The Revenge Collection 2018. Кейт Хьюит
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pouring himself a coffee.
‘I hope you don’t mind me wearing this,’ she said shyly, indicating his navy robe, which she had wrapped herself in.
Seeing her dwarfed in his robe, her hair mussed from a night of lovemaking, a sparkle in her eyes...
His chest constricted, the palms of his hands dampening.
‘Not at all.’ He added a splash of milk to his cup. ‘You’re up early.’
The sparkle faded a little and she took a sip of her coffee. ‘I woke up with cramps.’
‘Are you okay?’ he asked, immediately concerned.
‘I’ve taken some painkillers. But it does mean I’m not pregnant.’
Relief surged through him in a whoosh.
He hadn’t even realised this was news he’d been hoping for.
Elena wasn’t pregnant. He got to keep her for longer.
He stared at her, trying to read her expression. ‘You’re disappointed?’
Was she really that keen for them to be over? When she conceived their child she could walk away.
But surely she didn’t want to walk away after the night they’d just shared?
She would walk away if she learned what you were up to.
‘A little.’ She took another sip. ‘I don’t know why I thought it would happen so quickly.’
‘It will happen when it’s ready.’ He ran a thumb against her cheek, thrilling when she rubbed into his touch. He adored her cheekbones; they were made for touching. ‘You really do want to have a baby?’
He should have asked her before. Before he made her sign a contract where her only means of escaping him was by carrying his child.
What had he been thinking?
What kind of monster had he become?
And what could he do about it?
Her eyes were wide as she nodded. ‘Very much. I never thought I would...’
‘Because only girls have babies and you didn’t want to be a girl?’ he supplied.
She laughed, visibly relaxing. ‘That was certainly a part of it. But don’t forget I’d intended to stay a virgin until I died and seeing as a man’s help is needed in making a baby...’ She laughed again. ‘I just never thought I would be in the position where a baby could be possible.’
She made it sound as if he’d given her a choice in the matter when the choice he’d presented her with had been no choice at all.
How could she even exchange a civil word with him?
Her hand crept onto his and squeezed. ‘You need to get going soon, don’t you?’
‘Yes.’
He didn’t want to leave her.
He couldn’t wait to get away.
What was happening to him?
‘I’ll be back Tuesday,’ he said, getting to his feet then leaning over to capture her lips.
He’d told her yesterday morning that he needed to go to America on business. He hadn’t specified which American continent and she hadn’t asked. She had no idea he was travelling to Brazil.
It would be the first time they’d been parted since he’d rescued her from those thugs on Nutmeg Island.
Her arm looped around his neck and she kissed him back, her teeth razing gently along his bottom lips when she pulled away, still holding him, and gazed into his eyes.
‘When you get home...’ She swallowed, colour flooding her cheeks. ‘We can enjoy trying again to make a baby.’
How could she be like this around him? How could she even bear to look at him?
He took a deep breath and gave her one final, lingering kiss.
He prayed it wouldn’t be their last.
As he got into his waiting car an hour later, he knew he would have to come to a decision soon. Tomorrow he would meet Carlos in Brazil. If Gabriele played his cards right, the original documents would be handed over. If he could meet Carlos’s price, he should be able to persuade him to testify in person.
If everything went as he hoped, Ignazio would be arrested within days.
And he would lose Elena.
* * *
Elena got out of the test car and pulled the helmet off her head, unable to wipe the beam from her face.
That had to count as one of the best experiences of her life.
Monty, the official test driver, had called her that morning to say he had an unexpected free window and the test car was available for her to take out on the track. She hadn’t needed asking twice. She’d jumped straight into the small Mantegna sports car Gabriele had given her the keys to before he’d left, and only just kept within the speed limit in her rush to Mantegna HQ.
Monty had driven the first couple of laps, explaining all the pertinent information before letting her loose. After a cautious first lap, she had put her foot down, the speedometer reaching one hundred and ten miles an hour before she’d lost her nerve and slowed it to a more reasonable ninety.
It had been an amazing experience.
What had made it extra special was knowing she had enjoyed it for herself; not as a means of proving a point to the men of the world—specifically her father and brothers—but for the sheer exhilaration.
Finally she understood what Gabriele meant about her having desires that were specific to her and not her gender. She was a woman learning to embrace the feminine side of her nature but also learning that the feminine side didn’t exclude the traditionally masculine pursuits she enjoyed.
She suspected she would have enjoyed punching her brothers when she’d been a child even if she’d been dressed in pretty pink dresses and had her hair tied in neat little plaits.
Gabriele had done this for her. He’d opened her eyes and forced her to see and accept who she really was: a flesh and blood woman.
Knowing he was mid-air, flying back to Florence, she hadn’t bothered calling to tell him she would be testing the car. He’d told her to expect him home late afternoon so she would tell him about it then. And tell him she’d decided to resign from her job. That was something that had solidified in her mind over the past couple of days, when Gabriele’s absence had given her time to really think.
She’d missed him so much it scared her. It was like a great hollow ache in her entire being.
She knew the day would soon come when she would have to live with missing him permanently. They had no future. They never would.
However her feelings had developed, she still had Ricci blood running through her veins.
But something had passed between them the night of their party; changed them fundamentally. Whether it was enough...
Enough for what though? For a life together? A real life?
After Monty had put the boiler outfits they’d been wearing away, they headed back to the car park.
About to walk through the double doors, Elena did a double take at a car parked at the front and the driver leaning against its door smoking a cigarette.
‘Is Gabriele here?’ she asked the receptionist when she’d got inside the main building.
‘He arrived an hour ago,’ the receptionist said, recognising her. ‘He’s in his office.’
‘Thanks.’ Checking her phone for any missed calls or messages, of which there were none from Gabriele, she climbed the stairs.