Her Exquisite Surrender: Surrendering All But Her Heart / Innocent in the Ivory Tower / Full Surrender

‘Why don’t you like compliments?’ he asked. ‘You always deflect them. You used to do that five years ago. I thought it was because you were young back then, but you’re still doing it.’

She stopped fiddling with her earring to look at him, her chin coming up. ‘Compliment me all you like,’ she said. ‘I can handle it.’

‘You’re beautiful.’

‘Thank you.’

‘And extremely intelligent.’

She gave a little mock bow. ‘Thank you.’

‘And you have the most amazing body,’ he said.

High on her cheekbones twin pools of delicate rose appeared, and her eyes moved out of reach of his. ‘I haven’t been to the gym in months.’

‘You’re meant to say thank you—not make excuses,’ he pointed out.

She brought her gaze back. ‘Thank you.’

‘You’re the most intriguing person I know.’

A mask fell over her face like a curtain dropping over a stage. ‘You need to get out a little more, Angelo,’ she said.

‘You have secrets in your eyes.’

She stilled as if every cell in her body had been snap frozen. But then, just as quickly she relaxed her pose. ‘We all have our secrets,’ she said lightly. ‘I wonder what some of yours are?’

‘Who gave you that jewellery?’ he asked.

She put a hand to her throat, where her necklace rested. ‘I bought it for myself,’ she said.

‘Do you still have the locket I gave you from that street fair we went to?’

She dropped her hand from her neck and reached for her purse. ‘Your parents will be wondering what’s keeping us,’ she said.

‘My parents will think we’ve been catching up on lost time.’

Her cheeks fired again. ‘I hope they don’t expect me to speak Italian, because I’m hopeless at it.’

‘They won’t expect you to do anything you’re not comfortable with,’ he said. ‘They’re keen to welcome you as the daughter they never had.’

‘I hope I live up to their lofty expectations,’ she said, frowning a little. ‘But then, I guess no one is ever going to be good enough for the parents of an only child.’

‘I’m sure they will grow to love you if you show them who you really are,’ he said.

‘Yeah, like that’s going to work,’ she said, and picked up her wrap and wound it round her shoulders.

Angelo frowned. ‘Why do you say that?’

‘No one really gets to be who they truly are on the inside, do they?’ she said. ‘We all fall into line because of cultural conditioning and family expectation. None of us can say what we really want to say or do what we really want to do. We’re hemmed in by parameters imposed on us by other people and the society we live in.’

‘What would you do or say if those parameters weren’t there?’ he asked.

She gave one of her dismissive shrugs. ‘What would be the point?’ she asked. ‘No one listens anyway.’

‘I’m listening,’ he said.

Her eyes fell away from his. ‘We shouldn’t keep your parents waiting.’

He brought her chin up with his finger and thumb. ‘Don’t shut me out, cara,’ he said. ‘For God’s sake, talk to me. I’m tired of this don’t-come-too-close-to-me game you keep playing.’

Her expression flickered with a host of emotions. He saw them pass through her eyes like a burgeoning tide. They rippled over her forehead and tightened her jaw, but she spoke none of them out loud.

‘You won’t let me in, will you?’ he said.

‘There’s nothing in there.’

‘I don’t believe that,’ he said. ‘I know you try and pretend otherwise, but you have a soft heart and you won’t let anyone get near it. Why? Why are you so determined to deny yourself human connection and intimacy?’

She stepped out of his hold and gave him a hardened look. ‘Didn’t my father tell you?’ she said. ‘I’m a lost cause. I’m beyond redemption. I have a streak of selfishness and self-preservation that overrides everything else. I care for no one but myself.’

‘If that is so then why have you agreed to sacrifice yourself for your brother’s sake?’ he asked.

There was a hint of movement at her slim throat, as if she had tried to disguise a swallow. ‘Lachlan isn’t like me,’ she said. ‘He’s sensitive and vulnerable. He doesn’t know how to take care of himself yet, but he will. He just needs more time.’

‘You’re paying a very high price for his learning curve.’

She met his gaze levelly. ‘I’ve paid higher.’

Angelo tried to break her gaze down with the laser force of his but she was indomitable. It was like trying to melt a wall of steel with a child’s birthday cake candle. ‘I won’t give up on you, Natalie,’ he said. ‘I don’t care how long it takes. I will not give up until I see what’s written on your heart.’

‘Good luck with that,’ she said airily, and sashayed to the door. She stopped and addressed him over her shoulder. ‘Are you coming or not?’

CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_2914cefa-442c-5b4a-adf5-0dd662c54a67)

NATALIE was handed a glass of champagne as soon as she entered the salon on Angelo’s arm.

‘This is such a happy occasion for us,’ Francesca said. ‘We were starting to wonder if Angelo would ever settle down, weren’t we, Sandro?’

Angelo’s father gave a benign smile as he raised his glass. ‘Indeed,’ he said. ‘But we always knew he would only ever marry for love. It is a Bellandini tradition, after all.’

‘Isn’t it also twenty-first century tradition to do so?’ Natalie asked.

‘Well, yes, of course,’ Francesca said. ‘But that’s not to say that certain families don’t occasionally orchestrate meetings between their young ones to hurry things along. Parents often have a feel for these things.’

‘I’m not sure parents should get involved in their children’s lives to that extent,’ Natalie said. ‘Surely once someone is an adult they should be left to decide what and who is right for them?’

Sandro’s dark brown eyes glinted as he addressed his son. ‘I can see you have chosen a wife with spirit, Angelo,’ he said. ‘Life is so much more exciting with a woman who has a mind of her own.’