The Royal House of Niroli: Billion Dollar Bargains

Pulling out her purse, Meg slid her fingers into the wallet and pulled out a well-worn picture, one she hadn’t looked at in weeks, but occasionally, at times like this, when decisions needed to be made, it was called upon. Even though she’d seen it a thousand times, even though she’d lived it, still the image shocked her.

Pained eyes in a gaunt face stared back at Meg, her skeletal frame engulfed by a wheelchair, a nurse at her side holding her hand as she struggled to come up from her lowest point.

There were a million reasons to set her alarm for six and get the hell out of Niroli, to organise her backpack and literally run for the hills.

But there was one very good reason to stay. Falling asleep with the photo still in her hand, Meg was only vaguely aware of Jasmine bumping around in the night, her mind focussed on one thought only.

Tonight, for the first time in her life, and only with Luca, she’d actually felt beautiful.

CHAPTER FIVE

‘I’M GLAD YOU decided to stay.’

As Luca joined her in the crowded foyer, Meg was glad she’d decided to stay too. The hour between waking and seeing him had plagued Meg with doubt and indecision. She was almost sure that her vision of the man she had met last night wouldn’t stand up to the scrutiny of the morning glare, that somehow seeing him again could only taint the delicious memory.

Wrong.

If anything, Luca was more stunning.

Dressed casually in dark denim jeans and a black T-shirt, unshaven and unkempt, he looked even more ravishing, but there was no time for awkward small talk, no time for anything at all really, as Luca took her by her arm and shepherded her out the foyer and straight into the luxurious confines of a sleek silver sports car.

‘I thought today was supposed to be relaxing!’ Meg attempted as the car sped away from the casino.

‘Now, it will be,’ Luca said cryptically, glancing in the rear-view mirror and finally slowing down. ‘I’ll ring Luigi now and tell him I haven’t been kidnapped.’

‘Your bodyguard?’ Meg checked as Luca nodded and punched in speed-dial. Even if her Italian was extremely limited, it soon became clear that Luigi was less than impressed at his boss’s hasty exit.

‘Sorry about that.’ Luca grinned when the call ended. ‘Luigi is supposed to accompany me whenever I go outside the casino or palace. I do not like it.’

‘I wouldn’t either.’ Meg smiled, glancing shyly over to him. ‘I’m glad it’s just us.’

‘Me too.’ Luca nodded. ‘You look wonderful!’

‘Er, I doubt it.’ Meg grimaced. Never had her backpack’s offerings appeared more measly. She’d been hoping to spend yesterday getting acquainted with a washing machine, but for the biggest date of her life she’d been left with no choice other than faded denim shorts and a pale lemon halter-neck. Still, given it was Luca, she’d bypassed her runners for some gorgeous leather sandals she’d purchased in Rome, and instead of scraping her hair back into its usual sightseeing fare of a pony-tail had blow-dried it and left it down. ‘I wasn’t exactly inundated with choice.’

‘Inundated?’ Luca checked.

‘Spoilt …’ Meg attempted to no avail. ‘I don’t have many clothes to choose from—I’ve tried to pack something for most eventualities, but a day trip with royalty wasn’t something I’d planned on!’

‘We may not get into the restaurant I wanted to go to for lunch—I don’t think they allow shorts.’ Luca shrugged ‘.but that’s no problem.’

‘Sorry.’ Meg flinched.

‘I tease you.’ Luca laughed. ‘There are some perks to being a prince—you could be wearing nothing more than a bikini and we would get the best table. I meant what I said—you look wonderful.’

She did.

Luca, too, had been wondering what to expect this morning. So many times before the raw beauty he’d witnessed in a woman had disappeared the second she’d found out who he was—commandeering the salon, spending up in the boutique. He’d almost resigned himself to greeting a stranger this morning, yet here she was, more beautiful, more vibrant, more sexy than the woman he had met last night—acres of soft, browned skin on show, her hair a blond fragrant cloud, and just a slick of gloss on those incredibly kissable lips….

‘Where are we going?’

‘Does it matter?’

Turning his attention from the road for a second, he held her gaze and Meg bit down on her lip, processing his question for a moment before answering, her single-word answer the boldest thing she’d ever said.

‘No.’

In fact, if they never set foot out of the car, Meg wouldn’t have minded. Dressed more casually, and well away from the extravagance and decadence of the casino, Luca was infinitely more relaxed, his company engaging. But Luca actually did have plans for the day. He wanted to show her all that Niroli had to offer and show her he did, gliding the sleek car through the steep hills, at every turn the view even more stunning.

‘No more!’ Luca grinned when Meg begged him to stop for yet another photo shoot. ‘Or you will run out of space—wait till we get to the ruins. We stop now at one of the wineries and I’ll ask them to make us a picnic.’

Which, when it was Luca Fierezza asking, meant that a blanket was included, the hamper groaning under the weight of Niroli delicacies, and Meg wanted to taste them all, only not just yet—first they spent a sun-drenched day exploring. Luca steered them well away from the usual tourist haunts in the south of the island and instead headed north where he showed her the ancient Roman ruins, regaling her with tale after tale, making her privy to information that could never be gleaned from a history book. But as excellent a tourist guide as he made, as much as he seemed to enjoy showing her Niroli, the day was about them—the sultry air thicker somehow when blended with desire, awareness thrumming as they explored, not just the temple and amphitheatre, but each other’s minds. And by the time Luca spread out the blanket and they shared their picnic, Meg knew a single day could never be enough to scratch the surface of all it had to offer—only she wasn’t thinking about Niroli!

‘Here,’ Luca said proudly, pouring her an icy glass of champagne as she gazed around the amphitheatre. ‘There are often concerts held here—there will be one this weekend….’

‘For the Feast?’

‘You have heard about it?’

‘One of the shopkeepers told me.’ Meg gave an abstracted nod, biting into slivers of bitter orange dipped in dark chocolate and closing her eyes as she relished the taste. ‘This,’ she declared, ‘is the nicest thing I’ve ever tasted.’

‘You said that about the olive dip, and then the cannoli. It is good to see someone who likes their food.’ Luca frowned at her reaction. ‘Why does that make you laugh?’

‘It just does.’ Meg’s answer was evasive, a first date not really the best time to slip in the little gem of the eating disorder that had ruled her for years, but, closing her eyes, Meg lay back and smiled as the warm sun bathed her, relishing the moment, his casual observation a revelation. Here, away from it all, for the first time in the longest time, she’d actually forgotten her problem, had just enjoyed food as it should be enjoyed. Oh, she was long past the frantic calorie counts, way, way past controlling every morsel she consumed, but to simply enjoy … Luca could never have even hazarded a guess as to how much this moment meant to her.

‘You are having a good time?’Luca enquired, lying down on the blanket beside her, his body just inches away, so achingly close all Meg wanted to do was reach over and touch him. She could feel the hum of sexual energy between them, his masculinity bathing her now, only with more ferocity than the sun, her skin tingling as even with her eyes still closed she could feel him watching her.

‘It’s been great.’

‘It has …’ Luca let out a long sigh, his body so close she could feel his chest move beside her. ‘It is nice to relax.’

‘I don’t suppose you get much chance,’ Meg offered. ‘What with work and …’ She gave a tiny frown, peeped her eyes open to look at him. ‘Do you have to do all the ceremonial, well … stuff?’ She gave a helpless shrug but thankfully Luca understood.

‘Always there are commitments. Take this weekend—there will be many events I have to attend as a royal prince.’

‘You don’t sound as if you want to?’

‘It is not about want, it is about duty,’ Luca explained. ‘It is what is expected of me—and lately.’ He didn’t finish, just shook his head, but Meg’s curiosity was piqued now.

‘Lately?’ she pushed.

‘You ask too many questions. It is not correct.’

‘Excuse me?’ Meg’s eyes were wide open now as Luca attempted to put her in her place.

‘You should not pry so much. I will tell you what you need to know.’

‘I don’t need to know anything.’ Meg gave a shocked laugh. ‘I was asking because I wanted to know. And don’t pull rank on me when it suits!’

‘It is not about pulling rank—when you are out with royalty—’

‘But I’m not,’ Meg broke in, disarming his rather terse response with a smile. ‘I’m out with Luca—remember? That was the reason you left Luigi behind, that was the whole point of today—to get to know each other a bit better away from it all.’

‘Are you always this argumentative?’

‘Always.’ Meg smiled as Luca’s face blackened. ‘Now, if there’s something you’d prefer not to discuss, then you just have to say so, but, please, don’t hide behind your title!’

Closing her eyes, she lay her head back down and even though her heart was hammering in her chest at the small confrontation, she certainly wasn’t about to let him know that. If Luca thought he could talk to her like that, then he’d better do a quick rethink! And, Meg decided, if he didn’t break the angry silence, then she certainly wouldn’t—she’d start snoring if she had to!

‘When I was younger I.’ as Luca conceded, as he struggled to find the right word, Meg felt her heart soar as she opened her eyes and looked over to him ‘.was a little wild.’

‘A little?’ Meg checked.

‘A lot,’ Luca admitted. ‘Always I was in trouble. Now I stay out of trouble, but the king has a long memory and so do the people of Niroli. He spoke to me recently—told me I have to.’ He gave a frustrated shrug. ‘Now, I prefer not to discuss family business.’

‘Fine.’ Meg smiled. ‘That’s all you had to say.’

‘So, now it is my turn—why did you come?’

‘Because you asked me to.’

‘Not here.’ Luca shook his head. ‘Why did you choose to travel? You said you were here to sort things out. Can I ask what?’

And maybe this was one first date where she could reveal, because, in that second, it didn’t feel as if they’d only just met. Her eyes were looking straight into his, the sun blocked out by his presence, it didn’t feel as if there were a million barriers between them—it felt as if they were one, as if she were looking at a man she’d always known, just hadn’t really met yet.

‘What?’ Luca pushed, just a touch too soon, the brave leap she was about to take thwarted by impatience, and Meg recoiled back into herself, shaking her head as if to clear it, stunned at how close she had come to letting him in—letting anyone in.

‘I’d prefer not to say.’

‘You confuse me, Meg. One minute you are so strong, so sure, yet the next …’ He gave a helpless shrug. ‘You are very complicated, yes?’

‘Yes.’

It wasn’t the answer he was expecting, perhaps a small admission, a revelation, but when there was none forthcoming Luca, surprisingly, graciously conceded. ‘Perhaps we need to get to know each other even better,’ Luca suggested. ‘Maybe one day isn’t enough for us?’

‘Maybe,’ Meg gulped.

‘So …’ his voice was slow and measured, cautious this time as he approached ‘… will you stay a little longer? More than just this day?’ His face was moving in closer as she toyed with her answer, but he didn’t wait to hear it. ‘Maybe this will help you decide.’

She’d been so sure he was about to kiss her, so absolutely sure, it was all she could think about, so when his hand lightly dusted her stomach, when his warm fingers brushed the gap between her shorts and top, her body tightened in delicious confusion. Meg could almost hear the reverse sirens sounding in her brain as it instructed her neural pathways to move their guard, that she was being attacked from a different angle, but even as her stomach tightened in reflex Luca changed tack, his mouth moving in, and Meg closed her eyes as his hand snaked around the back of her head. He moved a fraction closer, his breath warm on her cheekbone, making her wait, her lips twitching in nervous expectation, anticipating the feel of his mouth on hers, her breath held in her lungs as so slowly he moved in, but nothing in her imagination could ever rival the true feel of him, the heat of his mouth when it met hers. Like a reflex action her lips parted, his kiss as direct as his approach to her had been, his tongue sliding in offering a simultaneous taste of champagne and power.

Such power, his kiss utterly potent, making mockery of any past efforts, turning the few men she had dated into mere boys as his skilled mouth searched hers and his arms wrapped fiercely around her body. For ever he kissed her, drenching her with his passion, banishing reticence, pressing himself so hard against her it was as if they were one person, his lips first paying her mouth the most thorough of attention, then blazing a trail down her neck, kissing her exposed shoulder deeply, his tongue moving up to the base of her neck and then back again. It was to die for, so erotic, so, so shatteringly sexy Meg had to remind herself to breathe.

As Luca’s hand cupped her bottom he pressed her heated groin into him, his erection wedged against her. It was Meg kissing him now, hungry lips meeting his scented neck, tasting Luca’s warm flesh as her fingers knotted in his hair—the salt of his skin on her tongue, his cologne filling her nostrils as his other hand moved to the front, the pad of his thumb plying her swollen nipple through her top. With each measured move he spun her ever faster, whirring her mind, her body, into one giddy blur—his hands touching her where her body needed it, before Meg even knew it herself. How easy it would be to just let go, to give in and follow to where he was taking her, to let this vortex consume her, but so ingrained was her control, so fearful was she of losing it, that with supreme effort Meg pulled back, the ground coming up to meet her as she jumped off at the last moment, staring at him with stunned, fearful eyes as the world carried on spinning.

‘We can’t!’ The words she gasped out were more directed at herself than Luca; she was stunned at what had just taken place, at her body’s perilous response to him, but Luca’s reply just confused her further.

‘We won’t,’ he murmured, moving in, kissing her again, only more tenderly now. ‘We wouldn’t,’ he said between breathless mouthfuls. ‘Not here … not somewhere so public. Now, we just kiss.’

Just kiss!

His comfort offered no solace. If, for Luca, that was just a kiss, then what would it be like to be made love to by him, if that was what he could do to her with his mouth …? Meg’s mind begged quiet, needed him to stop, her ingrained restraint so violently compromised it actually scared her.

‘Please, Luca …’

Something in her voice reached him, his mouth stilling, those black eyes surprisingly tender as he stared down at her. ‘I have upset you?’

‘No …’ She was biting down on her lip in an effort to stop crying, every emotion she’d ever suppressed clamouring for freedom as somehow Luca unleashed her. ‘It’s just too soon …’ Her eyes pleaded with him for understanding, for Luca to realise that it wasn’t sex she was talking about here. ‘It’s too soon to be feeling like this!’

‘Then stay,’ Luca said simply, holding her in his arms, only more tenderly now, letting her catch her breath as everything calmed down. As the world came back into focus, almost the same as when she’d left it … only somehow different now.

‘Now, I’ll take you to the beach.’ After a few moments in Luca’s arms, when still Meg hadn’t responded to his suggestion, Luca decided on a change of scene and Meg was surprised how relieved she felt that their date wasn’t over yet. But, as nice as he could be when he remembered, as engaging and charming as he was without even trying, every now and then Meg was reminded of his station in life—Luca Fierezza was so thoroughly spoiled, so impossibly arrogant at times, sometimes Meg honestly thought he was joking. He wasn’t!

‘Niroli has the most beautiful beaches,’ Luca elaborated, offering his hand to help her up. ‘I don’t have my bathers with me.’

‘Bathers?’

‘A swimming costume,’ Meg attempted, but Luca screwed up his nose at the Australianism.

‘They are horrible words—I like women to wear bikinis! Come,’ he said impatiently as Meg started to clear up the picnic. ‘Just leave it.’

‘You can’t just leave it! What about the blanket, the basket.?’ Meg insisted, but Luca had other ideas, striding off towards the car and clearly expecting her to follow.

‘If they want it, then they can come and find it!’

‘What’s wrong?’As Meg climbed into the car, almost immediately she realised something was up, Luca frowning into the phone as he checked his messages.

‘I’m not sure,’ was Luca’s distracted reply, his face rigid as he replayed his voicemail message, before finally he turned around and faced her. ‘I have to go back to the casino. It would appear I am needed.’

‘That’s fine.’ So riddled with doubt was Meg, she was sure he was making it up, sure that her little exposé before must have put him off, but, forcing a smile, she tried not to let her disappointment show as they drove towards the casino in silence. When he didn’t elaborate further, didn’t suggest that they meet up later, Meg could sit on her hands no longer.

‘Luca.’ Taking a deep breath, Meg decided to bite the bullet, almost managed to convince herself that she was imagining the sudden tension between them. It was only since the phone call the mood had changed—maybe he was worried about work. ‘Tomorrow, why don’t we—?’

‘Let’s just wait and see, shall we?’ Luca snapped out his response, lifted his hand from the steering wheel and flicked away her attempt. For Meg it was like being slapped, her face burning as he declined her brave offer, her voice when it came again as tense and as strained as the expression he was wearing.

‘Would you be able to drop me off at one of the beaches …?’ She didn’t even get to finish, Luca flicking on the indicator and pulling over before the sentence was even over, and for Meg it was the final straw, everything that had been before evaporated into thin air as she opened the passenger door and stepped out, the atmosphere so suddenly vile, she didn’t even bother to say goodbye….

And neither did Luca.

CHAPTER SIX

‘YOU’RE SURE?’ A muscle was pounding in Luca’s cheek as Dario fiddled with buttons and the grainy CCTV footage came up on the screen.

‘Here we see the girls looking at the jewellery, now she is handling it—the staff kept a close eye on them, of course.’ Luca didn’t say anything, his black eyes narrowing, watching as Meg held the earrings in her hand, then handed them to her friend, who held them up to her a moment before handing them back to the assistant. ‘Here, four hours later, the footage isn’t as good—the main camera was on the front desk—but you see she came back with the man she had been drinking with in the gaming room and asked to see the jewels again. This is when the man she was with suddenly collapsed.’

Luca snarled. ‘It was a distraction technique; a ruse to keep the main camera on the front desk and distract the staff.’

‘No.’ Dario shook his head, extremely experienced in all aspects of casino security; he was one of the few people who could disagree with Luca and get away with it. ‘I also thought it might be a distraction technique, but I have checked with the hospital—he is in the coronary care unit after suffering a major heart attack.’ The security chief’s words were delivered in rapid Italian, but his voice was nonchalant—theft was a common occurrence in the casino, but with the security so tight it was quickly and easily dealt with. ‘Here you see her more clearly now. I don’t think she planned it, just saw the opportunity and got greedy.’

Even though he’d been told the facts, even though Dario rarely made a mistake, still he hoped it would be Jasmine that would appear on screen, that somehow Dario had mixed up the two women, but despite the grainy footage, even if Meg’s face never fully came into view, there was no mistaking the unique, stunning top she had worn last night. Luca sucked in a deep breath, his teeth gritting together. What the hell did she have to go and do that for? He’d have given her anything she wanted, anything at all. Hell, he’d been so smitten, if she’d wanted some damn jewellery he’d have bought it for her without batting an eye, and now here she was, a woman he’d actually thought different, a woman he’d respected, showing her true colours—stealing his own family jewels.

It made him sick—sick to the stomach, yet he was also filled with a strange, hollow sadness, not just for what he had lost, but because he knew what he had to do. There was a strict one-strike policy at the casino, with no exceptions—even if he had thought for a short while that this Meg was one.

‘You’ve spoken to the friend?’

‘When we searched the room. Apparently Miss Donovan was in and out last night.’ Dario gave a shrug. ‘The jewels were wrapped up in the top Miss Donovan was wearing and had been stuffed in the backpack—we’ve got all the evidence we need to call the police.’

Luca stared at the frozen image on the screen, trying to relate the deceitful, shady character to the woman he thought he had glimpsed, the woman he had held in his arms and kissed, the proud, dignified woman he had wanted to get to know.

The woman who had duped him.

‘Do it, then.’ Luca stared one more time at the image frozen on the screen, then gave a terse nod as, on his command, Dario picked up the telephone. ‘Tell the police you will let them know when she returns to the casino.’ It was said entirely without feeling, his orders exactly as they would be for any other common thief who attempted to get one over on Luca Fierezza, but if Dario had looked up as Luca stalked towards the door he might have noticed the rigid shoulders and bunched fists as his boss made to leave the room. He did look up, though, as Luca turned and gave one unusual final instruction. ‘Page me when she arrives—this I want to see.’

Luca was used to burying himself in work, the casino just one of his many business ventures, each one demanding scrupulous attention to detail, ruthlessness and resolute indifference, so why couldn’t he concentrate? Why was it that, over and over, he kept staring at his phone, checking his pager?

‘ConcentrarsV. He snapped the order to himself, answered a red-flagged email, and with a few strokes of the keyboard gave the order to fire one of his CEOs in the UK as well as ordering an internal audit on one of his growing business ventures on the Gold Coast in Australia….

Where Meg was from….

What was it with her? Dio! She wasn’t the first woman he’d met who’d shown her true colours and it certainly wasn’t the first time he’d had to have someone arrested, so why, no matter how hard he tried not to think about her, did every road, every thought he had lead to Meg?

Burying his head in his hands, Luca sucked in air and, closing his eyes, he gave into a rare moment of introspection.

She wasn’t the problem, Luca decided; it was the rather confronting talk he’d had with his grandfather, King Giorgio, just a few days before that was making her attractive—making this thief who came in the night the ultimate forbidden fruit.

“Stay out of trouble, Luca.’ The king’s voice, though weak from his declining health, hadn’t wavered as he’d delivered his order for Luca to keep his nose clean—to stand up and face the fact that he was a potential heir to the Niroli throne.