“And Victor will be there, of course. I don’t know whether I consider that a big selling point.” Melissa sighed and put her coffee cup down. “Anthony, it’s not that I don’t appreciate your offer, I do. I’m just not qualified to take the post you’re offering me and you know it as well as I do. Anyway, I don’t honestly know that I care much about a stunning career anymore. I’m quite happy where I am.”
“You’re not happy!” Anthony was spot on. “You hate your job, you hate the life you have and you hate me because it’s my fault you’re trapped here. I don’t blame you for feeling like this, but I’m holding out an olive branch to you. Don’t snap it off before you’ve really thought it through. As for your lack of qualifications, I say to hell with them. I know damned well you can do it because I now know I got my Master’s out of your work. Anyway it’s my dig, my rules. If I want to appoint a person who is under-qualified, on paper at least, then that’s up to me.”
Melissa shook her head, unsure if she could climb on the Anthony Marcus roller coaster without doing serious damage to her sanity. Anthony still had one last card up his sleeve. Melissa had no idea of it, but he had spent a very long time researching her life. He had done his homework well. He knew she was in debt and the state of the house had only confirmed his findings.
“Did I mention the salary?” Anthony asked calmly “I am prepared to pay twice what your combined salaries are now. All your travel and living costs will be covered for the duration and you can have full use of my personal assistant, if you can find a use for her, that is. Oh, and there will be a completion bonus of ten thousand if you stay right up to the last day I say I need you.”
“That’s insane!” Melissa blurted out. That was a lot of money to her and she desperately needed to clear some loans. “No one pays that kind of money for what you want! Is there something you’re not telling me? What else do you expect me to do?”
“You can sleep with me if you want ...” Melissa started to open her mouth to protest, but Anthony raised his voice over hers “… but it is not a requirement of the contract.” He was laughing at how appalled she looked at the suggestion. “I’m joking,” he added.
Melissa threw a cushion at him in mock rage. She was still trying to look annoyed, but she was beginning to laugh, too. She composed herself and smiled at him. “I don’t know what to say,” she said finally.
“Say yes,” he replied.
“I’ll think about it. Give me a couple of days and I’ll let you know.” Melissa already knew the answer would be yes, but she still wanted to make him wait. There was no way she could turn down that amount of money.
“A couple of days, you say? I can do that.” Anthony stood up. “I think this calls for a celebration! Why don’t we head back to the pub and try that drink again?”
“I haven’t said yes, so what is there to celebrate?” Melissa laughed.
“How about the fact you haven’t said no!” Anthony was serious again. He reached down and took Melissa’s hands, pulling her up off the sofa to stand in front of him. They were so close she could feel the heat radiating from his body. She looked up into his eyes and she felt the urge to kiss him welling up inside her.
“I’ve missed you, Liss,” Anthony spoke so softly she could hardly hear him. “Do you think there could ever be a chance ...” he continued, but did not finish the sentence. Melissa had freed one hand from his and raised it to his lips to silence him. He closed his eyes and kissed her hand gently.
“You need to go,” she replied. “If we’re going to work together, we need to keep this professional. I’ll call you tomorrow with my answer.” Anthony opened his eyes again. She could see the desperation in them and she was beginning to feel old desires surfacing too, but she was not prepared to start a relationship with him again. Not now.
Anthony stared at Melissa, hoping for some glimmer that she was bluffing, but her face was unreadable. He nodded eventually and moved away. He collected his keys and jacket and they headed to the front door. Anthony paused on the threshold, turning back to face Melissa one last time. Then, with one last, longing stare, he turned again and walked to his car.
Melissa closed the door and leant against the back of it. She had survived seeing Anthony again. Could she survive spending a longer period of time with him? Life with Anthony was always exciting and he had already made her feel like a giddy schoolgirl again. As stupid as she knew she was being, she wanted to go to Italy. To hell with it, she was going!
Chapter 3
Melissa landed at Bologna airport in late June and immediately began looking for Anthony as she exited through customs. He said he would meet her, so she expected him to be waiting, but it appeared he was not. She checked the signs being held up by the multitude of taxi drivers standing in line in the arrivals lounge, but her name was not on any of them either. She turned on her mobile and waited for it to connect to the Italian network. Perhaps Anthony was running late and had sent her a message when she was on the flight. She hated the thought of having to pick it up from her voicemail − it would cost so much.
Whilst she stared at the phone, an exceptionally beautiful young woman in her early twenties approached her. Tall and slim, with movie star looks and flowing blonde hair that reached down to her waist, she was exactly the kind of woman Melissa envied. Her hour-glass figure and long legs were shown off beautifully by the designer dress and ludicrously high heels she was wearing. She was attracting looks from every man around them, which only helped to make Melissa feel more self-conscious in her old combat trousers and ‘Springsteen’ t-shirt.
Mobile phone in hand, the woman made a bee line for Melissa. She removed her sunglasses, revealing vivid blue eyes and looked between Melissa and the screen as if comparing her to an image on it. “Excuse me, are you Dr Gordon?” she finally asked.
“I’m Melissa Gordon, but I’m not Dr Gordon if that’s who you’re looking for,” Melissa replied.
“Sorry. My mistake! Anthony was a little vague with the details. I assumed that as you’d been to university together and were on the same course, you had the same qualifications.” The woman was muttering, half to herself, as she tapped on the hand-held device, but Melissa realised she was there to collect her as soon as she mentioned Anthony. It figured: only he would send a beauty queen to get her.
“We were on the same course to begin with, but I didn’t get as far as he did. And you are?” she replied calmly.
“Sorry. I’m Rebecca, Anthony’s assistant. Well, I’m more than that really. Whatever he needs, I sort out for him. More like his right arm, I suppose. Can’t do without me! Anyway, he’s far too busy to come away at the moment and asked me to collect you.” Rebecca was gushing with sheer enthusiasm about her boss like a teenager over a pop star. Pretty and immature, Melissa thought. Just his type!
“That’s fine by me.” Melissa picked up her hand luggage from the floor, grabbed the handle of her case and stood waiting, but Rebecca made no effort to move. She seemed too busy sizing Melissa up, or, to be more precise, she was too busy looking down her nose at her in a most dismissive way. “Shall we?” Melissa said, a little impatiently.
“Oh yes, sorry. Miles away! Jeep’s this way.” Rebecca turned and rushed off, heels clicking on the polished floor as she went, leaving Melissa to drag the luggage along in her wake.
The drive back to Anthony’s house proved interesting. Rebecca kept repeating how important she was to Anthony, and that he told her everything, but then bombarded Melissa with questions about their relationship, which Melissa deliberately evaded. She found it amusing that a person who was supposedly so important to Anthony knew nothing about the woman she had been sent to collect. Rebecca obviously felt threatened by Melissa, who gave just enough information to answer some of Rebecca’s questions, but not enough to put her mind at rest that Melissa was not planning to compete for the affections of the man they were both working for. The girl, and she was definitely behaving like a girl and not a woman, as evidenced by her in
tellectual immaturity, was obviously infatuated with Anthony. Rebecca’s need to explain how important she was only demonstrated her own insecurities and Melissa wondered if Anthony was unaware how she felt. That was definitely odd. Anthony was normally in tune with the raging hormones of any woman in his presence and usually exploited them to the hilt. Maybe he had changed after all.
There was one question Melissa was burning to ask, but it had nothing to do with Anthony. “How do you get on with Victor?” she said at a point when Rebecca paused to breathe. It was the only way she could get a word in to the conversation.
Rebecca went quiet and became tense as she tried to think of a tactful response. Melissa could have bet on Rebecca not liking him. That at least could be common ground and something they could agree on. She decided to help the girl out of her quandary. “If it makes you feel any easier, I can’t stand him,” she added.
Melissa watched Rebecca visibly relax as she finally answered, “I know he’s really important to Anthony, but he creeps me out. He looks at me funny. Makes my skin crawl. Did he do that to you?”
Melissa laughed lightly “God, no!” she said “Victor never gave me a second glance. He hated me from day one. Probably still does. He’s a rude, arrogant man and I’d be very happy never to see him again. I nearly refused this job because of him.”
“Really? I thought he liked you. He seemed so keen for you to get here. Went on and on at Anthony for weeks about it. Kept asking when you’d arrive.”
Rebecca continued to talk aimlessly about how wonderful Anthony was, but Melissa was no longer listening. This pretty young thing seemed incapable of constructing a proper sentence, which was becoming as annoying as the homage to her boss that she was reciting.
Melissa’s thoughts turned to Victor. The news of his apparent change of heart unnerved her. Dying or not, she could not believe he would encourage Anthony to bring her there, unless he had an ulterior motive, and the thought that he could still be plotting against her sent shivers down her spine. Suddenly she found herself wishing she had never agreed to come.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the bumping of the jeep as it turned onto a dirt track between some trees. As the jeep cleared the wooded area beside the road, Melissa looked ahead and got her first glimpse of Anthony’s home. What she saw nearly took her breath away. The house was a beautiful two storey villa, standing at the top of a gentle slope which ran down to a patchwork of fields on the plain, before gently rising again to another ridge. Far beyond the house, a thin area of ancient woodland snaked away into the distance as if it were following the banks of some long-vanished waterway.
The house was made from sandstone and reminded Melissa of the local Ham Stone quarried near her home in Somerset. The terracotta roof tiles and dark brown wooden shutters framing the windows gave the building warmth, welcoming its visitors. A veranda ran along the front and disappeared around the corner of the building, scattered with potted plants, chairs and abandoned coffee cups. The house looked lived in and well-loved, unlike the sad, tired cottage Melissa had allowed her own home to become.
Melissa climbed down from the jeep and went to grab her things from the boot. Rebecca was already disappearing into the house and she knew she would have to hurry to catch up with her. Melissa climbed onto the veranda, bumping the heavy case slowly up each step. An old rose twisted in and out of a trellis as it climbed up and over the threshold, almost hiding a little sign naming the property: ‘Sub Rosa’. Melissa smiled to herself as she read it, translating it without difficulty into its English meaning of ‘Beneath the Rose’. Since ancient times, the use of a rose hung over a meeting table meant that those present were sworn to secrecy. Melissa wondered what secrets this beautiful house had witnessed and now held in silence at the behest of its owner.
As she reached the screen door she could feel the cooler air inside the house wafting over her skin. It was a welcome relief from the blistering heat outside. She let go of the case and stood for a moment, enjoying the coolness.
The sound of a man’s voice made her jump. “Why don’t I take that for you?” Anthony said softly in her ear. He must have followed her up the steps, but she failed to hear him. He was standing so close to her that she collided with him as she tried to turn round, almost burying her face in his bronzed, bare chest. The muscular physique he had worked so hard on in his youth had further improved with age and was being emphasised by tiny beads of sweat that were forming on the skin stretched across his pectoral muscles. Melissa could not help but blush as she fought a sudden urge to run her hand across his bare flesh and wipe them away.
“Thanks for picking me up,” she said, trying to sound as annoyed as she could to hide her embarrassment.
“Ah yes, sorry about that,” Anthony replied. He shot her a knowing smile as if he had read her mind, making her blush more. “Victor fell out of bed and I had to wait here for the doctor. I hope Rebecca didn’t drive you mad. She’s a little intense, but very efficient. Anyway, come in and I’ll show you around.” Anthony was full of his usual charm as he picked up the suitcase and headed into the house, leaving Melissa to watch his equally well- proportioned back muscles disappearing through the door in front of her.
Inside, the house was as beautiful as its surroundings. Anthony was explaining how he had been forced to do a little remodelling. Originally there had been no hallway. The stairs, which climbed directly from just the other side of the door, opened into the first of three reception rooms. This room had now been partitioned to form the hall and a downstairs bedroom with a wet room for Victor because he was no longer able to climb the stairs.
Off the new hall, behind Victor’s room, was a library. Anthony inherited this room and its contents when he took over the house. Every available piece of wall space was crammed with bookcases overflowing with books. The room was dark and cramped, and Anthony said he hardly spent any time in there because of that. In reality, it reminded him far too much of the old libraries and bookshops he’d frequented when he was trying to get Melissa to acknowledge his existence. For many years those memories had been too painful for him to bear, and he had avoided the room as much as possible. Melissa rather liked its oppressive feel, even more so as she ran her eyes along some of the titles adorning the shelves. There seemed to be copies of every book she knew on the subject of Ancient Rome, and a fair few of them were so rare that she had only ever dreamt of reading them. Some were very old, possibly first editions. She now had the same feeling of a child entering a sweetshop that Anthony had referred to when talking about his achievements in her lounge. To her, this was heaven and she was desperate to start digging through these wonderful old books, treating each one with reverential awe, but the tour was not yet over.
Running the full length of the house on the other side of the hall was the main living space. Along the outside wall were four large windows, each containing a set of French doors that opened onto the veranda where Anthony said he spent most of his time on hot summer evenings. With the doors open, the room took on an open feel and provided a great deal of air and light which reflected off the plain white walls, in stark contrast to the dark, musty library.
Upstairs were four bedrooms. The master bedroom had its own en suite and walk-in dressing room, whilst the two remaining furnished bedrooms shared the main bathroom. The last room was being used to store most of Victor’s belongings.
Anthony walked into one of the spare bedrooms and threw Melissa’s case on the king-sized bed that dominated the room, flopping down next to it while Melissa looked around her. The room was simply furnished, with only a wardrobe and dressing table on the wall opposite the bed, but the simplicity added to its beauty. Opposite the door were two open windows. Melissa crossed to one and looked out briefly across the fields below at the beautiful views across the gently-rolling landscape.
Above the bed hung a reproduction of the Monet painting ‘The Red Boats at Argenteuil’. It was a picture Melissa adored and, when she and Anthony were together, it
had hung in their flat above their bed. He used to joke that when he was rich he would buy a little red boat for her and sail her around the Mediterranean, leaving the rest of the world behind them. Seeing this picture brought back so many memories of happier times that Melissa felt herself becoming very emotional. She quickly turned back to the window and leant out of it, gathering her thoughts. She heard Anthony get up from the bed and walk up behind her. He placed each of his hands on either side of her so that his body was almost touching hers and spoke very softly to her.
“Well, what do you think of my home?”
Melissa gulped. She felt suddenly flushed, and her pulse raced in response to his close proximity. She gripped onto the windowsill tightly until her knuckles began to go white. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered, praying it would be enough and he would not expect her to say any more.
“I’m glad you like it,” he replied brushing his body against hers as he leant round her and pointed out of the window. Melissa gasped a little, but he pretended not to have noticed, and carried on talking. “See those trees way down there?” He was pointing at the snaking woodland she had spotted earlier. “That’s the start of the woods where you find the Rubicon. Don’t get too excited. It’s no more than a trickle these days. Never gets higher than your ankles, if that. I own the land down to it and up to the top of that ridge line beyond. Actually, I own just about everything you can see from this window. I could hardly believe it when Victor told me our home was built right on top of where Caesar’s camp had been. How’s that for luck? Come downstairs and I’ll show you the site.”
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