The Villa

was clear and calm. "You won't get away with it."
    "People say all kinds of things in the heat of passion." She scooted away, and nearly made it off the bed.
    "Heat of passion? You start using clichés like that, I know you're fumbling." In one easy move, he flipped her back on the bed. "Say it again. It's not as hard the second time. Believe me."
    "I want you to listen to me." She pushed herself up, dragged at the bedcovers. For the first time she could remember, her own nudity left her feeling uneasy and exposed. "Whatever I might be feeling at the moment doesn't mean… God! I hate when you look at me like that. Amused patience. It's infuriating. It's insulting."
    "And you're trying to change the subject. I'm not going to fight with you, Sophia. Not about this. Just tell me again."
    "Don't you understand?" She bunched her hands into fists. "I know what I'm capable of. I know my strengths and my weaknesses. I'll just screw this up."
    "No, you won't. I won't let you."
    She raked a hand through her hair. "You underestimate me, MacMillan."
    "No. You underestimate yourself."
    It was that, she realized as she slowly lowered her hand again. That simple and quiet faith in her, more than she had in herself, that left her helpless. "No one else would ever say that to me. You're the only one who'd say that to me. Maybe that's why I'm…"
    His nerves were starting to stretch, but he gave her ankle an easy pat. "Keep going. Almost there."
    "That's something else. You push. Nobody else ever pushed."
    "None of the others loved you. You're stalling, Sophie. Chicken."
    She narrowed her eyes. His were that calm lake blue, she thought. Just a little amused, just a little… No, she realized with a hard jolt. Not smug and amused. There was strain behind them, and nerves. And still he waited for her to give him what he needed.
    "You're not the first man I've been with," she burst out.
    "Stop the presses." He leaned forward, caught her chin in his hand. The patience on his face was beginning to shift toward temper. It delighted her. "But here's a flash for you. I'm damn well going to be the last."
    And that, she decided, was exactly right. "Okay, Ty, here it is. I've never said it to another man. Never had to be careful not to because it was never an issue. I'm probably not doing you any favors by saying it to you, but you'll have to deal with it now. I love you."
    "There, that wasn't so hard." He ran his hands over her shoulders as relief pumped into him. "But you didn't say it in Italian. It sounds really great in Italian."
    "You idiot. Ti amo ." She laughed, launching herself at him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
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    Lieutenant DeMarco smoothed a fingertip along his moustache. "I appreciate your coming in, signorina. The information you and Signore MacMillan bring me is interesting. It will be looked into."
    "What exactly does that mean? Looked into. I'm telling you my cousin used the castello for assignations with his mistress, for clandestine meetings with a competitor and with an employee I personally terminated."
    "None of which is illegal." DeMarco spread his hands. "Interesting, even suspicious, which is why I will look into it. However, the meetings were hardly clandestine, as many employees at the castello and at the vineyards were aware of them."
    "They weren't aware of Jeremy DeMorney's identity, or his connection with La Coeur." Tyler put a hand over Sophia's as he spoke. If he wasn't mistaken she was about to shoot off her chair and directly through the roof. "What this implies is that DeMorney was involved in the sabotage that's resulted in several deaths. Possibly others at La Coeur are involved, or at least aware."
    Since she couldn't shove away Ty's hand, Sophia fisted her own. "Jerry is the grandnephew of La Coeur's current president. He's an ambitious and intelligent man who had a grudge against my father. And very likely against my family. Every market share Giambelli's lost during these crises has been profit in La Coeur's pockets. As a family member, that's profit in Jerry's pocket, and personal satisfaction along with it."
    DeMarco heard her out. "And I have no doubt that when presented with this information the proper authorities will want to question this Jeremy DeMorney. Obviously, as he's an American citizen residing in New York, I'm unable to do so. At this point, my main concern is the apprehension of Donato Giambelli."
    "Who's eluded you for nearly a week," Sophia pointed out.
    "We learned the