Dante's Honour-bound Husband

“That’s bad enough.”

“True. But the actuality would have been far worse. He wanted her. But more than that, he wanted to hurt me. I could never have lived with myself if Ariana had found out that d’Angelo attempted to get back at me for ending our friendship by using her to make his point.”

Gianna rested her hand on his arm, feeling his muscles clench beneath her fingers. “I think it was more than making a point. He may have money, but you have something he could never hope to possess. Honor. Ethics. And a name that stood for just that. I suspect David couldn’t stand the idea of your possessing something he didn’t. Something he could never possess.” Constantine didn’t respond and she sensed she’d missed something. It only took a moment’s thought to key in on it. “It’s not your fault. You must realize that by now. You couldn’t have known David had an ulterior motive.”

She’d guessed right. Fury tore through him. “That’s just it, Gianna. I knew him. I should have known, or at least suspected what he might do. I’ll never forgive myself for putting my own selfish interests ahead of my duty and responsibility to Ariana. If I hadn’t been so desperate to gain financing for my business, I’d have guessed what d’Angelo was up to.”

“You did figure out what David was up to. And you rescued Ariana, just like you rescued me.” She pressed her fingertips to his mouth. “Before you say it, you’re also not to blame for tonight. You had no way of knowing that he would act so fast. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I should have listened to my instincts…and to you.”

He kissed her fingertips. Then he leaned in and kissed her. She surrendered to the embrace, helpless to resist. How could she have ever thought she’d someday feel this sort of desire for David? It either existed or it didn’t.

It was like The Inferno. Some people melded, driven together by forces beyond their control. Others didn’t. And even though she knew that Constantine wasn’t the only man capable of sparking The Inferno, she’d never felt it with anyone else. Did it really matter that he didn’t experience it the way she did? That for him, there’d been a glitch in the connection, enabling him to walk away from her? Couldn’t she be happy with what he was willing to give her?

He deepened the kiss and she moaned in longing. Why couldn’t he want her as much as she wanted him? As though to prove the point, he pulled back and brushed her hair behind her ear.

“Sleep now,” he said.

“Yeah, right. I’m sure your bedtime story will put me right off.”

“Try.” A slow smile played at the corner of his mouth. “For the sake of my sanity, please try.”

“Well, when you put it like that…”

She closed her eyes, if only to shut out the sight of him. And though she didn’t think she’d sleep, the instant she snuggled against him, she went under.

A loud pounding woke Gianna the next morning. She bolted upright in bed, disoriented. Confusion battled with a sudden, overwhelming alarm, made worse by the empty indentation beside her.

“Constantine?” His name escaped, edged with panic.

“Right here.”

At some point he’d left the bed and returned to the chaise. At the commotion emanating from below he stood, looking strong and rested despite all they’d been through the night before. His air of calm immediately relaxed her. He still wore the trousers from his tux, but hadn’t bothered to don the shirt or jacket he’d loaned her the night before, possibly because she’d left them in a heap in the corner of the bathroom.

She vaguely recalled hearing him in the shower at some point in the early hours of the morning, though a dark shadow clung to his jaw indicating he hadn’t borrowed a razor, and his hair fell across his brow in heavy, unruly waves. Despite that, his “morning after” look made him almost unbearably appealing.

He checked his watch. “Don’t get up. I’ll see who it is.”

“What if it’s David?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Then he’ll soon regret ever coming near you.”

She despised the wave of fear that swept through her when she thought about David. She’d never experienced that before. Nor had she ever considered herself weak or vulnerable. He’d stolen her innate feeling of security and, for that alone, she’d never forgive him. As for the rest, she’d find some way to make him pay for drugging her, for attempting to assault her. Because there wasn’t a doubt in her mind he would have done precisely that if she hadn’t gotten away.