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‘What?’ Her surprise caused her to meet the beautiful grey eyes for the first time that morning and she felt the impact right down to her toes.
‘I told them it is not a problem,’ he continued smoothly. ‘And they can deliver the car the same time tomorrow morning, OK?’
Not OK. So not OK. Vittorio was waiting for her to select food from the dishes on display but, ignoring them, she said, ‘I want a car today. I’m not prepared to wait. It’s in the agreement I signed that a new car will be provided within twenty-four hours. Did you remind them of that?’
‘You are bristling like the porcupine,’ he said mildly. ‘I take it you are not willing to help Sophia and stay for a while?’
She turned away, swallowing hard and pretending to examine the dishes of sweet pastries and preserves, along with others of salami and cheeses, fresh fruit cut into slices and arranged in a colourful pattern, and bowls of olives. ‘I don’t think I’d be much help.’ If anything had convinced her she needed to leave this house as quickly as possible it was Vittorio, freshly shaved, damp hair slicked back and smelling like heaven. This was self-preservation, clear and simple. Ignore it at your peril, Cherry.
‘I do not think this is so, but of course the choice is yours and yours alone.’ Vittorio was filling his plate, apparently indifferent to her decision. ‘Ah, here is Sophia,’ he added, looking beyond Cherry.
Cherry turned quickly. She had half expected Vittorio’s sister to be bright and bouncy now the truth was out in the open and Vittorio had taken it as well as could be expected, but Sophia’s lovely face was tear-stained and her expression woebegone.
Instinctively Cherry put down her plate and went to the young girl, taking Sophia’s arm as she said quietly, ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Has Vittorio told you the wedding is to take place in a few weeks?’ Sophia’s green eyes were swimming with tears. ‘I do not know where to start, Cherry. And I was sick this morning.’ A tear slipped down one cheek. ‘I do not feel well.’
‘You should have thought of that before you seduced Santo,’ said Vittorio behind them, with what Cherry considered utter callousness. ‘You have no one but yourself to blame for the position you are in. You said that yourself yesterday.’
‘You’re not helping.’ Cherry swung round and glared at him. ‘Can’t you see she’s upset? And it takes two to tango, as you well know.’
‘If Sophia had merely indulged in the tango with Santo we would not be having this conversation.’ Grey eyes dared her to argue further.
Never one to refuse a challenge, Cherry snorted her disgust. ‘For goodness’ sake, we’re not all robots like you. Some of us have feelings and Sophia is very tender right now. Your sister’s having a baby, and that’s a huge change in a woman’s body and emotions. She needs your understanding—if you have any, that is. Which is very doubtful.’
‘My understanding tells me Sophia needs to sit down,’ Vittorio said drily.
Cherry’s gaze shot back to his sister, who was looking green. By the time she had ushered Sophia back to bed, telling her to sleep as late as she could and then have something to eat when she
was rested, Cherry knew she was hooked. Sophia had asked her to stay for a little while and help her with the preparations for the wedding, as Vittorio had predicted, and there was just something incredibly vulnerable about this child-woman who had lost her parents at such a tragically young age. And Sophia had been so sympathetic and kind down by the pool, when she had confided about Liam and Angela. If she stayed to help Sophia now it would be just a month or so out of her life. She could give the Italian girl that, and would do so gladly if it wasn’t for Vittorio. But she could handle him. Or, more precisely, this ridiculous attraction she felt. And maybe she wouldn’t see much of him anyway—not if she was helping Sophia with the organisation of the wedding.
Vittorio’s gaze was waiting for her when she walked back into the breakfast room. She saw her plate was in its place on the table and a steaming mug of cappuccino by the side of it.
‘Have you always been such a little mother?’ he asked softly.
It could have been sarcastic but it wasn’t. She relaxed infinitesimally as she sat down. ‘Always,’ she said, a little ruefully. Any lame ducks, be they human or animal, always seemed to make a beeline for her door. She had even started dating Liam after he’d cried on her shoulder after his former girlfriend had unceremoniously dumped him.
Vittorio nodded. ‘The porcupine with the soft centre. I like this. Too often I have found it is the other way round with modern women.’
She eyed him over her cappuccino as she took a sip, but said nothing. She was feeling a little shattered, to be truthful.
‘You think I am hard, unkind, si?’ he murmured. ‘Unfair?’
If she was going to be around for a while she might as well be honest. ‘Certainly cynical,’ she said, without denying the other words.
He didn’t seem offended. Surveying her thoughtfully, he leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee. ‘I think you are right,’ he said after a moment or two. ‘But I do not consider cynicism a bad thing on the whole—not if it is hand-in-hand with fairness and impartiality. The only danger can be if it sours an individual so that he or she cannot recognise true genuineness when it is presented to them.’
Cherry stared at him. ‘And can you?’ she asked bluntly. ‘Recognise the real thing, I mean?’
Something flared in the grey eyes before his lids came down to conceal his gaze for a second. When he looked at her again it was gone. ‘But of course.’
‘Of course,’ she agreed derisively. ‘Silly of me to ask. It must be wonderful to be so amazingly clever.’
‘It has been that way for so long that I do not even think about it,’ he said gravely. ‘But, si, you are right again. It is wonderful.’
She tried not to smile, she really did—his ego was big enough already—but she couldn’t help herself.
‘That is better,’ he said contentedly. ‘You were in danger of giving yourself indigestion with all that acidity. Now, eat your breakfast, Cherry, and then we must make the call to your car people, si?’ He smiled innocently. ‘To insist on a vehicle?’
