family resemblance.”
Emma’s heart sank. So it was true. She tested her reaction. After such a deliberate deception, no normal person would feel any compunction about breaking a promise. How did she feel now about making good her escape? If the opportunity arose, she probably would go. Yet her grandfather had always told her the sign of a gentleman was that he never broke his word under any circumstances, even when it was painful and difficult to stay true. When she was seven he’d made her give away her favorite puppy from a new litter because she had promised a neighbor’s child first choice. She frowned, vacillating.
“Don’t look so unhappy,
He put down the twig at last and leaned even closer. “I can see Marco has disappointed you, Catherine. I may call you Catherine?” Without waiting for a response, he continued in a low, seductive voice. “Come with me. I will take you to safety in Naples, to the police as you wanted. You owe Marco nothing. Let me look after you.”
She forced herself to smile at him, pretending to consider his proposal. “That sounds an interesting suggestion. But you are needed here. There is something important happening tonight.”
He gave a bark of laughter. “A big consignment of money and weapons will pass by tonight. The shipment includes papers that Marco needs to reestablish title to his lands.”
“So he will intercept it.”
“So he believes.”
“You know differently?”
He pulled his shoulders back, a smug smile on his face. “I do, Catherine. There will be another patrol, hidden. When this is over and Marco in prison, I shall be both rich and powerful. You would do well to stay with me.” The traitor stroked her face with his fingertips, making her stomach clench in revulsion. “Much better to be at my beck and call, rather than serve some spoiled, rich lady, wouldn’t you say?”
“You may be right.” Under pretense of shifting her position in the water, she moved her head away from his hand. She tried to sort the information he had given her, piecing together what Marco had told her with Giovanni’s boasting.
Her heartbeat thudded high in her throat. She was on dangerous ground. If Giovanni was telling her this, it meant he didn’t intend her to return to the cave. Whether she went willingly or not, he would take her with him, rape her if he wanted. Or kill her when he was done. He couldn’t risk her telling Marco of his treachery.
It was clear she had to find out more and then escape his clutches. Far from planning her own escape, she needed to plot how to warn Marco. And his people.
“You will not return to the caves?” she asked.
“With you? I think not.”
“What will happen to the people with Marco?”
He waved an airy hand. “We shall arrest most of them. They will receive a fair hearing. Some will stay in prison or be executed for treason.”
“We?”
“I have a high rank in the garrison here. At the moment I am working undercover.”
“I see. Very clever. So you know exactly what will happen.”
“I am well informed about everything in the region. I have my contacts. The old boys’ network, don’t you call it?”
“Well, that’s not precisely what they mean by the expression, but I understand.” She moved her bottom on the rocks to lean further toward him, allowing him to see more of her breasts. “I like a decisive man.”
His eyes followed the movement of the water and he licked his parted lips. She let her eyelids droop a little and moistened her own lips, mirroring his movement. He drew in his breath.
She thought of Marco captured, imprisoned, ill-treated. He would be considered an enemy of the state. She had heard something about Italian prisons under the present fascist regime. The thought of his beautiful body tortured, beaten and starved caused her a stab of physical pain. She remembered his thumb cut off at the first joint. That had been a warning, he’d said, when she’d shown her shock. What would they do to him now? No matter what he had done to her, she could not deliberately send another human being to such a fate.
Giovanni’s eyes were on her face, watching the change of expression.
“Action always excites me,” she murmured. “Tell me more.”
He stroked the hair back from her face and held her chin between hard fingers, looking directly into her eyes. His expression hardened, and she had a sudden premonition that he was going to force her to her knees. She didn’t know what she’d do if he did. She simulated an expression of admiration and interest.
“I can promise you plenty of action, Catherine,” he said and kissed her, his tongue probing to enter her mouth.
She had to find another reason to speak, to pull away from his voracity. “Where will this ambush happen?” she whispered
“Do you remember the wide track halfway down the mountain towards the shore?”
“Yes.”
“The same track curves around to the other side of the mountain. In fact, it is close to us, just over the ridge and down a short way.”
She thought furiously. “Will you take me with you? I should like to see Marco get his reward.”
“Perhaps. If you are good.”
“Maybe I should consider a change of situation,” she murmured. “If an employer proves unkind, we ladies’ maids have no compunction in finding a new position.”
“I knew you were a sensible girl.”
His hand fell on her shoulder, drawing her closer, then his mouth pressed hard on hers. She made herself relax, giving a tiny moan as his fingers moved to trace the curve of her breast. He was kneeling now, leaning over her, both arms securely around her. His jacket chafed her naked breasts.
She opened her mouth to his insistent tongue and felt his weight shift even more. She snaked her arms around his neck and stroked the hair on his nape. Compared with Marco’s lithe body, he felt heavy and clumsy in her arms. She forced herself not to think of what she was doing. It had nothing to do with Marco’s deception, and everything to do with her own survival and that of all the people in the cave.
Giovanni cupped her breast and squeezed the nipple hard between his fingers, making her yelp at the sudden pain. She felt his lips curve against hers in a smile. “I know you are a noisy lover,” he said against her mouth.
He had watched or listened to her making love with Marco. Anger rose inside her, forcing her to make her move with no more delay. She tugged him down farther toward her, sending him off balance, headfirst into the pool. As he fell, she stood, the water splashing up into her face as he hit the surface. Moving on instinct she seized a large stone and brought it crashing down on the back of his head. He lay still, almost submerged. She was sure she hadn’t hit him hard enough to kill him, but he would die if his face remained under water. Rotten as he was, she wanted no man’s life on her conscience. Mercifully, he had landed with his head only inches from the edge. Even so, it took a huge effort to lift his shoulders just enough to prop his head on a protruding ledge so he could breathe.
Panting from the exertion, she paused to look around. The water swirled around her waist, reminding her of her need for clothes.
Giovanni’s rifle lay a few feet away. She stepped out of the pool and picked it up, glancing back at the unconscious man. She checked the bolt. Let him try seducing the ladies’ maid now!
Water streamed from her breasts and thighs, cooling her skin. She shivered. Surely Teresa and Irena hadn’t taken all the clean clothing with them?
To her relief she caught sight of a pile of clothes on a large rock. Everything was there, including her own dirty garments. She put the rifle down within easy reach. With trembling fingers she rapidly dried herself as best she could on the sheet Teresa had held as a screen. Forcing down the wave of revulsion that rose in her throat at the thought of Giovanni’s hands on her she scrubbed at her breasts and her lips as if she could remove all trace of his caresses.
Then her eyes still on him, praying he wouldn’t move, she shook out a clean skirt and tunic and fumbled her way into them, all the time half expecting to see an enraged Giovanni emerge from the water. Feeling warmer, she picked up the rifle.
