‘You never saw that video of us talking in the garage? It went viral.’
Did he mean them talking tyres in Singapore? Had someone filmed that?
‘I’m not on social media,’ she muttered.
No one had said anything to her about any viral video clip. Massimo certainly hadn’t. It must’ve happened so quickly.
‘Very wise.’ Emiliano nodded. ‘It set off the alarms because I got involved with an older woman a couple of years ago.’
‘Oh?’ Lily almost choked.
A couple of years ago Emiliano would have barely been seventeen. And why alarms that he’d talked to her? Surely, no one would have considered Lily to be a threat?
‘It’s embarrassing,’ he said chattily. ‘I fell for her but she had ulterior motives that I was too young to see through. But Massimo was right and I learned from it.’
Massimo was right? So he’d stopped whatever unfortunate affair Emiliano had gotten involved in?
‘I’m focused on nothing but racing now.’ He smiled at her good-naturedly. ‘Massimo is very protective, but very soft on the inside. He stays in the office so his anxiety doesn’t infect me. But you know this.’ He lifted his glass towards her. ‘Life is full of risk and uncertainty, but it must be lived.’
Emiliano was only a few years younger than her, but he had an innocent candour about him.
‘Those are awfully wise words for a nineteen-year-old.’ She couldn’t resist lightly mocking him.
‘They’re my sports psychologist’s words.’ He sent her an oversize conspiratorial wink. ‘He’sancient.’
She laughed and he laughed, too. Open and honest, he lacked the brooding intensity of his cousin. In fact, he was surprisingly balanced for a highly ambitious athlete.
‘Truly, he is wise,’ Emiliano added. ‘Massimo got him for me.’
Of course Massimo had. That was what Massimo did. He sat at his triple screen setup and fixed everything from a distance. Got in all the experts anyone could ever want. But surely, Massimo had never thought Lily was any threat to Emiliano in Singapore. By then hewellknew how serious she was about her job. It didn’t make sense.
‘It’s evident you adore each other.’ Emiliano smiled over her shoulder. ‘He can’t take his eyes off you other than to frown at me now.’
Lily barely breathed. If Emiliano saw it, everyone would see it. Her love. Hislust. And as mortifying as that was, she suddenly had the sinking feeling worse was to come.
‘When did that clip of us chatting go up?’ She tried to keep her tone light, but her throat tightened.
‘Oh, it was weeks ago now.’ Emiliano shrugged.
NotSingapore, then.
‘Don’t worry.’ He reassured her. ‘They swamped it with my latest Hearnshawe clothing campaign.’
Of coursetheyhad. Massimo would have used the PR team and taken care of every last little detail.
She suddenly remembered the conversation. It was the only time she’d talked to Emiliano beyond a polite hello. In Canada, weeks ago, about tyres again. Only hours before she’d flown back on the cargo plane and met a sexystrangeron the plane.
Only he’d not been a stranger, had he? Massimo had planted himself there deliberately. Because—as he’d acknowledged—he would do whatever necessary to protect Emiliano. To protect Hearnshawe. But wow, hadn’t it blown up in his face this time? Now he’d had to do even more to protect his heritage.
She’d been astrategy. Entirely. He’d never been interested in justher. She couldn’t even delude herself that irresistible sexual chemistry had drawn them together and fate had thrown a curveball. He was anactor. She’d been a passion-starved pushover. He must think her pathetic.
And the worst of it was, it had almost worked.
Tonight she’d been revealed as Massimo’s lover and so it would be normal for Emiliano to laugh and talk with her. Of course they would be friendly. But Massimo had overplayed his hand. Emiliano himself had let the cat out of the bag. The whole thing had been a setup. She’d been nothing but a chess piece. He’d thought so little of her, didn’t even see her as an actualperson, just a threat.
‘That’s a great campaign.’ Lily’s mouth gummed up. ‘I loved the long-sleeved tee.’
‘Massimo will get you one, won’t you, Massimo?’
