An Invitation to Sin(34)

‘And you hated it?’

‘No.’ she stabbed her knife through a piece of asparagus. ‘I was living every kid’s dream.’

‘Is that what she told you?’

Her eyes lifted to his and just for a moment he saw a little girl, lost and friendless. Then the look was gone. ‘I had the most amazing experiences. I’ve travelled to places most people only dream about. Our house was always full of famous people.’

‘So if it was so fantastic why did you fire her?’

Her face was white, her fingers shaking as she reached for her champagne. ‘She was my manager and I decided she didn’t have my best interests at heart.’

She was back in control, her insecurities masked by the poised smile she’d perfected. It was as if that unguarded moment had never happened.

‘What about your father?’

‘My father played no part in my life until he sold his story to the press when I was seventeen.’ Lifting her glass, she took a sip. ‘Are we done talking about me? Because the journalists outside the restaurant are beginning to create an obstruction. It isn’t fair on the other diners. They have a right to eat their meal in peace. We should probably skip dessert and leave.’

Luca turned his head and felt a flash of shock as he registered the size of the press pack. ‘Cristo, is it always like this?’

‘No. Sometimes it’s really bad. Today is a quiet day.’ Calm, she rose to her feet. ‘Shall we go?’

Taylor walked through the tables, acknowledging greetings with a polite smile, hiding her dismay at the number of journalists hovering in wait.

Maybe it was tiredness, maybe it was vulnerability caused by the fact that he’d forced her to talk about things she didn’t normally talk about. Maybe it was worry about the film part, but suddenly her control slipped and she stopped dead.

Luca took her hand. ‘Ready? We need to look like two people in love as we walk out of this restaurant.’

‘I hate them.’ She blurted the words out before she could stop herself and he turned with a frown on his face. ‘I can’t face them.’

‘Taylor—’

‘They’re like hunters, looking for weakness. When they find it they savage you.’

And they’d find hers.

It was only a matter of time before they exposed the one thing she dreaded them exposing. The threat of it had hung over her for so long she could no longer remember how it felt to live without it. It was a constant surprise to her that it hadn’t come out before now.

Luca pulled her into the curve of his arm and Taylor gasped.

‘What are you doing?’

‘You give them too much power over you,’ he said softly, his lips in her hair so that no one watching could lip-read or overhear his words. ‘Rule number one, be who you really are. It’s far more uncomfortable living a lie than living the truth. Rule number two, never let the enemy know your weakness. Now we’re going to go out there and you’re going to smile or not, whichever you prefer, but you’re not going to show them that they scare you, capisci?’

His body pressed against hers, hard and powerful, and she realised that he hadn’t been pawing her but protecting her. The way he’d angled his body had prevented the press from seeing her sudden panic.

Thrown to discover he was capable of sensitivity, she swallowed. ‘I have no idea what capisci means but I assume it’s some unspeakable part of an animal that you probably just fed me.’

The corners of his mouth flickered into a smile. ‘Lift your chin. The first rule of hiding something is not to look as if you’re hiding it.’

‘I’m not hiding anything.’

‘You’re hiding more secrets than MI5, tesoro, but now is not the time to talk about them. Now smile that perfect smile you’ve perfected—the one that tells the world everything is good in your life even when it sucks.’

Taylor smiled obediently and he took her hand firmly in his and led her across the vine-covered terrace, down some steps and onto the street.

His hand tightened on hers. ‘You are thinking only of me,’ he murmured, ‘you’re not interested in them because you’re so in love with me.’

She just had time to mutter ‘in your dreams’ before they were mobbed.

‘Luca, Luca! Can we get a picture of you together?’

‘When is the wedding?’

‘When did you first meet Taylor?’