‘And me,’ she breathed, stepping away as he vanished into the bathroom and she tried to think about getting dressed. But it didn’t seem important, what she wore, how she behaved. Tore was in the hold of a sexual infatuation, the same as her. That was all it could be, all she would let it be. Her sanity depended on her being sensible. Only she knew that she was neither maintaining control nor being sensible. In short, she was surrendering to responses that seemed as natural to her as they seemed deadly.
‘But I’m enjoying this connection,’ Tore admitted as he pulled out clothes in the dressing room. ‘What do we have to lose? Friends with benefits is better by far than enemies.’
Violet nodded even though her stomach was turning over. She had never, ever aspired to being a friend with benefits with any man. That concept went against everything she believed. She was not lost to her body, nor did she put those physical needs above other more important,lastingelements in a relationship.
But all over again she was understanding why she had chosen the end of the month as the finish date for their intimacy. She was too close to getting hurt, too close to wanting more than she could have, and Tore was essentially still cool as ice on the emotional front. He wasn’t agonising over what he deemed to be a temporary sexual obsession and when it suited him, why would he be?
Chapter Nine
Belle complained vociferouslyabout being harnessed in the stroller when she could now walk.
Tore laughed as he bent down to lift the toy that Belle had tossed out in a temper. ‘You’ll get over it,’ he told the little girl cheerfully.
Two weeks had passed since their arrival at the villa. On the second day, Belle had walked her first lurching steps into Violet’s arms. Belle might be able to walk but she wasn’t up to the challenge of walking amongst other people and if she met a dog, and she had never met a dog she didn’t like, she was likely to sit down in front of it and try to cuddle it.
Violet glanced at Tore, still barely recognisable to her in close-fitting jeans and an open shirt, his formality abandoned. He didn’t wear suits at the villa. It was, she appreciated, the place where he truly felt at home. And why wouldn’t he? Everyone knew him in the area. Renzetti Pharma was a major local employer, and then there were all the villagers who either worked at the villa or in one of the traditional workshops Tore had set up. Her fingers briefly strayed to the gold ruby pendant she wore, a present from Tore from a jewellery designer he had backed. It was a stunning gift and it looked terrific with the red sundress she wore.
The two weeks had flown by so fast that she couldn’t believe it. They were leaving tomorrow. They had furnished the nursery for Belle. That had been their first outing and a practical one. But the outings hadn’t ended with the practical options. She had had a grand tour of Renzetti Pharma and had enjoyed a glass of wine with the delightfully welcoming Aldo, who had flown up specially to see them. They had gone out on scenic drives and lunched in village restaurants in the hills. They had visited several Tuscan vineyards and dined out at little candlelit restaurants in Siena.
But most of all Violet had enjoyed their time alone together at the villa. She had had swimming lessons in the pool and if she was now not quite a fish in the water, she was certainly a lot more comfortable and Belle, free of fear as only a baby was, adored the pool. And there had been walks through the trails in the forest where there was a seashell-studded grotto in a cave and various weatherworn mossy statues placed in glades to honour ancient gods. They had dined most evenings on the loggia beneath the vines that blocked the sun, intimate chats over wine. Tore had made a real effort to get to know her and in the process, under fire from all that innate charisma of his and dizzy from all the unexpected attention she was receiving from him, Violet had fallen head over heels in love with her husband—the husband who wasn’t a husband in reality.
Tore expertly took hold of the stroller and steered it through the little café out to the rear courtyard garden where they could free Belle from her restraints. The baby gave a delighted shout of recognition of her surroundings and no sooner had Tore snapped free the harness than she was climbing out to stumble across the grass to greet the labradoodle that lived there.
‘She needs a dog,’ Tore said for the tenth time.
‘I couldn’t cope with a dog and her at work.’
‘The staff will take care of the dog when you’re out,’ Tore scoffed. ‘And I suspect that Stella is very much hoping that we will invite her to travel with us back to London, so you wouldn’t need to take Belle with you to work.’
Violet compressed her lips and said nothing, which was her usual reaction to suggestions that might seem great in the present but wouldn’t stand the test of time once they parted. The dog was sadly a no-no. Stella, however, was a different question. ‘If she’s interested, I’d like Stella to come back with us.’
Tore unfurled his phone there and then and embarked on a conversation in fast Italian, of which she only recognised a few words. She had learned a basic vocabulary through communicating with the employees and meeting people, but she knew she would need to take lessons to gain a proper grasp of the language. Their super-fancy coffees arrived, delivered by the proprietor of the café, which was always buzzing with trade. Violet sat back in her comfortable padded wicker chair and relaxed.
‘I have a question to ask you, a big question,’ Tore imparted softly.
‘Oh…’ Violet squirmed in her seat and frowned behind her sunglasses because the last time Tore had framed a question that way, it had embarrassed the hell out of her.
He had asked about her first lover, Damien, and she had to tell the sad little tale of two underage drinking best friends and teenagers deciding that it would be a good idea to say goodbye to their innocence before moving on into their adult lives. That impulsive decision was quickly regretted once she found that introduction painful, and Damien lost interest in trying to take the experiment any further. Learning that there had been little foreplay involved and that Damien had later decided that he wasn’t into women, Tore had had the bad taste to laugh and make Violet feel ridiculously foolish for her ignorance.
‘It’s a serious question,’ Tore murmured with gravity. ‘I’ve been waiting for you to tell me about it yourself but on this score, you seem shy. But whydidyou want all that cash paid in advance of our marriage? And what are you planning to do with it? Was it intended as a future security blanket or are you or your sister in actual debt?’
Violet had frozen in dismay where she sat and recognised that it was time she came clean. ‘I know it must’ve looked bad but we needed the money to pay for Mum’s inclusion on the clinical trial and to cover her stay in the USA.’
His level ebony brows drew together in bewilderment.‘But—’
‘When our grandfather approached us, the only reason my twin and I were willing to agree to the marriage in the first place was for Mum’s health. Tomaso said he would cover the cost of the clinical trial but when it actually came to crunch time, he said we’d have to wait a few months for the money he’d promised…but Mum was dying. She mightn’t have had a few months left.’
Something flashed in Tore’s simmering emerald gaze. ‘Why would he have had to ask you towaitfor the money? We paid millions for his company and his voting rights—’
Violet winced. ‘I don’t know anything about his financial situation but I do know that he refused to help Mum with money on a couple of other occasions when she approached him for help. We grew up in debt, Tore. My mother worked in low-paid jobs while my father drank and played and never once worried about how the rent would be paid or how we would eat. My grandfather is very much a man who believes that when you make your bed you have to lie on it. He’s not sentimental. He blamed Mum for making a bad marriage and for not taking his advice.’
Tore was stunned by what he was learning about her upbringing. ‘Herefusedto help his own daughter?’
‘No, he said he would and then retracted his promise and demanded we wait, which is why Tabitha asked your lawyers for the money instead.’
‘You do realise that when I heard that demand, I assumed that you were a shameless gold digger through and through,’ Tore countered censoriously. ‘What else was I going to think about such a request before we had even reached the church?’
Violet flushed a deep, hot pink and got up to retrieve Belle from the dog before the animal got irritated by her approaches. Agold digger? That angle hadn’t occurred to her although it should’ve done, she conceded ruefully. After all, marriage to Tore had already endowed her with a string of credit cards and a huge monthly allowance currently piling up in her bank account because she wasn’t comfortable with such generosity. A request for cash beyond those lavish offerings had understandably given Tore the wrong impression of her and her sister.
