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Lucas winced. ‘I have to go. The restaurant – I need to open up.’

‘Can’t it wait a little longer?’

Lucas kissed her once again, but she could feel his hesitation. ‘Believe me, leaving is the last thing I want to do.’

‘Then don’t.’

‘I have to.’

Stephanie slid down from the counter, pulling up the strap of her dress. ‘It’s OK. I understand,’ she said, trying to hide her disappointment.

‘It’ll be a late one tonight,’ Lucas apologized. ‘But are you free tomorrow?’

‘Of course. We need to finish what we started.’

Lucas groaned with longing. ‘You’re incredible, Stephanie Moon. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to concentrate tonight.’

‘Good,’ she giggled. ‘I don’t want you to forget about me.’

‘Never,’ Lucas replied, shaking his head. ‘Now that I’ve found you, I’ll never forget you.’

They kissed for the final time, a kiss filled with desire and an unspoken promise of what was to come. Then Lucas reluctantly turned to go, leaving Stephanie walking on air, counting the hours until she could see him again.

Lucas could barely remember anything about the drive to Il Paradiso. He was on autopilot for the short journey as his Porsche sped along the coastal road, his head full of thoughts of Stephanie, his body on fire at the memory of her. He was in danger of falling hard for her; she was fun, intelligent and sexy, but they connected on a deeper level too. He instinctively trusted her, and it was as though they understood one another intuitively. He felt as if he could tell her anything … but then he thought about Elle and felt a stab of shame and anger dampen his mood. What was he playing at, he asked himself? He’d promised to leave his bad-boy days behind him, and Elle deserved better, but Stephanie was different.

He was in a thoughtful mood as he pulled into the restaurant car park, and was almost at the door of Il Paradiso before he noticed the huge chain and lock across the entrance.

‘What the …’ he began, as two black-clad men approached him. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Are you Lucas Fontaine?’ one of them called back.

A bad feeling swept over Lucas, a churning in his gut that told him whatever was happening wasn’t good. ‘Depends who’s asking.’

‘We are,’ the man retorted coldly. He was tall and well-built, with tattoos on his neck and a menacing expression.

Lucas pulled himself up to his full height and looked him square in the face. ‘Yes, I am. Now tell me what’s happening with my restaurant.’

The shorter man gave him an unpleasant smile. ‘Oh, I think you’ll find it’s no longer your restaurant.’ He reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter. ‘Here’s the legal notice. This property is being repossessed for non-payment of rent.’

‘But that’s impossible,’ Lucas burst out.

‘It’s entirely possible. No payments have been received for six months. We’ve sent multiple warnings and a court order that was ignored. You’ve had ample opportunity to get in touch, but now we’re closing this place down.’

‘No! Wait, please – there must be some mistake. Give me one moment.’

Lucas pulled out his phone and scrolled urgently to Paulo’s number. Instead of a ringtone, there was a high-pitched beeping noise, followed by an automated voice telling him that the number wasn’t recognized.

Lucas felt as though his world was collapsing, utterly powerless as he watched the men affix ‘No Entry’ signs to the restaurant, heedless of the fact that customers would start arriving in just two hours’ time. Everything he’d worked for these past two years, all of his dreams – gone, in an instant.

Frantically, he tried Paulo’s number again, but once again it was unrecognized. It seemed to have been disconnected. It was as though Paulo had vanished into thin air.

Where on earth was he? Lucas thought desperately. What the hell was going on?

Chapter 15

It had been another hectic day. Camille was used to it – her life had been lived at breakneck speed for the past thirty years – but she was only human and at times the exhaustion caught up with her.

It was late at night and she was sitting in her suite, sipping hot water with lemon, running through the events of the past few weeks in her mind. She needed to focus on the show and be on top form for the dozens of interviews she’d been asked to do; the press release had gone out that morning revealing Catherine Zeta-Jones as the new face of Camille Andre, and it was making headlines around the world. But Camille couldn’t stop thinking about Andre’s accident, about the chilling letters she’d been receiving, and the blackmail threats, and about Nicolas …