LITMIR.BIZ

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that overlooked the bay, was in full swing when they arrived. To the outward eye it looked as if it had been flawlessly executed by Giorgio’s staff. Arabian Nights–style tents in vibrant jeweled colors blanketed the furniture-strewn space, varying in size and complexity. Gauzy green and purple curtains, both drawn and open, hinted at two degrees of interaction, both social and seductively intimate.

      The interior of the tents was over-the-top fantasy, those same jeweled tones reflected in the pillows and throws that covered the low-slung divans and rich tapestries. Copious amounts of candles, ornate lamps, bejeweled belly dancers giving partygoers seductive performances and the tattoo artists completed the ambience. It was as if you’d just made your way through the desert and stumbled upon an oasis filled with the most beautiful people on earth.

      Jewels were abundant, paid escorts, too, accompanying the rich men who required a beautiful woman by their side.

      “Paid escorts?” Mina didn’t seem to get the concept. “You mean prostitutes?”

      “I doubt they would appreciate that terminology,” he drawled. “I expect some will provide recreational activity and some are here for appearances only.”

      “Oh.” She shut up after that as he networked his way through the space with ruthless efficiency. He wasn’t a natural-born socializer. It was a means to an end, a necessary requirement of the job. His wife, on the other hand, was in her element, circulating with an effortless poise, murmuring polite phrases in that sexy Italian lilt of hers, adjusting to the interests and personality of everyone that she met on the fly to put them perfectly at ease. He found himself captivated by her charm, by the chameleon that she was, his attention focused on her with an unwavering fascination that was a new experience for him.

      Antonio Davis separated himself from the crowd when he saw them, drawing his longtime Hollywood starlet of a girlfriend, Evangelina, toward them. Antonio wrapped an arm around Nate and gave him a slap on the back. “Heard you were here. Also heard you were married to this stunning creature. What gives? No invitation?”

      “We married rather...impulsively yesterday or you most certainly would have been invited.” Nate nodded at Mina. “Mina meet Antonio Davis and his other half, Evangelina Cabriera.”

      Antonio gave Mina a kiss on both cheeks as did Evangelina. Mina gave the actor a shy look. “I love your films. I learned to speak English with your movies.”

      The aging Hollywood heartthrob, whose outward cool masked the intensely ambitious, genuinely likeable guy he was inside, smiled. “So one of your first phrases was, ‘Shoot ’em up, Charlie’?”

      “I think it was actually, ‘I’m no hero, kid. I’m just a man with a good horse and impeccable timing.’”

      Antonio threw back his head, a deep booming laugh escaping him. The cowboy lingo delivered in Mina’s sexy Italian accent didn’t quite have the same ring to it. “Liked Carson, did you?”

      “Loved him. It was so fun watching him discover Charlie was a girl.”

      “Fun role to play.” Antonio lifted a brow at Nate. “Seen Franco?”

      “Not yet.”

      Antonio grimaced. “He’s been otherwise occupied.”

      Nate didn’t want to know what that might be. Hollywood’s resident bad boy didn’t seem to recognize he was far past the age where he should be doing all-nighters with copious amounts of illegal drugs. He dealt with Antonio and left Franco out of it and they ran a squeaky clean business together.

      “Any interest in joining Evangelina for a tattoo?” Antonio asked Mina. “She’s dying to have one and I have a bit of business I wanted to discuss with Nate.”

      Mina looked to Nate for confirmation. He gave her a challenging glance that said, Expand your horizons. Mina’s chin lifted. “I’d love to.”

      Antonio filled him in on the new business idea he had for a stand-alone series of nightclubs. Nate liked it immediately. Liked even more that Franco was not involved. “Send the proposal over.”

      “You got it.” The actor smiled and waved at someone. “Hey, there’s a financier here you should meet.”

      He scanned the crowd for Mina. She and Evangelina were in the middle of Franco’s crowd. His gaze narrowed on Franco in a flashy white suit, his megawatt predatory smile fixed firmly on Mina.

      “She’s a big girl,” Antonio said, sliding an arm around his shoulders. “She’ll be fine.”

      * * *

      Mina was trying to relax and enjoy herself, she really was. But this party was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. Evangelina was throwing back drinks twice as fast as she was and introducing her around to famous actors, actresses and producers at such a pace her head spun. She was afraid she was going to insult somebody by not remembering them and the men seemed inordinately friendly, their admiring eyes seeming to linger just a bit too long.

      The buzzing atmosphere only heightened the chaotic feeling inside of her the last twenty-four hours had induced. Walking away from her home, that awful phone call with her mother this afternoon, Nate’s anger at her for overstepping her bounds in that meeting. She would have preferred to be curled up in their suite watching one of Antonio’s Westerns.

      “Hey, beautiful.” Franco Messini took advantage of a break in Evangelina’s watch over her to grab her hand and lead her to the bar.

      “I don’t really need another glass of wine.”

      “Can’t leave my lovely guest empty-handed,” Franco purred, raising his hand to signal the bartender. Securing them two glasses of champagne, he directed her away from the crowd at the bar. “I heard you say you were a fan of Sybil Atkinson. I just saw her. Let me introduce you to her.”

      Mina thought that was a fine idea. The less interaction she had with Franco alone, the better.

      He led her through the crowd toward one of the tents. She followed him inside the small, intimate space with its seductive dim lighting. It was empty.

      “I guess she moved on,” she said lightly. “I really should get back to my husband. He’s likely looking for me.”

      “He should be keeping closer tabs on you.” Franco moved closer, his bulky body blocking out the light. The suspicious shimmer in his blue eyes sent a frisson of unease through her. She wondered if he’d been indulging in more than just alcohol. “You’re the most beautiful woman at this party, Mina.”

      She licked dry lips as he continued to move closer. “That’s very nice of you to say. But I really think I should get back to Nate.”

      “In a minute.” Franco ran a finger down the bare skin of her upper arm. “It isn’t a crime to look at another man’s wife, is it?”

      But he was touching her. She took a step backward, the unsettled feeling inside of her unraveling into alarm. Her palms sweaty, pulse racing in her throat, she swallowed hard. “I’d like to get back to the others.”

      “Don’t look so threatened.” Franco’s confident, aggressive gaze mocked her as he closed the space between them again. “You haven’t given me the time of day since we met. I just want to get to know you better. You are my business partner’s wife, after all.”

      “I don’t think that’s a good idea. My husband—he—he’s the jealous sort.”

      The actor lifted a hand and ran a finger down her cheek. “Maybe he should learn to share... Nate’s always been a smug bastard. Too much so for my taste.”

      Her pulse pounded harder, her palms growing ice cold now. She darted a glance at the exit, blocked by Franco’s big body. Told herself to stay calm. But an image of Silvio manacling her wrist, kissing her, the crack of his hand snapping her head sideways, sent her heart slamming against her chest.

      Franco was so much bigger than her.

      The

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