‘Talk?’ The word shot out. ‘You had your chance to talk five years ago. As I recall, you weren’t interested in renewing our acquaintance.’ Her tone was bitter and her eyes glittered with fury.
The difference between this Amazon and the girl he’d briefly known struck him anew.
‘And to separate you and the press.’
‘No altruistic rescue then.’ She gave no indication of disappointment, merely met his gaze in frank appraisal.
‘Did you expect one?’
‘No.’ She answered before he’d finished speaking.
Why did her readiness to distrust rankle? He hadn’t expected doe-eyed innocence. The scales had been ripped from his eyes long ago.
‘Feel free to sit.’
‘No.’ She paused. ‘Thank you. I prefer to stand.’ She swallowed hard.
Thanking him must almost have choked her.
As having her in his home revolted every sensibility. Was Sandro turning in his grave? No. Sandro would have approved of his actions.
‘For how long?’ She watched him closely.
‘As long as it takes.’
She frowned. ‘As long as what takes?’
Domenico leaned back in his chair. He sensed it was too early to reveal his full intent. Better proceed slowly than rush and have her refuse out of hand.
‘For the press to lose interest in this story.’
‘There is no story. It happened so long ago.’
Domenico’s belly clenched. ‘You think what happened means nothing now? That it’s all over?’
Her head shot up. ‘It is over. I’ve served the sentence for manslaughter and now I’m free. If there was anything I could do to bring your brother back I would.’ She heaved a deep breath that strained her breasts against the dark fabric. ‘But there’s not.’
‘You cut off my brother’s life in his prime.’ Anger vibrated in his words and he strove to modulate his voice. ‘You made my sister-in-law a widow before her time. She was barely a wife, still struggling to adapt to motherhood, and suddenly she was alone.’
Sky blue eyes met his unflinchingly.
Did none of it matter to her?
‘Because of you my nephew will never know his father.’ The words grated from a throat scraped raw with anger. ‘You denied them both that. You left a gaping hole in his life.’
As she’d ripped a hole in Domenico’s life. Even now he found it hard to believe Sandro was gone. The older brother who’d been his friend, his pillar of strength when their parents had died and Domenico was still a kid. His mentor, who’d applauded his tenacity when he’d branched out as an entrepreneur, building rather than relying on the family fortune and traditions.
He wanted her to know the pain she’d caused. To feel it. The civilised man he was knew she’d paid the price society saw fit for her crime. The wounded, grief-stricken one wanted more. Remorse. Guilt. A confession. Something.
‘You can’t control the press.’ She spoke as if nothing he’d said mattered, brushing aside so much pain.
For a full thirty seconds Domenico stared at the woman who’d destroyed so much, yet felt so little. He couldn’t understand how anyone could be so devoid of compassion. He wished he’d never sullied himself by helping her, even if it wasn’t for her benefit.
But he refused to let Sandro’s family suffer any more because of Lucy Knight.
‘I can starve them of fresh news.’
‘But there is no news.’
‘You’re out of jail. The murderess set free.’
Her chin jutted. ‘The charge was manslaughter.’
Domenico bit down the need to tell her legalistic quibbling didn’t change the fact of Sandro’s death. Instead he reached for the glossy pages on his desk.
‘There’s still a story. Especially after this.’
‘What is it?’ She stepped forward, her expression closed, but he read the rigidity of her slim frame, as if she prepared for the worst.
For a second Domenico hesitated. Why, he didn’t know. Then he tossed the magazine across the gleaming surface of the desk.
She tilted her head to read it where it lay, as if not wanting to touch it. He couldn’t blame her. It was the sort of trash he avoided, but Pia, his sister-in-law, was obviously a fan. She’d brought it to his attention, hysterical that the sordid tragedy was being resurrected.
Eventually Lucy Knight reached out and flipped the page with one finger. The story spread across both pages. Her likeness featured beside the text. Another picture of her and an older man, her father. Then more of a rather hollow-eyed woman and a gaggle of children.
He watched Lucy Knight’s eyes widen, heard her breath hitch, then a hiss of shock. She’d turned the colour of ash. Even her lips paled. Rapidly she blinked and he could have sworn tears welled in those remarkable eyes.
Then, with a suddenness that caught him off guard, the woman he’d thought as unfeeling as an automaton swayed off balance and he realised she was going to faint.
LUCY STARED AS the text blurred and dipped. She blinked, torn between gratitude that she couldn’t make out all the snide character assassination and desperation to know the worst.
She thought she’d experienced the worst in prison. With the loss of her father, her friends, freedom, innocence and self-esteem.
She’d been wrong.
This was the final betrayal.
She struggled to draw breath. It was as if a boulder squashed her lungs. She slammed a hand on the satiny wood of the desk, her damp palm slipping as she fought to steady herself.
Darkness rimmed her vision and the world revolved, churning sickeningly like a merry-go-round spinning off kilter.
There was a pounding in her ears and a gaping hole where her heart had been.
Hard fingers closed around her upper arm.
It was enough to drag her back to her surroundings. She yanked her arm but the grip tightened. She felt him beside her, imprisoning her against the desk.
From somewhere deep inside fury welled, a volcanic force that for a glorious moment obliterated the pain shredding her vitals.
Driven by unstoppable instinct Lucy pivoted, raised her hand and chopped down on the inner elbow of the arm that captured her. At the same time she jabbed her knee high in his groin. Her hand connected with a force that almost matched the strength in that muscled arm. But her knee struck only solid thigh as he sensed her attack and shifted.
Yet it worked. She was free. She stood facing him, panting from adrenalin and overflowing emotions.
Gimlet eyes stared down at her. Glittering eyes that bored deep into her soul, as if he could strip away the self-protective layers she’d built so painstakingly around herself and discover the woman no one else knew.
Her chest rose and fell as she struggled for air. Her pulse thundered. Her skin sizzled with the effervescence in her bloodstream.
The muzzy giddiness disappeared as she stared back at the face of the man who’d stripped away her last hope and destroyed what was left of her joy at being free.
Far from fainting, she felt painfully alive. It was as if