easily satisfy. Right now, if necessary, simply by
making a phone call. And if he couldn’t reach any of
the many women whom he knew would be pleased
to receive his summons — well, he knew, although not
from personal experience, that Florence, like any
other city, had its high-priced and high-class hookers,
women who knew how to please a man without making
any demands on him other than their fee.
But why pay a hooker when remembering one was
enough to cool his sexual desire? When he had first
met Caterina she had made no secret of the fact that
she had several rich lovers, even if later she had
claimed that it was not true and that he had misunderstood
her. And his mother, with the expensive gifts
she had received…a reward for her infidelity, even if
they had only been from one lover. His heart started
to thud angrily.
He got up off the bed. Five minutes later, standing
beneath the lash of the shower, he could feel his heartbeat
returning to normal.
What really infuriated him was that Jodie, whom
he had begun to consider someone whose thinking
was sound and rational, should start making such ridiculous
and unfounded accusations. How dared she
accuse him of being so emotionally damaged that he
wanted her to lie to him to reinforce his belief that
her sex could not be trusted? He had proved that he
trusted her, had talked to her about things that were
so close to his heart he had never discussed them with
anyone else. Did she really think that he would do
that and then try to create a reason to mistrust her? It
was totally illogical that he should do such a thing—
like a panicking child trying to protect itself from being
hurt because it feared to love.
After all, it wasn’t as though he was afraid he might
be falling in love with her and was fighting desperately
against doing so, was it? Was it?
He turned off the shower and reached for a towel.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THEY had been married for nearly a week, during
which time no mention had been made by either of
them of the night of their wedding. Lorenzo was icily
polite and indifferent towards her when they were together,
and Jodie had taken to spending so much time
sightseeing that at night she simply fell into an exhausted
sleep the moment she went to bed.
But now they were back at the Castillo, the final
paperwork having been dealt with to transfer its ownership
to Lorenzo.
'I have not forgotten that I still have to fulfil my
part of our bargain,' he told Jodie crisply as they
crossed the Castillo’s courtyard. 'I have put in hand
the necessary arrangements for us to fly to London at
the end of the week for your ex-fiance.'s wedding. The
Cotswolds hotel I have booked us into is in a place
named Lower Slaughter?'
'Oh, yes. I know it,' Jodie acknowledged. If it was
the hotel she thought it must be, it was very exclusive
and expensive.
'I thought you would want to keep some distance
between ourselves and your former home.'
'Yes, I do,' Jodie agreed colourlessly. She certainly
did not want anyone realising that she and her brand-
new husband were sleeping in separate rooms.
Especially not when she was going to be flaunting her
happily married state under everyone’s nose. She exhaled
hesitantly.
'I’ve been thinking,' she told Lorenzo quietly. 'I’m
not sure that It’s such a good idea for me to…to go
ahead with what I’d planned.'
'But that was your whole purpose in agreeing to
marrying me.'
'Yes, I know.'
They had reached the hallway now, and Lorenzo
was frowning as he studied the untidy pile of suitcases
and boxes heaped in the middle of the floor.
'We'll discuss this later,' he told Jodie as an inner
door opened.
Caterina swept in, declaring dramatically, 'So, you
have arrived to flaunt your triumph and throw me out,
have you? Well, You’re too late. I am leaving of my
own accord. You think you have gained a victory,
Lorenzo. But in truth you have gained nothing other
than this crumbling ruin and a wife you do not want.
And all for what? For the sake of some old paintings
and so that you can keep a promise made to an old
woman,' she taunted him bitterly. 'We could have had
so much together, but now it is too late. Ilya will be
here for me soon.'
'Ilya?' Lorenzo questioned sharply.
'Yes. We met when he was interested in buying
this place. He has been a good…friend to me. And
now…' She pouted and then smiled rapaciously.
'You mean he’s your lover?' Lorenzo checked her
