Read Online Da Silva's Mistress by Tina Duncan - Free Book Online

now, so hard he thought it might break. ‘Not just like…like that. We barely know each other.’
    Luca couldn’t believe his ears. Couldn’t believe she was serious. ‘We know we want each other. Or are you going to pretend you don’t go up in flames every time I touch you?’
    Her eyes slid away from his but just as quickly returned. ‘No. I’m not going to pretend.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I…I do want you.’
    His breath hitched. He captured one of her hands and curled his fingers around it. ’Dio, Morgan. Did you have to say that?’
    ‘Would you rather I had lied?’ Her free hand continued to twist the gold bauble between her breasts. Luca didn’t even think she knew she was doing it.
    ‘Hell, no! Hearing you say you want me turns me on like you wouldn’t believe. But saying you won’t sleep with me at the same time is a sure way to twist a guy into knots.’
    She didn’t say anything to that.
    Because there was nothing to say?
    Or because this was a carefully thought out strategy?
    Give with one hand…take with the other.
    His mother had been an expert at that particular tactic.
    She’d used precisely that method to keep her marriage together despite her constant affairs. And she’d used the same technique with her children—vacillating between being the attentive and loving mother to the party girl totally uninterested in her offspring.
    Was Morgan trying to manipulate him in much the same fashion?
    His eyes narrowed. ‘Just what sort of game are you playing? You’ve agreed to be my mistress. Now you’re trying to renege?’
    ‘I’m not trying to renege. I’m just asking for a bit of time. I hardly know you. I can’t just go to bed with a perfect stranger. I just can’t. Don’t you understand?’
    She was yanking on the chain so strongly now that Luca could see the metal digging into her neck. He wanted to reach out and stop her, but something held him back.
    ‘I’m not as experienced as the socialites that you usually keep as your playthings. I need some time to adjust. To get to know you a little before we…before we…’ Her face flamed. ‘Before we take the next step.’
    Luca stared at her. She wasn’t faking her reaction; he’d bet money on it. She might be a good actress but she wasn’t that good. He’d seen performances on the stage that were far less convincing.
    Which meant what, exactly?
    That she was shy? Nervous?
    Both of those things implied that she was inexperienced, and that was something he knew she was not. The fact that she’d persuaded Joseph into her bed, thusbetraying the wife he adored, proved she was seasoned in the art of making love.
    Tension knotted his shoulder muscles until they were physically painful. His free hand raked through his hair and around the back of his neck, his eyes never leaving her face.
    Her bottom lip trembled.
    He remembered seeing his mother do the exact same thing.
    And he remembered what she’d done next.
    His jaw clamped tight as the memory washed over him.
    His father had been pacing the entrance hall, waiting for his mother to come home. He’d often done that when she was having one of her affairs. Unbeknownst to him, Luca had often watched him from the top of the staircase.
    When Margherita had finally arrived they’d argued, during which his mother had done what she so often had. Realising she was losing the argument, her face had crumpled, bottom lip trembling in just the way Morgan’s was doing now. Luca’s father had immediately stopped what he was saying and taken his distressed wife into his arms, little realising that she was smiling over his shoulder.
    Luca remembered that smile.
    Remembered the cunning, manipulative gleam in her eyes.
    That day he’d promised himself he’d never be the sucker his father had been.
    He would not let Morgan take advantage of him!
    ‘I’m not used to waiting for what I want.’ With renewed determination Luca swept an arm around her waist and pulled her close. The hand