Carole Mortimer - Men of Power

“Does he live in Bellagio, too?”

“No.”

That was definitive enough. The one-syllable answer filled her with relief.

“Wh-what about your cousins?”

The furrow between his black brows deepened. “No need to worry. The Di Rocche family are Milan born and bred. My mother came from Bellagio.”

“Pietra showed me pictures of your parents when they were very young. Your mother was a great beauty. Were those their wedding photos?”

The second she asked the question, his hand stilled on Nicky’s back for a moment before he said no.

Without more of an explanation, it was clear the discussion was over. The sudden tension radiating from him made her mouth go dry. If Massimo had no wish to volunteer anything else, that was his prerogative.

Feeling uneasy, she got to her feet. “The baby’s fallen asleep.” She quickly lifted him off Massimo’s legs and fastened him back in the seat harness of his baby carrier.

After covering him with a light blanket, she sat down again. “If I’ve irritated you by asking questions, I … I apologize. Having come from a divorced home, I prefer to keep certain family matters private myself.”

No one understood that better than Julie, who loathed having to discuss her parents’ breakup with anyone. She certainly couldn’t blame him about his reticence in that regard.

Yet the second the words left her lips, she realized how ludicrous she must sound after the aspersions she’d cast on him the first time they’d met and had yet to apologize for.

He studied her through brooding eyes. “As you so succinctly reminded me at the hotel, I come from a Machiavellian world, one I’d hoped to have put behind me. You enter it at your own risk.”

Her heart missed a beat. “Are you saying you had another agenda for hiring me? Like for instance using me to test your tea before you drink it?” She wanted an honest answer from him, but had couched it to sound tongue-in-cheek.

Some of the frown lines relaxed. “I didn’t mean to imply anything quite that sinister. But I will ask your compliance in one regard. I expect you to come to me if something doesn’t seem right, or if someone makes you uncomfortable.”

He was serious! Her heart picked up speed.

“By someone you mean—”

“Anyone in the family,” he supplied. “While you’re in Italy you’ll be living under my roof where my rules apply. No one else’s. Understood?” The question veiled an implicit demand.

“Yes. Of course.”

“You can trust Guido and Lia. They run the villa.”

Julie was starting to get confused. Everything he said and did was putting cracks in her mind-set.

“If the climate is that fraught with intrigue, why are you taking Nicky back there?” So much for not asking more questions.

He gave an elegant shrug of his shoulders. “This is his Italian birthright, the one I can help him claim. When he’s old enough, I’ll make certain he explores his American roots. By giving me guardianship, his parents made it clear they wanted him comfortable in both worlds.”

Shawn and Pietra couldn’t ask for more than that, where their son was concerned.

The longer she was around Massimo, the less she realized she understood or knew. Much as she hated to admit it, she found him the most fascinating—and infuriating—man she’d ever met. There had to be many women who felt the same way.

But she was way off base to be entertaining thoughts about Pietra’s brother of all people. He was an educated, wealthy, experienced man of the world, ten years older than she. To think for one second he’d be interested in her was beyond imagining.

Shocked by her wandering thoughts while another part of her was waiting for the real Massimo to exact his revenge, she stared down at Nicky. “He’s been surprisingly good so far.”

“I’d say we haven’t done too badly.”

His comment brought a sad smile to her lips because it suddenly dawned on her that no matter his ulterior reason for allowing her to come with him and Nicky, Massimo had more faith in her than her own brother.

She darted him a quick glance. “That’s true, but we haven’t even landed yet.”

“We’ve started our descent to Linate Airport. The light just flashed on.”

So it had. They would be touching down in Milan before she knew it. Julie could scarcely comprehend she and Nicky were about to enter the world of the Di Rocches.

After making certain he was secure in his harness, she fastened her own seat belt. Through veiled lashes she watched Massimo strap himself in. The play of muscle in his arms and chest drew her gaze. He had an incredible physique. Julie trembled to realize he was incredible.

While she castigated herself for her growing weakness, the jet glided to a stop on the tarmac. The next few minutes became a blur as Massimo gathered up Nicky’s things. His cousins preceded them out the door of the jet. She followed, carrying a sleepy Nicky in her arms.

In the next instant, two things happened. While a chauffeur from one of the waiting limos relieved Massimo of the baby’s paraphernalia, a voluptuous woman with long legs stepped out of the other crying Massimo’s name.

Her red hair flowed halfway down the back of her designer suit. She swept past his cousins to throw her arms around his neck. The press of their mouths and bodies bespoke a prior intimacy.

It all happened so fast it was too late for Julie to shut her eyes. She feared the sight of their embrace would always remain emblazoned on her consciousness.

Dante glanced at Julie, who’d managed to reach the bottom step without stumbling. With her hair caught back in a ponytail, she could imagine the unfavorable impression she made in comparison, wearing jeans and a cotton top Nicky had snuggled against most of the flight.

Mortified to think Dante might be able to tell that her heart felt like it had been sliced with a newly sharpened knife, she flashed him a breezy smile. “Thanks for your earlier suggestion. When Massimo laid the baby across his legs, Nicky settled right down.”

He gave a slight bow of acknowledgment. “While my cousin’s otherwise occupied with Seraphina, let me assist you.”

The implication being that Massimo might be a while. She’d already assumed as much.

After opening the door, he fastened Nicky’s baby carrier inside on the base. Julie sank down next to the baby. Though she could claim exhaustion after such a long journey, it was something else entirely different that had brought on this weakness.

“Thank you,” she murmured, trying desperately to forget what was going on behind the limo.

He shrugged. “Pietra was family. Have fun on your vacation.”

The door closed.

Vacation? Was that what Massimo had told his cousins? That she was only going to be here for a short visit?

Up to now the Di Rocche family had said and done all the proper things, yet their cold natures had made her feel expendable. Especially just now. To say “have fun” to her while she was still grieving sounded deliberate and cruel on his part. His gross lack of sensitivity hurt.

If he and Lazio had always been like this, she could understand why Pietra had clung to Massimo growing up. His departure for Central America explained the reason she’d gravitated to Shawn’s warmth.

While Julie sat there waiting for Massimo to get in the car, she had to accept the fact that Pietra hadn’t been the only woman adversely affected by his decision to work in another part of the world.

And that thought led to other depressing thoughts about the women he’d left behind in Guatemala. There would definitely have been someone, maybe several beautiful, exotic types.

Despite his bachelor status, a thirty-four-year-old man like Massimo hadn’t lived a celibate life. Nor would he care about Julie’s past relationships. So how absurd was it of her to have feelings, let alone be jealous of his? Except in her capacity to help care for Nicky, she meant nothing to him.