that moment her head tipped back and she laughed at something the other woman had said. Luca couldn’t breathe, and the conversation stopped around them as she unwittingly drew everyone’s eye. She literally...sparkled, her face transformed by her wide smile. She was undeniably beautiful...and Luca realised he’d never seen true beauty till that moment.
His chest felt tight as he had a vision of what he’d subjected her to: dragging her into the jungle on a forced trek. She’d endured one of the most painful insect bites in the world. She’d stayed in a rustic village in the depths of the Amazon without blinking. She’d endeared herself to the tribespeople without even trying. It had taken him years to be accepted and respected.
And the miners—some of the hardest men in Brazil—weathered and rough as they came—they’d practically been doffing their caps when Serena had appeared with him, as if she was royalty.
Luca could see the crowd moving towards the ballroom and took Serena’s hand in his. She looked at him with that smile still playing about her mouth and a sense of yearning stronger than anything he’d ever felt kicked him in the solar plexus. A yearning to be the cause of such a smile.
As if she was reading his mind her smile faded on cue.
‘Come on—let’s dance,’ Luca growled, feeling unconstructed. Raw.
He tugged Serena in his wake before he remembered that he didn’t even like dancing, but right now he needed to feel her body pressed against his or he might go crazy.
When they reached the edge of the dimly lit dance floor Luca turned and pulled her with him, facing her. The light highlighted her stunning bone structure. That effortlessly classic beauty.
Unbidden, he heard himself articulate the question resounding in his head. ‘Who are you?’
She swallowed. ‘You know who I am.’
‘Do I really?’ he asked, almost angry now. ‘Or is this all some grand charade for the benefit of your family, so you can go back to doing what you love best—being a wild society princess?’
Serena went pale and pulled free of Luca’s embrace, saying angrily, ‘I’ve told you about me but you still don’t have the first clue, Luca. And as for what I love best? You’ll never know.’
She turned and was walking away, disappearing into the vast lobby, before Luca realised that he was struck dumb and immobile because no woman had ever walked away from him before.
Cursing under his breath, he followed her, but when he got to the lobby there was no sign of a distinctive red dress or a white-blonde head. The way she’d stood out in the crowd mocked him now. His gut clenched with panic.
He got to the open doors, where people were still arriving. He spotted the valet who had taken his car and accosted him, asking curtly, ‘The woman I came with—have you seen her?’
The valet gulped, visibly intimidated by Luca. ‘Yes. Sir. I just saw her into a taxi that had dropped off some guests.’
Luca swore so volubly that the valet’s ears went red. He stammered, ‘Do—do you want your car?’
Luca just looked at him expressively and the young man scurried off.
They were on a hill overlooking the city. Luca looked out onto the benignly twinkling lights of Rio and the panic intensified. He recalled Serena saying she wanted to see the sunset... Would she have gone to the beach? At this time of night?
Panic turned to fear. He took out his phone and made a call to Serena’s mobile but it was switched off. Rio was a majestic city, but at night certain areas were some of the most dangerous on earth. Where the hell had she gone?
* * *
Serena stalked into the apartment and the door slammed behind her with a gratifyingly loud bang. She was still shaking with anger, and her emotions were bubbling far too close to the surface for comfort.
She kicked off her shoes and made her way out to the terrace, taking deep breaths. Damn Luca Fonseca. It shouldn’t matter what he thought of her...but after everything they’d been through she’d foolishly assumed that he’d come to see that she was different.
This was the real her. A woman who wanted to work and do something worthwhile, and never, ever insulate herself against life again. The girl and the young woman she’d been had been born out of the twisted machinations of her father.
Her hands wrapped around the railing. Self-disgust rose up inside her. To think that she was willing to go to bed with a man who thought so little of her. Where was the precious self-esteem she’d painstakingly built up again?
She knew where... It had all dissolved in a puddle of heat as soon as Luca came within feet of her. And yet she knew that wasn’t entirely fair—he’d treated her as his exact equal in the jungle, and earlier, in the charity offices, she’d been surprised to find that he’d already put in motion discussions on her idea for a high-end tourist shop showcasing products from the villages and credited her with the plan.
She heard a sound behind her and tensed. Panic washed through her. She wasn’t ready to deal with Luca yet. But reluctantly she turned around to see him advancing on her, his face like thunder, as long fingers pulled at his bow-tie.
She still got a jolt of sensation to see him clean-shaven. It should have made him look more urbane. It didn’t.
LUCA THREW ASIDE his bow-tie just before he came onto the terrace and bit out, ‘Where the hell were you? I’ve been all over the beachfronts looking for you.’
His anger escalated when he saw Serena put her hands on her hips and say defiantly, ‘What was it? Did you think I’d hit some nightclub? Or that I’d gone to find some late-night pharmacy so I could score some meds?’
Luca stopped. He had to acknowledge the relief that was coursing through his veins. She was here. She was safe. But the rawness he felt because she’d walked out on him and looked so upset when he’d suggested she was acting out a charade was still there.
An uncomfortable truth slid into his gut like a knife. Perhaps this was her. No charade. No subterfuge.
And just like that, Luca was thrown off-centre all over again.
He breathed deeply. ‘I’m sorry.’
Serena was surprised. She blinked. ‘Sorry for what?’
Honesty compelled Luca to admit, ‘For what I said at the function. I just... You...’
He looked away and put his hands on his hips. Suddenly it wasn’t so hard to say what he wanted to say—as if something inside him had given way.
He dropped his hands, came closer and shook his head. ‘You confound me, Serena DePiero. Everything I thought I knew about you is wrong. The woman who came to Rio, the woman who survived the jungle, the woman who gave those villagers the kind of courtesy not many people ever give them...she’s someone I wasn’t expecting.’
Serena’s
