Too Devious to Tame (The Giovanni Clan) (17 page)

Not that she could have. Elise was cradling a little baby and looked so happy that Jemima simply stared at her. The baby couldn't be hers. It had to be Alex's or one of the other female cousin's offspring. Alex had five sisters, each one of them with too many kids to mention. The Giovanni were nothing if not fertile. Alex and his wife Kitty had four children already. It was just Marco Giovanni who hadn't inherited the fertility gene. Instead Elise and Marco had chosen to foster, and they had recently adopted two little boys.

Giorgio's arms tightened around her when the baby started to fuss, and before Alex could take the baby off her, Giorgio surprised everyone by releasing Jemima and stepping forward to take the little pink bundle off Elise. Jemima's stomach hollowed out, and she couldn't tear her eyes away from the expert way in which he'd handled the baby girl.

Alex chuckled and broke the astonished silence. "Looks like someone has been taking lessons." He winked at Jemima. "Something you want to tell us?"

Elise and Kitty, who had just joined the little group both swatted Alex's arm, and Elise drew Jemima in for a much needed hug.

"Ignore the dufus. Just because he and Kitty don't seem to be able to stop producing babies, he seems to think everyone else ought to." She smiled at her husband, and Marco visibly relaxed. "I can't believe you're finally here, Jem. It's so good to see you in person."

Jemima returned her heartfelt hug, holding on longer than was strictly necessary, and she blinked the never far away tears away. The one person who had always been there for her was her twin.

"I am so sorry, Elise, for everything." She mumbled the words into her shoulder, and Elise hugged her tighter for a few precious seconds before she released her with a watery smile.

"Shush now, it doesn't matter anymore. You're here now, and it will all be alright, you'll see." Ever the optimist Elise nodded and turned to Marco. "Won't it, Marco? Now, go and greet Jem properly."

Marco stiffened slightly, but then he, too, drew her in for hug. "Welcome home, Jemima." He bent down to kiss her cheek. "I'm glad you're safe." He said the next words just loud enough for Jemima to hear, but despite the low tone there was no mistaking the edge behind them. "She's been worried sick over you, and for her and Giorgio's sake I do hope you have changed. Put my family in danger, and I won't be held responsible for my actions. Do we understand each other?"

He straightened and gave her his most charming smile—a smile that didn't reach his eyes. She nodded and did her best to smile in return, all too aware of Stella Giovanni and Giorgio both observing her every move.

"Talking of kids, I best see what that lot are up to. I fear for the statues." Marco put one hand on Jemima's shoulder, and squeezed. He dropped a kiss on Elise's lips, and then he, too, disappeared round the side of the house. Not a moment too soon it seemed, judging by the sounds of fighting that now carried across.

"I best go and help him. That sounds like the boys and Mimi are disagreeing again." Elise rolled her eyes, and she, too, jogged off into the garden, but not before giving Jemima another hug. "We'll have to catch up when the kids are in bed, if you're not too tired. You look exhausted, Jem."

"That's only to be expected, Elise. Go help, Marco. Giorgio and I will help Jemima get settled in." Stella's cool voice put an end to any further conversation.

"Welcome to the family, my dear. I must say it is nice to meet you as you, and not in clothes that hurt my eyes."

"Mamma." Alex intervened and took the baby of a now scowling Giorgio. "No need to damn with faint praise."

"Indeed." Kitty, too, came to Jemima's defense and put a soothing hand on Giorgio's arm. "I always rather envied Jemima's guts to have such a unique style." Kitty smiled at Jemima, and blew her kiss. "Now, I'm sorry to abandon you already, but this little munchkin here," she took the now fussing baby off Alex. "She will need feeding, or you'll hear her screeching three miles away."

"And we'll all be deaf," Alex said with a smile. He, too, bent down and kissed Jemima's cheek. "Never thought our resident playboy would settle down, but hey, welcome to the family from me, too. Just wait 'til my sisters see you. You have been warned. They've been waiting for some more female reinforcements."

"Oh, Alex, be off with you." Stella scolded her son, but there was a definite twinkle in her blue eyes now, and she looked less forbidding. Alex winked at Jemima and trailed after his wife.

"As you'll have gathered, everyone is delighted to see Giorgio settled at last. They don't know the full story, of course, and I'd like to keep it that way." Jemima's eyes widened, and she was more grateful than she could ever express, that Giorgio chose that moment to draw her back against him.

"I take it we understand each other?"

Giorgio answered for both of them. "
Cristallino, Zia Stella."

****

Jemima was too quiet and too pale. True to Alex's predictions his sisters had jumped her the minute they'd entered Stella's house. She'd held up admirably well under all the attention, but Giorgio knew her well enough to see the strain she was under. She had grown quieter and quieter, as the day wore on, and every time she thought no one was watching her, she'd bitten her lips so hard, he was surprised she hadn't drawn blood.

She released an audible sigh now, when Stella shut the front door on the last of her visitors. Elise hadn't wanted to leave, but Marco had almost dragged her away with a quiet reminder that the kids were tired and had school in the morning. Torn between her obvious desire to spend more time with Jemima, and her need to be there for Mimi and the boys, her maternal side had won out.

"We'll do lunch, just you and me, when you're settled, Jem, okay?" Jemima had nodded, but Marco had shaken his head over the top of Elise's head, and Giorgio had to agree with him. Jemima would not be going anywhere for a while, and certainly not on her own, until they received the all clear from Italy. Setting up the solution to their problem would take time, and Giorgio had the uneasy feeling that neither Jemima, nor Elise would ever talk to him again, once the deed had been achieved.

Stella and Marco had been reassured enough by the plan to let Giorgio bring Jemima home, but he was pretty sure the sisters would not be as pragmatic. He smiled to himself. A man could almost feel sorry for Marco. Knowing Elise's temper his cousin would have hell to pay for keeping her in the dark. The old Jemima, too, would have flown off the handle. What this new one would do, was anyone's guess.

"Right, that's that farce over and done with. I'll show you to your rooms. I've put you at the far side of the house, Jemima. Giorgio you're in your old room."

Jemima eyes widened in astonishment, and she looked to him for reassurance.

"Stella, would you care to explain to me why you have given my wife a separate room?"

His aunt blinked twice and looked from him to a miserable looking Jemima.

"I assumed you would both be more comfortable that way, but—"

"Comfortable for whom, Stella? Let me get one thing straight. Jemima is my
wife,
and she will be sharing my room, and my life, for the foreseeable future. And as such I expect you to treat her with the respect she deserves. She will not be relegated to the far side of the house, or subjected to any interrogation by you or Marco, for that matter. Is that clear?"

"Giorgio, really, there's no need." Jemima tried to intervene, as Stella drew herself up to her full starchy height of five foot nothing. Every non-existent crease of her immaculate summer suit quivered in silent annoyance, but Giorgio stared her down.

"There is every need,
cara.
I will not have you treated with any less respect just because you were—"

"A whore?" He winced at Jemima's interruption, and Stella looked shocked for a second before she schooled her features into a mask of carefully controlled indifference.

Jemima, however, looked at the verge of tears, and so angry she shook. Despite the situation, a small part of him rejoiced. That was more like the old Jemima.

"Say it, Giorgio. It's the truth after all. I made stupid choices. I betrayed you, and just by being here I put the family in danger. I don't blame Stella for being frosty. It's not as though we're love's young dream."

She choked back tears and ran out of steam then, hugging herself and looking so fucking miserable, Giorgio yanked her to him and shook her.

"Don't presume to read my mind, Jemima. You might not like what you'd find." She looked so miserable, he couldn't help himself, and he kissed her. The kiss was meant to be harsh, but she melted against him the instant their lips touched. She opened to his marauding tongue with a quiet desperation that tore at his soul, and he gentled his hold on her. Jemima clung to his shoulders and almost climbed up his body in her haste to get closer to him. Heat soared through his veins, and the blood rushed in his ears. Their teeth clashed together in their mutual need to brand, to possess, until Stella's not so subtle coughs finally broke through the haze of need consuming him.

"There is no need for this spectacle, Giorgio. Take her upstairs and get this out of your system." Jemima groaned and buried her head in his shoulder, and he swept her up in his arms.

To his surprise Stella's earlier frosty demeanor had disappeared entirely. She wore a huge smile and stepped out of his way.

"That's more like it, Giorgio. There may be hope for you yet. Now take your woman upstairs, and don't worry, I'll put my ear plugs in. I shan't hear you. We'll discuss this further in the morning."

She winked at him, and with a giggle more fitting to a girl than the matriarch of the Giovanni clan, she left them on their own at the bottom of the stairs.

Jemima clung to his shoulders, as Giorgio took the stairs three at a time, not at all sure what had just happened. One minute they had been arguing, and she'd been so miserable she could hardly breathe, the next he'd kissed her with a desperation that matched her own. Heat rose in her cheeks at the thought of Mamma G witnessing that episode. No doubt she had failed in her eyes again. All through the day she had felt Stella's searching gaze on her, until she had been ready to scream. She didn't belong into this large, boisterous family. Despite the noise and the arguments it was clear that they all loved each other dearly, and the thought that she could put them all in danger had burned a hole inside her gut like acid. She hadn't been able to listen to Giorgio's impassioned defense of her, nor had she been able to stand Stella's quiet disapproval any longer. The fact that she had put them in separate rooms had been the ultimate insult, really.

Dimly aware that they'd reached the top of the stairs, she risked a peep up Giorgio's face and a shiver of anticipation filled her. With his jaw clenched he looked utterly determined, and the quick glance he gave her as he shouldered a door open scorched her skin with its heated intensity. He kicked the heavy oak door shut behind them and froze. His chest shook in silent laughter, and he cursed softly, before he slid her down the length of his body with infuriating slowness. By the time her feet touched the ground, every cell in her body was a quivering mass of fevered anticipation. Her lips tingled, her breasts ached, and her juices soaked her thong. She rubbed her thighs together to relieve the delicious ache in her core and allowed her hands to run over his washboard abs. As enticing as the view was, she wanted more; she needed to feel his skin, and he sucked in a breath when she pulled his shirt up and traced the dips and valleys of his impressive physique with the tips of her fingers.

Emboldened by his reaction, she grabbed the hem of the annoying piece of clothing obstructing her view and pulled it up toward his head. He helped her by wordlessly shrugging out of it, and Jemima retraced the path of her fingers with her lips and tongue. Faint traces of sweat, mixed in with the scent of aroused male, exploded in her mouth as she indulged her fancy, fascinated by the way his flat nipples reacted to her touch. He groaned and yanked her upwards by her hair. The slight pain pitched her need for him higher, and when their lips met, she returned his kiss with feverish abandonment.

This was exactly what she needed to keep her demons at bay. Under Giorgio's hands and lips her body came alive. Her nerve endings tingled, and waves of sensations crashed over her, obliterating the feel of other's hands, obscuring the damning memories she fervently wished had not returned to her. With Giorgio, there was only need and heat, tenderness and passion, and at least in these intense physical moments a connection so strong it took her breath away, and gave her such hope for the future, the room spun.

The back of her knees connected with something soft, and Giorgio caught her round the waist and guided her down onto the bed. The determination in his steely gaze held her spellbound, and before she could fully take in her surroundings, or indeed his intentions, Giorgio smiled and secured a piece of long silk around her eyes.

"What are you—?" He cut her protests off with a bone melting kiss that left them both gasping for air. Trapped under his weight, and unable to see, Jemima ought to have been terrified, the scenario too familiar to ones in her past that had led only to pain and degradation. But, instead, she focused on his murmured Italian words in her ear. She couldn't grasp the meaning of those whispered words, only the echoes of them traveling across her skin with his hot breaths, as he kissed a path down her neck towards the neckline of her summer dress.