a flick of his hand. “Blind fool,” he muttered.
“Andre said you saved the woman’s life. They caught the mugger and he had a list of prior offenses as long as your arm, most of them were violent assault and he’d already killed two women.” Andre had also told her that the woman had come by the hospital to thank Rico, but he had told his security to keep out all visitors except her, his brother and Chiara. “You wouldn’t let her thank you.”
“I do not need this thanks. I am a man. I could not drive by and do nothing.”
“If you ask me, you’re more than an average man.” She smiled at him, letting him see her approval. “You’re a hero.”
His eyes warmed slightly. “Chiara believes all this,” he indicated his unmoving legs, “is my fault.”
Gianna jumped up and laid her hand protectively on his arm. “No. You mustn’t think that. You were being the best kind of man. You paid a price, but you wouldn’t let that stop you from doing it again.”
His hand came up to hold hers and she was reminded of the day before, both of the wonderful feelings his touch invoked and the way she’d felt used when she realized he’d touched her only to make Chiara jealous.
She pulled her hand away and stepped back. “I don’t plan to stay long,” she said quickly, lest he think she was clinging like the limpet Chiara had accused her of being.
“Why? Do you have a hot date with Andre?” he asked scathingly, his unreasonable anger back in full force.
“He’s taking me to dinner, but I’d hardly call it a hot date.”
“Do not pin your spinsterish hopes on my brother. He is not ready to settle down.”
She clenched her teeth. “I’m not pinning anything on him, much less a desire to marry. We’re going to dinner because he doesn’t mind my company.”
“I do not mind your company.” He pointed at his chest with an arrogant finger. “You could have dinner here, with me.”
“What’s the matter, can’t Chiara get away from her busy modeling schedule to share a meal with you?” Gianna asked with uncharacteristic bite, still stinging from the way he had used her to make the other woman jealous the day before.
His remark about spinsterish hopes had done nothing to make her feel more charitable toward him, either.
His look could have stripped paint. “My fiancée is none of your business.”
Gianna’s heart melted. It had been a rotten thing to say and she just knew all that anger was hiding pain. Chiara was a totally selfish person who wouldn’t know how to put herself out for another human being if her life depended on it. Worse, here was Rico, tired, in pain, not sure if he’d walk again and Gianna doing her best to act like a witch as well.
“I could call Andre and ask him to pick up dinner and bring it here,” she offered by way of a peace offering.
“I will call him.” And he did just that. He made arrangements with Andre in a burst of staccato Italian before hanging up the phone.
“I told him to get you your own room.”
“I heard you, but it won’t be necessary. I’ll only be staying one more night. Surely my reputation and his virtue will be able to survive such a short test.”
Rico looked disgruntled. “I did not say you would attack him.”
“How else would a spinster like me expect to get a macho Italian male like your brother to the altar?”
“Why do you say you will only be staying one more night?” he asked, sidestepping her taunting words.
“I’m going home tomorrow.”
“Why would you do this? I am not well. Do you see me ready to leave this place?” He sounded like a man ready to explode.
She couldn’t imagine why. “You don’t need me to stay and hold your hand. You’ve got Andre and Chiara. And your fiancée doesn’t like having me underfoot.” The words still rankled.
“You did not remain by my bedside for five solid days for Chiara’s sake.”
So, he knew about her vigil. Probably realized how much she loved him, too, which was all the more reason for her to leave. Her pride had already been dented but good by Chiara’s nasty comments.
“You’re better now.”
He reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her close to the bed. His expression was intense, the hold on her wrist almost bruising. “I am not well. I am not walking.”
“But you will walk.”
Frustration was apparent in the set of his firm lips. “Yes. You believe this. I believe this, but my brother, my fiancée, they have their doubts.”
“You’ll just have to prove them wrong.”
He nodded, heartwarming in his arrogant confidence of his return to full health. “I do not wish to do this alone.”
Such an admission from Rico was astonishing and she couldn’t gather her wits enough to respond.
“I need you here, believing in me, cara.”
She almost fainted, she was so shocked at his words. “You need me?” she asked in a choked whisper.
“Stay.” It sounded more like an arrogant command than a plea for her support, but Gianna knew what it had cost him to say it and she could not refuse.
“Okay.”
He smiled and pulled her close for a kiss of gratitude.
At least that’s what she assumed it was supposed to be, but Rico kissed her lips, not her cheek and the moment their mouths connected, their surroundings ceased to exist for her.
CHAPTER THREE
COLORS in every hue swirled around her as Gianna’s lips tasted Rico’s for the first time. His mouth was firm, warm and tasted faintly spicy. She inhaled and was engulfed in his masculine scent. Rico. She ached to run her fingers through his hair, to explore the contours of his chest under the pajama jacket. She probably would have, if he didn’t have such a firm hold on her wrist.
Her other hand was gripping the bedrail with white-knuckle intensity.
He broke the kiss and she hung there, suspended in a world of sensation she was not ready to leave. Her eyes opened slowly to see him smiling at her.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you?” For what? For kissing him?
“For staying,” he replied, not without some amusement.
And it hit her. It had been a kiss of gratitude. Here she was, poised to reconnect with his lips and he was smiling at her like an indulgent older brother, pleased he’d gotten his own way. She straightened
