by Jennie Lucas
But he hadn’t planned on being there to see it.
‘Weddings are not really my thing,’ he said.
‘Have you ever been to one?’
‘Two, a few years ago,’ he said. ‘They’re both divorced now.’
She folded her arms across her middle. ‘Not all marriages end up on the rocks,’ she said. ‘Many couples spend a lifetime together.’
‘Good for them.’
She frowned at him. ‘You don’t believe love can last that long?’
‘I think people get love and lust confused,’ he said. ‘Lust is a transient thing. It burns itself out after a while. Love, on the other hand, is something that grows over time, given the right conditions.’
‘I thought you didn’t believe in love,’ she said.
‘Just because I haven’t been in love myself doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist,’ he said. ‘I can see it works for some people.’
‘But you don’t think I’m in love, do you?’
‘I think you want to be loved,’ he said. ‘It’s understandable, given that your father’s gone and your mother has always been too selfish to love you properly.’
Her teeth snagged her bottom lip again. ‘You’re making me out to sound tragic.’
Edoardo studied her for a moment. ‘Don’t throw your life away on someone who doesn’t love you for the right reasons, Bella,’ he said.
‘Julian does love me for the right reasons,’ she said. ‘He’s the first man I’ve met who hasn’t pressured me to sleep with them. Doesn’t that say something?’
‘Is he gay?’
She gave him a look. ‘Of course he’s not gay. He has principles; standards. Self-control.’
‘The man is a saint,’ Edoardo said. ‘I can’t be in the same room as you without wanting to rip the clothes off your body and ravish you.’
Her eyes flitted away from his, her cheeks firing up yet again. ‘You shouldn’t say things like that,’ she said.
‘Why not?’
‘You know why not.’
‘You don’t believe in speaking the truth?’ he asked.
‘Some things are better left unsaid.’
Edoardo came over to her and slowly lifted her chin with the end of his index finger. ‘What are you so afraid of?’ he asked.
She moistened her lips with a nervous dart of her tongue. ‘I’m not afraid of anything.’
‘You’re afraid of being out of control,’ he said. ‘I make you feel out of control, don’t I, Bella? I’m not like all those simpering boyfriends you surround yourself with. You can control them, but you can’t control me. You can’t even control yourself when you’re with me. It scares you that I have so much power over you.’
She gave him a glittering glare. ‘You don’t have any power over me.’
He arched a brow as he trailed a finger over her bottom lip. ‘Don’t I?’ he asked.
Her lip trembled under his touch before she wrenched herself out of his reach. ‘You want to wreck my life, don’t you?’ she asked, eyes flashing. ‘You want to cause trouble for me because you’ve always resented me for being born to wealth while you were born to nothing. You think by dragging me down to your level it will somehow even the score. Well, it won’t. You will always be a reject who landed on his feet.’
Her taunting words rang in the silence.
‘Feel better now you’ve got that off your chest?’ Edoardo asked.
She put up her chin, her brown eyes still glittering with defiance. ‘I’m leaving,’ she said. ‘I’m not staying another minute here with you.’
‘Good luck with that,’ he said. ‘It’s been snowing like a blizzard for the last hour. You won’t get as far as the end of the driveway.’
‘We’ll see about that,’ she said and flounced out.
* * *
‘Damn it.’ Bella slammed her hands on the steering wheel in frustration. She had been so determined to prove Edoardo wrong. And she had almost done it, too. She had got further than the end of the driveway. She had made it to the road before her car had slipped sideways and become bogged up to the windows in a snowdrift. But now she was out of sight of the manor and, with the snow blocking the road for as far as she could see in either direction, she could be stuck here for hours. It was freezing cold in spite of the heater in her car. She knew she couldn’t leave the engine running for too long without flattening the battery. She could call for roadside help, which might take hours to get here. Or she could call Edoardo.
She rummaged for her mobile in her bag on the seat beside her. She held it in her hand, looking at the screen for a long moment where she had pulled up Edoardo’s number. As much as it pained her to admit defeat, she pressed the call button.
‘Do you want me to come get you?’ he asked without preamble.
Bella silently ground her teeth. ‘If it’s not too much trouble.’
‘Stay in the car.’
She glanced at the wall of snow that had fallen against both of her doors. ‘I can’t get out even if I wanted to,’ she said.
While she was waiting for Edoardo to come, her phone rang. Bella glanced at the caller ID and suppressed a groan. Her mother only ever called her when she wanted something, usually money. ‘Mum,’ she said. ‘How are things?’
‘Bella, I need to talk to you,’ Claudia said. ‘I’m in a bit of a fix financially. Have you got a moment to talk?’
Bella looked at the snow-covered landscape surrounding her little capsule of a car. ‘All the time in the world,’ she said with a jaded sigh. ‘How much do you need?’
‘Just a few thousand to tide me over,’ Claudia said. ‘I’ve decided to leave José. Things haven’t been working out. I’m in London for a few days. I thought it’d be nice if we spent some time together—hang out a bit, you know? Go shopping, do girly things.’
‘I’m not in London right now,’ Bella said.
‘Where are you?’
‘I’m...um, out of town.’
‘Where out of town?’ Claudia asked.
Bella drew in a little breath and carefully released it. Would it hurt to tell her mother where she was? Maybe if she were a little more open with her, Claudia would start acting more like a mother towards her. She longed to have someone to talk to who would understand. She was tired of feeling so isolated and alone. ‘I’m at Haverton Manor.’
‘With...with Edoardo?’
‘Yes... Well, not with him as such,’ Bella said. ‘I hardly see him. He does his thing. I do mine. He’s—’
‘I suppose he’s told you a heap of lies about me, has he?’ Claudia said. ‘Your father was a sentimental fool to let him take control of your affairs. How do you know if he’s ripping you off or not? He could be selling off your assets behind your back and you wouldn’t know a thing about it.’
‘He’s not ripping me off,’ Bella said. ‘He’s managing everything brilliantly.’
‘How can you possibly trust him to do the right thing by you?’ Claudia asked. ‘Don’t forget he would’ve gone to prison if it hadn’t been for your father vouching for him. He’s got bad blood.’
‘I don’t think you should judge someone on where or how they grew up,’ Bella said. ‘He had a difficult start in life. He was an orphan at the age of five. I think it’s amazing how well he’s done, given how hard things were for him.’
‘Goodness me,’ Claudia said. ‘This is a turn up for the books, isn’t it?’
Bella frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You springing to Edoardo’s defence,’ Claudia said. ‘You sound positively chummy with him. What’s going on?’
‘Nothing.’ Bella could have kicked herself for answering so quickly. Too quickly.
She could almost see her mother’s snide smile. ‘You’ve slept with him, haven’t
you?’
‘What on earth makes you think that?’ Bella said, injecting her tone with as much disdain as she could. ‘You know how much we’ve always hated each other.’
‘Hate doesn’t stop people having sex with each other,’ Claudia said. ‘Some of the best sex I’ve had was with men I positively loathed.’
Bella hadn’t planned on telling Claudia about her engagement until it was official, but she would do almost anything to avoid an account of her mother’s lurid and colourful sex life. ‘I’m getting engaged,’ she said.
‘Engaged?’ Claudia gasped. ‘Oh, dear God, not to Edoardo?’
Bella frowned as she tried to imagine Edoardo putting a ring on her finger—or any woman’s finger, when it came to that. She couldn’t quite see it. He would never be one to declare his feelings if he had any. He would never admit to needing someone.
He certainly would never admit to needing her.
He wanted her, but that was different. He didn’t need her in an emotional sense. He didn’t need anyone. He was like a wolf that had separated himself from the pack. No one would ever see what he felt on the inside. ‘No, not to Edoardo,’ she said. ‘To Julian Bellamy.’
‘Have I met him?’
‘No, we’ve only been dating for three months.’
‘Is he rich?’
‘That has nothing to do with anything,’ Bella said. ‘I love him.’
‘When did you not love a boyfriend?’ Claudia asked. ‘You fall in and out of love all the time. You’ve been doing it since you were thirteen. What if he’s only after your money?’
Bella rolled her eyes. ‘You sound just like Edoardo.’
‘Yes, well, he might not be from the right side of the tracks but he’s certainly street smart,’ Claudia said. ‘Your father wouldn’t have a bad word said about him. I think he secretly hoped you would make a match of it with him.’
‘What?’ Bella asked, her stomach doing a little free fall. ‘With Edoardo?’
‘Why else would he have written his will the way he did?’ Claudia asked. ‘I bet he put Edoardo in control so you would have to see him regularly. He was hoping you’d fall in love with each other over time.’
‘I am not going to fall in love with Edoardo,’ Bella said.
‘You’d be the icing on the cake for a man like him,’ Claudia continued. ‘It would make his rags-to-riches tale complete, wouldn’t it? The well-born trophy bride to produce some blue-blooded heirs to dilute the bad blood flowing in his veins.’
Bella felt a strange tingle deep in the pit of her belly when she thought of her body swelling with Edoardo’s child. She put a shaky hand over her abdomen, trying to quell the sensation. ‘Mum, I have to go,’ she said. ‘I’ll send you some money as soon as I can. I’m...in the middle of something right now.’
‘I suppose you’ll have to ask Edoardo for permission,’ Claudia said sourly. ‘Don’t let him come between us, Bella. I’m your mother. Don’t ever forget that.’
‘I won’t,’ Bella said, thinking of the day, all those years ago, when her mother had left with her lover without even bothering to wave goodbye.
* * *
Edoardo found Bella almost buried in a ditch fifty metres from the front gate to the manor. She wound down the window as he stepped off the tractor. ‘If you’re going to say I told you so, then please don’t waste your breath,’ she said.
‘You don’t do things by halves, do you?’ he asked.
‘Can you get me out?’
‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Stay in the car and keep the wheels straight while I tow you out.’
She sat and glowered at him from behind the steering wheel as he hitched the towrope to the bumper bar. He towed the car out, and once it was out of the ditch, he got her to join him on the tractor for the journey back to the house. ‘Are you warm enough?’ he asked as he made room for her beside him on the seat. ‘You can have my jacket.’
‘I’m f-fine,’ she said through chattering teeth.
He shrugged himself out of his jacket and wrapped it around her slim shoulders. ‘You don’t have to fight me just for the heck of it, Bella,’ he said.
She bit her lip and looked away. ‘It’s a habit, I guess.’
‘Habits can be broken.’
Edoardo drove the tractor with the car towed behind all the way back to the manor. The snow kept falling but even more heavily now. It cloaked everything as far as the eye could see in a thick white blanket.
The air was tight with cold.
Every breath he or Bella exhaled came out in a foggy mist in front of their faces. He glanced at her and saw her huddled inside his coat, her hands gripping the edges together across her chest. She looked small, defenceless and vulnerable. ‘Hey,’ he said gently, bumping her shoulder with his.
She blinked and looked at him. ‘Sorry, did you say something?’
‘Penny for them.’
‘Pardon?’
‘Your thoughts,’ he said.
‘Oh...’
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.
‘Nothing.’ She looked away again and huddled further into his jacket.
Edoardo brought the tractor to a stop and helped her down. She hesitated before she placed her hand in his. ‘You’re freezing,’ he said, keeping her hand within the shelter of his.
‘I forgot to bring my gloves,’ she said.
He released her hand. ‘Go inside,’ he said. ‘I’ll sort your car out. Go get warm. I’ll be in in a minute.’
‘Edoardo?’
He straightened from where he was untying the towrope from the bumper bar and looked at her. ‘Yes?’
She chewed at her lower lip for a moment. ‘I need some extra money,’ she said. ‘Would you be able to transfer five thousand into my account?’
He frowned. ‘You don’t have a gambling problem, do you?’
Her eyes widened in affront. ‘Of course not!’
‘What do you want it for?’
Her expression became haughty. ‘I don’t see why I have to tell you what I spend my money on,’ she said.
‘You do while I’m still in control of it,’ he said.
‘My mother thinks you’re skimming off the profits to fund your own nest egg,’ she said with a hard little look.
‘And what do you think, Bella?’ he asked. ‘Do you think I’d stoop so low as to betray the trust your father placed in me?’
She turned to go to the house. ‘I need the money as soon as possible.’
‘For your mother, I presume?’
Her back stiffened, and after a tiny pause she turned back around to face him. ‘If it was your mother, what would you do?’ she asked.
‘You’re not helping her by propping her up all the time,’ he said. ‘She’s become dependent on you. You’ll have to wean her off or she’ll eventually drain you dry. It’s one of the reasons your father orchestrated things the way he did. He knew you would be too soft and generous. At least I can say no when it needs to be said.’
‘Did she ask you for money when she came the other day?’
‘Amongst other things.’
Her brows moved together. ‘What other things?’
‘I’m not going to badmouth your mother to you,’ he said. ‘Suffice to say I’m not her favourite person in the world.’
She nibbled at her lower lip. ‘I’m sorry if she offended you.’
‘I’ve got a thick skin,’ he said. ‘Now, go inside before yours is frozen solid.’
She met his gaze again. ‘I didn’t mean what I said earlier, you know. I think you’re one of the most decent men I’ve ever met.’
‘The cold has got to you, hasn’t it?’ Edoardo said with a teasing half-smile.
Her gaze fell away from his and he rolled up the towrop
e as he watched her walk towards the manor, her slim figure still encased in his jacket. It was so big on her it almost came to her knees. She looked like a child who had been playing in the dress-up box. He felt a funny tug inside his chest, as if a tiny stitch was being pulled against his heart.
Once the door had closed behind her, he let out a breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding. ‘Don’t even go there,’ he muttered under his breath and strode towards the barn.
CHAPTER EIGHT
EDOARDO came into the kitchen an hour later to find Bella poring over a cookbook that belonged to Mrs Baker. She had an apron on over her clothes and there was a swipe of flour across her left cheek. She looked up as he came in. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but I’m cooking dinner,’ she said. ‘I thought I should start to pull my weight around here since I can’t leave right now.’
He hitched up one brow. ‘Can you cook?’
She gave him a quelling look. ‘I’ve been taking lessons from one of my flatmates,’ she said. ‘She’s a sous chef in a restaurant in Soho.’
‘The one your ex-boyfriend owned?’
She gave a little sigh as she looked at the ingredients in front of her. ‘I only went out with him a couple of times,’ she said. ‘The press made it out to be much more than it was. They always do that.’
‘I guess everyone wants to know what Britain’s most eligible girl is up to,’ he said.
‘I sometimes wish I didn’t come from such a wealthy background,’ she said with a little frown.
Edoardo leaned against the counter. ‘You don’t mean that, surely?’ he said. ‘You lap it up. You always have. You wouldn’t know what to do with yourself if you didn’t have loads of money.’
‘My friends’ mothers give them money or buy them stuff or take them shopping,’ she said, still frowning. ‘I’m tired of feeling responsible for my mother’s bills.’
‘You gave her the money?’
‘Yes, and she hasn’t even sent a text or called me to thank me.’ She let out a dispirited sigh. ‘She’s probably spent it all by now.’
‘I’ve been thinking about what I said earlier,’ he said. ‘It’s really none of my business who you give your money to. She’s your mother. I guess you can’t turn your back on her.’