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coffee is ready.’

      His voice intruded, and she turned blindly towards the coffee-machine. Dear God, she doubted her ability to walk the few paces necessary and calmly pour the brew into cups, let alone drink from one. She’d probably scald her mouth, or drop the cup. Maybe both.

      ‘I no longer feel like any,’ she managed in a voice that sounded indistinct and far removed from her own.

      ‘Add a dash of brandy, and cream,’ Stefano ordered steadily. ‘It will help you sleep.’

      She opened her mouth to respond, only to have him pursue with dangerous softness, ‘Don’t argue.’

      ‘I’m not arguing!’

      ‘Then stop wasting energy on being so stubbornly determined to oppose me.’

      ‘You must know how much I hate being here,’ she flung with restrained anger. She was so infuriated that it took every ounce of control not to lash out at him.

      ‘Almost as much as you hate me,’ Stefano drawled imperturbably as he moved to pour the coffee, then he added brandy and cream to both cups.

      ‘You have no intention of making things easy for me, do you?’ Carly demanded bitterly.

      His eyes assumed a chilling bleakness, his features assembling into a hard, inflexible mask. ‘You’re treading a mental tightrope.’ He lifted a hand and caught hold of her chin, his fingers firm and faintly cruel. ‘And I’m in no mood to play verbal games.’

      ‘Then stop treating me like a fractious child.’ It was a cry from within, heartfelt, and more revealing than she intended.

      ‘Start behaving like a woman and I’ll respond accordingly,’ he said hardly, and flecks of fiery topaz lightened the darkness of her eyes.

      ‘Close my mind and open my legs?’ Rage bubbled to the surface and erupted without thought to the consequence. ‘Sorry, Stefano. I’m not that desperate.’

      For a moment she thought he meant to strike her, and she was powerless to escape him as hard hands curled round her arms and pulled her close.

      ‘This time,’ he ground out grimly, ‘you push me too far.’

      He possessed sufficient strength to do her grievous bodily harm, yet she stood defiant, unwilling to retract or apologise for so much as a single word.

      With slow deliberation he caught both her hands together, then slid one hand beneath her head, tilting it as he impelled her forward, then his mouth was on hers, hard and possessively demanding.

      A silent scream rose and died in her throat, and she began to struggle, hating him with all her heart as he exerted sufficient pressure to force open her mouth, then his tongue became a pillaging destructive force that had her silently begging him to stop.

      His stance altered, and one hand splayed down over the gentle swell of her bottom, pressing her close in against him so that the heat of his arousal was a potent virile force that was impossible to ignore.

      The invasion of her mouth didn’t lessen, and she felt absorbed, overwhelmed, possessed by a man who would refuse anything other than her complete capitulation.

      Something snapped inside her, swamping her with anger and a need for retribution. She began to struggle more fiercely, managing to free one hand, which she balled into a fist to flail against his back. She clenched her jaw against the considerable force of his, and gained a minor victory when she managed to capture his tongue with her teeth.

      Not enough to inflict any damage, but sufficient to cause him to still fractionally, then he was free, but only momentarily, for he lifted her effortlessly over one shoulder and strode from the room.

      ‘You bastard,’ Carly hissed vehemently as she pummelled her fists against the hard muscles of his back. ‘Put me down, damn you!’

      She fought so hard that she lost all sense of direction, and it wasn’t until he began to ascend the central staircase that she began to feel afraid. Her struggles intensified, without success, and several seconds later she heard the solid clunking sound of the bedroom door as it closed behind them, then without ceremony she was lowered down to her feet.

      Defiance blazed from her expressive features as she met his hardened gaze, and despite their compelling intensity she refused to bow down to fear. Her mouth felt violated, her tongue sore, the delicate tissues grazed and swollen. Even her throat ached, and her jaw.

      ‘If it weren’t for Ann-Marie…’ She trailed to a halt, too incensed to continue.

      ‘Precisely,’ Stefano agreed succinctly. His implication was intentional, and she burst into voluble speech.

      ‘You’re so damned ruthless,’ Carly accused vengefully. ‘You dominate everything, everyone. I can’t wait to be free of you.’

      He went completely still, and she was vividly reminded of a superb jungle animal she’d viewed on a television documentary; of the encapsulated moment when every muscle in his body had tensed prior to the fatal spring that captured and annihilated his prey. Stefano looked just as dangerous, portraying the same degree of leashed violence.

      ‘You believe our reconciliation to be temporary?’ he queried in a voice that sounded like the finest silk being torn asunder.

      She drew in a deep breath, then slowly released it. ‘When Ann-Marie is completely recovered, I intend to file for divorce.’

      His eyes lanced hers, killing in their intensity. ‘You honestly believe I’d allow you to attempt to take her away from me?’

      ‘Dear lord in heaven,’ Carly breathed shakily. ‘Who do you think you are? God?’

      He was silent for so long that she thought he didn’t mean to answer, then he drawled with deliberate softness, ‘I have the power to hound you through every lawcourt in the country for whatever reason I choose to nominate.’

      She felt sickened, and raw with immeasurable pain. ‘Are you so bent on revenge that you’d punish yourself as well as me?’

      His eyes raked her slim frame. ‘Punish? Aren’t you being overly fanciful?’

      ‘Angelica Agnelli. I imagine she still—’ She paused fractionally, then continued with deliberate emphasis, ‘Liaises with you?’

      His voice was tensile steel, and just as dangerous. ‘In a professional capacity—yes.’

      ‘And is she still based in Perth?’ Carly pursued unrepentantly. ‘Or has she also moved to Sydney?’

      ‘Sydney.’

      ‘I see,’ she said dully, and wondered at her own stupidity in querying if the relationship between Stefano and Angelica still existed. It hadn’t ceased and probably never would.

      ‘Do you?’ Stefano queried, and she smiled with infinite sadness, all the fight in her suddenly gone.

      ‘Oh, yes,’ she assented wearily. ‘I was way out of my league right from the beginning.’

      ‘You should have stayed and fought the battle.’ He sounded impossibly cynical, and it rankled unbearably.

      ‘I tried.’ Dear lord, how she’d tried. But one battle didn’t win the war, as she had discovered to her cost. Carly tilted her head at a proud angle. ‘Being figuratively savaged by a female predator held no appeal. I much preferred to retreat with dignity.’ Her eyes were remarkably clear. ‘Besides, it’s impossible to lose what you never had.’

      ‘I willingly slid a ring on your finger, and pledged my devotion.’ His voice held a soft drawling quality that sent shivers scudding down the length of her spine. ‘Was your faith in me so lacking that there was no room for trust?’

      The entire conversation had undergone a remarkable change, and she wasn’t comfortable with its passage. ‘That was a long time ago,’ she responded slowly, aware

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