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‘With all due respect, I’ve just found out that my contract is null and void. I don’t think I’ll be handing it over to you.’
‘I’m not suggesting that. I can see you’ve been caught off guard, here, so I will leave you to gather your thoughts. Come and have lunch at the resort tomorrow and we can talk further.’
Dara barely registered the older man getting into his car and leaving. She sat down on one of the marble benches at the edge of the courtyard, feeling her control finally tearing to shreds around her. Tears flowed down her cheeks onto her lap.
CHAPTER EIGHT
LEO WALKED INTO the main lobby of his uncle’s Syracuse resort. The old man had been very cryptic about meeting him there.
After spending two full days in Paris, thinking, he had made a decision to end his business with his uncle before returning to Monterocca.
Dara was the only reason he had gone back to his childhood home. It was because of her that he had faced his demons and let go of the darkness he’d carried around with him since his mother’s death. His feelings for her were intense and new, but what they had uncovered at the castello together was worth ten times more than any deal.
Umberto descended the main stairs and Leo raised his hand to greet his uncle—but froze as he noted the beautiful blonde step out from behind him. As he watched Dara shook hands with Umberto, her face a polite mask of professional gratitude.
She turned and saw him just as he reached the foot of the staircase. Her features tightened and she turned away, thanking Umberto again before walking in the opposite direction.
Leo felt as though a train had just run him over. He froze in place, watching her walk away, before his brain caught up.
Umberto clapped him hard on the back, taking his hand in greeting.
‘Glad to see you could make time for me, boy,’ he said. ‘We’ve had a slight change of plan with the resort, so I’m pushing the contracts through today.’
Leo moved to follow Dara across the lobby—only to have his uncle stop him.
‘I won’t have a scene here, Valente,’ he warned.
‘What is she doing here?’ Leo gritted.
‘Miss Devlin has accepted my offer of employment.’
‘You callous bastard,’ Leo breathed, seeing red haze his vision. ‘You did this to convince me to sell the castello?’
‘You have been dodging my phone calls all week. I felt like you needed some incentive. But apart from that the girl has a contract with Portia Palmer. A household name at my newest boutique hotel is an opportunity too good to miss. I wanted to make sure we were all on the same page.’
‘You wanted to remove any potential roadblocks!’
Umberto shrugged. ‘Leo, this is how real business is conducted. If you want in on my development then you’ve got to grow a thicker skin.’
‘I’d much rather have a conscience.’
Leo turned and strode across the lobby in pursuit of Dara. He caught up with her just as she turned down the hallway to the business suites.
She turned to face him and he noted the telltale smudges under her eyes. She looked as if she hadn’t slept or eaten in days. Like a woman who had been betrayed.
‘There’s nothing left to say, Leo.’
‘Oh, I think there’s plenty left to say.’
He spoke calmly, belying the anger coursing through him. He opened the door of an empty conference room, motioning for her to step inside.
Dara moved away from him to the head of the conference table, her hands resting on a high-backed leather chair.
Leo shut the door, turning to stare down at her. ‘You have made a monumental leap of faith, trusting that snake without speaking to me first.’
‘He told me that he was going to allow your investment deal in return for the sale of the castello—was that a lie?’ She crossed her arms, hurt evident in the shiny brightness of her eyes.
Leo felt hot shame course through him at being the cause of her anger. ‘I did not agree to anything.’
‘But you were going to.’ She was so certain in her statement.
Would she believe him if he said he’d come here today to say no to the deal? That he wanted to keep the castle?
He no longer associated Castello Bellamo with darkness and fear. Now it was filled with memories of warm soft skin and hot passion.
Dara continued, making a show of closing the clasp on her small handbag. ‘I mean, why would you walk away from a million-euro deal for a small-time wedding planner you’re just having a fling with? We’re both adults here, Leo. We knew what this was. And to be honest I don’t blame you. It’s better this way. Lucchesi has promised me my own division here, so I’ll be my own boss. My company would have been ruined anyway. This way I’ll still get to plan the Palmer wedding. I’ll be fine.’
