Wanton Angel by Shirl Henke

Author:Shirl Henke [Henke, Shirl]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: 0
Published: 2011-03-12T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

They lay in her big soft bed, entwined, satiated. Piero's body had not felt so at peace since the last time he had been with Vittoria. They had been little more than children then, she even younger than he, although both had been virgins. “Amazing, that after all this time we should be brought together once more,” he whispered, stroking her cheek as he leaned over her.

She reached up and placed one palm against the hairy wall of his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. “After so many years...why did you return? Why did you wait so long?”

He took her hand and pressed kisses on the sensitive pads of her fingertips. “Fate brought us together, I suppose...no, that is not an honest answer. I was afraid—afraid to find you still wed and surrounded by children, or worse, dead. I was a coward, wanting to hold my memories of you inviolate.”

She smiled sadly, yet a bit of mischief lit her dark eyes. “Perhaps it was a fear that you would find me fat and wrinkled and shrewish, not at all the smiling slim girl of your dreams.”

“You will always be the girl of my dreams.”

“But you built a life, made a fortune, became an American. That must have taken a great deal of time and energy.” When he did not deny it, she felt her heart go cold. He was no longer Neapolitan. His life was in the New World now. Where did that leave them?

Piero was too preoccupied to sense her disquiet. How could he tell her about Quintin Blackthorne? He had not intended to seduce her this way, for them to move so quickly to their old intimacy, but once he had seen her standing in that doorway, there had been no way to stop. Now he realized that it might have been a mistake.

Gently, he withdrew from her embrace, kissing her hands. Then he sat up and said, “You asked why I came back after so many years and I replied fate. In a strange way, fate did force my hand. My business partner in the shipping trade is Devon Blackthorne.”

Vittoria felt as if icy water had splashed over her. “Beth's uncle,” she said flatly.

“Yes. Quintin came to him with a letter that accused an earl's son of dishonoring Beth.”

“And you were sent to investigate?” She willed herself to remain calm, sensing his anguish as he searched for the words with which to explain.

“No. When Dev sent for me, I was asked to accompany her father to Naples as an interpreter. Then they told me Beth was being chaperoned by a countess named Vittoria who was a widow...I could not be certain it was you, but I dared to hope.”

“And what does Quintin Blackthorne intend to do about his daughter?” she asked with growing dread.

“He is intent on taking her home, but I'm not sure that is the best course,” he said carefully. “We were torn apart by our families. Perhaps the wiser course would be to follow the advice of the author of the letter and see that they are wed.

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