The Italian Single Dad
Jennie Adams

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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And with thanks to Susan, Pazit, and Lina.

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

EPILOGUE

PROLOGUE

TWENTY-YEAR-OLD Arabella Gable took her seat behind two of the other models, and waited for the plane to take off. As Italy grew smaller beneath them, she finally let out a breath.

Her second trip to the country was over, the payment for the fashion shoot safe in her bank account where she and her sisters could benefit from it. From now on she would work only within Australia. She certainly had no desire to come back to Italy again. The country was beautiful, but the reminders of Luchino, of the mistake she had made, of how he’d preyed on her and hidden things from her, were too strong, even after almost a year.

A stewardess offered in-flight headphones to those who wanted to listen to music. Bella took a pair and nodded her thanks.

‘I can’t believe you saw him, Karen.’ In the seat in front of her, one of the models spoke. ‘I’m so jealous. Apparently he travels all over Europe now. What are the odds of you stumbling across him in Naples?’ The older model, Lareen, had a deep, carrying voice.

Bella wasn’t interested. She stared out of the window and wished herself home with her sisters in their cosy flat in Melbourne. Were they both OK? Had the money and provisions really lasted, or had they said so when she phoned simply so she wouldn’t worry?

‘Yes, I saw “Mr Diamonds” himself! Not the older brother. Who’d want him? But Luc Montichelli…Oh, yes.’ Karen giggled. ‘He could show me his assets any time.’

‘Mr Diamonds’? Luc Montichelli?

Bella’s breath stopped in her throat. Her worry over her sisters suspended for a moment. Luchino had been in Naples? Right there where she might have bumped into him?

She had felt safe from the chance of seeing him. Had believed he would be in Milan, where he made his home, otherwise she wouldn’t have come, would have found some other way to tide the finances over until her new contract started next month. Bella’s heart raced and a fresh well of hurt and betrayal rose up. She hated that just the mention of his name could do that to her.

I’m over him. It doesn’t hurt any more. It doesn’t!

Oh, but dear lord. She could have stumbled right into Luchino and his wife and child. What if they’d been travelling together, on holiday, or lived in Naples now or something?

Thank God she hadn’t seen them. The models continued to talk about Luchino, his looks, how much money he had. Bella didn’t want to know what Luchino did, or where he was, or how he looked or sounded or anything else.

Luchino was a blot on her life, a horrible, hurtful error she never wanted to repeat. She would never be gullible like that with a man again. Bella fumbled to pull the earphones from their packaging so she could drown the voices out. The plastic covering crackled between her fingers, but refused to open.

Lareen spoke again. ‘I don’t know if I’d want to tangle with him, though.’

‘Why not?’ Karen responded with curiosity to the hint of warning in the other model’s tone.

‘Because I think he might be too ruthless to handle, honey.’ Lareen went on. ‘I heard he divorced his wife and got custody of his kid, then stuck the kid away in a house in a remote village with only a nanny to watch over her and simply never goes near them. You have to admit, that’s cold-blooded.’

‘Really?’ Karen gasped. ‘When did the divorce happen?’

‘I’m not sure, but they’ve been apart at least a few months.’ Lareen paused for a moment. ‘He doesn’t look like the same person now. That’s what struck me when I saw him. He’s got this anger in his eyes…’

Bella sat completely still. Her heart raced. She could barely believe what she’d heard. It shocked her enough that Luc’s marriage had ended, although maybe she should have expected it. After all, he hadn’t exactly been faithful. But to snatch his child from her mother’s arms, and then abandon that child was unforgivable. That wrenched at Bella’s heart, because she knew just how much it hurt.

Unaware of Bella’s shock behind her, Lareen went on. ‘He must have taken the baby just to punish his wife or something. Divorces can be ugly.’

‘Are you sure this is true, Lareen?’ Karen sounded uncertain, but hungry for more information.

Bella clenched her hands in her lap as she wrestled with her feelings. She still felt raw inside from her parents’ desertion of her and her sisters two years ago. Despite Luchino’s deceit last year in Milan when he blatantly pursued her and hid his married state from her, a part of Bella didn’t want to believe he would abandon his child.

She didn’t want to believe anyone would do that. Some days she still struggled to accept it had happened to her and her sisters. Until she went back to their apartment and looked in the cupboards to check if they had enough food to last them, enough money in the rent jar, and reality smacked her in the face all over again.

Bella tried to protect her sisters from the worst of the worries, but they weren’t stupid. They knew, and knowing…hurt them, undermined Bella’s efforts to ensure they felt safe and guarded and comfortable.

A wave of protective anger washed through Bella. And that anger, which had focused solely on her parents for two years, now began to turn towards Luchino as well. He had pursued Bella when he had a wife and baby. Bella had fallen most of the way in love, thought it was the real thing. It hurt so much when his wife turned up and Bella realised Luc had simply been toying with her.

Bella learned from that, built walls to protect her heart. But even with all of that, she hadn’t imagined Luc could do such a thing as abandon his child.

‘It’s true.’ Lareen’s voice deepened even further as she seemed to tap into Bella’s very thoughts. ‘My cousin, the one who went through Europe on a work visa a while back, got a job in that same village. She went out with the grocery delivery guy, and he told her everything.’

Lareen’s voice lowered even more. ‘The nanny had her friend at the house one day when the guy delivered the groceries. She told her friend Luc just stayed away. He paid the bills, but he wanted nothing to do with the child.’

They went on to talk about how it might feel to be abandoned.

As though they would know anything about it!

Hands shaking, Bella finally got the headphones free of their wrapping, put them over her ears, and plugged into the airline music.

But she didn’t hear it. She only heard the rising tide of her disgust and condemnation of a man she had thought she couldn’t despise any more.

At least the baby had someone’s care. Bella consoled herself with that, but she would never forget what she had learned today.

Not ever.

CHAPTER ONE

HE STALKED into Melbourne’s Maria’s at a minute before closing time on a warm, still summer afternoon, a tall Mediterranean man among the laden shelves of fine Egyptian handbags, Parisian scarves and the feathered and veiled confections that earned the name ‘hat’ within Australia’s haute couture. Racks of designer gowns fluttered in his wake.

‘Good afternoon and welcome to Maria’s. May I help you with anything in particular?’ The words fell from Arabella Gable’s lips, polite, professional. She guarded herself too well to allow any hint of impatience or weariness at the end of a busy day to colour her words.

The man turned his head and Bella suppressed a gasp as a flood of memories stripped time away. Six years ago this man had held her heart in his hands.

Bella’s throat tightened as feelings rushed through her. Fury, hurt, disillusionment. Yet as she looked at him, the barriers around her heart shook. It must be from her anger.

And from shock. You didn’t expect to ever see him again.

Why was he here? Her mind sought answers, but didn’t find them.

‘When I explain matters, you’ll have little choice but to help me.’ The rich, smooth accent of his Italian heritage shivered over her, so familiar, once so dear.

Never again.

‘Luchino.’ His name emerged on a whisper of sound. She had believed him out of her life forever. What brought him to Australia, to Melbourne? Here, to Maria’s? Against her will, Bella’s gaze roved across his features, took them in as she had in Milan all those years ago. Dark hair, dark brows, angular chin, chocolate-brown eyes and a mouth made for seduction, all of it packaged in the sculpted aplomb of Armani, pure black.

From the fitted shirt to the dress trousers and leather belt that encased slim hips and long legs, Luchino Montichelli shouted wealth, power and sensuality.

Banked anger lurked in the backs of his eyes.

‘Yes, it’s Luc—one and the same. It’s been a long time, Arabella.’ His gaze moved over her. Lowered lids hooded his expression, but not before Bella saw the leashed awareness in his eyes. ‘The years seem to have favoured you.’

Her heart skipped a beat in reaction to that examination. Not because she reacted in kind! No. But how dared he look at her like that? Her nerves on edge, Bella lifted a slim hand to the knot of blonde hair secured at her nape, then cursed herself for the movement, which might be interpreted as awareness of his interest.

‘They’ve been good to you, too.’ She made the grudging admission. ‘You look…well.’

Appealing, dangerous, strong and determined and somehow even harder, tougher than the Luc she had known. But then, he’d made some tough moves, hadn’t he? Conscienceless ones. Like taking his child from her mother then ignoring her himself. ‘Why are you here, Luchino? How could I possibly help you with anything?’

Even the sound of his name on her lips battered at a place deep inside her.

‘I never planned to see you again, Arabella.’ Luc’s mouth tightened as he went on. ‘I assure you, I would rather not be here.’

‘You’d rather not see me? I’m afraid I return that sentiment.’ Bella tossed the words at him, yet for a moment she caught a softer expression in his eyes and her heart—that betraying creature—remembered something that had seemed so special, so right, and a soft vulnerability welled up inside her.

Bella stamped down hard on the reaction. Those memories were an illusion! ‘I’m about to close the store so whatever you’re here for…’

Maria would kill her for trying to push a customer out of the place. Bella didn’t doubt that her boss’s Milanese accent would thicken with anger, too. Well, too bad. These were extenuating circumstances, Luchino didn’t appear to be here as a customer, and in any case Maria wasn’t here to say anything. She was at a fashion expo in Queensland.

‘By all means, lock the store.’ A well-shaped hand gestured towards the front door. ‘Better still, give me the key and I’ll do it for you while you put the remainder of the day’s takings into the safe. What I have to say to you is best said in private.’

‘What would you know about closing procedures?’ But his family owned jewellery stores dotted all over Europe and various other parts of the world. Those stores would all follow the same basic closing actions as here.

Luchino had learned his jewellery-design skills in one of the family’s stores, or so he had once said. She pushed the thought aside. His career didn’t matter to her. Luchino no longer mattered to her, except to act as a warning not to allow anyone to hurt her again. ‘Anyway, I’m not sure I want to speak with you alone. We didn’t exactly part as friends, in case you’ve forgotten.’

‘I’ve forgotten none of it.’ The words sounded like a threat as his gaze moved over her.

What did he see aside from pale, smooth skin, eyes a lighter shade of brown than his, and bone structure that Bella frankly thought too strong and angular to be truly appealing? Why should she care what he thought, anyway?

‘And I run a store a mere few city blocks from here.’ His gaze drifted away from her, to the racks of clothes, the hats and scarves and handbags. ‘I think I can work out how to secure this place.’

‘That’s you?’ Bella tried not to let shock colour her tone of voice. A Diamonds by Montichelli store had opened here two weeks ago. Bella had seen it in the papers and dismissed it from her mind. She strove to sound only mildly interested now. ‘I thought the new store was an offshoot of the Sydney store, that there’d be a local manager. I thought you focused on design, anyway.’

I thought I would never have to see you again. I don’t want to see you!

Each time Bella’s sisters had suffered or worried or felt scared over the past five years, a part of Bella had silently linked Luchino to that pain because he was an abandoner, too, just like their parents. And he had hurt Bella, toyed with her emotions when he had no right.

If he intended to remain in Melbourne, if she bumped into him, caught sight of him over and over, how would she cope? The key dropped from her fingers, clattered onto the glass counter, a mockery of the calm control she wanted to portray. ‘Have you moved to management? Are you here to get things settled then hand the store over to someone? The Sydney store has a local manager…’

Please let Luchino be about to hand the store over to someone else.

‘I no longer work with the family. Diamonds by Montichelli is my store, a separate entity from all the others. I may share the family name, but ultimately the store will succeed because of my work, my design and my reputation.’

Something painful crossed his face as he spoke the words. He lowered his gaze. His fingers closed around the key. ‘I have a lot of roles here—owner, head designer, manager, salesman, craftsman. Whatever is needed at any given time, I do it. I’m here to stay.’

Here to stay and out of sorts with his jewellery-making family? Oh, Bella could relate to that and she didn’t want to. She didn’t want any common ground with him at all. How could she feel even a mild sympathy for a man who walked away from his child?

‘That’s why the store isn’t called simply Montichelli’s like the others.’

‘That’s right.’ Luchino turned his broad back to her and strode towards the front of the store. ‘Finish up, Arabella, so we can get this discussion over with.’

‘I’m leaving in a minute.’ Bella made the warning to him, but she had to work to control her shaking hands as she emptied the contents of the cash drawer into a bag and dumped it in the small timed floor safe. Her sheath dress of peach Oriental silk rustled as she moved.

As he turned back towards her, Luchino stopped to examine each of the Design by Bella gowns displayed on mannequins to left and right. Despite her anger, Bella’s breath hitched as she waited to hear his verdict.

Finally, he spoke. ‘You’re a woman of hidden talents, Arabella. These are good. At least your skill with design and creation will mean there’s half a chance of fixing the mess you’ve made.’

She had almost relaxed into his praise. Now she pulled herself stiffly upright. ‘Mess? What mess?’ How dared he say she had made a mess?

‘You’ve gone from modelling, to coercing middle-aged ladies out of huge amounts of money in business ventures that have no guarantee of succeeding.’ Accusation tightened every contour of the sculpted face. ‘You must really be proud of yourself.’

‘Modelling was only ever a job to put money on the table for me and my sis—’ She stopped abruptly as she heard herself attempt to justify her earliest choice of career to him.

Then the rest sank in. ‘What do you mean? I haven’t coerced anybody, and what’s it got to do with you, anyway?’ Bella had hammered out a deal with Maria Rocco, had agreed to bring her designs exclusively to Maria’s and keep them here on a five-year contract, only if Maria purchased her year’s worth of already-created stock up front, but it was a reasonable agreement, because Bella intended to succeed.

‘Maria Rocco is my aunt.’ As Luchino said it, he watched her face for her reaction. ‘That makes this very much my business.’

Bella pulled her face into a tight mask to cover her shock and uncertainty. Maria was Milanese, it was true, but the older woman had lived in Australia almost all her adult life. ‘Maria is a Rocco, not a Montichelli, and she told me she has no family.’

Bella clung to that knowledge, even as she noted that Luchino did indeed share some similarities of feature with Maria. That had to be just happenstance, though. What was a nose, after all, or the tilt of a chin?

‘My aunt left Milan, left the family and changed her name long ago. She no doubt considered herself alone.’ Harsh anger radiated from him as he went on. ‘I’m sure you saw that as an advantage when you set out to rob her of a vast amount of money.’

‘I did not! How do you even know about the agreement I have with her?’ She stopped, didn’t want to reveal anything to him. But he clearly knew something.

Luc’s hand rose to touch a spot above his heart—as though to assure himself of the presence of something in his shirt pocket? And yes, a faint square outline showed there—a photo, perhaps.

Before Bella could wonder about it, the mouth that had once offered soft seduction, had once whispered hungry words, love words to her that were oh, so false, tightened again into a strong, determined line.

‘I told my new finance manager I wanted to meet Maria. He’d heard Maria took on a protégé. When he mentioned your name, I asked him to get details for me.’

‘That’s an invasion of Maria’s privacy, and of mine!’ One that Luchino had apparently taken in his stride.

‘It was a timely intervention.’ He accompanied the declaration with a squaring of his shoulders. Low warning filled his tone. ‘Estranged or not right at this moment, I won’t see Maria go under financially because of you.

‘You somehow bullied her into buying a year’s worth of designer gowns at an astronomical price with no guarantee whatsoever that any of them would sell, and no way for her to get her money back if they don’t. On top of that, you talked her into employing you here to make more gowns which also may not sell.’

His face darkened. ‘A five-year contract where Maria carries the burden and risk, and you swim along on the high tide of all that money she’s handed to you. Don’t bother to deny it.’

Bella frowned. She had slaved over that three-page agreement herself. Luchino made it sound one-sided but it wasn’t an unfair arrangement, because Maria knew Bella’s only aim was success for both of them. Bella pushed the inkling of unease aside. ‘It’s an agreement, actually, not a contract.’ She hadn’t wanted the expense of a lawyer, but Chrissy’s past boss, Henry Montbank, had helped Bella to make sure the agreement was water-tight.

‘It’s robbery in the guise of a work arrangement.’

‘You’d call me a thief? How—how dare you?’ While Bella simmered in fury, questions vied for space.

Despite Maria’s indications to the contrary, she had a family? That family was the Montichellis?

One fact lodged deep: Luchino had investigated not only Maria, but also Bella. ‘You’ve pried into my life, behind my back, as though you had every right to do that. Just what did you find out about me, about my sisters? How far did you dig around, expose us—?’

‘I investigated your finances, Arabella, the work you’ve done in the years since I last saw you. And I learned everything there is to know about your arrangement with my aunt. I won’t apologise for doing that.’ He said the last with a hard glare in his eyes.

‘I intend to reclaim Maria as my aunt.’ His expression softened a little as he said this. ‘She’s family and…I want that bond with her if it’s at all possible. I’d have arranged to meet her before now if she hadn’t been out of the city.’

A hunger for family was bizarre, given his history. Yet he seemed sincere. Bella needed to remember he could be both convincing and duplicitous!

Bella glared right back at him, but sudden weariness tugged at her. Her hands ached from the hours spent in the adjoining sewing and consultation room, meticulously stitching Chinese cloisonné beads to the fitted sleeves of her latest creation while Maria’s sales clerk took care of customers. Bella wanted to go home, slip into one of her black catsuits and indulge in an hour of Pilates in front of the TV.

Instead she had to deal with an angry man she had hoped never to see again, a man who believed she meant his aunt financial harm. ‘Despite what you say, you mustn’t have investigated very well, Luchino, because Maria is in no financial danger from me.’

‘On the contrary, the purchase of your stock almost bankrupted her.’ Luchino raked a hand through his thick, dark hair.

Glossy, silky hair with a tendency to wave…

Bella pulled herself up straighter and gave Luc the benefit of her coldest stare. It was a lot of money, but she had needed a strong capital injection to enable her to buy the best fabrics and accoutrements to create more gowns, and her designs justified the cost.

It might take a few years, but Maria would get back her investment, and much more, eventually. ‘Your aunt is very wealthy, Luchino. She owns a penthouse apartment in the best part of the city, drives the latest-model luxury car and goes on overseas buying trips every other week.

‘Maria didn’t hesitate to agree to my terms, and she can afford to carry things along until my gowns start to really pay for her.’ Bella’s employer walked and talked affluence and until this moment Bella had seen no reason to doubt her.

Luchino shook his head. ‘Maria has spent beyond her means for years. The apartment is rented, the car is a lease and those buying trips have put her heavily into debt.’ His gaze darkened as he looked around the store. ‘She was in no position to buy into a speculative venture like yours.’

‘My gowns will sell. Maria has made a good investment, and I intend to prove that.’ Yet even as Bella said it, her stomach knotted.

She hadn’t asked Maria’s financial status. She had assumed it on the evidence in front of her. Now doubt formed and Bella experienced that hated feeling of losing control. If Maria really had no money, just a pile of debts…

‘I can’t fail.’ The words were a stark statement, because she simply couldn’t. Failure had ceased to be an option when their parents unforgivably abandoned her, Chrissy and Sophia while her sisters were still in high school. Every struggle since then had underscored that abandonment, and underscored Bella’s condemnation of the man before her because he had mirrored her parents’ actions.

Bella had striven to succeed, and she had done it. For her sisters, and to assure herself they would all be OK, and now she had to do it to assure herself she was OK. ‘As I build a client base, more gowns will sell until eventually Maria ends up making a strong profit from her investment.’

But none of that would work if Maria went bankrupt in the meantime.

As the weight of concern pressed down on her, Bella wanted nothing more than to assure herself she could indeed go forward, successfully, as she intended. ‘I’ll ring Maria. Find out where things really stand.’

Maria could allay Bella’s fears, Bella could send Luchino away. All would be well again, except for Luchino’s determination to be part of Maria’s life, which would bring him into contact with Bella’s life.

‘I can’t allow you to phone my aunt. I don’t want her to know that I bought—that I investigated her.’ He paused and cleared his throat, then said in a grudging tone, ‘I want a chance to get to know her without business matters getting in the way.’

Again that reference to a hunger for family. It confused Bella, and all of a sudden she wanted the comfort of her family, of hearing her sisters’ voices. Her hand reached for her bag beneath the counter, for the cellphone within. She could get either of them with a single press of a button. Then she stopped herself.

Later she could talk to Chrissy and Soph. Right now, if she tried to talk to either of them, she would say too much. Give too much away.

They knew about that ill-fated trip to Milan, but Bella had downplayed its impact on her, left out several vital bits, had not revealed the near-devastation of that whirlwind week when she offered her heart and Luchino seemed about to take it before she discovered the truth about him. She’d been nineteen and so gullible.

‘Prevarication is a waste of time, Arabella. The agreement is stacked in your favour. Maria is in financial danger because you pushed for the purchase of your gowns. Whether you knew her financial situation or not, your demands were unacceptable and I intend to see that you make up for your actions. These are the facts. Now, I’ll give you two choices to repair the damage.’

The planes of his face sharpened as he stared at her. ‘The first choice is you pay back every cent she gave to you, and you walk away.’

He had to be kidding. Bella almost laughed, but the expression on his face stopped her. Utter determination. ‘This isn’t just about money, Luchino. Maria has agreed to help me launch my label, my name. If I took out a loan to buy the gowns back, I wouldn’t be able to afford to re-establish myself elsewhere.’

Bella’s feeling of panic deepened. ‘I don’t have the money any more. I invested it in fabrics and notions for new gowns.’

‘Then I guess that leaves choice number two.’ He took a step towards her and she backed just slightly until she could sense the presence of the service counter behind her.

‘Oh? And what is that?’ Bella tried not to think about his closeness, tried not to feel threatened and confused by him.

Luchino fired his answer at her. ‘It’s quite simple, Arabella. You see to it that every gown my aunt bought from you sells quickly and for a good price.’

‘Sure. I’ll just make that happen.’ She would look up a fairy godmother in the yellow pages and get her to wave her magic wand. ‘Speed isn’t the key ingredient in my work plan. Maria knew that. It’s why we agreed on five years.’

What if he’s right? What if Maria goes bankrupt?

‘Five years is no longer an option. You must go out and attract buyers, attend the best functions, rub shoulders with the most élite of the fashion set, anything it takes to get their interest and sell every last one of those gowns, and sell them fast.’

What did the man want? I’m just a girl from the suburbs, Luchino. I don’t have those kinds of friends. She lifted her chin to a proud angle. ‘Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t have entrée to that crowd.’

‘At my side, those doors will open to you.’ His grim smile made apprehension claw at her insides. ‘You will walk through them, and when you do I will be there. I will stick to you until Maria’s financial losses are recouped, one way or another.’

‘No.’ Close contact with Luchino? Do as he said, dance to his tune? No, no, no! The man must be mad, anyway. Mad about all of it. ‘I don’t even know if you’re telling the truth.’

The locked-up hurt and anger buried in her soul suddenly welled up. ‘After all, hiding the truth is what you do, isn’t it, Luchino? You pretended you had no wife. Tell me, did it hurt to lose her? Or were you simply glad to be rid of her so you could pursue your affairs conscience-free?’

CHAPTER TWO

‘I’M SURPRISED you know about my divorce.’ Luc made the observation as his gaze roved Arabella’s face. He couldn’t seem to take his gaze from her, and the unwelcome resurgence of the old attraction infuriated him.

Bella was as bad as Natalie, out to get what she could by any means available. Bella had proved it in Milan and he almost fell for her act there. She was doing the same thing to Maria now.

Luc would not be taken in a second time. He had no patience for faithless women and their untrustworthy ways.

So why the sudden flare of interest in Arabella after all this time? He had more important things to focus on.

Luc released his hold on Arabella’s arm and instead fingered the photo of his daughter that he carried against his heart. Familiar guilt rose up, followed by fierce determination. He would make things right for his daughter somehow. He had to.

‘I went to Italy for another modelling shoot five years ago.’ She looked as though she wished he would go back to Italy this instant and stay there, too. ‘Someone talked about you. I didn’t go looking for the information, trust me.’

‘Unfortunately, Bella mia, I no longer trust anyone, and certainly not you.’ In truth the ability to trust had been stripped irrevocably from Luc, stolen away by unexpected betrayal not once, but thrice.

Bella. His brother. His ex-wife. They had all played their part.

Tendrils of ash-blonde hair caressed Bella’s neck where they had escaped the knot of hair there. Eyes the colour of rich coffee shone as she seemed to gather herself.

Her anger arced, like light refracted from the planes of a sharp-cut diamond. He shouldn’t care, shouldn’t picture her with his own Montichelli jewellery designs gracing the long, slender neck. It was the appeal of her physical looks, nothing more. His mouth tightened.

Was it worth it, Arabella? What did the show manager give you in exchange for the use of your body? Money? Help to climb the ladder to greater modelling success?

Perhaps Bella simply felt no remorse. After all, his ex-wife had felt none. In the face of Luc’s agonised questions, his brother had shown none.

No more. No thoughts of the past to interfere with the present. No bitterness in this new life.

Australia was a deliberate choice. For…his daughter. For Grace. For a fresh start where betrayal could be if not forgotten, at least pushed back into its harsh, dark corner. And Luc had chosen Melbourne because he wanted to get to know the elusive aunt the family had spoken of always in whispers.

‘My car is parked a couple of blocks over. The proof of Maria’s situation is in it.’ Luc snarled the words out as he fought his memories, fought memories of Arabella that still had the ability to move him, even though he knew them to be utterly false. He strode towards the front of the shop. ‘Let’s go.’

‘I’m more than ready to see this so-called proof.’ Her hips moved provocatively beneath the silk dress as she collected a matching bag, stalked to the door and flipped the panel of light switches to leave only the night lights burning.

Luc burned, too, in anger, yes, but still with a hint of that old attraction and he didn’t want that.

Bella punched a button to arm the alarm system, and waited to hear the series of dull clunks as everything locked behind them. ‘The sooner we get to the end of this, the better.’

‘I agree.’ He took her arm, steered her along the busy footpath. His fingers burned where they connected with soft bare skin. Memories. Unfulfilled desire from six years ago. That was all. ‘Except this is only the beginning.’

Was he mad to choose this path? He had already made sure Maria couldn’t actually go bankrupt. Why not leave it at that and forget about Arabella?

Because you don’t want her to get one cent out of your aunt that she hasn’t worked for.

Let her squirm under his scrutiny while she worked to set things to rights. She deserved that, and he could easily control this physical awareness, even if it had taken him by surprise.

‘It’s just ahead.’ Luc produced a set of keys from his pocket and pressed the button to disable the central locking system of the top-of-the-range sedan.

Bella’s gaze followed his to look at the car. As she did so, she removed her arm from his grip. ‘Good. Show me the papers.’

Controlled, instructive, as though she had any say in this.

He opened the rear door and retrieved his briefcase. ‘Brique’s restaurant should be quiet. It’s only another block. We’ll look at the papers together.’

‘Why not here? And what if I want to check that the papers are authentic?’ Bella angled one hip and waited.

‘If you need to check once you’ve looked, you can keep the papers.’ Then in case she thought he would be so foolish, he said, ‘Naturally, I have copies.’

He waved a hand towards his car, challenged her. ‘If it suits you better to sit in the middle of this busy street…’

Bella glanced at the tinted windows of his car, seemed to size up her options. Her mouth firmed. ‘I suppose Brique’s will do.’

When they entered the restaurant, Luc ordered drinks and a platter of cheese, fruit and crackers. He considered it recompense for the use of the table, and he hadn’t eaten since lunch.

‘OK, so now we’re in civilised surroundings.’ Bella sipped her mineral water, and spread a portion of brie onto a cracker. The tremble in her hand was barely noticeable. ‘If you want me to admit that you do “civilised” quite nicely, I suppose it’s true. And I am hungry.’

As he was. Bella had a fiery spirit that called to something in his make-up. Luc forced himself to admit that. But he could and would control his awareness.

‘I like good things.’ He said it mildly enough and helped himself to brie and a cracker, too. ‘I’m not ashamed of that.’

Bella ate a morsel of the food. She closed her eyes. ‘Mmm. It may not be Pont l’Eveque, but it’s nice, just the same.’

Luc snapped his briefcase open and tried not to watch the movement of her mouth, the soft lips. He spread the relevant documents out for her to view.

Bella read for a couple of minutes in silence. Then looked up, gaze narrowed. ‘You say your finance manager obtained these?’

‘They’re the real thing, Arabella.’ As real as the woman seated across the table from him, her mouth, lush, lovely, deceptive, pursed in a combination of suspicion, and dread.

Luc welcomed the reaction, wanted her to realise she had no control in this any more, would have to cede it to him. ‘The information comes from a reputable investigative firm. As you can see, Maria’s purchase of your stock was beyond risky for her.’

He indicated the cover page attached to the report. Thought about the other papers tucked safely away at home. ‘You can ring the firm right now if you want. They’ll confirm everything you see there.’ They would once he gave them the go-ahead to reveal a certain level of information to her.

‘It just can’t be true.’ Bella whispered the words, and bent her head again. This time she didn’t come up for air until she had pored over every page. Her fingers trembled as she stacked the papers together and passed them back across the table to him.

Only then did she meet his gaze. ‘But it is true, isn’t it? Maria has extended herself too far to hope to climb back, and she’s taken my gowns and the beginnings of my reputation as a designer with her.’ Her breath faltered. ‘I should have checked, shouldn’t have simply assumed her financial status.

‘We’re both ruined. I don’t see how she can even hope to recover financially, let alone allow for my gowns to be a success. My five-year plan is over before it even got started.’

‘Crocodile tears, my dear?’ Luc didn’t buy them. He wouldn’t buy them. He knew better than that now. Maybe Arabella hadn’t confirmed Maria’s financial status. That wasn’t his problem, and it didn’t exonerate her from pushing for the highly unreasonable deal in the first place.

‘I can’t buy the gowns back.’ Bella’s gaze dropped to her hands. She hardly seemed aware of him. ‘I’m—I’m in too deep already.’

‘Yet you were quite happy for Maria to be in that deep.’

‘I knew it would work over time.’ Unease pooled in the depths of her eyes. ‘Perhaps I should have built in an escape clause for Maria.’ She hesitated. ‘I didn’t think of her side of it.’

‘You thought only to use Maria, and walk away without any responsibility if things didn’t work out. Do you really believe I’ll stand back and leave the future of my aunt’s business in your hands now I know what you’ve done, Arabella?’ He had bought up Maria’s debts as a secret backer in order to protect her while he sorted this out with Bella. That was his business, but Bella would not be allowed to shrug off her responsibility.

‘If Maria had been wealthy as I imagined…’ Bella rose, stepped away from her chair and gathered her bag to her. Her movements were mechanical, but she couldn’t seem to smooth them out.

Luchino believed she only wanted to use Maria. It wasn’t true, but she hadn’t considered Maria in the agreement, only herself. Bella hadn’t wanted to run any risks, but Luchino wouldn’t understand that, especially now!

‘You will work with me to set things to rights, Arabella.’ Luchino decreed it, like a god speaking from the peak of Mount Olympus. ‘You’ll wear your gowns at Melbourne’s most élite functions, at the theatre and opera, in homes and at gala evenings, to dinners and parties. Anywhere your prospective clientele gather.’

‘It’s one thing to put on a nice dress and go to the theatre with my sisters.’ They had all enjoyed such times, and nowadays the heavily pregnant Chrissy came with husband in tow and Bella liked Chrissy’s husband, mostly, but Luc Montichelli wanted too much. ‘You can’t just decide this and say I have to do it. Why would you want to be with me, anyway?’

‘I can say it. I can make you do it. And I don’t want to be with you. I want to see to it that you comply with my demands. That my aunt doesn’t suffer because of you.’ His arm brushed hers as they moved out of the restaurant and stepped along the pavement. ‘I want your agreement to do everything necessary to make this work, and to do it quietly and discreetly.’

‘Without telling Maria about it.’ Bella believed Luc’s proof of Maria’s financial status. She still wanted to discuss the problem with Maria. Most of all she wanted Luc to forget all this and go away. ‘If I insist on speaking with Maria?’

He simply kept walking, turned that dark, exotic profile until his gaze met hers, and told her. ‘If you fail in any way to comply with what I want, I will retaliate by ruining your reputation as a designer so you’ll never work in that field again.’

‘You would do that?’ One glance into Luchino’s dark, angry eyes told Bella he would. His wealth and status as an international jeweller meant he could.

‘Don’t doubt it, Arabella.’ But instead of more anger at her, Luchino looked up, ahead of them, and his steps slowed.

Such an expression of anguish came over his face then that Bella almost stumbled at his side. ‘Luchino? What…?’

But he didn’t seem to hear her.

She followed his gaze, realised they were near his car again. Saw…a little girl and a middle-aged woman standing beside that car. A girl with curly black hair and olive skin who clung to the woman’s hand while her gaze followed Luc’s every movement.

Luc’s daughter?

But here? With him? How? Why? Bella struggled to comprehend even the possibilities but all she saw was a scared little girl, clinging to the older woman’s skirt, her face pinched and anxious as she watched Luchino’s approach.

Thoughts came. Memories. Her sisters’ faces had borne the same scared, confused expressions this child wore now. Over and over and over for years until Bella finally managed to rebuild enough of a life for them, enough security for them that they began to recuperate from the loss of their parents.

Bella had given her sisters all the love her parents refused to give. Had given and given it. Now her throat tightened and a stifling, smothering feeling suddenly swept over her.

‘Papa?’ The little girl took a few tentative steps towards them. ‘You were gone a long time. Nanny Heather was scared you wouldn’t come back.’

This statement brought raised eyebrows and a solemn look from the woman who stood at the child’s side.

‘Grace.’ Luc murmured the child’s name as though it hurt somehow to say it.

The air hummed with emotion.

‘I accept your terms.’ Bella blurted the words and knew she had no choice. ‘I’ll work to get all my gowns sold as quickly as possible, I’ll attend functions with you until Maria’s finances are in a better state, then I’ll go on without you.’ How long would it take to get to that point?

Luchino inclined his head. ‘A sensible choice.’

When he started to move forward again, Bella remained where she was. ‘I have to go now. I’ll miss my tram. It’s—it’s that way.’ She pointed randomly in a different direction. ‘I’ll be in contact about our…arrangement.’

‘You don’t have my number.’ Luchino drew a business card from his pocket and handed it to her.

‘OK. Now I have it. Goodbye.’ Without waiting for his response, Bella rushed past Luc, blended into the pedestrian traffic and took the fastest possible route away from his daughter and the nanny.

CHAPTER THREE

BELLA made her way to the flat, tried to pull her emotions back under control but too much had happened too fast and she didn’t know where to begin to try to come to terms with it all.

‘I’m home.’ She called the words out, stepped through the door, closed it and leaned on it as Soph came out of the kitchen area to greet her.

‘Hi. How do you like this hair colour? It’s supposed to be a rinse-out but it seems rather…’ Soph stopped. ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’

‘Yes.’ A laugh escaped Bella and she snapped her mouth shut because it held an edge too close to hysteria to be comfortable. ‘I’ve seen a ghost, and if I don’t do what he wants he’s going to take my lifelong dream from me.’

Soph peered at her for all of a second, then grabbed the cordless phone off the coffee-table and punched a speed-dial number. ‘Can you come? I think we need a family council.’

‘I’m fine, Sophia. There’s nothing to worry about.’ Bella stepped away from the door and tried to pull herself together.

But it was too late. Soph had already ended the call, and their sister arrived not long after, and Bella wasn’t pulled together, anyway.

Chrissy stepped inside the flat while Bella was brewing a pot of chai and trying to sort out her thoughts. Her sisters both stared at her, and Bella realised she couldn’t avoid this. She would have to explain.

Maybe it would help to talk about it…

‘I saw Luchino Montichelli today.’ She got through two cups of tea and half a Pilates routine in her comfortable black catsuit before she finished her story with an explanation about his child. ‘He—his daughter was with him. Not with him with him, but there, waiting by the car when we got back to it, with a nanny at her side.’

‘He’s taken the child back?’ Soph’s tone made it clear she found this incomprehensible. ‘Didn’t you just say he deserted her after his divorce?’

Bella fought to overcome the upsurge of pain Soph’s simple question invoked. ‘I find it hard to believe, too, and I have no idea if the girl is with him permanently or what. With everything else, I’d had it by then and I just left.’ In fact, she had reacted in a blind panic. Bella still didn’t know why she had rushed off like that!

‘I wonder if he loves the child now.’ Chrissy’s hand caressed her distended tummy in a gentle, circling motion, but her gaze was fierce as she asked the question. ‘Because a child needs to be loved and if a parent can’t give it that, they have no right to even be near it.’

Soph slid her arm around Chrissy’s shoulders and squeezed. ‘You love your baby to bits. We all do. I can’t wait to be an aunty.’

‘What are you going to do, Bella?’ Chrissy accepted her sister’s hug, but her gaze remained fixed on Bella. ‘You can’t accept his ultimatum. You’d have to see him constantly, put up with his ridiculous view that you’re money-hungry and used Maria.’

‘I don’t see that I have any choice.’ Bella began to pace the floor in front of the TV.

Chrissy stepped towards her. ‘Nate and I can buy your gowns back so you can leave Maria’s altogether. We can set you up on your own, Bella, so you can start again. Your own shop, any location, whatever you want. I’m sure Nate would see it as a good long-term investment, and at least then you wouldn’t be beholden to this Montichelli man.’

‘It’s either that, or the three of us all get loans for whatever the banks will lend us, and pool it to take care of the problem.’ Soph nodded so that her bright pink hair flew in all directions around her face. ‘That’s doable as well.’

‘That might work to get Bella out of Maria’s.’ Chrissy pushed her glasses up her pert nose as she considered Soph’s suggestion. ‘But I don’t think we’d get enough money to set her up in a new shop. It would be rather a lot.’

‘I suppose so.’ Soph turned her face up and blew at a strand of hair, then looked directly at Bella. ‘I guess it has to be Nate, then, and I know you and he didn’t get off to a great start what with him getting Chrissy pregnant and everything, but look how well it turned out. Anyway, he’d help, and the main thing is, we don’t want you back near the creep who hurt you when you were in Milan.’

‘One of the creeps,’ Chrissy reminded her. ‘Remember the show manager lured Bella to his room that final night, too.’

‘You should have told us the whole truth when you came back from that trip.’ Soph launched into a protective tirade over the sleazy show manager’s behaviour.

Chrissy added her voice to it.

Bella stood between her sisters and ached inside. She loved them. They wanted to help her but ultimately she couldn’t let them. And why was it so hard to have them try to care for her?

Because the order’s been reversed and you don’t know how to cope with that.

‘Have you told us everything now, Bella?’ Chrissy’s eyes behind the glasses sparked with demand for the entire truth.

‘Yes, that’s all of it. I know I could have told you much more about what happened in Milan at the time, but I wanted to put it behind me.’ She hadn’t learned of the divorce and Luc’s abandonment of his child until almost a year later, either, and by then, hadn’t wanted to talk about it ever again.

Now her sisters knew everything, except just how much of her heart Bella had given to Luchino in that whirlwind week overseas.

Bella drew a deep breath. ‘I appreciate the offer to help me out, Chrissy, but it wouldn’t be right to ask you and Nate to tie up so much money that way. It would be bucket-loads, much more than even just the cost of repurchasing the gowns, and I admit I got a good price out of Maria for them.’ When she named the figure, both sisters gasped.

Bella shrugged. ‘I put every spare cent into creating that stock of gowns, and they are designer-wear.’

She hesitated as she considered her situation, and then admitted in a low tone, ‘Right now I’m wondering if I should have given up modelling. It’s true it was never my dream job, but maybe I miscalculated the risks in branching out into fashion. Just because I’ve created all our clothes for years—’

‘You’ve created the most amazing outfits on a shoestring budget. Anything from jeans to stunning stuff fit to wear to a palace. You have the talent, Bella,’ Chrissy insisted.

And Bella remembered that even Luchino admitted she had ability. She had to believe that, too. Now was not the time to doubt! Bella held Chrissy’s gaze. ‘I can’t let you and Soph get loans to help me, either, although I appreciate both thoughts very much.’

‘But you have to get out.’ This came from Soph.

‘No. Luchino said I have no choice, and he’s right. I have to sell the gowns quickly. If working with Luchino is the only way to do that—’ she shrugged ‘—I’ll have to cope, that’s all.’

‘It will fix the problem.’ Chrissy gave a reluctant nod. ‘Provided he doesn’t try to encroach on the business arrangement, make it more personal or anything.’ She gave Bella a searching look. ‘Is that likely to happen?’

‘Not when he thinks I’m money-hungry, and when I know all he is capable of. Distrust on both sides is not fertile ground for the development of anything personal.’ Refusing to think of the twinges of awareness that had passed between her and Luchino, Bella hugged first one sister, then the other, being careful not to squash Chrissy’s baby bump in the process. ‘Thanks for the talk and for what you both offered to do to help.’

‘What—what about his daughter?’ It was Soph who asked the question, who tried hard to hide her vulnerability as she waited for the answer. ‘Maybe we should, you know, look into how he’s treating her or something.’

‘Oh, Soph.’ Bella had wrestled with that very question five years ago but what could some upstart twenty-year-old do from another country when a multimillionaire chose to leave his child in what was probably thoroughly adequate care while he ignored said child? Who would have even listened to her concerns?

But she was wrestling with those same concerns again now and knew she had to act on them. It was the right thing to do even if she now suspected it was also the reason for her earlier panic. She would have to remain at an emotional distance, that was all. ‘I’ll look into it, Soph.’

In fact, this was how Bella had to tackle the whole situation. She would do what she had to, but her emotions would remain safely behind those fortified walls around her heart. ‘I can do this. It’ll work out. I’ll take care of myself and make sure I can’t get hurt.’

‘If you get out of your depth, you will let us get you out of there.’ Chrissy decreed it.

Bella reluctantly nodded, even though she had no intention of allowing her sisters or brother-in-law to cough up that kind of money no matter what.

‘All right, then I guess we’re settled. And I want to show Danni and Michelle this hair colour.’ Soph headed for her bedroom. ‘I’d better see what I’ve got to wear tonight.’

Once both her sisters were gone, Chrissy to the home she made with Nate Barrett and Sophia to a club with her girlfriends, Bella took the business card Luchino had pressed on her as she escaped him near his car earlier, and phoned the after-hours number.

‘Montichelli.’ Even the sound of his voice over the phone cut a swathe through her nervous system.

So get over it. It’s just a voice.

‘I want an itinerary of events you expect me to attend with you so I can work out what to wear for each occasion.’ She didn’t bother with a greeting, just launched into the purpose of her call. Which was to arm herself with information, and to take as much control as she could over the situation. ‘I’ll agree not to say anything to your aunt about it for now, but I want it on record that I don’t like the deceit. When will we go to our first event?’

‘Tomorrow evening.’ He named the hosts and the suburb they lived in. ‘They’re a husband and wife who own a chain of member-only golf courses around the country. I’ll call for you at seven.’

‘I’d also like to know how you intend to explain these outings to your aunt—’ Bella stopped abruptly, because Luc had handed down his order, and ended the call!

Bella thought back over that conversation as she put the finishing touches to her make-up the next night. Or rather, she thought about the things she should have asked, but hadn’t got a chance to. It was Saturday, and she wished it was Saturday a year from now and Luchino Montichelli was once again a distant memory. How long would it take to rid herself of him?

Soph stood in the open doorway of the bathroom, one hand wrapped around the door frame, a hairbrush in the other. The pink hair had washed out, Bella noted with affection. The outcome had been touch-and-go for a while there for her funky hairdresser sister.

‘It’s not too late to change your mind about this, Bella. Luchino Montichelli has no right to make you do this stuff.’

‘He’s concerned about his aunt.’ Bella didn’t say it to try to placate Soph. Rather, she had pondered it and decided Luchino really did seem to care about her boss.

‘And you’re going to check on his daughter.’ At that pronouncement, Soph relaxed a little.

Bella, on the other hand, stiffened before she managed to force a smile. ‘Yes. I’ll do what I can. And Soph, I have no interest in being close to Luchino in any way but a business one.’

Probably when Luchino arrived tonight, Bella would feel nothing at all towards him except irritation that she had to be in his presence. The earlier internal twitters would simply have been a result of memories and the shock of seeing him suddenly after so long. She had schooled herself now.

‘If you say so.’ In the past, her sisters would have simply accepted her assurance, but Soph didn’t look completely convinced. ‘Chrissy and I still don’t like that this man insists you go out with him under the guise of business. What if he tries to seduce you again?’ Her voice filled with concern. ‘We don’t want him to hurt you.’

‘I won’t let him, and you and Chrissy should worry about your own issues, not mine. I shouldn’t have told you so much.’ But her sisters rarely had ‘issues’ any more, and somehow that knowledge left Bella feeling rather lost, confused when her sisters tried to watch over her, upset when she no longer had the chance to watch over them.

Anyway, you’re not lost. You have a whole new career to pursue.

One that was now the source of a great deal of concern for her.

With one final glance at herself, Bella twitched the midnight-blue gown into place and hustled Sophia out into the living room. ‘It’s just business, Soph. All I need to do is treat it as such.’

Footsteps sounded outside, followed by a sharp rap on the door.

Bella’s heart stumbled in a way she couldn’t blame on irritation or unease. But it wasn’t awareness, either, because she had talked herself out of any more of that nonsense. She moved towards the door on four-inch stiletto heels and warned her sister over her shoulder, ‘Leave this to me.’

On those words, Bella pulled the door open, and tried not to notice the devastation that was Luchino Montichelli in full evening garb. She drew a deep breath.

He looks nice. There’s nothing personal in noticing.

‘Hello, Luchino.’ Catch that calm tone? This is me, Luchino, ignoring you on every level but that of business acquaintance. ‘I’m ready to leave.’

‘Good evening, Arabella. Won’t you introduce me?’ Luc glanced beyond her shoulder and stepped into the flat’s small living room before Bella fully realised his intention.

Great, now she got to sense him as well as see him, and he smelled nice, too, like freshly showered man. Not that she cared what he smelled like. ‘Uh—’

‘Bella?’ Soph fingered the hairbrush clutched in her right hand and looked at Luc through narrowed eyes.

Soph’s intervention brought Bella out of her…momentary surprise, or whatever this was. Bella stiffened her spine, took two sensible steps away from Luchino.

‘Sophia, meet Luchino. Luchino, my sister Sophia.’ She rattled the introductions off as she sent a quelling stare in Soph’s direction, then turned back to Luc. She wasn’t about to dwell on the introductions, nor give her sister time to start an inquisition that would only waste time.

‘Let’s go.’ She wanted Luchino out of here, wanted to start this evening because once she started it, she was on the way to ending it. ‘We have some matters to discuss on the way to the dinner ball. You terminated our phone conversation without allowing me to finish my questions.’

‘So eager for my company, Arabella?’ Luc’s gaze clashed with hers. He examined her, head to toe and back again, from beneath lowered lids. When he met her gaze once more, a flicker of awareness showed in his eyes. He quickly masked the reaction but it was enough to make her breath catch with…unease and…annoyance at him.

While she drew a steadying breath, Luc spoke again. ‘You look…good.’

‘Thank you. I, um…’ She had to pull herself together! She would start by making it clear what she expected of tonight, and her whole association with him. ‘I’m certainly not eager for your company, as you suggested a moment ago. Some things just have to be endured and are best over with quickly. Like when you have to swallow a nasty-tasting medicine.’

‘That’s how you envision our evening?’ His mouth twitched, but quickly firmed.

‘It’s how I envisage all of this, until it finally ends.’ There. Let him chew on that.

She broke the hold of his gaze and yanked the apartment door open. ‘If we’re quite finished with the chit-chat, perhaps we could go.’

Luchino turned his attention briefly to their surroundings, and then approached the flat’s front door and stood back for Bella to precede him through it. ‘By all means. The evening awaits us.’

He cast a final glance at Sophia, whom Bella had completely forgotten in the few short moments that had just passed. ‘It was nice to meet you. Perhaps we’ll have a chance to speak more another day.’

‘We’ll see!’ The hairbrush quivered in Soph’s hand.

Bella eyed her sister cautiously. Next thing Soph would be brandishing the brush at Luc, threatening death by bristle attack if he didn’t behave. ‘We’re fine, Sophia, just a couple of small issues that needed airing. Sorry if we left you out of the conversation.’

Smile. Glide out of the door. Let the smile fade.

Once on the road, Luc guided his car through the traffic with no apparent effort. The scent of leather seats and his cologne pressed in on Bella’s senses and dulled them until she realised what was happening and stiffened her spine.

‘Your sister seems nice.’ Luc made the observation in a neutral tone. ‘A little protective, maybe.’

So Luc had noticed the hairbrush, too. Bella’s unease softened a little at the thought of her youngest sister. ‘Soph’s a hairdresser.’ As though that explained everything, when in fact it explained nothing at all.

Anyway, this wasn’t about that. Bella had questions. She wanted answers. ‘You haven’t said how we’re supposed to explain all this to your aunt.’ Bella wanted to know what he was thinking, planning. ‘Us working together to sell my gowns, I mean. If we start to get the kind of notice you hope for, won’t Maria wonder why we’re out at all those functions together?’

‘We can take care of that problem.’ He merged for a right turn and, as they waited for a green light, drew some folded pages from his breast pocket and passed them to her. ‘That’s the itinerary to date. I’ll let you know of any changes or additions as they happen.’

‘At a glance it all looks…acceptable.’ She recognised some of the names on his list, and knew she would never have got near those people.

But she didn’t have to feel grateful. Bella stuffed the list of functions and explanations into her evening bag. Against the carpeted floor of the car, she tapped the foot of one stiletto. ‘You haven’t addressed my question.’

He shrugged the broad shoulders that looked so brilliant under jet-black dinner suiting. ‘We tell my aunt as much truth as we can. We knew each other years ago in Milan. When I came back to Australia, we renewed the acquaintance. Now we’re having fun going out together.’

‘You want us to act like we’re dating?’ Her question hung in the air in shocked denial.

‘It will save a lot of awkward questions.’ Luc’s face was impassive, blank, yet somehow Bella sensed he wasn’t as withdrawn from this as he made out. He went on. ‘I think we can manage a credible image of two people very interested in each other. Don’t you?’

Her heart skipped a beat. In fury at his audacity! ‘Just because we once had a brief relationship…’ She wished the traffic lights would turn green so Luc would stop looking at her. ‘We can’t pretend to be lovers.’

The lights changed and the car moved forward. When Luc responded, it was with a tinge of challenge in his tone. ‘I don’t recall using the term lovers, but we need a reason to be seen together, to be in the public eye together so much. Is it such a big deal to you, Arabella? Surely, if it keeps Maria happy and you sell your gowns—’

‘You should just tell her the truth.’

‘She’s my family. I won’t let anything happen to her. I’ve already taken steps—’ He swore and cut himself off.

But it was too late. Because Bella remembered a previous hesitation when he’d said ‘I don’t want her to know I bought—’ and now those words made sense. Bella turned her head, looked right at the dark, handsome face. ‘You bought up her debts, didn’t you? But if you’ve done that, why bother with me about it? It’s taken care of, isn’t it?’

‘Except for the fact that you’re responsible for getting all that money back in for your gowns, and I intend to see that you do it! How did you guess, anyway? I haven’t said I’ve done anything.’ His hands tightened on the wheel as he muttered the words.

Bella looked at the long, tanned fingers and remembered them cupping her chin, a preparation for kissing her.

No! That had been years ago. This was now and she had nothing but dislike for him. ‘It was just something you almost said.’ She brushed that off. ‘How much was it, Luchino? What are the terms? How much does Maria owe you?’

He made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat. ‘It doesn’t matter how I did it, or how much or how little. I couldn’t leave her dangling like that so I…made arrangements.’

‘It matters to me.’ Bella felt as though one more revelation might crack her completely in two. ‘I sold my stock to Maria, not to you.’ That was the crux of her concern. Oh, that mattered! ‘I don’t want to be financially tied to you.’

‘Don’t you? Well, you’ve just given me a reason to answer you.’ Anger flared in his tone and he went on ruthlessly. ‘I bought up Maria’s debts and arranged for her to pay the money back at a low rate of interest on a long-term repayment plan.

‘As far as she’s concerned, it’s an almost philanthropic gesture from someone who wishes to feel part of the fashion industry, has money to invest any way he likes and is eccentric enough to do something like this just for his own pleasure. I guess I own you now, Arabella. Get used to it.’

‘You’ve become a silent backer.’ Even though she had expected the truth to be unpalatable, lead formed in the pit of Bella’s stomach. No doubt he only told her to make her feel even worse.

‘When Maria’s ready for it, I’ll tell her the whole truth.’ He sent a glance towards Bella. Let her see the warning in his eyes. ‘Until then, you won’t speak of this to her. I have to work things out for her in the way I believe is best.’

‘You’ve made it impossible for me to speak to her,’ Bella fumed, ‘as you well know!’

‘Maria’s welfare is what matters to me in all of this.’ He cast another quick glance at her, and made a lightning change of subject. ‘You never spoke of your family when we were in Milan together, yet I see you must be close to your sisters. You have a wall full of photos of the three of you, and Sophia is clearly protective of you, but what of your parents?’

That one short moment inside her apartment, and he had missed nothing.

‘Roaming the galaxies in outer space for all I know.’ The words snapped out of her. She stopped and forced herself to take a deep breath. ‘My sisters are what matter to me.’

Luc swung the car onto a wide tree-lined boulevard style of street. For the past few minutes, the houses had become larger, better, more prestigious. They stopped before the biggest of them all. Cars lined the long, sweeping driveway and a substantial part of the street.

‘You’ve had a falling-out with your parents?’ He seemed almost troubled, but clearly she must be imagining that!

No, Luchino, they left us, just like you left your daughter years ago.

‘We’re here. Let’s get this over with.’ Bella got out of the car and started up the long drive towards the suburban mansion. She didn’t want to discuss her personal life with him.

The ornate double doors of the home loomed in front of them. At the sight, her nerves hiked. She lifted her chin as they approached the doors, took in a careful breath. Drew on the inner reserves she relied on to get her through any challenge.

Luc’s eyes narrowed. ‘It’s your armour. For when you’re scared.’ He gave a self-directed laugh. ‘Why didn’t I see that before now? Your chin goes up, you withdraw into some place that makes others believe you’re so sufficient in and of yourself you couldn’t need anything else, but it’s all just a veil for your uncertainty.’

‘I want to succeed. That’s all.’ She hated that he could see through what most of the rest of the world had never seen at all, hated that he knew her unease. To make up for that fact, she glared at him.

‘Good evening. May I take your things?’ The sonorous tones came from a very elegant-looking man in full butler’s attire.

They were quickly ushered into a formal ballroom area with an ornate chandelier in the high-domed ceiling, and a lot of glitzy, ritzy, very expensive-looking people who milled about in a studied, elegant throng.

Panic rose. ‘Wait…’

Luc could have played on that nervous feeling. Instead, he threw her off guard by giving her an encouraging glance. ‘They’re just people. It’ll be fine.’

His hand against the bare flesh of her shoulders guided her forward. When he bent his head to whisper lightly into her ear, Bella struggled to comprehend his words, because most of her senses were attuned only to his nearness and that was so wrong. She raised her head and promised herself she wouldn’t sense another thing about him all night.

‘Come on.’ If he noticed her preoccupation, he gave no indication of it. Instead, he gestured towards the clusters of people gathered beyond them. ‘Let’s see you convince these women they want to wear your gowns.’

Bella lifted her chin and did her best to quell the nerves made all the more edgy by Luc’s touch. ‘I’m more than willing to court the attention of the women here tonight, to interest them in my gowns.’ Bella spoke in the strongest tone she could manage. ‘I want to set things to rights as quickly as I can so I no longer have to see you!’

Luc simply smiled in that devastating way he had that made her want to smack him. Or run away. Maybe both.

‘Then let’s mingle,’ he said. ‘Shall we?’

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