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       CHAPTER SIX

      “YOU are mistaken, Renzo,” Faith said once she found her voice again. Her heart, in the meantime, was pounding at light speed. “You really should see a doctor about that ego, you know. It must be such a burden carrying that thing around.”

      One corner of his mouth lifted in a grin. “You amuse me, and yet I recognize this tactic. It’s not working, by the way.”

      “Tactic? What tactic? I assure you I’m only speaking the truth.”

      He leaned toward her, his eyes gleaming hotly. “Then prove it to me, cara mia. Kiss me and prove to me that you are unaffected.”

      Faith sat stiffly beside him, lacing her fingers together in her lap. “That would be unprofessional, Mr. D’Angeli.”

      He lounged back on the seat, watching her with dark humor sparking in his gaze. “Another tactic, lovely Faith. First you insult me. Then you wish to distance me with your formality.”

      “I’m your PA,” she said. “It’s perfectly appropriate.”

      “But aren’t you curious?”

      Her heart thumped at the wicked sparkle in his gaze. Of course she was curious. “Not at all.” She smoothed the fabric of the green dress. “Honestly, does this usually work for you? I’d have thought you had much more complex methods to employ.”

      He laughed. And then he leaned toward her and it was everything she could do not to scoot away and cling to the door like a frightened virgin. “You try to push me away with your thorniness, but it doesn’t work the way you suppose it does, cara mia.”

      She drew her body upright, holding herself rigid in the seat. “Then you are not as smart as I thought you were. A shame, considering how many people depend upon you.”

      His eyes narrowed. “Do you know what you need, Faith?”

      “Sleep,” she ventured. “I didn’t get a lot of it last night.”

      One eyebrow lifted. “What I propose does involve a bed, but sleep isn’t part of the equation. At least not immediately.”

      She turned her head away to hide the blush that she knew was creeping up her neck and spreading over her cheeks. A moment later Renzo gasped. She turned, her heart tumbling at the anguish tightening his features. He clenched his fists at his sides, and his lips were white with pain.

      “Renzo, are you all right? Is it your leg?”

      He nodded once, and she sidled toward him, suddenly uncaring about keeping her distance. “Stretch your leg out if you can. Let me massage it.”

      His head fell back against the seat, his skin turning ashen as he stretched the leg. She had no doubt he was in agony. “Dio, it hurts,” he said.

      “Do you have any pain pills?”

      “I do, but I took one last night. I can’t take another for a few days yet.”

      His muscles were so tight. Faith massaged rhythmically, trying to ease the cramp. “Why not?”

      His blue gaze pierced into her, the depths filled with pain and even perhaps a little bit of fear. “They are addictive, Faith. I can’t allow that to happen.”

      No, a man like Renzo would not wish to be addicted to painkillers. She admired his willpower even though she feared he might be a bit too strict with parceling out the pills. “What about anti-inflammatories? Surely you can take those.”

      “Si.”

      Faith grabbed her purse and dug through it until she found a bottle. “Here, I have something. They’re over the counter and completely safe.”

      He blinked at her. “And why do you need these?” he asked, accepting the two pills she shook into his palm.

      “My wrists sometimes hurt at the end of a long work day. Typing,” she added when he continued to look perplexed. She poured water into one of the crystal goblets set against one wall of the limousine and handed it to him. He put the pills in his mouth and drank, and Faith continued to massage his leg until he grasped her hands and pulled her against him, wedging her into the curve of his body where he lay back against the seat.

      “Just sit with me,” he said softly, his breath ruffling her hair. “That is all I want.”

      “But your leg—”

      “The spasm is easing. It does not always last long. Thankfully, this is one of those times.”

      Faith thought she should move away from him, but she couldn’t do it. She could feel the tension in his body and knew he still hurt, so she leaned against him and sat very still. The heat of his body slid beneath her skin, the sensation both thrilling and comforting. His hand came up to stroke her hair, and goose bumps prickled along the back of her neck.

      This was wrong, so wrong. And yet it felt too good.

      They didn’t speak, and eventually her eyes started to feel heavy, her body languid. Soon, in spite of her attempts otherwise, she fell asleep against Renzo. When she awoke, the car had stopped and Renzo was gently shaking her.

      Faith pushed upright, horrified with herself for falling asleep on him. “I’m sorry.”

      Renzo was smiling. “For what? Being tired? I rather enjoyed it, cara. You are incapable of being prickly when you are asleep.”

      Faith smoothed her hair, certain it must be a wild mess, and dug through her purse for her mirror, praying to God she hadn’t drooled in her sleep. Or that she wasn’t now sporting raccoon eyes. A quick check in her compact assured her that she still looked presentable, once she slid her fingers through her hair to tame any flyaways.

      Renzo exited the vehicle and stood waiting for her while a bevy of uniformed staff swarmed around the car, sorting luggage and packages and carting them into the house. Faith blinked at the facade in front of her. The stone house had that timeworn ocher color that only seemed to exist in Italy. It was less ornate than she’d expected it would be, and she stood with her head tilted back, taking in the wooden shutters and twining bougainvillea and climbing roses that graced both corners of the home. Spilling from each window was a profusion of bright red blooms.

      “Do you like it?” Renzo asked.

      “It’s lovely.”

      “Then look this СКАЧАТЬ