CAROL MARINELLI - The Royal House of Niroli - Billion Dollar Bargains - Bought by the Billionaire Prince / The Tycoon's Princess Bride

Breathless, dizzy and deliciously disorientated, she struggled with what now seemed a straightforward question, her mind trying to recall the reasons she should decline.

‘The day?’

‘I’ll show you Niroli—and maybe then you’ll decide to stay on for a while, maybe you can find the peace you crave here.’

She opened her mouth to protest, to remind him why she couldn’t stay, but with a few words Luca had made the impossible suddenly feasible. Taking a strand of hair, he brushed it behind her ear, all the while staring into her eyes. ‘We are two very different people but with one constant.’ He didn’t need to elaborate, their arousal, their attraction achingly evident, but Luca broke the contact, stepped back into the hallway and asked her a very pertinent question. ‘Did refusing my kiss give you peace?’

She didn’t say anything but Meg’s answer was obvious, her whole body screaming a protest at Luca’s rapid withdrawal.

‘I will be in the foyer tomorrow at nine.’

He walked away then—Luca’s bid clearly in, leaving it for Meg to decide. He didn’t even offer a backward glance as he walked back along the corridor, leaving Meg jumbled and confused, fumbling in her bag for her keys, then entering her room and sitting on the bed, somehow trying to make sense of all that had occurred.

They couldn’t last.

That much Meg understood.

But they couldn’t end yet either, Meg realised; the attraction was too strong, the emotion too intense to just walk away.

Pulling out her purse, Meg slid her fingers into the wallet and pulled out a well-worn picture, one she hadn’t looked at in weeks, but occasionally, at times like this, when decisions needed to be made, it was called upon. Even though she’d seen it a thousand times, even though she’d lived it, still the image shocked her.

Pained eyes in a gaunt face stared back at Meg, her skeletal frame engulfed by a wheelchair, a nurse at her side holding her hand as she struggled to come up from her lowest point.

There were a million reasons to set her alarm for six and get the hell out of Niroli, to organise her backpack and literally run for the hills.

But there was one very good reason to stay. Falling asleep with the photo still in her hand, Meg was only vaguely aware of Jasmine bumping around in the night, her mind focussed on one thought only.

Tonight, for the first time in her life, and only with Luca, she’d actually felt beautiful.

‘I’M GLAD YOU decided to stay.’

As Luca joined her in the crowded foyer, Meg was glad she’d decided to stay too. The hour between waking and seeing him had plagued Meg with doubt and indecision. She was almost sure that her vision of the man she had met last night wouldn’t stand up to the scrutiny of the morning glare, that somehow seeing him again could only taint the delicious memory.

Wrong.

If anything, Luca was more stunning.

Dressed casually in dark denim jeans and a black T-shirt, unshaven and unkempt, he looked even more ravishing, but there was no time for awkward small talk, no time for anything at all really, as Luca took her by her arm and shepherded her out the foyer and straight into the luxurious confines of a sleek silver sports car.

‘I thought today was supposed to be relaxing!’ Meg attempted as the car sped away from the casino.

‘Now, it will be,’ Luca said cryptically, glancing in the rear-view mirror and finally slowing down. ‘I’ll ring Luigi now and tell him I haven’t been kidnapped.’

‘Your bodyguard?’ Meg checked as Luca nodded and punched in speed-dial. Even if her Italian was extremely limited, it soon became clear that Luigi was less than impressed at his boss’s hasty exit.

‘Sorry about that.’ Luca grinned when the call ended. ‘Luigi is supposed to accompany me whenever I go outside the casino or palace. I do not like it.’

‘I wouldn’t either.’ Meg smiled, glancing shyly over to him. ‘I’m glad it’s just us.’

‘Me too.’ Luca nodded. ‘You look wonderful!’

‘Er, I doubt it.’ Meg grimaced. Never had her backpack’s offerings appeared more measly. She’d been hoping to spend yesterday getting acquainted with a washing machine, but for the biggest date of her life she’d been left with no choice other than faded denim shorts and a pale lemon halter-neck. Still, given it was Luca, she’d bypassed her runners for some gorgeous leather sandals she’d purchased in Rome, and instead of scraping her hair back into its usual sightseeing fare of a pony-tail had blow-dried it and left it down. ‘I wasn’t exactly inundated with choice.’

‘Inundated?’ Luca checked.

‘Spoilt …’ Meg attempted to no avail. ‘I don’t have many clothes to choose from—I’ve tried to pack something for most eventualities, but a day trip with royalty wasn’t something I’d planned on!’

‘We may not get into the restaurant I wanted to go to for lunch—I don’t think they allow shorts.’ Luca shrugged ‘.but that’s no problem.’

‘Sorry.’ Meg flinched.

‘I tease you.’ Luca laughed. ‘There are some perks to being a prince—you could be wearing nothing more than a bikini and we would get the best table. I meant what I said—you look wonderful.’

She did.

Luca, too, had been wondering what to expect this morning. So many times before the raw beauty he’d witnessed in a woman had disappeared the second she’d found out who he was—commandeering the salon, spending up in the boutique. He’d almost resigned himself to greeting a stranger this morning, yet here she was, more beautiful, more vibrant, more sexy than the woman he had met last night—acres of soft, browned skin on show, her hair a blond fragrant cloud, and just a slick of gloss on those incredibly kissable lips….

‘Where are we going?’

‘Does it matter?’

Turning his attention from the road for a second, he held her gaze and Meg bit down on her lip, processing his question for a moment before answering, her single-word answer the boldest thing she’d ever said.

‘No.’

In fact, if they never set foot out of the car, Meg wouldn’t have minded. Dressed more casually, and well away from the extravagance and decadence of the casino, Luca was infinitely more relaxed, his company engaging. But Luca actually did have plans for the day. He wanted to show her all that Niroli had to offer and show her he did, gliding the sleek car through the steep hills, at every turn the view even more stunning.

‘No more!’ Luca grinned when Meg begged him to stop for yet another photo shoot. ‘Or you will run out of space—wait till we get to the ruins. We stop now at one of the wineries and I’ll ask them to make us a picnic.’

Which, when it was Luca Fierezza asking, meant that a blanket was included, the hamper groaning under the weight of Niroli delicacies, and Meg wanted to taste them all, only not just yet—first they spent a sun-drenched day exploring. Luca steered them well away from the usual tourist haunts in the south of the island and instead headed north where he showed her the ancient Roman ruins, regaling her with tale after tale, making her privy to information that could never be gleaned from a history book. But as excellent a tourist guide as he made, as much as he seemed to enjoy showing her Niroli, the day was about them—the sultry air thicker somehow when blended with desire, awareness thrumming as they explored, not just the temple and amphitheatre, but each other’s minds. And by the time Luca spread out the blanket and they shared their picnic, Meg knew a single day could never be enough to scratch the surface of all it had to offer—only she wasn’t thinking about Niroli!

‘Here,’ Luca said proudly, pouring her an icy glass of champagne as she gazed around the amphitheatre. ‘There are often concerts held here—there will be one this weekend….’