AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Beyond this elongated, enforced moment in time, they would never set eyes on one another again. Never share a meal or wine or the pain that resided deep in their souls.
And yet... ‘You can’t go through life that way,’ she muttered, almost compelled to reach for a ray of light. To what? Guide him away from his pain? What right did she have?
‘Can’t I? Tell me, Gigi. Who do you trust?’
Caught firmly between the curious ache in her chest from hearing him call her by her sister’s name, and the vastly exposing nature of his question, Giada could do nothing but shake her head and drop her gaze, desperately buying herself time to think.
They were long past frivolous discussions of wine and capitalism and mountains. Now they were venturing into territory that lay too close to her heart. Subjects that could bruise and torment.
And while she stalled, he leaned closer, mockery gleaming in his eyes. ‘You see? Taking advice isn’t as easy as doling it out, is it,duci?’
She boldly met his gaze. ‘Maybe not. But I don’t write people off before I allow myself the chance to know them.’
Dark amusement returned. ‘Is that aimed at me? Would you like to know me better,bedda mia?’ His husky tone thickened, morphed into something else. Something that stirred her blood in a different way. They were ricocheting between subjects with dizzying speed.
She opened her mouth to steer things back to safer ground, but different words tumbled from her lips. Words she hadn’t for a single moment anticipated. ‘What’s wrong with that? It’s not like we’re going anywhere in a hurry.’
‘Are you ready to expose yourself in return?’ he challenged, his eyes fixed squarely on her.
Her breath strangled in her lungs. In the short time since they met, she’d witnessed myriad expressions from the formidable Sicilian. The look he cast her now cut through all the previous ones, as if he’d been toying with her before and was now revealing his truth.
Or hers.
Dear God, did he know? If so, how?
Had their phone service been restored without her knowing and he’d somehow discovered her real identity?
‘I... I don’t know what you mean.’
He continued watching her with those laser eyes. ‘Perhaps I’m finding your whole...enthusiastic approach to working with me still too good to believe. I’m still trying to discover what happened to the “work less party always” woman I met a few months ago.’
She just about managed to pull off a flippant shrug. ‘Maybe she’s wised up to the fact that there are other forms of fulfilment in life? Speaking of which, should we discuss your client?’ she tossed in, praying she would distract him even as she sensed that Alessio Montaldi wasn’t a man who allowed himself to be distracted very easily.
When his gaze swept down and a corner of his mouth lifted, she held her breath, certain he’d seen through her ploy. When dark gold eyes returned to hers and he nodded, she sensed too that he was merely humouring her. ‘Very well.’
She licked her bottom lip and tried to gather her thoughts. ‘I don’t think there’s a way for your client to get out of this without taking some pain. You mentioned his father’s ninetieth birthday is approaching. Didn’t he start the company?’
Alessio nodded. ‘Above a Chinese takeout shop in Brooklyn several decades ago.’
‘Then get him to announce that he’s holding onto the ailing company out of nostalgia until his death, at which point it’ll revert to the new buyer at a discounted rate. Just buy your client some time to fix what’s gone wrong. Everyone loves a bargain. And if you link it to a huge PR event with his birthday celebrations, there’s a lower risk that the buyer will walk away without seeming greedy or losing face.’
When that rousing gleam entered his eyes, Giada told herself not to react. Not to squirm with anticipation at his response.
And when he rose and plucked up the bottle of wine, strolled lazily behind her to top up her glass, she ordered her breath not to stall, her senses not to glory in his nearness.
But it was all useless.
Because when he lingered after he was done with refilling her glass, with one hand on the table and his body bent over hers, every cell in her body screamed to a new dizzying layer of life.
Which only intensified when he murmured low and hot in her ear, ‘There should be punishment for hiding this level of brilliant strategic thinking beneath gaudy clothes and cheap champagne,duci.’
Giada was desperately attempting to calm the runaway heartbeat that pulsed in her chest and between her legs when he abruptly left the dining room.
It was one thing being a billionaire with clout.
But when that clout couldn’t be exerted because said billionaire was combating Mother Nature, not even the world’s best fixer could win.
So for the next two days, Giada watched Alessio grow increasingly disgruntled as the blizzard raged on and off with frustrating frequency, while they warily skirted each other, sharing meals in near silence before he stormed off.
