The Italian's Ruthless Seduction(25)

‘Sounds good but that’ll take a lot of money, Bella. Money and time.’

‘Well, you have plenty of both, don’t you, Sergio? It’s not as though you have anything else to do.’

His laugh struck an odd note to Bella’s ears. ‘I dare say you’re right again,’ he said. ‘I don’t have anything important on my agenda in the near future, other than flying over to New York occasionally to see a certain person.’

‘Oh? And who might that be?’ she asked playfully. Yes, this was the way to handle things. No point in putting your heart on your sleeve.

‘A very beautiful lady with a very brilliant mind.’

Bella couldn’t help flushing with pleasure. And feeling exasperated with herself at the same time. ‘You don’t have to flatter me, Sergio,’ she said a bit tartly. ‘I’m a sure thing.’

‘Now that, my darling Bella, is something you’ll never be. Look, I’d better get off this phone and have a chat with some of the designers. See what they can do about creating a new top-of-the-range line of shoes and handbags. I suspect they’ll be quite excited.’

‘That’s excellent. Before you go, Sergio, could you bring home some samples of your shoes and handbags so that I can have a look at them and compare them with what I buy?’ In truth, she was genuinely curious. And very keen to help.

‘Will do.’

‘What time do you think you might be home?’ she asked.

‘Not early. I have a lot to do here. Possibly around seven, seven-thirty. Ciao.’ And he hung up.

The abrupt termination of the call, plus the realisation that it would be hours before she saw him again, left Bella feeling rather deflated, her brilliant idea having backfired on her a little. Clearly, Sergio was fired up by her suggestions and couldn’t wait to get to work on them. Making that scale of changes would be a huge project, however, and would mean his working long hours. She would miss him terribly. At the same time, Bella was glad that she’d been able to help him. She’d seen how worried he was, not just about the fate of the family company, but the people who worked there.

Her sigh carried resignation to the fact that she wouldn’t have as much of Sergio’s company as she would have liked. And she wasn’t thinking just about sex. She loved talking to him as well. Loved just being with him.

And the reason for that, she told herself firmly, is that you’ve definitely fallen in love with the man.

Bella groaned, any happiness this realisation brought—she much preferred love to lust—tempered by the reality that it was a one-sided love. Sergio did like her. And he desired her. Maybe, after today, he even admired her. But that wasn’t the same as love.

Frowning, Bella stood up and wandered out onto the balcony, wondering how she could get Sergio to fall in love with her. Despite being a confident girl where her career was concerned, she wasn’t at all confident when it came to men, her past relationships having battered her self-esteem in that regard. Also, there was still the problem of whose daughter she was. That could be a huge hurdle in Sergio’s mind. It was a dismaying thought.

* * *

In the end, Bella decided all she could do was love him to the best of her ability and hope he eventually reciprocated. She dismissed the idea of telling him she loved him. That would make her sound needy and clingy. A long-time bachelor like Sergio would not respond to a woman who was either needy or clingy. No, she would have to be patient.

Patience, however, was not one of her virtues. Neither was not getting what she wanted. Dolores had unfortunately passed along a degree of stubbornness to her daughter, plus a determination to win. Bella had never wanted to win a man before. In the past, it had all been about men trying to win her.

Bella was mulling over lots of various thoughts when her phone rang.

Her groan carried exasperation at the realisation that she hadn’t turned it off after talking to Sergio. She knew who it would be. Who else but her mother? Dolores didn’t have the patience to wait for someone to ring her back.

Bracing herself, Bella walked back into the bedroom and over to where she’d left the phone on the bedside table. Picking it up, she checked the caller ID then lifted it to her ear.

‘Hello, Mum,’ she said calmly. No point in getting herself in a twist. After all, she’d already decided earlier to give her mother a call.

‘At last she deigns to turn her damned phone on and answer me!’ came the snappy retort. ‘What on earth have you been thinking, girl? You have responsibilities. And a career. Or you did have one before you disappeared off the face of the earth without telling anyone where you were going. Do you know how many calls I have had complaining that they can’t get in touch with you?’

Bella smiled a rueful smile. Lord, but her mother was just so predictable. She wasn’t worried about her daughter’s physical safety. Just her career.

‘Actually no, I don’t,’ Bella replied with deliberate nonchalance. ‘How many?’

‘Too many to recount. Just go to your voicemail or your message bank and you’ll see for yourself. Josh is desperate to get in touch with you. And so is Charlie. I’m sure it’s about the Angel in New York movie. I did ask but they wouldn’t tell me.’

Thank heavens.

‘I’ll ring Josh as soon as I get off the phone to you,’ Bella offered. She could not deny being curious. Josh was never desperate. But if Charlie had been able to get that movie onto the drawing board again, then her manager would be very excited. And so would she. She loved that musical. Singing the song she wrote for it last night had reminded her just how much.

‘That’s more like it,’ Dolores said. ‘Go do it right now. But promise you will ring me back straight away and tell me what’s going on.’

‘Don’t you want to know where I am?’ Bella couldn’t resist asking.

‘Humph! No point in asking that when I know you won’t tell me.’

‘True. But I still expect you to ask.’

‘Do you know you’ve grown into a very frustrating woman?’

‘Takes one to know one, Mum. But at least you called me a woman this time, instead of a girl.’

A heavy sigh wafted down the line. ‘I don’t want to argue with you, Isabel,’ she said, always resorting to her daughter’s full name when she was severely irritated.

Bella relented with the teasing. ‘I don’t want to either, Mum.’

‘Good. Then get off this phone and ring Josh!’

Bella did as she was told for once and rang Josh, who informed her that he and Charlie had got together and decided to produce An Angel in New York independently with their own money, provided she starred in it. Naturally, she told him she would, but she also stood her ground and said she needed a holiday first. Thankfully, he didn’t argue with her, though he did make her promise to be back in New York by the first of August to help them with the casting and the costumes. She agreed, knowing that she couldn’t hide away here with Sergio for ever. Her dream holiday had to come to an end some time.

She hung up, feeling an odd mixture of excitement and apprehension. Part of her wanted to tell Sergio about the movie—she was thrilled that it was going ahead—but instinct warned her not to. She’d just made an important connection with him with her ideas for his family company and she didn’t want to spoil that by talking about her own career. In the short time she had left, Bella wanted to concentrate on him and his needs. It crossed her mind as she planned out the rest of her day that Sergio was as lonely as she was. He needed her as much as she needed him.

Hopefully, by the time she had to leave Lake Como for the flight back to New York, he would realise that. Hopefully, he would come after her the way he’d said he would. And even more hopefully, he would eventually fall in love with her.

‘And who’s being the cockeyed optimist now, Bella?’ she said to herself as she took a deep breath, then resignedly rang her mother back.





CHAPTER TWENTY

SERGIO RESISTED THE urge to speed on the drive home from Milan to Lake Como, despite his impatience to be with Bella. Not for sex. Sex was not his priority this evening. That could come later. First, he wanted to sit down with Bella over a meal and tell her everything that had happened at work once he’d started putting her truly brilliant idea into action. He’d sent her a brief text just before leaving the office, giving her his approximate time of arrival. But he doubted now that he’d make it by seven-thirty. The traffic was appalling. He’d stop and text her again, but that would only take precious time. A quick glance at his watch brought a sigh of relief. So did the turn-off to Lake Como. He wasn’t going to be too late, after all. Maybe just a few minutes...

* * *

At seven twenty-five Bella started looking out for Sergio, leaving the back doors open so that she would hear the crunch of his tyres on the driveway. By seven thirty-seven she started to worry. Italian drivers were a little on the hair-raising side, she knew. She toyed with the idea of sending him a text but decided against it. Too clingy and way too needy. But she couldn’t help pacing around the kitchen before unnecessarily stirring the Bolognese sauce one more time, her anxiety level rising with each passing minute. Just when she was about to explode with escalating tension, she heard the wonderful sounds of his car arriving.