"Do I hear the sound of wedding bells...?"Gregorio turned to glare at his brother as Lamberto came to stand beside him on the edge of the dance floor, where, following their mother’s sumptuous birthday party, a dozen or so couples amongst the fifty-odd guests were gyrating.Chloe and Tiziano were one of those couples."Not unless you have tinnitus," Gregorio replied, dismissively.Lamberto laughed softly. "The family all like your little Chloe," he observed lightly."She isn’t little." At least not in certain places, Gregorio thought as he felt the unwelcome aching throb of his body.He could picture those places. That minuscule black dress left very little to the imagination! "Neither is she mine," he added with vigor.‘No?’ Lamberto took a sip of his wine as he glanced across to where Chloe was dancing in Tiziano’s assured arms. "Then why did you bring her here?" He was looking curious when his gaze returned to Gregorio.Gregorio grimaced. "Because if I hadn’t, either you or Tiziano
"He appears to be perfectly fine to me," she said dismissively.‘Really?’ Tiziano was prompted as the music came to an end. His hand rested lightly beneath Chloe’s elbow as they turned to walk back to the table where Eva, Jenny, and Regina were seated."Yes, really," Chloe assured him, a slight blush on her cheeks as she looked up and found herself the focus of Tiziano Di Costa’s dark, penetrating gaze.These Di Costa men had the most intense, compelling brown eyes, Chloe admitted as she felt her blush deepen at the deliberate lie; Gregorio didn't seem fine to her at all!He was moody, bad-tempered, and had virtually growled at her earlier, when she’d initially appeared in the sitting room in her revealing black dress, making her more self-conscious of her appearance than ever.Of course, his mood could be due to the argument that ensued when she discovered there was only one bedroom in their hotel suite."My dance, I believe?" Gregorio demanded as he joined them, his gaze narrowing o
"It isn’t scandalous," she groaned protestingly."No?" he prompted teasingly as he looked down at the fullness of her creamy breasts. "What, exactly, are you wearing beneath it?" he pressed huskily."Exactly?" she echoed ruefully.‘Exactly.’ He nodded, his eyes gloomy.Chloe moistened her lips before answering, and Gregorio’s heated gaze followed the sensual invitation. "The dress is so clingy that I just need a pair of pants," she confided.‘Just a—!’ Gregorio broke off, his breathing slightly ragged now. "No wonder I’m far from the only man here tonight who can’t take his eyes off you," he said, knowing he hadn’t been comfortable with other males even looking at her.She blinked up at him. "You can’t take your eyes off me, Gregorio..." she echoed."I can’t look at anything else!" he confirmed, and his tongue tasted her perfumed skin, his teeth gently nibbling and moving so that his body was shielding hers completely as one of his hands moved to cup one of those tempting breasts, and
Chloe said, "We can’t leave yet!" Gregorio implored her, as he caught up with her in the reception area of the hotel, to grasp her arm and turn her to face him.Her eyes blazed a deep green. "You can’t," she accepted. "But I certainly can!"Gregorio returned her gaze frustratedly. "My mother didn’t see anything," she said.Chloe responded emotionally, "She didn't need to see anything.""It had to be pretty obvious, even to the most casual observer—which your mother most certainly isn’t!—exactly what we were doing."When Eva Di Costa interrupted the two of them, Chloe’s reaction was to turn and run through and from the room where the party was being held. She had been made all the more desperate because, having come back to reality with the suddenness of being dunked in a cold shower, she had been completely unnerved by the realization of the intensity of her own hunger.Her life had been so structured up to this point, with her goals and ambitions not quite set in stone but close enoug
"I'm not sure what about," she said quickly."Besides, I really do have a headache now," she informed him flatly."I thought it was only married ladies who developed headaches at bedtime," he replied."That’s a generalization I very much doubt is true of Regina or Jenny," she came back tartly.No, Gregorio was sure that it wasn’t. He had absolutely no doubts as to the compatibility of his brother and cousin with their wives. ‘Chloe—’"You really should get back to the party now, Gregorio," Chloe told him firmly.Yes, he knew he should. But he also knew that he and Chloe needed to talk. Had to talk. Tonight.Chloe had withdrawn from him in the last few minutes and had developed a wariness towards him that Gregorio simply couldn’t allow to continue.Not now….His mouth tightened determinedly. "I will join you in a few minutes," he stated evenly.She nodded abruptly. "Try not to disturb me if I’m asleep, hmm?"Gregorio’s eyes narrowed as he acknowledged that Chloe had the ability to distu
Chloe didn’t prepare for bed once she got back to the suite. Instead she changed into the denims she had worn to travel over in earlier today and a fitted black T-shirt before moving to sit curled up in the window seat in the sitting room, wrapping her arms around her bent knees as she stared sightlessly out of the window and prepared to sit and wait for Gregorio to return from the party.She had realized Gregorio was right as she’d flung the seductive black dress back into her suitcase—with an inward vow never to wear it again!—and they did need to talk. And the sooner Gregorio accepted that she wouldn’t enter into an affair with him, the better it would be for both of them.Although, again, she knew Gregorio was going to be very hard to resist if he should attempt to seduce her into capitulating.Chloe had never imagined, never imagined that loving someone, especially Gregorio, could be so completely, so emotionally consuming that she couldn't seem to think of anything else but him.
But knowing that Chloe wanted him physically and that she responded to his kisses and caresses did not mean that she felt anything else for him but desire. And even that desire could not persuade her into going to bed with him.He looked up at her, his dark gaze intense on the pale beauty of her face in the moonlight. "Can you deny that you like my hands on your body, Chloe?" he probed.She swallowed hard, her green eyes haunted. "I haven’t tried to deny it, Gregorio." She sighed. "I’ve simply told you that I won’t have an affair with you.""Yes, I believe you have made it very clear that you do not have any room in your life for "a rich Sicilian playboy who might have decided he wants to hop in and out of your bed whenever he happens to be in London"!" Gregorio barely acknowledged it.The fact that Gregorio remembered what she had said earlier told Chloe that her remark must have hit a raw nerve. But why should it have been done? She was no more conversant with affairs than she was w
Chloe looked up fearfully from where she lay face-down on the bed as she heard the bedroom door open and then close. Her vision was too blurred by tears for her to be able to see anything more than the silhouette of Gregorio’s tall, imposing figure as he approached.She knew she wouldn't be able to handle another assault on her emotions, that she loved Gregorio too much.The bed sagged slightly as he sat beside her, reaching out to turn her over, luring her into his arms and burying his face in her hair.Chloe's arms instinctively moved up around his shoulders, and she clung on tight."Please understand that I just can’t do this, Gregorio!" she sobbed as she burrowed her face against the hardness of his chest. "I wish that I could—you’ve no idea how I wish that I could be one of those women who would be happy to take the affair, the living together, that you’re offering!" she admitted emotionally. "But I can’t!" "You see, I’ve never—I haven’t ever—I’d probably be a terrible disappointm