Love Islands: Swept Away

Midnight had arrived and they’d walked to his hotel, both of them very much aware of what would happen next.

He’d walked away the next day, even more exposed than he’d ever been in his life.

But he’d pulled himself together, refusing to be the needy shadow of a man who’d yearned for a kind word from the mother who’d rejected him all his life. And he’d succeeded.

Nothing should’ve prompted this puzzling and clever way Maisie had managed to slip under his guard not once, but twice. It was a weakness he couldn’t, wouldn’t abide.

He stole a glance from the corner of his eye and saw that she was gazing at the passing scenery, her fingers toying with her new rings.

He breathed a little easier, confident that moment of madness was behind him. That she was taking his advice and letting the temporary aberration pass.

‘I’m sorry I dredged up bad memories for you,’ she said suddenly.

Romeo shut the laptop with studied care, resisting the urge to rip the gadget out of its housing and throw it out of the window.

‘Maisie—’ he growled warningly.

‘I know you don’t want to talk about it now and I respect that. But I just wanted you to know, should you ever feel the need to talk, I’m here.’

For one shocking, ground-shaking moment, his black soul lifted at those words. He allowed himself to glimpse a day when he would unburden himself and feel whole, clean. The picture was so laughable, he shook his head in wonder at his own gall.

He was the son of a whore and a vicious thug. He’d contemplated hurting another human being just so he could join a gang...to gain respect through violence. Walking away, sick to his stomach, hadn’t absolved him of the three days he’d worn the probation leathers and trawled the dark streets of Palermo, looking for a victim. He would never be clean, never be washed free of that stain. He hadn’t bothered to try up until now. He never would.

‘Grazie, but I can assure you that day will never come.’

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE BRUNETTI INTERNATIONAL RESORT MAUI was a tropical oasis that had been created with heaven itself in mind. Or at least that was what the brochure stated.

Maisie had silently rolled her eyes when she read the claim.

Looking around her as they alighted from the seaplane, she accepted the statement hadn’t been an exaggeration. A long, sugar-sanded beach stretched for a half mile before it curved around an outcrop of rock that looked perfect for diving.

From the beach, the land rose gently, swaying palm trees blending with the increasingly denser vegetation Maisie had spotted from the plane before they’d landed.

She knew the resort housed six koa-wood-and-stone mansions, each large and luxurious enough to cater to the most demanding guest, with the largest, a twelve-bedroom sprawling architect’s dream, sitting on top of a hill in the centre of the island.

From the brochure she’d read she also knew that the mansion had been booked for the next three years and that guests paid a king’s ransom for the privilege.

She had been admiring the stunning architecture of the resort when her eyes had grown heavy. Jerking awake, she’d found her shoes had been taken off, her seat reclined and a pillow tucked under her head. She’d looked up from the soft cashmere throw keeping her warm to find Lucca and Romeo at the dining table, tucking into a meal. Or rather, Lucca had been eating and chattering away, with his father watching him with that silent intensity and awe that had struck a peculiar ache in Maisie’s chest.

Romeo had looked up then, locked gazes with her before being diverted by their son. Unlike in the car when his emotions had bubbled just beneath his skin, he’d looked cool and remote, very much the powerful, in-control billionaire. He’d looked untouchable, and Maisie believed he meant for the moment in the car never to happen again. Whatever had prompted him to reveal a horrific chapter of his past had been resealed in an impenetrable fortress, never to be revisited again.

She’d berated herself for feeling mournful, for experiencing his pain as acutely as if it were her own. She had no right to it, no right to pry or feel strangely bereft when he’d shut her out and refocused his attention on Lucca.

Her parents had tried to drill into her that her brain was her most valuable asset, but Maisie had known that wasn’t true. With the birth of her child, she’d known love was the greatest gift she could give, and receive. Same as she knew that Romeo, like her parents, didn’t have a need for it. He believed in protecting his son, much as her own parents had provided a roof over her head and put clothes on her back. But, like them, he had nothing more to give.

And while she couldn’t turn her compassion off at will, she needed to guard against overexposure of the emotion that had drawn her to Romeo in the first place. His grief and misery that night had been like a beacon. She’d wanted to comfort him, grant him reprieve from the shackles that bound him.

The result had been waking up alone, and returning home weeks later, pregnant. She would do well to remember that.

‘Are you coming?’

She jumped at Romeo’s prompt and realised she’d stopped at the bottom of the stone steps leading up from the beach.

‘Yes, of course.’ She smiled at the six white-uniformed staff ready to unload their luggage and followed Romeo up to the buggy parked on the pavement. He lowered an excited Lucca onto the seat and fastened his seat belt before turning to her.

‘Would you like a quick tour now or later?’ he asked coolly.

‘Now would be great, thanks.’

He nodded and started the buggy. When Lucca wriggled excitedly, Romeo slowed down and touched his son’s arm. ‘Sit still, bambino, or you’ll have to walk all the way back to the house.’

Lucca looked round. ‘Where’s the house?’ he asked.

Romeo pointed up the hill to a large villa whose glass cathedral-like dome dominated the hilltop. ‘All the way up there.’

Lucca immediately stilled, his eyes rounding as he stared up at Romeo. ‘I’ll be still.’

Romeo looked over at her, a small smile playing on his lips before he tentatively ruffled Lucca’s hair. ‘Bene...that means good in Italian.’

‘Bene,’ Lucca repeated, intoning the syllables in near perfect match of his father’s accent.

Maisie looked around and realised two things. That the brochure hadn’t done enough justice to the description of Hana Island. And also that only two of the mansions that Romeo drove past looked occupied.

‘But I thought this place was fully booked for years in advance?’

‘It was...until yesterday when I cancelled half of the bookings.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I wanted to guarantee our privacy. The two families who are staying here have been fully vetted and have signed confidentiality agreements. The others were a little more testy, so I compensated them for their trouble and sent them to another resort. Complimentary, of course.’

Maisie looked around as they headed up the hill. The whole place was the very epitome of paradise. But then paradise had contained a poisonous snake.

‘Surely you don’t think...’

He sent her a warning look. She bit her lip and waited until he’d stopped the buggy in front of a large set of double doors made of polished koa wood and released Lucca’s seat belt. When Lucca scampered off towards the house, he turned to her.

‘No, I don’t think we’ll have any trouble here, but I took the necessary precautions nevertheless.’

She looked around the lush paradise. ‘But we can’t stay here for ever, Romeo.’

His jaw flexed. ‘We’ll remain here until I find a way to fix this. Besides, the world thinks we’re on our honeymoon, so why not enjoy the time off?’ He glanced over to where Lucca was examining a spray of giant bright orange flowers. ‘I can’t imagine you’ve had any downtime since he was born.’

Maisie smiled reluctantly. ‘I don’t imagine I’ll be getting any until he’s at least eighteen.’

He watched her with a quizzical look. ‘But it will be a relief not to be burdened with him 24/7, sì?’ There was a hard bite to his tone that set her nerves on edge.

She frowned. ‘I don’t consider him a burden,’ she retorted.

‘Was he the reason you switched careers?’ he enquired.

‘Well...yes, but—’

‘Pursuing a career in criminal law to operating a restaurant in a quaint little village is quite a change.’

‘It was a choice I made both for Lucca and myself.’

He nodded. ‘You’ve proved you’re capable of adapting. So adjusting to our new situation shouldn’t be a big problem.’

She looked around. ‘I’m not built to lie about sipping cocktails. I need a challenge, even with Lucca around.’

‘Then we will find other challenges for you.’

‘Thank you. Now, is this interview of my mothering skills and commitment over? I’d like to get out of these travelling clothes.’

He continued to stare at her in that direct, invasive way of his, as if trying to see beneath her words to any truth she was hiding.

After several minutes he nodded and alighted from the buggy.

Double doors swung open and two women came forward, one an older Tongan native and a younger girl who approached Lucca with a smile. Maisie noticed she walked with a slight limp.

‘This is Emily. She’ll be helping you look after Lucca. And Mahina is our housekeeper.

Maisie managed to keep a smile on her face throughout the introductions and the tour of Romeo’s mansion. She even managed to make the right noises when she saw the Olympic-sized pool and the hot tub, and the man-made cave that opened up into a private waterfall complete with pool at the back of the property.

She smiled through giving Lucca a quick wash, with a helpful Emily unpacking his clothes. When the girl offered to take him away for a glass of juice, Maisie forced a nod, welcoming the opportunity to find Romeo and give him a piece of her mind.

After searching fruitlessly upstairs and knocking on over a dozen doors, she finally found him in a large, airy room converted to a study, with rows of books covering one wall, and an imposing desk and chair fronting a floor-to-ceiling glass window.

She shut the door behind her after his imperious directive to come in and stalked to where he sat, master and commander of his empire.

‘How dare you hire a nanny without consulting me,’ she fired at him when he looked up from the document he was perusing.

His brows clamped for a second before he rose and rounded the desk. Maisie forced herself not to step back from the broad-shouldered magnificence of his physique. He’d also changed from the suit he wore to travel, into a turquoise polo shirt and a pair of white linen trousers, into which he shoved his hands. ‘I didn’t think you would object.’

‘Why? Because I’m so eager to be lightened of the burden of caring for my son?’

‘Because I’m told every mother needs a break every now and then.’

‘And who, pray tell, enlightened you of this fact? It can’t have been your mother, since I’m guessing she wasn’t a contender for mother of the year?’

His cold tensing confirmed she’d gone too far. ‘We seem to be straying away from the issue under discussion. You slept for less than an hour on the plane and I’m sure you didn’t have much sleep the night before. The jet lag will kick in very hard shortly.’ He shrugged. ‘I thought you would welcome the help.’

She told herself not to soften at his consideration. ‘Is that all she is—temporary help?’ she pressed.

‘No. She helps around the resort when needed, but she’s the only one with childcare training.’

She shook her head. ‘Romeo—’

Narrowed eyes studied her closely. ‘What exactly is the problem here?’

‘The problem is you made a decision about Lucca’s care without consulting me.’

He exhaled with a rush of irritation. ‘This is an adjustment for all of us, Lucca included. Some decisions will have to be made with or without your input.’

‘No, I don’t accept that. Not when it comes to my son.’

He shrugged. ‘Okay, you can use Emily when you see fit, or not at all. I’ll leave that decision up to you. But you can’t control every moment of his life, Maisie.’

Cold anger robbed her of breath for a moment. Then the words came tumbling out. ‘You’ve known him for what, two days? And you dare to say that to me?’

His eyes turned a burnished gold. ‘Is it my fault that I didn’t know of his existence before then?’

‘Well, it’s not mine! Had you bothered to stick around the morning after—’

‘For what purpose? Exchange false promises of hooking up again? Or perhaps you wanted compliments on what a great night we shared?’

An angry flush replaced the cold rage. ‘I don’t know why you’re being so vile! And pardon me if I didn’t know the right etiquette for the morning after one-night stands. That was my first and last experience. But I certainly didn’t think I’d wake up alone with no trace of the man I’d spent the night with. Or that you’d instruct the concierge not to divulge any information as to your identity. If you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at yourself, because despite that deplorable behaviour, despite you leaving me there to do the walk of shame on my own, I still went back to look for you when I found out I was pregnant.’

His face froze in a mask of surprise. ‘You did what?’

‘I went back. I used savings I would’ve been better off investing for my unborn child to pay for a two-week stay in that exorbitant hotel. I walked the streets of Palermo every day and visited every café I could find for a fortnight.’ She laughed. ‘I drank enough decaf lattes to float a cruise ship, all in the hope that I might find you. Do you know how many hits there are for Romeo of Palermo on the Internet?’

He shook his head slowly, as if in a daze.

‘Well, I won’t bore you with figures. Let’s just say tracking every one of them down would’ve taken me years. I didn’t speak the language, so either I was laughed off or every enquiry was met with a blank look. So, yes, I gave up after two weeks and decided my time would be better spent planning a safe and comfortable future for my son. So don’t you dare tell me I won’t be consulted about each and every decision where he’s concerned. And don’t you dare make me feel bad about the consequences of something that we both did consensually.’

A red flush scoured his cheekbones before he inhaled deeply. Whirling about, he strode to the window and gazed out at the spectacular view.

When she was convinced the silence would stretch for ever, she approached and stood next to him. ‘Are you going to say something?’ she ventured in a quieter voice once several more minutes had passed.

He slanted a glance at her. ‘It is not often I’m surprised. But you have surprised me, gattina,’ he rasped.

‘Because I’ve shown that underneath that auburn hair I have a temper?’ she half joked.

A flicker of a smile ghosted over his lips. ‘That wasn’t a surprise. I’m very much aware of the depths of your passion.’

She reddened and glanced away before she was tempted to read a different meaning to his words. ‘What, then?’

‘What you did...’ He paused and shook his head. ‘No other person I know would’ve done that. And you’re right. After the way I left, you had every right to write me off. And I did make sure that I would not be easy to find.’

‘That’s an understatement. Do you do that often? Erase your presence so thoroughly your conquests can never find you?’ she asked before she could stop herself.

‘Not in such direct terms. There is usually an understanding of the transient nature of my liaisons.’

‘Oh...right.’ That told her.

‘That night was different for me, too, in many ways.’

She wanted to ask, but that bleak, haunted look was back in his eyes again, along with that do-not-disturb force field that told her she would risk emotional electrocution if she so much as raised an eyebrow in inquiry. To her surprise, he continued.

‘It had been a trying day, one I didn’t wish to face even though I knew it was coming.’

‘Yeah, we all have days like that.’

He looked at her, his gaze brushing her face, her throat, her body, before turning his attention to the window again. ‘But you came back, despite feeling the sting of rejection and perhaps a lot aggrieved?’ he asked.

‘I put myself in my child’s shoes and knew that I needed to give him a chance to know his father. But I guess a part of me was terrified that I couldn’t do this on my own and was in some way looking for support.’ She shrugged. ‘The moment I got back to Dublin, I accepted that I was in this alone. Then Lucca was born, and with each day that passed the fear receded. I was no longer alone. I had him.’

His stare returned, stayed longer this time. ‘You’re no longer alone where his care is concerned.’

She raised her eyebrows. ‘But you don’t agree that I should be consulted on all things?’

A steely look entered his eyes. ‘I’ll grant you a healthy debate about the major issues that concern him. And you can attempt to tear me to pieces on the minor ones.’

‘So in other words, we’ll argue about everything?’

The corner of his mouth lifted. ‘Only because you seem to thrive on arguments.’

Her mouth curved in answer. ‘Be warned, I never stop until I get my way.’

His eyes dropped to her mouth, and a heated channel forged between them. Her breath shallowed, her heart racing as she read the look loud and clear.

Desire thickened in her veins, her core throbbing until she yearned to squeeze her thighs together to alleviate the ache.

‘Perhaps I will let you win on occasion,’ he murmured, his voice husky and deep. When his gaze dropped to linger on her breasts, a light tremble went through her.

She was thinking it was wise to move away before she did something foolish, like rise on tiptoe and taste his mouth, when a knock sounded on the door.

‘Yes?’ he answered, his eyes still on her.

Emily entered with Lucca, who smiled broadly when he saw her. ‘Lucca wants to go for a swim. I wanted to check with you that it was all right to take him,’ Emily said.

Romeo eyed Maisie with one brow quirked.

She lifted her chin. ‘I’ll take him,’ she answered. When his eyes narrowed, she sighed. ‘We’ll both take him?’ she amended.

The corner of his mouth twitched. ‘Grazie,’ he murmured.

Maisie nodded. ‘Okay. I’ll go and change.’

Romeo strode forward and caught Lucca up in his arms. ‘We’ll meet you by the pool.’

In her room, Maisie fingered her sensible one-piece suit, replaying the conversation with Romeo in her mind. He’d been surprised that she’d returned to look for him, more than surprised, in fact. Stunned. That she would want to do the right thing.

Again she found herself wondering just how damaging his relationship with his mother had been. He’d called her a whore in the car. Had he meant that literally? She shuddered. Why else would a child call his mother by such a derogatory term?

It was clear that Romeo Brunetti had huge skeletons in his closet. And she was treading on dangerous ground in being so interested in uncovering them. That he’d taken such drastic steps to disconnect himself from her after their single night together should warn her that he didn’t want any entanglements that didn’t involve his son. She would do well to remember that. Along with remembering that theirs would in no way be a physical merger. No matter how heatedly he looked at her. No matter how much her blood thrilled to insane sexual possibilities each time he was within touching distance.

There would come a time when she’d have to walk away with her son after all this was done.

She would be better off if she made sure to walk away with her heart intact.

* * *

Romeo noticed her cooler demeanour the moment she came down the terrace steps and walked through the leafy archway dividing the extensive barbecue and entertainment area from the pool. And it had nothing to do with the military-issue swimming suit she wore, or the tight knot she’d pulled her hair into at the top of her head.

Her gaze, when it skated over him, was wary. As if between the time they’d spoken in his study and her changing, she’d withdrawn into herself.

Had she somehow guessed at his true intention towards his son when this problem with Lorenzo was over?

No, there was no way she could know. He quashed the voice in his head that prompted him to recall Maisie’s uncanny intuitiveness. She’d known just how to delve beneath his skin and burrow to the heart of his need that night five years ago.

She’d given him passion and compassion in abundance, two emotions that had been seriously lacking in his life up till then. She’d made him believe and hope, for a few blissful hours, until dawn and reality had come crashing in. For a while he’d resented her for those feelings. Until he’d realised the fault wasn’t hers. It was him, daring to believe in mirages and miracles.

He watched her drop her sunglasses on the table and walk to the edge of the pool, her smile guarded as she observed Lucca’s antics. For the first time in his life, Romeo experienced the need to enquire as to a woman’s feelings. The unsettled feelings that had slashed through him in the car returned and grew as he watched her swim to the other end of the pool and stay there.

Normally, when the women he dated began exhibiting contrary attitudes, it was a prelude to them asking for more. Of his time. Of a commitment. It was the reason he’d drastically reduced his dating span from a few weeks to the odd weekend.

He had nothing more to offer a woman besides a good time in bed and a very generous parting gift come Monday morning.

So what did Maisie’s attitude mean?

She had his ring on her finger. Albeit temporarily, and for the sake of their son. But she also had him here, far from civilisation should they choose, and as exclusive as resorts came. And if and when she chose to alter the terms of their non-physical relationship to a physical one, he was more than willing to negotiate.

So what was wrong?

‘Faster, faster!’ Lucca urged as he rode on Romeo’s back. ‘Mummy, let’s race.’ He held out his arms to his mother. Maisie smiled and swam towards them, but she still avoided Romeo’s gaze. And kept a conspicuous distance between them as they splashed from one end of the pool to the other.

Eventually, he took a tired and protesting Lucca out of the water. Maisie followed them out and dried him, before taking him indoors. When she returned and perched on her lounger with that same air of withdrawal, he narrowed his eyes.

‘I don’t like mixed signals,’ he snapped.

Her head jerked towards him. ‘What?’

‘You were fine when you left the study. Something has obviously happened between then and now. What is it?’

‘Nothing. I just took a little time to think, that’s all.’

Something tightened in his chest, but he forced out the question. ‘And what did thinking produce?’

She flashed a bright, false smile. ‘I concluded that you’re right. Lucca and I have never had a holiday. This will be good for him...for all of us. As long as I can find something to keep me busy at times, I won’t stand in your way about the small things.’

He heard the words and processed them as the half-truth they were. Then sat back and formulated how to get the full truth out of her.

CHAPTER EIGHT

‘WE’RE HEADING OUT to choose a venue for a duck pond. You said you’d join us.’ Romeo used a tone that made it clear his request wasn’t up for debate. His annoyance the past few days had grown into a simmering anger. Albeit that anger was directed more at himself for the unaccustomed feeling of caring so much.

But some of it was directed at the woman who raised her head from her video conversation with her friend in Dublin and looked at him with a blank stare.