SITTING DOWN IN front of the mirror, Leah stared critically at her reflection. In the past she had always taken pride in her appearance, straightening her unruly auburn curls into a sleek curtain and artfully applying make-up to accentuate her eyes. But recently she had hardly given it a thought. What with all the stress of finding out she was pregnant and moving to London, she had had other things on her mind. And coping with a newborn baby had left no time for preening herself. Besides, what was the point? The only man in her life was Gabriel, and luckily he seemed to adore her no matter what she looked like.
But now she leant in for a closer look, frowning at the dusting of freckles that had appeared across her nose. They might be the unwanted result of nearly two weeks in the Mediterranean sun, but she had to admit her skin had a glow to it that had been missing for months. Her eyes looked clearer too—less tired and sleep-deprived. For some unknown reason, Gabriel had taken to sleeping really well here, going right through the night for the last three nights in a row, which was almost unheard of.
Leah told herself that it was because it was so quiet—no police sirens or drunken brawls or thumping music from the neighbours. But somehow he just seemed altogether more settled, almost as if he had come home. Which was ridiculous. But it did mean that Leah had had more uninterrupted sleep than she’d had for a very long time and she knew she felt better for it.
Rooting around in her make-up bag, she found some bronze eyeshadow and mascara and set about applying them. A touch of blusher on her cheeks and some red lipstick and she was done. As she regarded her reflection again she was surprised to see how much more like the old Leah she looked. Apart from her hair. She hadn’t bothered with straighteners for months, and she certainly hadn’t thought to bring them here, with Jaco breathing down her neck as she had been bullied into packing her belongings.
Releasing the band that held her ponytail, she shook her head so that the loose curls fell over her shoulders. Then, picking up her brush, she set about taming them as best she could, vigorously brushing until her hair shone.
Finally ready, she stood up, firmly pulling down the hem of the halter-neck minidress she was wearing. She had very little in the way of clothes here—hardly surprising, considering the circumstances. This emerald-green number was the only thing she had that even approached ‘smart’, and it seemed a whole lot snugger now than it had when she had worn it pre-Gabriel—before her life had been turned upside down.
Smoothing the lightweight jersey fabric over her bottom and across her bust, she wondered if maybe it was too revealing. Oh, what the hell? Picking up the baby monitor, Leah peeped into the crib one last time to check that Gabriel was sound asleep, and headed for the living room. What difference did it make anyway? Jaco would probably barely notice what she had on. They were having a meal together this evening to talk about the future, about how they could make it work with the three of them. It was most definitely not about anything else.
Leah could hardly believe she was contemplating any sort of future with Jaco in it, but what choice did she have? He was Gabriel’s father, after all, and such was his determination, his wealth and influence, she strongly suspected that to fight against him would prove to be futile. Worse than futile. If she continued to struggle she would just be causing herself more pain.
So when Jaco had suggested that they sit down for a meal together and talk things through, and had said that he would cook, she had fought against her natural instinct to tell him what he could do with his cooking and reluctantly agreed instead. Her only hope was that she could make him see sense—see that the three of them living together could never, ever work.
The open-plan living area was empty when Leah walked in, the wide glass doors open so that a gentle breeze stirred the air. Ignoring the strip of dark blue water bisecting the room, she moved to the doorway, letting her shoulders drop for a minute as she took in the expansive view of the sea and the sky, bathed in soft evening light. Cicadas chirped in the ancient olive trees as she breathed in the scent of jasmine and lavender, the slight tang of sea spray carried in on the breeze.
It occurred to Leah that on paper this place was as close to paradise as you were ever likely to get. But having to share paradise with the pervasive influence of a dark and brooding Jaco Valentino meant it felt more as if she had dropped through the burning doors of hell.
A sound to her left made her turn her head, and Jaco appeared from the steps that led down to the terraced garden. Wearing black jeans and a white tee shirt, he looked relaxed and bronzed and as effortlessly handsome as ever. He stopped when he saw her, pushing his sunglasses up onto his head, and his eyes travelled rapidly over Leah’s body, leaving a blazing trail in their wake.
‘You look...’ His hesitation only set Leah’s heart thumping harder. ‘Molto bella.’
‘Thanks.’ She couldn’t meet his eye. She didn’t want his smooth, well-worn compliments. Instead she glanced at the small bunch of herbs in his hand. ‘What’s that?’
‘Oregano.’ He advanced towards her. ‘It grows wild around here.’ He crushed some of the leaves between his fingers and held them in the palm of his hand. ‘Here—smell that.’
Leah did as she was told, inhaling deeply, closing her eyes to block out his nearness. She opened them again to see Jaco staring intently at her. For a moment he didn’t move. Seconds passed.
‘Right, well...’ Finally Jaco broke the silence, his throat sounding parched. ‘I guess I’d better get on with the cooking.’
‘Anything I can do to help?’ She badly needed to do something practical—anything to take her mind off the sexual tension that was swirling around them like an impending storm.
‘No, no, it’s all under control.’
Of course it was. When wasn’t every aspect of Jaco’s life under control?
As Leah watched his retreating back every nerve in her body still hummed from that small exchange. From the way he had looked at her, the hunger in his eyes. It was the same hunger that had been there from the start—from their very first meeting.
Walking unsteadily into the living room, Leah seated herself at the end of the long glass dining table, where Jaco had set two places. How come she still felt that pull? That physical tug that had her heart racing, her breasts tingling, her whole body craving him? How could she still want him so badly after the way he had treated her? Now that she knew the kind of man he really was? But the fact was she did. And, unless she was very much mistaken, he felt it too.
Jaco came back into the room, holding an ice bucket to his chest. Leah watched as he took out a bottle, untwisting the wire from around the cork and expertly popping it free. Quickly filling two glass flutes, he handed one to her before seating himself opposite.
‘Try this.’ His eyes didn’t leave her face. ‘I would like your opinion.’
‘It’s from Capezzana?’ Leah took the glass from him, glad of the distraction.
Jaco nodded. ‘Sí, it’s the first sparkling wine we have produced. A blend of chardonnay and pino nero grapes, using the traditional metodo classico.’
Leah took a sip and felt the creamy bubbles slide down her throat. ‘It’s delicious.’ She took another sip, savouring the taste in her mouth for a moment before swallowing. ‘Hints of vanilla and lemon...dry, but aromatic.’
A smile quirked the corner of Jaco’s mouth. ‘I see I have taught you well.’
Suddenly self-conscious, Leah looked away. ‘Have you started marketing it yet?’
‘No, not yet.’ Jaco took a healthy sip of the wine before returning his all-seeing gaze to her face. ‘I lost my marketing manager a year ago and haven’t managed to replace her yet.’
Leah’s spine stiffened. ‘I’m sure there are plenty of people who would love to do that job.’
‘Maybe. But no one as good as you, Leah.’
‘I didn’t do anything special.’
‘I think we both know that’s not true. I would say you were very special.’
Leah looked down, cursing the flush that was creeping over her cheeks.
‘You were a great marketing manager and you know it,’ Jaco continued dryly. ‘Which is why I want you to get involved again.’
Leah gaped at him in surprise. ‘You are offering me a job?’
‘No, not a job.’
‘Good.’ She let out a derisive huff. ‘Then that will save me having to turn you down.’
A pulse twitched in Jaco’s cheek and he took a breath, casting his eyes down as he found the control to continue.
‘I am not offering you a job...’ he took another swallow of wine, his Adam’s apple moving in his throat ‘...but a way of life. A future. Somewhere for you and Gabriel to settle, put down roots. I would like you to have an active role in the running of the vineyard.’
He raised his eyes and suddenly Leah could see just how much this meant to him reflected in his midnight gaze. Not that that offered her any sort of comfort—far from it. Instead she felt the ties that bound them together pulling tighter all the time, wrapping around her, restricting her limbs and compressing her chest, squeezing the air out of her.
‘You mean you want to put us to work?’ It was a sulky reply, designed to cover up her deep unease. ‘Perhaps you would like Gabriel to crush the grapes for you, or maybe crawl under the vines to reach the low-hanging fruit?’
‘It’s a thought.’
Her sarcasm backfired spectacularly when Jaco’s sensuous smile arrowed straight to her wounded heart.
‘It is a family business after all.’
A family business. Leah gazed at him from beneath lowered lashes. She knew exactly what family meant to proud Sicilians like Jaco. She knew she had no chance of ever fighting against its vice-like hold.
She took another sip of wine, letting it slide down her throat, hoping to cool the heat of anxiety that was starting to raise her core temperature.
The fact that Jaco was determined she and Gabriel should make Capezzana their home, when no doubt he had countless properties all over the world, felt ominously significant. The Capezzana estate had been in his family for generations—his birth parents had owned it before the tragic accident that had taken their lives. She remembered being told by the estate workers that Jaco had bought it back a few years ago, restoring the palazzo and the neglected vineyard as a mark of respect to them. It didn’t take much imagination to work out Jaco’s intentions.
‘So, did you grow up at Capezzana?’ She asked the question lightly, in the way a hostage might try to engage her captor in conversation.
‘Yes.’ Jaco’s reply was quick, brusque. ‘Until I was five.’
‘That was when your parents died?’
‘Sí.’
‘And it means a lot to you?’
‘Yes, it does.’ Defensive now, he stared coldly back at her. ‘Capezzana is the only property I own with any family history. It is fitting that my son should grow up there.’
There it was—all her worst fears confirmed, spoken from the perfectly formed lips of the man himself. She had absolutely no ammunition against this sort of history. This sort of control.
‘And my family count for nothing, I suppose?’ Still she wriggled on the hook.
‘Your sister and your nephew have already made their home in Sicily. Your father is welcome to visit any time he chooses.’ His jaw flexed with determination. ‘Obviously you can visit your homeland as often as you like. But Gabriel’s home will be at Capezzana.’
‘And when, exactly, did you get to make all the rules?’
‘Fighting this is futile, Leah. You might just as well accept that.’
With infuriating calmness, he pushed back his chair and got to his feet. Leah could only gawp with surprise as he turned away and started towards the kitchen.
‘So...’ He addressed her over his arrogantly angled shoulder. ‘How do you like your steak?’
So that was it, was it? Decided?
Jaco’s idea of talking things through, working things out, had been nothing more than an excuse for him to deliver his dictate—tell her exactly what was going to happen?
Humming with impotent fury, Leah watched his retreating figure. Then, slamming down her wine glass, she followed him into the sleek kitchen, positioning herself behind him with her hands on her hips. Just to fire her up even more, Jaco totally ignored her, busying himself putting the griddle pan on the hob, then stripping the oregano leaves into the mortar and using the pestle to grind them into a paste with garlic and olive oil.
Through a haze of red mist, Leah dimly acknowledged that she’d had no idea he could cook. But then she’d had no idea about anything when it came to Jaco Valentino.
Picking up the first of two steaks, he spread the mixture on both sides and laid it on the pan, where it sizzled temptingly.
‘Medium okay for you?’ He started to spread the second steak. ‘I like mine pretty rare, but I know that’s not to everyone’s taste.’
‘You mean I get a choice?’ Leah growled at him. ‘You seem so hell-bent on controlling my life, I’m surprised that doesn’t include what I put in my mouth.’
She had been aiming for barbed sarcasm, but somehow her innocent words had come out all wrong and a flush rapidly spread over her cheeks. And when Jaco slowly turned to face her, his deliberately provocative gaze seemed to suck all the oxygen from the room.
‘I wouldn’t dream of dictating what you put in your mouth.’ His voice was as rich as dark chocolate, as smooth as silk. ‘Though I do remember being on very intimate terms with it.’
Leah’s flush turned even more violent as she desperately searched for some sort of clever retort—any retort at all, in fact.
‘And very pleasurable it was too...’
Too late. Before she could do so much as pull in a gasp of air Jaco had seized the moment, taking her breath along with it.
He made his move. Drifting his fingertips along her jawline, curling his hand around the side of her neck, sliding aside the curtain of hair and firmly drawing her to him. Leah’s heart thundered inside her. She knew she should push him away, but with his thumb rhythmically stroking her jaw, the heat of his palm on her neck, she first had to fight the tide of pleasure. And when Jaco lowered his head, his breath hot against her cheek, Leah felt her lips tingle, swelling with blood, parting, silently begging to be kissed.
The kiss, when it came, was hot and fierce and punishing. With the fingers of both hands threading through her hair, Jaco pinned her body against his, using his mouth like a weapon of destruction—the destruction of her willpower, her resolve, any sense of reason.
Surge after surge of frantic sensation crashed over her as Jaco’s mouth performed its erotic onslaught, his tongue tangling with hers, wet and sweet, his lips working their wicked magic and his teeth occasionally nipping at the softness of her lower lip in a blatant display of dominance and control.
His hands left her face, rapidly moving over her bare shoulders and down her back, smoothing over the curve of her buttocks, where they stopped. His fingers branded her skin beneath the tight fabric of her dress before they clenched firmly, pulling her to him, the swell of his arousal pressing against her stomach, sending her into a spiral of deep and desperate longing.
Stumbling forward, Jaco took Leah with him, their bodies a tangle of limbs and flesh and gasping breath until Leah felt her back pressing against the wall. Jaco’s hands went to the tops of her arms and his head dipped to kiss her again, his chest heaving.
‘Dio, Leah.’ His voice was thick with desire. ‘What is it with you? Why do you do this to me?’
Leah could ask the same question of him. Actually, she couldn’t, having totally lost the power of speech along with all her other faculties.
Towering over her, exuding a dark, masculine power all his own, Jaco found the hem of her dress and slipped his hand tantalisingly beneath, sliding upwards between her inner thighs, making Leah tremble with delicious longing until he reached her panties, where his fingers began to trace the outline of the lacy fabric with a featherlight touch.
Leah held herself very still, silently willing him to carry on, at the same time knowing that she really, really shouldn’t want him to. That this was madness.
His fingers followed the line of her panties to where the swollen nub of her throbbed with forbidden need. She desperately wanted him to go further, to slip underneath and work his magic in a way that she knew only he could. Only he ever could.
She moaned softly, arching her hips so that his hand pressed more firmly against her, leaving him in no doubt about what she wanted and how badly she wanted it. Not that she needed to spell it out. She had never had any defence against Jaco’s power, against the sheer sexual magnetism of him, and well he knew it.
He responded with a primal grunt of satisfaction or need or both. Leah no longer had the capability to work it out. It didn’t matter anyway. His fingers started to slide beneath her panties and Leah closed her eyes.
Only to snap them open as a piercing shriek echoed around the room, blasting her eardrums.
‘Merda!’
Cursing violently, Jaco pulled away and marched over to the hob. The burning steak had set off the smoke alarm. Picking up the handle of the pan, he let out a violent Sicilian curse, flinging the pan to the floor.
‘Sanguinoso inferno!’
The swearing continued, and Leah fought to suppress a smile as he leapt up onto the island work station, stretching to reach the alarm on the ceiling and frantically pressing buttons until finally the terrible noise stopped. Then he paused, placing his hands on his hips, his gaze travelling from the mess on the floor to where Leah still stood by the wall, her clothes now pulled back into place.
‘You did say charred, right?’
Leah burst out laughing. She couldn’t help it. ‘Come here.’ She walked towards him. ‘Let me see that hand.’
‘It’s nothing.’ Towering over her like a colossus, feet apart, hands on hips, Jaco gazed down at her, clearly in no hurry to relinquish his position of great height.
‘Come on.’ Leah beckoned to him, and after a moment’s pause Jaco jumped down beside her, obediently holding out his palm.
Leah took his hand in hers, turning it to catch the light. A red patch was forming on the lower pads of his fingers.
‘You need to run it under cold water.’ Before he had the chance to object she reached across his body, taking his hand with her, and turned on the tap, holding his fingers under the running water.
Jaco gave her a sideways glance. ‘You make a good nurse.’ Leah removed her hand, but when Jaco did the same she shoved his back under the tap. ‘Bossy, but sexy with it.’
‘Then do as you’re told and keep your hand under that water while I clear up this mess.’
She turned away, intent on distracting herself from Jaco’s deliberate teasing. For this was a glimpse of the old Jaco—the one she’d thought she had known. Cheeky, sexy, fun to be around. It was the first time she had seen it in the whole time they had been on the island.
‘Leave it, Leah.’ He turned off the tap and caught hold of her shoulder.
‘Well, someone is going to have to—’
‘I said leave it.’ Suddenly serious again, he moved his hand to the small of her back, pulling her against him again. ‘We have unfinished business to attend to.’
‘Jaco... I...’
But suddenly his mouth was on hers again, hot and raw and punishing, stealing all reason. And when he broke the kiss to sweep her up into his arms Leah held on tight, burying her face in his collarbone, pressing her nose into the hollow at the base of his throat so that she could inhale his unique exotic scent. And she knew right there and then that she was totally lost.
After carrying her through to the living room Jaco set her down, plunging his fingers through her hair and capturing her mouth again. Leah slid her arms down the broad width of his back, feeling the muscles flex and buck beneath her touch. Releasing her for a second, Jaco crossed his arms over his chest and, feeling for the bottom of his tee shirt, roughly pulled it over his head and cast it aside.
Leah took a moment to savour the image of his physique in the dying light of the room: the width of his shoulders, the smooth curve of his rock-hard pecs, the tight, dark nipples, the pronounced six-pack of a man who was no stranger to a workout, the line of dark hair descending into his low-slung jeans. He really was perfection personified.
Leah raised her hands to smooth his deliciously ruffled hair, but Jaco took hold of her wrists, his eyes glittering with raw, animal desire.
‘Bed.’
The single word was uttered with all the heavy, dark promise of what was to come. Threading his fingers through hers, he pulled her against him and together they stumbled a couple of steps across the living room, their bodies pressed together, their feet tripping each other up, until they gave up completely and came to a standstill with the strip of glass floor beneath their feet, the water glinting darkly.
With his eyes focussed solely on her face, Jaco caught the hem of Leah’s dress and tugged it up to her waist. His hands moved to caress her bottom through her panties, and he made a deep groaning noise against her throat as he kissed her again.
Leah felt for the buttons of his jeans with trembling fingers, drawing in a sharp breath at the way they strained against the might of the hot, hard column of flesh beneath. She fumbled to release the first couple of buttons but, impatient, Jaco took over, ripping them open with a sharp tug, then pulling down his jeans and his boxers with them, until he was gloriously stark naked.
Drawing her to him again, he slid his hot hands over the tops of her thighs before looping his fingers through the flimsy fabric of her panties and sliding them down her legs, kneeling at her feet and lifting first one and then the other so he could cast the lace aside.
Leah stared down at him, at the dark curls on his head, the tanned skin of the bunched muscles of his back and shoulders, gazing at the sheer power and pleasure there, waiting to be unleashed.
And then he was standing again, pulling her to him, his arms around her back, pressing the full length of his naked body against her, moving her backwards to the white leather sofa where they fell down together. Leah found herself on top of Jaco as their legs wound around each other, their mouths crushing, melding, their breathing coming in hot, hard pants, merging until it was impossible to know whose breath was whose, until they were one and the same.
With her dress still bunched up around her waist, Leah freed her arms to try and peel it over her head, but a growl from Jaco stopped her and he brought her back down, lifting her hips to position himself perfectly beneath her. And then, after an agonising split second of a pause, he thrust, plunging the whole, hot, hard, silky length of himself inside her.
Leah gasped with shock and pleasure. The sheer size of him, the intensely intimate sensation making her sink her nails into his bare flesh. It had been such a long time she had almost forgotten the power of this—the extraordinary feeling of profound desire coupled with deep and urgent need.
And yet as Jaco started to move inside her, picking up a primal, erotic rhythm, it felt so blissfully, orgasmically right—as if her whole body had been dormant until this moment, frozen, sleeping, waiting to be awoken by this handsome prince. She could already feel the tremor of an orgasm starting to tingle inside her, rapidly building up to a tidal wave of strength until she started to shake with the effort of containing it, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to hang on much longer.
‘Not yet.’
With a guttural moan Jaco gripped her hips more tightly, his fingers digging into her flesh as he used the span of his hands to steady her so that he could thrust harder, even more deeply. His eyes flickered beneath half-closed lids, and as Leah gazed down at him she could see that he was battling to hold back his own release—that even now, even in the throes of such carnal lust, he had to be in control, commanding that she did as she was told, that neither of them would come until he gave his permission.
Well, she would see about that. Pushing her hands against his chest, which was slicked with sweat, Leah jerked her torso upright, arching her back and throwing back her head, deepening the glorious sensation of his thrusts still further. He could do this to her—he could make her feel like no other man ever could—but he couldn’t control her response.
And then she let herself go. Freely giving herself over to her orgasm, she let it take her wherever it wanted to, over the edge of the cliff and into free fall, her body jerking and writhing as sensation after sensation passed through her. She lifted her chin to the ceiling, her hair cascading down her back as she bucked and trembled. Somewhere in the midst of her intense euphoria she became aware that Jaco had also given way to his own release. And that each was gasping the other’s name.