CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER THREE
‘K ELLY . K ELLY ! Wake up !’
Reluctantly surfacing from the landscape of her fractured dreams, Kelly kept her eyes tightly shut, aware of bright light flooding onto her closed eyelids and the aroma of fresh coffee filtering towards her. She didn’t want to wake up. It had taken her long enough to get to sleep because her body had been so, so…restless. She wanted to stay in this heavenly half-world which her unconscious had created, one where Romano Castelliari was licking very slowly down her neck, his fingers whispering beneath the hem of her dress towards her knickers.
Her throat dried.
Since when had she started having erotic dreams about her arch-enemy?
Her eyes snapped open to see Floriana opening the shutters of her bedroom windows and she was glad of the momentary reprieve to compose her flushed face and steady her thudding heart. Hastily adjusting the cosy jacket of her winceyette pyjamas, she sat up in bed, noticing the creamy cup of cappuccino which was sitting on the bedside table and which Floriana must have placed there. And in spite of her mixed-up feelings, Kelly smiled—but then, her schoolfriend always had that effect on her, even though they didn’t get to see each other as often as they’d like. They had known each other since they were thirteen, when Floriana had arrived at the highly competitive school where Kelly’s mum had been matron, which meant she’d got her fees paid and had supposedly had exactly the same opportunities as all the other pupils in the posh establishment.
But that hadn’t been the case. Kelly had never been allowed to forget for a single moment—not by her peers, her teachers and sometimes, by her mother herself—that she was a ‘charity case’. And that her existence was powered by other people’s generosity. Her uniform was second-hand and so were her books. She never went on school trips. She was never invited to anyone else’s house during the holidays—but there again, she never had anywhere to call home to invite people back to. The minuscule apartment above the sanitorium which came with her mother’s job looked more like a waiting room.
Only Floriana Castelliari had been different. Floriana had actually liked her. Apparently she had begged her parents to let her attend the prestigious English boarding school, mainly, it transpired, to escape from her domineering older brothers, Riccardo and her half-brother, Romano. Romano in particular had brokered his sister’s marriage to a wealthy count more than two decades her senior and, for a while, Floriana had gone along with his plans and pictured herself as his bride. But people changed their minds, didn’t they—often at the last minute? Better to discover that something was wrong before you entered into it, sooner rather than later—especially when it involved something as important as marriage.
Shuffling further up on the feathery bank of pillows, Kelly focussed her attention on her friend. ‘Morning, Flo.’
‘Ah! You’re awake—at last!’ Floriana turned around and gave a huge smile, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. ‘I thought you were supposed to be a lark! I’ve brought you some coffee.’
‘So I see. Grazie. ’ Kelly yawned. ‘What time is it?’
‘Nearly eleven.’
‘Are you serious?’
With perfect yet slightly inharmonious timing, several clocks began to boom out from different parts of the castle.
‘Listen for yourself,’ said Floriana, bouncing across the room like a sunbeam, her dark hair shining in the pale sunshine which flooded in through the tall castle windows. ‘Thank heavens we’re here,’ she announced, bending down to give Kelly a big hug. ‘I tried to ring you to say we were going to be delayed but I think your phone must have been dead. I heard you got lost and pranged your car and then turned up on the doorstep looking like a drowned rat.’
‘Did Romano say that?’ asked Kelly carefully.
‘Well, he growled it out in his habitual bear-like way, but that was the gist of it, yes. I gather it was just you and him here for the evening. No staff here.’ Floriana studied her mischievously. ‘Given the history of your mutual loathing, how did that work out? Madonna mia , but I’d love to have been a fly on the wall.’
‘We managed to pass a few hours without coming to blows.’
‘ Brava! And what did you do?’
‘He cooked me supper,’ she informed her friend evenly.
‘Did he? That was surprisingly well behaved of him. I’ve been told he’s good, though I’ve never actually sampled his cooking.’ Floriana frowned. ‘And you look as if you could do with some feeding up.’
A pulse fluttered at her throat. ‘That’s exactly what—’
‘What?’
She shook her head. ‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘It does matter.’ Floriana’s eyes narrowed perceptively. ‘Something’s wrong, isn’t it, Kell? I can tell.’
Kelly chewed her lip. She hadn’t been planning on saying anything, not on the weekend of her goddaughter’s christening. Why impart all her personal doom and gloom and risk bringing the atmosphere down? But the tension had been building up inside her ever since she’d been given the news and it had to go somewhere, and Floriana was looking at her in a way which was making stupid tears start stinging at the backs of her eyes. She was trying to remember the last time someone had looked at her so sympathetically and came up with a great big blank. And if she couldn’t confide in her oldest friend then who could she confide in?
‘Just money,’ she said, attempting a careless shrug.
‘ Just money?’
‘The restaurant where I’ve been a part-time waitress for the past four years has gone bust,’ she elaborated, the words tumbling out in a rush. ‘And so I’m out of a job. Hopefully I’ll get another one as soon as I’m back from Italy.’ She pulled a face. ‘But in the meantime there’s a slight cash-flow problem and the small matter of paying my rent.’
‘I will lend it to you,’ said Floriana impulsively. ‘How much do you need?
‘No, you won’t. I would never borrow from a friend,’ answered Kelly fiercely. ‘And anyway, from what I gather, you haven’t got a whole load to spare.’
Floriana frowned. ‘That’s what Romano told you?’
‘In his usual bear-like way, yes!’ Kelly shrugged. ‘He implied that your lifestyle was hand to mouth. Is that true?’
‘I guess to someone with my brother’s extravagant lifestyle, it is. Not many people have planes and properties and car factories.’ Floriana stared down at her plain gold wedding band before looking up again. ‘You know Romano wants Max to take over the running of this estate?’
Kelly shook her head. ‘No, I didn’t. Wow. Is that what you want, Flo?’
Floriana sat down on the edge of the bed and began pleating the heavy brocade cover between her fingers. ‘I don’t know. In some ways, it would be great. I love Tuscany and I’ve still got friends here, and our place in France is lovely but…well, it’s hard. I’m not going to deny that. We’ve got a tiny smallholding and the land isn’t that fertile and it’s miles from anywhere—hence getting stuck overnight in the snow.’
‘So what’s the problem? Surely the answer is right here for the taking?’
Floriana gave a brittle laugh. ‘I’ll give you three guesses, and it’s all to do with the stubbornness of men. Max doesn’t want to be beholden to Romano and although Romano isn’t the least bit interested in being a farmer, he just won’t let go. You know what a control freak he is. He still wants to make all the decisions. And Max says that would drive him crazy. He says it took long enough for him to demonstrate he was worthy of being my husband after we’d eloped, but he doesn’t want to have to keep proving himself for the rest of his life. He says he’d rather be poor than have to keep kowtowing to Romano.’
‘And what about you? What do you want?’ questioned Kelly quietly.
Floriana shrugged. ‘I love my husband,’ she said simply. ‘And you know what they say. If he’s not happy, then none of us are.’ She stood up and smoothed down her dress. ‘Now, are you going to laze there in bed all morning, or are you going to get up and come and see your gorgeous goddaughter?’
Kelly laughed. ‘I’m on my way.’
‘Well, you’d better get a move on, or it’ll be lunch time—and you know what a stickler Romano is for punctuality. Particularly as a load of extra staff have just arrived. He’s ordered caterers and florists and nannies, as if we’re expecting hundreds of guests, and now he wants everything run like clockwork.’ Floriana gave a heavy sigh. ‘I thought the years might have softened him, but they seem to have done the opposite.’
Kelly blinked. It wasn’t a word she’d ever associated with the Italian billionaire—in fact, soft was the very antithesis of his steely character and iron-hard body.
She gave a bitter smile.
Soften him?
Not in this lifetime.
Romano sat at the head of the table and made no attempt to hide his irritation. ‘Where is she?’ he demanded, with a pointed glance at his watch.
‘Not she , Romano,’ observed his stepmother mildly. ‘Her name is Kelly.’
‘I know what her name is, Rosa,’ he said impatiently. As he tapped his finger like a metronome against the linen napery, his gaze swept around the table, encompassing Rosa, his brother-in-law, Max, who was tearing off a piece of bread to give to his four-year-old son, Rocco, before finally coming to rest on his sister. ‘I was just wondering whether Kelly was intending to grace us with her presence any time soon.’
‘She just wanted to see Allegra before lunch and give her a cuddle,’ said Floriana quickly. ‘Oh! Speak of the devil! Kelly. Here you are. Come and sit over here, next to me.’
Romano felt himself grow tense as Kelly walked into the castle dining room, though he doubted it was noticeable to anyone else. His heart might be pounding uncomfortably beneath his silk shirt and his muscles bunching low in his gut, but his face didn’t betray a smidgeon of reaction. When he put his mind to it, he was easily able to conceal the few emotions he had been unable to eradicate completely. The lessons learned during his early childhood hadn’t all been in vain, he thought caustically. He had learnt very early to construct an icy barrier around himself, designed to protect himself from the squalid world in which he had existed. His very survival had depended on it. And old habits died hard, he concluded grimly. Perhaps he should be grateful for the stony countenance he was able to present as he watched the redhead sit down opposite him, even if inwardly he was cursing her for the uncomfortable night he had endured.
He had barely slept a wink and he knew exactly why. Despite his recent punishing schedule and the bitter disappointment of his failed takeover bid, he had lain wide awake for hours. The quietness and solitude of the Tuscan estate might have provided balm to his troubled spirit if he had been alone, but he had not been alone. Because she had been here. Admittedly, tucked up in a far-flung corner of the castle, but here nonetheless. And she might as well have been in the adjoining room, he had been so achingly aware of her presence. No matter how hard he had tried to sleep, he had found himself unable to stifle the urgent throb of his body, as he had pictured her compact curves and fiery curls.
‘Zia Kelly! Zia Kelly!’ yelled young Rocco with excitement, scrambling down from his seat beside his father and hurling himself into Kelly’s arms.
‘Woo! Rocco!’ she responded, as she scooped the child up into her arms and whirled him round. ‘Haven’t you grown?’
‘I’m the tallest boy in the class!’
‘I bet you are.’
‘Perhaps we could get on with lunch now?’ interjected Romano coolly.
‘Of course.’ Slowly putting Rocco down, she led him back to where he’d been sitting. ‘We’ll play after lunch,’ she promised the little boy quietly, before sliding into her own seat.
Romano stared across the table at her and despite the irritation she always provoked in him, he could do nothing to quash his instant stab of desire. To his astonishment, he noted that she was wearing exactly the same dress as she’d had on at dinner last night, although in the daylight the claret velvet looked garish and wrong. Who wore the same item of clothing two days running? he wondered in disbelief. Certainly, every woman of his acquaintance would have been horrified at the very idea. But that didn’t change a thing, did it? He still wanted her. He had always wanted her, from the moment he’d met her in that first, sweet flush of womanhood. Little Kelly Butler with her unkempt appearance and her wilfulness and her wild ways. The woman who always got underneath his skin—but never in the right way.
‘I’m not late, am I?’ she questioned sarcastically, shooting him a challenging look as she shook out her napkin.
‘Very nearly,’ he answered repressively.
‘Oh, Romano, don’t be such a grouch,’ chided Floriana. ‘Here, have a little wine, Kelly. I’ll lend you my sunglasses in a minute and then you’ll be able to blot out the glare of Romano’s stare.’
Kelly bit back a smile, glad that her friend seemed to have learned to stand up to her domineering older brother at last. She took a sip from the small glass of red wine she’d been offered, grateful for the warmth which flooded through her, something she was going to need quite badly if she continued to be subjected to Romano’s frosty gaze. What torture it was, sitting across the table from him like this, when his dark eyes were icing out a barrage of conflicting messages. Unlike last night, today they had an audience and, for the sake of harmony, she needed to temper her response to him.
‘This is lovely,’ she said politely, gesturing towards the beautifully laid table, with its heirloom china and low bowls of white roses, although she couldn’t actually detect any of the flowers’ perfume. She turned to Floriana’s mother and smiled. ‘It’s so nice to be at the castle again, and for such a joyful occasion.’
‘Indeed,’ said Rosa, as two servants entered the room and began placing dishes on the long table. ‘It’s been a long time since we’ve seen you, Kelly. How are you, my dear?’
Kelly was wondering how best to bat off the question in a way which would shut the subject down before it had even started, when Floriana leapt in on her behalf.
‘Not great, actually. Kelly’s in a fix. She’s out of work, Mamma!’ she declared dramatically. ‘She lost her job this week.’
Kelly saw Romano’s lips harden into a forbidding line. Bring on the negative judgment, she thought fatalistically, and wasn’t disappointed.
‘One hesitates to ask why,’ he intoned coolly, slanting her an arrogant elevation of his dark brows. ‘Did it have anything to do with your timekeeping?’
She was so tempted to say something shocking just for the sake of it.
They accused me of flirting with the customers. Or, They caught me with my hand in the till.
But Rosa was there and she needed to behave herself, and so Kelly sought to make her explanation as succinct as possible. ‘I’ve been working as a waitress, to supplement the money I make on my market stall.’
‘Market stall?’ Romano choked out.
‘That’s right. I sell earrings, made by me.’ She saw Romano’s lips harden even more as she moved her finger to her left ear and brushed the tip against a swaying cascade of miniature silver stars. ‘It’s a very lively little market. Every day except Mondays and Tuesdays. People come to Granchester just to visit it. Maybe you should, Romano, next time you’re in England. You could pick up a five-pack of socks for under a tenner.’
Floriana was looking at Romano, seemingly oblivious to the private battle which Kelly was conducting with her half-brother, or the look of utter horror on his face.
‘She can’t pay the rent,’ Floriana told him baldly. ‘And she needs a job. Just a temporary one to tide her over until she can get something else. You must have a job she can do, Romano. You have a massive workforce.’
For all her determination to be flippant, Kelly couldn’t deny her heartsink moment when she saw Romano’s reaction, for he made absolutely no attempt to hide the disdain on his face.
‘I don’t think so,’ he said.
‘Why not?’ persisted Floriana.
‘Unless your friend has recently qualified in mechanical engineering, I fail to see how she could possibly be of use to me,’ he clipped out coldly.
‘I don’t mean an expert’s job,’ protested Floriana. ‘I mean something a bit more casual. What about cleaning? Please, Romano. Kelly’s a dab hand with a duster and the castle could do with a bit of a spruce. Nobody’s been living here for ages—and it shows.’
‘I agree with Floriana,’ said Rosa unexpectedly. ‘I discovered a cobweb on one of the upper floors earlier and it was distinctly dusty up there. Obviously none of the christening guests will be venturing up that far, but it does imply a certain sense of decay , which has never been present before. What harm could it do?’
‘Honestly, it doesn’t matter. It’s a mad idea,’ put in Kelly quickly.
‘A completely mad idea,’ Romano agreed, and this time made no attempt to hide the exasperation which tempered his words. But annoyingly, nobody was saying anything. They were all looking at him instead. His stepmother enquiringly. His sister pleadingly, and his brother-in-law, he suspected, with a hint of amusement lurking in his eyes. As though he were witnessing Romano being backed into a corner and was wholly enjoying this unusual spectacle. In fact, only Kelly looked as horrified as he felt and that rankled with him, too. Did she think herself too good to clean his castle? And it was that, more than anything, which made him slowly incline his head before lifting it again to clash with the green gaze of the redhead on the other side of the table.
‘Very well,’ he agreed, giving a heavy sigh. ‘If that is what you wish, I will allow you to clean my castle.’
‘Allow me,’ repeated Kelly so quietly that only he might have heard—or was he simply reading her lips?
‘For which, naturally, you will be adequately compensated.’ He frowned. ‘I imagine there is enough work to keep you employed for ten days—will that be sufficient?’
‘Oh, that’s fantastic. Thanks, Romano,’ said Floriana brightly. ‘What do you say, Kelly? Isn’t that the answer to all your prayers?’
What could she say? Kelly tried not to squirm in her seat, though it wasn’t easy because they had all turned to look at her now. And yet the only thing she could see was the hostile expression on Romano’s face, which annoyingly managed to be as sexy as hell. There were a million things she wanted to say, the chief one being a suggestion that he could take his offer and stick it where the sun didn’t shine.
But that would be like shooting herself in the foot, especially when an unexpected injection of much-needed cash would be a temporary lifesaver. Her problems were real and she couldn’t let pride stand in the way of what sounded like a genuine offer. And while there were many criticisms she could level at the controlling tycoon, instinct told her he would pay her fairly. Romano Castelliari wasn’t an exploitative man, she recognised—just a cold and occasionally cruel one.
‘It’s very generous you, Romano. Thank you. When would you like me to start?’ she added sweetly. ‘Shall I wash up after lunch? Polish some of the furniture before the service starts?’
The brief gleam in his jet-dark eyes was the only indication that he had acknowledged the barb. ‘That won’t be necessary. After the christening party have left for Rome,’ he said icily. ‘Will be when your employment officially begins.’
I guess that’s when my clothes turn into rags, Kelly thought irreverently, but she didn’t say another word.