“We’re still on our honeymoon,” she said, pleased that she managed to infuse her tone with amused levity. “People would think it weird if we separate already.”
“Then I can come to Rome,” he shrugged. “I have offices there. It’s easy.”
Her heart stammered. He was offering her a way to have her cake, and eat it, too. “Let me think about it,” she said, with a small shake of her head. “I was just a girl,” she added. “I don’t even know if it’s what I want now.”
He looked at her for a beat longer than necessary, so her insides twisted and she felt so very seen, all the way through her soul, and then he nodded, as though they’d agreed to something important and final.
“He’s on a call.”She turned as Paolo stepped onto the sweeping terrace, her heart sinking at the sight of him.
She’d felt confused the night before, at the wedding party. But now, having shared what she had with Luca, it was even worse. For a second, she wanted to push back against the things Paolo had said to her, to tell him he didn’t really know Luca, but Ally knew that was wrong.
She was the one who was out of her depth. She couldn’t let sexual chemistry hoodwink her into believing more was happening than actually was.
“I was just appreciating the view.”
“Seen one beach and you have seen them all.”
“I don’t agree,” she murmured, looking back at the ocean. “Here, the light lands differently on the water, the colour is different, the wave tops foaming, whereas from Luca’s house, it’s placid and still, and so much brighter. There, the cliffs are white and mesmerising, easy to see as ancient and grand. Here? It’s so much more golden. I don’t think they’re at all alike.”
“You see more than is there.”
“Perhaps you see less?”
His smile was dismissive. “Are you enjoying yourself?”
She thought of how they’d spent the bulk of the day and flushed to the roots of the hair. Their time on the yacht had been incredible. She’d adored it. Even when he’d continued to withhold the one thing she desperately wanted, he’d driven her wild in so many other ways, so many times, that she could hardly think straight. She was absolutely certain a hint of that must have been evident on her features, so she kept her expression averted.
“Of course.”
He grunted, in a manner that was so similar to Luca for a second Ally did a double take. They were brothers, through their father. Of course they had some things in common.
“Why do you hate him so much?”
She was surprised by the question. Not the nature of it, but the fact she’d asked it. Though she’d wondered it many times, it hardly seemed her place to pry. Particularly not with Luca’s half brother.
“I told you.”
“Because you are in competition with him?”
“There is no competing with Luca. Not unless you are prepared to fight to the death. I find I don’t have the appetite for it.”
Something twisted in her gut. She knew Paolo was speaking the truth—his truth, yes, but also, the literal truth. There was a steel in Luca that told Ally he would do whatever it took to succeed. Their wedding was one example of that. Yet for a moment, she found it almost impossible to reconcile that version of Luca with the man she’d spent the night with. Generous, thoughtful, sensual…
“But you have been in competition, or he would have secured the company a long time ago.”
“You know about our grandfather’s requirement,” Paolo chided. “Marriage is a prerequisite.”
She nodded slowly, wrapping her hands around the railing.
“And there you were, a perfect bride, just when he needed one.”
She glanced up at Paolo. “You think that’s all this is?”
He hesitated a moment and her heart lifted in a way she knew she should ignore. But then, he nodded once. “I am sorry, but yes.”
She expelled a soft sigh. “I’m happy. You don’t have to be sorry for anything.”
“I did not have you picked for a mercenary.”
