SITTING DOWN ON the rugged stone step, Leah cupped her chin in her hands and stared at the view. In the distance, framed by an azure sky and a deep blue sea, she could make out the shapes of two small islands, one further away than the other, both hazy against the sky and fringed with a white ring of surf.
Jaco might have refused to tell her exactly where they were, but Leah had worked it out for herself. On her first trip to Capezzana he had mentioned a string of volcanic islands that he owned off the north coast of Sicily, and how he would love to show them to her one day. He had probably forgotten he’d ever told her but, totally mesmerised by the enigmatic Sicilian, Leah had stored away every bit of information she had managed to glean from him.
As she gazed around her now, at the dark soil, the profusion of succulents and cacti, the exotic colourful flowers that thrived in these fertile conditions, she knew this had to be where she was.
Not that the information was of much use to her. Short of putting a message in a bottle, she had no idea how to let anyone know of her plight. It wasn’t as if she could swim to the nearest island. Anyway, it was probably uninhabited, or also owned by Jaco, or both. No, much as she had tried to fight against it, with every furious fibre of her being, she had to accept that she and Gabriel were prisoners here until such time as Jaco saw fit to set them free. Presumably when this hateful business deal had been concluded.
Giving a heavy sigh of frustration, she leant over to pick a bright purple flower, spinning it between her fingers before absently tucking it behind her ear. They had been holed up here for over a week now and, far from lessening, the pressure of being held prisoner was growing worse with every passing day.
The secrets that Jaco was so intent on withholding loomed larger in her head the more time she had to think about them. Because in Leah’s experience, secrets were only there to cover up lies—the sort of lies that could hurt you...badly. Scarred for life by her first attempt at a relationship, she could hardly believe she had done it again—fallen for a scheming, lying cheat. Only this time the drop had been a thousand miles deeper, a thousand times harder.
These were the thoughts that had haunted her for the past nine days and nights, accompanied at all times by the forbiddingly dark and brooding spectre of Jaco Valentino.
Somehow he managed to be both everywhere she looked and yet never actually sharing the same space. His formidable presence filled the air, putting Leah’s fragile senses on high alert, whilst actually having very little engagement with her. In fact, since that kiss by the pool on the first day he seemed to have gone out of his way to avoid her.
That kiss.
The memory of it still shivered through her body. They had been apart for so long, and so much had happened, that Leah had genuinely forgotten the overwhelming power of it—the sheer, wondrous bliss of being kissed by him. She knew she should never have surrendered to it the way she had, that her body had betrayed her in the most blatant way, but how on earth was she supposed to resist? How could any girl not fall under his spell when subjected to such a gloriously erotic onslaught? Much as she told herself that she had to be strong, that she could resist him, would resist him, the fact was Jaco could still set her on fire with nothing more than a slumberous glance from those hypnotic brown eyes.
So it was just as well that he was keeping his distance. The more he kept out of her way the better. She didn’t want anything to do him—especially now she’d discovered that being a two-timing cheat was only one of his crimes. That he had a dark side that struck fear into her very soul.
She would just have to try to bide her time and survive the next few days, and then get as far away from him as she possibly could. Whatever else, she had to control her body’s extreme reaction to him. Stop it from betraying her.
But how? That was the question. How did she stop her heart from banging in her chest whenever he walked into the room? Or leaping to her throat when he spoke to her? How was she supposed to react to the sight of his bronzed body, frequently stripped to the waist, as he wandered around the villa or strolled along the side of the pool, scooping up fallen leaves. Everything about his lithe movements, the flex of his muscles, the gleam of the sun on his dark curls—even the sound of his footsteps—sent her into a spin of craving and confusion that she had no command over at all.
Getting to her feet, Leah headed back up the steps towards the villa. She never liked to stray too far from Gabriel, even when he had just been fed and settled and she knew he would sleep for at least an hour. The idea that there were people out there who might want to harm her baby son because of Jaco’s corrupt business deals still made her feel sick. As did the fact that Jaco was the sort of man who would get involved with such people—worse still, was probably one of them himself.
But strangely—and this she didn’t even understand herself—Jaco also made her feel safe. Deep down she knew that no harm would ever come to Gabriel while he was under Jaco’s protection. Such was his authority, his total dominance, that she had no doubt he would have everything covered—every potential danger would have been anticipated and dealt with. Which, she supposed, explained why she and Gabriel were holed up here.
The villa was quiet when she stepped inside, her eyes taking a moment to adjust from the bright sunshine. She’d started towards the kitchen with the idea of making herself some coffee when something made her change her mind and she turned back towards her bedroom. Her heart stopped. The door to her room was wide open, yet she knew she had pulled it almost closed when she had left.
Adrenaline surged through her, speeding her silently forward until she reached the doorway, where she came to a sudden halt. There, standing with his back to her, looking down into the crib, was Jaco. Leah paused, waiting for her breath to steady.
She assumed he must have heard her approach—indeed that he would be able to hear the way her heart was banging with alarm. But as the seconds ticked by and he showed no sign of acknowledging her presence she realised she must be mistaken. He appeared to be so intent on studying the contents of the crib that he hadn’t noticed her arrival at all.
Leah moved slightly to the side of the doorway so that she could observe the scene less obviously. She could hear Gabriel stirring now, recognised the shuffling sound of his legs kicking against the sheet before his little arms appeared, waving around with determined purpose. She watched as Jaco leant forward, her curiosity overriding her natural instinct to rush in and scoop Gabriel up herself.
‘Ciao, piccolo uomo.’ The words were softly uttered under Jaco’s breath. Hello, little man.
Leah stared, spellbound, as Jaco tentatively held out a finger and Gabriel made a grab for it, grasping it in his fist.
‘That’s right.’
Leah could hear the smile in Jaco’s hushed voice.
‘I am your papà. Pleased to meet you.’ He reached forward with his free hand to stroke Gabriel’s curls lightly.
From her covert position, Leah watched, her breath hitched with surprise. Up until now Jaco hadn’t shown the slightest interest in his son.
‘Va bene.’ Jaco rolled back his shoulders, almost as if he was having to psyche himself up. ‘Let’s pick you up, shall we?’
He paused for a second, before finally grasping Gabriel under the arms and lifting him carefully out of the crib.
‘There we are.’ He held him cautiously at arm’s length, slowly turning him first one way and then the other, as if considering him from every angle. Front-facing again, Gabriel stared back at him, unblinking. ‘You are a fine little fellow, aren’t you?’
In response Gabriel started to kick his legs beneath him, but his eyes never left his father’s face.
Jaco smiled at him. ‘And lively too.’
Carefully transferring Gabriel to the crook of his arm, Jaco wrapped his arms around him so that he was nestled against his chest. ‘There—how’s that?’
Neither of them looked one hundred per cent comfortable. Jaco’s biceps were bunched way too hard for Gabriel’s weight, making a pillow of stone to support his head. And his arms were wrapped so tightly around and under Gabriel that corded veins showed beneath his tanned skin. But, surprisingly, Gabriel made no move to escape. Apart from one leg, which he had kicked free to dangle over Jaco’s arm, he seemed content to snuggle there, looking up at his father with something bordering on adoration in his eyes.
Leah sucked in a silent breath. She hadn’t expected this—this visceral, deep-rooted response to the sight of her son in his father’s arms. She couldn’t explain what it was, knew only that it had weakened her bones, that if it hadn’t been for the door frame she feared she might have slid to the ground. But still she couldn’t stop staring at the two of them, mesmerised by the sight of their skin-to-skin contact, Gabriel’s pale softness against Jaco’s dark strength. Despite the awkwardness they looked right together—bonded. Almost as if this moment had been preordained.
Which was stupid.
Pulling herself together, Leah shook off the unwanted sentiment and pushed back her shoulders. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the room.
‘What do you think you are doing?’
She knew she sounded unnecessarily aggressive...snarky. She knew, too, that an agitated flush had spread over her cheeks.
Jaco looked up from where his gaze had been fixed on his son’s face, meeting her eyes with deliberate calm. ‘What does it look like I’m doing?’ He threw down the words like a gauntlet. ‘I am holding my son.’
‘Well, don’t.’ Leah advanced towards him like the wind before a storm. ‘I’m here now. I’ll take him.’
Positioning herself in front of him, she held out her arms to take Gabriel from him, but clearly Jaco had other ideas.
Swinging the cradle of his arms to one side, he moved Gabriel out of her reach. ‘All in good time.’ He looked down at his son before raising his eyes to hers again. ‘We are just starting to get to know one another.’
‘Well, don’t bother.’
The surge of emotion at seeing the two of them together had sharpened her tongue like a blade. She moved in front of them again, pointedly waiting for Gabriel to be transferred to her.
‘It’s no bother.’ This time Jaco didn’t move, standing his ground instead, like a bronzed statue.
‘Really? Then how come it’s taken you all this time to even pick him up?’ Leah gave him both barrels. ‘In fact, you have barely even looked at him.’
It had surprised Leah at first—Jaco’s lack of interest in his son. She had fully expected him to take control of Gabriel the way he took control of every aspect of his life. To own him like a piece of property. But instead he had barely acknowledged Gabriel’s existence, deliberately keeping his distance, looking the other way when Leah walked through the villa with Gabriel in her arms, avoiding the shady area on the decking where she had taken to laying out a rug to let him kick. In fact, during the whole, torturous nine days they had been together on this island, Jaco had never enquired after his son’s well-being once.
Leah had told herself she didn’t care. More than that, it was a relief. Pushing aside the niggle of hurt that Jaco could be so dismissive of something as amazing as their son, that he failed to see the wonder they had created and, by association, her part in that wonder, she had decided his indifference was actually a good thing. It was another reminder of why Jaco was a totally unsuitable father. Quite apart from his depraved behaviour, he was obviously a man with no heart.
‘I admit it’s taken me a while to get my head around the idea of being a father.’ Jaco coolly deflected her ire. ‘But don’t forget I haven’t had as long as you to get used to the idea.’
The implied meaning of his words hung between them, just as he had meant them to do.
‘However, I’m starting to get used to it.’ He looked down at Gabriel, who was wriggling now, and adjusted his arms to try and make him more comfortable. ‘I have to say he is certainly a bel bambino.’ He laid a protective hand over the top of Gabriel’s head. ‘Or what is it you say in Scotland? A bonny baby?’
Leah glared at him. His attempt at a Scottish accent was frankly dreadful. In any case, she didn’t want him describing Gabriel in any language. She didn’t want him to have anything to do with her precious son.
‘I don’t see any point in you trying to bond with Gabriel when your contact with him is going to be so brief.’
‘Mi dispiace? I’m sorry?’ Jaco raised cold eyes to look at her. ‘Whatever makes you think that?’
‘Well...’ Leah forced herself to meet the glitter of his stare. ‘I assume that once this wretched deal of yours is completed Gabriel and I will be free to go back to the life we had before you kidnapped us. That you will leave us in peace.’ She was trying for an air of superior sarcasm, but there had been more than a hint of desperation in there.
‘Then you assume wrongly.’ His gaze sharpened. ‘I intend to play a full and active role in my son’s life.’
‘Right.’ Leah gave him a mocking pout. ‘And how exactly do you intend to do that when we live in different countries?’
A foreboding silence fell between them, punctuated by a small gurgle from Gabriel. Even before Leah had finished saying the words she felt the trap opening up beneath her, saw herself falling into it. She could only wait, with dread in her heart, to hear what might be coming next.
‘I have been giving that some thought.’ Jaco brushed a stray eyelash from Gabriel’s cheek. ‘And I have decided that Capezzana would be the best option.’
‘The best option for what?’ She really didn’t want to hear this.
‘For us to live in, of course.’
‘Us?’
‘Sí—you, me and Gabriel.’
‘No!’ Leah let out a gasp of shock. ‘I mean there is no us.’
‘I think you’ll find there is.’ He jiggled Gabriel in his arms, already more confident with him.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. There is no way Gabriel and I are going to move to Capezzana—I can tell you that right now.’
‘I seem to remember you jumped at the chance the first time I suggested it.’ Jaco’s reply was as smooth as silk.
‘Well, yes, but that was different.’ Leah cast around, looking for some sort of lifeline that wasn’t there. ‘At the time I needed a change. I needed a job.’
‘And now you have a job. The most important job in the world, in fact. That of being the mother of my child.’
Leah felt the blood surge through her veins, and her palms itched to wipe that sanctimonious look off Jaco’s infuriatingly handsome face. How dared he pontificate on the importance of motherhood? And what was all this my child business? As if he somehow had the right to dictate her behaviour.
‘I don’t need your patronising advice, thank you very much. Especially when you hardly know one end of a baby from the other.’ She tossed back her head with such force that Gabriel blinked at her in surprise. ‘You seem to be forgetting that I have actually lived and breathed the job for the past three months.’
‘I know that.’
‘No, you don’t, actually.’ She was on a roll now, picking up temper as she went. ‘You have no idea...no idea at all...what it’s like to be responsible for a newborn baby all on your own. How you worry about every little thing—whether he’s too hot or too cold, whether he’s feeding too much or not enough, whether those little spots really are just a milk rash or something much more serious. Whether you will ever get him to sleep and then...and then...’ She took in a shuddering breath.
‘And then what, Leah?’ Jaco’s eyes bored into her. ‘Go on.’
Leah drew in a ragged breath. ‘And then, when he finally does sleep through the night, the blind panic that comes over you that something terrible must have happened to him. The way your heart stops as you look into the crib, only starting again when you realise he is alive, when he is pressed against your chest, soft and warm and breathing.’
She stopped abruptly, realising she had said far too much, given herself away. Her hands flew to cover her hot cheeks.
* * *
A bruised silence settled around them as Jaco studied Leah’s flushed face, searching deep into her eyes. The colour of autumn leaves, those eyes had held a fascination for him from the start. The way they glowed with vitality when she laughed, shot sparks of fire when she was angry, darkened to a sultry heat when she was aroused. But now... Now they were clouded with strain and anguish, unwittingly revealing the terrors of the last few months, the sheer weight of the responsibility she had had to endure. Alone.
He sucked in a breath, the impact of that realisation pressing down on his chest. He had been so angry when he had found out about Leah’s deception, so enraged that she could have given birth to his son without telling him, that he had failed to look at it from her point of view at all. Until now.
Did she really hate him so much that she had been prepared to endure any hardship rather than ask him for help? And, if so, why? After he had had to cut short their initial conversation on the subject, any further attempts to get answers from her had been blocked with furious contempt.
Not that it mattered now. Jaco couldn’t do anything about the past, but he could determine their future. From now on he would be there for them, whether Leah wanted him to be or not. From now on Leah and his son would be his main priority.
‘You are right.’ He emphatically ended the silence. ‘I did have no idea.’
He saw Leah bristle, her jaw tightening in readiness to do battle again as she fought to banish any trace of vulnerability. But he’d had enough of point-scoring, of trying to get inside Leah’s head.
Bending down, he gently replaced Gabriel in his crib before turning to face Leah again. ‘I can see that things must have been tough for you.’
‘Well...yes.’ Leah stared at him defensively.
‘But all that is going to change. You are not on your own any more. From now on you have me to take care of you and Gabriel.’
‘I never said we needed taking care of.’
‘No arguments, Leah.’
‘But...’
‘I said no arguments.’ Swallowing the space between them with a single stride, he took hold of Leah’s chin, tipping it so that she had no alternative but to meet his determined gaze. ‘You and Gabriel will be coming to live with me.’
As he spoke the weight of his words turned to certainty. He knew he was going to make that happen, no matter what. And as much as he told himself he was doing this for his son, and to ease the burden on Leah, deep down he knew there was another, far more potent reason. He wanted Leah in his bed.
As he gazed at her now his hands itched to thread through her hair, to dislodge the purple flower that she had tucked behind her ear, accentuating her guileless beauty. He had noticed it straight away, that flower, and something about the frivolous gesture had speared his heart. It reminded him of the old Leah. The one he had known before she had been weighed down with responsibilities.
He let his eyes fall to her mouth and felt his breath stutter at the sight of her swollen pout, felt his control slipping still further as the powerful lurch of desire kicked in.
He had no idea how she did this to him, how all his resolve turned to dust whenever he was near her. He wanted to kiss her so badly he almost shook with it, but he refused to give in to his weakness. Not now. Now was not the time. For the time being he would have to content himself with the promise of things to come. Because he knew for certain that they would. The pull of attraction between them was far too strong to be ignored.
Letting go of her chin, he brought her into a hug. That way at least he was spared the pull of her gaze, the torture of her lips—he could almost convince himself he was doing it to comfort her. Circling his arms around her in a close embrace, he was surprised when Leah didn’t fight him, just let herself be held.
For a moment they stayed like that: Leah’s head resting against his shoulder and Jaco breathing in the scent of her hair, feeling the effect ripple through his body like a glass of champagne. But the moment didn’t last long. When Leah stirred in his arms he released her slightly, looking down into her tortured face.
‘No, Jaco, I won’t do it. I have fought so hard to make a life for me and Gabriel. I refuse to give up my freedom and independence now.’
‘Freedom and independence?’ Jaco threw her words back at her. No way was he going to accept that that was what it had been. ‘To me it sounds more like three months of struggle and worry.’
‘Well, of course there were times like that, but...’
‘Not any more, there won’t be. From now on I will take care of you both.’
‘No.’ She raised her hands to lever herself away from him. ‘Gabriel and I can’t move in with you. I can’t let you take over our lives, determine our futures, just like that.’
‘Yes, you can.’ Taking her hands, he clasped them in his own, holding them against his chest. ‘You can and you will.’