VITTORIO'S LOVER (Vittorio Series) (6 page)

“No,” he chuckled. “But there is no need for you to pack anything. I have a sister and three sisters-in-law who have a whole boutique of clothes at the mansion, most of them with the labels still attached, no doubt. I’m sure you will also find a variety of hair and skin products, including make-up, which negates another of your objections. As for contacting your sisters and parents, you may borrow my cell phone.”

He released her hands and reached in his pocket to draw out his phone. Jenesa looked at it with some misgivings. What would her parents think when Luca Vittorio’s name popped up on the caller I.D.? And she certainly couldn’t call Linette or Jillian with his phone. Linette might not even answer, and poor Jillian would think it was Luca calling and be bitterly disappointed to discover it was only her sister. Explaining why she was calling from Luca’s phone wasn’t something she was prepared to do either.

“I would like to use my own phone,” she told him. “I’ll have to go back inside to get it.”

“Inside?”

“Yes, it’s in my purse. I checked it in when I arrived with…my…um…friend. I need to find him before I go because I promised not leave without gi….saying good-night.” Jenesa grimaced inwardly. She’d almost slipped and told Luca she’d promised to give Marcus her number!

Luca’s eyes narrowed. “
Who is this
friend
of yours?”

“M-Marcus Zanelli.”

“And is Marcus expecting you to leave with him?”

There was a
sharp edge to Luca’s tone that put her on the defensive. “I believe I answered that question when I said I was going to tell him good-night before I left.”

“So you did,” he conceded.

“Well, are you going to take me back inside?” she asked when he made no move to leave.

“I have a better idea. There’s a bench over there,” he nodded to a darkened corner of the alcove. “You wait here while I retrieve your purse and bid your good friend, Marcus
, good-night for you.”

“
Ah, I get it now. This isn’t about Marcus; it’s about not wanting to be seen with me, isn’t it?”

“
It’s a little of both, if you want the truth. I’m not fond of Zanelli and don’t want him anywhere near you. And by now, people will be wondering why there has been no announcement. If they see you and me together, there will be speculation and gossip. I will
not
subject Caroline to that form of humiliation; she deserves better. So do you,
cara
.”

The protest Jenesa was about to launch died on her lips.
He was right to avoid the gossip hounds, and she would be wise to do so, too. She waited until Luca walked away to take a seat on the stone bench he’d pointed out. Her aching feet were grateful for the respite, although it wasn’t the most comfortable place she’d ever rested her bottom. She wasn’t normally afraid of the dark, but glancing around at the perfectly manicured shrubbery made her realize just how isolate she was. It was a touch unnerving to be sitting alone in the shadows, even with the faint strains of music that escaped the walls of the mansion to waft their way through the gardens.

Lifting her face to the star-filled sky
, Jenesa couldn’t shake the feeling that she was walking a very narrow bridge and that one wrong move would send her tumbling over the edge.

                                                  THREE

Luca wasn’t in love with Caroline and she wasn’t in love with him. That was good, right? It meant he was free to pursue a relationship with Jillian if he wanted to. That should have made Jenesa happy. The problem was, she couldn’t seem to get past a few disturbing issues.

Luca
said the night he’d spent with Jillian had shown him how empty his life would be if he married Caroline, and yet he had no idea the woman he’d kissed so passionately in the gardens wasn’t the same woman he’d made love to only a week ago. Then again, he and Jillian hadn’t known each other for more than a few hours when they’d gone back to her room, and after all the messages Jenesa had left for him over the past several days, it was possible Luca assumed he’d gotten Jillian’s name wrong. Considering there couldn’t have been much talking going on, forgetting her sister’s name wasn’t an unpardonable sin.

What
was
unpardonable was the fact he’d been seriously involved with another woman for six months when he spent the night with Jillian; a woman Luca still intended to marry until Jenesa had shown up and reminded him how strong the chemistry had been between him and Jillian. And if he cheated on Caroline, what was to keep him from cheating on her sister?

But n
ot all the transgressions rested on Luca’s shoulders, Jenesa admitted dismally. She’d kissed him, for crying out loud! Knowing how Jillian felt about him, that she was probably at Linette’s right now, crying her eyes out...
what kind of person does that make me?
How could she even consider traveling to a secluded island with a man who believed he’d slept with her and very obviously wanted a repeat performance? 

Jenesa
shot to her feet. She had to get out of here before Luca returned. Before she did something she would regret for the rest of her life. Except…she couldn’t leave without her keys, and they were in her purse. She took a few hesitant steps and stopped. If she returned to the house to look for Luca, she could easily miss him in the crowd. Hovering near the entrance wouldn’t be a problem as long as no one spotted him coming outside to join her. On the other hand, if no one else was around, how was she going to prevent Luca from trying to talk her into going with him?

That’s really what you’re afraid of, isn’t it? Deep down inside you know
how susceptible you are to him, how easily he could persuade you to go.

She hated the helpless feeling he instilled in her
and was disgusted by her own weakness. He was just a man, and a flawed one at that. It didn’t matter that she felt this…this magnetic pull towards him; there could never be anything between them because of Jillian. The best thing she could do right now is tell Luca the truth. He was going to be angry, and had every right to be, but at least it would resolve any concerns she had about being alone with him again. Whatever spark had ignited when they’d kissed would be extinguished for good.

It was the right
thing to do, Jenesa told herself.  Why, then, was there such an oppressive heaviness in her chest? It was ludicrous to feel this way and even more ridiculous to long for something that could never be, but she couldn’t seem to suppress the sense of loss that engulfed her. Somehow, she would find a way to muddle through the explanation and then get out of there as quickly as possible before making a complete fool of herself. At least she would be spared the embarrassment of being escorted out of the Vittorio mansion in front of all those people. The last thing Luca would want right now is for anyone to start asking questions about who she was and why she was there.

Having made up her mind as to the course of action she was going to take, Jenesa was about to return to the bench when the sound of voices caught her attention.
Concerned the couple might be searching for an alcove like the one she was in, Jenesa hesitated to move back into the shadows where she couldn’t be seen. As it turned out, they were deep in conversation and strolled past without even glancing her way. Her relief was short lived, however, when the man and woman stopped less than ten feet from the alcove’s opening.

“Now that our engagement is official, you can begin to plan the wedding,” a man’s deep voice sifted back to her. “I hope it won’t be too overwhelming for you.”

“Your mother has already offered to help.”

“Which means she will take over if you let her. This is
your
wedding, Caroline, and I want it to be perfect. Don’t let Mother railroad you into anything not to your liking.”

Caroline!
Jenesa clutched her stomach, suddenly feeling ill. Luca not only lied about calling off the engagement, he’d deliberately coerced her into allowing him to retrieve her purse so he could make the announcement! And then the arrogant rat had the gall to parade his fiancé right in front of her, practically daring her to come out and confront him.

“
It was very kind of Ravenna to offer,” Caroline replied. “Besides, with four other sons and a daughter, she has become a professional at planning weddings.”

“I suppose
coordinating four weddings does qualify her as an expert. I’m just happy that ours is not the last. Poor Raffaele will be made to suffer through the most lavish wedding of all.”

“Where is Raffaele? I thought you said he was able to rearrange his schedule to be here tonight.”

Luca laughed softy. “If I know my brother, he has already cornered one of the beautiful young models and is having his wicked way with her. I’m sure he stayed just long enough to toast to our engagement and then whisked her off to his suites.”

“Ah, the Vittorio legacy lives on,” she said solemnly.

“What legacy is that,
mia bella
? That we are all notorious womanizers until we meet our perfect mates and surrender our hearts? It’s true, you know.”

“For your brothers maybe.”

“But not for me?”

Jenesa inched closer to t
he opening, filled with genuine compassion for the woman. Her voice was laced with such sadness, it was evident Caroline knew Luca didn’t love her and was hurt by it. Why had she agreed to marry him when it was painfully clear whatever feelings she had for Luca were not reciprocated?
Love
, it had to be. What else would compel Caroline to bind herself to him for life? It occurred to Jenesa that it might have been better for Caroline if Luca had kept his word to call off the announcement, but he’d obviously changed his mind after leaving her waiting in the alcove.

The coward had also chosen to take the easy way out by
allowing her to overhear his conversation with Caroline rather then tell Jenesa to her face. She was well rid of him if that was how he treated women; something she should have deduced based on the way he’d conducted himself with Jillian. Instead, she’d let her raging hormones drown out the warning bells going off in her head and nearly ended up in the same boat as her sister and Caroline. How many other women were nursing broken hearts tonight because of Luca Vittorio?

“Answer me, Caroline,” Luca’s deep voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Don’t you believe that I’ve found my perfect mate in you?”

“Luca, please…”

“Perhaps,” he said softly, “it is time I showed you just how right we are for one another.”

Jenesa
waited for Caroline’s reply but the only sound that followed was silence. Had they moved on? She couldn’t tell. After several minutes passed, she crept through the opening and peered around the tall hedge expecting to find the walkway empty. But they hadn’t gone. In fact, their bodies were meshed so closely together, they cast only one shadow in the pale light of the moon. Caroline was tall and thin, her delicate bone structure making her appear extremely fragile against Luca’s large, muscular frame. The only part of her anatomy that had escaped Luca’s intimate hold was her glossy dark hair which spilled down around her shoulders in soft waves.

Jenesa pressed
her lips together as a slow burning anger began to work its way into a full fledged outrage. Only minutes ago, Luca had been holding
her
like that, making
her
forget everyone and everything except the magic of being kissed by him. The man had no conscious, no heart, no concept of right and wrong, no…no…her mind went blank, anger dissipating to be replaced by utter confusion.

Luca lifted his head for a moment, his sensuous
lips tilting into a self-satisfied grin when Caroline whispered his name on a sigh. He murmured something in Italian and kissed her again before guiding her down the walkway another ten feet and veering off onto one of the side paths. Jenesa stared at the spot where the pair had been kissing, rewinding that few seconds of time when she’d caught a glimpse of Luca’s beautiful face…except…it wasn’t Luca.

“But
Caroline called him by name, so it
had
to be Luca,” she muttered, attempting to piece the puzzle together.

Which left her with the burning question:
Who had she been kissing in the alcove and why had he claimed to be Luca?

R
etracing every word they’d exchanged, she realized he hadn’t actually
said
he was Luca.  She assumed that’s who he was when he ushered her out of the mansion, and the wretched man had simply done nothing to dispel her. Given his strong resemblance to the real Luca Vittorio and the fact she’d met the other three Vittorio brothers, process of elimination told her it was Raffaele.