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‘Ex-wife.’
‘Ex-wife. Well, I was right. I managed to trace our friend. He jumped around a bit, used a few different Internet cafés to cover his tracks, but the cafés, as I told you, were all in the vicinity of your daughter’s school. It took a bit of time, but I eventually identified the one he used most frequently. Most importantly, though, in one of the very early emails—one of the emails you never identified as coming from him—he used his own computer. It was a little bit tougher than I thought but I got through to the identity of the person.’
Alessio was listening intently. ‘You know who he is?’
‘It would have been a bit more difficult to piece together conclusively if I hadn’t discovered those very early emails when he’d obviously just been testing the ground. They were very innocuous, which is why he probably thought that they would have been deleted. I guess he didn’t figure that they would still be uncovered and brought out of hiding.’ She shoved the stack of printed emails across to Alessio and watched as he read them one by one. She had highlighted important bits, phrases, certain ways of saying things that pointed to the same writer behind them.
‘You’re brilliant.’
Lesley flushed with pleasure. ‘I was only doing what you paid me to do.’
‘So, build me the picture,’ he said softly.
She did and, as she did so, she watched his expression darken and change.
‘So now you pretty much have the complete story,’ she finished. ‘I gathered all this so that I could actually present it to you tomorrow when you returned. I was going to tell you that there’s really nothing left for me to do now.’
‘I still want you to come with me to Italy.’
‘I can’t,’ Lesley said quickly, with a note of desperation in her voice.
‘You’ve sorted all of this out, but there is still the problem of my daughter. Bringing her back over here with this information, it’s going to be even more difficult.’
That was something Lesley had not taken into account when she had worked out her plan to present him with her findings and leave while common sense and her instinct for self-preservation were still intact.
‘Yes, but it all remains the same. She’s going to be—I can’t imagine—certainly not warm and welcoming to the person who brought the whole thing to light.’
‘But you have no personal axe to grind with her.’ Would she come? It suddenly seemed very important that she was at his side. He was uneasily aware that there was an element of need there. How and why had that happened? He swept aside his discomfort.
‘I also have my job, Alessio.’ She was certain that she should be feeling horrified and indignant at his nerve in asking her to go way beyond the bounds of what she had been paid to do. Especially when she had made such a big effort to wrap everything up so that she could escape the suffocating, dangerous effect he had on her.
‘You can leave that to me,’ he murmured.
‘Leave that to you? How do you work that one out?’
‘I’ve just concluded a deal to buy a string of luxury boutique hotels in Italy. Failing business, mismanagement, feuding amongst the board members; that’s what the trip to London was all about. I needed to be there to finalise the details with lawyers.’
‘How exciting,’ Lesley said politely.
‘More so than you might imagine. It’s the first time I shall be dabbling in the leisure industry and, naturally, I will want a comprehensive website designed.’
‘You have your own people to do that.’
‘They’re remarkably busy at the moment. This will be a job that will definitely have to be outsourced. Not only could it be worth a great deal of money to the company lucky enough to get the job, but there’s no telling how many other jobs will come in its wake.’
‘Are you coercing me?’
‘I prefer to call it persuasion.’
‘I don’t believe it.’
‘I usually get what I want,’ Alessio said with utter truth. ‘And what I want is for you to come with me to Italy and, if this proves a helpful lever, then that’s all to the good. I’m sure when I explain to your boss the size and scale of the job, and the fact that it would be extremely useful to have you over there so that you can soak up the atmosphere and get a handle on how best to pitch the project...’ He gave an elegant shrug and a smile of utter devastation; both relayed the message that she was more or less trapped.
Naturally she could turn down his offer but her boss might be a little miffed should he get to hear that. They were a thriving company but, with the current economic climate, potential setbacks lurked round every corner.
Whatever work came their way was not to be sniffed at, especially when the work in question could be highly lucrative and extensive.
‘And if you’re concerned about your pay,’ he continued, ‘Rest assured that you will be earning exactly the same rate as you were for the job you just so successfully completed.’
‘I’m not concerned about the money!’
‘Why don’t you want to come? It’ll be a holiday.’
‘You don’t need me there, not really.’
‘You have no idea what I need or don’t need,’ Alessio murmured softly.
‘You might change your mind when you see what else I have to show you.’ But already she was trying to staunch the wave of anticipation at the thought of going abroad with him, having a few more days in his company, feeding her silly addiction.
She rescued papers from the bottom of the folder, pushed them across to him and watched carefully as he rifled through them.
But then, the moment felt too private, and she stood up and began getting them both a couple of cups of coffee.
What would he be thinking? she wondered as he looked at the little collection of articles about him which she had found in a scrap book in Rachel’s room. Again, no attempt had been made to conceal them. Rachel had collected bits and pieces about her father over the years; there were photographs as well, which she must have taken from an album somewhere. Photos of him as a young man.
Eventually, when she could no longer pretend to be taking her time with the coffee, she handed a mug to him and sat back down.
‘You found these...’ Alessio cleared his throat but he couldn’t look her in the eyes.
‘I found them,’ Lesley said gently. ‘So, you see, your daughter isn’t quite as indifferent to you as you might believe. Having the conversation you need to have with her might not be quite so difficult as you imagine.’
CHAPTER SIX
‘THIS IS QUITE a surprise.’ This was all Alessio could find to say and he knew that it was inadequate. His daughter had been collecting a scrap book about him. That reached deep down to a part of him he’d thought no longer existed. He stared down at the most recent cutting of him printed off the Internet. He had had an article written in the business section of the Financial Times following the acquisition of a small, independent bank in Spain. It was a poor picture but she had still printed it off and shoved it inside the scrap book.
What was he to think?
He rested his forehead against his clenched fist and drew in a long breath.
A wave of compassion washed over Lesley. Alessio Baldini was tough, cool, controlled. If he hadn’t already told her, his entire manner was indicative of someone who knew that they could get what he wanted simply by snapping his fingers. It was a trait she couldn’t abide in anyone.
She hated rich men who acted as though they owned the world and everything in it.
She hated men who felt that they could fling money at any problem and, lo and behold, a solution would be forthcoming.
And she hated anyone who didn’t value the importance of family life. Family was what grounded you, made you put everything into perspective; stopped you from ever taking yourself too seriously or sacrificing too much in pursuit of your goals.
Alessio acted as he if he owned the world and he certainly acted as though money was the root of solving all problems. If he was a victim of circumstances when it came to an unfortunate family life, then he definitely did not behave as though now was the time when he could begin sorting it out.
So why was she now reaching out to place her hand on his arm? Why had she pulled her chair just that little bit nearer to his so that she could feel the heat radiating from his body?
Was it because the vulnerability she had always sensed in him whenever the subject of his daughter came up was now so glaringly obvious?
Rachel was his Achilles heel; in a flash of comprehension, Lesley saw that. In every other area, Alessio was in complete control of his surroundings, of his life, but when it came to his daughter he floundered.
The women he had dated in the past had been kept at a distance. Once bitten, twice shy, and after his experiences with Bianca he had made sure never to let any other woman get past the steel walls that surrounded him. They would never have glimpsed the man who was at a loss when it came to his daughter. She wondered how many of them even knew that he had a daughter.
But here she was. She had seen him at his most naked, emotionally.
That was a good thing, she thought, and a bad thing. It was good insofar as everyone needed a sounding board when it came to dark thoughts and emotions. Those were burdens that could not be carried single-handed. He might have passed the years with his deepest thoughts locked away, but there was no way he would ever have been able to eradicate them, and letting them out could only be a good thing.
