Capri Nights (5 page)

Nolan hugged the bottle to her ample chest. “How delightful to own a winery.”

“Let me see that.” Cat’s father strode over and lifted the bottle from his wife. He read the label. “Yes, this is great stuff.”

Paolo came into the room, followed by the staff bringing platters of food.

“Take this.” Her dad handed the wine to Paolo. “Decant it. We’ll have it tonight with the main course.”

Nolan sat Cat as far from Alex as the table allowed. Alex was pinned between Nolan and Bailey. If Alex was uncomfortable, he didn’t show it. During dinner, his attention went often to Cat, and at one point, he held up his wine glass in salute to her. Alex beguiled them all with stories of growing up on Capri. Bailey laughed at all Alex’s jokes, even the corny ones, and touched his hand constantly.
 

The meal over, the family congregated on the patio with after-dinner drinks. Nolan and Cat’s father sat on chaises while Cat, Tinsley, and Huntley leaned against the bar. Bailey stood in the doorway with Alex, stuck to his side. When Cat met his gaze, Alex shrugged. Bailey tugged Alex over to a chair and tried to pull him down to sit next to her. He freed himself and strode to Cat.

“Take a walk with me, Cat?”

“I’d love to.”

As Cat and Alex strolled down the marble patio steps to the outside, Cat could feel Bailey’s stare, like daggers thrown at her back. Determined not to let Bailey intimidate her, Cat inhaled the calming scent of lemons mingled with the sweet perfume of roses and other flowering plants that grew in profusion on the vast estate.
 

Cat and Alex picked their way through the gardens to a narrow trail between high hedges. The trail led to a small cliff overlooking the Gulf of Naples. A white marble bench situated between two trees beckoned them. The gentle lap of the water in the gulf filled the air with a soothing rhythm.

They sat thigh-to-thigh. Alex’s closeness and heat made warmth coalesce in Cat’s chest and flow through her body.

She sighed. “Capri is an enchanted place. I wish I could stop time and make this moment last forever.”

He took her hand in his. When she turned to him, his eyes were dark and mysterious in the pale moonlight.

“
You
are enchanting,” he said.

His husky voice made her insides shake like unset soufflé. She looked deeply into his eyes and felt herself slowly falling over a velvet-lined cliff. “Alex.”

“What do you want, Cat?”

She licked her suddenly dry lips. “I want you to kiss me.”

He bent his head to brush his lips over hers in a whisper of a kiss that coaxed and teased. With a small moan, she pressed closer and opened her mouth, inviting his sensual invasion.

His deep, drugging kiss inflamed every cell in her body. She tunneled her fingers through the thickness of his hair and lost herself in Alex’s heat, in the warm, spicy scent of him, in the promise of his lips.

Deepening the kiss, he cupped the curve of her jaw with his hand. Their tongues tangled. The heat of his body seared through the thin silk of her clothes. Desire and need, tempting and delicious as whipped cream on strawberries, settled in her stomach.

“
Carissima.
” His whispered word, filled with longing, made something deep and yearning stir in her.

He left her mouth to trail red-hot kisses down her throat to her collarbone.

She threw back her head in surrender. “Yum.” The word escaped her.

She felt his smile against her throat. His fingers skimmed the tops of her breasts, leaving a trail of fire in their wake as an ache built between her legs.

They sank together onto the bench, Alex leaning over her. He stared down at her with wonder in his eyes. Cat wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to press her lips against his, drinking deeply of his passion and sensuality. Longing flared deep inside her.

“My Cat,” he said on a tortured breath. When he bent to kiss her breast, she arched up and shivered at the sudden rush of pleasure.

“Cat! Alex! Are you out here? We’re waiting on you for dessert.” Bailey’s strident, angry voice ripped apart the beauty and romance that had enveloped them.

Cat and Alex jumped apart.
 

With a wry smile, he stood and helped Cat up.

“Caitlyn! Alex!” Bailey’s voice grew closer. “The gelato will melt if you two don’t get in here.”

“We’ll be right up,” Cat called out.

“Saved by gelato.” Alex cupped her elbow as they strode back to the villa.

“I didn’t want to be saved.”

CHAPTER SIX

It was a wonder the homemade lemon gelato softened at all when she scooped some into her mouth, Cat thought, feeling the harsh, cold glowers from Nolan and Bailey. Cat sat in a chaise lounge on the patio, across the large expanse from the two women, with Alex on a chair next to her. Huntley sauntered over, and he and Alex engaged in quiet conversation. Tinsley, at the bar, was texting on her phone, seeming oblivious to the tension that hung over the room, heavy as lava from an erupting Mt. Vesuvius. Seated next to Nolan, Cat’s father directed his scowls toward Alex.

Cat gave a mental shrug. Alex had made it clear he preferred her to Bailey. Her stepmother and stepsister would have to deal with it. Some of Cat’s old insecurities kicked in, tightening her chest. A hot, attentive, and cultured guy like Alex actually wanted
her
, and not the more glamorous Bailey. No, she wouldn’t think like that anymore. She’d worked hard these last few years to break free from her doubts and insecurities.

“Viteli.” Cat’s father cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. “Viteli, we know about your legal troubles.”

Beside her, Alex released an audible breath. “They are common knowledge.”

Her father sipped some of his whiskey. “Are you hiding out here on Capri?”

Alex stood. “I don’t hide from anyone. I’m in touch with my lawyers every day. I assure you, sir, that I am innocent of all wrong doing.”

Cat stood and touched Alex’s arm, then focused on her father. “Dad, Alex is our guest. Nothing’s been proven against him.”

Nolan grabbed her husband’s tumbler of whiskey from his hand. “Stop that right now, Davison. Alex is our guest.”

“It’s late,” Alex said to Cat. “I should go.” He nodded toward Nolan. “Thank you for dinner.”

“I’ll walk you out.” Cat narrowed her eyes at her father as she and Alex headed out of the room.

*****

Tight-lipped, Alex left, followed by Cat. Davison Connors’ words had cut.
 

“I’m sorry for what happened in there,” Cat said when they’d reached Alex’s car. The sincerity is her big blue eyes speared him with longing for love and acceptance. Gratitude that she believed in him swelled in his chest. He wanted to take her into his arms and never let go.

“It’s okay. Your father is worried about his daughter. I would be the same. Thank you for defending me.”

“He was being rude. I had to say something.” She shook her head. “Odd that he would actually worry about me. He never seemed to care much about any guys I dated.”

Alex leaned back against the car and pulled Cat with him, cradling her in the circle of his arms. “Tell me about your father and Nolan. Is your mother still alive?”

Cat splayed her hands on his chest, warming him through the fabric of his shirt. Her eyes met his.

“My mother is alive and well, and she’s wonderful. She’s an artist in Sausalito, California, outside San Francisco.”

“I know that area. So your parents are divorced.”

She nodded. “They divorced when I was three. Dad married Nolan soon after.”

He settled Cat against his hip. “Nolan is an unusual name for a woman.”

Cat chuckled. “Her real name is Mary. She changed it a long time ago. I guess she thought Nolan sounded more sophisticated than Mary.” Cat shrugged. “Nolan’s obsessed with social standing.”

Alex frowned. “I assume your father and Nolan fell in love.”

When Cat rested her head on his chest, Alex smoothed his hand over her hair, reveling in its softness. Soft and beautiful, like Cat.

“I don’t know if Nolan and Dad have ever been in love.” Cat’s voice was muffled against his shirt. “My dad cheated on my mom with Nolan. My mother’s not a woman to take infidelity from a man. She’s not the type to take
any
crap from a man. She threw Dad out and Nolan was there to catch him.”

“My poor Cat.” He rested his chin on the top of her head.

She pulled away and gazed up at him. “It’s okay now. I’m a big girl. Dealing with Nolan and her daughters was hard growing up, but I’m over it and I’m doing what I want.”

“You and your father aren’t close.”

“Is it that obvious?”

He brushed stray locks of her hair back from her face, skimming his fingers over the creamy smoothness of her skin. “You’re a loving, trusting person and I can feel the tension between you and your stepfamily. Your father seems to pay little attention to what goes on.”

“You got it. That’s my family.”

“Your father is the loser because he doesn’t know what a wonderful woman you are.”

“Thanks, Alex.” Her eyes glistened with tears.

Alex pulled her closer and kissed her waiting lips. Her sweet floral scent teased his senses. Images of taking Cat away with him, where the world couldn’t intrude, flashed through his mind. But he couldn’t run and he couldn’t escape.

He sucked her full bottom lip and was rewarded with a low moan from her. She raked fingers through his hair and drew him closer. A door slammed somewhere and night insects cried out to each other, reminders that the world waited.

He reluctantly ended the kiss and gathered her against him. The rapid beating of her heart echoed his. He stroked her hair, wrapping silky strands around his fingers. “Goodnight, Cat. I will dream of you.”
 

“Goodnight, Alex.” She stood on tiptoe and brushed her lips softly over his.

Alex drove a little too fast along the winding roads leading to his house on the opposite side of the island. Something in him craved Cat’s freshness and needed her trust. Cat was different from most of the women he’d known. She was real and without pretense. Her goodness spoke to a part of his soul that had died when his family and fiancée abandoned him.

Prison and ruin loomed. He gripped the steering wheel, fighting the darkness that threatened his soul.

*****

Sunlight caressed Cat’s eyes open. She stretched, welcoming another beautiful day on this bewitching island. A gentle, flower-scented breeze wafted through the open doors of her bedroom patio. Alex’s face flashed through her mind. She rubbed a finger over her lips, remembering his kisses, his heat, his sensuality, and his tenderness the night before.

He’d awakened something in her, something hidden and dormant. She’d had relationships in college, one serious, with Ethan. Her ego had been bruised when he dumped her for another woman, but truth to tell, she’d been somewhat relieved. She and Ethan had had a comfortable relationship, with little passion. And Cat wanted passion. Especially after tasting it with Alex.

Later, dressed in shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops, she headed downstairs to breakfast. Only eight o’clock, she knew her stepmother and stepsisters wouldn’t be up yet. When she entered the dining room, her father sat at the table reading
The
New York Times
.

“Morning, Dad.” She poured herself a mug of coffee from the pot on the sideboard. Setting the mug on the table, she helped herself to fluffy scrambled eggs, bacon, sourdough toast, and sliced melon. Nolan insisted on an American breakfast every morning. Cat had no idea how she’d managed to find sourdough bread on Capri.

Cat sat down, ready to dig into her food, when her father very loudly slapped his paper onto the table.
 

“What?” She met his harsh gaze.

“Are you ready to stop this nonsense?”

“What nonsense?”

His lips pulled into a thin line, and his eyes glinted with anger. “This whole rebellion thing you’re going through. Aren’t you a little old for this? Quitting law to be a cook! Now, consorting with a felon. Enough! When we go home, I expect you to come back to the firm.”

Appetite gone, Cat pushed her plate away and wrapped her hands around her coffee mug, needing to control the trembling in her hands and stomach. “I’m not going back to law. It’s not for me. And this ‘rebellion’ as you call it, is anything but. After years of trying to please you, and failing, I’ve given up. From now on, I’m doing what I want.”

He winced as if stricken.

She gulped her drink, coughing a little as the hot liquid slid down her throat. Slamming the mug onto the table, she stood and stared down at her father, the man whose love she’d hungered for her whole life. Now, she saw him for what he was—a weak man who’d let himself be manipulated by a grasping social climber. A man without the guts to fight to win back the woman he loved.

She leaned closer until they were nose-to-nose. “I’m first sous chef at one of the best restaurants in San Francisco. Someday I’ll have my own restaurant. It’s what I’ve always dreamed of. You wouldn’t know that because you never bothered to find out what I wanted. And Alex is innocent until proven guilty. Nothing’s been proven yet. I trust him.”