held up the sandal. “Your sister left this in her wake. I’m afraid her fast exit was my fault.”
“You’re wrong.” He took the little sandal and put it on the table. “She couldn’t wait to join her husband. They’re crazy about each other.” Rini held out a chair for her. “Sit down and we’ll eat. One trout apiece wasn’t enough for the appetite I’ve developed.”
“I’m hungry, too. They only served snacks on the plane.”
In a minute they filled up on shrimp salad with penne, dried tomatoes and slices of grilled eggplant that melted in her mouth. Rolls and lemonade with mint leaves made their meal a feast, but clearly Rini was a fish man.
Filled to the brim, she sat back in the chair. “I’m waiting for an explanation.”
He wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin before his gaze fell on her. “All along there’s been something I should have told you about myself, but I never seemed to find the right time.”
“What? That you lead a secret life? That you have a wife hidden somewhere?”
“Nothing like that. After the visit to your aunt’s, I decided that I’d wasted enough of your family’s time and thought it best to leave so you could get on with your dive.”
She shook her head. “You’re a man who was raised with good manners, so your excuse doesn’t wash. Something happened during your private talk with my aunt that put you off your desire to drill on my family’s property. I deserve to know the truth. It’s only fair after providing you the opportunity to talk to her.”
His eyes glittered. “You’re treading on dangerous ground to ask for the truth.”
Her hands gripped the sides of her chair. “Now I know I’m right. As you can see, I’m a grown woman and can take whatever you have to tell me.”
Lines darkened his striking face. “I’m not so sure.”
“Are you afraid I’m too fragile if you tell me a secret about yourself I don’t want to hear?”
He eyed her somberly. “I have no desire to bring hurt to you.”
Bring? Such a cryptic comment brought a pain to her stomach. “What do you mean? In what way?”
“You need to leave it alone, Alessandra.”
Anger sparked her emotions. “I don’t accept that.”
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to.” He sounded so remote, her insides froze.
“In other words you really meant it to be goodbye the other day.”
Rini leaned forward. “I’d hoped I’d made that clear when I left the island the other morning without letting you know my intentions.”
The forbidding CEO of Montanari’s had spoken.
Don’t you dare break down in front of him.
She struggled for breath. “Don’t worry. You’ve made me see the light. You and Francesco aren’t that different after all. After he disappeared from my life, he sent his goodbye in a letter rather than face me. You flew off and left it to my father to do the honors. What is it about some attractive men? They seem to possess every quality except the one most vital.”
A white ring appeared around his lips. She was pleased to see he wasn’t completely impervious to her judgment of him. “Don’t worry. Keep all your secrets! I’m leaving.” She started to get up.
“No, Alessandra—you want the truth of everything, so I’ll tell you. I never planned to, but since you’ve come all this way, I can’t handle seeing you in this kind of pain. No one deserves an explanation more than you do.”
“Go on.”
“Where your aunt is concerned, we only talked business for a moment. The main thrust dealt with you.”
“Me?”
Rini nodded slowly. “She loves you.”
“I love her, too, but what does that have to do with anything?”
“She wanted clarification and asked to know what happened when I met Dea.”
The moment he’d spoken, she stirred in the chair and averted her eyes. “I—I can’t believe she brought up something that was none of her business.” Her voice faltered. “Mother must have said something.” After a long pause she said, “How uncomfortable that had to be for you.”
“Not uncomfortable. I found it refreshing. You’re a lot like her, you know. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was your mother.”
Alessandra’s head lifted. She blinked. “You’re kidding—”
“Not at all. You and your aunt have a sense of fair play I admire very much. It’s clear you both want the best for everyone. I told her nothing happened. Guido’s father asked us to dance with the models he’d introduced us to. I had one dance with Dea, then she left. That was it. After my explanation, your aunt wanted to know my intentions toward you.”
Alessandra shot out of the chair. “She had no right! I don’t see how she could have asked you that when we hardly know each other!”
He stared up at her. “That’s not true, Alessandra. Your aunt told me you’ve never taken a man to meet her before and what we had was something special. Naturally she’s aware you’ve been showing me around for your father.”
“So?”
“She realizes we would have learned a great deal about each other already.”
“Well yes, but—”
“Her concern for both you and Dea is commendable,” he interrupted. “So I had to be brutally honest and tell her that I didn’t feel a connection to her. Since you and I met under the most innocent and extraordinary circumstances, she demanded to know if I felt a connection to you.”
Alessandra paled.
“Don’t you want to know what I said?”
“It’s none of my business,” she whispered.
“That’s not an answer and you know it.”
She turned away.
“I told her that my attraction to you was immediate and has been growing out of control.” Her groan resounded in the air. “You feel it, too. I know you do. Out of loyalty to both her nieces, your aunt vetted me to make sure I wasn’t using you to gain access to the legacy.”
“That’s absurd. I would never have thought that about you.”
“But it’s a mercenary world. She knew how hurt you were years ago and wanted to protect you.”
“So you withdrew the proposal to prove to my family you had no ulterior motive? That’s why you walked away from me?” Her voice rang out.
Instead
