Bedded by the Italian Playboy (14 page)

“Yes,”
she whispered. “Yes.”

And
with that the chase was complete.

Resolved.

Rachel
was his.

Chapter Nineteen

Rachel
woke slowly with Dominic’s arm draped around her waist, and for a moment didn’t
realize exactly why she felt different. One look down at her left hand and it
all came flooding back.

 
Dominic had asked her to marry him.

She
shook her head slightly as she thought about the moment he’d said the words. It
was a wonder she hadn’t gone into a dead faint. Even now, looking down at the
enormous diamond glinting on her finger, she could barely take it in.

Dominic
Rimeria wanted to marry
her
!

There
would be no separation. She could stay with him forever. She could marry
him
! Her heart thumped at the thought
and she twisted around in bed to get a better look at the man who had turned
her world upside down.

The
man she loved.

Because
she’d realized the moment he’d proposed that she
was
in love with Dominic. The nerves, the blushing, the constant
ache in her chest, the fact that she’d slept with him when she’d refused all
others over the years…it all made sense. It couldn’t mean anything else, could
it? She loved him.

Dominic.

She
was so happy. More so than she could ever remember being in her entire life.
The night spent in his arms, the moments when they reached climax together. It
was all just as perfect as it could possibly be.
You are mine
. She smiled, her heart thumping as she remembered his
words.

Okay,
he hadn’t spoken of love but then he was a man, and even she, with her limited
experience, understood that men were simply not as comfortable expressing their
emotions as women. Just because he hadn’t said it didn’t mean he didn’t feel
it. Why else would he have asked her to marry him?

It
all made sense.

It
was all perfect.

She
was in love with him—because what else was this if not love?—and he felt the
same.

Perfect.

Except
it wasn’t. A nasty sort of panic shot through her veins as she thought about
the key in the pocket of her jeans, the one she had planned to use this morning
to help herself to Dominic’s cash. The money she was going to steal. Yes,
steal. That was the reality. The fact that it was all part of a bigger plan was
neither here nor there.

Rachel
squeezed her eyes shut as she thought about the people they’d planned to help.
No, not people. Kids, because it had always been about that, a way to help the
teenagers she and her sisters had once been. Kids bumped around the care system
with nowhere and no one to turn to. They would open a centre they’d decided all
those months ago. Penny would get the money for the building, and she and Lyra
would get enough to see it up and running. It would be somewhere for the scared
girls they had once been to turn. A bed on a cold night. A meal in a hungry
stomach. But most of all someone to talk to. Someone who understood.

Memories
flashed through her mind. Caregivers who didn’t really care. Boys with
wandering hands. Never feeling safe, always wondering what might happen next.
She shook herself inwardly and snuggled in a little closer to Dominic. He made
her feel warm, cared for. He didn’t make her feel exactly safe, not like she
did with her sisters. There were too many lies between them for that, but he
would she was sure. Once everything was clear between them, she would feel as
comfortable with him as she did Penny and Lyra.

Her sisters.
The mission.

A
mingled panic and defiance filled her as she thought about the steps she’d
taken to get to this point. The lies she’d told. But then how could she have
ever known? Ever expected this? Just two weeks ago she would have said it was
impossible. The realm of dreams. Hell, even yesterday she’d have said as much.

Only
now it was real and it changed everything.

She
had to let her sisters know. They could help her make everything right. Fix
things. Find a way for it all to work out. It was what they did. What they’d
always done for her.

Creeping
out of bed Rachel picked up her Blackberry from the side dresser and flicked it
open. The screen turned on and she was confronted with a picture of her and
Dominic sitting on the bank of the
Thames
.
She’d asked a passerby to take the picture and she adored it. He had his arm
around her, pulled in close, and though she was looking at the camera and
smiling, he was looking down at her, his gaze intense, the passion there
undeniable.

She’d
keep the picture forever.

Quickly
she opened a browser window and typed in the address of their email programme.
It logged her in fairly quickly and then Rachel began to type, her fingers
flying across the keyboard.

Penny, Lyra,

You have to help me.

Everything we planned has gone haywire in
a way we never imagined. Dominic has fallen for me, but not in the way we
expected. He’s asked me to marry him! I know it sounds ridiculous but it’s
true. He wants me. He loves me.

It’s amazing. More than we could have
ever hoped for and I have said yes. But I need your advice. Your help. How can
I explain to him about what we’d really planned? About all the lies I’ve told?
I don’t want...

…him to know the truth.
The
words whispered through her mind and she cringed. She didn’t. It all came down
to that. She wanted Dominic to keep his good opinion of her. To love her as she
was without all the lies she’d told. How she wished she could start over! To
meet him as just a girl and a guy and let it all happen naturally without the
lies and the deception.

But
you can’t re-write the past, she told herself. It is what it is. You can only
go forward. Lyra and Penny will help you find a way.

The
knock at the door in the other room startled her and she frowned. Who would be
coming to see Dominic at this time of morning? She turned to look at him and
sighed. He was deeply asleep. His entire body relaxed and replete. She didn’t
want him to be awoken. He needed rest. She knew how hard he worked. More so
lately because he spent so much time with her. She would deal with the visitor,
send her email, and then snuggle back into bed with him.

Her
fiancée.

She
smiled a little. She couldn’t help it. It was all just so unreal! But it would
work out, she thought. It would. She would find a way to explain everything to
him and Dominic would forgive the lies she’d told. He would!

He
had to.

There
was nothing else for it now.

Chapter Twenty

Dominic
heard Rachel’s soft voice coming from the other room. Someone was at the door,
who he didn’t know, but right now didn’t much care. Instead he sat up and
stretched his long body out. Satisfaction thrummed through him. Hell, he didn’t
think he’d ever felt so good. Sure, he was hard again but the moment Rachel
returned, he could sate himself. He could do so for the rest of his life and
was surprised how happy that idea made him.

He
ambled out of bed and headed to the en suite to brush his teeth and shower.
What did he have to get done today? How soon could he and Rachel be ready to
get going? The questions buzzed through him and he would have continued right
through the door, planning and organizing his day, but he halted when he saw
Rachel’s Blackberry glowing on the dresser. A browser window was open he saw
and he grinned. Likely she was emailing all her friends letting them know the
good news.

I need help.

The
words caught his attention and he frowned. What the hell? He picked up the
Blackberry and read down the message she was in the middle of composing. The
“To” field simply said “my sisters”. Did she even have sisters? He couldn’t
remember. But that didn’t matter right now. What mattered were the words on the
screen, and as he read down, he caught his breath, unable to believe what he was
seeing. His stomach dropped. His chest tightened and automatically he shook his
head.
Impossible.

“Dominic,
what….”

He
tore his eyes away from the screen to see Rachel standing in the doorway, a
look of shock on her perfect face. For one moment he thought the message must
be a mistake, but then he looked down again and re-read the words and felt
everything inside of him tighten. And she knew he was reading her message, knew
exactly what she’d given away in it.

Everything we planned has gone haywire….

“What
the hell is this?” he demanded even as his mind told him what he already knew.
“What does this mean?”

“You
shouldn’t be reading that,” she whispered. “It’s private.”

“Private?
A message to your sisters, right? Telling them it’s all gone wrong, that things
haven’t gone as you planned.” He paused because the next words seemed too
incredible to be true—not his Rachel—but the message was undeniable and so he
asked the question. “What did you fucking plan, Rachel?”

 
“It’s not like you think,” she said quickly.
“Let me explain.”

“Surely
to God it is a mistake?” he grated. “You did not set out to deliberately trap
me! Tell me you did not!”

She
paled. “No. Not in the way you mean. Dominic—”

His
stomach twisted and he took a step back, unable to believe this was happening.
His own Blackberry vibrated but he ignored it. “Not in the way I mean? Then
how? Tell me fucking how!”

“It
was…I was meant to….”

“To
what?” he roared. “To what?”

“To
make you burn.”

He
felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Hard. Like she’d reached in and gripped
something inside of him and squeezed. For a moment he couldn’t breathe,
couldn’t even see straight, but a moment later those feelings cleared and the
next thing he knew anger came. Clear, liquid anger ran through his veins and
suddenly everything seemed to make sense.

His
perfect woman coming out of nowhere.

Demure.
Innocent. One big fucking setup! How could he not have seen it? How had he been
so stupid?
To make you burn
, and that
was why because she
had
made him
burn! She’d tied him in knots and turned him into a fucking idiot.

“Why?
What fucking for?”

She
shook her head, wrapped her arms around herself and shook her head some more.
“Not for me. Not to steal for me. We need the money for others.”

“Money?
Fucking money? How….”

She
shuddered. “From your safe. The one in your office. Oh God, Dominic, I am so
sorry…I didn’t mean…it was a plan…we all had a job, a mark, all my sisters, and
you were mine, but I didn’t know…I didn’t….”

A setup. A mark. A job.

An
odd roaring filled Dominic’s ears and he gasped.
All a lie. A fucking lie!

He
wanted her out of his sight, wanted her gone, and yet…he also wanted her to
remain exactly where she was. The two desires warred inside of him, anger and
loathing and a million other negative emotions surrounding them both. To kick
her out or make her stay? Which would assuage the feelings she’d stirred up?
Could anything?

In
almost a daze he pulled on his jeans, his Blackberry still vibrating, sweater
and boots, ran a hand over his face and walked straight past her, out of the
bedroom.

“Dominic,
please wait. Please let me explain,” she said, interrupting his desperate
thoughts. “I’m sorry. I am so sorry. I wanted to tell you. I did!”

Her
voice was as soft as always. As
innocent
.
It washed over him and yet where before it had made him smile, made lust fill
him, now it served only to anger him even more. To make him burn. It was all a
fucking lie! Soft? Innocent? She was nothing but a deceiver. A lying little
bitch. In that instant his thoughts crystallized and the decision was made. She
was going nowhere. He was far from done with her yet.

“You
will stay right here until I return,” he said. “And to ensure you do, I will be
locking this door.”

She
gasped. “You can’t do that!”

“Of
course I can. This is my hotel. My domain. I can do what the hell I like!”

“No,
Dominic, you can’t…you….” Her voice faltered and Dominic paused with his hand
on the door knob.

“I
can’t what?” he demanded. “What?”

“You
can’t trap me here,” she whispered. “I can’t be trapped.”

The
entreaty in her words, the panic in her voice, tugged at something inside of
him, something only she seemed to be able to get at, and for one moment he
almost relented. But then all the lies she’d told him, all the fucking fake
days spent with him flooded his brain and whatever the feeling was disappeared
to be replaced by white hot anger. He’d never known anything like it. He was
almost insensible with rage. An escape? A way to get away from him? A way to
take her lies and probably find the next willing sucker to honey them all over.
He growled, he couldn’t help it, growled and clenched the door knob so tightly
it was a wonder the thing didn’t snap right off.