‘I didn’t enter into negotiations,’ Leo said shortly.
Sheenagh looked pleased. ‘Of course not.’
Ferdinando shook his head. ‘Impossibile.’
The telephone call left Leo unsettled. Then he was angry at himself for allowing that. Teddy had blown up Leo’s life in England and Leo shouldn’t let him cast a pall over things now that everything seemed to be going the right way. His bank accounts were about to be refilled. He hadn’t planned on a return to Como, but now he was happy to be here. And his first love was beside him, taking his hand reassuringly beneath the table, even more lovable and kind as a grown woman than she had been on the threshold of womanhood.
He dipped his head so that his lips were close to her ear, enjoying the light brush of her hair like satin on his skin. ‘Can we send your sisters back to Three Sisters without you and spend time together later?’
When she turned her head to look into his eyes, the gold flecks in hers gleamed her interest.
‘They won’t mind,’ he murmured encouragingly.
‘Just as well as I don’t need their permission.’ She stared into his face assessingly, then winked, and whispered something to Erin. Erin gave a discreet nod and in turn whispered to Rosalie.Rosalie leaned forward to grin at Leo and Jade, and gave them a much less discreet thumbs-up.
Over the next hour, the group of drinking men became increasingly loud and finally Sheenagh shook her head and picked up her bag. ‘I must be growing old, because these guys are annoying me into leaving.’ But she sent Leo a sly smile, and he realised that his mum wanted to leave him with Jade and knew her departure was likely to break up the party – which it did.
Before too long, everyone had saidbuonanotteand he was strolling through the gardens, Jade’s hand in his as the darkness closed around them, the scent of the recent storms rising from the grass, the drone of insects serenading them home. Jade was quiet.
Gently, he dropped a kiss on her hair. ‘I hope it didn’t seem weird, me talking to Teddy about breaking up with Isabella.’
She seemed to chew over his question. ‘Yes and no. No, because Iknowyou were with Isabella for years and the break-up was bound to hurt you, and remain painful. No, again, as the man you were speaking to was her dad. But...’ She hesitated. ‘It reminded me how new this is between us and how recently you were committed to her. It introduced a fresh perspective.’
Alarm heightening his senses, he studied her profile in the dimness of the nighttime garden, but it was difficult with only meagre lanterns beside the path, almost as ineffective as the fireflies flickering into life beside a well-trimmed shrub. ‘You and I were togethersixteen yearsago, so maybe we could consider our relationship “renewed” rather than “new”? So far as my commitment to Isabella’s concerned, it’s been over for ages. Circumstances meant I had to remain on the premises of the Black Falcon, that’s all.’
Her head tilted consideringly. ‘OK. Just trying to keep things honest while we’re seeing each other.’
He didn’t like the ‘while’ in that sentence, but lifted her hand to kiss it. ‘I’d like to see a lot of you.’ He tilted his head in the direction of Villetta Nascosta and lifted a suggestive eyebrow.
‘Sounds delicious. So long as I can see a lot of you too.’ The corners of her mouth lifted alluringly.
He grinned, heat flaring in his groin. ‘Happy to leave the lights on.’
So, he soon found out, was Jade.
But he lay awake later, rerunning that tentative, unsettling conversation in his head and wondering if Jade was keeping a wall around her heart, in case he hurt her again. If so, he couldn’t really blame her. It was up to him to show he could be relied upon.
Chapter Twenty
Jade was jolted awake by a crash of thunder, as if someone had tossed a wardrobe downstairs.
From beside her, Leo groaned, sliding his arm across her body. ‘Loud.’
It took her a moment to notice something more significant than a lake storm... the daylight showing at the edges of the blinds. She gasped. ‘It’smorning. I fell asleep.’ A quick glance at her phone told her it was nearly 6 a.m. A low growl rolled into another thunderous boom, like a bad-tempered dog working itself up into a frenzy, and a blaze of lightning lit the room. Jade stumbled out of bed to collect her clothes from the floor.
Leo rolled to his feet, yawning, crossed to the blinds and peered into the garden. ‘Cavolo. The rain’s horizontal.’
She groaned. ‘I hope I can get a taxi to pick me up in front of the hotel.’
He frowned. ‘I need to buy a car.’
‘But you wouldn’t be able to park it here, near the villetta,’ she replied pragmatically, as she flew into the living space to find her footwear.
When Erin rang, Jade said, ‘I’m about to come back,’ hopping as she attempted to slide a bare foot into a sandal. Leo came up beside her, pulling on a T-shirt.
Erin cut in. ‘Something’s happening, Jade. There was a huge noise from the roof. Guests are running around and asking what’s going on. And I don’t know.’
Alarm raced through Jade. ‘What kind of noise from the roof?’
