The Last Heir of Monterrato by Andie Brock

Author:Andie Brock
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-12-01T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

RAFAEL WOKE WITH a start. He could hear something—a noise somewhere in the villa. As he slipped out of bed a glance at the clock showed it was two-forty-five a.m. Pulling on his jeans, he walked silently across the landing to Lottie’s bedroom. The door was closed and he stood there for a moment, listening. Nothing. She was probably sound asleep; it had been several hours since she had flounced off to bed, refusing his offer of a hot drink, leaving him nursing a whisky and a bad mood.

The evening hadn’t ended well—just like every other evening since they had been in this place. Every evening since Lottie had been back in his life, in fact. He knew he was failing miserably when it came to following Dr Oveisi’s instructions to make these two weeks as stress-free as possible for Lottie. But there was only one bit of Dr Oveisi’s advice that he knew for sure he could fulfil—and all too easily. He was wrestling to control it every second that he spent with Lottie. And each day at Villa Varenna was making it that bit more difficult.

The villa was quiet. Perhaps he had imagined it. After padding down the stairs he stood in the hallway, straining his ears. Yes, there it was again, coming from the basement.

A plan was immediately forming in his head. If he could get into the gym he could grab one of the dumbbells and clobber whoever it was over the head before they had a chance to get away. He could feel the adenaline starting to surge through his body. Slowly he crept down. The noise was coming from the pool—he could hear the splashing quite clearly now.

Burglars didn’t take a dip before they robbed a house.

Standing in the shadows behind the glass wall, he could make out the shape of Lottie’s body moving leisurely through the water, swimming to one end, then pushing off and starting back again. The only illumination came from the submerged pool lights and she looked dark against the bright turquoise of the water, arms and legs elongated by the shadows.

He should go. As he turned away the metal button of his fly tapped against the glass and he froze, casting his eyes down as if to make himself invisible.

‘Who’s there?’

He could hear the squeak of alarm in her voice. What the hell was he doing, lurking in the gloom?

‘It’s me.’ Clearing his throat, brusquely he moved along to the glass door, pushing it open authoritatively. ‘I heard a noise. Came down to see what it was.’

‘Oh.’ She stared at him for a minute before swimming over to the edge of the pool and hanging on with fingertips that were level with his bare feet. ‘You scared me.’

‘Sorry.’

He looked down at her head and shoulders, streaming with water, her hair slicked back darkly over her forehead and then fanning out around her like seaweed. Closer inspection revealed that beneath the blue of the water she was naked.

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