AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Unfortunately, no. I’ve sent the plane back to England and I won’t be able to get it back until Monday.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because I’ve lent it to my London secretary. Her mother has been sick and they’re flying her to France for the weekend.’ He shrugged. ‘Tomorrow, I can arrange for a commercial airline to take you home—but for tonight, we’re going to have to find somewhere to stay.’
Nicola glanced down at her watch, startled to discover it was almost midnight. She swallowed. ‘You mean, find a hotel?’
‘That would obviously be impossible at this time of year and night,’ he returned coolly. ‘Fortunately, a friend of mine, Khaled—he’s a sheikh actually—has a property up in the hills. It’s just over the border, in Tuscany, and it’s empty at the moment.’ The smile he glittered her was edged with steel. ‘We can go there, if you like.’
If sheliked?
As if she had a choice.
Nicola bit her lip, telling herself this was going to be hell on earth. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t deny her sudden flare of excitement as she contemplated spending a night alone with Alessio di Bari.
CHAPTER SEVEN
SECURITYLIGHTSBLOOMEDby their feet and sound of barking dogs echoed in the night air as they weaved their way through the cypress-scented grounds, towards a stone cottage. Punching out the code on the keypad, Alessio opened the door and stepped inside.
‘What is this place?’ Nicola asked as he flicked a switch and light flooded through the room, illuminating the bare walls and deceptively simple furniture.
Alessio’s eyes narrowed. ‘Not what you imagined?’ he suggested sardonically.
Defensively, she shrugged. ‘When you said your friend was a sheikh, I naturally assumed—’
‘Something on more palatial lines?’
‘Well, yes.’
He put their cases down, assaulted by a sudden stab of recognition as he looked around, for it was a long time since he had stayed somewhere as small as this. Everything was bespoke and high-end, as befitted a property owned by a billionaire sheikh—but there was only so much you could do with dimensions like these and suddenly the fragment of a memory whispered into his mind.
His grandmother’s tiny flat above the shop in the village square. The smell of Altamura bread wafting up from the bakery, the steaming pot on the stove and the distant view of the mountains. But his grandmother had left this world all too soon and his heartbreaking farewell to her had made him determined never to let anyone get close to him again. The only woman he had loved and trusted had not been around to enjoy the fruits of his success, cruelly cut down by an illness which had ravaged her. Sorrow mingled with regret and he tensed, because that was the trouble with memory. It dragged you back to places you didn’t want to visit.
With an effort he forced his attention back to the matter in hand and met the curious grey eyes of his reluctant companion. ‘Khaled offered to have someone open up the main house for us,’ he explained. ‘But since it’s full of priceless artworks and I didn’t want security swarming everywhere, I opted for the converted shepherd’s hut instead. It’s small, but as you see it’s supremely comfortable.’ He slanted her a look of mocking challenge. ‘Any objections?’
‘Would there be any point in me objecting?’
‘What do you think?’
‘I don’t imagine you’d like to know what I think.’
A low laugh rumbled from somewhere deep inside him. ‘Do you know, I think I prefer you feisty to enigmatic?’
‘Which would only be relevant if I were looking for your approval, which I’m not,’ she said, glancing around the room like a trapped animal, trying to work out the nearest escape route. ‘So why don’t I have a look around to see what the rest of the accommodation has to offer?’
‘Be my guest.’
Arrested by the peachy curve of her bottom, he watched as she ascended the narrow wooden staircase but returned almost as quickly, not managing to conceal her expression of...
He frowned. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Was it dread? Maybe. But could dread co-exist with the flash of excitement, or was he simply reading what he wanted to see in her grey eyes?
‘What’s the matter?’
‘Nothing,’ she said flatly.
‘Bad news on the sleeping front?’
‘You could say that. There’s...there’s only one bedroom and only one bed.’
