He stayed where he was. To move closer would be to invite disaster. Perhaps he could take another room after all?
But it was a foolish thought. His grandfather would know. Under the same roof, it would be all too easy for him to learn the truth. Luca had to avoid that. Wanted to avoid that, particularly after Valentino had reminded Luca of the need he’d always felt to erase his father’s mistake. True, he’d been a young boy when he’d set his sights on that goal, but it still held true. He’d alwaysknown that the only way was to prove to the world—and his family—that he was too good to be ignored as the bastard child. The son of an affair. The boy no one had wanted. He’d always known he had to be better and smarter than anyone else.
“Why not?” He tried to relax, to move his body across the room casually, and strip out of his clothes as he ordinarily would. But just the knowledge that she was there, in his bed, had his whole body feeling as though an abundance of energy was zipping through his cells.
“I suppose…I’ve been thinking about things.”
His room had a huge bed, an armchair, and not much else. He’d intended to have a sofa brought in, at some point, before his grandfather or anyone came to stay, but there had not been time. He moved towards the other side of the bed cautiously, as though it were a viper’s nest. Rather than sitting down, he pressed a hand to the mattress, trying not to notice the way the sheet draped over the gentle undulations of her body.
“Is there a problem?”
He felt her watching him. Felt the warmth of her gaze, and somehow just knew that if he were to look at her face, he’d see her biting into her lower lip.
“Are you going to come to bed?”
Come to bed.
Such a loaded question. “I thought you would be asleep.”
“Were you hoping for that?”
“Yes,” he admitted quickly.
“Why?”
“Because then it would have been easier to resist you.”
Her sharp intake of breath might as well have been a plea. He held his ground, but it took every ounce of his willpower. “What if,” she said, so quietly he almost didn’t hear.
“Yes?” Impatience cut through the room like a whip. A cloud must have drifted across the moon, because he lost thesmall view he’d had of her face, the silver light illuminating her features, perfectly hinting at her rare beauty.
He didn’t need to see her, though, to know how hard it was for her to do this. “What if you didn’t resist me? What if we didn’t fight this?”
He bit out a curse, the harsh invective serving to warn himself, rather than respond to her. But she flinched anyway, her outline moving quickly.
“I’m sorry.” He lifted a hand in the air, placating her. “But it is not possible.”
Silence fell. The cloud cleared and moonlight strafed across the room once more, a perfect beam landing on her perfect face, causing him a perfect stab of yearning, deep in his gut.
“Is it me?”
He closed his eyes. “Not in the way you think.”
“What does that mean?”
“You know I want you.”
She lifted her shoulders.
“I’ve told you I want you.”
“But you’re saying no.”
Frustration was like a slap across his whole body. He sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, facing her. “I’m saying no for your own good. Believe me, it’s not what I want.”
“Then why?”
“Because it’s too loaded. Too meaningful.”
