‘At the very least. At the most you won’t get it at all.’
‘You’re not seriously planning to keep it?’ he demanded in a tone of incredulity that riled her.
‘Isn’t that what I’ve been saying all this time? Or weren’t you listening?’
‘I didn’t take it seriously. You were annoyed with me, perhaps rightly so, but you’ve had your fun and now it’s time to get real.’
‘You’re right. So listen to me. I
‘Because you know nothing about it,’ he said, exasperated. ‘No woman genuinely understands business.’
‘I don’t believe I heard that. Come into the twenty-first century.’
‘If you’re planning to run that place, be my guest. You’ll be bankrupt in no time and fall into my hands.’
‘Of course I’m not going to run it personally. Antonio told me that the manager is excellent. Don’t count on forcing me to sell. You can’t.’
‘I think you’ll find I can. I have a number of aces up my sleeve.’
‘I’m sure of it, but I have a few myself.’
Unexpectedly he smiled, raising his glass in salute.
‘Here’s to our confrontation,’ he said. ‘Let’s hope we both enjoy it equally.’
‘Oh, I mean to,’ she said, toasting him.
He began to laugh, surprising her with a tone that sounded genuinely warm, even charming. But that was just another of his tricks, she reminded herself quickly.
‘We’ve travelled a long, winding journey tonight,’ he said. ‘Have two people ever learned so much about each other in such a short time, yet still known nothing at all?’
‘Nothing at all,’ she echoed. ‘Yes, we’d both be wise to remember that, wouldn’t we?’
‘If it’s possible, but the danger with illusions is that they seem so much like reality-at least, that’s true of the best of them, the most desirable.’
She nodded. ‘Then we enter a conspiracy against ourselves,’ she murmured, ‘believing what we wish to believe, persuading ourselves that illusion is reality and reality illusion. And how do we ever know?’
‘That’s easy,’ he said wryly. ‘We know when it’s too late.’
‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘That’s true.’
Salvatore was about to reply but something he saw in her eyes held him silent. She was looking into the distance and he had the feeling that she no longer saw him, or even knew that he was there.
‘What is it?’ he said urgently. ‘Helena, speak to me.’
But she was silent, lost in a world he couldn’t enter.
CHAPTER FOUR
HELENA was in another place, one in which the air sang with a hundred new impressions. The most disconcerting was the way she and Salvatore were talking, as though there was an instinctive connection between their thoughts. It was surely impossible, yet he knew what she was thinking, in a way that had only ever been true with Antonio.
It wouldn’t last. They were still enemies, but for a shocking moment she could see ahead to another world where enemies clung together in uneasy alliance.
Then the mist cleared and the world settled back into its right place.
‘It’s time I was leaving,’ she said slowly. ‘Will you summon your gondolier?’
‘If you wish, but I should prefer to walk you back to the hotel.’
‘All right. Thank you.’
He fetched her wrap and laid it gently about her shoulders. She drew breath, bracing herself for the feel of his fingers on her skin, but it didn’t come. Accidentally or by design he’d contrived to drape the silk without touching her.
She shivered.
They left the building by a side door which led directly into a tiny alley that she knew was called a
‘You nearly walked into a door,’ he said.
‘Where are we?’ she murmured. ‘I’m lost.’
‘It isn’t far back to the hotel. You came around the long curve in the canal, but we’ll cut across that. Didn’t Antonio tell you how deceptive distances can be in Venice?’
He still had one arm around her shoulder, guiding her, so that she could look up as she walked, and still feel safe.
‘He didn’t tell me everything,’ she said.
‘I’m glad of that. I’m so glad.’ After a moment he asked, ‘What did he tell you about me?’
She laughed, a soft sound deep in her throat, that briefly made his hand tighten.
‘He said I should beware,’ she said.
‘And will you?’
‘I always trusted Antonio’s advice, and it was always good.’
‘Probably wise. Did he tell you that you’re strong enough to challenge me, or did you discover that for yourself?’
‘I knew in the first moment.’
He turned her towards him, looking down into her face, illuminated by the moonlight. His own face was in shadow, but she could see his eyes and read their meaning.
‘Because you knew your weapons were the best,’ he murmured. ‘And just now, I’m ready to admit that. I’m not even trying to resist them because they overcome me, so that I don’t even want to resist.’
She felt his hands on the side of her face, saw his head block out the moon so that there was only darkness as his lips touched hers. And she was glad of the darkness because suddenly everything changed, the world was a different place and nothing was as it had been.
His mouth was gentle, moving with leisurely ease as though he had all the time in the world. Helena held her breath, transfixed by something that was happening deep inside her in an unknown region. She’d guessed this was coming, had thought herself ready, but nothing could have prepared her for the way she was coming alive.
It was as though no life had ever existed before. The world had begun that moment and it was a glorious place, full of light and fire. With all her being she wanted to explore further, to see how intense the heat might become, how blinding the light.
He’d spoken of being overcome by her, yet it was she who was being overcome, not by force but by temptation so strong that it destroyed her will. She put up her hands to his shoulders, perhaps meaning to push him away but actually holding on to him.
Years of abstinence had taught her to think of herself as a cold woman, whose fire had flamed briefly and then died forever. So many men had reached this point and she’d kissed them, hoping to fan the flame back to life, but it had never happened. Dead. Cold and dead.
Until now, with this one man who should have been the very last to attract her. They were combatants, hostile, determined to think the worst of each other because it was safer that way. But in his arms there was no safety, nor did she want any. Enmity, she discovered, could be thrilling.
So she drew him closer and moved her lips against his, seeking more of the pleasure that had come like a bolt from the blue. Feeling her response, he responded in turn, letting his hands explore her, but so lightly that at first she wasn’t sure it was happening. But then there was no doubt. His caresses had the skill of the devil, touching, inciting, then moving on, leaving a trail of excitement behind them.
Now she wanted him, wanted everything with him. She must take him to her bed, lie with him naked, offer herself to him and claim him inside her at the same moment. And when he entered her she would keep him there, for pleasure such as this could not be rushed.
