A strange feeling of pride came over him, a sense of peace. Closing his eyes again, he listened to her soft, even breathing, inhaling her unique scent, so different from his own, mixed in with the smell of flowers and candle wax in the room.
He had never expected to find himself here. At the start of yesterday he had been thinking about nothing other than getting the wedding ceremony over with, getting the day over with. He had been totally convinced that this was to be a union in name only, and a very temporary one at that. But as the day had worn on, something had shifted inside him.
Spending time with Harper, watching her talking to the guests, to Alfonso, always with that quiet charm, that easy grace, had made him realise just how exceptional she was. He had found his eyes following her around the room, seeking her out, an unfamiliar sense of pleasure stealing over him when she returned to his side. Jaco had soon picked up on the vibe, ribbing his old friend about getting a room, steadfastly refusing to accept Vieri’s account that this marriage was simply a means to an end. In fact it had been Jaco who had slipped the condom into his pocket, giving him a hug and muttering ‘just in case’ in his ear before retiring to bed.
And, of course, Jaco was right. What Vieri felt for Harper went way beyond an appreciation of her social skills, or her ability to make his godfather happy. The idea that that was all it was was laughable. The simmering attraction between them had been there right from the start but slowly it had become more than that. It had become something bigger, more whole, affecting him on a deeper level altogether. He had refused to face up to it. Until tonight.
Tonight he could ignore his feelings no longer. Tonight he had been able to think of nothing else but taking her in his arms and making love to her. The attraction between them, both physical and mental, had become an all-consuming need that he had been powerless to resist. Suddenly he’d found himself asking why not? They were consenting adults. They were actually married, for God’s sake. What was to stop them enjoying one night together? And once that idea had taken hold, nothing was going to budge it.
And the reality had been better than even his overheated imagination could have come up with. Sex with Harper had been amazing. Special. Maybe too special. Vieri realised that for the first time ever the sexual act had actually meant something, gone far beyond simple physical pleasure and taken him somewhere he had never been before, deep into unknown realms of emotions that he hadn’t even known existed. It felt dangerously like losing control, but for this one night he was going to allow himself to live solely in the moment, enjoy the here and now. He wasn’t going to think, he wasn’t going to analyse what had happened between them, or indeed the fact that Harper had clearly been a virgin. Not now. Not with her nuzzled like this in his arms. He felt himself drifting off into a contented sleep but when Harper moved softly against him, his arousal, which had already half woken from its slumber, defiantly made itself known.
‘Vieri.’ His name, uttered sleepily from her open lips, only served to stoke the fire, and when she reached for him, pressing her full breasts up against him, winding her legs around his, there was only one possible outcome. One hot and sensual, deeply sexual and infinitely satisfying conclusion.
* * *
Harper awoke with a start. The room was very still. A watery, early morning daylight was filtering through the gaps in the old wooden shutters. Pulling the covers under her chin, she stared at the foliage twisted around the posts of the bed, the roses that had lost their just-picked bloom.
She was alone. She knew that much without turning to look or spreading out a limb to check. She could sense the space where Vieri had been, feel it with a twitch of pain, like a hole in a tooth.
He had gone. Screwing her eyes shut, she forced herself to get a grip, to ignore the clenching of her heart, the acute sense of loss, abandonment.
She had known the deal when she had agreed to go to bed with Vieri. One night of pleasure. That was what they had signed up for. And clearly that night was over.
She turned on her side, staring at the indentation on the pillow where Vieri’s head had been. Despite the sense of emptiness inside her, she didn’t regret what they had done—she could never regret it. Because making love with Vieri had been the most wonderful experience of her life. She had felt it; it had happened. She was irrevocably changed. And even though the bed beside her was empty now, nothing could take that away.
Pulling back the covers, she caught sight of the crumpled pair of white stockings, remembering how Vieri had peeled them from her legs, some time in the middle of the night. How they had made love again, with such passion, such tenderness...but without a condom. She recalled Vieri cursing with frustration, searching his pockets again, coming back to bed empty-handed. But the power of their passion had been too strong and neither of them had had the willpower to stop. Instead Vieri had insisted that he would be very careful. She just hoped he was right.
Picking up the stockings, she rolled them into a ball and tossed them onto a chair before heading for the bathroom and a long, hot shower.
* * *
She sensed something had happened the moment she stepped out into the corridor. At first all seemed eerily quiet, but as she strained her ears she could hear low male voices and as she started to descend the sweeping staircase the two men in the hall looked up at her. Friends of Alfonso’s, they had stayed overnight. Harper started to smile at them but her smile froze as she got closer and caught the sombre expressions on their faces.
‘My dear.’ One of them reached out and touched her arm. ‘I am so sorry.’
Panic clawed at her heart. ‘W...what?’
‘You...you haven’t heard?’ The two men exchanged a glance.
‘No, tell me, please. What has happened?’
Just then the door to the study opened and Vieri appeared, his face ashen grey.
‘Vieri!’ Harper rushed towards him but he seemed to look straight through her.
A man in a dark suit followed him out and together they walked to the front door, speaking in soft but rapid Sicilian. Harper watched in frantic silence as they shook hands, the man pulling Vieri into a hug, patting him on the back, before turning to leave.
‘Vieri! Please, tell me what has happened!’ She ran to him again, putting her hands on his chest to bar his way, to prevent him from walking straight past her.
Vieri stopped, looking at her for the first time, and Harper felt her heart contract with pain. His handsome face was taut with grief, his eyes the colour of dull stone. He dragged in a breath, as if having to speak to her was costing him too much, more than he was prepared to give. But eventually he found the coldly terse words.
‘It’s Alfonso, Harper.’ He averted his gaze, as if he couldn’t bear to look at her. ‘He’s dead.’
‘No!’ Harper choked on the word, tears immediately brimming in her eyes. ‘But how...when?’
‘Some time last night.’
‘Oh, Vieri.’ Harper stared back at him, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. He took several steps away from her, then stood tall and straight, as imposing as ever, but with every plane of his body rigid with tension. As if, were she to touch him, he might snap. ‘I’m so sorry.’
He angled his head, giving an almost imperceptible shrug, as if to say her platitudes were of no interest to him. As if she were of no interest to him. This man, who only a few hours ago had looked at her as if she was the centre of his world, taking her to unknown heights of ecstasy, stealing her heart, was now regarding her with something bordering on disgust.
But he was grieving. Taking a shuddering breath, Harper wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. He looked so devastated, so lost, that she thought her heart might break for him.
Her