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When Alessandro ended the call, his jaw was clenched so tight it had started to ache. He wasstillstanding in the centre of the atrium,stilllooking at where he had last seen Amelia.
She was Thomas Seymore’s daughter, come to destroy them?
He scoffed, surely not. Amelia? Capable of sabotage? No. The thought was so strong that he gestured with his hand, cutting through the empty air. But then a montage flickered through his mind. Amelia hesitant, guilty, conflicted, angry...
My sister is away...
And suddenly it all started to make sense. Fury found its way into his veins and travelled throughout his body in a single pump of his heart.Cristo, he could have laughed at himself. He’d been so stupid. Taken in by the oldest of ruses. He shook his head in disgust. And he’d more than simply let her. He’d asked her for it,beggedher to let him sign his own ruination. But it wasn’t just his own—it was his cousin’s, it was his company, his staff...
No!
Gianni had warned him in time. Alessandro still had a chance to turn things around. He spun on his heel and, instead of going home to his apartment, he went back up to his office and started to plan. Thomas Seymore’s daughters had no idea what they had started and he and Gianni would make damn sure they would live to regret the day they messed with the Rossi cousins.
CHAPTER THREE
HANDSBRACEDAGAINSTthe sink, Amelia stared at herself in the mirror the next morning. Accusations and sleeplessness had drawn dark slashes beneath her eyes and she looked unnaturally pale, even considering the harsh bathroom lighting.
You can do this, she told herself sternly.It’s two measly days. Alessandro will be in meetings for most, if not all, of that time.All she had to do was play nice with her team for two days. All she had to do was smile.
All she had to do was let go of the sink.
She released the death grip she’d had on the porcelain and with one last glare at herself in the mirror, she grabbed her jacket and bag and let herself out of the small flat she shared with her sister in Brockley. The broken lift and the unusual heatwave made the stairwell unbearable and she emerged onto the pavement already hot, sweaty and out of sorts. That was why she came to a stop and simply stared at the sight that met her, genuinely unsure whether it was real or not.
Alessandro was leaning against a sleek black vehicle that to call a car would probably be some kind of insult. Hands fisted deep in his pockets and eyes hidden behind aviator sunglasses that screamed money, he exuded a lazy sexuality that should have come with a health warning. But there was also something else. Something that put her senses on alert.
It was a slow roll of emotion, building to a crescendo as sharp as any sudden fright and she had to press her hand over her heart to keep it in place. She forced herself to take a deep breath, wishing it were still because of the fright, but honestly, the sight of Alessandro made her sexache. A pulse flared across her body, a chain reaction that touched from sense to sense until her whole body practically trembled with want.
‘You scared me,’ she accused, trying to catch her breath as she searched for a reason why Alessandro Rossi would be waiting on a South London street, forher.
Could he know?
No, she dismissed. There was absolutely no way that he could have discovered Firstview’s inadequacies already, especially as it had taken her months.
‘My sincere apologies, Ms Seymore. I’m afraid we are quite short on time.’
‘Time? For what?’ Amelia asked, closing the distance between them. There was an unusual tension in the way Alessandro held himself. Dark glasses might have hidden eyes from her, but she sensed that she was under the very intense microscope of his focus.
‘We’ve just received news of an important business proposal and with the Aurora project all wrapped up, you’re the only project lead that I can spare.’
Only Alessandro would wrap up one deal the night before and start a new one before coffee the next morning. ‘My team needs briefing and there are a few things...’ She might not understand what was going on, but, whatever it was, she knew she couldn’t spend any more time with him in such close proximity. ‘Is there not someone else who could—?’
‘I’m afraid not. You are the only person it can be.’
‘But—’
‘Ms Seymore, is there a problem?’ His words were like a leash, yanking her back into place.
‘No. Of course not,’ she replied as she stepped forward to meet him beside the car. And he still didn’t move. Now that she was this close, she could see that he hadn’t shaved and the stubble from last night was now a dark swathe across his jaw. A muscle flexed at the hollow just beneath the dark line and she felt the tension thicken between them, building until finally he stepped aside to open the door, gesturing for her to get in.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked as the car pulled into the road, attracting more than a few stares from neighbours who were understandably shocked to see such an expensive car in the area.
‘Not too far.’
He passed her a file, explaining that it was a brief he needed her to read ahead of the meeting. Frowning, she scanned the opening documents outlining a prospective client they were considering. There were nearly fifty pages here and an anxious heat crawled across her shoulders.
Amelia was finding it hard to focus, not just from the motion of the car and trying to read, but the awareness of Alessandro himself. Arm propped up against the window, chin rested in his palm, his gaze glued on some invisible point in the distance.
Concentrate.It was just one meeting and then she’d be back with her team and done for the day before she knew it.
