I nearly dropped my glass. Wide-eyed, I glanced toward my wife, tossing back the rest of her wine as if she hadn’t just dropped a bomb right in the middle of dinner.
Fee—equally as shocked by the comment, but for very different reasons—stared at Natalie several moments without blinking. Beside her, Marco’s mouth fell open, but he covered the reaction quickly by fumbling with his own wine and downing what was left in his glass.
A heartbeat later, Felicity burst out laughing. “You almost had me there. That was a good one.”
“Yeah, I’m hilarious like that.” Slapping her glass on the table, Natalie reached for the empty pitcher between us and rose. “I need more water.”
Sonofabitch. Forget the cold shoulder. I was on her permanent shit list, and she had no qualms about letting everyone know.
Marco’s shoulders relaxed as Fee continued to laugh. But I didn’t miss the worried glance he shot my way. I hadn’t given him any specifics about my relationship with Natalie, but I could tell he was quickly cueing in to the fact something wasn’t right.
Still smiling, Fee called, “Use the filtered water in the fridge.”
As Natalie disappeared into the villa, Fee looked at me. “Where on earth did you find her, Luc? She’s a spitfire. Makes me look tame in comparison.”
My jaw tightened. Natalie wasn’t a spitfire. She was a hurricane. And I was so caught up in her storm, lately I didn’t know if I was coming or going.
One thing I did know, though, was that she was going to give us away if we weren’t careful. “I didn’t find her. She came looking for me.”
It wasn’t a lie. Just as I knew Natalie was likely regretting the fact she’d come to me at the Covet offices all those weeks ago.
I pushed back from the table. “Think I’ve had enough wine. I’m gonna make some coffee. Anyone else?”
Fee shook her head. “None for me, thanks.”
Marco lifted a finger. “I’ll take one.”
I nodded and moved into the house. Natalie was in the kitchen when I entered, standing at the island, pouring filtered water into the glass pitcher that had been on the table.
My heartbeat kicked up as I passed behind her and flipped on the coffee pot. She tensed but didn’t speak to me or acknowledge my presence, and while that pissed me off and amped me up at the same time, I let her ignore me until after she’d replaced the water filter in the fridge and stepped back to the island to grab the pitcher.
I moved in close behind her and placed my hands on the counter on each side of her body before she could escape, trapping her between the island and my chest.
She froze, her hands on the cut-glass pitcher on the counter, but still didn’t speak. And in the silence, as that intoxicating scent of hers filled my senses, I tried not to be aroused by the fact she was flat-out challenging me with her silence just as she had when we’d been in Rome.
Only I failed miserably.
It took every ounce of willpower I possessed not to press my hot, very aroused body against the seductive curve of her backside, but somehow, I managed to keep a little bit of distance between us when I whispered, “What do you think you’re doing?”
She didn’t respond, and for a moment, I didn’t think she was going to. Then she slowly released the pitcher and turned to face me, careful not to graze my arms or my chest, yet pinning me with clear blue eyes as hard as ice chips. “I don’t know, Luc. What do you think I’m doing?”
Holy fuck, she was challenging me. “I think you’re pissed, and you’re making it known.”
“Your power of deduction is staggering.”
She moved to duck under my arm, but I captured her around the waist and spun her around, pulling her back up against my chest.
“Let me go,” she growled, closing both hands over my forearm at her waist as she struggled.
I knew I should, but I needed to get this point across to her. And, dammit, I was tired of being the bad guy.
“This isn’t a game,” I whispered in her hair, loving and hating the way her sweet little ass shifted against my groin. “I told you before there are eyes and ears in this villa. Stop fucking around before you get someone killed.”
“Someone like you?” she snapped, still struggling.
“No.” I tightened my hold. “Someone like Marco and Fee. They’re doing us a favor by letting us stay here. Do you want someone from my House descending on them as soon as they step off the property? Because that’s what will happen. They’ll go after them to get info on us if you don’t knock this shit off. Be pissed at me all you want in private, but stop drawing attention when we’re out of the cottage. It’s the least you can do for these people who put their lives on the line to help us.”
She stilled against me. But she didn’t spout off again. And she didn’t fight me any more either.
And though I knew she wasn’t giving in because she liked being pressed up against me, I couldn’t keep from closing my eyes and drawing in a deep whiff of her scent at the same time.
Bloody hell, she was soft in all the places I was hard, and the curve of her body fit against mine as if she were made for me. I wanted her with a blistering need that was making me insane, and she didn’t even care. Everything I was doing was for her, and yet to her, I was just fucking things up worse by the second.
I didn’t have a clue how to fix any of the mess between us. I didn’t know if I should even try anymore. At the moment, I only knew that this was the closest I’d been to her in days, and God, it felt good.
“Fine. Okay,” she hissed. “I get it. You can let me go now.”
Guilt rushed in—more guilt to pile on top of the shitheap I was already trying to dig myself out of—replacing my anger. I released her long before I was ready and moved back a half step.
For a heartbeat, she didn’t move, then the sound of a door closing echoed somewhere in the villa, and she glanced to the left with wide eyes.
Not Fee or Marco. They were still outside on the loggia. Had to be the housekeeper. Someone who could have been eavesdropping on our conversation, exactly as I’d said.
Fuck me, I hope it isn’t someone eavesdropping...
With shaky hands, Natalie reached for the pitcher from the counter and turned to face me. Her eyes were still icy-blue shards of glass, but she leaned close and very lightly brushed her lips against my cheek in a way that both surprised and shocked me.
“Oh, Luc,” she said with a chuckle loud enough for whoever was in the other room to hear. “You’re such a tease.” Then loud enough so only I could hear, she whispered, “I know it’s not a game. Just as I know this marriage is nothing but a sham. If the fact you don’t tell me shit about what’s going on isn’t proof of that, then the slave brand on my finger definitely is.”
She turned away from me, and this time, I didn’t try to stop her. That hole inside me reopened, sucking up my voice as I watched her walk away.
We were right back where we’d started. The only difference was, I knew now without a doubt that it wasn’t my House or my father or even my fucking family that was going to destroy me. It was this woman.
This fiery, passionate, challenging woman I’d deceived—who I was still deceiving because I was desperate to protect her—was going to be my undoing.