“I make up for my…how do you say…ill manners in other ways that women appreciate.”
“What ways?”
“I’ll show you as soon as we get out of here.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” she said. “Should I leave you alone with your brother?”
“No,” he said, not wanting her to disappear again. “Dom won’t be long.”
“Marco, do you have a minute?” Dominic said as he reached them.
Marco tucked Virginia’s hand in the crook of his arm, keeping her close to his side.
“Not really. I promised to show Virginia one of my favorite places in Melbourne. I can meet with you tomorrow to discuss the matter,” Marco said.
Dominic didn’t look pleased, but then his brother rarely did. “That will be fine. But I’m flying back to Italy tomorrow, so my schedule is tight.”
“I understand,” Marco said. As much as he resented the delay in leaving with Virginia, Moretti Motors was as important to him as it was to Dom.
“Virginia, let me introduce you to my oldest brother, Dominic. Dom, this is Virginia…” He didn’t know her last name, he realized. This wouldn’t be the first time that he had a one-night stand with a woman whose last name was a mystery to him. So why did it bother him?
“Affascinato,” Dominic said.
“The pleasure is mine,” she said.
“Did you enjoy the race today?” he asked.
“I missed it,” she said, blushing.
Marco found that odd. Most of the women who followed the circuit never missed a race. He looked down at her. “You did?”
“My flight was late. I was upset, but I had this party to look forward to.”
“Where are you from?” Dominic asked.
“The United States,” she said.
“Most Americans prefer NASCAR racing. Do you follow that sport, as well?” Marco asked, realizing that with his brother here he was learning more about her than he had all evening, talking to her.
“No. I’ve always been in love with the glamour of Formula One.”
He raised one eyebrow at her. “What do you think is glamorous about it?”
“This party, for one,” she said. “Oh, look, the elevator is here.”
The doors opened and Marco wondered at her vague answers. Was she hiding something? She wrapped an arm around his waist and squeezed him closer to her. “You did promise to show me your favorite sight in Melbourne.”
“Indeed I did. Ciao, Dom.”
“Arrivederci, Marco.”
Virginia didn’t say much as they got in Marco’s sports coupe convertible. She recognized it as a Moretti model. The car was pure luxury on the inside and all speed under the hood. She’d never feel confident enough to drive a car like this, but Marco handled it like the professional driver he was.
As they left the hotel behind he glanced over at her. “So you’re from the States?”
She’d known he was going to ask questions. She’d done a good job of keeping her past vague and the spotlight on him, but the conversation with Dominic had probably made him realize how little he knew about her.
“Yes. Long Island. Where did you grow up? I know Moretti Motors is based in Milan, but do you live there?”
“I have a villa in Milan, and my family has an estate outside of the city.”
“Do you like living in Milan? I’ve never visited there,” she said. She was very aware of the Moretti family estate in San Giuliano Milanese. Her grandmother had gone there to curse Lorenzo, and there was a faded picture of the Moretti estate hanging on her wall back home. Her grandmother had bequeathed it to her along with her journal.
“It’s a fashionable city and there is always something to do there.” He shrugged as he glanced over at her. “It’s home.”
She envied him the feeling of belonging in Milan. It was there in his voice and his words. Unlike she, who’d never fit in anywhere, he had a place that he called home. And that was a big part of why she was determined to break the curse her grandmother had placed on them by accident. She wanted—no, craved a home and a family. She was tired of always being alone. Her mother and grandmother were both deceased, and no matter how hard she tried, the bonds of family seemed to always be just out of her reach.
Having his child would give her a chance at happiness. A chance at that elusive dream she’d longed for. Once she broke the curse, she would marry and give her child a father and siblings.
“We’re here.” Marco’s words startled her from her thought.
She glanced out the window as a uniformed valet came to open her door. The high-rise building was a monument to modern architecture, its lines distinctive and clean.
“Good evening, Mr. Moretti.”
“Good evening, Mitchell.”
Marco led the way into the foyer and to a bank of elevators.
“I thought you were taking me to see your favorite spot in Melbourne.”
“I am. My penthouse has a spectacular view of the city. It’s amazing,” he said, glancing down at his titanium watch. “In about two hours, the sun will come up and you will be amazed at how beautiful the sunrise is here.”
“Will I?”
“Yes, I think you will,” he said. “Unless you’d rather I take you back to your hotel.”
She shook her head.
The elevator arrived and they entered. They were alone in the marble-floored car, and as soon as the door closed Marco entered a code on the keypad and the elevator started to move. He drew her into his arms and lowered his head, kissing her.
She felt the return of the passion he’d evoked in her on the dance floor. Her body longed for his. She’d missed his touch during the twenty-minute drive, and she wondered how much of this feeling was due to the magic spell she’d cast earlier to help her break the curse. She wasn’t a practicing witch, but she figured she’d better enlist as much help as she could before she came to Melbourne. How much of it was due to the fact that she needed him to be obsessed with her?
And how much, if any of it, was real?
When the doors opened, he broke the kiss and ran his hand down her bare arm, linking their fingers together. She squeezed her hand against his and followed him eagerly into the foyer of his home.
“I have this entire floor. Would you like a drink?”
“That would be nice,” she said.
He led the way into the living room. There were floor-to-ceiling windows that lined the wall and a sliding door that opened onto a huge balcony. Marco kept one hand on the small of her back as they walked across the room.
She felt a slight bit of panic as she realized this was it. She was going to sleep with this man, whom she’d known for less than five hours, and then she was going to walk away. It was what she’d planned for more months than she could count, but now that the moment was here…
She stopped in the middle of his living room as a surreal feeling swamped her. She was aroused, every inch of her skin sensitized from his kisses and touch. As she glanced at the Monet painting hanging on one wall and felt the thick Arabian carpet under her feet, she knew she was really here, that this wasn’t something she was imagining. Yet, at the same time…
“Would