LITMIR.BIZ

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Rome. No taxi will take her back today.” And she walked out without looking back or saying goodbye.

      Maximos stood a moment listening to his mother’s footsteps echo down the hall. Nothing like an overbearing Sicilian mother, he thought, but the corner of his mouth quirked. He loved her. Strong women had never intimidated him.

      Cass was standing next to her suitcase on the palazzo’s broad stone steps when the front door opened and Maximos appeared. He’d changed into a casual white linen shirt and khaki shorts.

      “Going somewhere?” he asked, standing next to her.

      “Yes.”

      His expression was quizzical. “How do you intend to get there?”

      Cass felt sick on the inside, sick and shaky and she wished she’d never come here, wished she were in Rome where she belonged but she’d leave soon. As soon as she had transportation. “A taxi.”

      “No taxi will drive you back to Rome on a Saturday. It’s an all day trip. You’ll need a hire car. Have you reserved one?”

      He knew she hadn’t. “No.”

      “That poses a problem.”

      She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear but refused to look at him. What did he want her to do? Beg? “You could loan me one of your cars.”

      “I couldn’t. Insurance issues and all.”

      “I’m a good driver. Accident free for over ten years.”

      “It’s nothing personal, Cass—”

      “Nothing personal? You will sleep with me, but not loan me a car?”

      “I’ve had difficulties with car insurance due to an accident a number of years ago. You can ask my mother, or my sisters if you don’t believe—”

      “I don’t want to ask them. I just want to go.” Her fingers gripped the suitcase handle tightly.

      She’d been so impulsive coming here. But then she’d been a gambler her whole life, a player in the game, confident, bold, aggressive. She’d taken risks in her personal life just the way she’d taken risks in business, but this time, she’d failed.

      Failed. Cass blinked back tears thinking that until Maximos entered her life, she’d never failed at anything. “I don’t know what I was thinking…don’t know what I thought would really happen.”

      “Maybe you thought I’d see you and remember how much I enjoyed being with you and we’d get back together.”

      The tears grew hotter, filling her eyes completely. “Please stop.”

      “You came for answers, Cass.”

      She had to turn her face away, not wanting him to see the tear sliding down her cheek. “I think I got them.”

      “Are you sure you got the right answers?”

      There was the strangest note in his voice, a tone akin to suffering but it couldn’t be. This was Maximos after all. And he didn’t feel, and he certainly didn’t suffer. But before she could answer the front door was flung open and Adriana came racing out of the house in a short skirt and bathing suit top.

      “Maximos!” Adriana cried, hugely vexed. “What are you doing? We’re all waiting on you and you know we can’t set sail without you. What’s the problem?”

      Then Adriana spotted Cass and her expression changed. The look she gave Cass was pure malice. “Are you waiting for Emilio to pick her up?” Adriana asked tersely.

      Maximos shook his head. “Emilio’s gone.” He paused. “And Cass isn’t with Emilio. She’s with me.”

      Cass’s head jerked up. Adriana looked equally stunned.

      The corner of Maximos’s mouth tilted. “I’ve been seeing Cass for over two and a half years.”

      CHAPTER EIGHT

      ADRIANA looked from Maximos to Cass and back again. “You’ve been seeing her?”

      “Yes,” Maximos answered.

      “Not Emilio?”

      “No.”

      Adriana’s forehead creased. “Then why did she arrive with him?”

      Maximos’s jaw tightened. He hesitated for just a fraction of a second but Cass’s stomach knotted anyway. “To surprise me,” he answered smoothly.

      Adriana looked suspiciously from one to the other. She seemed to be trying to make up her mind about something. “You didn’t seem happy to see her yesterday.”

      “You know how I feel about Sobato.”

      “Mmm.” Adriana’s lips pursed and then with a glance at Cass and her suitcase, asked yet another question. “Why is she leaving now then? Why before the wedding?”

      “Something came up.” He saw his sister’s expression and he shook his head. “It’s complicated—”

      “Then uncomplicate it,” Adriana retorted impatiently. “Because everyone’s already on board and if we don’t leave soon we won’t be back in time to get ready for the ceremony.”

      Cass opened her mouth to speak but Adriana wagged her finger. “No. This is my day. I want you both to come now on the boat and share the picnic and make my wedding day happy.” She looked at her brother. “Maximos cannot upset me today and I know him. If there is a problem, it’s his problem. He’s a typical man. He has too much pride.”

      Adriana tapped her watch. “Five minutes. You must be on the boat in five minutes.” And with a fierce nod she marched away.

      “You better go,” Cass said quietly. “It is her day and she shouldn’t be upset.”

      “Then you better come, too, because she said she wanted us both to go on the picnic.”

      “I’m not in a picnic mood,” she answered, unable to hide her bitterness.

      “Neither am I.” His voice was brusque, forceful. “But there’s no car coming for you, and unless Sobato is waiting somewhere for you, you’re not leaving Ortygia anytime today. So you might as well join the outing and make the best of it.”

      “Is Sophia going to be there?”

      He sighed, a long drawn-out exasperated sigh. “Sophia is not my girlfriend, and I have now publicly declared you my girlfriend in front of my family.”

      Cass lifted her chin. “But have you told your family you only want me for sex?”

      His brow furrowed, his dark gaze brooding. “Cass—”

      “I want to go.”

      “I’m sorry, Cass—”

      “Fine. Apology accepted. Can I leave now?”

      “No.” But he said it softly, so softly it forced her to look at him, really look at him, and his expression surprised her because he looked lost. Confused. And despite her anger and hurt she couldn’t walk out, not like this. “We need to talk. There are things we ought to discuss. Things you should know.”

      “Then tell me now.”

      “I don’t want a scene before Adriana’s wedding.”

      “What you’re going to tell me will cause a scene?”

      He hesitated. “It will be upsetting.”

      His tone scared her. “What? You’re married?” She attempted to joke, needing to lighten the mood, needing laughter. But when she saw his shocked expression her laughter subsided. “I’m sorry. I was trying to add a little humor. But that’s not funny. I know it’s not funny.”

      His expression changed yet again, shifting,

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