Hot Christmas Nights: Shameful Secret, Shotgun Wedding / His for Revenge / Mistletoe Not Required

Cassie stiffened as she heard the cold note which had entered his voice. ‘Nothing?’ she echoed, bewildered.

‘Niente,’ he confirmed and then emphasised the word again in English. ‘Nothing.’

‘But that’s terrible! Why?’

Giancarlo knew then why he had buried the story. The words were still like bitter poison to say and the betrayal they evoked more bitter still. ‘Because we had been born by Caesarean section and Raul was plucked from our mother’s womb exactly two minutes before me.’ His voice roughened. ‘Making him the true heir to the Vellutini fortune.’

‘I can’t believe it,’ Cassie breathed as she stared into the black brilliance of his eyes. ‘That’s…unbelievable!’

‘Have you never heard about primogeniture?’ he questioned softly. ‘The first-born’s right of inheritance. It’s pretty feudal—some might say primitive—but legally binding, all the same.’

She let the words sink in, trying to imagine what she might have done if she’d been in his brother’s position. ‘But didn’t…Raul—feel morally obliged to share some of his good fortune with you?’

Giancarlo’s lips curved into an acid smile as he remembered the look of unmistakable delight on his brother’s face—and the subsequent and insulting offer of a small, barren piece of land in Puglia, which he had rejected. ‘Not in any real sense, no. Sharing wasn’t really Raul’s thing. In fact, in the true spirit of sibling rivalry—and maybe to make up for all the times I’d beaten him—he decided that he still hadn’t got quite enough. So for good measure he also took Gabriella, the woman I was going to marry—although, to be fair, he didn’t have to try very hard. She liked the finer things in life and Raul was able to provide them for her. Why hang around with the twin who was going to have to work for his living when you could lead a life of luxury as a rich man’s wife?’

Cassie bit back a gasp as she thought about the impact that must have had on him. Why, it must have been like a kick in the teeth—no money and, then, no girlfriend. His imagined future completely distorted. His pride trampled underfoot. And that might hit him harder than anything else, she realised—with a sudden flash of insight. ‘So what happened?’

‘I came to England and worked for a law firm which specialised in Italian property deals. There weren’t many people in that field at the time and so I was in a strong position. At first I lived frugally, and worked hard—a habit which I’ve never quite lost. With the money I saved and the insider knowledge I gained I was eventually able to start buying property myself. And I was rather good at it—or, rather, I had a talent for spotting places ahead of the market. I bought in down-town New York before it became the fashionable thing to do. I speculated in areas of London which popular thinking said would never take off—but which soared. Buy low and sell high—it’s not an original concept, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. It’s how I built up my business into what it is today.’

Cassie thought how animated his face had become as he’d talked about his business—it had been the most alive she’d seen it apart from when he was making love to her. She could see that it must have mended his wounded pride and brought him immense satisfaction to make money for himself, rather than having it easy by inheriting it. But Cassie’s question hadn’t really been about the money. She had been far more interested in the other part of the betrayal.

‘And what about your ex-girlfriend?’ she questioned carefully. ‘What happened to her?’

‘Gabriella? Oh, she married my brother and they’re still together. In fact, they have a daughter and are living on the family estate.’

Cassie stared into his face, searching for clues about how he felt but there was nothing other than the little flicker of a pulse at his temple and his voice sounded completely casual. Almost too casual. Did he still hanker after the woman who had betrayed him? she wondered. And was that betrayal the reason why he had never married—why a man as gorgeous as he was should live a life which seemed essentially lonely at its heart?

‘Oh, Giancarlo,’ she whispered. ‘I’m so sorry.’

At her unasked-for words of sympathy Giancarlo stilled, wondering why he had said so much—and why to her? Because she had that cute little way of asking—of widening her violet eyes—so that uncharacteristically he had found himself telling her? His mouth hardened. Well, she need not imagine that this was the first of many confidences he would share with her—or that she had found the key to ‘understanding’ him. He would tell her the truth and, although it might hurt her a little now, it would warn her off amassing much greater hurt in the future.

‘Please don’t waste your sorrow on me, Cassandra,’ he advised softly. ‘Don’t they say that it is hardship which hones the character? And can’t you see that it is immensely more satisfying to have made my own fortune than to have it bestowed on me by an accident of birth?’

‘I wasn’t thinking about…about the money,’ Cassie said hesitantly. ‘But more about your girlfriend.’

Did she really imagine that he was still carrying a torch for the woman who had been nothing but an out-and-out gold-digger—someone who could be bought by the highest bidder? ‘Again, your sentiments are misplaced, Cassandra,’ he said silkily, his eyes glittering out a distinct warning. ‘You see, in many ways she did me a big favour. It taught me early in life the valuable lesson of never trusting a woman.’

Chapter Six

‘WHAT is that monstrosity hanging on the front door?’

Cassie waited until Giancarlo had put his briefcase down in the hall before drawing a deep breath. ‘It’s a Christmas wreath.’

He turned to her, his eyes narrowed. ‘Forgive me, I phrased myself badly, bella. I know exactly what it is. I meant—what the hell is it doing there?’

‘I thought it looked…pretty.’

‘And I thought I told you that I don’t do Christmas.’

Cassie swallowed. ‘I know you did—I just don’t understand why.’

‘Because it’s nothing but misrepresentation. It allows sentiment to masquerade as emotion, depicts unrealisti-cally happy families and dresses up greed as some sort of seasonal need.’

‘Bah-humbug!’

His eyes narrowed. ‘Excuse me?’

‘It’s a joke. Something you say about people who don’t like Christmas. People like you.’

‘I think you’re missing the point, cara. When I say that I don’t like Christmas it means you should heed my words—not attempt to change my mind. Especially after a long day at work when I want to be greeted with nothing more controversial than a kiss.’

Cassie moved into his arms. ‘No, I suppose not.’

Giancarlo saw that her lips had softened just the way they always did when he was about to kiss her—but he heard the unmistakable trace of defiance in her soft voice. ‘And anyway, where did you get the money to buy such a magnificent monstrosity—when you have refused point-blank to accept any funds from me?’ Her stubborn refusal to do so had at first made him suspicious—for he couldn’t believe that there was a woman alive who wouldn’t itch to be given free use of his credit card during her tenure as his mistress.

He had tried insisting that she would need money—in order to go shopping. And that was when she had told him that she had no intention of doing anything as dull as shopping while she was installed in his London town house. That she could go shopping any time and she wasn’t particularly into consumerism. He remembered his surprise when he realised that she actually meant it. And that she intended spending her days enjoying the city for free—by visiting the many galleries and parks the capital had to offer.

But now it seemed that Cassandra—who would sigh wistfully whenever they passed a tacky Christmas window display—had finally succumbed and given into the temptation of a seasonal wreath.

‘I made it,’ she said suddenly as his lips brushed against hers.

‘Made what?’

‘The wreath.’

‘You can’t have made it. It looks far too professional.’

‘But I did, Giancarlo—we do sell crafts in our shop, you know, and we are supposed to know something about them. I found a sweet park-keeper in Kensington Gardens, who let me pick some holly and ivy—and I asked your driver if he had any wire I could use. And then I found the base in a cheap little—’

‘Enough!’ protested Giancarlo, but for a moment he was laughing as he bent his lips to her ear. ‘I had no idea that my mistress could be so damned stubborn.’

‘Didn’t you?’ she questioned, winding her arms around his neck. She was about to tease him back—to say something on the lines of, Well, maybe you have a lot to learn, Giancarlo. Except that wouldn’t be true. He didn’t want to learn anything about her, not really—and even if he did, there was no time left in which to do it.

The hours had become days and the days had become weeks—and there were only a few days before their arrangement came to an end. Five days until Christmas Eve—when she would be dispatched back to Cornwall like a parcel which had just caught the last post.

And her time with Giancarlo would be over for ever.

She tried not to dwell on it—to think instead of the pleasure she had had with him. All the shows, the films and the dinners they had shared—and her glorious and continuing education in the joys of sex, taught by a true master of the art. It had been just the two of them—as if the rest of the world didn’t matter—isolated in their own erotic little bubble.

And all the while she had been trying not to focus on the time which was draining away and bringing the day of her departure closer and closer—but it wasn’t easy. Especially not when you had started to care for a man who had tacitly warned you that to care for him would be a complete waste of time. But the human heart was stubbornly impervious to reason, or warnings. Sometimes it made you long for the things you could never have…

She broke away from his kiss and looked up at him. ‘So can we keep the wreath?’

‘That depends.’

‘On what?’

His lips curved into a smile as his fingers squeezed at one pert globe of her delectable bottom. ‘On what you are prepared to do to make me agreeable.’

Glad that they had the house to themselves, Cassie slid her hand down over his belly and laid the palm of her hand over his groin. Through the immaculate suit trousers, she could feel his unmistakable arousal pressing against her. And as she stroked him with growing insistence through the fine material she lifted her lips to touch the faint rasp of his jaw.

‘Why don’t you come upstairs and find out?’

‘Or why don’t we find out right here?’ he growled.

She needed no second bidding, revelling in his powerless capitulation as she unzipped and then slithered down his trousers and slid to her knees in front of him. She took him in her lips—savouring the silken steel of his shaft, teasing it with the soft flick of her tongue and then sliding it deep inside her mouth so that he gasped. Holding onto his hips, she kept up the seductive rhythm while he feverishly tangled his fingers in her hair and then she felt the tension build—heard his helpless groan as he could contain himself no longer. And she felt an odd sense of triumph as he began to spill his seed inside her mouth.

Afterwards, there was silence foramoment—punctuated only by the sound of Giancarlo frantically drawing air back into his lungs. Then slowly, he brought her up to standing, his eyes almost opaque with lust as they scanned her face. Touching his finger to her lips, he bent his head to kiss her—tasting his own essential scent on her skin.

‘Let’s go to bed,’ he said softly.

‘Yes, please,’ she whispered.

In the bedroom, he removed her clothes so slowly and erotically that she writhed beneath his fingers, her blood on fire. His own clothes he took off much more efficiently, his eyes not leaving hers as his silk shirt fluttered to the floor like a flag of surrender. And at last the dark boxers were removed, to reveal his tumescent arousal in all its magnificent glory.

‘You look daunted, cara,’ he murmured.

She glanced at him from beneath her lashes. ‘Is it…is it normal for a man to be as aroused as often as you are, Giancarlo?’

He gave a low laugh tinged with satisfaction as he began to stroke her—and yet, in truth, her eagerness and her appreciation were a constant aphrodisiac which never failed to arouse him. ‘You will find few men to match me in terms of libido, bella.’

She supposed it was her own fault for asking, but his matter-of-fact reply sent a faint tremor through her body—making her feel as if she were nothing but another notch on his bedpost.

But she was just a notch, wasn’t she? Giancarlo had never promised her anything else—so if she found the thought of saying goodbye to him unpalatable, then she had only herself to blame.

Yet all her doubts and her anxieties were dissolved when his hands moved over her with practised ease. He stroked her quivering skin until she was a mass of sensitive nerve-endings and she moaned his name softly beneath her breath as he brought her slowly down onto his aching shaft.

‘Giancarlo,’ she breathed.

‘Look at me,’ he instructed silkily.

Their eyes locked as he guided her hips into a deep rhythm and his captured gaze when he was deep inside her seemed unbearably intimate. But as the erotic dance led her inexorably towards orgasm she shut her eyes tightly again—afraid that he would see the naked pain which sometimes intruded at the very moment of pleasure. Pain provoked by the thought of a life without him.

It was only later, when they were showered and dressed and eating a delicious dinner cooked by Gina—who had returned from her shopping trip—that Giancarlo raised his glass to her in silent toast.

‘Tell me, bella mia,’ he said softly. ‘Do you have a passport?’

The unexpected question made Cassie put down her wine glass as she looked at him—her heart thudding as she basked in the ebony stare he was slanting at her.

‘Yes. Yes—of course I have a passport.’

‘No “of course” about it,’ he pointed out, with a dry smile. ‘Since you told me you’d never been to Europe.’

‘Ah, but I went on a day trip to Calais when I was at school—does that count?’

Giancarlo bit back an indulgent smile as she pushed away her plate and looked at him with interest. As a mistress she had been perfect. Unwittingly amusing. Sexually curious—and with a native intelligence which sometimes surprised him. He had enjoyed introducing her to theatre and the opera—even if he hadn’t got round to introducing her to his friends. Why bother, when she would never encounter them again? No, early on he’d realised that time spent with Cassandra could be spent in a much more enjoyable way than sitting through interminable dinner parties and fielding off faintly embarrassing questions about how they’d met.

But while shaving that morning he had realised with something of a shock that there was hardly any time left and that Christmas was almost upon them. For once, he had not noticed the passing days nor been bored by the constant company of one woman. Barely a week to go until he travelled to New York to spend the holidays with friends—the way he always did. And when he returned to London it would be to a bed and a life bereft of his young, blonde lover.

Would he miss her?

He studied her as the tip of her little pink tongue snaked its way around her lips to make them gleam provocatively. And he remembered what that same talented little tongue had been doing just a little while ago. For a woman who had known nothing of a man’s body when he had first met her, she had proved to be a remarkably quick and talented learner.

Yes, he would miss her—but he would soon forget her. He always did.

‘Oh, I can think of more enjoyable ways of seeing the Continent than a school day trip,’ he murmured.

‘Really?’

‘How would you like to go to Paris?’ he asked suddenly.

‘Paris?’ she squeaked.

‘Capital of France,’ he said gravely. ‘Have you heard of it?’

Cassie looked into the gleam of his black eyes—at the rugged, proud features which made her heart flip every time he came into the room. ‘Oh, Giancarlo—do you really mean it?’

‘I really do.’

‘When?’

‘How would tomorrow morning suit you?’

‘That soon? Oh, my goodness! Yes, please. Oh—thank you! Thank you!’ She jumped up from her seat and slid her arms tightly around his neck just as Gina walked into the room to collect the plates. Quickly, Cassie let her arms fall—even if she hadn’t felt the sudden tensing of Giancarlo’s shoulders. Because he didn’t do demonstrative—not in the street, not in restaurants or in the theatre, and he certainly didn’t do demonstrative in front of his cool housekeeper.

Getting used to having live-in staff had proved more challenging than learning to share a bed. Gina hadn’t been unfriendly towards Cassie—she had just showed a polite indifference which could be terribly intimidating at times. And while Cassie could see that Giancarlo needed people to run his house for him, she wished that they could have all been dismissed during her brief stay there. She would have liked to have had the freedom to roam the house. To make love in every room. To cook for him herself instead of always having their meals served up to them—either at home or in some fancy restaurant. Because she wasn’t interested in all the trappings which came with Giancarlo’s great wealth—she was interested in him.

‘Cassandra and I are going to Paris for a few days,’ said Giancarlo as a pink-cheeked Cassie returned to her seat.

‘How delightful,’ said Gina, with a cool smile. ‘Paris is always lovely at this time of year.’

Cassie gave a watery kind of smile, thinking that the whole world was more well travelled than she was! But she blotted out her insecurity as she got ready for the trip. A few weeks ago, packing for such an event would have been beset with problems, but not any more—mainly because her wardrobe had expanded slightly to accommodate her role as a tycoon’s mistress. It had started when Giancarlo had returned from work late one night bearing two fancy carrier bags—both festooned with soft layers of tissue paper. Cassie recognised the brand names immediately and blinked as he handed them to her.

‘What are these?’

‘Why don’t you open them and find out?’

From the first bag she pulled out a black silk dress which slithered through her fingers like a snake. ‘Oh!’

‘Like it?’

‘How could I not like it? It’s…it’s…beautiful. But how did you know my size?’

There was a pause. A smile. A shrug. And Cassie’s cheeks grew hot with embarrassment as she correctly read the expression in his eyes. Of course. She wasn’t the first woman he had bought clothes for and she certainly wouldn’t be the last. He was an expert in guessing a woman’s size.

Her fingers were trembling as she opened the second bag, which contained a pair of shoes—a pair as high as the ones she’d worn on their first date, but there all similarity ended. These were pure leather, handmade and exquisitely crafted, with a band of tiny glass beads at the toe which made them look as if they’d been dipped in fairy dust. In fact, they were fairytale shoes for a fantasy world—and a sudden sense of unreality washed over her.

‘What are these for?’ she breathed.

‘For wearing, of course.’

Cassie’s heart started beating very fast. ‘Because my own clothes aren’t good enough, I suppose?’

‘Oh, come on—don’t take it so personally. Showering mistresses with expensive gifts is written in the contract, Cassandra,’ he said softly. ‘Didn’t you know that?’

She could have flung the shoes back at him—except that it would have achieved precisely nothing. It was pointless issuing ultimatums or sulking simply because he wouldn’t behave in the way she would have secretly liked him to behave—like a man who was falling in love. Because Giancarlo would never do that. He treated her like a mistress because she was a mistress. And if she had found herself wanting the relationship to deepen instead of coming to an abrupt end—well, then she was wasting her time.

Because that was never going to happen. It had never been part of the deal. And if she had been grown-up enough to accept his terms from the outset, then she should be grown-up enough not to want to move the goalposts because she’d discovered that it didn’t really suit her after all. So she accepted his gifts with a kind of calm emptiness—and found that when it came to visiting the most romantic capital in the world she had the perfect wardrobe to take with her.

She had thought they might fly, but instead they took the train—a champagne trip through the Channel Tunnel, emerging from the darkness into the flat, French countryside until the train drew into Paris, at the Gare du Nord.

‘Are you ready for Christmas?’ questioned Giancarlo as he ushered her through the station to where a car was waiting for them. ‘Because this city does it better than any other.’

Cassie nodded as she climbed into the luxurious leather interior of the limousine, feeling as excited as a small child who had been told she was going to meet Father Christmas. ‘Ready for anything,’ she whispered.

Fairy lights woven into the trees gleamed golden-bright all the way along the Champs Élysées, and Christmas trees were festooned with fake snow. Cassie sat very close to him in the back of the car as they passed all the famous designer stores—Chanel, Gucci and Louis Vuitton—with their clever-clever windows and pencil-thin mannequins.

They were staying at a grand hotel not far from the Eiffel Tower—with a foyer in which stood the biggest Christmas tree Cassie had ever seen. It was looped with lights and hung with cinnamon sticks and baubles which glittered like icicles—and beneath it were stacked piles of fake, gold-wrapped presents.

Giancarlo had rented an enormous suite whose huge windows overlooked the Avenue Montagne where champagne awaited them—as well as big vases of bright pink roses. The bed was indescribably opulent and one of the two bathrooms contained a Jacuzzi. For a while Cassie wandered around like a woman in a trance as her fingertips skated over the heavy brocade arm of an antique sofa.

‘I keep thinking that this is a dream and that soon I will wake up.’

‘Well, don’t go to sleep just yet,’ he murmured as he pulled her into his arms. ‘Didn’t you know that Paris was invented for lovers?’

For a moment the word mocked her. Lovers, he had said—but it was an intensely misleading word, because what did this have to do with love? And how many other of his lovers had he brought to this romantic city?

But Cassie pushed the nagging thought away as Giancarlo began to undress her, sliding the whisper-soft silk lingerie from her trembling flesh as his mouth found her breast.

For three days they did all the things which tourists were supposed to do—climbing up the Eiffel Tower and marvelling at all the cathedrals and beautiful little churches which studded the city. Exploring the tiny side streets, they discovered dusty antique shops in which to browse. They walked through a frosty Left Bank and ate boeuf bourguignon with crusty bread and on another day they wandered through the Tuileries Gardens and watched the ever-changing light reflected on the river Seine. And when they weren’t exploring they were having sex—amazing sex, which Cassie suspected was sharpened by the sense that it would all soon be over.

But that sense of displacement never quite left her—and it was reinforced on their last day, when he tried to buy her a beautiful black suede coat which he’d seen in the window of Valentino and persuaded her to try on.

She shook her head. ‘Thank you—but no.’

‘But I want you to have it, bella,’ he said, in a voice of silky determination.