‘I know you’re there,’ she says, her eyes still closed. ‘If you’re going to watch me at least have the decency to come out and be a man about it.’
Chapter Eleven
Caterina
IKNEW SOMEONEwas watching me the moment I dove into the pool.
After the abortive dinner, I wanted to go to bed and sleep for a thousand years, and not have to think about anything, especially not Vincenzo Argenti.
But of course, it was too early for sleep and hunger kept me up. Maria left me a tray of food, including another glass of wine, and there wasn’t any reason not to eat it so I did. I drank the wine too, since why not? My father left me to die and getting tipsy seemed the least of my problems.
Except, I still wasn’t tired, and I was hot, and from my bedroom window I could see the pool. It looked so inviting. I didn’t want to hunt around for a swimsuit in that wardrobe full of clothes, bought for a woman who isn’t me, and since there appeared to be no armed guards directly near the pool, I went straight there and unzipped my dress. It was only once I was in the water that I felt someone’s gaze on me.
I should have been afraid, I suppose, but I knew it couldn’t be an intruder since the security at the villa is insane. Which meant it could only be one of the guards and if so, then I wanted him to know that I knew he was there.
The water is cool on my skin and it feels wonderful to float in it weightless, with my eyes closed, free in the darkness. We had a small pool at our house in Rome and I spent a lot of time in it. Floating in the water with my eyes shut was the closest I ever got to actually feeling free, with no expectations pulling me under, nothing tying me down.
But here someone is watching, disturbing my peace, and I don’t like it.
I stay in the water with my eyes closed, hoping whoever it is flees in shame, but instead I hear footsteps coming down the stone stairs from the terrace. Unhurried footsteps. Whoever it is, is not at all bothered by the fact that I spotted them.
I keep my eyes firmly shut, showing them I don’t care who it is, and I’m not bothered either, but I keep listening until the footsteps come to one end of the pool and stop.
‘I should call yousirenainstead ofgattina,’ a deep, dark male voice says. ‘Since you’re floating in the water like a mermaid.’
Every muscle in my body tenses, my heartbeat accelerating, and I stop floating, opening my eyes to see Vincenzo Argenti standing down one end of the pool, his arms folded across his broad chest, his silver-grey gaze resting on me.
‘What are you doing here?’ I demand without thinking.
‘I live here,’ he says, infuriatingly. ‘Where else would I be?’
I experience the ridiculous urge to splash him, get water all over his perfectly tailored black clothes, but that would be childish and I’m not a child, not anymore. ‘I mean, why were you watching me?’ I glare at him furiously. ‘It’s creepy.’
He lifts one shoulder, unbothered by the accusation. ‘I saw some movement by the pool area so I came to investigate. I didn’t want to disturb your swim.’
‘And you thought watching me from the safety of a bush was better?’
His expression remains neutral. ‘I wanted to make sure you didn’t drown.’
Something is in the air between us again, that electricity, that tension. The one that made me leave the dinner table so quickly just before, that makes my mouth dry and my skin tight. In the cool water my nipples are hardening and I’m very aware of a nagging, throbbing ache between my thighs.
I can’t pretend I don’t know what it is, not now. I know exactly what it is.
You want him.
I do. I don’t understand how or why, but the fact remains that I do.
He doesn’t move, but his gaze moves over me and there’s something in it that makes my breath catch. Something hot. I should feel vulnerable here in the water wearing only my underwear, while he’s standing on the side of the pool fully dressed and towering over me, yet I don’t.
That glitter in his eyes is definitely heat.
He likes looking at you half-naked.
And I realise that I like him looking. It feels good to know that while my father might have thrown me away, this man likes what he sees and he wants me.
So I stare back, feeling the tension pull tight, watching the heat in his eyes build higher and higher, and he’s letting me see it. He’s showing it to me.
A tremor goes through me, like a small earthquake, a key turning in a lock, an understanding I wasn’t ready for even a mere few hours ago. But for some reason I’m ready now.
