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But she did not know how or when. She only knew not yet …
Fears clutched at her, and unease threaded its disquieting skein through her nerves. She wished Leon was not going to London—however briefly. In his arms she felt those fears silenced—but on her own they plucked at her again, making her uncertain and fearful.
She must not let them surface. So she bade him goodbye, returning his ardent embrace on parting and he set off for the airport in a taxi, leaving her to while away the day in Palma.
She didn’t really know what to do with herself, and the unease she had felt on parting from him intensified as she meandered through the morning. Everywhere she looked people seemed to be in couples, carefree and on holiday. She told herself not to be morbid and stupid, that Leon was coming back the next day.
Suppose he’s delayed? Suppose his business takes longer than he thought it would? Suppose something else crops up he has to deal with? Suppose he has to fly off further afield …?
She tried to put the anxious thoughts out of her head, but still the sense of unease grew oppressively, disturbingly.
She headed back to the hotel. She would have a siesta in her room and pass the time that way.
When something roused her she was initially too groggy to tell what it was. She stirred dopily. Then, with a jolt, she realised it was her mobile beeping. She had received a text.
Leon!
Immediately she sat up, snatching the phone from her bedside, clicking on ‘view message’.
As her eyes focussed on the words she froze.
It was not from Leon …
‘I would point out—’ Leon’s voice was icy, barely leashing his anger ‘—that it was Lassiter who requested this meeting urgently. So why the hell isn’t he here?’
‘I’m really very, very sorry, Mr Maranz.’ Alistair Lassiter’s secretary sounded flustered down the line. ‘But all I can say is that he left for the Far East this morning. At very short notice,’ she finished, her tone attempting to be placating.
Leon’s jaw tightened with angry exasperation. Why the hell had Lassiter gone overboard to get him back to London to hammer out the deal right now and then promptly disappeared to the other side of Asia?
‘Where in the Far East?’ he demanded of the hapless secretary.
‘Mr Lassiter said his plans were fluid,’ she replied uncertainly.
Leon rang off, his face dark. Lassiter was up to something. Had he tracked down a late-entry white knight in the Far East? Was he hopeful of better bail-out terms? Well, the deal Leon was offering was the only one he was going to offer Lassiter, whatever the man did. But in the meantime he’d torn himself away from Flavia, and it had not been what he’d wanted to do.
Flavia …
Her name resonated in his head, weaving between his synapses like a seductive, sensuous silken flame.
Flavia …
Emotion welled in Leon, washing away all tiresome thoughts of Alistair Lassiter. Focussing on the one person he wanted to think about.
Flavia.
He said her name again in his head, feeling a rush of wonder. She was everything he’d dreamt she might be—everything and much, much more! He had known from the first moment of seeing her that he desired her, but now—oh, now she fulfilled so much more than desire. There was a warmth to her, a sincerity, an ardour, and a passion that was like a bright, true flame. How he had ever worried that she might be the spoilt daughter of luxury he could not now imagine!
I can trust her—believe her—be happy with her …
Happy …
The word resonated in his head like a sweet note of music.
So simple a word. Yet how much it encompassed! This past week with Flavia had been unforgettable—as if his life had become something it had never been before. As if he had found something he had never found before …
Found someone he had never found before …
Someone to be happy with.
