Free Da Silva's Mistress by Tina Duncan Page B

and do nothing.
    And when it came right down to it, she’d have thought less of him if he’d ignored the situation.
    But it was the way he’d chosen to defend Stefania that bothered her.
    Coming after her the way he had was wrong.
    Forcing her to be his mistress was wrong.
    ‘I can’t believe you’ve never been to London Zoo,’ she said, pushing her thoughts aside.
    ‘Well, I haven’t. I never had the time. Stefania and I moved to London when I was eighteen. I was too busy studying and working and looking after her.’
    ‘You moved here when you were eighteen?’
    He nodded. ‘Not long after our parents died.’
    ‘I’m sorry.’ She put a hand on his arm. ‘I didn’t realise you were so young when it happened.’
    Luca stiffened and slowly turned in her direction. ’When what happened?’
    Morgan swallowed at the cold look in his eyes. Once again she’d spoken without thinking first. She shrugged and tried to smile. ‘Nothing. Come on, let’s move on.’
    She let go of his arm and turned away, but he snagged her wrist and spun her back around to face him. ‘When what happened?’ he asked through gritted teeth.
    Morgan sighed. One of these days she’d think first and speak second. ‘When the accident happened,’ she said calmly, suppressing a sigh.
    Luca dropped her arm as if touching her somehow contaminated him. ‘And just who told you about that? Or need I ask?’ His mouth curled. ‘Joseph has some pretty strange ideas about what passes for pillow talk.’
    Morgan didn’t credit him with an answer. She just turned and stomped away, not caring whether he followed her or not.
    ‘Where do you think you’re going?’ Luca demanded, two seconds before his hand landed on her shoulder and pulled her to a halt.
    Morgan threw him a scathing look as she tried to shrug away from his touch. ‘Anywhere. As long as it’saway from you. If you think for one minute that I’m going to hang around and let you treat me like this then you have another thing coming. That remark was completely unnecessary!’
    Luca stared at her for what felt like ages without saying a single word. Morgan stared straight back, her chin at a challenging angle.
    Finally he said quietly, ‘You’re right. It was. I’m sorry.’
    Luca heard the words emerge from his mouth and couldn’t believe he’d actually said them.
    What was wrong with him?
    He had nothing to apologise for.
    Nothing.
    Anger climbed the rungs of his spine.
    Joseph had discussed the accident—the most traumatic experience of Luca’s life—with Morgan.
    His teeth were gritted so tightly together he thought they might shatter. His hands clenched into fists, which he shoved deep into his pockets.
    Dio! What was going on here?
    Why on earth had he agreed to wait a week to sleep with a woman who’d seduced a married man into her bed? A woman he was meant to be punishing? A woman who didn’t deserve his respect?
    He raked a hand through his hair and suddenly realised Morgan was no longer standing beside him. He spun on his heel, only to see her rigid back walking in the other direction.
    He stomped after her, clamping a hand on her shoulder and bringing her to a halt again. ‘Where do you think you’re going?’ he demanded, for the second time in as many minutes.
    ‘Anywhere. As long as it’s away from you,’ Morgan replied, repeating her answer and the scathing look that accompanied it.
    A feeling of déjà vu flowed over him. They’d already had this conversation. This time, however, he wanted it to end differently. ‘Why?’
    She stabbed him in the middle of the chest with one pointed finger. ‘Because you’re not sorry at all. You apologised just now, but you didn’t mean a word of it.’
    Luca opened his mouth to deny the charge, but just as quickly closed it again.
    ‘You see?’ She jabbed him again, as if she wanted to drill a hole through to the other side. ‘You can’t even deny it.’
    The pent-up anger inside him suddenly spewed forth.