An Invitation to Sin(53)

‘Luca wait. Wait!’ Taylor sprinted after him, ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach that was her barometer of trouble. She knew a bucket load of it waited for her back on set but right now she had other things on her mind. Like Luca’s extreme reaction.

She’d never seen him anything but relaxed. Even when he was driving too fast or drinking too much she had the sense that every action he took was deliberate, but this…

He’d been out of control, and if she needed confirmation of that then all she had to do was look at his suit.

Luca Corretti was never anything less than immaculate and yet his perfectly tailored suit was marked from his scuffle on the ground and there was a small tear in the leg of his trousers, no doubt caused when he’d jumped the fence. Jumped the fence to protect her.

Her heart was racing like a horse leading the field in the derby. All day she’d tried to block out memories of the night before but she thought about it now, her mind and her body remembering the intensity, the intimacy, everything they’d shared.

‘Don’t walk away—don’t—’ She caught up with him by the gate and grabbed his arm, releasing him immediately as he shook her off. ‘Just…wait, will you? We need to talk.’

He stopped walking but his face was cold. Colder than she’d ever seen it. ‘You just made it clear I’m not welcome on the set.’

‘Because we’re in the middle of filming, but—’ She glanced over her shoulder quickly and his face blackened.

‘So are you going to tell me what is going on between you and that guy? I mean, what’s really going on?’

Taylor’s mouth dried and her heart bumped hard against her ribs. ‘Nothing.’

‘This is me you’re talking to.’ His voice was thickened with emotion as he closed the gap between them. ‘Last night we shared everything. Last night you were honest. Don’t ever hide who you are from me.’

Was she the only one who thought this conversation was crazy? ‘Last night was…’ What was it? Taylor shoved her fingers through her hair, not knowing how to begin to unravel the emotions at play here. Not knowing which questions to ask or which answers she wanted to hear. Glancing over her shoulder, she checked no one was close enough to overhear them. ‘Is this you acting? Because I don’t know what’s real and what isn’t any more.’

There was a long pulsing silence.

Luca stared at her. Something flickered across his face. ‘You were scared.’

She took a step backwards, shaken that he’d seen that when no one else had. ‘I was acting.’

‘No, that was real. You were scared.’ He pushed and pushed, cracking open the shell she’d put around herself, seeing right through to the truth. ‘I know you were scared and as long as he scares you, I’ll be there to protect you.’

That statement ripped away another layer of her protection. ‘Why?’ The word was barely a whisper and it was a long time before he answered.

‘Because I’m your fiancé.’

Taylor looked away quickly, horrified to realise she’d hoped for a different answer. ‘You were…very convincing. Unfortunately you’ve also upset another director.’

And she knew just what that could cost her.

Rafaele was the wrong man to upset.

And suddenly fury mingled with despair. She’d been walking on eggshells trying not to upset him and now Luca had made things worse. ‘Did you have to go to those lengths? You humiliated him. You made him look like a fool.’

‘He did that with no help from me.’ Luca was unrepentant. ‘Why was he kissing you anyway?’

‘Because he was demonstrating a scene.’ She rubbed her fingers over her aching forehead, feeling crushed by the situation. ‘If he walks out too, Santo will freak.’

‘I hope he does walk. I don’t like the way he looks at you.’

Slowly she dropped her hand to her side. ‘You mean the fake part of you that is “engaged” to me doesn’t like the way he looks at me? I think you just might have blown my film career by acting out a part we created in order to protect my film career.’ She looked away from him because looking at him made her think of the night before and they were both in enough trouble. ‘And what about you? You agreed to this to make yourself respectable. Does your board approve of a man fighting over his woman?’

‘Of course. They’re Sicilian.’ But he was frowning, as if something she’d said had given him pause for thought. ‘I don’t want to have blown your career. I’ll talk to Santo.’