by Betsy Swann
CHAPTER TEN
When Enzo stepped out of the lift and entered the entrance hall, Izzy was nowhere to be seen. He glanced at his watch. Ten past five, he was slightly delayed. She should be here, waiting for him, not the other way round. Unless…
His mouth pressed into a thin line, he strode across the marble floor to ask at the reception desk whether she had checked out, when unexpectedly he glimpsed her willowy figure outside on the piazza in front of the hotel, her long blond hair slightly blowing in the wind.
He stopped in his tracks and changed direction. Dio, she was beautiful. The most stunning woman he had ever laid eyes on and the only one who consistently managed to touch his heart. When she had been so upset upstairs in her bedroom after seeing that photo of Luca and his new lover, he’d almost taken her into his arms to console her. It had taken all of his control to keep his hands off her. Maledizione! And where consoling her was concerned…
A steep line appeared between his brows. He wasn’t interested in her feelings, no way. All he wanted was to bed her, and that was the only reason why he couldn’t get her out of his head. On the plane he’d closed his eyes, still shattered after his restless night, only to find himself fantasising about kissing her, again, and again and again. The fact that she had been sitting in the chair next to him with the lemony scent of her shampoo temptingly wafting around his nostrils hadn’t been helpful either.
There was no reason to seduce her now that Luca had already found someone else and didn’t need to be convinced that Izzy was as slutty as they came. Still, Enzo found himself wanting to seduce her; longing to seduce her; needing to seduce her. Hell, he wanted to bury himself inside her and never let go until she was finally out of his system - and now his brother had left her, there was nothing that could possibly stop him.
Her face slightly bent sideways and her silver hair glinting in the sun, Izzy greeted him with a smile.
‘I left a note at the reception desk where you could find me,’ she said. ‘I hope you got the message.’
‘I didn’t, in fact,’ he replied. ‘But I spotted you easily enough. You’re like a beam of sunlight with all that long blond hair. I merely had to follow the admiring whistles of my fellow Italians.’ He pointed at the sunglasses she had shoved back into her hair. ‘You’d better wear them, unless you’re keen on ruining your eyes.’
‘It’s already late in the afternoon and the sun is not that strong anymore.’
‘If you’re sure about this…’ With a shrug of his shoulders Enzo changed the topic. ‘So tell me then, have you had any ideas yet how to improve the entrance hall, or am I putting too much pressure on you, so shortly after our arrival?’
Izzy pushed a strand of hair that had been flying in the wind behind her ear and carefully sat down on the edge of the impressive marble fountain in the middle of the piazza.
‘You are a bit pushy,’ she admitted with a grin and slightly bent to the side to let her fingers flitter through the clear water. ‘But this is your lucky day. I’ve had a few ideas that I’d like to run past you, if you have the time.’
He sat down next to her and looked at her expectantly. ‘Fire away.’
Half an hour later Enzo had to admit that he was hooked. Her vision for a possible new design of the entrance hall included the most inspiring, beautiful and heart wrenchingly beguiling ideas he’d ever come across - at least from any of the designers who’d been working for him in the past. And, even better, it wouldn’t cost the earth. Enzo couldn’t believe that she’d come up with such a perfect plan in such a short time. After all, he’d hardly left her a moment to think about it before he had wanted to hear her ideas.
‘Wow,’ he said raking his hand through his dark locks. ‘I’m speechless.’
She looked at him questioningly. ‘You like it?’
‘I do,’ he said grinning from ear to ear. ‘I really do. Turning the entrance hall into some kind of outside piazza with the help of a mirrored wall at the far end and a central water feature sounds just about perfect for the wow-effect I’d like to create.’
‘My idea was to place a semi-circular fountain against the mirrored wall. That way it will be reflected in the mirror and appear round to the eye, just like this fountain outside the hotel in the piazza,’ Izzy explained flitting her fingers through the cool waters once again. ‘The sound of the font will have a fresh and soothing effect. I thought we could dot a few potted lemon trees along the walls to bring the outside in even further - again just like here in the piazza.’
‘I agree with just about everything,’ Enzo beamed, more than happy with the outcome of her brainstorming. He glanced at his watch. ‘I’m sorry, I have another meeting coming up, so please forgive me for rushing off. My plan was to take you out to dinner tonight, if you don’t mind. Would eight o’clock suit you?’
Hesitantly Izzy wrenched her fingers, suddenly visibly pent-up like a rabbit facing the muzzle of a shotgun. ‘Dinner?’
She seemed frightened, but he quashed the idea straight away. There must be another reason. How the hell could she possibly worry about having dinner with him - a mere dinner - experienced as she was? Dio, she had spent many a steaming hot night with half the millionaire club. Carson, Hetherington, Luca and heaven knew who else had shared her bed… How come she started to play the innocent now, the one who couldn’t even accept a dinner invitation without blushing?
Had she set her eyes on him now, after Luca wasn’t available anymore? Was that why she was playing this act, or what was it about?
Whatever, he wouldn’t give her any choice in that matter.
‘Dinner, eight o’clock,’ he reconfirmed. ‘We’ll talk business for much of the time, but I’d like you to wear a little black dress. Something short and elegant to match the other diners. You did bring some evening clothes along, didn’t you?’
She nodded. ‘Eight o’clock suits me fine.’
***
As soon as Enzo had left, Izzy relaxed. Of course she had brought a several elegant dresses, together with a stunning gown for the upcoming charity ball for which she had designed young Ruby’s fairy tale dress.
For a moment she had feared that dinner with him might be too intimate. He was too attractive, too dark and handsome for her liking, and she didn’t trust herself when he was around. Not after the way she had melted in his embrace when he had kissed her before. But a business dinner in the hotel restaurant was different. As long as they talked about design, or his hotels or any type of work she was happy to follow him wherever he took her. Everything else was out of the question. As much as she longed to lie in his arms, her heart still hadn’t properly healed after the end of their engagement, and she just couldn’t risk having it broken again.
Izzy cursed herself for bringing these sun glasses to Italy. She’d nearly worn them in Enzo’s company. Thankfully she’d realised that they were exactly the same model Bella had taken with her to Las Vegas, and quickly pushed them up into her hair. There was every chance that another picture turned up soon with her sister wearing them. No way could she run the risk of Enzo noticing the similarity between their faces hidden behind the same sun glasses. Without further ado she paid the hotel boutique a visit to get hold of another pair. Something funky and colourful, the exact opposite of the classic designer frames Bella and she had been presented by their brother for their last birthday.
Unfortunately she found the available choice of sunglasses lacking - all of them came in the sleek designer style she already owned. So Izzy spent the remainder of the afternoon checking out the surrounding area and especially several small boutiques that caught her eye. In the end she bought a funky set of sunglasses in a vivid blue matching the colour of her eyes and a white silk top with a sleek bow tie collar that she hadn’t been able to resist.
When she returned to the suite there was only half an hour left before she was due to meet Enzo. She left her shopping on a low table in her room and opened her wardrobe to glance at its contents.
; A little black dress, he had demanded, but quite frankly she owned no such thing. The dresses she designed for herself ranged from colourful and fun to more sophisticated creations in muted colours but certainly nothing in black.
Well, for tonight she needed something suitably businesslike, which instantly excluded everything showing too much cleavage, if any, or too much leg. On the other hand, Enzo had especially demanded she’d match the other diners, and Italian women were widely known for their elegance and style.
Having decided on a slim fitting shift dress covered in large silver sequins, one of her newest designs that she still needed to test for comfort and practicability before it could be added to the Clarissima collection, she stepped into the bathroom.
As soon as she switched on the light the glittering bathroom curtains in a stunning shade of mermaid blue caught her eye. Curiously she went closer to feel the shiny fabric. It turned out to be pure silk in an excellent heavy quality, its edges embellished with beautiful ornate stitching and sparkling rhinestones. Smiling she let her fingers glide along the silk. No way would she recommend a redesign of this particular bathroom. It was much too perfect down to the last detail.
After a quick shower, she slipped into her dress, stepped into a pair of matching evening sandals and added the merest touch of make-up. Just a bit of mascara and eye liner to highlight the shape of her eyes and a hint of pink lip gloss on her lips. Satisfied with her looks, Izzy shook her hair until it fell down to her hips like a cascade of silver and grabbed her purse.
Enzo already waited for her in the living room of the suite, impeccably dressed in a white dinner jacket and as breathtakingly beautiful as ever. Izzy took a deep breath to steel herself against the impact of his concentrated sexiness.
This is business, she reminded herself. He is your boss, so stop longing for more.
‘Perfect,’ he said into the stillness of the room.
‘What is perfect?’
He made a vague all-encompassing movement with his hands. ‘The timing, the dress, your hair… Everything. You look stunning tonight, Izzy.’
‘Thank you,’ she whispered, not sure what to make of his unexpected compliment.
‘No worries.’ He gave her a lop-sided grin as if he’d been reading her mind. ‘I don’t plan to clubber you over the head at the first opportunity and drag you into my bedroom. As I’ve already told you, this is predominantly a business dinner. I’ve already booked the table yesterday, back in London. It’s not far from here, but I suggest we go by car.’
‘So we won’t be eating at the ‘Vallorini’?’ Izzy couldn’t hide her surprise. ‘I was already looking forward to it.’
He smiled. ‘You’ll have plenty of opportunity to savour the delights of the hotel restaurant in the next couple of weeks, but for tonight I’ve planned something else. I hope you won’t be disappointed with my choice of venue. I’ve been there before and can promise you that it’s just perfect for a night out. Cosy atmosphere, lovingly prepared food, soft background music…but we’ll be spying on the competition.’
‘Oh.’
Enzo guided her to the lift. ‘You might know the place, actually. It’s one of Hetherington’s hotels, the Doria.’
Izzy lowered her lashes. Of course she knew the Doria. It was one of the ten hotels she owned, one of those she had put up for sale. Only last year she’d been to Rome in order to oversee the hotel’s redesign, and she was more than content with the way it had turned out. Now more than ever the Doria was one of a few outstanding places to stay in Rome, and the bookings kept coming and coming…
‘You want to spy on them?’ He couldn’t be serious. Izzy threw him a disbelieving glance while the lift silently carried them downstairs. ‘What do you mean?’
The lift doors slid open.
‘It’s not what you think,’ he replied following her outside and through the entrance hall. ‘I just want to have a good look around their new restaurant. It was redesigned last year, and I was hoping you could use a few of their ideas for the ‘Vallorini’.’
She couldn’t help breaking into laughter.
‘What’s so funny?’ Irritated he raised his brow. ‘I thought it would be a good idea, but obviously you seem to think otherwise.’
‘So who do you think redesigned the Doria, when it was refurbished last year?’ she asked, still very much amused. ‘Have you already forgotten where I’ve been employed before I came to work for your brother?’
He stared at her blankly, and only then it seemed to dawn on him. ‘You mean you helped with the new design of that restaurant?’
‘Of course I did,’ she reconfirmed. ‘I was in Clarissa’s design team, remember? And we did not just redesign the restaurant but the whole hotel – and afterwards the nine others.’
‘In that case you must tell me everything about the changes Clarissa decided upon, and why she felt they were necessary,’ he said and held the back door of the waiting limousine open for her. ‘I can’t wait to hear more about that.’
In hindsight it was most fortunate that Izzy had admitted to Enzo that she knew the hotel and had even worked here the previous year, because her visit didn’t go unnoticed. All the employees at the Doria knew her, of course, just as she knew them by name down to the cleaning personnel.
As soon as she stepped across the threshold side by side with her new boss, the receptionist welcomed her with a warm smile.
‘What a pleasure to have you here again, Ms Jones,’ he gushed and insisted on personally guiding them to the restaurant where he left them in the capable hands of the maître d’, who greeted her with a bow and the assertion that their meal was on the house, of course, and that the manager would come to their table shortly to personally welcome her and her companion.
While Enzo watched the whole spectacle in sheer disbelief, Izzy became more and more flustered. One wrong word of one of the employees, and Enzo would find out that she was the owner of the hotel, not just a former member of Nick Hetherington’s design team. Inconspicuously she wiped her sweaty palms on her napkin and secretly prayed to her guardian angel to take good care of her tonight.
‘Amazing,’ Enzo finally uttered with a disbelieving glance at the caviar canapés and the Veuve Clicquot champagne that had miraculously appeared on their table without having been ordered. ‘It seems you made a really good impression on the staff when you worked on this redesign.’
Izzy managed a weak smile. ‘I feel quite embarrassed about all this fuss, actually,’ she said, her eyes firmly set on the tiny bubbles eagerly drifting to the surface from the bottom of her champagne flute. ‘If we could just forget about it now and change the topic, I’d be more than grateful.’
‘Of course,’ Enzo said with a thoughtful glance. ‘So tell me then about the redesign of this restaurant.’
Izzy was much relieved about the change of topic and happily explained how the room had looked before the alterations, and why they had decided to go for certain improvements.
‘Believe it or not, the general outline of what needed to be changed was suggested by a team of psychologists,’ she explained. ‘I don’t have enough expert knowledge to go into the fine detail now, but they gave great advice about colour choices, the perfect distance between tables or general pet hates that should be avoided.’
‘Pet hates?’
‘The chair backs used to rounded, for instance,’ she said. ‘But when the ladies tried to hang their bags over the back rest, they constantly slipped down, which was very annoying. In the end we ordered new chairs. Now the handbags can’t slip to the floor anymore.’
Chuckling Enzo tucked into his seafood risotto. ‘So what about colour choices?’
Izzy looked across the room, her eyes pointing to several wide double doors leading to adjoining eating areas.
‘This used to be a very large restaurant, optically divided into smaller, more intimate sections by palm trees and the odd statue of a Roman goddess. But, quite frankly, it was just too extensive and not cosy at
all.’ She sighed. ‘The food was excellent, but the room didn’t cater for couples in love, families with children or guests travelling on their own.’
Enzo leaned forward. ‘So all that was changed?’
‘We created several different dining rooms, leaving the largest one for families with children. The smaller areas of the restaurant are now used for intimate dinners or guests, who travel alone. Of course there are also rooms for special events and business dinners.‘ Izzy took a sip of champagne. ‘Where the colour choices are concerned, we trusted the psychologists’ advice. Red makes you eat more and embark in conversation. Yellow and orange are warm colours giving a feeling of happiness, but in a hot country like Italy you have to be careful not to overuse them. The colour white actually incorporates all the colours of the spectrum, but you have to gently accentuate it with complimentary colours and clever lightning to turn a predominantly white room into an intimate eating place.’
‘Let me guess,’ Enzo grinned. ‘No cool colours like blue or green?’
She answered with a smile. ‘Quite right, cool colours can be very relaxing in bedrooms or bathrooms, especially if they’re south facing, but they’re not ideal for eating rooms, if used in abundance.’
The meal went by with her happily chatting about her work at the hotel, and before she knew it the waiter served coffee and mints.
Enzo stirred sugar into his coffee. ‘So tell me about Clarissa,’ he asked unexpectedly. ‘You haven’t mentioned her once.’
‘Clarissa?’ Izzy swallowed hard. So here was her nemesis. ‘Why would I mention her?’
Enzo shrugged his shoulders. ‘Because you were her assistant, for instance. Because she is bloody well famous and a true inspiration – although you don’t seem to think so.’ The corners of his mouth curled cynically. ‘The way you spoke about the redesign tonight, your pride about it all… It almost sounded as if you were responsible for it, not her.’