CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SIX
C HARLOTTE SLUGGISHLY OPENED her hotel room door. She was exhausted, and it had nothing to do with how she physically felt. She was mentally drained.
She’d spent the day with Enzo, and while that was nothing out of the ordinary, the atmosphere was. They had said little to each other since their conversation the day before in the office, beyond a couple of necessary instructions from him. They’d flown to Milan in the morning, then he had driven them to the vineyards in Piemonte, then back to their hotel. The whole time, the air had been thick with questions neither would voice.
Now Charlotte closed the hotel room door and leaned against it. Normally she would ensure her room was close to Enzo’s suite, or book a shared suite with multiple rooms. This time she had made sure she was as far from him as possible to prevent her from doing anything reckless.
Her stomach protested loudly. Anxiety over the ball had made it impossible for her to eat. Her mind just kept going over and over all the possible ways everything could go wrong. Of course, she’d looked at pictures of Enzo at similar events, seen him all dressed up and felt envious that she couldn’t share the experience. She’d always wished that one day she could attend with him. The old her loved social events, loved going out and getting glammed up. But that outgoing Charlotte could never be indulged. Just one picture of her floating around the internet would make all the running and hiding she’d done utterly pointless. She’d done so well to avoid the cameras. Was tonight really any different? If she went to the ball, surely it would get out that she had been at De Luca and Co. the entire time? Then it would be only too easy for her father to find her.
Charlotte’s heart raced at the thought. It made her want to curl into a ball and hide.
Enzo’s voice rang in her ears. ‘I will ensure that you don’t end up splashed across the media. You have my word.’
While it eased her mind a little, she was still nervous. How could one man control an entire room of people?
Of course, she knew her father would not be looking through social media himself nor trawling the tabloids, but she knew, given how much her disappearance might cost him, he would have people looking for her. And who knew how ruthless those people were? Maybe Enzo could protect her, but he was a man of integrity. He didn’t think like the lowlifes her father would happily employ to get his way.
This was a mess.
Then, run. Run like you always do.
She loved her job too much to do that. Her quiet life.
It’s not a quiet life, Charlotte, it’s a silent life. There’s a difference, and you’re being a coward.
Her stomach ached, and she reached into her pocket for her antacids. Just as she had done on the plane. Enzo had seen it, but he hadn’t commented.
She just couldn’t get their interaction the day before out of her mind. When Enzo had asked if she objected to the invitation because of their almost-kiss, it had seemed like the perfect excuse, but she hated that she’d lied. Really, even though she ran and even though she promised to be better at keeping her distance, she wanted more than anything to see where that kiss could have led. She realised now just how heady his presence had been since their first night. From the moment they had shared that bottle of wine, he had been in her thoughts constantly. He was consuming her in a way he never had before. The more of himself he showed her, the more she wanted to see.
The way he looked at her before they’d almost kissed made her shudder. It was so different to the coldness in her office afterwards, when she knew he could tell that she was lying. Until she had told as much of the truth as she could without giving herself away.
She’d felt his gaze on her when they walked through the winery that morning, as she jotted down everything that was discussed and making a mental note of the way Enzo tensed up when they reported that Emilio had been there too. On the drive back, she’d wanted to ask Enzo if he was okay. Comfort him somehow, because she could tell he was hurting and didn’t understand how no one else saw it. She’d almost placed her hand on his thigh to do just that but thankfully caught herself just in time and ran her fingers through her hair instead. Had Enzo noticed? She’d seen him grip the steering wheel tighter afterwards.
Charlotte knew she couldn’t remain against this door hiding from Enzo for ever.
Screwing up her courage, she walked into the room. The very first thing that caught her eye was laid out on the bed. A gorgeous long sequined black dress. She ran her fingers over the shoulder, dragging them down the diagonal neckline. It was exquisite. When she turned the tag around, she saw a haute couture label that she hadn’t even had access to in her old life. Beside the dress waited a pair of black stiletto sandals and a velvet box that she opened to reveal a pair of earrings and bracelets.
When she had remarked that she had nothing to wear, Enzo had said he would take care of it—but she didn’t expect this! She picked the dress up, holding it to her body as she stepped in front of the full-length mirror. It was perfection. Her concern might have been a convenient excuse, but it had been honest: she really didn’t have anything to wear to a ball. She did have the money to buy something and they were right on the Via Monte Napoleone, surrounded by high-end stores. But the moment she swiped her card, she would have been paranoid that the transaction would alert people to her location. Now Enzo had taken that worry away.
As she placed the dress back on the bed, she noticed a cosmetics counter’s worth of luxury makeup on the table. Her heart swelled at the sight. Enzo had thought of everything. It all showed her how much attention he really paid—especially when there should be no reason that her dress and shoe size should be correct. Then it struck her. On one of their previous business trips, her heel had broken, and Enzo had arranged for a new pair to be brought to her. At the time he had said he’d done it so that they didn’t lose any productivity, but maybe, just maybe, he had been taking care of her.
Warning bells sounded in Charlotte’s head. She was growing attached. Enzo had just proved that he had remembered something about her, when her aim was to be unmemorable. She had to hide, not get noticed. And in all this, she would definitely be noticed.
But she wanted it.
She wanted to wear this dress. She wanted to wear heels that made her feel tall and invincible. She wanted to do her makeup and style her hair. She wanted to let herself out of the cage. Toss away dull, quiet Celeste and let Charlotte shine. She wanted to stand in front of Enzo as the person she truly was and see if he would want her then. If he would sweep her up and let her bathe in that presence that made all else fade into nothing. She wanted to know if he would see her and know all of her, know that the intelligence she showed at the office came through a carefully controlled filter. That she was so much more than she seemed.
She was already showing him parts of her that she kept hidden, and every time she did, he came a little closer. And God, was it intoxicating!
Charlotte needed Celeste, but as scared as she was, she was liking who she was around Enzo. This trip had turned everything on its head, but she couldn’t regret it because since coming to Italy, he had revealed so much more of himself. She wasn’t deluding herself into thinking she knew him yet. He was so guarded, played everything so close to his chest, but some things were obvious to her now. He was witty and occasionally sarcastic. He liked taking care of people. He loved his home. There was an entire ocean of emotion within him, not to mention pain.
‘What happened to you, Enzo?’ she wondered, picking up a tube of lipstick and twisting it open. It was a stunning shade of red. Bold.
She looked around the room and laughed softly to herself.
‘No one has ever treated you like this, Charlotte.’
Even before she had left her life of wealth behind, no one had made her feel special. And in this one gesture, Enzo had.
She thought back to seeing Enzo disembark the plane looking fresh and glamorous, remembered how badly she wished it could be her. She so badly wanted a chance to live again, just briefly, before she went back into hiding. And Enzo had promised to keep her safe. Maybe she could have just one night to make her soul happy.
She turned to face herself in the mirror. ‘Maybe we could let Charlotte out, just this once?’
Enzo stepped out of the elevator on Celeste’s floor. He adjusted the cuffs of his shirt peeking out of his black tuxedo sleeves and then stood with his hands clasped behind his back. There were two reasons he was waiting for her. The first—and the one he acknowledged most willingly—was that, given how reluctant Celeste was to attend at all, he wanted to make sure she actually turned up. One day she would thank him for it, if not for the fact that he would have helped her find her fire, then maybe for the considerable bonus she would earn from helping him attract more business. Besides, they were meant to be attending together .
The fact that he’d happily attended events alone ever since his relationship with Gia had crashed and burned was something he ignored now.
The second reason was that when Celeste had told him that she didn’t want her privacy invaded, she had looked so vulnerable that he absolutely had to ensure that she was protected. He had given her his word, and he stood by that.
But even he had to admit that there was one more motivation behind this. And when he saw Celeste walking towards him, that third reason revealed its name. Desire.
His breath caught. His PA was gone, erased entirely. Walking towards him, like some fairy queen wearing the night sky as if she controlled the stars in the galaxy, eclipsing the beautiful marble pillars and dissolving the sculpted walls into nothing, was the woman he had almost kissed twice. Images flashed in his head. Celeste pouring wine. Celeste pulling off her glasses. Celeste dragging him out of his fury. Celeste in his office, waiting to be kissed. With every step she took, he felt the weight of each moment in his whole being. Those were just peeks into the woman he saw now. Uncovered. Exposed. Utterly breathtaking.
Desire and arousal unlike anything he had ever felt coursed through him now. He wanted her. He wanted her so badly that part of him wanted to take her up to his suite and forget about the ball. Forget about everything apart from her.
He would kiss that bare shoulder while slipping that single strap off the other. He would worship at the leg that was revealed to her thigh with every step. His hands would settle on her tiny waist, stroke at the teasingly small part that two sheer stripes exposed. The rest of her was hidden away in swathes of black sequined fabric.
He had to get his thoughts under control because he could feel the pressure in his trousers from her effect on him, and he was not some adolescent boy. But when he saw the white gold earrings with the rare blue garnet that he had bought her dangling down her elegant neck, he wanted to kiss her there. Leave a mark for all to see.
Desperation gnawed at him. He wanted her in his arms because for all their attraction and near misses on this trip, he still hadn’t experienced that, and he felt bereft of something he had never known. It was pure insanity, wasn’t it?
He couldn’t stop himself when Celeste came to stand before him. Leaning down, he kissed her cheek and saw her eyes follow him.
‘You look beautiful.’ That wasn’t enough of a compliment. Enzo was struggling to keep his hands to himself and not brush them through her long dark hair that she had styled in a way he had never seen on her.
Different. Celeste was changed in every way, and yet he had never seen her more herself.
There had been a look of apprehension on her face, but it had morphed into satisfaction when she saw him, telling Enzo that she’d known all along who she was beneath her camouflage. Satisfaction then morphed into triumph when her gaze roved over his body displaying his overwhelming desire for her.
‘You look pretty good too, Enzo.’ She smirked. ‘I imagine you’re going to get all kinds of attention tonight.’
He chuckled at her joke, self-satisfaction rolling through him. His plan was already working. He’d had no doubt, of course, but to see Celeste already being herself, being bold, made him happy in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time. He offered her his arm.
There was only one person’s attention he wanted.
He walked with Celeste, arms linked, through the marble foyer of the hotel with its grand, sweeping staircases and sparkling chandeliers with an eye for none of that beauty, nothing but the woman by his side. He led her through a private exit where an Italian sports car with dark tinted windows waited. Dressed as they were, on one of the most expensive streets in the world, he couldn’t risk taking Celeste out the front doors where paparazzi might lurk. He’d given her his word that he would protect her, and he would.
More and more, it was becoming something he wanted to do. Something that gave him great pleasure.
He opened the door for her, closing it once she was all settled, and rounded to the driver’s side. Ensuring that they were alone, he stepped into the car. It came to life with a loud growl before settling into an aggressive purr.
He took one more look at Celeste before easing the car onto the road, secure in the knowledge that no one would see them. But as they began driving towards the Palazzo Felce, Enzo quickly realised that it was not just being photographed that he had to worry about. He could feel Celeste’s gaze on him, burning through to the heart of him, heating his blood. He wanted to reach out and place his hand on her exposed thigh. Claim her. And it didn’t help that she seemed to be just as aware of him. Even when she turned away, it seemed like she couldn’t help looking back towards him, finally shifting in her seat, angling her body towards his. He had to fight for concentration.
‘You seem tense,’ Celeste said.
He was tense. He was trying to wrestle his want for her into something manageable. He gritted his teeth to stop himself from telling her precisely what she was doing to him without doing anything at all. He couldn’t even come up with a witty comeback.
Out the corner of his eye, he could see her fingers toying with a sequin on the edge of the slit that was going to put him in cardiac arrest.
‘Stop that,’ he said, his voice low.
‘Stop what?’
‘You know what. It’s distracting.’
He heard her chuckle to herself, sounding almost surprised, and turned to look at her as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked out the window. It did nothing to help his out-of-control libido.
Dio! She was going to be the death of him.
‘I have a question,’ Celeste said, breaking the silence.
‘What is it?’
‘I don’t understand the issue with the vineyards. Why can’t you share ownership? I mean you and Emilio are both De Lucas. Surely you have enough power to see that they remain as you wish them to.’
Enzo would have thought that a bit of conversation would be a good thing to distract him from his thoughts, but this was the last topic he wanted to discuss. ‘It’s simple. Those vineyards, the company, the estate, are mine. They belong to the conte, and I take care of what’s mine. My brother...he will want it, take it and then do nothing with it. He’ll let it fall into ruin. That’s what he does. But this time he will know that I don’t let go of what’s mine.’ He looked at Celeste, at her frown, then back at the road, hoping she wouldn’t push further. It seemed like he always wanted to tell her more than he should. Thankfully, the gods offered him a little reprieve because just then, the grand Palazzo Felce came into view. Enzo knew what the front would be like. A red carpet extending all the way to where the cars would stop. Cameras clicking as the elite made their way inside. That wasn’t an option. He turned down a side road and parked at the back of the palazzo, where there was no one waiting but a single man in a sharp suit, just as Enzo had arranged.
He brought the car to a stop and helped Celeste out before handing the keys to the young man. He said nothing as he offered Celeste his arm. When she took it, it was as if fire licked up it. Together they walked up the stairs, and Enzo couldn’t help but feel a sense of rightness. Attending these events was something he simply had to do. Frankly, he felt more excitement going to the office each day than making these appearances. But with Celeste—as she was now—he felt powerful in a different way than he did as conte. He wanted people to see her with him. He wanted to see more of her himself, because now that this woman was uncovered, he didn’t know how she’d managed to dull her shine so much that she had slipped under the radar for two years.
While it was a joy to discover the woman she really was, the fact that there was anything to uncover at all had Enzo conflicted. It was a reminder that he didn’t know Celeste. That he couldn’t truly trust her. But did that matter? He didn’t trust anyone with his thoughts, and he certainly didn’t trust anyone with his emotions anymore. He didn’t need to trust her with either tonight. He just needed her to be his PA, the woman that seemed to have the golden touch with his clients and business partners alike without realising it, despite her reserved facade.
He couldn’t allow himself to grow any attachment to her, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy watching her shine. And she’d shine even more brightly if she could find the real Celeste. Be her.
And with how she’d looked and acted since leaving her room in that dress, that was already happening. Just as he knew it would.
A security guard in a dark suit with an earpiece opened the door for them, and in they stepped to a gilded world filled with so much history. But as Enzo navigated them through the maze of passages until they entered the grand ballroom, he wasn’t looking around at the splendour. He was looking only at Celeste, at the look of awe on her face. At the smile that made him weak.
Enzo had never seen a look like that on Gia’s face. She’d expected to be treated like this, to attend events like this. The expression of hers that Enzo most remembered was one of almost bored expectation.
Without realising it, Celeste had satisfied a craving he didn’t know existed until now.
‘Welcome to the Ballo del Sforza,’ he said quietly.
‘I’ve been to one ball in my life, but it was nothing like this,’ she said, looking around at the neoclassical architecture, the white walls with gold accents, the hanging chandeliers and marble floors, the waitstaff in black suits with gold masks, carrying trays of golden drinks and morsels of food that were more like bite-size works of art.
‘Come, we need to mingle.’ As much as Enzo wanted to keep watching Celeste, he always attended these events for one reason: business. He was a De Luca, and his presence was expected; there were deals to be made and hands to be shaken. Though, he wasn’t quite sure how he would accomplish that tonight when Celeste commanded his attention.
They waded into the crowd together and started their rounds, but after the second conversation where Enzo barely took in what was said, he knew he needed a break from Celeste’s presence. He could feel the current between them crackling over his skin. He needed to get himself under control.
‘I suggest we split up,’ he said, leaning down to speak into her ear, inhaling that intoxicating perfume she always wore.
‘We’ll cover more ground that way,’ she agreed. ‘Only...’
‘Don’t worry, Celeste, there are no phones in here. As long as you don’t leave this room, you will be fine.’
He watched her nod and sashay away, hips swaying in that dress. It didn’t matter if she was beside him or walking away, Celeste had a stranglehold on him.
Charlotte looked around, mentally noting all the businessmen and women she had only heard or read about. A few she had met thanks to being Enzo’s PA, and it was to one of them that she walked now.
‘Celeste Park! How good to see you.’ The tall brunette woman greeted her with kisses on her cheeks.
‘Lucia, it’s good to see you too,’ Charlotte replied, surprised that Lucia Bianchi remembered her at all. She had last seen her over a year ago, and Charlotte had only sat in on two meetings with her and Enzo. The thought made anxiety creep into her belly. She strove to be unmemorable, but she couldn’t panic here where there were witnesses. She looked away, trying to control her thoughts before they spiralled, and caught Enzo watching her. She saw his lips move as he continued his conversation, but his gaze stayed locked on her, his attention never wavering. The look in his bright green eyes settled her.
‘You look incredible!’ Lucia was saying. Charlotte tore her eyes from Enzo. ‘I’ve always thought you were wasted as Enzo’s PA—any chance I could steal you away?’
Charlotte forced herself to laugh. She didn’t want to be anywhere else. ‘I’m flattered, but probably not.’
‘Loyalty,’ Lucia remarked. ‘A rare commodity these days. Your boss is a lucky man.’
Charlotte didn’t have a moment to respond because Lucia was calling someone else over.
‘Charles, come here. I’d like you to meet someone.’
Charlotte watched as a young blond man with a lean build and hazel eyes joined them.
‘Charles Moreau, I’d like you to meet Celeste Park. Enzo De Luca’s PA,’ Lucia said in introduction, with a hand on Charlotte’s shoulder.
‘Pleasure to meet you,’ he said, and Charlotte noted his French accent.
‘And you,’ she replied amiably, feeling a little more anxious. She had to remind herself that in Europe, no one would know her. Celeste wasn’t her real name. No one would connect her to this event once she left.
‘Charles here is taking the finance world by storm,’ Lucia said, just as the music morphed into another melody.
‘Would you care to dance?’ Charles asked.
Charlotte felt a burn at the back of her neck and turned to find Enzo still watching her.
When she had seen him waiting at the elevators, something took flight in her belly. Enzo was utterly devastating in a tuxedo. The bow-tie and cummerbund had her fingers itching to touch him. And every time they had touched, she felt scalded. Especially when he did nothing to hide the hunger in his gaze. The same hunger she saw now.
‘So, would you?’ Charles asked.
‘I’m sorry?’
‘Dance.’
‘Oh.’
It’s a bad idea, Charlotte.
‘I’d love to.’
Idiot.
Dancing with Charles would stop her looking at Enzo and distract her from the need growing in her core from his gaze. She took Charles’s hand as he led her to the dance floor and swayed with him. It had been a long time since she had danced with anyone, and it felt wrong now. Uncomfortable. As if she was forcing a square peg through a round hole.
‘This seems like a very nice perk of your job,’ Charles commented.
‘What’s that?’
‘Getting to travel the world with your boss. Attending balls. My own PA has the night off.’
‘What’s your point, Mr Moreau?’ Charlotte wasn’t sure if she liked the man just yet but was interested to see where the conversation would lead. She hadn’t been able to interact with people like Charles outside of Enzo’s office for years. And since she was letting the real Charlotte out to play just a little, she was determined to enjoy it. The real her liked this, liked being able to dance and chat and socialise. All of the things that had disappeared from her life once she became Celeste. She just needed to remember to be careful about what she exposed of herself and to whom.
‘Just that it’s interesting,’ Charles said, with a smile she didn’t quite trust. ‘I’ve been wanting a meeting with Enzo. Think you could schedule me in? He’s so rarely in Europe these days.’
And until she could figure out Charles Moreau’s intentions, wanting a meeting was as far as he would get. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’
‘That’s all I can ask,’ he said, swaying with her. ‘You know, you are a beautiful woman, Ms Park.’
‘Thank you, Mr Moreau, but that’s not why you’re dancing with me. You’re just trying to get an in with Enzo.’
‘Why can’t it be both?’ He gave her a flirtatious smile which she returned, trying not to roll her eyes. She couldn’t let her attitude show. Charles Moreau could forget dancing with someone’s PA at yet another event on his calendar, but he might remember the woman that challenged him. Sass wasn’t her friend. Especially when Moreau already made her anxious.
Suddenly she wanted to get away. They had been dancing too long. The song was nearly over. Perhaps she had pushed her luck far enough. She’d already broken several of her rules because Enzo had promised to take care of her and she had trusted him, but now her anxieties were quickly working their way back, the sheer number of people around making her want to escape.
‘You seem uncomfortable,’ Charles observed.
‘What makes you say that?’
He leaned down, lips brushing her ear. ‘I have pretty good eyesight. And I can feel it in your body.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she apologised, forcing a smile to return to her features. ‘It’s a lot more people than I’m used to.’ She hated having to lie. Hated to have to use Celeste as a barrier. Hated having to dull herself to feel safe. Before she could say more, she heard someone clearing their throat beside her.
‘Mind if I cut in?’ Enzo wasn’t giving Charles much of a choice as he smoothly took her palm in his and placed his hand on her waist, slipping her out of Charles’s arms and into his embrace.
The moment they touched, Charlotte felt a zap, as if they were lightning itself. She felt herself take a breath, as though she had been holding it the whole time she was with Charles. Tension finally melted away from her shoulders. If she’d felt uncomfortable with Charles, it was the opposite with Enzo. Like puzzle pieces effortlessly falling into place.
Enzo hadn’t even fully waited for Charles’s response before they were spinning away from the man into a quieter corner. The look he gave Charlotte made warmth spread through her core. The longer they danced, the easier it was to forget her worries of just a moment before, until she was so swept up in Enzo that she stopped hearing the music altogether and the din of voices faded away.
‘So here is what I propose...’ Enzo said.
‘I’m listening.’
‘We take the night off. No business. I’m not your boss. We simply enjoy the evening.’
‘I think I could find that acceptable.’ Especially when his hand was on the small of her back and dragging upwards, allowing his thumb to caress her bare skin. When his gaze was intense and his attention so focussed on her.
‘Have I mentioned how beautiful you look tonight?’
‘Nowhere near enough times,’ she joked. It was so easy to talk to Enzo. Banter with him. Be herself. Could they have always had this if she had been braver before?
‘A crime.’
Her breath grew shorter. ‘I believe some punishment should be in order.’ The words slipped from her lips, surprising her and making a smile curve Enzo’s full lips. That was almost unacceptably bold, something the old Charlotte would have said, but Enzo destroyed her filter, allowing the real her to flow out, washing away Celeste—the barrier that just moments ago Charlotte had drawn on to distance herself from Charles.
‘Believe me, I’m being punished enough right now.’
She felt it in the way his fingertips pressed into her back. In the tension in his shoulders. Saw it in the flame in his eyes. She couldn’t believe she had once thought of his eyes as cold. They were anything but. Enzo’s eyes were a green flame, like burning copper. Scorching.
He was restraining himself, but only just, and that knowledge made the air thick, hard to breathe. And yet all she wanted then was to pull him closer and breathe him in.
‘Come with me, cara .’
Enzo led her through the throng of people, and Charlotte plucked two golden drinks off a passing waiter’s tray, handing one to Enzo as they moved towards a Juliet balcony. The air was less stifling here, but no less thick when Enzo was so close.
‘Salute,’ she said, clinking her glass against his, and she could tell that—just as she was—he was thinking about their last toast.
Charlotte took a sip of the Franciacorta. It should have been delicious, but with Enzo’s eyes dipping to her lips and back again, she could taste nothing. Her being was consumed by him. By his presence.
‘Like it?’
‘I can’t taste it,’ she replied breathlessly.
‘Why?’ He was moving closer to her now, crowding her.
‘You,’ was all she managed.
‘And what about you?’ Enzo asked. Charlotte swore that in this moment, he was the embodiment of flame, and like a moth, she was drawn in regardless of the danger. He was uncovering a side to her she hadn’t even known existed. She wasn’t dull Celeste. She wasn’t even bright, talkative Charlotte. She was just a woman who craved the man before her.
‘What about me?’
‘The way you affect me. I am not blind, cara , but I have seen nothing tonight. Nothing but you.’ He took another step forward, and Charlotte had to crane her neck to look up at him. ‘I have spoken to people, but all I hear is your voice. I don’t want this drink in my hand or anything they could serve because I have no taste for it.’
‘What do you have a taste for?’ Charlotte asked.
‘Do you really not know?’ Enzo challenged. His lips were so close to hers that they shared breath, and it only made Charlotte more light-headed. As if she was floating.
‘I want you to say it,’ she replied boldly, closing the distance between them a little bit more.
‘You.’
‘Then, kiss me, Enzo.’
The words had barely been set free when his lips met hers, and all that crackling current built by those burning touches was finally freed in the most explosive feeling Charlotte had ever experienced. His warm hand found her jaw just as she wrapped her arm around his neck. Her fingers sank into his thick hair, grabbing hold in a fist that had him growling low in his throat. The sound made butterflies take flight in her stomach. And then he bit her lip and, as she gasped, plunged his tongue into her mouth, and Charlotte felt it in the most intimate part of her. She was lost to the taste of him. To the sensations in her body. It was as if she was awakening from the hibernation her life had become. Brought back to life by Enzo, by this kiss.
‘Gioia,’ he whispered against her lips, never breaking the connection. Joy.
And when his tongue danced with hers again, Charlotte moaned into his mouth and felt his arm wrap around her, pressing her into his body. Felt the hardness pushing against her stomach. She wanted all of him. She was too lost to care where she was. She didn’t even feel the glass of Franciacorta in her grip. Didn’t feel it slip through her fingers.
Crash!
Glass hit the stone floor, shattering into a million pieces. The sound was dull and distant, only just reaching Enzo, making him pull away from Celeste’s intoxicating lips. The first things he noticed were her still-closed eyes, but then, almost in slow motion, he saw heads snap in their direction. The silence was suddenly deafening. The music had stopped. Every eye was on them, and just like that, sense returned to him. There was too much attention on them. Attention Celeste didn’t want.
That set him in motion.
‘ Cara ,’ he said softly, ‘look only at me.’ When she opened her arresting eyes and he was confident she was with him, he said, ‘We’re leaving. Don’t give anyone your attention. Don’t even look at them.’
He couldn’t take her back the way they had entered: they’d have to walk through the entire ballroom. Then he remembered that there was a second way out. Gripping Celeste’s hand tightly, he used himself as a barrier between the guests and her. Barely breaking stride to place his glass on a passing tray, he kept walking until they were back in the passage they had used before.
‘Have my car ready to go,’ he said into his phone without greeting or farewell. As they reached the back doors, he put his arm around Celeste’s shoulders, forcing her close to his body to ensure no one could directly see her face.
The valet had his car ready, the engine idling throatily, but Enzo paid no attention to the man until he’d ushered Celeste inside the car, still shielding her with his broad frame. Once he was in with both doors closed, he turned to face her. Her face was flushed, red slashes on her cheeks and neck.
‘What about the ball?’ she asked in a small voice.
‘I don’t care about it. What I care about is you and whether you are okay.’
‘I’m fine, Enzo. I—I didn’t mean for you to have to leave.’
‘Look at me,’ he instructed. It took a moment but she obeyed, and he cupped her cheek. ‘I don’t care about any of that. All I want is you, if you will have me.’ He’d had to get Celeste out of there so quickly that he hadn’t had a moment to process that kiss until now. It had rocked him to his soul, and he’d had nowhere near enough of her. The fact that he was still hard was testament to how badly he wanted her.
‘Yes.’
Music to his ears. Enzo kissed her hard and fast, then tore through the streets of Milan.