The Colorado Countess

by Stephanie Howard

  But Leone’s kisses weren’t pleasant. They blew her out of her shoes!

  She sighed now. No doubt her innocence was to blame. When it came to men and love she really didn’t have much experience. Leone had accused her once of only wanting satisfaction from her work, but that wasn’t true. It wasn’t true at all. Maybe she had, to some extent, put her love life on hold over the past few years while she carved out her career. But, when she met the right man, she intended to put that right.

  Carrie smiled a wry smile. And Leone definitely wasn’t the right man.

  There was no denying that he had a staggering effect on her. But any attraction between them was destined to come to nothing. He was a count and a playboy, skilled at flirting and seduction, and she was a serious career girl with very strong ideas about love.

  In her book it wasn’t a game—she had been taught that and she believed it. One didn’t fall into a love affair just for a bit of fun and excitement. Love and sex, she firmly believed, should be buttressed by commitment. There was no sense otherwise. It was dishonest and far too risky.

  So her brief experience with Leone was destined to remain just that. It was a pity in a way, but the alternatives simply were not acceptable.

  Once she had sorted that out in her mind, Carrie felt much better—in spite of the shameful thoughts that still kept intruding in her head. But they would pass soon enough. She was just going through a phase.

  There had been no word from Leone since that dinner at the Palazzo Verde. On a personal level that didn’t surprise her. He had masses of girlfriends. Far too many to bother seriously about acquiring one more! But on a professional level it made her anxious.

  Had he spoken to his brother again, as he had promised? Her doubts were starting to crowd in again. Maybe she ought to ring him. Exert a little pressure. But she hesitated. He might think she was really ringing for something else!

  Well, he was wrong. She steeled herself. If he were anyone else, she would do it. For there was no personal motive. It was strictly business. And it would be madness not to get this thing sorted out just because she’d once allowed Leone to kiss her!

  Carrie phoned the same day. ‘I’d like to speak to Count Leone, please,’ she told the male voice that answered after a couple of rings, announcing in Italian, ‘Count Leone’s private office.’

  ‘Just a minute,’ Pierre told her now, switching at once to English and having a private little smile to himself—this was the American girl he’d tracked down for his boss! ‘I’ll see if Count Leone is available.’

  He was.

  ‘You just caught me. I was on my way out,’ Leone told her when he came to the phone a couple of minutes later. Then he went on before she could say a word, ‘I see you’ve changed your mind about coming to have a look at the dinner service. So, why not come this afternoon? Around four o’clock, say. I can arrange to show it to you then.’

  Carrie was smiling. He really did sound as though he was in a rush! And though he’d got it wrong, of course—that was not why she’d called—she decided just to go along with him and go and see the dinner service anyway, for the truth was that she’d regretted her hasty refusal of that offer. And she could bring up her real reason for calling him when she saw him. He was clearly in too much of a hurry to go into all that now.

  So she simply said, ‘OK. Four o’clock’s fine.’

  When she hung up the phone she was trying very hard not to feel too excited at the prospect of seeing him. As she had told herself earlier, it was strictly business—and an opportunity, of course, to finally pay back the money she had forgotten, yet again, to hand over to him last time!

  It was just folly on her part, and totally inappropriate, that her heart was suddenly beating fit to burst out of her chest, and that a grin that would surely have put the Cheshire cat to shame was currently spread across her face.

  Carrie arrived at the palace at five minutes to four, seated in the back of a yellow taxi cab that was waved through the gates with no trouble at all when she gave the guards her name as Leone had instructed.

  She was dressed in a blue cotton blouse and a blue and white striped skirt, and though she was no longer grinning quite so broadly as she had been earlier there was still a light in her eyes and a happy curve to her mouth. What was wrong with combining business with a bit of personal pleasure?

  Flavia was waiting for her at the door with the same welcoming smile as before.

  ‘Good afternoon, Miss Dunn. Please follow me.’

  Carrie tripped along behind her, feeling perfectly at ease. She was an old hand now. She could have found her way herself. But at the end of one of the corridors Flavia turned left instead of right.

  ‘I thought we were going to—’ Carrie started to blurt out, intending to finish the sentence with ‘to Count Leone’s quarters’.

  But Flavia was already turning round. ‘I’m sorry, I should have told you. We’re going to Lady Caterina’s office. She’s waiting for you there.’

  Lady Caterina’s office? Carrie felt her heart plummet inside her. Still, never mind, she told herself. Maybe Leone was there.

  But Leone wasn’t there. Only Caterina was waiting for her.

  ‘Leone’s asked me to stand in for him,’ Caterina explained. ‘He got held up. He asked me to apologise.’

  Did he, indeed? Well, she didn’t need his apologies. It was ridiculous how angry and disappointed Carrie felt. Like a pricked balloon. She was all churned up inside. I’m crazy, she told herself, and tried to pull herself together.

  She smiled at Caterina. ‘Well, thanks for standing in.’

  Caterina, as it turned out, was a most knowledgeable guide. As they walked round the display cases where the dinner service was housed, she told Carrie, ‘As you probably know, it was made in 1670 for the wedding of the first Duke, Cosimo, and Lady Isabella. No one knows how much it’s worth. It’s beyond calculation.’

  That did not surprise Carrie, for it was truly magnificent. More than two thousand pieces—dinner plates, soup bowls, dessert dishes, gravy boats. It just went on and on, each piece as delicately lustrous, its gold leaf as immaculate, its painted colours as fresh and bright as they had been when it had first graced the first Duke’s table.

  Carrie was going weak at the knees. It was making her head spin. I’ve just got to get permission to include this in my book, she was thinking.

  It seemed that Caterina had read her mind. ‘Leone’s been telling me,’ she said suddenly, ‘that you’re hoping to use this in the book you’re writing.’ She smiled. ‘I’m sure you’ll get permission. Leone’s very good at getting round Damiano.’

  ‘I hope so.’

  Carrie’s heart flickered. So, she really had been wrong to doubt him. And the pleasure she felt wasn’t confined solely to the prospect of including the fabulous dinner service in her book. It was also pleasure just to know that Leone hadn’t been playing with her. And it was a little unsettling just how pleased that made her feel.

  At last, Caterina was leading her back to her office. In the doorway she paused. ‘How about a cup of tea now?’ She smiled a friendly smile. ‘A cup of tea and a chat. I’m dying to get to know you better.’

  Carrie was delighted to agree. ‘Sure,’ she said. ‘I’d love to.’

  So the two girls ended up spending a good hour and a half together over two pots of Earl Grey and the best part of a tin of biscuits.

  And their little chat turned out to be most illuminating. For by the time—just before seven—that Carrie climbed into her taxi and made her way across the city towards home she’d been regaled with a whole mass of information—about Caterina and her work and her love life and all sorts of things, though the most fascinating topic they’d touched on had been Leone.

  And what Carrie had learned about him had left her feeling quite shocked and wondering if she wouldn’t have preferred to have been left in blissful ignorance.

  She frowned to herself as the taxi sped up the hill, winding its way beneath
the trees towards the villa. She would feel most peculiar now having to look Leone in the face. Though perhaps, she comforted herself, that wouldn’t be necessary. Now that she had established a kind of friendship with Caterina, perhaps all communications could be made through his sister. Yes, that was the solution. She nodded to herself sagely. For it would be better if she never saw Leone again.

  She focused on that thought. It was a wise judgement, she decided. She must steer clear of him. It was the only way she would be safe.

  The villa was coming into view. She sat forward in her seat, reached for her bag and stole a quick glance at her watch. Once she was home she would have a shower and wash her hair, then fix a simple dinner and have an early night. She sighed, finding reassurance in this solitary, orderly programme. For one thing, it would help her recover from her shock.

  They were almost there now. The cabbie was turning into the driveway and Carrie was reaching inside her bag for her wallet. But, midway, she stopped, her jaw dropping open, every muscle in her entire body turning to stone.

  For parked beneath her balcony was a shiny black sports car, the hood down, exactly as it had been the other night. And walking towards her, looking quite jaunty, hands in pockets, was the very person she’d been hoping not to see.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  LEONE.

  Carrie stared at him in horror for a moment, yet with a foolish sense of pleasure at just setting eyes on him again. He was dressed casually, in a pale suit with an open-neck shirt, his dark hair and tanned skin making a sharp, dramatic contrast, and that smile he was smiling was making her heart weep.

  But now what should she do?

  Her first instinct on catching sight of him had been to order the taxi driver to turn round and take her away. Hadn’t she been thinking, just a moment ago, that she couldn’t cope with seeing him? And the instant she’d laid eyes on him she’d known she’d been right. How could she possibly cope with this gorgeous creature now that she knew all the things she knew?

  But it was too late to escape now. He was pulling the taxi door open. ‘Hi,’ he said. ‘You’re here at last.’

  Carrie gritted her teeth. She would just have to do her best. She paid the taxi driver and reluctantly climbed out. ‘Hi,’ she said in response, wondering what on earth he wanted. Though she refrained from asking. That would only encourage him.

  ‘I was sorry about today.’ They were walking across the driveway. ‘I hope Caterina explained to you that it couldn’t be helped?’

  ‘Yes.’ Carrie felt a flicker of unease. Caterina had explained many things. Many things that might have been better left unexplained.

  But she pushed these thoughts away. ‘She was most informative,’ she told him. ‘And the dinner service was absolutely fabulous.’

  ‘You liked it, did you?’

  ‘I thought it was amazing.’

  ‘Yes, it is pretty amazing.’ He smiled. ‘No doubt it’ll provide an extra chapter for your book.’

  ‘More than one, I suspect. I suspect two or three.’ She already had a whole section devoted to it planned in her head! And she was confident now that it really would happen. After what Caterina had told her, she was perfectly sure of it.

  She felt another twist inside her. Caterina had opened her eyes to many things. And that was the trouble. Eyes were sometimes best kept closed.

  They had reached the foot of the stone steps and now Leone was turning to face her. ‘So you’ve had a satisfying day,’ he said. ‘I’m glad.’

  ‘It’s been an excellent day.’ Carrie suddenly felt awkward. Whatever he’d come for, she didn’t want to know. The only thing she wanted was to make a rapid escape.

  She feigned a stifled yawn. ‘It’s also been rather a long one. I’m just going off to have a shower and something to eat, and then I’m going to have an early night.’

  And she turned away and started to climb the steps. That ought to send him on his way, she was thinking.

  Rash hope.

  ‘Oh, no, you’re not.’

  Leone was going nowhere. And neither was she, it seemed, for he had reached out and caught hold of her.

  ‘You can have an early night some other night. Tonight you’re dining with me.’

  As his hand had grasped her arm, lightly but firmly holding her, Carrie’s poor heart had almost shot out of her chest. She felt a rush of sensation, a delicious tingling from head to toe, and suddenly her legs felt like bales of straw beneath her.

  She turned to look at him, blinking. I ought to be mad at him, she was thinking. He’s got no right to grab me like this and tell me what to do! But as she looked at him and saw him smile it was quite impossible to feel angry—and quite impossible to do anything other than capitulate at once. For suddenly, in all the world there was nothing she wanted more than to have dinner with this quite shamelessly gorgeous man.

  Like a fool she smiled back at him.

  ‘OK,’ she said.

  Leone took her to a little place up in the hills behind the city.

  ‘It’s not very fancy,’ he said as they were shown to a corner table with a plain rose-coloured cloth and a small vase of freesias. ‘But the food’s good and it’s nice and private. No danger of paparazzi here.’

  Carrie felt a chord strike within her. What he’d just said fitted perfectly with something his sister had told her this afternoon. But she said nothing for the moment. Perhaps she would bring all that up later.

  She smiled across at him. ‘I think it’s perfect. I like places like this.’ She glanced round approvingly at the dozen or so tables where none of the other diners was paying the least bit of attention to them. Then, as Leone handed her a menu, she suddenly remembered something—the long-running saga of her still unpaid debt to him!

  She began to reach for her bag, which was slung over the back of her chair. ‘You know, I’ve still never paid you that money I owe you. Let me do it now. I’ve got it here.’

  ‘Right now? What will the waiters think if they see you handing me wads of money?’ Leone threw her a wink and smiled across at her. ‘Give it to me later. Anyway, there’s no hurry.’

  ‘Yes, there is. I’ve been wanting to give you it for ages.’ But Carrie hesitated. A moment ago she’d been certain that no one was looking at them, but now it felt as though every eye in the entire place was on her.

  She dropped her bag back. ‘OK, I’ll give it to you later.’ In the car on the way home after their meal, she decided.

  The food was simple but good. They had gnocchi with gorgonzola to start with—melt-in-the-mouth potato dumplings smothered with the famous cheese. Then they had chicken with garlic and a wonderful tomato salad. And when the waiter came to take their order for pudding Carrie wasn’t at all certain if she could actually manage one, even though they all sounded quite wickedly tempting.

  ‘Go on. Try the crema di mascarpone. It’s delicious,’ Leone urged her. ‘I’m going to have some.’

  So Carrie allowed herself to be persuaded and was glad that she had when the pudding arrived. This must surely be what heaven tastes like, she decided with a sigh as she took a mouthful of the creamy Marsala-laced concoction.

  Finishing off the last spoonful, she sat back with a contented sigh. ‘That was marvellous,’ she told Leone. ‘But before I go to bed I’ll have to run at least ten laps round the garden to try and work some of those calories off!’

  ‘You don’t need to work off any calories. You’re perfect as you are.’

  ‘Flatterer!’ Carrie laughed.

  ‘That’s not flattery. That’s the truth.’ His eyes were laughing back at her. ‘You can’t blame me for saying the truth.’

  As their eyes met and held, Carrie felt a rush of pleasure. He was so easy to be with, such beguiling company—for she had enjoyed every minute of their dinner together. To be truthful, she had enjoyed it a little too much.

  And that, of course, was what she’d been afraid of. For she’d known how hard it would be to resist him now that all her de
fences were gone.

  Caterina had seen to that, she thought with a sense of helplessness. Caterina and all the stories she ought to have kept to herself.

  Leone was asking her, ‘Shall we have coffee now?’

  Carrie nodded. ‘OK.’ She sat back in her chair. Perhaps, she was thinking as the waiter appeared at his elbow and Leone ordered two cups of espresso, it was time to confront him with what she’d discovered. For she knew she had to do it. She had to see how he reacted. His reaction would tell her how true it all was. For it was possible, after all, that Caterina had been exaggerating. She would be desperately grateful if that proved to be the case.

  She laid her hands in her lap and looked across at him. ‘Tell me something,’ she said. ‘About the other night. When those friends of yours requisitioned me and my friend’s table. . .’ She continued to look at him. ‘Were you there when it actually happened?’

  Leone looked back at her and smiled. ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘I ask because I want to know. Were you?’ she asked again.

  ‘And why do you want to know?’ He was enjoying teasing her. ‘You never wanted to know before.’

  No, she hadn’t, quite simply because she’d assumed that he had been there. It had never occurred to her to assume anything else. At least, it hadn’t until this afternoon.

  Carrie sighed. This conversation could go on all evening and she still might not manage to get a straight answer out of him. A change of tactic was obviously called for.

  She looked him straight in the eye. ‘Your sister says she doesn’t believe you were. I was telling her how we met—she was curious to know—and when I told her about the fiasco of the table she said, “Oh, that would never have happened if Leone had been there at the time.” ’

  She paused and narrowed her eyes. ‘According to your sister, pinching other people’s restaurant tables in that high-handed manner isn’t the sort of thing you go in for.’ She sighed again. ‘What I want to know is—was she right?’