Free Uncovering the Silveri Secret by Melanie Milburne Page A

count on to get her through the bad times as well as the good. A love that would be the solid foundation of a well-ordered family life.
    It was what she wanted. What she needed . She didn’t want to be like her mother, flitting off to somewhere exotic on yet another passionate fling that would only end in tears and heartbreak.
    She didn’t want the hair-raising, nail-biting, gut-twisting rollercoaster ride of passion. She wanted the smooth, predictable ride of a merry-go-round.
    Bella was in the kitchen poking about in the fridge when Edoardo came in from outside.
    ‘Eating in tonight?’ he asked as he hung up his jacket on the hook behind the door.
    She closed the fridge guiltily. ‘I can get something later,’ she said.
    ‘I can rustle up something for both of us,’ he said. ‘You don’t have to hide away in your room.’
    ‘I’m not hiding away in my room,’ she said. ‘I’ve been busy catching up with friends.’
    He grunted and moved across to wash his hands at the sink. ‘Give me half an hour,’ he said. ‘I have to sort something out on my computer.’
    ‘Who taught you to cook?’ she asked.
    He dried his hands on some paper towels and dropped them in the pedal bin. ‘No one in particular,’ he said. ‘I didn’t stay anywhere long enough to pick up more than the basics.’
    ‘What was the longest you stayed with a foster family?’
    Edoardo felt the familiar tension crawl over his skin like a cockroach. He hated thinking about his past, let alone talking about it. He wanted to forget it had ever happened. He wanted it erased from his brain. He mostly had erased it from his mind. Every time Bella pushed him for more information, it made his head ache with the suppressed memories. They felt like they were busting out of the shackles he had bound them with all those years ago. ‘Can you quit it with the twenty questions?’ he said. ‘I’m not in the mood for it.’
    ‘You’re never in the mood,’ she said. ‘You’re like a closed book. Lots of people come from difficult backgrounds. I don’t see why you have to be so secretive about it.’
    He stepped into her body space, watching as her big brown eyes rounded. ‘You’re playing with fire,’ he warned. ‘But I think you already know that, don’t you?’
    A silence throbbed between them.
    ‘I’ve known you since I was a child, but I hardly know you at all,’ she said in a husky tone.
    He placed his hands on her shoulders and watched as the tip of her tongue snaked out to sweep over her lips. He had never seen a more kissable mouth. Desire twisted and tightened in his groin. He felt his body surge and swell. He wanted her so badly it was like a drug his system craved. The trouble was, he knew one taste would never be enough. He wasn’t sure how long with her would be enough. For years he had thought of this moment, when she would come to him with that look of wanting in her eyes. He saw it: the need, the lust and the longing. It pulsed in the air in a hot, swirling current that was almost palpable.
    Her eyes flickered to his mouth and back again to his. ‘I want to know who you are,’ she said. ‘Who you really are.’
    ‘This is who I really am,’ he said.
    ‘I want to know why you’re so closed off emotionally,’ she said. ‘You push everyone away. Why do you do that?’
    Edoardo gripped her shoulders a little tighter. ‘I’m not pushing you away right now, am I? In fact, I’m about to bring you a whole lot closer.’
    He felt her body brush against his. It engulfed his in a wave of hot longing that was like wildfire as he pulled her against him, male against female, need against need. His mouth came down slowly, giving her plenty of time to get away if she wanted to—but she didn’t move. Instead, she parted her lips as his came down. He brushed the point of his tongue against hers, a teasing taste of the eroticism to come. He felt her whole body respond. She pressed close and whimpered in the back of her throat as