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CHAPTER FOUR

NEHA WALKED ONTO the picture-perfect balcony attached to her suite and took in the astonishingly beautiful view of the grounds surrounding the villa and the glittering lights of Lake Como. After a relaxing day at a luxurious spa and lunch at a café overlooking the beautiful canal district of Navigli with Natalie’s irreverent companionship, Neha was equipped to face the evening.

Greta’s eightieth birthday celebrations—the perfect event for Neha and Leonardo’s first public appearance as an official couple. Today, they’d confirm the rumors that had already been whipped into a frenzy by Leo’s carefully orchestrated trips to her offices, even at the opening of a new, trendy café in London.

They’d seen more of each other in the last two weeks than they had in the last fifteen years. He was doing it for the press coverage, but she struggled mightily to not fall into the fantasy right out of her head.

Like sending her favorite exotic orchids the day after she’d returned from Milan.

Like showing up at work last night and packing her off to Lake Como so that she could attend Greta’s party and get a weekend away in the process. Neha had protested at first—it was a whole extra day she didn’t need to bunk.

“You expect me to accept the fact that you want to retire seriously, and yet you won’t cut yourself a break after an eighty-hour week,” he’d said, his powerful frame shrinking the size of her vast office. The broad sweep of his shoulders had electrified her senses after a long day, the reality of seeing him in her space making everything she’d set into motion achingly real.

The attraction she felt for him all the more painful to deny for he was just as out of reach now as ever. But he’d been right about her needing a break.

The two weeks since she’d returned had been packed with back-to-back meetings, a visit to a newly launched bakery in east London where she hadn’t been allowed inside the huge, state-of-the-art industrial kitchen but posed for pictures with delicious treats she hadn’t created, and reading hundreds and hundreds of pages of contracts with the legal personnel for a book deal she was going to sign soon.

A cookbook with her brand name but the actual recipes had been created by a team of world-class chefs.

She’d been thrust right into her soul-sucking life and desperate for escape, but Neha had given in. Even as the cautious part of her whispered that running away with Leo and to Leo was a dangerous habit.

Every free moment of the last two weeks had been spent replaying that scene between her and Leo in his bedroom. She’d fantasized in the most wicked detail what it would have been like if she’d taken his mouth for a kiss she’d wanted for so long. If she’d asked him to conceive their child by making love to her...

Her cheeks heated. Would he have taken her up on that offer, too? Did he feel this awareness that seemed to hum through her when he was near?

But she was also painfully aware that it was time to bury what had been her heart’s desire for so long that it was a part of her.

They could never be lovers now, not with their lives entangled around an innocent life. Not an easy decision but done.

As the horizon shone brilliantly in the evening sky, for the first time in years she was hopeful for the future. With Leo by her side, she could finally build the life she wanted. And her baby would have everything she had known once—a doting mother, a caring father, a loving family.

“She’s refusing to join us?” Massimo asked as Leo walked into the lounge, having spent more than an hour with Greta, who was acting like a petulant teenager instead of the Brunetti matriarch celebrating her eightieth birthday with Milan’s upper crest due to appear in less than an hour to honor her.

Leo took the tumbler of whiskey Massimo offered with a grateful nod and downed it. He sighed. “She’s not just acting out this time. She’s really upset that Alex is not here.”

“It’s not like Alex to disappear like this without a word to any of us, for months at a time.”

Leo agreed. While their grandmother’s stepdaughter, Alex—Alessandra Giovanni, one of the top supermodels in the world—had family in the US and regularly disappeared from Milan for months at a time for her shoots, on a given day, they’d always known where she would be. More importantly, Alex never went more than a few weeks without dropping by to visit with Greta.

But this time, even Alex’s mother had no idea of her daughter’s whereabouts.

Greta, having lived through the path of destruction her son had blazed through her life, had never been soft or loving with Leo or Massimo. But she had stood guard over her grandsons, helped them overthrow her own son when it had been clear Silvio would destroy BFI.

Only with her second husband, Carlo, whom she’d lost after a precious few years, and his daughter, Alessandra, had a different side emerged of Greta.

He knew Alex felt that same love toward Greta, knew she felt like she belonged here with Massimo and him, more than she did with her mother’s family. So why disappear like this? Where was she?

He was about to suggest they reach out to Alex’s agent when Neha walked into the lounge.

Looking absolutely ravishing in a fetching pink creation that left her shoulders bare, kissed every curve like he wanted to, molded to the swell of her hips. And yet, somehow, she managed to look elegant and stunning, too. Her hair in an updo showcased the beauty of her high cheeks and strong brows. Mouth glistening a light pink, she reminded Leo of a ripe, tart strawberry. A strawberry that he wanted to bite.

She took one look at them and stilled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude on you two. I can come back.”

There was a hint of shimmer on her neck and the valley of her cleavage when she stood under the crystal chandelier, beckoning a man’s touch. Leo could no more stop watching her than he could stop breathing. Dio, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this mesmerized by a woman. Maybe never. “Of course you’re not intruding,” he said.

Maybe a little too sharply, because her gaze jerked up to his.

He cleared his throat and went to pour another drink. He needed the extra fortification if he had to spend the rest of the evening with her—looking but not touching, enveloped by the warmth of her, pretending to be a couple in front of the world. But not doing all the things he wanted to do to her.

“I’ll talk to Greta,” Massimo said.

His younger brother had that mischievous smile that Leo had rarely seen growing up. Massimo stopped in front of Neha, put his hands on her bare shoulders and pulled her to him. An indulgent smile on those pink lips, Neha let him embrace her and then kiss her cheeks. Which he did with quite a relish.

Stepping back, Massimo smiled. “You look utterly enchanting, bella mia. If only you’d reciprocated my interest in you, we’d have been something. But alas, I remember you rebuffed me, of course without breaking my heart.”

Neha laughed. And the sound of it snuck into Leo’s every pore. “Per favore, Massimo. Stop flirting with me, you wretched man, and go find your wife.”

“Sì,” the rogue said with a smile, then bowed elaborately, which made her laugh harder.

That thick silence descended on them again, ripe with tension.

“Are you scowling because he was flirting with me?” Neha said, keeping her distance. As if he was dangerous.

“Massimo has eyes for no one but Natalie. That whole thing was for my benefit.”

“Your benefit?” she said, her eyes growing wide in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Leo shrugged. He wasn’t going to explain that his brother thought it was hilarious how attracted Leo was to her. Especially when he was determined to not do anything about it.

“You want a drink before the hordes descend on us?” he finally managed in a polite voice.

“Just some sparkling water, please,” she replied.

Leo opened a bottle of sparkling water and offered it to her.

She took the glass from his hands, somehow managing to make sure their fingers didn’t touch. “You didn’t tell me how I look,” she said in a soft, quiet voice characteristic of her. Not petulant, not demanding, just a simple, rational question. Maybe he could handle this better, then.

He let his gaze rove over her again. “I didn’t think you were the type who needed compliments or a boost in confidence.”

Irritation he’d never seen before flashed across her face. “There are two things wrong about that.”

“Two?” He raised a brow, liking that he was getting under her skin. “Explain, please.”

“First of all, I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman who wouldn’t welcome a compliment from a gentleman friend. No matter how gorgeous or successful she is.”

“Touché,” he said, raising his glass to her. “‘Gentleman friend’ has such...an old-world ring to it, bella? Is that where we’re settling for?”

“Define this—” she moved her arm gracefully in the distance between them, distance she seemed determined to maintain “—any other way you want.”

“And my second offense?” he taunted back.

“This is uncharted territory for me. So yes, I’d like to know what you were thinking for a change, instead of having to guess what your expression means.”

“What is uncharted territory?”

“Playing your piece in front of the entire world.”

Something in her tone snagged at him. But for the life of him, he couldn’t put his finger on it. It felt like all the safe, neutral ground they’d carefully trod for so many years had disappeared, leaving them in a minefield. Filled with sexual tension and something else.

Were they foolishly, knowingly mucking up a relationship they’d built?

“Why is this so hard, Leo?” she said softly, a beseeching look in her eyes that shamed him instantly. Dio, did the woman have any idea how beguiling she looked like that? How much he wanted to remove any and every problem if it meant she’d smile at him like she did with Massimo?

He was man enough to admit that it was his fault. He’d purposely held back the words that had risen to his lips when she’d walked in. Made it awkward by behaving like a randy, churlish youth who had been denied the one thing he’d wanted the most.

He finished his drink and went to stand in front of her. Tucking his finger under her chin, he raised her face. His heart thudded as she met his gaze, his match in every way. “You’re the most beautiful, poised, smart, courageous woman I’ve ever known in my life.”

She laughed, swatted at his shoulder with her hand and stepped away. Leo buried the pulse of irritation at her need to put distance between them. “Are there any adjectives left?”

“You don’t think I’m serious?”

“It doesn’t matter, really.” A tightness to her words. “I think I’ve indulged myself enough for one evening,” she half muttered to herself. When she looked at him again, there was nothing but that serenity, that composure, he’d known for so long. “Natalie told me it was you who’d arranged such a lovely day for us. Going as far as to hound her into accompanying me.

“Just as you’d told me that she needed my help in picking a dress for tonight.”

“She’s got terrible fashion sense. You, on the other hand, never look less than stunning.”

She laughed, and he basked in it. “You manipulated us both.”

“I saw two hardworking, stubborn women who needed a break.”

“It was exactly what I’d needed, and I didn’t even know it. So, thank you.”

“It was my pleasure. When I arrived last night, you looked like you were ready to drop.” He’d been alarmed by how dull she’d looked with dark shadows under her eyes again. “Haven’t you been sleeping well?”

She tucked a wisp of hair that wasn’t in the way, and he knew she was going to lie. “I was fine. I just had a brutal week.”

“Did Mario say anything about my visits?”

“We had a few meetings scheduled but he... Damn it, I’m nervous. About this whole evening.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“I just... I wish we hadn’t decided to make this whole thing public today. Although that’s probably just me wanting to delay the inevitable.” She laughed at herself, turning the glass in her hand around and around. “Now you think I’m a little cuckoo.”

“No. But I’m definitely beginning to believe that saying you’re stressed is an understatement. Are you having second thoughts about this whole thing?” He carefully controlled his voice, loath to betray the pang in his chest that she might have changed her mind.

This had to be about her, always.

“Of course not!” Her chest rose and fell, the thin chain at her neck glinting under the light of the chandelier. “Not at all.” When he just stared at her, she sighed. “If you must know, I mostly avoided Mario this past week. I stayed at my flat the whole week, which I never do because I like to see Mum at least every other day—running away when I knew he might be looking for me, canceling on a one-on-one lunch saying I had a checkup, that sort of thing.”

Anger flared in Leo’s gut. He took her hand and was startled to feel her long fingers tremble. “Neha, are you scared of him? Has he caused you physical harm?”

“God, no. I’d like to think if he’d ever raised his hand to me, at least then my...” She cringed and snatched her hand back. And he wondered at how much she kept to herself, how little she showed of her true feelings. “If he had, I’d have knocked him down in return,” she said fiercely. “Mario thinks too much of himself to stoop to what he’d call vulgar behavior. His tactics are more...insidious. I didn’t tell you this, but I had an argument with him before I came to see you about this new book deal we’re signing and it just blew up.

“I’m sure he thought I ran to you to complain about it. After leaving it like that, you showing up at work in the last week and me avoiding him, he’ll be bursting to have a go at me.”

“Then why avoid him? Why not face him today when I’m here, too?”

“It’s just that...every time he and I get into it, it’s Mum who suffers. It’s Papa’s birthday next week and she’s always extra fragile on that day.

“Usually she and I spend the day together, donate a week’s worth of meals at this shelter Papa used to volunteer at...help out the whole day. And then we have dinner with a lot of his friends and family, just remembering him. I prep for it for days, take the entire day off, and it almost feels like...she and I never drifted apart.” The wistfulness in her eyes tugged at him before she blinked it away. “If I have a massive row with Mario now, it’ll bleed through to her. She’ll worry that the both of us are fighting and I don’t want to make Papa’s birthday extra hard for her.”

Leo voiced the question that came to him instantly, his tone a little bit sharp. “And in all this, who looks after you? Even I know that you still miss your papa.”

She frowned. “I look after myself. My mother has always been emotionally delicate—I don’t think she ever recovered from Papa’s death, and yes, sometimes I wish...” Guilt shone in her eyes before she sighed. She fiddled with a ring she wore on her right hand. “I don’t like talking about all this with you.”

“Why not?”

“I feel guilty for talking about her. And I definitely don’t want to lose your respect. I know you abhor emotional drama of this sort.”

“Because you have a complex relationship with your mother?” he said, swallowing away the stinging words he wanted to use. Like toxic and harmful and soul-sucking.

“I think you have made a lot of extrapolations from whatever the media reports about my relationships with women.” For some reason he couldn’t fathom, every time Neha made even a fairly reasonable assumption about him, it riled him. He wanted to be...the perfect man in her eyes.

Cristo! Where was this coming from?

“What did you think raising a child together was going to entail? Whether we like it or not, whether we want or not, our families and our history are going to feature in our child’s life.”

“And it doesn’t bother you?” she said, searching his gaze.

“I forgot extremely stubborn in the list of adjectives earlier,” he said, taking her hand in his. “Believe me, bella. We’re in this together. There’s nothing you need to hide from me.

“In the meantime, I’m more than happy to play your hero.”

She rolled her eyes and laughed. “I don’t need a hero, Leo. I just want you to pretend to be one.” Her fingers dusted at some imaginary speck on his jacket and his heart thundered under the casual touch. Her gaze ate him up. “But yeah, I’m glad you’re on my side.”

CHAPTER FIVE

TWO AND A HALF hours into the party, Neha was glad she’d let Leo convince her to stick to his side.

There was a power high in being the woman that Leonardo Brunetti couldn’t keep his hands off. Oh, she knew that all the long, lingering looks and touches—she loved the feel of his palm against her lower back—were for the benefit of the couple of journalists he’d told her were present through the crowd.

It was about making a public statement without actually standing in front of a high-focus lens and admitting that yes, after years of platonic relationship, they were taking their relationship to the next level. But she couldn’t stop herself from enjoying the thrill of the moment.

The warm, male scent of him was both familiar and exciting. Every time he wrapped his arm around her waist, or squeezed her shoulders, or pulled her to his side, she felt a little tingle pulse up her spine, filling her veins with electric charge.

She loved hearing her name on his lips as he introduced her around to the extended Brunetti family, to the powerful board members of BFI. Clung to his every word, loved the secretive smile he sent her way when someone commented that the most untouchable bachelor had been finally caught.

But it wasn’t just the electricity arcing between them.

There was a sense of strength in his mere presence at her side. She’d been self-sufficient, emotionally and mentally, for so long that to have him at her back felt like a luxury. An echo of a need that had gone unanswered. She had someone in her corner finally to face Mario.

Even the sight of Mario’s scowl when his gaze landed on Leo’s arm around her waist, the way his sharp gaze followed them around, couldn’t dilute her enjoyment of the party.

The entire grounds around the villa had been lit up until it was reflected on the waters of the lake. Pristine white marquees caught the overflow of guests from the villa. Cream-colored circular lanterns hung from the ceilings while beautiful white lilies made up exquisite centerpieces on round tables. Strategic ground lights added nightly splendor to Leo’s gardens. With the backdrop of Lake Como’s lights, the estate glittered.

The only strange thing was Silvio Brunetti’s conspicuous absence from the celebrations, and Alessandra’s, too, who was close to Greta, even more than her own grandsons.

A small dais had been raised at the center of the marquee where the matriarch, Greta, came onto the dais and delivered a speech in Italian that was too fast for her to follow. She invited her family to join her. Neha sat stunned when Leo walked up to her and reached out a hand to her.

For a few seconds that felt like an eternity, she could feel every single gaze trained on her, the silence deafening. Yes, they were putting on a show for a variety of reasons. Neha had never expected to be counted as one of the Brunetti family.

But even her hesitation hadn’t thrown off the resolute look in Leo’s eyes. Bending down from his great height, the broad sweep of his shoulders cutting off the entire world, his gorgeous, rugged face filled her vision. The focus of that gaze—all on her—was addictive. “I thought I had made this clear between us. Whatever happens in the future, or doesn’t happen—” a twinkle appeared in his eyes “—my child, and therefore you, will always be a part of this family.”

“You don’t understand,” she’d whispered, putting her slim hand in his huge one. Shivering at the abrasive slide of his palm. “They’ll think it a declaration neither of us intends.”

“I do not give a damn, as you say, bella.”

After that, she hadn’t even cared how Mario was taking the whole thing.

There was an exhilarating kind of freedom in letting Leonardo shoulder her burdens, at least for the evening. She danced with Massimo once and then twice with Leo, and tasted so many delicacies while laughing with Natalie.

After a long stretch of loneliness, life felt good, real.

Having just touched up her makeup, she walked out into the small sitting lounge with full-length mirrors and a soft white leather sofa when she realized she wasn’t alone.

Everything in her braced to face the vitriolic attack that would come from Mario. Instead, her mum stood inside the room, her delicate face pinched with worry and distress. Dressed in a cream pantsuit that set off perfectly against her fair skin and pearls at her throat, she looked exquisitely lovely in a frail way. When she’d been a teenager, Neha had wished she’d been more like her mum with her petite, feminine frame, the silky dark hair, the delicate, sharply set features.

But now... Neha was glad she’d inherited her dad’s build and his resilient nature.

“Hello, Mum,” she said, leaning down and kissing Padma’s cheek. A subtle scent of roses filled her nose, instantly plunging her into that twisty, minefield she’d been navigating for too long. “I was hoping we could have a quick catch-up before you left. Especially since I hadn’t seen you in a while. Sorry, I didn’t come sit by you tonight.” She hated this, this distance that came between them, all because of Mario. “Leo had all these people he wanted to introduce me to, and Natalie dragged me into the photoshoot—”

“I thought you were past this rebellious phase where you do things just to annoy your stepfather,” Padma said. Launching directly into attack.

No question about why Neha hadn’t come to see her in two weeks. No question about the sudden change in her relationship with Leo. That cold knot in her chest squeezed painfully even as that wet, helpless feeling filled her throat. “Mum, what are you talking about?”

“This...thing with that man.”

“What about it?”

“Leonardo Brunetti is your stepfather’s enemy. You know he causes all kinds of trouble for Mario. Of all the men in the world, Neha...have you no loyalty for Mario? After everything Mario’s done for us, after he made sure we didn’t wallow in poverty, after he built this empire with your face, after he’s treated you as if you were his own...” A long, rattling sigh shook her slender shoulders, and she reached for the wall behind her, her breathing shallow, her pretty face crumpled.

Panic filled Neha’s limbs. “Mum, please don’t stress yourself like this. You know it’s not good for you. You’ll have an asthma attack and I—”

Padma jerked away from her touch. “Then you should’ve thought of that before shacking up with a man Mario can’t stand.”

“Mum, listen to me. It’s not what you think. I’d never do anything to hurt you. This is something I needed to do for myself...” Neha pushed her shaking fingers through her hair, fighting for composure. Fighting the anger and helplessness rising through her, the selfish need to demand her mum’s support when she was weak already. “To build the life I—”

“You’ve chosen to go against the man who gave you everything. And when Mr. Brunetti breaks your heart, and Mario says he will, who do you think will pick you up again? Who do you think looks out for you in all this?

“Your stepfather, that’s who.” Her mum took her face in one hand, fingers tracing her jaw tenderly, her gaze taking in everything. “Walk away from this man, Neha.” Tears made her mum’s words a soft, beseeching whisper. “Come home with us, now, tonight. Mario’s generous. He’ll forgive you the simple mistake of falling into Leonardo’s trap.”

Of course he would. He’d riled up her mum to see only an enemy in Leonardo. A selfish woman in her own daughter, a naive fool who fell for a man’s sweet words. Still, Neha tried. “Mum, I haven’t done anything to be forgiven for. I’ve stayed all these years even though—”

“No, stop.” Padma took a deep, shuddering breath, her mouth trembling. Ignoring what Neha was saying. “It pains me to see you at such cross-purposes with him, darling.”

“Mum, I’m doing this for me. No one else. For my future.”

“Please stop this before you hurt yourself and us, too.”

“And if I don’t?”

Padma stepped back from Neha, a resolute look in her eyes. “Then I know that Mario’s right that you’ve never accepted him. That you’ve never forgiven me for choosing to marry again when your papa passed away. That all these years, you’ve resented the place he’s taken in my life.”

The dark midnight sky was a star-studded blanket as Leonardo made his way through the well-worn path to the greenhouse that had been abandoned for more than two decades.

He had engaged a crew to renovate the greenhouse, but apart from stepping in there with the architect for a quick inspection, he hadn’t been here again. He wanted the renovated greenhouse, not a desolate, haunting monument with memories that could steal his sleep.

Nothing but Massimo’s knock at his door, his face concerned, well past midnight, as he’d been getting ready for bed, could have brought Leo to this place. For years, he had ignored the presence of the abandoned structure, refusing to step foot even in its shadow.

But he’d realized that it was silly to let a child’s confusion dictate the rest of his life. An utter waste of time and energy having something new designed when a perfectly old structure was sitting right in his backyard.

He keyed in the security code that had been newly installed and pushed open the glass door. The rise in temperature was instant—a blast of warm, wet air hit him in the face.

Surprise filled him at the progress the team had made. Most of the overgrown shrubbery and vines had been cleared and new temperature-controlling tubing had been installed all over the ceiling. A huge industrial-size porcelain sink sat along one wall with gleaming granite counter space.

That, along with the perfectly placed overhead lights in a crisscrossing design through the center line of the high ceiling, made it eons different from the abandoned shell he’d discovered months ago.

There was one corner of the huge greenhouse where the overgrown, climbing vine had been left in place. The small area stood like a piece of the past he never seemed to let go of.

Cristo, he was in a strange mood tonight.

The lounger he’d ordered in a moment of self-indulgence stood like a throne in an abandoned castle. Her gray sweatshirt lay discarded on the lounger while Neha walked around the long aisles, drifting aimlessly, in deep thought. Even the ping of the door hadn’t disturbed her. Leo took the time to just watch her.

The rational part of him wanted to turn around and walk out, leave her to her midnight rambles. She’d made it clear before the party tonight that she was never going to cross that line that she had drawn around herself and let herself be vulnerable to anyone, much less him.

The loose, sleeveless T-shirt and cotton shorts she had on should have looked anything but sexy. But the slightly damp fabric stuck to the outline of her curves and the shorts—Cristo, her legs were long and lean, packed with muscle.

He’d never gone for the delicate, wispy, stick-thin kind of women. He liked curves, and from every glimpse he got of Neha’s, it felt like she was tailor-made to fit into his hands.

Her face scrubbed free of the makeup only highlighted the dewy silkiness of her skin. Her wild hair had been braided into submission into a single braid, already half undone and framing her face.

It was only when she raised her gaze to his and gave a soft gasp that he saw the wet tinge to her eyelashes. Cristo, she’d been crying?

He pushed away from the wall, all thoughts of leaving her to her own problems fleeing. “Neha?”

She scrubbed a hand over her face. “What’re you doing here?”

“That is for me to ask.” He tucked his hands into his pockets. She looked crumpled, a little broken, and the last thing she needed was for him to paw at her. “Massimo told me he found you walking out here. That he gave you the code.”

“Oh.” Her fingers played with the hem of her T-shirt. “I couldn’t sleep and was walking the grounds. I can’t come down from the high of the evening that quickly, y’know? Especially when... It was a lovely party, yeah?” He didn’t for one second believe the glassy, too-bright smile. She looked around herself self-consciously. “I’m sorry for intruding. Again.

“Massimo thought it was better if I wandered inside here. I gathered from what he said this greenhouse...is off-limits to guests. But he wouldn’t leave my side until I went in or returned to my bedroom.

“I didn’t want to lie down when my head’s spinning.”

“This apologizing of yours is becoming a bad habit, cara. You’re welcome to walk into any part of the estate.”

“I think I’ve done enough midnight meandering. I’ll wish you good night.”

“You are upset,” he said, reaching for her arm as she passed him. He kept his grip slack. She didn’t pull away and, this close, he could feel the tension emanating from her. All his protective instincts went into overdrive. “Did Mario get to you? I made sure he came nowhere near you. And when I was busy with Greta, I asked Massimo to keep an eye. What did he say? Did he scare you?”

“No, he didn’t. It’s not that,” she said, stepping back from him, trying to hide her face in the shadows.