The Billionaire's Prize

He squeezed her elbow. “No one can ask for more than that.”

In a minute play commenced. Rini gave as good as he got, but Guido’s competitive spirit had kicked in. That’s when he realized he was fighting a demon from the past and taking it out on his friend. The score was two to two. Rini went all out for the last play. He gave the ball a kick as fierce as the expression on his face. Dea didn’t stand a chance. Or so Guido thought until he saw her catch it midair.

“I did it!” she cried out in unfeigned excitement.

Forgetting everything, he ran toward her and swung her around. “Keep this up and I’ll sign you on to my team.” Before he lowered her warm beautiful body to the ground, there was a breathless moment when even in the semidark her cognac eyes seemed to sparkle. He wanted badly to taste her mouth, but they had an audience and she would probably slap his face.

Alessandra ran up to Dea and hugged her. “I thought you said you’ve never done sports. What’s happened?”

Dea flicked Guido a glance. “I had a good teacher.”

“I’ll say you did. Come on. Let’s go in.”

Rini kissed his wife. “We’ll catch up with you two in a minute.”

As the women walked off, Guido sucked in his breath. The time for the talk with Rini had come. His friend stared him down. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on with you? Everything has been different since Alessandra and I have been married, so I’ll make this easier for you and start. Why haven’t you wanted to get together like we used to do?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “You really don’t know?”

“Guido—” The bleak expression on his face spoke volumes and made Guido feel guiltier than ever. “Talk to me! If I’ve done something wrong, I’ll fix it if I can.”

“You can’t.”

“Why?”

It was hard to swallow. “I’m ashamed to tell you.”

“Why?” he demanded again.

Just tell him, Rossano, and get it over with.

“It’s ever since that night on the yacht. I’d never known jealousy in my life until then. But I did the moment I met Dea and she took one look at you and fell head over heels.”

Rini’s black brows formed a line above his dark eyes. “Way back then you were jealous of that?”

“The force of it hit me like a blow to my gut.”

“Are you telling me you were interested in Dea?” He shook his head in total bewilderment. “I thought you’d never met her before that night.”

“I hadn’t, but her face was continually in the news. Seeing her on deck did something visceral to me. But before I could do anything about it, she walked right into your arms.”

Rini shook his head. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. You couldn’t help that she was attracted to you. The fact that I knew you weren’t attracted to her didn’t help me. I’ve suffered ever since that night because I’ve held something against you that couldn’t possibly have been your fault. You have every right to tell me to go to hell and stay there.”

Rini came closer. “That’s the last thing I want to do. All this time you’ve been suffering...”

“And I’ve made you suffer. I’m so sorry, Rini.”

To his shock, his friend smiled. “If I don’t miss my guess, I believe cupid shot an arrow into your heart when you laid eyes on Dea. The same thing happened to me when I met Alessandra.”

“You’re right,” he murmured.

“Paisano—you’ve been smitten since the night your father brought Dea and her friend over to meet us after the fashion show. After your experience with Carla, I’ve wondered for years when love would hit you. Little does your papà know his endless machinations to find you a wife finally worked!”

Guido threw his head back. “They did.”

“Now that I know your secret, I understand what happened out here on the sand just now. You swung Dea around with more energy than I’ve ever seen in you. I guess her flying tackle earlier had something to do with your reaction.”

“I’ve never been so surprised in my life.”

Rini grinned. “Contact sports can be fun, especially when it was Dea who initiated that move. You must be doing something right or she wouldn’t have allowed herself to get in your arms.”

No one ever had a better friend. Guido cocked his head. “You don’t despise me for being a total fool this last year?”

“It’s forgotten.” He gripped Guido’s shoulder. “Listen—I’m going to tell you a secret and I hope you can handle it. You have no idea the number of times I envied you for all the women who threw themselves at you. I didn’t have that experience growing up and feared I’d never meet the right woman for me.

“Need I remind you of Arianna, who was so crazy about you she came to every game and hung around you for weeks? I might as well have been invisible. She was gorgeous and I was jealous as hell.”

“You’re kidding—”

“No. Don’t you remember my telling you that I wouldn’t have minded if she’d come after me, but it didn’t happen? And then there was Carla.” Guido preferred not to think about her. “Let’s be honest. You could have had any woman you ever wanted.”

“Except Dea...who wanted you.”

His dark brows lifted. “Dea didn’t want me. We talked about it. Growing up in a castle together, she and Alessandra had this idea of marrying a tall, dark-haired prince. My image filled the bill. But that’s all it was. The image vanished. If you’re asking me if she still sees me as her prince, the answer is a definite no. Surely you could tell that at the wedding. I’m now her irritating brother-in-law.”

“She seemed to be in a world of her own that day,” Guido said.

“That’s because she was going through a major life crisis, another thing you’re going through yourself taking on a soccer team. In many ways, you and Dea are a lot alike. You had your pick of women over the years but didn’t settle. She always had her pick of men, yet didn’t end up with any of them. One day she’s going to fall so hard that’ll be it. Lucky will be the man who captures her heart.”

“Wouldn’t it be funny if it turned out to be me,” he muttered.

Rini shot him a piercing glance. “You and I both know that no matter how bad it looks, you never leave the stadium until the game is over. Astounding surprises happen in the last second.”

“True.” Guido couldn’t argue with that kind of logic. Nor could he doubt that Rini had given him all the truth inside him.

His friend picked up the ball. “Come on. Let’s get back to the castello. How soon do you have to return to Rome?”

“I have to fly out early Sunday morning for the game.”

“I happen to know Dea will be around until then too. Alessandra had planned a day out on the cruiser for the three of us tomorrow. But with Dea still here, it’ll be even more fun. Maybe you can teach her how to water ski. She gave up after trying it the first time.”

“She hasn’t done any water sports?” Guido was incredulous.

“A little swimming. That’s it. But the way she got into the soccer match proves to me she’s not only game, she’s a fast learner. I only have one question. Are you game?”

Until their talk a few minutes ago Guido would have said no.