Chapter 44


Alessandro

The night before Luca's wedding Alessandro was in such a deep sleep that he didn't even hear the door to his bedroom open, only waking to the sensual slide of a body slipping into his bed. A smile crept across his face as he felt the gentle kisses making their way down his body.

"Lizzie..." he whispered. Her name tasted like a blessing on his tongue. And while he had promised her he would not touch her while they were staying in this house, he realised there was nothing he would be able... or willing… to do to stop her when she was doing this to him.

But even then, as he felt the soft press of her lips on his body, the gentle caress of her fingers... he became aware that something was off. His room was pitch black without even the light of the moon to see by, but he didn't need eyes to realise that her kisses were… different… Then he caught a whiff of her perfume and suddenly his body stiffened. He felt her fingers slide down his hips, determined hands touching his erection, and suddenly he was bursting upright from the bed. Pushing her off him, he scrambled for the bedside lamp.

"Lydia!"

The girl tumbled clean off the bed, landing on the floor with a resounding thud. Alessandro stood over her, naked and aroused, but too furious to care.

"What are you doing?!" his demand was just shy of a roar.

She choked on a gasp, her eyes fixated on him, wide and mortified.

"You know I won't be unfaithful to Lizzie," he said.

"Please, Alessandro. I love you," she whispered though the words basically died in her throat. "Just give me this one night. Just this once. No one will ever have to know." Using the excuse to avert her eyes from his nakedness she searched the floor and found a foil packet she'd obviously dropped when he'd thrown her off. "Look, I even brought protection."

Alessandro's frown hardened, the colour of scarlet deepening on his already flaming cheeks. "You don't love me. Your father is putting you up to this. He's been vying for a marriage alliance between our families since we were kids."

She stifled a gasp. "No! You don't understand-"

"Get out, Lydia!" It wasn't a request, it was an order.

The girl couldn't have moved faster if she'd tried. Subduing a sob, she scrambled to her feet and, wrenching her body back into the slip she'd come in with, she fled his room.

Alessandro heaved a loud sigh once he was sure he was alone. His erection still throbbed but it wasn't Lydia who he pined for. He spotted the condom she'd left in her escape and plucked it from the floor. His finger brushed a tiny, pinhole-sized puncture mark and he cursed. The little sly fox was attempting to fall pregnant by him.

He needed a cold shower.

Depositing the condom in the bathroom bin, he set the shower jets to maximum strength and made sure to scrub away every single kiss and touch that wretched girl had planted on his skin. All he wanted to do was wring her neck for what she'd done, not only to him tonight but also to Lizzie. She was putting Lizzie through hell with that poisonous tongue of hers. This needed to stop. All of it. When Alessandro returned to his room, he found himself unable to face the bed again. The sheets still reeked of Lydia's perfume and he simply couldn't stomach the thought of sleeping there when only minutes before, his space had been invaded by the very woman he had sworn an oath to never allow to get between him and Lizzie. There was not a single shred of a chance that Lydia would have succeeded in her seduction tonight but even so, he didn't need the reminders of how close she had managed to come. The thought sickened him to the core. He was faithful to Lizzie.

Alessandro turned and headed back for the bathroom. He would sleep in the bath if he had to. But when he spotted the door to Lizzie's room and then saw that it was dark and silent when he pushed it open just a crack, his beautiful wife sleeping curled up under the sheets, he realised nothing would stop him from spending a moment longer apart from her. If he had to, he would slip out extra early before she had a chance to even know he was there.

She let out a little sigh as he slipped under the covers next to her and he wrapped his arm around her perfect little body – a body that had taken him to heaven and back more times than he could count – and kissed the back of her head. This was his Lizzie. He filled his nose with the floral scent of her shampoo, the comfort of having her there with him seeping into his bones.