Revelations of the Night Before by Lynn Raye Harris Read Free Book Online Page A

would make for her baby. She was beginning to understand why her mother had been so secretive—what if her own father had been so terrible?
    Renzo knew who his father was, and it had done nothing but cause him pain. He had not told her that, but their mother had. Renzo’s pain was the reason her mother gave for not telling Tina what she wanted to know.
    Maybe she’d been right after all.
    She sat in the sun until it disappeared behind the mountain. It was still light out, but growing darker much faster now. She still wore jeans and sandals, but she’dremoved her jacket and scarf. Now she returned to her room and retrieved them.
    There was a knock on her door. The man who had greeted them at the landing pad was there, smiling at her pleasantly. “
Signorina
, his lordship asked me to tell you that dinner is prepared. You can reach the terrazzo by going out on the balcony and taking the steps down to the next level.”
    “Thank you,” Tina replied. She wanted to refuse to join Nico, but she was surprisingly hungry. The anti-nausea medication the doctor had given her had worked wonders and she actually had an appetite for once.
    She didn’t change for dinner, determined that she would not do that at least. She was here under protest, not as a willing guest, so to hell with the niceties. Frau Decker would be horrified at her lack of manners, but Frau Decker was in Switzerland. Besides, her old teacher had never addressed a situation in which a lady might be held captive by a gentleman against her will.
    Tina frowned wryly. Whatever would the good woman say if she could see this place and the man who waited at the dinner table? Quite probably, like most women, she would giggle and fawn over him.
    Tina went onto the balcony and walked the length of it before finding the stairs down to the next level. There, a large table and at least ten chairs had pride of place beside a stunning view of soaring cliffs directly across the lake.
    The table was set for two, with crisp white napkins, crystal goblets, silver flatware and pristine white plates. Nico stood with his back to her, looking out at the cliffs and holding a glass of wine from which he occasionally took a sip.
    She studied his broad back, reluctant to interrupthis thoughts and turn them toward her once more. He’d changed, she noted with surprise. Instead of the suit, he wore a pair of stonewashed jeans and a black shirt. His hair curled over his collar, and for a moment she longed to go over and slide her fingers into the silkiness of it as she had done that night.
    Tina shivered involuntarily, but not from cold. Her body was hot, her blood thick and syrupy in her veins. He did that to her, and it disconcerted her that he still could.
    She took the rest of the steps down and Nico turned, his gaze skimming her lightly as he did so. She tilted her chin up, as she’d been taught, and bore his scrutiny as if it were nothing.
    “How are you feeling?” he asked.
    “I’ve been better,” she replied.
    He appeared concerned. “Do you still feel nauseous?”
    Guilt pricked her. “I’m not ill anymore, thanks to the medication. No, I was thinking more along the lines of how this is my first abduction.”
    She didn’t expect him to smile, but he did, and it caught at her heart though it should not. “Mine, too.”
    “How fortunate,” she said crisply. “We can enjoy the experience together.”
    He came over and pulled her chair out, and she realized she’d actually been standing there as if she’d expected it. How silly, and how very like her at the same time. She only hoped he didn’t notice how she blushed.
    His fingers skimmed over her shoulders after he pushed her chair in, and twined in her hair. She went very still, sparks zipping along her spine and behind her ears. It hurt, and it felt like the most wonderful thing all at once.
    She wanted him to keep touching her, to slide his fingers against her scalp and then along her neck, down to her breasts. She