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Which made complete sense. The fashion show she’d been slated to do in Shanghai had been for an American label. Everyone wanted to plunder the luxury fashion market, and Asia, with its massive growth opportunities, was the most coveted jewel in the crown. It was, however, a huge departure in strategy for the venerable Francesco Vitale, which had always prided itself on beingabovethe industry. Untouchable in its prestige.
“That’s a big move,” she observed.
“Si,”he agreed. “But necessary.” He tipped his glass at her, his blue gaze intent. “I need you to do me a favor. Zhang mentioned to me that his sixteen-year-old daughter, Ming Li, is accompanying him to Milan next week. She wants to shop. Attend the Associazione Nazionale della Moda Italiana party with him. She is, in Zhang’s words,obsessedwith you. I thought you could dress her for the party. Take her under your wing. Show her a good time. Within reason,” he qualified, with a pointed look. “She does not need to be learning bad behavior from you, although I’m sure you can teach her that in abundance.”
She ignored the slight and gave him an intrigued look. “So, you need myhelp.”
“Si.”He looked a bit pained as the word crossed his lips. Sensuous, beautiful lips it was hard to keep her eyes off of.
Her head flicked to Cannes, looming less than three weeks away—a pressing issue that had yet to be resolved. “What do I get in return?”
“A gold star for good behavior.” He said it with a completely deadpan expression. “You are due a few of those, don’t you think?”
“I thought I already had a whole scrapbook full of them with all of the work I’ve done to build the brand.” She eyed him in the candlelight. “You do realize I did an entire behind-the-scenes video at the spring launch that has garnered millions of views? That the press office has been besieged with phone calls about the dress I wore to the AMAs, with people wanting to buy it before it’s even out? That I’ve done double the amount of social media posts I’m contracted to do on behalf of FV in order to ensure the brand’s success?”
“I had not realized all of that, no,” he murmured. “It is much appreciated, however.”
She toyed with the stem of her glass. Decided this was her opportunity to get through to him. “This partnership isn’t just a business deal to me, Cristiano. I’ve loved the brand ever since I was a teenager.” A whimsical smile touched her lips. “My mother used to wear Francesco’s designs, back in the day, when she was doing pictures. They were elegant,ethereal. Sophisticated, yet romantic. I was obsessed with them. I used to play dress-up in them with my sisters. Once,” she acknowledged, “I spilled grape juice on one of his couture pieces and my mother nearly blew a gasket. I lost my allowance for weeks. But it was worth it to me.”
His hard mouth curved in a rather devastating smile. “So it was a goal to model for FV?”
“Theultimategoal. I knew I could help revive the brand. Return it to its former glory. I liked your plans—what you were doing with the company. I even went against my agent’s advice to go with Denali instead, because I believed in the brand so much. But for me,” she explained, “it’s always been about my personal style. I couldn’t just wear the FV pieces, I had to make them my own. So I styled them with my own fashion sense, made the look signature Jensen, which resonated with my followers. They’ve started to see the brand as current again.Fashion forward.”
He inclined his head. “You have delivered on your promises, I don’t disagree. I am merely trying to make sure you continue to deliver on those promises in the way I am paying you to do.”
She eyed him quietly. “It’s been a rough few weeks, Cristiano. I admit it. There’s no question about it. But I’ve worked my butt off for the brand, and will continue to do so to make this launch a success. And yes, I will help you with Ming Li. But in exchange, I need something from you.”
He arched a brow. “Which is?”
“A deal,” she murmured. “I help you win Nicholas Zhang and his daughter over, and you let me do my shoot in Cannes.”
Cristiano sat back in his chair, observing Jensen from over the rim of his glass. She looked fairly angelic this evening dressed in a pastel-colored sundress, her dark hair caught up in a ponytail, her delicate face free of makeup, all of that sun-kissed skin on display. He’d be lying if he didn’t admit he was drawn to her. That the vibrancy she exuded did something to him—kicked something alive in him that had long remained dormant. He’d found himself just as caught up in her as everyone else as he’d watched her work this week, making magic with the camera. But he was also aware that she was far from an angel. That she’d raised hell for his brand over the past few weeks, and he wasn’t about to give her full rein so that she could do it again.
His gaze rested on the determined set of her lush, full mouth. She didn’t give up. It was a quality he admired about her. He needed her, and she knew it. And quite frankly, given how hard she’d worked over the past few days, his staff full of nothing but compliments about her professionalism, along with the fact that he thought he might have been a bit quick to judge, given his anger, he was content to give a little here, particularly if she helped him with Ming Li.
“Bene,”he replied. “Prove to me I can trust you over the next three weeks and you can do Cannes.”
The tense, watchful lines of her face relaxed. “Grazie.I can assure you, you have nothing to worry about.”
He wasn’t entirely convinced on that point. The last thing he needed was her going off the rails again, particularly when he was involving her with Nicholas Zhang and his daughter—an opportunity he couldn’t afford to pass up. Zhang was a cagey customer, a tough negotiator at the best of times, whose signature was far from guaranteed on the deal they were negotiating. Which meant he needed all the aces up his sleeve he could manage. Having Jensen—his resident wild card—mess this deal up for him was not an option. Which meant he needed to figure out what made her tick, given they were going to spend the next few weeks working at each other’s side.
She had been reliable at the beginning of her contract, a true professional according to his marketing team. So what had caused her to go off the rails? If it wasn’t Alexandre Santeval, which he tended to believe, nor a drug or alcohol habit, which he also believed was not the issue, what had spurred all the wild partying? The outrageous antics? Because she couldn’t shake her legacy as a Davis? Because it was her natural inclination to act out? Or was it something else she wasn’t sharing?
He thought back to an incident when he and his younger sister Ilaria had been in middle school, his grandparents their de facto parents after they had lost their own. A boy his age had stolen his sister’s lunch and left her in tears. Cristiano had wanted to punch him in the face. His grandmother, however, had counseled him not to. Had said that whatever had made the boy steal his sister’s lunch had been rooted in far more than mere malice. Which had turned out to be true—the boy’s family struggling over a bitter divorce, which had ripped it apart. A boy Cristiano had later become friends with, his best friend Rafe.
The story lingering in his head, he sat back in his chair as Filomena poured their coffee, along with a traditional Italian Amaro, then disappeared back inside.“I do wonder,” he said idly, his eyes on Jensen, “what’s been going on the past few weeks? What’s sent you into this spiral you seem to be on? Because, to your point, this behavior was not an issue over the first year of your contract. So perhaps you can share what it is. Maybe I can help.”
Her dark eyes widened, an emotion he couldn’t identify flitting across her face. She veiled it just as quickly, her long lashes sweeping down over her cheeks. “Nothing is going on,” she said quietly. “I overextended myself. Made some bad decisions, just like I said.”
“And the wild partying?”
“Is how the press paints it.” She threw up a hand, her ebony eyes glittering in the candlelight. “I didn’t stumble out of Zoro after the incident with Juliana, Cristiano. Itrippedover the sidewalk, there were so many photographers chasing me. I rarely drink much when I go out for the same reason I don’t do drugs—because it would mess with my looks. As far as Monaco goes, some of my...friendsgot a little out of hand that night. It was not ideal, I agree, and also my fault, because ultimately, it was my hotel suite.My responsibility. I am not, however,” she said, her gaze meeting his, “on a spiral, as you put it. On the contrary, if anything, I’ve been working far too much, which is my biggest problem.”
He scoured the frustrated set of her jaw. The very real emotion written across her face. She was either a very good liar, or she was telling the truth. For some reason, he tended to think it was the latter, which either made him a fool or right, that there was something else going on with her she wasn’t sharing. Because this type of behavior didn’t come out of nowhere. And given his instincts were usually accurate, he went with the second theory.
“Your agent should be managing these things for you,” he pointed out. “It’s what you pay her for. Tell her it’s too much, that you need to cut back.”
Her dark gaze slid away from his. “It’s not that simple. People depend on me.Clientsdepend on me. I have a reputation to protect.”
