‘Santo.’ She ran a tongue over her lip, a lip swollen from passion and the bruising crush of his kiss. ‘I don’t know what to say. Is it because you can’t get anyone else?’
‘I have three people who can fly out tonight.’ He scuppered that argument with a flick of his wrist.
‘Then is it because…’ She couldn’t even bring herself to say it. ‘Santo, you’re right. I should never have considered you doing me a favour just because we slept with each other.’
‘It has nothing to do with sex.’ He was almost stern as he said it. ‘I would never hire for that reason, never. A director’s role is too important. I am only hiring you because I now think you are right for the role. I have given it some serious thought and have come to the conclusion that you would be fantastic—you understand the movie inside out. You have seen the disaster Rafaele has made…’
Ella nodded.
‘And you know what the movie needs.’
‘Taylor would never agree.’
‘She already has,’ Santo said. ‘There was a lot of trouble on set today. Things turned very nasty and, you’re right, it is not her acting that is at fault. I spoke to her at length. That is when I told her your suggestions and how passionate you are about this film. She is happy to work with you.’
‘Really?’
‘Fresh vision is always good,’ Santo said. ‘So here is your chance.’
She was terrified, because his earlier argument had been right. She hadn’t earned her stripes. She hadn’t even been an assistant. If she took this role Ella would be stepping straight into the big league and she told him that.
‘You can do it,’ Santo said. ‘I have every faith that you can handle this, but it’s the last professional handhold I will give you, Ella. We will be fighting tomorrow on set. I am not going to hold back just because it is you—and if I don’t think you are doing well…’ Then he paused. She didn’t need to be told. Ella knew only too well how he operated. ‘But when we are off set…’ He waited and he watched as she shook her head. ‘Ella, I promise you that whatever happens between us on a personal level I will not bring it to work.’
‘I can’t.’ She couldn’t, but she knew more explanation was needed. Santo had offered her the biggest break professionally, and also emotionally. She had never opened up more with another, and she needed to do so now. ‘I only slept with you when I knew I had the other job.’
‘I know,’ Santo said. He had no issues with truths. ‘You left your email open on my computer.’
‘My mum used to work for my father.’
‘You are not your mother.’
‘I know that,’ Ella said.
‘And this is very different…’
‘I know, but I swore a long time ago that my career would always come first, that I would never jeopardise it for a man, any man. I’ve broken way too many of my own rules lately but this really is a big chance. It’s not a PA job that I don’t particularly want that I’m risking now. I can’t go back on my promise to myself just because it’s you.’
And she waited for his argument, for him to attempt to dissuade, but it never came. ‘I accept that.’ And only now did she understand the true meaning of his earlier words, that he had known from the start what her rules would be.
‘It’s a couple of weeks,’ Ella said. ‘I need to concentrate properly on the film.’
‘Then do,’ Santo said. ‘But understand this, Ella—you don’t get to pick and choose.’
‘Sorry?’
‘Till filming is over you are in or out.’
Ella just looked at him, wasn’t entirely sure she understood what he was saying.
‘You don’t get to dip in when you choose to,’ Santo clarified. ‘So what is it to be—in or out.’
And for Ella, there could only be one answer. ‘Out.’
‘Fine.’ He headed for the door. ‘Good luck. As my note said—you’ll be amazing.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SANTO BLINKED IN surprise when he walked on the set this morning, not because Ella was there. He’d known she’d be early. More it was an Ella he had never seen.
She was wearing a faded denim skirt and espadrilles and a halter neck top. The hair that was usually groomed was hanging loose as it did in the bedroom. As she smiled at him, Santo saw she was wearing absolutely no make-up.
‘Is this director Ella?’ he asked as she walked over to him.
‘No, this is Ella.’
And it was a bit of a fist to the gut, that all the clothes and the make-up had been the part she had played for him, and just confirmed that Santo didn’t know her at all.
‘The ship is all organised.’ Marianna came over and spoke in Italian with Santo as Ella half listened, translating easily. Yes, Marianna was a far more efficient PA. She had achieved in a few hours what Ella had been struggling with for days. ‘So everyone will be in place for 5:00 a.m. and it sails at 3:00 p.m. the following day.’
‘Eccellente.’ He glanced over to Ella. ‘We have to be finished by then.’
‘We will be.’
Santo nodded and turned back to Marianna, telling her to organise a party that final night for the crew. That was the one part of the job Ella had loved doing. Santo knew how to throw a good party and Ella had enjoyed organising them. She mentioned a couple of contacts she had to Marianna.
‘I can run through things this evening,’ Ella offered. ‘I’m sorry, I really haven’t been much help handing over.’
‘No need,’ Marianna said. ‘I have my own contacts. Anyway, I’ll speak with Santo if I need to know anything. I prefer to find out things firsthand.’ She went to head off and then changed her mind. ‘Actually, I need his spare car keys, his diary, that sort of thing….’
Ella was terribly aware of Santo’s smirk as she went in her bag and handed over a few items.
‘You forgot the sunglasses,’ Santo said.
‘So I did,’ Ella responded tartly, her cheeks burning as she handed them over.
‘Headache tablets,’ he prompted.
‘No need,’ Marianna chimed in. ‘I have some on me.’
Ella’s bag was soon considerably emptier as she handed over a shirt and a couple of ties too.
‘I think that’s everything,’ Ella said.
‘Sure?’ Santo checked, enjoying her discomfort.
‘I’m sure Marianna is prepared for every eventuality.’ Ella smiled sweetly and then turned her attention back to what was important, what would remain.
Work.
Except she wanted to share it with him.
To start with, Ella was incredibly nervous. It seemed wrong to be giving directions to someone as skilled as Taylor, but overriding her nerves was the rising thrill that Taylor seemed to completely understand her.
‘You’re not happy as such,’ Ella said, trying not to be too rude about Rafaele’s interpretation. ‘It’s more that you’re carefree. Yes, you know he’s leaving tomorrow, but for now you have no idea what’s to come.’ She looked through the viewfinder, watched Taylor walking along the beach with her lover who would soon go missing, watched the shot of her life before it changed for ever, and any nerves Ella had died then, because she could do this.
All those endless nights of her childhood spent locked in her room making movies with her mind reaped the rewards today as finally a scene came to life, and there were actually tears in her eyes as Ella watched it unfold.
And Santo watched her grow before his eyes too.
‘Vince, from now on you’re not going to be watching her.’ Ella got back to the heart of the script. Rafaele had interpreted it that Vince came upon Taylor crying, but over and over Ella had read it and pictured it differently. Now she brought it to life. ‘You need to be here first, thinking about your friend, then you see Taylor arrive. Remember that till this point you’ve never really liked her. You’ve always thought that she was using him, but watching her cry, you see for the first time how much she loves him—it is that that moves you.’
&
nbsp; ‘Right.’ The sulking Vince actually smiled because, till now, Rafaele had made his character look nothing other than a man taking advantage of a vulnerable woman.
‘That’s why you go over,’ Ella said to Vince. ‘You realise that she knows how you feel, that you both miss him. And, Taylor…’ Ella said. ‘When he turns around, you’re defensive. You’re used to him making sarcastic comments. He’s already accused you of crocodile tears, but it is his empathy that is going to have you two heading off to the beach.’
‘Got it.’
‘And we’re not going to do the full-on crying scene yet…’ Santo watched as Taylor breathed out in relief. The past few days had been draining at best. ‘Just a few tears. What I want to get is your expression when Vince joins you.’
Taylor was brilliant. For the first time since filming had started Santo could breathe. Just having Vince there first changed everything, shifted the whole dynamics. It was something he wouldn’t have thought of and he told Ella the same as they headed back to the hotel.
‘We’ve got more done today than we have all week.’
She was glowing inside at the praise, on a high from finally doing the job she loved and knowing that she was doing it well.
‘I’m starving,’ Santo said. It was 10:00 p.m. and they had been too busy working to stop and take advantage of the catering. Now, all Ella wanted to do was to order something from room service, or… She looked over to Santo as they walked through the foyer. Perhaps they could have dinner and talk about the scenes tomorrow, or perhaps—Ella took a deep breath—they could simply talk.
‘So am I.’ She was beyond conflicted, wavering as to the choice she had earlier made. Santo would do nothing to jeopardise this film over something that might happen between them. And he was right—she was not her mother. She was so much stronger than that. ‘Maybe we could…’ She paused as his phone rang, waited while he took the call.
‘Sorry about that.’ His expression was grim when he came off the phone. ‘Right, I’ll see you in the morning. We start at six.’
‘Sure.’ Ella took a deep breath. ‘I might get something to eat in the restaurant, if they’re still taking orders.’
‘Of course they are,’ Santo said. ‘I told them we would not be finished filming till late. They are being very good—they understand the odd hours.’ His phone bleeped again, and his teeth gritted. ‘Enjoy your dinner.’ He dismissed her and, now she had said where she was going, Ella had no choice but to head into the restaurant. She told herself she was a working woman and there was nothing to be embarrassed about asking for a table for one, but all she felt was awkward. There was Vince, but he was engrossed in conversation with another of the actors and it was clear there was some serious flirting going on. Just when Ella had ordered, just when she had decided it wasn’t so bad after all, in walked Santo, still talking on his phone. She smiled as he walked towards her, but the smile disappeared when he returned it and then promptly walked past her.
Ella couldn’t believe he’d take things that literally, would have them sit alone rather than share a meal, but as Marianna came in, Ella realised that Santo had no intention to eat alone.
It was work, Ella told herself as she twisted pasta around her fork and tried not to hear their talk and laughter. It was exactly the same as she and Santo had done, in many hotels on many occasions, she told herself.
But did it take a bottle of wine to go through his diary?
It really was a hell of her own making, Ella told herself over and over through the coming days.
On a shoot it was a small closed world, but not even that could filter out the whispers and rumours that abounded about the Correttis. Ella watched as Santo read a newspaper, one that announced that the cousins were firmly divided, that Carlo’s children were having nothing to do with Benito’s, and that they were going to offer a counterproposal against Santo’s half-brother, Angelo, who had the full weight of Battaglia behind him. Ella knew it must be killing him, knew the effect that it would be having on Teresa too.
Yet, unless it was relevant to the movie, Santo gave her not so much as a word as to what was going on in his life.
His usually smiling face was closed now, his eyes constantly hidden behind dark glasses, but Ella could see the tension in his lips, could hear the impatience in his words as he endlessly spoke on the phone. She loathed that at one point, as they were discussing the next scene, Marianna came over and asked if she could have a word with him.
‘In private…’ Marianna said and then switched to Italian. ‘Familia.’
Ella watched as Marianna drew him aside, watched as Santo’s features paled and his fingers moved to his neck, pulling at the top he was wearing as he did when rarely he was anxious. Then he reached for his phone.
‘Is everything okay?’ she asked at the first opportunity. They were back at the hotel and heading up to their rooms, but instead of pressing the button for her room, Ella tried to speak with him.
‘Of course,’ Santo said. ‘It went well today. The whole crew seems happier.’
‘I meant…’ She took a deep breath. ‘With you? Have you heard from Alessandro?’
‘Ella, I thought we agreed that we were talking only about work.’
‘Santo, I know that something’s wrong.’
‘And?’ He glared. ‘As I said, you can’t pick and choose what bits of me you have. You want professional, then here I am. You are the one who said we can’t be both. Now, did you want to speak about the movie?’
‘No.’
‘Then if you’ll excuse me, I am going to get ready to go to dinner.’ The lift was at his floor and Santo stepped out, but Ella followed him.
‘Santo, please,’ Ella said. ‘I made a mistake. I thought if we just concentrated on work till after shooting, then it would be better for the movie.’
‘And now you’ve changed your mind?’
‘Yes.’
‘And will you change it again tomorrow?’ Santo said nastily. ‘Will you go back on your sex strike, because this is not a nice game, Ella.’
‘I’m not trying to play games.’
‘I have done everything you ask of me. I have never pushed you to do anything that you don’t want to do, but you signed out of this, Ella. I know things have been bad for you, but right now things are bad for me. That’s fine, I’ll wear it. I can deal with tough times—though it could have been a hell of a lot better with your support. But you were the one who chose separate rooms and not to be there. So now, if you will excuse me, I would like some dinner.’
‘Can I join you then?’
‘I already have company tonight,’ Santo said.
‘Marianna?’
‘Of course.’ He shrugged. ‘I have more to sort out than just this film at the moment.’ And she was determined not to go there, to just say nothing, but the words blazed from her eyes and, without hesitation, Santo answered them.
‘What?’ He wasn’t Sicilian for nothing. His words were harsh and direct. ‘Is she too good-looking for me to eat with?’ Santo demanded. ‘If I hire only ugly people will you trust me then?’ He looked at her for a long time. ‘You know, I don’t think you ever will.’
‘Do you blame me?’ She just stood there. ‘I’ve seen you in action, I know better than anyone….’
‘No.’ He walked right up to her face. ‘Don’t try to turn this on me. The fact that you will never trust me has nothing to do with me or my reputation, because you haven’t even given us a chance, not one. The fact is you don’t want to trust.’ Santo said. ‘We could be stuck on a desert island and there would still be a problem.’
He could see tears in her eyes and the burn on her cheeks as his words hit home, because he was right. It wasn’t Santo with some irredeemable past that was halting her. Ella didn’t actually know if she was capable of a full-blown relationship, did not know how to love and be fully, properly, completely loved back.
‘You deny us even a chance.’
‘No.’
&n
bsp; ‘Yes,’ Santo said. ‘You made it very clear right from the start that you wanted no relationship with me. You set the tone, so don’t blame me for meeting it. Don’t blame me for respecting the distance that you insisted upon.’ He raised his finger, to make a point in the way that every Italian man did. He watched her flinch, watched her head snap to the left, and his breathing came harder. ‘So,’ he said. ‘You think now that I would hit you?’
‘No.’
‘Yes.’ He shook his head in disgust. ‘I will not take the blame for him—I will not take the shame for him. You are as trapped as your mother,’ Santo said. ‘You might be on the other side of the world to him, but really, you have never left home.’
Santo could not have been more insulted.
‘I go now and eat with a grown-up.’
CHAPTER TWELVE
SANTO WAS RIGHT.
Sort of.
Ella lay on her bed and rather than denying his words, rather than defending herself to herself, instead she saw the hurt in his eyes, the absolute offence taken by Santo, and she didn’t blame him a bit.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to trust him, more that Ella simply didn’t know how to, had found it far safer to hide behind her career and excuses rather than take a chance with a relationship.
It didn’t feel such a safe place now. It felt empty, and worse, it felt selfish. Ella knew that she hadn’t been there for Santo, hadn’t shared in the tough times with him, and because of that, she might have blown their slim chance.
Why the hell had she had to go and fall in love with Santo though? Of all the billions of people on the globe, how had someone with major trust issues ended up with a man as wickedly bad as Santo? Ella even gave a wry smile to the heavens at the cruel lesson they had sent her, but then jumped when her phone rang. Now she wasn’t Santo’s PA, it was unusually quiet, but she jolted again when she heard who it was.
‘Mum?’ It was the first time her mother had rung her since she had started off on her travels. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘Everything is fine,’ Gabriella said. ‘Well, the same,’ she corrected. ‘But I waited till your father was asleep so that I could speak to you.’
A Legacy of Secrets Page 12
