her dozens of new outfits for another reason, Rebekah thought grimly after Nicole had left and she went in search of him. His bedroom door was open, and as she looked into the room he strolled out of his bathroom wearing nothing more than a towel sitting low on his hips. His damp hair was slicked back from his brow and beads of moisture clung to his chest hairs.
She tapped on the door to alert him to her presence and tried to ignore the tug on her insides when he smiled at her.
‘Did you meet Nicole? She came up to introduce herself.’
‘Yes, I met her. She seemed to think the clothes hanging in my wardrobe belong to me—paid for by you.’
‘That’s right. Do you like them?’
Rebekah took a deep breath. Her heart was beating very fast and she felt confused and angry, and shaken by a memory that was still painfully raw.
‘I can’t accept them. I can’t allow you to buy me gifts.’
Dante picked up a towel from the bed and rubbed his wet hair. ‘Why not?’
‘Because you can’t buy me,’ she told him fiercely.
He stilled, and gave her a searching look. His smile faded and his eyes were cool and assessing. ‘What do you mean—buy you?’
‘Don’t think that because you’ve spent a fortune on me I’ll do what you want.’
For a few seconds the atmosphere in the room trembled with an ominous silence.
‘And what do you think I want?’ he asked in a dangerous voice that sent a shiver down Rebekah’s spine.
She crossed her arms over her chest in an unconsciously defensive gesture as she said, ‘For me to be your mistress while we are in Tuscany.’
‘You think I bought you the clothes in payment for sex? What kind of man do you think I am?’ He gave a savage laugh. ‘On second thoughts, don’t answer that question—you’ve made your opinion of me quite clear.’
Dante could not have sounded hurt, Rebekah told herself. But what if she had misjudged him? She bit her lip. ‘Are you saying you didn’t buy them for that reason?’ she asked uncertainly.
He threw the towel on the bed and strode towards her. Rebekah had never seen him so furious. His face looked as though it had been carved from granite and his eyes glittered with rage and bitter contempt. Too late, she feared she had made a terrible mistake.
‘How dare you insult my integrity?’ he said in a blisteringly angry tone. ‘The only reason I bought clothes for you is because I felt bad that I had sprung the trip to Tuscany on you at short notice. I thought it was unlikely you would own summer clothes suitable for the temperatures here in Italy. But you were too unwell to spend a day shopping in London, so I phoned a boutique in Siena and ordered some things for you.’
His hands shot out to grip her arms and he jerked her against him. ‘I wasn’t trying to buy your favours,’ he grated. ‘I don’t need to, mia bella.’
Realising his intention, Rebekah tried to twist her head away from him, but he captured her jaw and held her prisoner while he brought his mouth down on hers. It was a kiss of anger and wounded pride. He ground her lips beneath his in fierce, furious possession, tangling his fingers in her hair so that she could not escape the onslaught.
But within seconds his anger turned to fiery passion that was far more dangerous. She gasped as he thrust his tongue into her mouth. Dante deepened the kiss so that it became a slow, drugging assault on her senses. She knew there was no point in trying to fight him when he was so much bigger and stronger than her, but suddenly his lips were no longer hard and demanding but softer as he coaxed a response from her. Rebekah did not realise he had steered her over to the bed until she felt the edge of the mattress behind her and, before she could protest, he tumbled her down and immediately covered her body with his own.
She caught her breath when he shoved her T-shirt up. She hadn’t bothered with a bra when she had changed after her shower and she blushed as he stared at her bare breasts and the betraying hard peaks of her nipples.
‘You don’t need much persuading,’ he taunted. ‘I could take you right now, cara, and you wouldn’t stop me.’ His voice roughened. ‘How could you think I would treat you so disrespectfully?’
‘I’m sorry,’ Rebekah said thickly. She knew she owed him an explanation, but she had never told anyone what Gareth had done, not even her mum. She closed her eyes to prevent her tears from escaping, unaware that Dante had glimpsed the sparkle of moisture clinging to her lashes and that his anger had been replaced by a curious ache in his chest.
She’d had no reason to think Dante would behave so crassly, Rebekah acknowledged heavily. He might be a playboy but he had a code of morals and he had always treated her with the utmost respect.
‘Someone once tried to pay me to do something that I couldn’t do—something that was terribly wrong,’ she choked, aware from Dante’s confused expression that she wasn’t making a lot of sense.
‘You mean a guy offered to pay you for sex?’
‘No … it wasn’t like that.’
When Rebekah did not continue Dante felt a surge of frustration. He wanted to demand that she tell him what it had been like—what had she meant? Why had she jumped to conclusions and thought the worst of him?
‘It has something to do with the guy in Wales, doesn’t it?’ he guessed. He sighed as he lowered her T-shirt and smoothed her hair back from her face. ‘But I take it from your silence that you don’t want to talk about it.’
‘Sometimes it’s best to leave the past alone.’ She gave him a wobbly smile. ‘Dante, I am truly sorry. The clothes are beautiful, and it was such a kind gesture, but …’ Rebekah gave him an awkward, apologetic glance. ‘I would prefer to pay for them myself.’
He lifted himself off her and stood up. ‘We’ll discuss it later. Did you find the kitchen?’
‘Yes.’ She took a shaky breath when she realised he was not going to pursue the reason why she had accused him so unfairly. ‘It’s fantastic—and the fridge is well stocked. We won’t need to go shopping for a few days.’
‘Good. So what time is dinner?’ Dante kept his tone deliberately light and was relieved to see her relax a little.
‘Oh, heavens! I forgot to put the chicken in the oven.’ Rebekah scrambled off the bed. ‘I’d better go and do it now.’
She hurried across the room but hesitated in the doorway and turned to look at Dante. She felt terrible about the awful way she had treated him and she felt angry and upset with herself that she was still allowing Gareth and the past to affect her. She needed to forget about him, but some things could never be forgotten, she thought painfully.
‘I don’t object to you being in my room—’ Dante’s deep voice dragged her from her thoughts ‘—but I’m about to get dressed—which means this towel is coming off.’
As he spoke he moved his hands to the towel draped around his hips. Rebekah swallowed as she traced her eyes over the dark hairs that arrowed down his flat abdomen and disappeared beneath the towel
