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From her seemingly bottomless bag she produced several swatches of fabric and proceeded to pass them around. It was a linen blend that wouldn’t crease, she assured them, and with one look Nico knew she was right.
‘It is the colour of the temple ruins and the monastery just before sunset,’ Aurora said. ‘And you know how beautiful Silibri looks at that time of night. Mother Nature chose her colours wisely.’
‘It is a bold colour,’ Vincenzo objected. ‘A touch too bold, perhaps?’
‘I don’t agree that it is too bold; it is, in fact, quite plain,’ Aurora refuted, then cocked her head to the side.
Nico watched as her knowing eyes weighed up Vincenzo.
‘Are you worried that it might clash with your red hair?’
‘Of course not…’ Vincenzo was flustered and smoothed said red hair down.
‘Because,’ Aurora continued, ‘we could have bespoke shades on the same theme, with Persian Orange being the main one.’
‘Bespoke shades…?’ Vincenzo checked.
And Nico watched silently as his marketing manager warmed to his new assistant’s idea, and watched, too, Aurora’s small, self-satisfied smile as of course she got her way.
Heaven help Vincenzo, Nico thought, trying to manage her. Because Aurora could not be managed nor contained.
She was as Sicilian as Mount Etna, as volatile as the volcano it was famous for, and she could not be beguiled or easily charmed. She was perceptive and assiduous and…
And he refused to give in to her ways.
‘I’ll consider it,’ Nico said.
‘Consider it?’ Aurora checked. ‘But what is there to consider when it’s perfect?’
‘There is plenty to consider,’ Nico snapped. ‘Next.’
It had been scheduled as a thirty-minute meeting but in the end it took sixty-three—and of course it did not end there.
As Marianna disappeared for a quick restroom break, and Nico attempted to stalk off, Aurora caught up with him. ‘I wonder if we could speak? I have an idea.’
‘It has all been said in the meeting.’
‘This isn’t about the uniforms. I have another idea for the Silibri hotel.’
‘Then speak with Vincenzo, your manager.’
‘Why would I share my idea with him?’
‘Because I don’t generally deal with assistants.’
Aurora felt his cool, snobbish dismissal and told him so. ‘It is spring, Nico, and the sun is shining—yet you are so cold that when I stand near you I shiver.’
‘Then get a coat! Aurora, let me make something very clear—and this is a conversation that you can repeat to all your colleagues. You are here for a week of training to find out how I like things done and how I want my hotel to operate. You’re not here for little chats and suggestions, and catch-ups and drinks. I did not build a hotel in Silibri to expand my social life.’
Nico wanted this conversation to be over.
‘You are shadowing Marianna for the rest of the day?’ he checked.
‘Sì?’
‘Then what are you doing standing in mine?’
CHAPTER TWO
