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CHAPTER 6
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2021-04-08 21:00:25Phoebe punched out the number. As soon as he heard her voice, Stephen asked anxiously if something had happened at the bookshop. Reassuring him, but resentfully conscious of Lorenzo listening to every word, Phoebe explained that she would be off work for a couple of days and apologized for the lack of warning she was giving him. She said a close friend was ill.
Ending the call with relief, she returned the phone to Lorenzo. He shot her a grim, measuring look.
“You are good. Such a convincing liar.”
She just looked at him without saying a word. Her eyes were saying to him more than enough. Lorenzo smiled and turned toward Alessandro to give him a few recommendations. Phoebe looked away, trying hard not to cry in front of this dreadful man.
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Phoebe’s quick temper, already taxed to its limits by Antonio's offensive familiarity, simply erupted. Reacting on instinct alone, her hand flew up and she slapped Lorenzo so hard across one cheekbone her fingers stung like mad.“No man calls me a whore!” she yelled in furious condemnation. “Not even you, Lorenzo De Angelis!” As the livid marks of that slap sprang up across one slashing cheekbone, Lorenzo stared back at her with truly stunned gaze. Even though Phoebe instantly knew that she had gone too far, she was far too angry to acknowledge her mistake. But she won’t apologize.“And your snake of a cousin deserves the same!” she launched in defiant addition. “Who does that little prick think he is? Drooling over me, reaching out to grab me like I'm some piece of meat! And how dare you behave in su
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The blonde Mia planted a cool kiss on his cheek and then addressed him in Italian only. She ignored Phoebe. But Phoebe was grateful to be ignored because she was embarrassed by Lorenzo's stubborn determination to keep her by his side. Still talking to Mia, whom Phoebe now assumed to be a close relative, Lorenzo walked them both into a vast reception room. Other people began to arrive. Mia took up position like a seasoned hostess. Lorenzo's grip on Phoebe's fingers had mercifully loosened, and she tried to pull away, hoping to retire to a dark corner. But not only did Lorenzo retain his hold on her. He also swept her forward and introduced her, although nobody got the chance to engage her in any actual conversation. Many curious eyes lingered on her, but Lorenzo kept both of them on the move. He exchanged a wo
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She swallowed hard and felt her skin burning under his fiery gaze. Phoebe started trembling, outraged that he stood there, spying on her, and not announcing immediately his presence.“You should've told me you were here... I don’t like to be watched while dancing!”“I didn't want to interrupt you... ‘Mi hai tolto il fiato!’ (Ita for ‘You took my breath away!’)” A shimmer of gold as bright as a flame glimmered in Lorenzo's eyes. From her rosy cheeks moved on her ripe mouth. Her lips parted.“I know that this is your house, but you can’t spy on me...” she protested unevenly, her slight frame tautening in instinctive reaction to the growing tension in the atmosphere. "You should've made your presence known." Lo
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A thought almost made it to the surface of Phoebe's blank mind. And then she locked into Lorenzo's blue glittering eyes. Her heart lurched; her pulses raced. Dizzy and mindless euphoria took a hold again. She raised an uncertain hand to cover one hard flushed cheekbone with a shy possessiveness entirely new to her. Her spread fingers rejoiced in the rougher texture of his skin, her dilated pupils searching out every tiny detail of him that close. The lush black spiky lashes, so ridiculously long, the dramatic set of his eyes below those dark defined brows; the sheer masculine beauty of his hard bone structure; the lean, arrogant perfection of his nose. Phoebe caressed his aggressive jawline with wondering tenderness, her whole being intensely abs
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Stunned blue eyes looked down with her teary green eyes. Lorenzo stopped and his gaze caressed her face.“It can't be! You can’t be…” he exclaimed.“I was…” Pride and appreciation appeared in his tense gaze. This little woman was really made for him. “You like shocking me, don't you?” Under his scrutiny, Phoebe started blushing like crazy, and then she closed her eyes. She was very conscious of the tiny smooth shifts with which he was easing his hungry passage all the way inside her.“Please… stop talking about it now,” she mumbled. “We’ll talk later…” Phoebe added willing to enjoy this new and fascinating experience.&n
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She walked slowly towards the beach house. From a distance, she saw Lorenzo apparently waiting for her on the terrace. One look at him and her mouth ran dry. The closer she got; the more Phoebe’s body craved for him. He looked absolutely stunning. Lorenzo was wearing a white jacket over a simple black t-shirt and a pair of tailored black jeans hugged his long, powerful thighs. She wished he wasn't wearing sunglasses which masked his gorgeous blue eyes.“I got a call on my phone,” Lorenzo said when she was still several feet away. While getting closer to him, Phoebe realized that something was extremely wrong. His tone was ice cold and so empty of emotion that ran a real chill down her spine. She came to a halt, green eyes betraying her anxious uncertainty.“What's wrong
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After rearranged the book display in the window for the third time that day, Phoebe left out a tearful sigh.“Would you like a cup of coffee, Phoebs?” Stephen Finlay suggested. It was raining cats and dogs outside and there wasn't a customer in the entire shop. Phoebe focused on her boss’s face, the kindly concern visible in his lined features, and forced a strained smile.“That would be lovely, Stephen... thanks.” Grateful that the older man would never dream of asking her questions about what happened, Phoebe stood behind the counter sipping her coffee and watching the rain stream down the window and the door. She had been back home for two days, but what had happened in Italy haunted her more with ev
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Hearing her sweet voice confessing her feelings in Italian, made him happy beyond belief. Lorenzo caught her up in his arms and crushed her mouth with hungry intensity beneath his. As he buried his face in her red curls, Phoebe quivered, feeling weak and strong at the same time.“I never dreamt that hearing a woman telling me that she loved me could mean so much. And confessing that in my own language is even better,” he confided with roughened sincerity and pure joy.“And to think that if you had told me rather than Mia,” she could not resist adding, “that you loved me, I'd never have left you.”“Piccola, don't you ever leave me again,” Lorenzo warned fiercely.“I wouldn't dream of it...” She gave him a teasing glance, rejoicing in this new intimacy of mutual trust which allowed her to do and say what she liked.“Not if it means you're likely to drow
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She was so appalled by that confession she sank on the side of the bed before her legs gave out beneath her. If he needed a shoulder, why did it have to be hers? Then Phoebe understood. He wanted to make a complete confession. Nothing less would satisfy his over-active conscience. So, he was about to drag out personal admissions that would very probably rip her heart out and depress her for the next thirty years. Lorenzo regarded her warily and very slowly set down the case. He cleared his throat.“I…”“Will you keep it short?” Phoebe begged without pride. Lorenzo got even tenser. He looked so absolutely miserable her heart went out to him. She had to face it now. He had really loved Mia. He might now be disgusted, but he had loved her.“My father first told me that Mia
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