Yet his instincts were telling him this was not the time to push for the physical satisfaction of having her again. It had been a pressure morning for her and she probably needed space to herself—a rest from the inner conflict of having to be Bella. On the other hand, if he gave her room to think too much, her mind might be torn over the deception again. What had his grandfather said to her after he had dismissed Lucia and himself?
Her shoulders straightened and she pushed her feet forward again. Dante sensed a proud refusal to be intimidated by anything he thought or said. Jenny Kent made her own way, regardless of the forces she had to contend with—a survivor, no matter what. He had to admire her spirit. In fact, there was nothing he didn’t admire about her. She was a beautiful woman, inside and out.
‘I didn’t break your trust,’ she assured him, once she was standing at the stone wall, close to his position but not in touching distance. Her lovely amber eyes looked directly into his to drive the point home. ‘Your grandfather still thinks I’m Bella.’
Which was why she was here.
Dante got the message.
Having sex with him was a side issue, not the main event, and whatever it meant to her was not to be discussed. It would happen—if it did again—behind closed doors and that was where Jenny Kent would leave it when her life moved on beyond this time on Capri. Dante told himself he should be feeling relief at her attitude. It freed him from any guilt over treating her too cavalierly. Yet for some unfathomable reason, he didn’t like her return to rigid self-containment. He wanted her. He wanted all of her.
Maybe it was the lure of forbidden territory.
The challenge she continually posed.
Whatever…now was not the time to pursue it.
‘What did he want to talk to you about?’ he asked.
‘Lucia mostly. He wanted me to understand her personality so I wouldn’t get too upset by anything she did or said.’
To Dante’s mind, that underlined his grandfather’s need to keep Bella here. ‘Nonno well knows her penchant for creating scenes when she’s not getting her own way,’ he commented, nodding to himself. ‘Lucia has been quite a malicious little manipulator all her life.’
‘You’re not too backward at manipulation yourself, Dante,’ she shot at him, a weighing look in her eyes as though she was measuring his integrity.
‘My actions are never motivated by malice,’ he stated unequivocally.
‘But you are ruthless when it comes to executing your vision of the greater good. And cynical in your judgement of people. Lucia was right in pointing that out to me.’
‘Lucia’s aim is to divide and conquer. She doesn’t want us to be close. The more she can drive a wedge between us the better she’ll like it.’
‘I’m not stupid, Dante. I know that staying close to you is my best chance of holding all this together. I need your support and protection and I trust you to give me both. But I’m well aware of when our togetherness will come to an end, so please don’t think I’ll fool myself into getting romantic about you. Your grandfather wanted a portrait of you. I gave him a loving one.’
She spoke coolly, but her eyes hotly denied any other interpretation of what she’d drawn. Pride, he thought, and an array of conflicting emotions coursing through the pragmatism she had persistently demonstrated since he’d forced her into this situation. The problem was that the mind could see a logical reality and accept it, but how the heart reacted to it was not so easily governed.
‘Thank you for using your artistry to give me such a kind treatment,’ he said quietly, feeling an odd spurt of tenderness for this woman who cared so much. ‘It was very generous of you. Nonno was touched by it.’
She sucked in a deep breath and managed a shaky smile. ‘He did like it. I should have done the same for Lucia instead of annoying her by portraying her differently.’
‘It was, I thought, a sympathetic portrait of her,’ he posed, wondering if she would shield herself against Lucia’s poisonous darts or suffer from them.
She shrugged as the smile turned into a rueful grimace. ‘Don’t worry. Anything Lucia says to me will be water off a duck’s back from now on. She’s your business, not mine.’
‘A cross I have to bear,’ he said dryly. ‘And speaking of Lucia, do you want to brave a swim in the pool while she’s there?’
Out in the open where she could please herself—swim, laze in the sun or shade, chat or flip through the magazines Lucia always had handy—a place to relax, Dante thought, and regather herself, without any push for more intimacy from him. He could almost see the same train of thought going through her mind before a smile of relief spread across her face.
‘Yes. A swim would be good.’
He nodded agreement. ‘I’ll meet you at the pool.’
Which took away any fear he might invade her room while she was getting changed.
The smile brightened. ‘Okay! See you there!’
She left him with an eager bounce in her step—the bounce of freedom from expectations she wasn’t up to facing right now. He had kept her on a tight rein, intent on covering every problem that could arise from the situation. The most critical time had already been successfully negotiated. She was doing really well in the role of Bella, better than he had ever anticipated. It was time to loosen up, give more consideration to Jenny Kent’s needs.
Dante wondered if he should keep away tonight.
Did she want him to?
That was the more pertinent question.
Jenny actually enjoyed the time they spent in and out of the pool. Lucia was with them which ensured Dante acted in a cousinly manner, affably fetching them drinks when requested, making occasional droll comments on the conversation about fashion in different countries, which Lucia kept rolling as she leafed through magazines.
Jenny had very little experience of designer-wear—only what Dante had acquired for Bella—but her general ignorance didn’t matter. Lucia enjoyed being the expert, showing off all her inside knowledge of the subject, gossiping about top models with whom she was personally acquainted. It obviously made her feel superior to her Australian cousin and that was fine. Nothing really nasty was said. Dante’s presence was undoubtedly an inhibiting factor on that front.
Certainly neither cousin was the least bit inhibited about exposing their bodies. The bottom half of Lucia’s red bikini was virtually a G-string and so was Dante’s swimming costume which was not much more than a black pouch, forming a tantalising magnet for Jenny’s eyes. She continually had to make a conscious effort not to keep looking there. As it was, the rest of his magnificent physique was more than enough to flood her mind with memories of last night’s intimacy.