Uncovering the Silveri Secret - By Melanie Milburne Page 0,27

as the dog went about his business in the shadows.

Bella was transfixed.

The moonlight captured Edoardo's arresting features in relief. He looked like a dark knight or warrior fighting some internal battle of his own. His jaw was locked tight and his fists were thrust into the pockets of his trousers. His broad shoulders were fixed in position, the length of his spine straight and grimly determined. His brow was heavily furrowed, tense in fierce concentration.

Then, as if he sensed her watching him, he turned and locked gazes with her.

Bella felt the shock of the visual connection like a punch to her solar plexus. Her heart kicked like a horse's hoof against her breastbone. Her breathing stalled and her mouth went dry.

His eyes read her mind as surely as his hands and mouth had read her body only half an hour ago.

She jumped back from the window like someone leaping away from a roaring blaze. She clutched at her chest, sure her heart was going to flop like a goldfish tossed out of its bowl and land on the carpet at her feet.

What was wrong with her?

She wasn't a teenage girl experiencing her first crush. She was an adult, a mature, sensible adult who was about to become engaged to a man she loved and admired. She had no right to be lusting after a man she didn't even like.

It was shocking.

It was immoral.

It was tempting.

She grabbed twin handfuls of her hair and castigated herself. 'No. No. No.'

She heard the stairs creaking as Edoardo's firm tread came up to her floor. Her heart skipped another beat. She held her breath, her body poised, every nerve super-alert, her self-control and resolve gone to some far-off place she couldn't access even if she wanted to.

But then there was silence.

Nothing but an empty, hollow silence, apart from the lone hooting of an owl as it flew past her window, the sound of its wings moving through the air like a velvet cape being swished around someone's shoulders.
CHAPTER SEVEN

EDOARDO sat behind the mahogany desk in the study and looked sightlessly at the figures in front of him on his computer screen. Work was usually the panacea for all ills but he couldn't get his brain to focus. All he could think about was the feel of Bella in his arms. His body still throbbed with desire. It was like a banked-down fire deep inside him. Just one spark of her gaze and he was alight again.

He had made her confront her desire for him but it had come at a price. The look on her face, the shadow of fear in her brown eyes as she had stood there, made his stomach churn. He had seen that look in his mother's eyes before his stepfather had raised his hand in one of his drunken rages. Even after all these years he could still hear the sound of that clenched fist landing on his mother's face or body.

He pushed back from the desk, stood up and wandered over to the window. The weather forecast had predicted a heavy fall of snow overnight. He could see the clouds gathering in brooding clusters on the horizon.

They reminded him of his mood.

Fergus got up from the rug with a tired sigh and made his way creakily to the door. Edoardo opened it for him just as Bella was walking past. She gave him a startled look and stepped backwards, one of her hands going to her milky throat. 'You scared me,' she said.

'That seems to be a habit of mine just lately,' he said.

Her eyes fell away from his. 'I know you're not like...that,' she said in a quiet voice.

'So you feel safe with me, do you, Bella?' he asked.

She slowly brought her toffee-brown eyes to his. 'Of course I do...'

'You don't sound very sure about that.'

Her teeth tugged at her lower lip for a moment. 'I know you would never physically hurt me,' she said.

'I sense a "but" lurking somewhere in that statement.'

She let out a wobbly little breath. 'This thing between us...it has to stop. It has to stop before it gets complicated.'

He slanted her a cynical smile. 'It's already complicated, Bella,' he said. 'Your father made it a hundred times more so by putting me in charge of your life.'

Her gaze appealed to his. 'You could always quit the guardianship. You'd be free of me and I'd be free of you. It's a win-win for both of us.'

'Not going to happen, princess,' he said. 'I made