CHAPTER ONE
LILI SPIRENZE HADjust been awoken by a frantic phone call to alert her to the fact that her boss, Cassian Corti, the owner of the Corti villa and estate where she’d been housekeeper for almost a year now, was due to arrive within the hour at the small pier that lay on the other side of the huge ornate wrought iron gates that opened directly from the lower garden onto Lake Como.
The faintest trails of dawn touched the sky. As Lili hurried through washing and throwing on some clothes, a knot of apprehension formed in her gut at the thought of meeting her boss for the first time.
She’d been hired by an executive assistant and someone on Corti’s legal team. Her job was to oversee the general running of the villa and the cleaners, chef, gardeners and maintenance people who variously made up the numerous staff.
Something else joined the knot of apprehension as she made her way down from her quarters to the main part of the villa—irritation. Couldn’t he have given more notice? And then Lili reprimanded herself. The man had a right to turn up at his own home when he wanted. Luckily she’d taken it upon herself to keep things in a state of readiness for just such an occasion, although she didn’t feel smug now, she just felt…a sense of disquiet.
It was silly but as time had passed since she’d started working here with no sign of her boss appearing, she’d become a little complacent. She’d gotten used to feeling free to roam as she pleased and enjoy the isolation and sense of security that living in a private estate in one of the world’s highest value property locations could afford one.
The furthest she’d gone from the Corti estate had been into the nearby city of Como to pick up supplies. For the first time in years, she’d felt a measure of peace unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. And, blessedly, anonymity.
But that peace was to be shattered now and she had to remind herself that this wasn’therhome. She was merely caretaking it for its elusive billionaire owner. An owner who had clearly not had any inclination to spend time in his serene Lake Como home because he’d been too busy living a glamorous playboy social whirlwind, his every move breathlessly followed by the insatiable press. And, much to Lili’s embarrassment,her. She’d told herself she was only doing due diligence in researching her boss so as to be better able to deal with anything that might come her way.
Like this impromptu visit. But now that his arrival was imminent, Lili’s apprehension surged back to the fore. She was in the kitchen, moving efficiently around the large gleaming space, preparing some breakfast items and fresh coffee.
How did one deal with a man who was considered something of a legend? Not to mention routinely named as one of the most gorgeous and sexy men on the planet.
Scion to one of Italy’s oldest and wealthiest families, he’d been hit by a terrible tragedy when still a young boy. His parents and younger brother had all died in a horrific car crash. Cassian Corti had walked away without a scratch—the sole remaining member of a vast familial dynasty stretching back into Medieval times when the Cortis had been mentioned in the same breath as the Medicis.
Since then, he’d been a figure of intense tragic interest, growing up under a spotlight with everyone watching to see what he would do.
His astounding good looks, physicality and wealth had almost predestined him to become a part of the debauched and glittering European social scene, which he’d entered with a predictable and resounding explosion—getting expelled from his exclusive boarding school in Switzerland after attending a famous debutante ball in Paris, only to be found in bed with the mother of his debutante date.
Embarking on a career racing the fastest cars on the planet had only enhanced his already rapidly growing reputation for risk-taking and scandal. He hadn’t raced recently as he was getting over a minor injury. The press had breathlessly speculated over the years whether or not his fascination with cars had something to do with the awful tragedy he’d suffered as a child. Certainly his skill and control in that dangerous arena only fed the endless speculation and while Lili instinctively shied away from reliving trauma, maybe he was drawn to it to exorcise his own demons?
So now, he was not only a champion driver but he was also involved as one of the major shareholders of the worldwide body that owned formula racing cars. He was investing heavily in making the sport more sustainable. This was aside from his family business, the Corti Group, which encompassed a myriad of interests from tech innovation to real estate and banking. The Corti name was still over the door of some of Italy’s oldest financial establishments.
His other properties included a palazzo on the Grand Canal of Venice, penthouse apartments in all the major cities, holiday homes in Costa Rica and Malaysia.
His personal life matched his professional life in terms of excitement and glamour, even if he had dialled down some of the more scandalous acts of his youth.
Sipping some fresh coffee, Lili sat down at the wide kitchen table and looked at her phone, searching for her boss. Immediately about ten pictures surfaced of him in a tuxedo at an event in Rome with a stunningly beautiful willowy blonde on his arm, a silver silk dress hugging toned curves and endlessly long tanned legs.
Lili sighed a little enviously. She was average height and with a figure that ran less to willowy and more…pillowy. Her hair was unfashionably long and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d put on make-up.
Then she noticed something about the pictures and nearly dropped her coffee. They’d been taken at an event the previous evening and yet somehow his arrival was imminent.
Lili suddenly had visions of not only her boss arriving but also the stunning blonde. Maybe she was his girlfriend? Maybe he was bringing her here to show her his family home?
At that moment the gardener poked his head around the door. ‘Buongiorno, Lili, the boss is arriving by speedboat in a few minutes, I’ll go down and open the gate?’
Lili stood up and smiled at Matteo. She knew his arthritis was acting up, making him slower, especially in the mornings. ‘No, it’s fine, I could do with the walk and I’ve never met him before, it’ll be a way to introduce myself. Maybe send down Tommy to secure the boat?’
Lili knew what it was like to be around people like Cassian Corti; they generally left a trail of things to be picked up/attended to in their wake and she didn’t want to be responsible for the boat floating back out into the lake.
‘Of course, thanks, Lili.’
She quickly rinsed out her cup and after giving instructions to Maria, the young housemaid, set off through the villa, out into the back courtyard and down the steps to the level of the middle garden and then down more steps to the lower garden.
Even though it was still early, Lili could feel the latent heat of the coming day. Birds were calling in their dawn chorus. The dew-laden grass and flowers scented the air. It was incredibly peaceful and calm even as she walked across the gravel crunching under her feet. She felt a prick of regret that it would be shattered now.
She got to the beautiful elaborately designed wrought iron gates and unlocked them with the key she’d brought. She pushed them outwards with a littlehuffof effort.
This was her favourite part of the villa. This gate and the wide stone steps leading down, straight into the lake, with the small landing pier to the side, along the stone wall. The water lapped gently against the stone. There was a mist across the lake and the faint outline of land on the other side could be seen. The rising sun was sending out a hazy pearlescent sheen across the water.
Whenever Lili stood on this spot, she always felt a mixture of terror and temptation. To just get in a boat and leave, explore the world, or go back, close the gates behind her and never leave this place. It was like standing on a precipice…a precipice she always walked away from.
