One Summer at The Villa. Rebecca Winters

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СКАЧАТЬ cinched the towel low over his hips. He’d been insane to consider, even for a moment, that this sultry princess—the woman who’d been draped over Raúl Vega last night—was anything other than what overwhelming evidence indicated she was.

      She did not defy explanation. She was a beautiful woman who enjoyed her pleasures. Aside from her two royal engagements, she’d been linked with one fashion designer, a German count, three Formula One drivers, and an aging Italian billionaire among others. Raúl Vega was only her latest conquest.

      Cristiano had spent a lot of money and effort to confirm the rumors of Monteverde’s financial crisis. His father believed that if they waited, Monteverde would fall like a domino into their hands.

      But Cristiano was taking no chances; he would allow no eleventh hour rescues. Now that he’d dried up the last source of possible investment, what remained of his plan was simple enough: his money for Antonella’s cooperation in gaining the mineral rights to Monteverde’s ore deposits. With the ore under Monterossan control, he could enforce peace in the region.

      It was their last bankable resource. If he controlled it, he controlled them.

      Yet he knew his plan wasn’t as straightforward as he’d first thought. She was shrewder than he’d imagined, for one thing. Antonella would never allow herself to be bought so cheaply. No, what she would expect was the crown of Monterosso.

      And he would offer it to her on a platter if necessary.

      But he would never deliver it. To go through with a marriage, to her of all people, was out of the question. She would be humiliated, perhaps, but it wouldn’t last. She’d already survived two royal breakups. A third wouldn’t shatter her.

      He glanced up at the roof as a gust of wind howled along the structure. He’d expected trouble, but not this kind. While the storm had worked to his advantage in isolating Antonella, it was bad for every other reason known to man.

      Cristiano pulled open a drawer and found a roll of utility tape. The patio doors were the only ones with no exterior shutters. The addition was new, and though there was an overhang, he didn’t trust that would be enough to protect the glass. Once he finished taping the windows in long spokes across the glass—if they shattered, at least the tape would help prevent shards from going everywhere—he padded toward the bedroom to face his adversary.

      Antonella sat in a chair in one corner, flipping through a magazine. She did not look up as he entered. “Is it any worse?” she asked.

      Cristiano unzipped his bag and pulled out some dry clothes. “Not yet, but I think it soon will be. Did you find a radio?”

      “Yes, but no extra batteries.”

      They would have to be careful listening to updates once the power failed. “There isn’t much food in the house. Crackers, sausage, a jar of olives, aerosol cheese—”

      “What’s aerosol cheese?”

      She’d looked up, her brows drawing together. A moment later, she seemed to realize what she’d done. Her eyes darted to the towel cinched low on his hips, back up again. When her tongue swept over her lower lip, Cristiano thought his body would turn to stone. As it was, the towel was about to reveal her effect on him.

       Dio santo.

      He clamped down on his will, forced his body to behave. “It is an American product,” he said matter-of-factly. He made a motion with his hand. “You spray it on the crackers.”

      “Spray?” She looked horrified.

      “Si.”

      A shudder passed over her. “That sounds perfectly vile.”

      “Depends on how hungry you are and how long until your next meal.” Though he’d been born into privilege, he’d done his time with the Monterossan Special Forces. He understood deprivation and hunger quite well. While she flitted around her family palazzo, beautiful and elegant, her countrymen—and women—huddled in bunkers on the border, surrounded by artillery and razor wire, and ate meals out of a package. Just like he and the soldiers he’d served with had done.

      “We should have returned to town,” she said, pushing up out of the chair and pacing toward the shuttered windows. She spun around again before she reached them. “Then we wouldn’t be isolated out here with spray cheese and no communications with the outside world.”

      “Be thankful we are in a safe place, Principessa. There are those in the world who are not.”

      If she noticed the steel in his voice, she didn’t show it. She seemed oblivious, on edge. Did the storm frighten her that much?

      Her gaze raked over him, almost wild-eyed, then skittered away again. Once more, she spun toward the windows, following the track she’d paced before.

      Cristiano recognized someone on the edge of control when he saw it. But what was causing her to feel so skittish? Did she have a thing about closed in spaces? Not that the room was small, but with the shutters closed and only a lamp for light, it felt rather cave-like.

      Or was it the fact he was nearly naked? An interesting thought, to be sure.

      “It wouldn’t have mattered where we were. Phone calls can fix nothing right now. And there was no time to make the trek back to town. This is the best we could do.”

      She stopped and put her head in her hands. “I cannot believe I am stuck here with you for the foreseeable future. This is a nightmare.”

      “I can think of a few ways to make the time pass.” He said it primarily because he knew it would irritate her.

      Her head snapped up again. Score. “This isn’t something to make jokes about.”

      “What makes you think I’m joking?”

      She turned away from him with something that sounded like a growl. She made the circuit to the window again, stopped. Spun around, hands on hips, breasts thrust out enticingly. “Get this in your head, Cristiano—I am not sleeping with you. And I’d appreciate it very much if you’d put something on.”

      Her voice rose at the end. Cristiano absently rubbed a hand over his chest, enjoying himself tremendously. So she was rattled by his semi-nakedness. Because she wanted him, no doubt. And because she felt guilty for doing so.

      He certainly understood the feeling. “Do I disturb you, mia bella?”

      She stood so stiffly, like a nun who’d blundered into a strip club. Now, why was that a turn-on? She wasn’t a virgin, wasn’t naïve, and yet she carried off the act so well. The contrast with her sensual body intrigued him. Made him hard. She couldn’t help but know it, clad as he was in a towel.

      Her throat moved. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she rasped. A moment later, she waved a hand airily as she seemed to gather her equilibrium. “You don’t affect me one way or the other. So you might as well put on some clothes.”

      The corners of his mouth curled in a smile that was both evil and triumphant. “I think you are right.”

      And then he dropped the towel.

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