‘You’re a disgrace, Gabriel!’
‘And you, Bianca, are not welcome in this house. I should have made sure to get the key from you a long time ago, but as I didn’t I’ll rectify the oversight now.’ He held out his hand. Incredibly, it was as steady as a rock. Had the mannonerves at all? Izzy thought.
Izzy saw the flash of doubt replace the fury and the triumph on the other woman’s face.
‘I deserve to have a key so that I can check and see just what is going on behind my back. My daughter is my primary concern. Iknewthat coming here,surprising you, would be a good idea. I could have waited until morning, but no, Iknewfrom the very second you decided to sack Bella without running it by me that you were up to something.Iknewthat if I showed up here at night I would catch you red-handed. You disgustme, Gabriel Ricci. Well, I can only say that my lawyer will beveryinterested to hear about what goes on when the lights are off and my daughter is asleep and you are in charge.’
‘Bring it on, Bianca,’ Gabriel said with silky softness. ‘My fiancée and I would love nothing better than to rectify whatever misguided impressions you may care to divulge.’
‘Fiancée?Fiancée, Gabriel?’ But there was a sudden ashen pallor beneath the rich, olive skin.
‘You know where the door is. Leave. And just remember, Bianca...you have been warned.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
THEKEYWASflung on the ground. Gabriel retrieved it just as he heard the resounding slam of the heavy front door.
He could feel Izzy’s perplexed eyes on him but for once there were no ready answers in his head for what had just taken place.
‘I can only apologise for that.’ He turned to look at her but maintained his distance, watching her carefully. He loathed scenes and, had he had the faintest inkling that Bianca would be descending and on the warpath, he would have taken appropriate diversionary measures.
Of course, he should have expected nothing less. Sacking Bella, her treasured go-between, would have been a red rag to a bull and it was no surprise that she had made sure to arrive at night. As far as Bianca was concerned, it would have been perfect timing to find him with a woman. He had put a dent in her theoretically unassailable armour and it stood to reason that she would want to rebuild her defences as fast as possible.
It was ironic that finding him with Izzy, finding him with Izzy in a compromising situation, had been sheer luck on her part. The truth was that he had never, not once, brought any woman back to his house when Rosa was with him. The very thought was distasteful.
But Bianca was not to know that and now, here he was, stuck between a rock and a hard place.
He could smell the musky scent of spent passion on himself and could see the same thing in Izzy in her wildly tousled hair, her swollen lips and hectic skin, not to mention the casual disarray of her clothes.
There was no doubt in his mind that Bianca would not have missed a single one of those telling signs of two people who had just made love.
‘Does your ex-wife make a habit of surprising you in the middle of the night, Gabriel?’
‘Do you want a drink? I think I need something strong and stiff. A whisky.’
‘I have no intention of being caught up in whatever marital disagreements you might be having with your ex.’ Izzy folded her arms and looked at him coldly. ‘And, no, I do not want a drink.’
Izzy, still smarting from the insults that had casually been flung at her, could barely move. Her body was stiff, her head was throbbing and she feared that if she tried to take a step forward she would crash to the ground in a heap of broken bits.
Not his usual type...a nondescript little thing...a cheap floozy...
She was angry, humiliated and mortified but most of all she washurt.
Had she just been a convenient plaything for him? Did his tastes lie with types like Bianca—volatile raven-haired beauties with big hair, big breasts and lots of jewellery? For her surprise visit, she had worn a tight red dress, black heels and full make-up. Didn’t they say that men tended to run to type, always drawn to versions of the same woman? Had she just been a novelty toy for him to enjoy because they happened to be sharing the same space and she’d made herself available to him?
Lost her virginity to him.
She felt the prick of tears and looked away quickly, but not fast enough, because he had his arms around her before she could think of taking evasive measures.
‘How dare you involve me in your drama?’ she whispered shakily. ‘How dare you imply that we have that sort of relationship because you wanted to get your ex-wife off your back? Howdareyou?’
She pushed him hard and stood back, breathing heavily, looking at him and wishing more than anything that she could hate him. But there he stood and underneath the usually formidably controlled exterior she could see the man who had been shaken, caught off-guard, a prisoner of his love for his daughter which had stopped him from taking control of the situation in a way she knew he had probably wanted to.
There’d been something so enormouslyhumanabout him just then that she could feel her silly heart begin to soften, which just made her even madder.
‘You’re furious,’ Gabriel said, voice barely audible. ‘And I don’t blame you.’ He moved restlessly, raking his fingers through his hair, unable to quite meet her searching, dismayed gaze. ‘You’re right, of course. I involved you in my personal drama and I had no right to do that. The only excuse I have at my disposal is that I acted purely on impulse. Highly unusual for me, I admit, but then...’ He sighed, seemed to consider getting himself that drink, thought better of it and instead took both her hands in his and held her, resisting her efforts to pull away.
‘I don’t want you to touch me,’ she said, but there seemed little point in trying to detach from his iron grip.
