Marco, send the jet for me.Ian's voice had sounded so uncontrolled on the other end of the line that his brother hadn't even stopped to greet him.What's going on?Marco, for once in your life forget that you rule an empire, don't want to control everything, don't want to know everything, and send the damn jet for me!And a week after his arrival at the Montecarlo mansion he was still so irascible that only his mother dared to approach him and talk to him from time to time. Angelo and Alessandro spent most of their time in the Lancia's service park and he hardly saw them. Flavia was still not back from her exploration of Spanish universities, and Fabio did his best to arrive in the evenings, although no one knew if what was keeping his twin so busy was really the law firm he ran.It wouldn't hurt to shave for a change! _ Carlo told him, bringing him a glass of whiskey, and lay down next to him on one of the pool beds, trying to forget his last argument with Aitana._ Leave me alone!

Separating, Leah was separating from Johan! Was that what she had meant when she had told him she had issues to work out? But if so, why hadn't she asked him for help, why had she walked out of his life so abruptly?What do you mean, a difficult divorce? _ she asked as a thousand assumptions whirled around in her head._ Well, it just so happens that Mr... _ Marco opened the folder again and wrinkled his brow as if trying to get a better look _ Carson, yes. Mr. Carson has a small advertising company in which Lia made certain investments, and he refuses to give her a divorce, apparently, because he doesn't want to break up the company.Ian dropped into the armchair with his face clouded by thoughts that he was getting closer and closer to comprehending. Lia getting a divorce! But wait a minute, Marco had said...._ Apparently? _ he murmured._ Exactly. The truth is much simpler, Carson has nothing to pay his share to his wife, so his lawyers are trying to gather evidence that Lia was y

_ On Saturday I'll bring the children. _ Katherine said goodbye, hugging her at the door._ All right, I'll try to cook something they'll like.Lia closed the door behind her sister and looked around. The apartment was small and bright, and in little more than a week she had managed to turn it from a completely impersonal place into something that looked quite like a home.The editor of the newspaper where she used to work had received the news of her return with joy. Apparently during his absence the publication had become a real mess, and together they had planned to have him join the editorial staff next week.Little by little everything was taking its course, everything but her feelings. It was true what she had told Katherine, she had fallen in love with Ian like an idiot, and yes, she was suffering unspeakably from not being able to see him.She missed his smell, she missed his arms. She missed more than anything the assurance of that voice that had never stopped speaking to her

Ian stepped forward and left a fleeting kiss on her lips so naturally that she couldn't react, dumbfounded. He just closed the door behind him and watched him smilingly inspect the tiny apartment he had just rented, while he let her continue their awkward phone conversation.Johan's story sounded more and more implausible, and sometimes Lia's eyes widened like saucers, sometimes she pursed her lips and sometimes she smiled in disbelief. But she kept watching the man walking around the living room petting the puppy. It was the first time I saw him as a pure Di Sávallo.And what has your lawyer told you about it? _ she asked at a moment when her husband seemed to calm down a little, and the way he then shook his head, his eyes shining, cheered Ian up as if he were a child _ No, Johan, I had no idea that Mr. Di Sávallo had a whole retinue of sharks... I mean, lawyers, at his service.Again it seemed that the businessman's voice could be heard even without the telephone despite the distan

Ian ripped the delicate fabric of the T-shirt as he laid her down on the bed. He was too impatient to set about undoing all the buttons of that sleeping set.I swear to God I'm going to buy you another one! _ he blurted out, making her laugh.He wanted her, Ian wanted her so badly, so badly, so badly that he could barely get out of his own clothes. He lifted her hair over her shoulders and stepped back, just the distance his arm would allow, to admire her._ Hell, have I ever told you how beautiful you are?_ Mmmm... a lot. _ answered the girl as she pulled him to her to make him fall on the bed above her.He felt the weight of her body, that perfect balance between musculature and willpower, and he knew that his own was nil. She had no decision, no will, not when she wanted him like that, not when she felt so irrevocably wanted by him.Ian was right: she had always wanted him, with her head full of shadows or fully conscious, as it was now. He was the man who completed her, who seduc

Ian gave an exasperated gasp, incredulous at such words, and in the next second his indignation boiled over like an active volcano._ Lia how dare you say something like that _ do you think that's all you are to me, my mistress-in-waiting? _ he almost shouted _ Do you think I would have come all the way from Monaco to demand that your husband set you free, just so I could get you into my bed from time to time?She had hurt him. Those words had hurt him, because they meant that in all the time they had been together she had been incapable of realizing his feelings._I think what happened to Kathy has happened to you,_ the girl murmured undaunted, a single minute of flinching and her spirit would give out on him, she knew it _I think you felt a little responsible for me, and that's why you came to help me out of this...._ Of course I feel responsible for you! _ Ian paced back and forth like a caged beast _ And not a little, a lot! How could I not want to protect you, how could I not go

_ Tell me again! _ Ian asked her as he furrowed her bare back with gentle caresses. He couldn't remember a more perfect woman than Leah...in fact he couldn't remember any other woman _ Go on, tell me again. _ I love you. _ she made a move to lie on his body even though she barely had the strength to move _ I love you. _ and kissed his eyes, his cheeks, his lips _ I love you, I love you, I love you. He smiled softly and sought her mouth _ There was no way he could ever feel satiated with Leah! When the pilot told me you hadn't arrived on the last ferry I really thought you wouldn't come, that I would leave without you. I had to say goodbye to Grace. I had never visited her grave so I got lost, and I was too late to catch the boat. How did you get there? _ I remembered that you had had to get Carlo off the island in the early morning, and Arturo put me in touch with a captain who took me to Playa right away. She kissed him tenderly on the chin. That was her place, nestled in Ian's

I ask for the next dance with the bride!Apparently being the youngest of the Di Sávallo family also made Alessandro the least serious of the brothers, but the truth was that no one at that party was serious. The second season of the World Rally Championship had finally ended after three months and Angelo's numbers put him in a privileged position to challenge for the title.But the real celebration had been that unexpected and above all very intimate wedding that Ian and Lia had arranged just for the family.I'm sorry, Alessandro, but you can't have my wife! You've already made her dance with everyone but me. With brothers like you I'm not going to make it to the honeymoon!Which by the way is in...? Carlo asked carelessly.Oh, don't even think for a second that I'm going to tell you! They'd all go after me just to annoy me!The chorus of laughter spread as camera lights rained down and the family happily piled in for pictures.But the one the newlyweds liked best was the most intim