She should know. She’d existed for long enough.
‘I know that feeling, even though it’s for different reasons. Life can be short. One day everything’s fine. The next, everything can change in an instant.’
Everyone around the table looked sombre, nodding.
‘I’m only sorry for dampening the mood of a lovely evening by asking,’ Simone said.
‘No.’ Leo turned to her. There was something in his gaze, an intensity, like he’d been lit from within. Itburned. Then he focussed on the Tessitores once more. ‘This is an important discussion. I’m coming to understand that you’re under pressure to do something. Would I be right in saying that if things were different, you wouldn’t be looking to sell the company at all?’
The family members looked at each other. Gino shook his head.
‘Fia is the soul of the designs. If we had more time, other plans could be put in place. If it happened in ten years, our granddaughter might have been old enough and interested enough to join the company. For now, nothing’s clear and our only interest is in seeing Tessitore survive. We’d prefer to plan, than to sell when the news is out and the vultures have started circling.’
Leo lounged back in his dining chair. The space was lit up by candles and the glittering lights above them. People might like to believe he was relaxed. However, Simone knew him far better. She could see it, the way he was thinking. The merest furrow on his brow when he turned and the light catching his face the right way. Appearing relaxed yet really, just all power sheathed. Like she’d thought once before. A panther waiting to spring onto its prey. A liquid kind of heat flooded through Simone. Pooling, settling low. There was a reason no one should ever underestimate Leo Zanetti and she was witnessing it right now.
‘What if I proposed not a sale or takeover, but a partnership? Circolo has the financial capacity to support the business if it needs to transition. That could give Tessitore time and space. The family wouldn’t have to forgo all their shares. Should Fia have the capacity or desire, she could still design. Should your granddaughter decide her future lies with the business, and she has the talent, the opportunity to continue the family tradition wouldn’t be lost to her. Then, hasty decisions wouldn’t need to be made. We could invite guest designers to create fabrics whilst Fia’s getting treatment. It might be a better solution for you.’
Fia and Rita’s eyes widened. They smiled. Gino cocked his head and fixed Leo with a dark, assessing gaze.
‘What do you get from the deal?’
Leo laughed. ‘Don’t worry. I’m no charity and I’ll take my fair share but I understand the importance of tradition. Circolo would be partnering with the oldest and finest textile maker in Italy. That would give us significant cultural and design capital. I’d expect exclusivity on certain fabric patterns, which only Circolo branded or approved products would carry. I might ask for a veto on who the fabrics can be sold to. I can draw up terms, then we can talk more, should you be interested in my offer.’
Simone sat back in her chair. Simply marvelling as Leo had pivoted so effortlessly. But even more, he’d taken the realisation that the family didn’t want to sell and offered something which let them keep at least part of the company in the family. They didn’t have to let it go. The offer was stunning. Generous.
It showed a new side to him she hadn’t known existed.
Gino looked at his family. Fia and Rita nodded. ‘Then we might be able to make a deal.’
There seemed to be a lightness that came over the table. A sense of hope. They drank wine, talked some more. A friendly getting-to-know-you, till it was time for them to leave. It was like the edge had been burnished from the evening, sharp sides sanded smooth. Leo and Simone walked them to the front door and said their warm goodbyes. After closing the door, he turned. The look on his face intent. He stalked towards her, backing her towards the wall. Pressed her up against it, a hand above her head.
‘You are an inspiration.’
So was he, but she didn’t have time to say so before his mouth crashed onto hers. A kiss hard and fierce, tasting like the after-dinner espresso they’d consumed. Leo devoured her. She kissed him back, her body going up in flames. She didn’t know how she survived him without perpetually crumbling to ashes at his feet. His tongue danced with hers, inflaming, enticing. Whilst kissing him was one of her life’s greatest pleasures, it wasn’t enough. She needed more. She neededeverything. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him even closer as he groaned. Their bodies melded together. He could take her right here and it wouldn’t matter but instead he pulled away, his lips gleaming in the soft light, breaths coming in heavy pants.
‘I want you.’
‘I need you,’ she said.
The feelings he ignited inside, consumed her. A complex mix of passion, possession and completion. Feeling settled and unsettled, all at the same time.
He swooped her into his arms and captured her lips again before striding through the house and up the stairs to the main bedroom. Crossing the threshold, the only light in the room came from the ensuite, casting the space in a contrast of golden glow and shadow. For all the aggressive passion, Leo let her go gently. Placing her carefully on her feet. It was such a small thing and it still meant the world that he could think about her, when she knew he was as desperate as she was for them to be naked together. But whilst she wanted to be selfish and take, tonight she also wanted to give. He’d shared his past with people and it had been no small thing, given how deep she knew his wounds ran. How her own fall had re-opened them.
Leo toed out of his shoes, stripped off his belt as Simone began unbuttoning his shirt, tugging it from his trousers then tossing it to the floor. He undid the bow at her neck, the halter neck top falling free to her waist, exposing her breasts. He grunted as her nipples tightened in the cool air of the room. Leo cupped them with his hands, stroked his thumbs over the hard peaks.
‘Perfetto,’ he murmured. ‘Amore mio, sei una bellezza.’
Whilst she could listen to him for hours, Simone was too desperate. She wiggled away, undid her own pants, threw off her top. Stood in front of him in nothing but the fine lace and silk panties she’d chosen because she knew he loved them.
‘On the bed,’ she said, injecting as much dominance into her voice as she could muster. Trying to wrestle control of the evening for herself.
He cocked an eyebrow, his eyes glittering like sapphires in the light. ‘Really?’
His voice was as rich and rough as coffee grounds. His fingers flexed and released as if he wanted to touch her, but she was sure that he’d like this game. Being with Leo gave her a new kind of confidence and she wanted to give him the same pleasure that he always seemed to give her.
‘Yes, really. I intend to have my wicked way with you. Or doesn’t the great Leo Zanetti want to listen to what he might find is actually good for him?’
Leo chuckled. ‘Tesoro, I’m happy for you to do whatever you want to me. I’m looking forward to it.’
