But he was the first to break the stunned silence and before his brain could totally engage, it could already smell the danger.
He exited the sitting room at lightning speed, catching up with the mystery singing woman as she headed off in the direction of the kitchen.
He could see the little buds in her ears. She was in a world of her own. Music blaring from upstairs while she sang along to whatever she was listening to on her headphones. Had his house suddenly turned into a club? Would he head upstairs to find a rave going on while whoever this was strolled around, doing her own thing, for all the world as though his house belonged to her?
She was about to be brutally wrenched from whatever world she was in, Alessandro thought grimly.
He had no idea who the woman was, but he was very keenly aware of the trio of onlookers now poised by the door with avid interest and he had lots of ideas on how a random woman making herself at home in his chalet was going to go down. Leading the pack on the accusation front would be his ex-wife, but the lawyers, always so impassive as they were paid to be, were there as well, drawing conclusions they couldn’t afford to draw. Could things be worse?
Alessandro reached out.
She was wearing loose clothes that looked enormous on her slender frame. A soft jumper that stopped at the waist and some very baggy jogging bottoms with the elasticated waistband rolled so that a slither of skin was visible.
He could feel the slimness of her body as he tugged her towards him. He made sure to provide a barrier between himself and his audience of three and he was glad he had because the look of utter astonishment on her face as she took him in was priceless.
Her eyes opened wide, her mouth parted and she inhaled sharply while fumbling to yank the little buds out of her ears.
‘Don’t say anything,’ Alessandro said in a low, commanding voice. ‘Tell me your name.’
Up close and personal, there was something about her that made him feel a little unbalanced and he put that down to the shock of finding her in his house in the first place. Her hair was very fair, vanilla blonde, and very long and very unruly. Her eyes were huge, almond-shaped and brown, the same chocolate brown as her eyebrows and her long, curling eyelashes, and her mouth was soft and perfectly defined.
She smelled of something clean and floral and, with absolutely not a scrap of make-up, her skin was satin smooth.
He scowled at an unwanted physical reaction, which was so out of character for him.
‘You tell me yours first,’ she hissed right back at him, trying her best to peer round his shoulders.
He was having none of that and fortunately he was broad enough to block her from the inquisitive eyes behind them, but time wasn’t on his side.
‘All you need to know is that I own the villa in which you’re trespassing.’
‘You do?’
‘Name. Now. What is it?’
In return the fiery blonde shot him a simmering, hostile look under her lashes but there was enough sudden wariness there to alert him to the fact that he had the upper hand and thank God for that. He shuddered to think what a field day his ex was going to have with this situation. She would grasp whatever ammunition she could and wield it against him like a claw hammer and Flora would be caught in the middle.
He was going to have to wing it.
Trespassing.
Georgie quailed inside. Of course, she couldn’t possibly know for sure whether thiscomplete strangerwas telling the truth or not, but she was getting the distinct impression that this was a guy who didn’t do a lot of larking around.
His deep, dark eyes were coldly intent as they roved over her face. Her heart was slamming against her ribcage, a combination of intense apprehension, nerves and…
An awareness that was darkly, shockingly sexual.
He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen in her entire life. Tall, dark and handsomeon steroidsdidn’t begin to sum it up.
His features were perfectly chiselled, his raven-black hair was cropped short and he had a mouth that could drive any woman to distraction.
She had to peel her eyes away from that way too sexy mouth, away fromhim, as she frantically tried to gather herself and rescue some semblance of self-control. As much as a trespasser could have, was what she thought faintly.
But his hand was burning with the force of a branding iron through her jumper and she was finding it hard to get any words out as their eyes continued to tangle in electrifying silence.
Eventually, she managed to croak her name.
‘Listen to me carefully,’ he said, leaning towards her so that she could feel his breath against her face. ‘You’re going to follow my lead. Understood?’
