The Correttis (Books 1-8). Кейт Хьюит

to my rule.’

      ‘Then go ahead. I’m not stopping you. If you can find a woman brainless enough to have sex with you then call her. I’d rather sleep in the spare room anyway.’

      ‘No, you wouldn’t. Admit it, Carmichael—you’re tempted.’

      ‘I’m so not tempted.’

      ‘Yes, you are. But you won’t give in to it—’ his hand cupped her face and he stroked her cheek with his thumb ‘—because you’re scared to death of being yourself with anyone any more. You are so busy holding yourself back you’ve almost forgotten how to live.’

      Her heart was pounding.

      He was supposed to be a shallow playboy so how did he manage to read her so well?

      ‘I know this will come as a shock to you, but the fact that I don’t want to rip your clothes is because I just don’t find you attractive.’ His response to that was to laugh and she pulled away from him. ‘You are so arrogant. You just can’t imagine there is a woman who doesn’t want you, can you?’

      ‘I’m sure somewhere in the universe there may be a woman who doesn’t want me—it just doesn’t happen to be you. But we’ll see how long that self-control of yours lasts when it’s really tested, dolcezza. You can sleep in the bed tonight. I’ll take the sofa.’

      And with that he walked into the bathroom leaving her fuming, confused and more desperate for a man than she could ever remember feeling in her life before.

      CHAPTER SIX

      THE SET WAS heaving with people when Luca dropped Taylor off the next morning.

      He’d been intending to leave immediately, but he took one look at her white face and parked his car in a no-parking zone.

      ‘Are you going to be all right?’

      She turned her head to look at him, her expression blank, the dark shadows under her eyes telling him she’d lain awake for most of the night. ‘Pardon?’

      And Luca realised the reason she hadn’t responded to a single word he’d said during the journey was because she hadn’t heard him.

      And the cause of her distress lurked at the edge of the set like a lion waiting for an injured impala to leave the safety of the herd and limp into the open.

      Rafaele.

      Luca knew the director was going to take one look at her pale face and see a potential victim.

      With a soft curse, he unclipped his seat belt and she looked at him in confusion.

      ‘What are you doing? You’re going to be late for your meeting.’

      Luca stroked her pale cheek with the backs of his fingers. ‘I hope the make-up department on this film is good because you look like hell, Carmichael. Shame you’re not making a vampire movie.’

      ‘Make-up…?’ She gasped and scrabbled for her bag. ‘How could I have forgotten make-up?’

      Because she’d been distracted. Scared.

      Luca tapped his fingers on the wheel and thought quickly. ‘I suppose I should apologise.’

      ‘For what?’

      ‘It’s my fault you couldn’t sleep last night. You should have just taken me up on my offer, dolcezza, instead of lying awake desperate for me.’

      ‘Desperate for you?’ Her voice rose slightly. ‘You think I was desperate for you?’

      ‘I know you were. You should have just admitted how you felt. There’s no shame in finding me irresistible. It happens.’

      ‘Not to me.’ Two streaks of angry colour highlighted her cheekbones and Luca smiled and sprang from the car.

      ‘Bene. Forget the make-up. You don’t need it and he doesn’t need to see you putting it on. You’re ready.’

      ‘Ready for what? Ready to kill you? You make me so mad I could—I could—’

      ‘You could thank me. Two minutes ago you were the colour of mozzarella. Now you look human. Anger is instant blusher. So is sexual arousal, by the way, but I’ll save that trick for when we’re alone. And by “ready” I mean ready to face him.’ Sliding his hand around her waist, he hauled her against him and lowered his voice. ‘Never go up against a man like Rafaele showing you’re afraid. Go out there and fight.’

      Her eyes were wide. ‘You made me angry on purpose?’

      ‘Sì. Making a woman want to kill me is my special gift. It ensures they don’t exceed their sell-by date.’

      She made a sound between a sob and curled her fingers into the front of his shirt. ‘You’re—you’re—’

      ‘I’m perfect. Now smile—’ he kissed the top of her head ‘—we have company. Not the company I would have chosen, but such is life. Ah, Rafaele, I saw you admiring my car. Work hard and maybe one day you’ll be able to afford one.’

      Rafaele ignored Luca and looked straight at Taylor. It was like an eagle spotting a vole.

      To give her credit, Taylor managed to look relaxed as she greeted him. ‘Rafaele.’

      ‘Querida. We have so much to catch up on.’ The sentence was loaded with subtext and Luca frowned slightly and was about to intervene when Taylor stepped forward.

      ‘My name is Taylor.’ Her voice was steady and strong. ‘And we don’t have anything to catch up on.’

      ‘And soon she’ll be Taylor Corretti,’ Luca said coldly, ‘so you might want to bear that in mind before you call her “querida” or anything else that implies intimacy. I don’t tolerate other men hitting on my woman. Unlike the wimp in your movie, I don’t forgive or forget.’ He draped a possessive arm around her shoulders, his eyes fixed on the older man’s face in blatant challenge. He thought of Taylor as she must have been at seventeen and then looked at the man standing in front of him and decided he didn’t like what he saw.

      Rafaele stepped forward, eyes narrowed. ‘I read about the engagement. I see her taste in men hasn’t improved over the years.’

      ‘I disagree.’ Luca delivered his coolest smile. ‘Any time you want to treat yourself to a suit that fits properly, just give me a call. Well-cut quality fabric can transform even the most unfortunate of body shapes. I’m sure we can do something for you.’ He could sense Taylor’s tension. And something more. Nerves. This man made her nervous.

      Clearly her history with Rafaele upset her deeply and it was obvious the director knew it and used it.

      ‘I hope all this personal stuff isn’t going to distract you from your work. This is a challenging role for someone like you.’ With every carefully chosen word he chipped away at the woman Taylor had become, exposing the vulnerability underneath.

      Luca, who loathed bullies, resisted the urge to rearrange the other man’s features. ‘Taylor is the most talented actress of her generation. When you worked with her she was hampered by bad direction.’

      Rafaele’s lips curled. ‘Taylor always responded well to direction.’

      Luca stepped forward but Taylor’s hand gripped his arm.

      ‘I can handle this. I just want to do my job.’

      ‘Good—’ Rafaele gestured to one of the crew ‘—because today we’re filming the scene where you discover the husband you thought was dead, is alive.’

      ‘Obviously going to be a laugh a minute,’ Luca drawled, turning her away from Rafaele and towards him. ‘I’ll leave you to it, tesoro, and pick you up at the end of the day. The board want evidence that you’re real so we’re going to a drinks reception at the hotel. Not my favourite way to spend an evening. I’d