A Proposal from the Italian Count

by Lucy Gordon

  ‘The delivery is here,’ Lisa said excitedly.

  ‘Great. We’ll get it displayed at once.’

  ‘But there is so much!’ Lisa protested. ‘Where can we put it all?’

  ‘Over there,’ Jackie said, pointing to a large cabinet. ‘Move the stuff out of that and we’ll have room for everything.’

  They got to work. Jackie watched, delighted at the way everything was changing for the better—not just in the store but in her life.

  ‘It’s going to look wonderful,’ Lisa declared. ‘We’ll have to move some more things but—’

  Lisa checked herself, clearly distracted by something she’d seen a few feet away.

  Turning, Jackie saw Vittorio. After a glance at his grim face Lisa scuttled away.

  ‘Tania told me I’d find you here,’ he said. ‘She says you stayed all night.’

  He was scowling, and he sounded angry.

  Jackie regarded him, puzzled. ‘That’s right,’ she said. ‘I got so involved in my work here that I wanted to concentrate on it, so I was here all night. I’m sure you’re glad to know I’ve been working hard.’

  ‘I’m not sure I’m glad about what I’m seeing. You’ve taken over and changed a great deal here. I don’t remember us discussing it.’

  ‘We didn’t discuss it. There was a lucky chance—new stock that sold well. I’ve simply bought some more.’

  ‘Which I can see is being delivered now. When did you order it?’

  ‘Yesterday.’

  ‘Surely not. It can hardly have been delivered so soon.’

  ‘Let me show you.’

  She accessed the computer, bringing up details of the order, which Vittorio regarded with growing shock.

  ‘Look at the price of that stuff!’ he breathed. ‘You’ve bought so much of it, and paid all that extra money for a fast delivery. And you’ve done it without consulting me. Are you trying to make me bankrupt?’

  ‘Are you saying you can’t afford it? This from the man who tried to bribe me with a million pounds?’

  ‘Don’t dare say that. I didn’t try to bribe you. I just want to pay you what you’re entitled to. This is quite different. It isn’t about money. It’s about you trying to push me aside and take over.’

  ‘I’m not taking over. I’m just exercising the authority you gave me.’

  ‘I never meant it to be like this.’

  Her temper rose. Everything had seemed so wonderful before, and now he was ruining it.

  She faced him with blazing eyes. ‘You said I’d be in charge of my own department. That I’d have a team who would take my orders. I thought you meant it—but perhaps I should have understood you better.’

  ‘What the devil do you mean by that?’

  ‘I should have realised that you’re a man who says what suits him but doesn’t mean a word of it. When I ask you to live up to your promises, you object. When I stand up to you, you can’t cope.’

  His face tightened. ‘We’ve made jokes about you being a bully,’ he snapped, ‘but it’s not a joke. That’s what you are.’

  ‘I do not bully my staff.’

  ‘No, but you’re trying to bully me.’

  ‘Then we’re equal. We’re both bullies. That’s why we can never get things right between us.’

  ‘Don’t tempt me to fire you!’ he snapped.

  ‘You don’t need to. I resign here and now. It’s over. Finished.’

  ‘No, wait—Jackie—’

  ‘I mean it. I won’t put up with you dictating to me. It’s not what we agreed.’

  ‘We didn’t agree about you meeting men behind my back, but that didn’t stop you.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? This guy named Gary called and you hurried here to meet him yesterday. And you stayed the night,’

  ‘Did Tania—?’

  ‘Yes, she heard you talking to him. Where is he?’

  ‘In England.’

  He paused to give her a bitter glance, before turning away and heading for his office, where he wrenched open the door to the tiny bedroom. He saw that it was empty.

  ‘Where is he?’

  ‘He’s in England,’ Jackie said furiously. ‘He never came here and I haven’t seen him. I came here to get on with some work. Vittorio, you’re out of your mind. It was pure chance that he rang when he did.’

  ‘And you said you looked forward to seeing him.’

  ‘Only when I go back to England—which will now be soon. I’m finished here. I can’t work for you any more. You’re impossible.’

  He took hold of her at once. ‘I don’t want you to go.’

  ‘I didn’t ask what you want. I’m going.’

  ‘You’re not.’ His grip tightened. ‘We made an agreement—’

  ‘Which you have broken.’

  ‘That’s not true. I promised you status and authority—’

  ‘And you didn’t mean a word of it.’

  ‘You think so? Let’s see if I can change your mind.’ He glanced out through the door, where Lisa could just be seen. ‘Lisa!’

  Lisa entered the office, looking back and forth between them with a puzzled frown.

  ‘I want to talk to the other staff,’ Vittorio said. ‘See how many of them you can get in here.’

  ‘Some of them are busy serving.’

  ‘Just get the ones who are free. I have an important announcement to make.’

  When Lisa had gone Jackie asked, ‘What are you going to tell them?’

  ‘Wait and see.’

  ‘But isn’t it something I need to know?’

  ‘You mean I need your agreement? No way. Listen to what I have to say, and then you’ll know everything.’

  ‘But you can’t—’

  ‘Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do. I’m your boss. Whatever I say, you’ll have to accept it.’

  She could have screamed with frustration. His meaning was all too clear.

  Rather than let her embarrass him by resigning, he was going to shame her by dismissing her in front of an audience. She’d thought him better, more generous than this.

  The rest of the staff were coming into the room. Vittorio’s grip on her arm remained firm as he greeted them.

  ‘Gather round, everyone. I’ve got an announcement to make which will probably surprise you, but it’s the inevitable result of Jackie’s actions over the last two days.’

  Jackie tensed in anguish. Could this really be happening?

  ‘You’ve all seen how she’s plunged herself into work,’ Vittorio continued. ‘Increasing the stock, changing the arrangements. I reckon there’s only one response I can make to everything she’s done...’ He took a deep breath. ‘So I’ve decided to promote her. From now on she’ll have a place on the leadership team and a significant payrise.’

  A friendly cheer broke out, backed up by the sound of applause.

  Jackie barely heard. She was staring at Vittorio, trying to believe the words that were spinning in her head.

  He met her eyes, his own gleaming with ironic humour and something else that she wasn’t sure she could understand. He leaned down, murmuring, ‘Now you know what I wanted to say. Do you have any objections?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  Everyone crowded round her, patting her, congratulating her.

  ‘I don’t think I have any objections,’ she said.

  He leaned down again and whispered in her ear. ‘Think about it and tell me later.’

  ‘Yes,’ she agreed.

  Like everything else between them, it would have to be decided on later.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ‘WE’LL SETTLE THE details later,’ Vittorio told his employees
. ‘For the moment all you need to know is that Jackie is a great power.’

  He took Jackie’s hand so that she had no choice but to follow him out of the building to a small restaurant nearby. ‘Now for something to eat,’ he said. ‘After that I need something to boost my strength,’ he added when they were settled at the table.

  ‘So do I. You really enjoyed catching me on the wrong foot, didn’t you?’

  He turned, regarding her with an indignation that amazed her.

  ‘What did you say?’ he demanded. ‘You think I caught you on the wrong foot? No way. You threatened to leave and I responded by improving your position. Who won? I’d say you did.’

  ‘Oh, come on—’

  ‘You come on. You’ve transformed the department to suit your own ideas. When I ventured to protest you reduced me to silence. Let’s be clear who’s the strong one—and it’s not me.’

  His tone was almost light, yet she detected a hint of definite annoyance.

  She smiled at him. ‘For a moment I thought you were really angry,’ she said.

  ‘No, I know how to accept defeat.’

  ‘I wasn’t trying to defeat you—’

  ‘We’ll have to disagree about that. But the sight of your face when I said you were promoted is something I’ll always remember.’

  ‘Did you really mean it?’ she asked. ‘It sounds so incredible.’

  ‘Then you’ll have to prove I got it right, won’t you?’

  ‘I’ll try. And, however it may seem, I really am grateful. I thought you were going to dismiss me—’

  ‘No way. You’re far too valuable for me to risk throwing you away. You’re going to make me a big profit.’

  ‘But think of the money you’ve risked by doubling my salary.’

  ‘True. I shall have to work you twice as hard.’ He grinned. ‘Perhaps you should be afraid.’

  ‘The one thing I can’t imagine is being afraid of you.’

  ‘Is that true?’ he asked ironically.

  It wasn’t, but just now it seemed better to be tactful.

  ‘True enough,’ she said. ‘Thank you for what you did today. I’m really grateful.’

  ‘So we’re friends again?’ he asked.

  ‘I guess we are.’

  He smiled and began to lean towards her. For a moment she thought he meant to kiss her, but suddenly his face lit up.

  ‘Stefano!’ he cried. ‘Fancy finding you here!’

  Looking around, Jackie saw a good-looking man in his thirties standing a few feet away. The man approached the table and sat down in the chair that Vittorio had pulled out for him.

  When they had clapped each other on the shoulder Vittorio said, ‘Jackie, let me introduce you to my great friend—Barone Stefano Fedele.’

  She shook his hand. ‘Signor Barone.’

  ‘Call me Stefano,’ he said, kissing her hand theatrically. ‘A friend of Vittorio’s is a friend of mine.’

  ‘Come and eat with us,’ Vittorio said.

  ‘I would love to, but I’m in a hurry. I’ll see you at the ball.’ He grinned cheekily. ‘If I’m invited.’

  ‘You know you are. Always!’

  ‘It’ll be a great evening. As always. Now, I must go, but I look forward to seeing you.’

  He hurried away.

  ‘What a nice man,’ Jackie said.

  ‘Yes, he’s got a lot of charm. Too much sometimes.’

  ‘Too much?’

  ‘A bit of a flirt. Did you notice how he kissed your hand?’

  ‘Yes. Charming...’

  ‘His name means “faithful”. And never did a man have a less appropriate name. He’s what is politely known as a playboy. The impolite version you can probably imagine.’

  ‘Okay, you’ve warned me. I won’t go falling for him.’

  ‘Do you ever fall for any man?’ he asked with a touch of humour.

  ‘That depends on the man. Sometimes I have to be wary of a man because he’s nice enough to tempt me. Others don’t fit the bill.’

  ‘How long does it take you to decide which category a guy fits into?’

  ‘It varies. Sometimes ten seconds is enough, and sometimes I have to give him a chance.’

  She sounded well experienced in dealing with unwanted men, Vittorio thought. He wondered in which of the two categories she would place himself, and was briefly tempted to ask her—in a jokey manner. But caution made him resist the temptation.

  He was still troubled by the memory of the kiss he had ventured to give her two days ago, and how it had affected him so intensely that he’d backed off in fear—rejecting her and rejecting his own inner self that had started to make him aware of things that troubled him.

  He longed to know if the memory haunted her too. But he had an uneasy feeling that perhaps it amused her.

  They barely spoke on the journey home. Once there, he returned to work in his office and she joined Tania, who was deep in planning for the ball.

  ‘Things are building up,’ she said. ‘We’ve started receiving replies to the invitations. All acceptances. Nobody ever refuses.’

  She showed Jackie the guest list, on which some names had been marked with a tick to indicate acceptance.

  ‘You can tick Baron Stefano Fedele,’ Jackie said. ‘We met him this afternoon and he’s looking forward to it.’

  ‘You met him? Tell me more.’

  Beaming, Tania listened as Jackie described the meeting.

  ‘He’s a good friend,’ Tania said. ‘And we need some of those to counterbalance the crowd of women who’ll turn up and flaunt themselves. I wish we could keep them out, but they come from notable families and we have to invite them all out of good manners. We can’t tell them to leave their daughters behind!’ Tania sighed. ‘By far the worst woman we will be forced to endure is the woman who betrayed my nephew in the past.’

  ‘She’s actually invited?’ Jackie gasped. ‘After what she did?’

  ‘Her husband is the Duke of Revendo. His family have always been part of high society, invited to all notable occasions. If they were left out everyone would know why. And the gossip would be terrible. Vittorio simply can’t risk having people giggle about how he was rejected by the Duchess because he wasn’t noble enough.’

  Jackie was stunned. In her mind Vittorio was the stern, determined man who had rescued her from Rik and used his strength to defend her. They had shared occasional jokes, and the night he had collapsed in the Rome hotel had shown her a gentler side to him. But never for a moment had he seemed as vulnerable as Tania’s words now suggested.

  Had something changed for him that night? Had there been a moment when he’d dreamed the woman lying beside him was the beloved he’d lost? Had she, Jackie, looked different to him ever since?

  She couldn’t tell. But suddenly, with all her heart, she longed to know.

  Tania hesitated before asking quietly, ‘Is everything all right between you and Vittorio—about that other man?’

  ‘There isn’t another man. I know you heard me talk to Gary on the phone, but I didn’t go into town to meet him. He’s in England.’

  ‘Oh, dear. I’m afraid I told Vittorio about his call and...’ She sighed helplessly.

  ‘And he thought the worst because he thinks no woman can be trusted. Why is he so sure of that? I know about this woman who deceived him with another man, but surely he’s had time to grow out of that?’

  ‘You’re right. It’s not just her. It was his mother too. He adored her. They were very close, and he felt he was the centre of her life until she deserted him.’

  ‘She ran away with another man?’

  ‘No, she died in childbirth—but the baby came from an affair with another man. The baby died too. They’re buried together. I once saw Vittori
o looking at that grave, and what I read in his face was heartbreaking. He loved her so much, and had always felt she loved him, and yet she lay there with another son in hers arms for ever.’

  ‘But that’s terrible,’ Jackie said. ‘How could he bear it?’

  ‘It still causes him great pain. To be fair, I can’t entirely blame his mother. His father was never faithful. He slept with dozens of other women and she took refuge in affairs of her own. They did it to get back at each other, but it was their child who suffered.’

  ‘And it’s still with him, even now?’

  ‘Yes. If even his mother couldn’t be trusted, then he believes no woman can be trusted.’

  ‘And then there was this girl who betrayed him?’

  ‘Worst of all is our being forced to receive her at the ball. But now I suggest an early night,’ Tania said. ‘From now on we will have a mountain of work to do.’

  As they left the room Jackie and Tania continued to discuss the ball for a while longer before Vittorio joined them. Tania was talking enthusiastically about the costume she planned to wear before turning to Jackie.

  ‘Jackie, I really think you should wear Lady Nanetta’s gown. What about you Vittorio? Modern evening dress?’

  ‘No, if Jackie agrees I will be taking my costume from the guy in the picture next to Lady Nanetta. Let’s have a look at him now.’

  Vittorio and Jackie went to the gallery to find the picture he was talking about. Jackie studied it with fascination. He was a tall man in Regency attire. The trousers were white, the jacket dark blue.

  ‘You’re going to wear that?’ Jackie asked.

  ‘If I can get into it. I think I probably can.’

  ‘All the women who want to be in your harem will love it.’

  ‘If I wanted a harem I’d be flattered by that remark. As it is, I’ll remind you that you’re here to protect me.’

  Tania appeared in the doorway of the gallery then, beckoning Vittorio over. He went to talk to her and Jackie went up to her room. She wanted to be alone to get her thoughts together.

  She had been troubled before by a guilty feeling that she was enjoying this luxury at the expense of her father’s suffering.

  She reached into her bag. After few moments she found what she was seeking and took it out to study it. It was a photograph that she had taken of her father ten years ago. There was George’s face, gazing back at her, his eyes as gentle and warm as she remembered them.