joy with him. Will had missed it, he realized. And if anything happened to Massimo, the Baresi family wouldn’t be the same, either.

He pushed away his plate and looked across the table at Gabi. She was smiling and watching her family, too, and her gaze slid to William’s and held. She was thinking the same thing, wasn’t she? She loved them so much. Perhaps her agreement with his brother had been impulsive, but he still believed she’d done it for her family. She’d do anything for them.

Massimo laughed and her gaze was diverted for a moment, but when she looked back again, he saw the certainty in her eyes. Even without help from Aurora, Inc., Gabi would do whatever she could to keep the business going. She had that kind of burning passion inside her, didn’t she? He should know. He’d had to turn it away earlier in order to do the right thing.

Stephen was an idiot.

When dinner was over, he pulled Gabi aside. “Tomorrow, I think we should meet to discuss Baresi’s current situation and go over the notes I made. When Stephen arrives, I want to present him with a plan he can’t say no to. One that will keep Baresi profitable and stable, enable your father to take the time off to have the treatment he needs, and that also benefits Aurora.”

“One that keeps the majority of ownership in our hands?” she asked.

“That’s never been a question. Of course. I want Aurora to invest in it. And I want you to be able to use our resources so you’re not trying to do this alone, Gabi, but you would still have control.”

“All right. Tom

orrow morning, after breakfast.”

He nodded.