by Miranda Lee
Bella could not have been more astonished. ‘You honestly think so?’
Maria looked offended. ‘I do not tell lies. Only the truth.’
‘Oh, Maria, I do so hope you’re right. I think I will die if he doesn’t love me back.’
Maria rolled her eyes. ‘And they say Italians women are drama queens.’
Bella laughed. ‘Oh, you are funny. Now I guess I’d better go get myself showered and dressed. I have work to do.’
By lunchtime a very happy Bella was back from the village with a lovely gift for Sergio, a not-too-mushy birthday card and far too many pastries. But they’d all looked so delicious she simply hadn’t been able to choose. She found Maria happily humming in the kitchen, the sponge layered cake already cooked but not yet filled and iced.
‘So what present did you buy?’ Maria asked her straight away.
‘A very expensive cologne.’ It was from Paris, of course. And was aptly named Seduction.
‘He will like that. Sergio is very fashionable these days.’
‘He certainly is.’
‘I am about to make some lunch. Would you like some?’
‘Yes, please.’
They ate their ham and tomato rolls out by the pool, washed down with freshly squeezed orange juice. The day was dry and hot, growing hotter by the second. Bella was contemplating spending the afternoon in the pool when her attention was grabbed by a water taxi pulling in at the small pier that jutted out next to their boatshed. A man alighted. A tall, elegantly built man wearing fawn cargo shorts, a bright purple polo and wraparound sunglasses. He had collar-length wavy brown hair, which glinted in the sunshine as he walked with long, confident strides towards them, an overnight bag swinging by his right side.
Bella did not recognise him in the slightest.
‘Maria, do you know who that man is?’
‘Sì. It is the English friend of Sergio. He stay here sometimes. His name is Jeremy. His last name is too long for me to remember.’
‘Good Lord. Jeremy!’ Bella exclaimed just as the man himself was close enough to hear her.
Once he reached the shade of the terrace he swept off his sunglasses and grinned rakishly at her. ‘Good Lord,’ he said, a speculative glint in his sparkling blue eyes. ‘Bella!’
Bella was not surprised that he recognised her. Her face was well known. She also presumed he knew she and Sergio had once been stepbrother and sister. According to Sergio they’d been close friends since their early Oxford days.
‘And what are you doing here, might I ask?’ Jeremy went on in a voice that made a mockery of his pretty-boy image. It was deep and rich and very masculine. ‘Or is that a rude question? Have you and Sergio been conducting a secret affair that he never told me about?’
Bella tried not to blush, but failed.
‘Well, well, well,’ was all he said before pulling out a chair and turning a warm smile towards Maria. ‘Hello, Maria, darling. You’re looking well. How’s that big Italian brute treating you? I mean Carlo, not the birthday boy. Who is where, might I ask? Don’t tell me I’ve come all this way to surprise him and he’s not even home!’
Maria stood up, slightly a-fluster also. Bella could see why Jeremy was such a hit with the ladies. He was a charmer all right. And sinfully good-looking. But not her type at all.
‘Sergio, he has gone to work,’ Maria said coquettishly as she cleared the table. ‘In Milan. But he will be home this evening.’
‘Well, thank God for that.’
‘Would you like something to eat or drink, Mr Jeremy?’ Maria offered. ‘I am brewing some real coffee. We also have lots of pastries.’
‘Sounds good. I’ll eat and drink whatever you put in front of me, Maria. Your food is second to none. And your coffee...’ He kissed the tips of his fingers before flourishing them wide in a very flamboyant gesture. ‘I would come all this way just for some of your coffee.’
Maria gave Bella a droll look that said, See? Some people like real coffee.
Bella sighed, and Maria hurried off, Bella wondering exactly how she was going to explain her presence here at Sergio’s villa. In the end, she decided the truth was a good start, telling him about her attending his father’s funeral last year where Sergio had given her his phone number and said if she ever needed his help, to ring him.
‘I never saw you at his father’s funeral,’ Jeremy said, sounding perplexed.
‘I was in disguise. Wore a dark wig and glasses.’
‘I see,’ he said, nodding. ‘I gather, then, since you’re here, that you ran into some kind of trouble.’
‘Yes. A couple of weeks ago. I was suffering from a case of severe burnout at the time and desperately needed to get away. I remembered Sergio’s offer as well as the wonderful holidays I spent here when our parents were married. So I rang and asked to rent his villa for a holiday.’
‘And this was a couple of weeks ago?’ Jeremy queried, a frown forming on his high forehead.
‘Yes, why?’
‘No particular reason. Just wondering why Sergio didn’t tell me about it. He’s usually not so secretive. But surely he’s not making you pay rent to stay here.’
‘No, no. Of course not. He said that he couldn’t rent the villa to me as he would be here some of the time himself. Instead, he suggested I stay as his guest. I was more than grateful, believe me. Admittedly, he did make me promise not to tell anyone where I was going. He was worried the media might get a hold of where I was and the paparazzi would be hovering over the villa in helicopters to take photos of us together. You know what they’re like.’
‘Not personally. I don’t have your kind of public profile. But Sergio still could have told me. I wouldn’t have told anyone.’ He gave her a long considering look. ‘So how’s the holiday going so far?’
‘Oh...er...it’s been very nice. Very...relaxing.’ What else could she say? If Sergio had wanted Jeremy to know about her staying here he would have told him.
‘You certainly look relaxed,’ Jeremy said, his tone a little dry. ‘Sergio’s obviously been looking after you very well.’
Bella knew exactly what he was implying. But no way was she about to admit to anything with Sergio at this stage other than friendship. It would be up to Sergio to tell him, if he wanted to. Though if he was serious about her, if he loved her the way Maria thought he did, then why wouldn’t he want to tell his friend?
Jeremy wasn’t the only one who was beginning to feel perplexed.
Maria appeared at that moment with a ham and tomato roll for Jeremy and a cup of very strong-looking coffee.
‘Thanks heaps, Maria,’ he said.
‘My pleasure,’ Maria cooed.
Bella was watching Jeremy tuck into the food when she decided that she couldn’t just sit there, wondering. So she came to a decision and stood up. ‘If you’ll excuse me, Jeremy, I’m going to go up to my room and give Sergio a call. Let him know that you’re here.’
‘Good idea. And whilst you’re talking to him, tell him to get himself home, pronto, so that we can have a proper birthday party.’
‘He might not want to do that, Jeremy. He told me last night that he had some very important meetings organised for today.’
Jeremy rolled his eyes. ‘Typical. That man is a workaholic.’
‘Yes,’ Bella said. ‘He is. A bit.’ But she liked that about him. Liked his perfectionism. Liked his intelligence and capacity for hard work. Of course, she would have preferred that he stay home with her all day instead of driving to Milan; that he would devote every hour of the evening to making love instead of chatting with her about the various changes he’d put in place during that particular day.
But she was in no position to complain, or insist. She was just his friend with benefits so far, not even a real girlfriend. She’d been hoping that Sergio
would say something about that over the last two weeks. But he hadn’t, despite their many deep and meaningful conversations. Their sex life was also better than ever, and even more intimate. A starkly erotic image sprung to mind of her being bound to that four-poster bed yesterday. Naked, of course. In the afternoon, in the daylight, with everything exposed to those dark smouldering eyes of his, every part of her body accessible to his large knowing hands. But she’d felt no shame, only excitement and the most exquisite of tensions, followed by the most incredible releases. At one stage he’d left her there, alone, whilst he’d gone downstairs for a reviving swim, returning with his body all cold and dripping wet, straddling her straight away and presenting himself to her mouth for her to...
‘Tell you what, Bella,’ Jeremy said, interrupting her runaway train of thought.
‘What?’ she said, hoping she didn’t look as hot as she was suddenly feeling.
‘Don’t you ring him. Leave that up to me.’
‘But...but...’
‘Trust me when I say there isn’t a meeting alive which can’t be postponed, or shortened, or abandoned altogether. All you have to know is what to say.’
Bella winced inside. She tried to think of a logical reason why she should ring Sergio and not Jeremy, but nothing came to her scrambled mind. On top of that he was already getting his phone out of his pocket. In the end, she had no option but to sit back down and try not to look panic-stricken. Though why she should be panic-stricken, Bella had no idea. There was no real reason for her to worry. But worry wasn’t always logical. Sometimes, it was instinctive.
As she watched Jeremy fiddling with his phone— obviously bringing up Sergio’s number—a feeling of imminent doom swamped Bella. She could not imagine what would be said between the two friends that would burst her bubble of happiness, but she just knew that something would. All of a sudden she wished that she’d told Sergio over the weekend that she loved him. She almost had, several times, but had always changed her mind.
She hoped that it was not too late.
But Bella had an awful suspicion that it was...
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
THE MEETING WITH the designers for the new ranges of shoes and bags had just concluded when Sergio’s phone buzzed. He smiled when he glanced at the ID of the caller. Trust Jeremy to remember that it was his birthday. Alex hadn’t, but then Alex wasn’t into birthdays. Rather like Sergio himself. Jeremy, however, had used all sorts of reasons for them to get together over the years, especially after they left Oxford and went their own ways to a degree, birthdays having constituted the perfect excuse for a reunion. They never exchanged presents or cards, just had dinner somewhere swanky where the bill for the wine and meals could have fed a small country for a week. According to Alex, that was.
Well, there would be no expensive get-togethers this year, with Alex in Sydney and Sergio in Milan. Sad, really. But then Sergio remembered his plan to marry Bella before the year was out. His friends would surely come to his wedding.
Sergio refused to countenance the possibility that Bella might not say yes when he finally confessed his love and proposed. Failure, he’d resolved during the last two weeks, was not an option. He loved her too much for that. And felt sure she loved him in return. It was just a matter of waiting till enough time had passed for her to be confident of his love. He’d almost said something over the weekend but decided in the end it was still too soon.
He lifted the phone to his ear and said ‘Pronto,’ without thinking, his mind still on Bella.
‘Good God!’ Jeremy boomed. ‘Two weeks back in Italy and he’s gone native! If I knew how to say happy birthday in Italian I would. But I don’t. So happy birthday, dear friend. Have you heard from Alex yet?’
Sergio laughed. ‘Are you kidding me? Alex is hard pushed to remember his own birthday. So the answer to that is a resounding no.’
‘I dare say he’s down there in the great land of Oz, making more millions and giving most of it away.’
‘Probably.’ Alex had told them years ago that his goal to become a billionaire was so that he could make a difference to the migrant communities he’d grown up in in the far western suburbs of Sydney where unemployment was high and life pretty tough. He’d been able to get out and live a better life himself because of his near-genius intelligence, but he’d never forgotten his roots. As a philanthropist went, Alex was the real deal. ‘I’ve been expecting an email from him,’ Sergio said, ‘asking for a donation from our share of the franchise deal.’
‘Don’t worry. It’ll come.’
‘True. Now enough about Alex, what have you been up to? Bought an ailing advertising company yet?’
‘No. But I have bought an ailing publishing company.’
‘That’s very impulsive of you, considering you don’t know anything about publishing.’
‘I’m an impulsive kind of guy. Guess what I’m doing right now?’
‘Let’s see. Reading a manuscript, perhaps?’
‘Very funny. I’ll be leaving that up to the editors, especially the new gung-ho one I hired this week to put a bomb up the old ones. No, I’m sitting by a fabulous pool with the most beautiful blonde by my side.’
‘That’s hardly news, Jeremy. Isn’t that how you spend most of your summers?’ Up till now, besides giving him a hand with the financial side of the WOW franchise, Jeremy had worked as an investment consultant in the London branch of his family’s highly successful merchant bank. His consultancy, however, was mostly done by phone or email. He spent winters on the ski-fields of Europe and summers at the family’s country home down in Cornwall, with his latest blonde girlfriend by his side. Jeremy had a preference for blondes.
‘True,’ he said. ‘But I don’t always spend them on Lake Como.’
Shock—and something else—had Sergio snapping forward on the chair. If Jeremy meant what he thought he meant, then the beautiful blonde by his side was Bella.
Play it cool, Sergio, he warned himself before panic—and a surge of jealousy—took hold.
‘You sneaky devil,’ he said in what he hoped was a casual tone. ‘You tried to surprise me on my birthday, didn’t you?’
‘Guilty as charged. But I didn’t expect you to be absent without leave. I thought you were going to have some time off before you tried to rescue the family firm. Or so you said the day we sold the franchise.’
‘I was. Initially. But that was before I invited Bella to stay.’
‘Yes, she told me about that. And about her going to your father’s funeral. In disguise, no less.’
Sergio sucked in sharply. Clearly, Jeremy had wormed out quite a few details from Bella already. He was good at that. Hopefully, she hadn’t told him that they were sleeping together. Though if she hadn’t, then Maria undoubtedly would. Maybe not directly, but she’d drop enough hints for someone as intelligent as Jeremy to get the gist of things. Sergio didn’t mind Jeremy knowing they were having an intimate relationship, or even that he was in love with Bella. What worried him was his saying things to her before he had a chance to, things like his thirty-fifth birthday bringing an end to his bachelor status, not to mention his confessed intentions to marry and have a family. He probably wouldn’t—Jeremy was no blabbermouth—but Sergio couldn’t take the chance.
‘Yes, that’s right,’ he said. ‘She came to the funeral to apologise for the way her mother had treated my father. That’s how we came to be in touch again. And yes, you’re right, I didn’t tell you or Alex for reasons which will become obvious in due time. Anyway, Jeremy, enough about that for now. I have a favour to ask you. Don’t say anything, just listen. This is important.’
‘Okay...’
‘As soon as you can, I want you to say you’d like to go up to your room and freshen up. Then, when you’re safely alone in the bathroom, ring me again. There are some things I need to tell you. N
ow be careful what you say right now, since Bella’s listening. Just say something like get away as quickly as you can, Sergio. Then hang up and go upstairs. Okay? Fire away.’
‘You know what they say about all work and no play, Sergio. Still, I suppose we can manage without your company for another couple of hours, can’t we, Bella? Just get away as quickly as you can, okay? Ciao.’ And he hung up.
* * *
The relief which came with Jeremy’s hanging up almost overwhelmed Bella. Thank God she was sitting down.
‘That man needs to get himself a life,’ Jeremy muttered, then swallowed the rest of his coffee. ‘It’s just as well I flew over or he probably wouldn’t even celebrate his birthday.’
‘You could be right,’ Bella said. ‘I didn’t even know it was his birthday, till Maria told me this morning. But Sergio had already left for work.’
‘Then it’s up to us to see that he has a good time tonight. Meanwhile, I think I’ll go up to my room and freshen up. I might even have a little siesta. Hell, but it’s hot here today.’
‘Yes, it certainly is.’ She might have a lie-down herself, feeling quite exhausted now that the tension of that phone call had drained away.
Jeremy picked up his holdall and went in search of Maria whilst Bella stayed where she was for a while, getting her thoughts together. She decided that once she reached the privacy of her room, she would give Sergio a call so that they could match whatever story they would tell Jeremy about their relationship. Hopefully, Maria wouldn’t say anything telling in the meantime. Standing up, she made her way into the kitchen, which was empty, Maria obviously showing Jeremy up to his room, no doubt the guest room on the other side of the master suite.
Bella frowned at this thought. His sleeping in that room tonight would make it awkward for Bella to share Sergio’s bed without feeling inhibited. They weren’t the quietest of lovers. Unless, of course, all was confessed, then it would hardly matter. Jeremy was a man of the world. Why should he care if they were having an affair? Not that Bella liked the word ‘affair’. Surely their relationship had moved beyond that.