The Italian Single Dad

‘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?’

CHAPTER FOUR

‘YOU seem to be making a positive impression on the guests.’ Since the start of the evening, Luc had kept Bella tucked against his side. He did it to watch her, to make sure she made every effort to attract interest in her gowns. But she attracted his interest, too.

What was it about Arabella Gable that held him despite their past, despite their current situation? He had plenty of reasons to steer clear of her, yet he couldn’t put her out of his thoughts, couldn’t deny his awareness of her.

You sought her out, forced her into this.

He ignored the thought. Arabella had played his aunt an unfair hand and she had to pay the cost of her actions. That was all. Even so, she roused his curiosity. What about her parents, for example? She must have had a falling-out with them or something. ‘For your sake I hope that impression leads to gown sales in the near future.’

‘I hope for that, too.’ Her eyes caught the colour of her dress. The hint of dark blue in the brown depths lent her an air of mystery. The sparks of irritation were clear. ‘As I said, I’m all for parting company with you as soon as possible, Luchino.’

‘But you can’t part company with me just yet, because you need me to help you gain entrée to functions like this one.’ He watched frustration fill her and threaten to bubble over. Something deep within him wanted her to lose her control, to fly at him, let all her feelings loose.

Dinner was announced, Bella dropped her gaze and Luc reluctantly turned his attention to finding their places at the long oval table. Sparring with her stimulated him, as did her nearness. He shouldn’t allow those reactions.

At the dinner table Bella talked, schmoozed, shone like a bright light, all of it directed away from Luc, but he felt each word she spoke, each dazzling smile she directed anywhere but at him.

If he kissed her, tasted her lips, would this curious interest in her, this humming awareness, be satisfied and disappear?

When the butler lit hundreds of candles in the shimmering ballroom and an orchestral trio began to play, Luc guided her into the room with his mind on those questions. Maybe a dance would give him his answer.

‘Let’s dance. An attractive woman in a beautiful gown, moving to the music—what could appeal more?’ He drew her onto the dance floor, enjoyed the flare of startled awareness that rose in her eyes. ‘Can you sell your name and your merchandise this way, Arabella?’

‘I can do whatever I have to.’ The strains of a waltz began. Strain coloured her words, too, but she took up his challenge.

He swept her into the dance. Their bodies moved in perfect harmony. She fitted as though she belonged in his arms and, while awareness began a slow burn along his nerve-endings, he hadn’t anticipated the sense of rightness that came from holding her this way.

Bella was silent, but soft colour flushed her cheeks, and her eyes shone.

Other couples glided around the floor but Luc only saw Bella, and he sensed she only saw him.

His grip tightened, he swung Bella into a turn and kept her close, allowed the dance to become something more because right at this moment the dance had her. Luc had her, he knew it, and acknowledged the surge of power and demand that came with that understanding. He wanted to take her to bed, to spend the night in physical passion with her.

‘This dance is finished. The evening is finished.’ He stopped, clasped her hand in his and tugged her across the floor. The final strains of the music coincided.

To an onlooker, they simply left the floor at the zenith of the dance, a fitting end to a perfect performance, but they both knew otherwise.

‘Luc?’ Bella moved along at his side. She tried to pull her fingers from his grip. ‘Wh-what are you doing? I could dance with some other people, mingle—’

‘Not tonight.’ He maintained his clasp on her hand. ‘You and I have unfinished business that needs to be laid to rest once and for all.’

It almost sounded rational, but for the fact that he dragged her straight past their hostess and out into the hall, where the butler appeared and handed Bella her wrap. Their host also appeared.

That should have steadied Luc, even if only a little. Instead he waited impatiently while the other man said his goodbyes. When the guy took Bella’s hand and kissed it, Luc stepped forward. A silent warning growled low in his being.

‘Yes, well, good evening and thank you for attending.’ The man stepped back, away from Arabella, away from Luc’s glare that insisted he do so.

Luc muttered something that might or might not have been appropriate in response, and finally they were free of the place. They started down the long driveway, side by side, his hand at Bella’s back to guide her.

Cool night air brushed against Luc’s face, neck, hands. He felt only the burn of desire.

‘Luc?’ Her gaze sought his, searched. ‘I’m not sure what you’re thinking, but I really don’t feel we can go on—’

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