“I knew it was you when I kicked you,” she confessed. And when she’d bitten his lip. Unlike the kicks, which had been part of the madness that had gripped her, the bite had been deliberate.
He lifted his shoulders again. “It was a fraught and heated moment.” His sensuously firm lips twitched. “But one good thing has come of it – I now know you’re capable of defending yourself.”
“You mean for when the Espositos find us?”
His chest seemed to deflate as he inclined his head. “A confrontation is inevitable.”
She could hardly bring herself to ask, “What are we going to do?”
He closed his eyes. “The first thing we’re going to do is get some sleep. Forget food. We’re both exhausted. We’ll be able to think more clearly and logically once we’re rested.”
“Are we safe to sleep?” Now that sleep had been mentioned, Georgia could feel exhaustion permeating her cells. All the adrenaline that had carried her through the day and night had drained away.
“It will take them time to find us. We should be okay for the next couple of nights.” He straightened and winced again. “Did you buy painkillers?”
She rummaged through the stuff piled on the table and then handed him the paracetamol. “I don’t know how effective they’ll be. They’re not prescription strength.”
“If they can take the edge off, that’ll be enough.” He popped two out and washed them down with more vodka. “Come on. Let’s go and get some sleep.”
Chapter Four
Upstairs,there were five spacious bedrooms. One clearly belonged to the owner, leaving four guest rooms to choose from.
“Are you sure your friend won’t mind?” Georgia asked, feeling uneasy at the intrusion they were making.
“Positive.” Niccolo opened a door. “This is the room he normally puts me in. The bed’s big enough for two.”
Her heart thumped, and she took a step back. “We’re not sharing a bed.”
“With the danger we’re in, I’ll feel better knowing you’re sleeping close.”
“You just said we’re not in immediate danger, so I’ll take the room next door.”
Although he’d become haggard with tiredness and pain, a playful gleam flickered in his eyes. “What if I develop a concussion?”
Hating how that gleam made her pulses race, she crossed the threshold of her chosen room and managed to inject some nonchalance into her voice when she faced him. “Sleep on your side and not your back, and you won’t choke on your vomit.”
There was a moment, barely the beat of a heart, when the gleam pulsed with an emotion she felt all the way to her marrow,and suddenly she felt it so strongly, that old connection between them, a connection that had forged into life at the first lock of their eyes, and she had to tighten her hold on the door frame to stop herself from swaying with the longing gripping her to justtouchhim. More than touch him…
Oh, God, this was Niccolo. Right there. Righthere. The only person other than her sister she’d ever truly loved.
Another beat passed, but this one lingered for an age before his nostrils flared and he bowed his head. When he spoke, there was a timbre in his deep voice that told her whatever she was feeling, he was feeling it too... Or a version of it. Whatever Niccolo had felt for her, love had never been a part of it. He would never have ended it the way he did if he’d felt a fraction of her love. “I shall keep that in mind while I’m sleeping.”
“You do that,” she whispered, finally releasing her hold on the door and pushing it towards him. “Goodnight, Niccolo.”
“Buona notte, Georgia.”
Soundlessly closing the door behind her, she rested her back against it and took deep breaths to try and calm her racing heart. Hot tears were stabbing behind her eyes, and she frantically blinked them back. She could not lose control of herself again. Whatever happened, she had to keep strong.
She’d always believed herself to be weak. Callie had been the strong one. Her sister had strength enough for them both. Georgia had only discovered her own strength when Niccolo ended them. The strength she’d needed to get through those early weeks, to hold onto her fury at his degrading proposition while her heart was begging her to tell him she’d changed her mind and that she’d do anything,beanything, if only he would take her back. It had been the battle of her life, a battle between her heart and her soul. And then she’d discovered she was pregnant, and she’d had to mine her soul for a whole new strength.
A tap on her bedroom door pulled her out of her funk with a snap and made her heart jump.
“Georgia?” he called softly.
For reasons she couldn’t begin to explain, her eyes filled with fresh tears. Swallowing, she blinked them away. “Is everything okay?”
A silly question under the circumstances. Probably the silliest question in the history of silly questions.
