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She raised a haughty brow at him. ‘So you can set me up again, get yet another photo of us together?’
‘Charlotte...’ He stepped closer but she moved back, using the door as a shield.
‘No, Sandro. I’m not prepared to take the risk. We should never have spent the weekend together.’ She moved further behind the door. Hiding from him, from what they’d shared.
She was right and he moved away, not missing the relief on her face. ‘I knew nothing about that photograph and I’m sorry it has upset you.’
‘Please, I don’t want to talk about it now.’ Her green eyes looked moist and guilt tugged at him. He wasn’t doing a very good job of looking after her at all.
He nodded his acceptance of her reason, knowing he was only making the whole situation worse. ‘I will find whoever it was who took the photo and personally deal with him.’
‘It won’t take away the fact that you used me and Seb to promote the car, to clear its reputation and your name.’
‘I have no need to clear my name, Charlotte.’
‘You do to me.’ Those words stung him as they hit home and finally his business sense returned. He needed to step back, assess the situation and plan his next move.
‘Very well, I will.’ He walked away, not stopping to see how his words had been received. If she wanted proof he’d find it, but how could he do so without giving away Seb’s secret—or his true feelings for her?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHARLIE HAD SECRETLY hoped Alessandro would have gone to wherever it was he went that first night, but as she’d emerged from her room earlier that morning he’d been preparing coffee, looking so handsome she’d actually stopped to take in every detail, from his expensive charcoal suit to the shiny black shoes.
Now, enclosed in his car, painfully aware of every move he made as he drove, she wished she’d taken the early morning flight to London. Instead, she’d been lured by the opportunity to be at the test track again, hoping she would find out what Alessandro was keeping from her about Seb’s accident. Because something was, of that she was certain.
‘I have a meeting at lunchtime.’ His accented voice jolted her from her thoughts as they drove. She wanted to look at him, savour his handsome profile, but couldn’t allow herself to. She’d imprinted more than enough images into her mind during their weekend. It was time to stop, to let go of something that could never be and should never have happened.
‘I need to be at the airport this evening, so I will arrange a taxi.’ Her words, though flowing and easy, didn’t feel it. She was sure it sounded as if she was stumbling over each one and she ran her fingers through her hair nervously.
He turned to look at her just at the moment she gave in to temptation to look at him and for a split second their gazes met, then he focused back on the road as they turned into the test track.
‘You said you weren’t running.’ His voice was deep and stern, but she fixed her attention on the workshops as he pulled up and parked. The engine fell silent and her heartbeat thumped so loudly she was sure he would hear it.
‘I’m not running.’ The angry words flew from her before she had time to think. ‘I’m going back to my life, to the things I did before Seb’s accident. It’s what he would have wanted. The only good thing that has come out of this visit.’
She got out of the car, anxious to put some distance between herself and Alessandro. It didn’t matter how much her body craved his, she had to remember what he’d done, how he’d manipulated her to get what he wanted in an attempt to assuage his guilt and clear his name.
She all but marched off towards the workshops, hearing the driver’s door shut behind her then feeling his presence closing the distance as he caught up with her. Her pulse leapt as she reached the door but, before she could do anything, he pressed his palm against it, preventing her from opening it, stopping her from escaping him.
‘That is all? There must be something else you want to accuse me of?’ His voice deepened and she raised her eyes to meet his, determined not to let him know how much he affected her.
‘“Something else” being the fact that you virtually sold me to the press for your own gain?’ She hurled the words at him, indignation spiking her into action. ‘Or is it the fact that you seduced me? You let me believe I was doing all this for Seb, when it wasn’t. It was for you.’
