Robyn Grady - Australia - Sinful Secrets - Public Marriage, Private Secrets / Every Girl's Secret Fantasy / The Heart Surgeon's Secret Child

It didn’t even bear consideration.

‘No.’ Her voice was firm in reiteration.

It was a relief when they finished their coffee and he instructed the concierge to summon the car, and she sat in silence during the drive to the villa.

There was pleasure in witnessing Teresa’s delight with the contents of the various designer-emblazoned carry-bags.

‘Perfect,’ Teresa enthused. ‘Raúl has an excellent eye. His late father possessed the same ability.’

In all aspects? Gianna queried silently. Had Sebastiano Velez-Saldaña also cheated on his wife during their marriage?

Doubtful, given the photographic images which portrayed them as a devoted and loving couple.

Yet images could be deceptive. Hadn’t she proved that by posing at Raúl’s side with a loving smile when inside she’d been racked with heartsick pain?

‘NERVOUS?’

The foyer adjacent to the hotel ballroom held numerous invited guests, standing together in various groups as uniformed waiters offered a variety of drinks and canapés as they moved among the crowd.

Gianna lifted the slim flute to her lips and took a sip of champagne. ‘Have I reason to be?’

Raúl’s dark eyes pierced her own. ‘No.’

He looked incredible, attired in an impeccably tailored black evening suit, white linen shirt and black bow-tie. Striking, she amended. His skin tone, sculpted broad bone structure highlighting a strong jawline, the generous, sensual mouth, and eyes as dark as sin.

Attractively rugged, rather than traditionally handsome. Powerful, intensely primitive. She’d seen him in action brokering a deal…and witnessed the ruthlessness apparent, his forbidding ability to cut and walk away.

Which brought the question as to why, after he’d followed her and she’d rejected him, he hadn’t filed for divorce? Unless it suited him to appear to remain married.

For what reason? she persisted, and gave it up as being too complex to examine in any detail…at least right now .

‘Raúl,’ a deep, heavily accented voice greeted him. ‘Good to see you.’

Gianna turned slightly and saw a man similar to Raúl in height and age, whose rugged features and sharply focused dark eyes categorised him as a likely business colleague.

‘Rafael.’ The acknowledgement emerged with a briskness that bore politeness more than friendship, and she saw Raúl’s eyes harden a little as the other man switched his attention to her.

‘Aren’t you going to introduce me?’

She recognised the type—astute and a bit of a rake, sure of his effect on women, and content to play the seduction game.

‘No.’

Rafael’s eyes gleamed with wicked humour. ‘Special, hmm?’ He cast her a speculative look. ‘I can see why.’ His smile held such warmth it could have melted ice. ‘At least tell me your name.’

She wanted to laugh, his approach was so brazen. ‘Gianna.’

‘Velez-Saldaña,’ Raúl added with an edge to his voice only a fool would ignore.

‘A relative?’

‘My wife.’

‘Ah.’ Comprehension was swift and accompanied by a wry smile. ‘I am not surprised you guard her so well.’

‘Indeed.’

A soft laugh escaped Rafael’s lips. ‘My cue, I think, to move along.’

Raúl merely inclined his head, and Gianna waited a few seconds before offering a sallying reproof beneath the guise of a visibly sweet smile. ‘Must you behave like a proprietorial oaf?’

For a moment she thought he might laugh, and her eyes narrowed in silent warning beneath his gleaming gaze.

‘Most men are proprietorial with their women.’

‘Correction…I’m no longer your woman.’

His gaze remained steady as he took his time to gently query, ‘No?’

She could give no plausible reason why the air between them suddenly became electrically charged…nor could she explain why her pulse quickened to a drumming beat.

For a moment she almost swayed beneath a wave of raw primal heat, and she hated that he sensed it.

The hotel, the guests, even the reason she was there, faded beyond the periphery of her vision so there was only him .

He made no attempt to touch her, which was just as well, for she seemed to have temporarily lost her sense of reality, adrift in a mindless sea of remembered passion.

An intrusive sound shattered the vivid image, and she blinked as the room and its occupants swam back into focus, together with the realisation that the guests were beginning to move into the ballroom.

Staff were on hand to check tickets and offer directions to reserved tables, and it was a relief to discover she recognised two of the couples sharing their table.

Charming company, excellent food and interesting conversation made for a pleasant evening, with funds raised exceeding expectations. The entertainment provided some comedic humour, a magician and his assistant, and the usual speeches extolled the charity’s achievements, goals, and made a plea for guests to donate generously.

The evening provided vivid memories of other similar functions Gianna had attended in the past, mostly at venues in Madrid with Raúl. Occasions when she’d sparkled in company, able to converse with ease, secure that the man at her side was as much hers as she was his .

Her presence here tonight with Raúl after such a long absence would raise speculative interest and it bothered her that he was doing nothing to dispel it.

Playing a part, she rationalised as he leant in close to refill her glass.

Why was she so acutely attuned to him on a sexual level, when all her instincts almost screamed a warning to cut and run away from him as fast as she could before… what ?

She succumbed and slept with him?

As if!

That wasn’t going to happen…not now, not ever. For there was no way she’d venture down that road again.

Yet it was impossible not to remember how it felt to be held by him…kissed until her mind went blank…made love to as if the world would soon end.

Haunting and undeniably taunting…notching up the sensual heat several degrees as fire raced through her veins.

Hell .

With considerable effort she forced her breathing to slow to an even beat, then reached for her glass and took a measured sip of chilled wine.

Better…but not by much.

Did he sense the emotional chaos his close proximity caused her? She fervently hoped not.

A few of the guests began gathering on the dance floor as music started to play.

‘Shall we join them?’

Gianna met Raúl’s faintly mocking gaze and effected a slight shrug. ‘Why not?’

A foolish move, she decided within minutes, as the beat changed and he drew her close…too close…and easily resisted her effort to put a little space between them.

‘What do you think you’re doing?’

‘Dancing,’ he drawled as he held her there, with one hand resting low beneath the back of her waist in a hold that was the antithesis of conventional.

‘Why not call it what it is?’

A soft, almost undetectable sound emerged from his throat. ‘A reminder of how things used to be between us?’

Yes. Damn him .

A time when she’d exulted in the anticipation of how the evening would end…the subtle teasing, the warmth of his breath close to her ear as he softly relayed how they’d make love, building the sensual tension until she’d positively ached for them to be alone.

‘If you don’t want me to accidentally kick your ankle,’ Gianna managed sweetly, ‘I suggest you step back a little.’

‘Fighting words, querida?’

It was the endearment responsible for her swift retaliatory action…and to give him credit he didn’t so much as wince or miss a step.