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Hope soared inside her. She nodded.
‘You can stay, cara. But you should know that all I will ever want you for is sex. It is the only part of this that I believe you weren’t faking. I’ll even throw thirty thousand pounds into the mix if that makes you feel more comfortable.’
It took several aching seconds for the implication of his words to sink in.
Never in his life had he seen such visceral pain cross the features of someone’s face. No matter how furious he was with her, how much he loathed her in that moment, seeing his words hit their target left him with a hollow feeling in his chest. All the colour had drained from her flesh and tears had sprung to her eyes.
When she lifted a hand to slap his cheek he made no effort to stop her.
It seemed like the perfect end to what they had been.
‘I’ll take that as a no,’ he said, the words blank of any emotion.
‘Take it as a go to hell.’
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE ELEVATOR WAS SLOW.
Or perhaps Rio was just impatient.
Not that he conveyed a hint of emotion.
His eyes were like steel as they stared straight ahead, his expression set.
Would she be surprised to see him?
His smile was tight and humourless. He had deliberately avoided making an appointment so that he didn’t tip her off. When he saw Matilda Morgan again he wanted it to be with the edge of surprise.
He flicked a glance at his wristwatch, noting the time with dispassionate interest. He’d chosen to arrive in the late afternoon, knowing the chances of Tilly still being away from her desk at lunch were slight.
The metallic doors of the lift pinged open and he strode out of the lift with no concept of the heads that lifted as passed. Speculative glances, some recognition, a lot of interest.
A bank of three receptionists sat in the centre of the tiled foyer. He paused in front of one of them, employing a banal, non-committal smile. ‘Art Wyndham.’
The woman curled her manicured fingers over the felt end of her telephone headset. ‘Is Mr Wyndham expecting you, sir?’
‘No.’ He smiled again, and saw the effect it had on her. ‘But he won’t want to miss me.’
The woman stared at him for a moment too long and then returned her attention to the computer screen.
She checked a diary and then went to press a button on the phone, but Rio shook his head. ‘I’d prefer to surprise him.’
‘Oh...’
Perhaps the receptionist should have employed more care, but she was face to face with Rio Mastrangelo and any powers of thought and reason had deserted her.
She nodded. ‘You’ll need to go up one more level. His PA’s desk is just outside the lift. She’ll direct you.’
‘Grazie.’ He spun on his heel, stalking back to the lift and pressing the ‘up’ button. It appeared immediately, of course. That was how things generally worked for Rio.
The ride up took seconds.
He stood, a study in nonchalance, and waited for the doors.
They slid open silently and his eyes immediately moved to the desk. As promised, it was directly in front of the elevator, though halfway across the floor. A woman’s head was bent. A dark head.
He frowned. Had she changed her hair? Disappointment fired in his gut. Her hair had been spectacular.
