The Billionaire's Prize

He stared at his friend. A spirit of contentment radiated off Rini as they drove across the causeway to the Caracciolo castello on Posso Island that jutted into the Ionian Sea.

Only sand surrounded the ancient structure, no grass or trees. In Guido’s mind, it was Italy’s answer to Mont-Saint-Michel of French fame, with a benign appeal in good weather like this. But he imagined it could look quite daunting during a storm.

Guido found it fascinating to think the beautiful twin princesses of Count Onorato di Caracciolo were born and raised here, away from civilization. From this convent-like place had emerged Italy’s most beautiful supermodel. One fashion cover had called Dea Loti “Italy’s own Helen of Troy.”

The face that launched a thousand ships had done something to Guido...

He’d been so stunned after meeting her in person that he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind. It probably wasn’t a good idea to meet Rini here after all because it brought back the memory from the wedding when he’d been watching Dea, who’d been watching Rini. Was she still hungering for him? But it was too late to think about that now or wish he hadn’t come. Get a grip, Rossano.

“You’re being unusually quiet,” Rini murmured as he pulled the Jeep up to the front of the castle. “I expected to see you overjoyed with your success so far.”

“I am pleased,” Guido muttered, “but the season isn’t over yet. We’ve had one loss and still have some tough games to face.”

Rini shut off the engine. “You’ve already brought your team to new heights. I’m proud of what you’ve done so far.”

“Spoken like my best friend,” Guido murmured.

He could feel Rini’s eyes on him. “How is it going with your parents?”

Guido sighed. “The same. Papà is praying I’ll give up this madness and come back to the company.”

“Surely not right now.”

“Of course not, but he fears I’ll stay away from the business for good.”

Rini’s brow lifted. “Do you think you’ve left the shipping business for good?”

“I don’t have an answer to that yet.”

“Well, I’m glad you were able to break away and come. Tomorrow we’ll go out on the cruiser and do some fishing. I’ve got some business ideas I want your opinion on. But tonight Alessandra has arranged dinner for us with one of your favorite fish dishes.”

To his chagrin, Guido had a problem he couldn’t talk over with Rini. How could he tell him that Rini himself was the problem? “I’m already salivating.”

Filled with shame over his own flawed character, he jumped out of the Jeep and grabbed his gym bag that contained all he needed for this weekend visit. They walked to the front entry. When Rini opened the door, they were greeted by a marmalade cat Guido had played with at the wedding.

“Well, hello, Alfredo.”

The housekeeper’s pet rubbed against Guido’s jean-clad leg. He put the bag down and picked him up, remembering that the cat was getting old and needed to be carried up and down stairs. “Did you know I was coming?”

Rini grinned. “He remembers you—otherwise he wouldn’t let you hold him.”

“I’m honored.”

“Let’s go up to your old room.” Rini grabbed Guido’s bag and they climbed the grand staircase two steps at a time past the enormous painting of Queen Joanna to the third floor. The windows in the bedroom looked out on the sea. He’d stayed in here before the wedding. “Go ahead and freshen up, then come down to the dining room.”

“I’ll be right there.” Still holding Alfredo, he said, “Thanks for inviting me.”

Rini headed for the entry. “I’ve missed our talks,” he said over his shoulder.

Guido watched him disappear out the door. What in the hell is wrong with you, Rossano? No bear hug for your best friend? What has Rini ever done to you?

He put the cat on the bed and slipped into the bathroom. When he came out, he opened his gym bag and pulled out two presents. One was a small gift he’d bought for Alessandra in Florence after a match. The other was a baby toy he’d seen in a store near his apartment. A little purple octopus with bells on the tentacles.

“We’d better not keep everyone waiting, Alfredo.” He gathered the cat in his arms along with the gifts and went down the staircase to the dining room. The second he walked in, the cat took one look at Alessandra and wanted to get down. Guido lowered him to the parquet floor.

Her gaze darted to Guido and she beamed. “So that’s where the cat has been! You’re one of his favorite people.” She rushed over to hug Guido. He hugged her back and gave her his gifts.

“You want me to open them now?”

“I think I do.”

She removed the paper from the smaller box and lifted the lid. Inside was a small enamel painting of Queen Joanna framed in gold filigree, probably three by four inches. He heard her gasp. “Oh, Guido—”

“I saw it in Florence at the House of Gold and couldn’t resist. Consider it a gift to celebrate the publication of your book.”

Just then Rini came in the room. “Caro—” she cried and rushed over to show her husband.

His friend flashed him a warm glance. “You knew exactly what she’d love.”

“I read the book and was so impressed by your knowledge I had to do something to honor you.”

“I’m glad you liked it. This is exquisite. I’ll treasure it forever.” She laid it on the hunt board and undid the large gift. “Oh, how adorable! A purple octopus! Brazzo will love it!” She gave Guido a kiss on the cheek. “Come and sit down. We want to hear all about the team and how things are going.”

“First I want to hear about Brazzo.”

“He’s gorgeous! We’ll show you videos later.”

No sooner did they get settled and start to eat than Guido heard the helicopter overhead.

“That’ll be my parents,” Alessandra murmured as they enjoyed their meal. “They’ve been in Milan.”

“For another of Dea’s fashion shows?” Damn if the question wasn’t out before he could recall it.

“Oh—I guess you didn’t know that she has given up her modeling career.”

Guido’s fork dropped on his plate. No more modeling? He couldn’t comprehend it. “Since when?”

“Quite a while now. She realized the life of most supermodels fades after twenty-five years of age and it’s past time for her. Dea went back to her true passion and this last year has been finishing her degree at the Accademia Roma. This is her last semester.”

Her true passion? Guido blinked. He didn’t know she’d ever gone to college. “I had no idea. What is she studying?”

“Period costume fashion design. I’m so thrilled for her. She has an extraordinary gift in that area.”

Before Guido could think, he heard voices at the entry. Alessandra’s parents walked in the room, but he only had eyes for the gorgeous woman behind them. His heart thundered.

Dea!

She wore her long hair back in a chignon, a style he hadn’t seen her in. All that glossy brown hair with streaks of sunlight was hidden. The oval of her face with less makeup than he’d ever noticed before caused him to stare. With those dark burgundy eyes—like the color in a stained glass window—she was beautiful in a brand-new way.

Guido stood up and greeted the three of them. Alessandra begged her parents to join them for dinner, but they said they’d already eaten and were going upstairs.

“What about you, Dea?”

“I’d love some dinner, but first I want to see the baby. I brought Brazzo a present. I hope he doesn’t have a bear yet. This one speaks!” She handed it to Alessandra, who opened it and pressed the button. They all listened and laughed.

“Brazzo will love this, but we left him with Rini’s father and family. They wanted to give us a break.”

“I’m sure you’re thrilled, but I’m horribly disappointed.”

“There’ll be plenty of other times for the rest of our lives.”

“You’re right, of course.” She sat down at the table. “I left work without grabbing a bite and now I’m starving. This dinner looks wonderful. Baked halibut and vegetables with feta cheese. How perfect!”

She was wearing a simple white blouse and a print skirt. Her outfit was so unexpectedly casual that Guido was still trying to make sense of everything when she sat down next to him.

For the rest of the meal Guido was amazed to watch her dig into her food and eat everything. Where was the woman who never ate anything that wasn’t on her special diet? Come to think of it, she looked like she’d gained some becoming weight since the last time he’d seen her at the wedding.

Over a glass of wine she turned to Guido. He noticed she no longer wore her fingernails long and painted. “There’s a girl at the shop named Gina. She and her fiancé, Aldo, went to the soccer game at the Stadio Emanuele last weekend.”

Where was this leading?

“Aldo came in to pick Gina up and she told him I knew the owner. He fell all over me.” Guido could believe that. “According to him, you were the greatest soccer player he’d ever seen and he desperately wants to meet you in person sometime, hopefully with my help.”

Dea had discussed him with her coworker? He couldn’t believe it.

She kept talking. “According to Aldo, the Scatto Roma team is going to win the championship this year. He was a soccer player himself, not on your level, of course. He thinks you walk on water already for lifting the B team to top-tier status.”

“Thank you, Dea,” he said, attempting to take it all in, but he couldn’t understand her interest. “Have you ever been to a soccer match?”

“Never,” she confessed without shame. “I’ve never even watched it on TV. You must think I’m terrible. I had no idea you’d won so many championships for Italy. Aldo said you were everyone’s favorite player and the women were crazy about you.”

“They were,” Rini inserted with a grin.

She hadn’t talked to Guido like this at the wedding reception, where she had seemed very stiff. This was something else. He decided to change the subject.

“I understand you’re no longer modeling.”

“Not for the last year.”

“Where do you work?”

“I started at the shop of Juliana Parma ten days ago. She’s the costume designer for the opera. I’ve been permitted to shadow her. My aunt Fulvia made it possible. You remember her from the wedding?”

“Of course.” The woman had taken Dea away from the table before the wedding cake had been served.

“They’re best friends and Juliana took me on as a favor to my aunt. But now that I’m working there, I’m on my own and I’m terrified.”

“How could you possibly be that when you’ve been Italy’s top model?”

“That period of my life is over, and modeling modern-day fashions has nothing to do with being a period costume designer for the opera.” Guido still had a hard time believing she had changed her whole life in the last year. To his mind, she was more beautiful than ever. “I have to prove myself in a whole new field. I’m not like you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Alessandra said that when you bought that floundering soccer team, you had the satisfaction of being one of the greatest soccer players ever to compete in Italy. With your knowledge and confidence, you’ve been able to turn your team around. I’m very impressed.”

“He’s done that, all right,” Rini concurred. “So I have an idea. Why don’t the four of us go out behind the castle and play a little soccer before it gets dark? Two against two. It works even if we don’t have a whole bunch of guys around. Since Brazzo was born, Alessandra and I haven’t had a weekend to enjoy like this. Let’s team up.”

“That sounds fun!” Alessandra chimed in with enthusiasm that sounded real. “I like soccer, but I’d love to learn more about it since Rini is determined our son will be a great player like you, Guido. What do you say, Dea?”

“I’m hopeless when it comes to sports and would hate making a fool of myself, but I’ll do it this once.”

So she was willing to toss him a bone after she’d just admitted she’d never even seen a soccer game?

“Let me run upstairs to put on my trainers.”

Alessandra patted her husband’s arm. “I’ll find mine too.”

Rini got to his feet. “My soccer ball is around here somewhere. We’ll all meet in the foyer in a few minutes.”

Everyone took off except for Guido, who stood there in a funk. Since Rini’s marriage, they hadn’t had time to kick a ball around. And now he wanted them to play with the women?

He’d go along with this, but before he went to bed, he intended to have a talk with Rini about what was going on.

CHAPTER TWO

DEA RACED UP the stairs to her bedroom. Rini had no idea how petrified she was when it came to participating in sports. Alessandra was the one who did everything well: tennis, golf, swimming and scuba diving. But Dea didn’t dare say no to his suggestion in front of Guido.

The tall, attractive dark blond was not only a recognized national celebrity in the sports field; he was Rini’s best friend. Dea didn’t want to be a drama queen and create a scene. Those days were relegated to the past. She’d turned over a new leaf and was embracing a different life that meant accepting challenges she’d avoided before now.

She changed out of her skirt into jeans and put on her trainers. No doubt she would fall flat on her face repeatedly for being out of her element, but at least she would be prepared. If Rini allowed her to be on his team, then she’d wouldn’t feel so terrible when she let him down. Alessandra would be a much better fit for Guido when it came to sports.

How strange that today of all days Dea’s folks had come to the shop and begged her to fly home with them after work for the weekend. None of them had known that Rini and Alessandra had invited Guido. It had come as a shock to see the three of them at the dining room table.

Both on the yacht and at the wedding, Dea had only seen him dressed in a tuxedo. This evening Guido was wearing a blue polo shirt that emphasized his well-defined chest, which combined with tight jeans made it impossible to look anywhere else. Soccer kept him in the sun. His bronzed complexion accentuated the midnight blue of his dark-fringed eyes.

She could understand why female soccer fans would have gone crazy over him. Guido might not be playing soccer now, but it didn’t matter. He was an incredibly appealing man.

After the fashion show on the yacht, Guido’s father had sought her out. At the time she’d taken an instant dislike to the renowned shipping-company CEO. He was so full of himself that he was quite unbearable. Dea’s modest father was a completely different type and so easy to be around. Meeting the puffed-up man’s son was the last thing Dea and her friend Daphne, who had modeled with her, had wanted to do, but she knew she had to be gracious.

Prepared not to like his son, who was probably an obnoxious replica of his father, she’d been shocked to meet his best friend, Rini Montanari, the dark-haired handsome prince standing next to him. At that moment everything else had left her mind. He wasn’t a real prince, but he’d seemed to have stepped right out of her childhood dreams. But Rini hadn’t responded to her as she’d hoped and her world had fallen apart. Of course, that was ages ago...

Tonight she felt she was truly seeing Guido for the first time and not just as Rini’s best friend. It had been unfair to judge him because of his father. This was important to Rini and Alessandra. For that reason she made up her mind to be a good sport and act friendly. Why not? If nothing else, she might be able to talk him into meeting Gina’s fiancé after a game, or giving Aldo an autographed team poster or something.

Dea left the bedroom and hurried down to the foyer, where the others had congregated. Rini glanced at her. “While we were waiting, we flipped a coin. You’re on Guido’s team.” He smiled broadly. “My wife is on mine.”

“Hmm. I wonder how that happened. Sorry, Guido.” Dea rolled her eyes at him. “You got the bad end of this deal.”

“Why don’t I show you a few moves before we start.” He was holding the soccer ball. “Who knows what can happen?”

She chuckled. “I’m game if you are. Let’s go.”

They left the castle and walked around to the back, where the cruiser was pulled up to the dock in the distance. Rini and Alessandra had moved on to draw boundary lines in the sand.

While Guido explained the basic rudiments of the sport to her, there was no chitchat. He was all business. No doubt the players on his team held him in awe.

“The whole point of the game is to prevent the other team from driving the ball forward and scoring. One of the first basic moves is to take a big side step and pull the ball with you to put space between you and the enemy.”

“Show me.”

“It goes like this.”

Dea watched his hard-muscled body and legs do the move with sheer masculine grace and speed. Whoa. She smiled. “Do that again.”

He did it five more times. No matter how she anticipated what he was going to do, she couldn’t react fast enough to stop him.

“Again!”

This time she was desperate to succeed. Refusing to let him elude her, she made a flying leap and tackled him with all her strength. They both went down. She turned over to look at him, trying to catch her breath, but laughter kept bubbling out of her. “I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not.” He lay there looking at her before bursting into laughter himself. Their faces were so close she could tell his incredible blue eyes were smiling. Guido Rossano was a sensational-looking man. How could she not have noticed before today?

His gaze continued to play over her features. “For a first soccer lesson, you did well. You’d make an excellent player in American football—tackling is what they do in their football games. Tackling isn’t what we do in soccer. Who would have thought?”

“Forgive me. I got so frustrated I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You’ve got all the right instincts, but you need to refine your technique to soccer or you’ll get thrown out of the game.”

“Hey, you two?” Rini called from a distance. “Are we going to play, or what?”

“I need to show her a few more moves before we start,” Guido shouted back.

Guilt swept over her as he helped her to her feet. Conscious of their clasped hands, she eased hers from his grip. As his eyes focused on hers, her heart skipped a beat for no good reason. “We’ll start with the lift, step and go.” He put the ball on the ground. “Use your foot to push it toward me and watch.”

Dea was loving this. She started moving the ball toward him. He lifted his foot as if to do a sideward motion. But it was a fake move. He stepped forward and drove the ball away from her. She groaned.

“Let’s do that again.”

She pushed the ball three more times, but he evaded her every time. “You’re amazing!”

“Not amazing. I’ve been doing this move since childhood.”

“No wonder Aldo idolizes you.” After four tries she got the hang of it.

“Okay. Now what’s the next move called?”

“You’re not tired yet?”

“No, but maybe you are.”

His hard jaw rose a fraction and he put his hands on his hips in a totally male stance. “This one is called the chip shot. Come toward me, moving the ball with your feet.”

She did his bidding and thought he would push the ball forward, but he chipped it instead so it flipped up, catching her off guard.

“Oh! I like that move. I want to try it.” But with her next effort, she used too much force and fell on her derriere. He chuckled and helped her to her feet.

“Try once more.”

Dea did her best and stayed upright.

“Bravo. You’re ready. Let’s try out those moves on them before they decide they want to go home.”

“You think I can do it?”

“We’re about to find out.” The way he smiled made him look like a devilishly handsome blond pirate with a wicked gleam in his eyes. How odd that she’d never dreamed of a tall blond pirate prince before...

* * *

The guys played goalie so the girls could battle it out. Guido hadn’t had so much fun in years and was silently betting on Dea to outplay Alessandra.

Right away it became clear that Rini hadn’t taught Alessandra any special moves. She could run and scrap, but Dea pulled a few moves on her with an expertise that shocked Guido. In the end, Team Scatto Roma took the honors over Team Montanari. Again he was surprised she’d caught on so quickly and he discovered he was proud of her.

Alessandra eyed the three of them. “Now it’s the men’s turn. You and I will play goalie, Dea.”

“I’m ready.”

“It’s too dark out,” Rini protested.

His wife smiled. “Since when has that ever stopped you? I’m counting on you to win for our side.”

Guido turned to his friend. “Come on. Let’s show the girls how the game is played.”

“You’re on.”

Before they spread out, Guido took Dea aside. “Try not to let the ball get past you. Do whatever you need to do.”

“I’m afraid Rini will kick it so hard I won’t stand a chance, but I’ll try.”

He squeezed her elbow. “No one can ask for more than that.”

In a minute play commenced. Rini gave as good as he got, but Guido’s competitive spirit had kicked in. That’s when he realized he was fighting a demon from the past and taking it out on his friend. The score was two to two. Rini went all out for the last play. He gave the ball a kick as fierce as the expression on his face. Dea didn’t stand a chance. Or so Guido thought until he saw her catch it midair.

“I did it!” she cried out in unfeigned excitement.

Forgetting everything, he ran toward her and swung her around. “Keep this up and I’ll sign you on to my team.” Before he lowered her warm beautiful body to the ground, there was a breathless moment when even in the semidark her cognac eyes seemed to sparkle. He wanted badly to taste her mouth, but they had an audience and she would probably slap his face.

Alessandra ran up to Dea and hugged her. “I thought you said you’ve never done sports. What’s happened?”

Dea flicked Guido a glance. “I had a good teacher.”

“I’ll say you did. Come on. Let’s go in.”

Rini kissed his wife. “We’ll catch up with you two in a minute.”

As the women walked off, Guido sucked in his breath. The time for the talk with Rini had come. His friend stared him down. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on with you? Everything has been different since Alessandra and I have been married, so I’ll make this easier for you and start. Why haven’t you wanted to get together like we used to do?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “You really don’t know?”

“Guido—” The bleak expression on his face spoke volumes and made Guido feel guiltier than ever. “Talk to me! If I’ve done something wrong, I’ll fix it if I can.”

“You can’t.”

“Why?”

It was hard to swallow. “I’m ashamed to tell you.”

“Why?” he demanded again.

Just tell him, Rossano, and get it over with.

“It’s ever since that night on the yacht. I’d never known jealousy in my life until then. But I did the moment I met Dea and she took one look at you and fell head over heels.”

Rini’s black brows formed a line above his dark eyes. “Way back then you were jealous of that?”

“The force of it hit me like a blow to my gut.”

“Are you telling me you were interested in Dea?” He shook his head in total bewilderment. “I thought you’d never met her before that night.”

“I hadn’t, but her face was continually in the news. Seeing her on deck did something visceral to me. But before I could do anything about it, she walked right into your arms.”

Rini shook his head. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. You couldn’t help that she was attracted to you. The fact that I knew you weren’t attracted to her didn’t help me. I’ve suffered ever since that night because I’ve held something against you that couldn’t possibly have been your fault. You have every right to tell me to go to hell and stay there.”

Rini came closer. “That’s the last thing I want to do. All this time you’ve been suffering...”