Penniless Virgin To Sicilian's Bride

Frankie glanced at him once he was behind the wheel. Would she ever get tired of looking at him? He was like a fallen angel. Handsome as sin with a raw masculinity than made her blood fizz and simmer in her veins. Her gaze drifted to his powerful thighs as he worked the gears, the throaty roar of the engine under his command like a panther on the prowl.

Gabriel met her gaze and winked at her. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.’

What if she didn’t want to be safe?

CHAPTER THREE (#u974d4e78-6e8b-56f5-a1cc-0497d7751b23)

GABRIEL CONCENTRATED ON driving back to the villa but he was conscious of the throb of sensual energy in the car. He had caught the tail end of a couple of Frankie’s covert glances and wondered if she was thinking what he was thinking. If she was feeling what he was feeling. The hot rush of desire that refused to die down. The blistering burn of need. He would not make a move on her. He wanted her to own her desire for him. He saw it in her eyes. He felt it in her touch.

He could damn near taste it in the air.

He gripped the steering wheel tighter to stop himself reaching across to touch her slim and shapely thigh. ‘Will you be able to take a year off work?’ He was surprised at how even his tone was, so casual, so bland when his body was boiling with hot-blooded lust.

She shifted in her seat and he felt rather than saw her gaze. ‘You’re expecting me to give up work? Isn’t that a little outdated of you?’

Gabriel shrugged one shoulder. ‘I have no problem with you working but not if you’re working in another country from me. I’m not into long-distance relationships.’

‘But our relationship is on paper so why would it matter?’

‘I’m not having everyone commenting on the fact my wife is unable to bear living under the same roof as me, that’s why.’

‘Why don’t you move to London instead?’ Frankie asked. ‘You have plenty of business there, don’t you?’

‘I have an apartment there, yes, but my home is in Milan. It’s where I spent most of my time, other than when I travel for work.’ He sent her a quick glance. ‘I’m the one putting myself out for you, remember. The least you could do is move to Italy for the year. It’s not as if you won’t be adequately compensated for the inconvenience.’

The silence was palpable.

Was he asking too much of her? He didn’t want distance between them, paper marriage or not. He needed a year of her time. It would take that long for the board of directors to build their trust in him.

Gabriel let out a rough sigh. ‘I’m not trying to be difficult.’

‘Seems like it to me.’ She folded her arms across her middle. ‘You expect me to uproot my life and fall into your plans like some obedient little wife from the nineteenth century who has nothing better to do than embroider doilies all day. I’ve already taken two months of leave when I looked after my father.’

‘I’m afraid this is not negotiable. I want you by my side otherwise no one will believe this is a genuine relationship.’

‘And if I say no?’

‘The deal is off.’

He saw her look at her engagement ring. She even touched it as if in two minds whether to rip it off and throw it at him. But then she let out a defeated sigh. ‘Do you ever lose an argument?’

‘Not any more.’

* * *

When they got back to the villa, Gabriel excused himself to see to some emails and Frankie went to her room where he had taken her bag earlier that evening. It felt strange to be back home. She hadn’t spent a night under this roof since her father’s death. But the villa felt like an entirely different place with Gabriel’s presence.

It had been pointless arguing with him about her maintaining her life in London. A part of her understood where he was coming from. Her job, as much as she enjoyed it, was hardly on the same scale as his. But she didn’t want to fall too easily into his plans as if she had no mind or will or aspirations of her own. One of the reasons she wanted to keep her family home was a vision she harboured about using part of it as a holiday retreat for disadvantaged kids. Many of the children she taught came from difficult backgrounds. Some of them had never even been on a holiday. It was such a stark contrast from her privileged upbringing where exotic holidays were the norm.