When she emerged from the bathroom she had a towel hitched around her body and another one on her head, and was feeling no less disgruntled. She almost jumped out of her skin when a loud, persistent knocking came on her door.
Scrambling around to find something to put on, Serena called out to whoever it was to wait a second as she pulled on some underwear and faded jeans and a T-shirt. The towel fell off her head so her long hair hung damply down her back and over her shoulders.
She opened the door and it was as if someone had punched her in the stomach. She couldn’t draw breath because Luca Fonseca was standing there, eyes shooting sparks at her, looking angrier than she’d ever seen him.
‘What the hell are you doing here, DePiero?’ he snarled.
Serena answered faintly, ‘You seem to be asking me that a lot lately.’
And then the fright he’d just given her faded and the anger she’d been harbouring swelled back. Her hand gripped the door.
‘Actually, I might ask the same of you—what the hell are you doing here, Fonseca?’ Something occurred to her. ‘And how on earth did you even know where I was?’
His mouth was a tight line. ‘I told Sancho, my driver, to wait at the airport and make sure you got on the flight.’
The extent of how badly he’d wanted her gone hit her. Her hand gripped the door even tighter. ‘This is a free country, Fonseca. I decided to stay and do a little sightseeing, and as I no longer work for you I really don’t think you have any jurisdiction here.’
She went to close the door in his face but he easily stopped her and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him and forcing her to take a step back.
His arctic gaze took in her appearance with derision and Serena crossed her arms over her braless chest, self-conscious.
‘Mr Fonseca—’
‘Enough with the Mr Fonseca. Why are you still here, Serena?’
His use of her name made something swoop inside her. She crossed her arms tighter. It reminded her bizarrely of how it had felt to kiss him in the middle of that dance floor. Dark and hot and intoxicating. No other man’s kiss or touch had ever made her feel like that. She’d pulled back from him in shock, as if his kiss had incinerated her, right through to where she was still whole. Herself.
‘Well?’
The curt question jarred Serena back to the present and she hated it that she’d remembered that feeling of exposure.
‘I want to see Rio de Janeiro before going home.’ As if she would confide that she also wanted to delay revealing the extent of her failure to her family for as long as possible.
Luca snorted indelicately. ‘Do you have any idea where you are? Were you planning on taking a stroll along the beach later?’
Serena gritted her jaw. ‘I was, actually. I’d invite you to join me, but I’m sure you have better things to be doing.’
His sheer animal magnetism was almost overwhelming in the small space. The beard and his longer hair only added to his intense masculinity. Her skin prickled with awareness. She could feel her nipples tighten and harden against the barrier of her thin T-shirt and hated the unique way this man affected her above any other.
Luca was snarling again. ‘Do you realise that you’re in one of the most dangerous parts of Rio? You’re just minutes from one of the worst favelas in the city.’
Serena resisted the urge to point out that that should please him. ‘But the beach is just blocks away.’
Now he was grim. ‘Yes, and no one goes near this end of the beach at night unless they’re out to score some drugs or looking to get mugged. It’s one of the most dangerous places in the city after dark.’
He stepped closer and his eyes narrowed on her speculatively.
‘But maybe that’s it? You’re looking for some recreational enhancement? Maybe your family have you under their watch and you’re relishing some freedom? Have you even told them you’ve been fired?’
Serena’s arms fell to her sides and she barely noticed Luca’s gaze dropping to her chest before coming up again. All she felt was an incredible surge of anger and hatred for this man and his perspicacity—even if it wasn’t entirely accurate.
Disgusted at the part of her that wanted to try and explain herself to him, she spat out, ‘What’s the point?’
She stalked around Luca and reached for the door handle, but before she could turn it and open the door an arm came over her head, keeping the door shut. She turned and folded her arms again, glaring up at Luca, conscious of her bare feet and damp hair, trying desperately not to let his sheer physicality affect her.
‘If you don’t leave in five seconds I’ll start screaming.’
Luca kept his arm on the door, semi caging Serena in. ‘The manager will just assume we’re having fun. You can’t be so naive that you didn’t notice this place rents rooms by the hour.’
Serena felt hot. First of all at thinking of this man making her scream with pleasure and then at her own naivety.
‘Of course I didn’t,’ she snapped, feeling vulnerable. She scooted out from under Luca’s arm and put some space between them.
Luca crossed his arms. ‘No, I can imagine you didn’t. After all, it’s not what you’re used to.’
Serena thought of the Spartan conditions of the rehab facility she’d been in in England for a year, and then of her tiny studio apartment in a very insalubrious part of Athens. She smiled sweetly. ‘How would you know?’
Luca scowled then. ‘You’re determined to stay in Rio?’
Never more so than right now. Even if just to annoy this man. ‘Yes.’
Luca looked as though he would cheerfully throttle her. ‘The last thing I need right now is some eagle-eyed reporter spotting you out and about, clubbing or shopping.’
Serena bit back a sharp retort. He had no idea what her life was like now. Clubbing? Shopping? She couldn’t imagine anything worse.
Her smile got even sweeter. ‘I’ll wear a Louis Vuitton bag over my head while I go shopping for the latest Chanel suit. Will that help?’
That didn’t go down well. Blood throbbed visibly in Luca’s temple. ‘You leaving Rio would be an even bigger help.’
Serena unconsciously mimicked his wide-legged stance. ‘Well, unless you’re planning on forcibly removing me, that’s not going to happen. And if you even try such a thing I’ll call the police and tell them you’re harassing me.’
Luca didn’t bother to tell her that with far greater problems in the city the police would no doubt just ogle her pale golden beauty before sending her on her way. And that such a stunt would only draw the interest of the paparazzi, who followed him most days.
The very thought of her being spotted, identified and linked to him was enough to make him go cold inside. He’d had enough bad press and innuendo after what had happened in Italy to last him a lifetime.
An audacious idea was being formulated in his head. It wasn’t one he particularly relished, but it seemed like the only choice he had right now. It would get Serena DePiero out of Rio more or less immediately, and hopefully out of Brazil entirely within a couple of days.
‘You said earlier that you were looking for another chance? That you’d do anything?’
Serena went very still, those huge blue eyes narrowing on him. Irritation made Luca’s skin feel tight. The room was too small. All he