by Lucy Gordon
As always he arrived five minutes before the agreed time, with a red rose, which he gave her with a flourish, and a pearl necklace which he’d bought to go with the dress.
The sight of him made her smile with happiness. He was a handsome young giant, six foot two, with a booming laugh and good-natured grin that invited the whole world to share his pleasure.
‘Tonight is a great occasion,’ he told her. ‘My older brother, Renato, has arrived from Sicily.’ He added ruefully, ‘I should have gone home two weeks ago. He knows I stayed because of you, and now he wants to meet you. We are his guests at the Ritz tonight.’
‘But we were going to the theatre-’
‘Could you bear not to? I have rather neglected business recently-’ he flicked her cheek gently ‘-all your fault.’
‘Tossing me into the lions’ den, huh?’ she asked with a chuckle.
He put his arm around her. ‘We’ll go in together.’
On the short journey to the Ritz he talked about his brother, who ran the vast family estates in Sicily. By hard work and shrewd dealing he’d transformed the vineyards and olive groves, making them produce three times as much, buying up land, expanding, making Martelli the top name in fine produce in every luxury store and hotel throughout the world.
‘He thinks of nothing but work,’ Lorenzo complained. ‘How he can make more money, and more money. Me, I prefer spending it.’
‘I’m sure he knows that. He wants to see who you’re spending it on.’ She touched the pearls, which were elegant and restrained, but clearly expensive.
‘He’s ready to like you. Trust me.’ As they reached the Ritz and he handed her from the taxi, Lorenzo murmured, ‘Don’t be afraid of him.’
‘I’m not. Are you afraid of him?’
‘No way. But he’s the head of the family, and in Sicily that’s very important. However fierce he was, he was always my wonderful big brother who’d stick by me, help sort out my problems-’
‘Deal with the girls’ fathers?’ Heather suggested mischievously.
Lorenzo cleared his throat. ‘That’s all in the past. Let’s go in.’
Heather was curious to meet this man who was so important in Lorenzo’s life. She looked around at the luxurious restaurant with its elegant marble and floor-to-ceiling French windows, hung with heavy red curtains.
On the far side a man sat alone at a table. He rose as they approached him, a polite smile of welcome on his face. Heather strove to match it through the tide of indignation that welled up in her.
‘Good evening, signorina,’ Renato Martelli said, giving her a courteous little bow. ‘It is a pleasure to meet you.’
‘You mean, meet me again, don’t you?’ she asked coolly. ‘You surely can’t have forgotten our encounter in Gossways this afternoon?’
‘What’s this?’ Lorenzo asked. ‘You’ve met before?’
‘Earlier today,’ Renato Martelli confirmed. ‘I was impatient to see the lady of whom I’ve heard so much, so I adopted a subterfuge, for which I hope I’ll be forgiven.’ He was smiling as he raised her hand to his lips.
Heather regarded him wryly. ‘I’ll think about it,’ she said.
Renato gallantly pulled out a gilt-and-plush chair for her, and the three of them sat down.
‘What subterfuge?’ Lorenzo asked, looking from one to the other.
‘Your brother came to my counter, posing as a customer,’ Heather told him.
‘I thought we could assess each other in a more natural atmosphere,’ Renato explained.
‘Each other?’ she murmured.
‘I’m sure you formed your own opinion of me.’
‘Oh, yes,’ she assured him. ‘I certainly did.’
She left it there. She was far from finished but she didn’t want to look as though she were sulking. A waiter appeared with the menu and when he’d given the order Renato added, ‘And a bottle of your very finest champagne.’
At this hint of approval Lorenzo grinned. Perversely Heather found herself even more annoyed. Was she supposed to jump for joy because Renato Martelli had tossed her a crumb of favour?
She would never have guessed they were brothers. She knew that over the centuries the island of Sicily had been invaded so often that many racial types-Greek, Arab, Italian, French, Spanish, Celtic-were mixed in its inhabitants. There was something Greek in Lorenzo’s fine looks, blue eyes and light brown curly hair. Despite his size his movements were graceful.
She guessed Renato was one of those men who had come to manhood in his early teens. It was hard to picture him as a boy. Perhaps an Italian ancestor had given him those vivid looks, but the air of haughty pride came from a Spaniard, and there was something Celtic in the mobility of his face, the sensuality of his wide mouth.
His features were fierce and irregular, and at first sight he was put in the shade by his beautiful younger brother. But there was a dark glitter in his eyes that compelled attention, and he had an extra something that made looks irrelevant. In a room full of handsome men, Renato Martelli would be the one women looked at, and wondered about.
He was powerfully built, with a massiveness about him that reminded Heather of a bull. Yet he carried no extra weight. His body was hard and athletic, the heavy muscles pressing against the expensive cloth of his suit, as though formal clothes didn’t come naturally to him. He was a man made for the outdoor life, riding a horse, surveying his acres, or anything he could do in shirtsleeves.
The champagne was served in tall crystal glasses. Renato raised his in salute. ‘To the pleasure of meeting you,’ he told Heather.
‘To our meeting,’ she replied, significantly changing the words. There was the briefest flicker on Renato’s face that might have been acknowledgement.
Over cream of cauliflower soup with ribbons of smoked salmon, he talked about Lorenzo and his lengthened visit to England.
‘He should have left two weeks ago, but always there are excuses, and I start to understand that some great power is holding him here. And that power comes from a woman. For the first time he is talking about marriage-’
‘Renato-’ Lorenzo groaned.
‘Ignore him,’ Heather said. ‘He’s trying to disconcert you.’
‘You seem to understand me by instinct, signorina,’ Renato said, impressed.
‘I don’t need instinct. Experience will do. You spent the afternoon trying to disconcert me. You like to wrong-foot people.’
He raised his champagne glass in ironic salute, but his eyes, over the rim, were suddenly harder, alert. ‘Touché!’ he said. ‘I see I shall have to beware of you.’
‘What a good idea,’ she agreed sweetly. ‘Do go on. Lorenzo was talking about marriage and you rushed to England to see if I was good enough.’
‘I came to discover if you were as wonderful as he says,’ he corrected smoothly. ‘And I find that you are.’
It was charmingly said but she wasn’t fooled. This was a man who did nothing except for his own reasons. But if he thought she was going to make it easy for him he had another think coming.
‘Let’s be frank,’ she said with a challenging smile. ‘Lorenzo is a Martelli. He could marry an heiress. When you found him paying attention to a humble shop assistant it set your alarm bells ringing. That, Signor Martelli, is the truth. The rest is just fancy talk.’
Lorenzo groaned and dropped his head in his hands. Renato reddened slightly. ‘Now it is you who are trying to disconcert me.’
‘And I’m not doing too badly either,’ she murmured.
His response was a grin that blazed out suddenly, taking her by surprise. It was brilliant, intensely masculine, and it came from a fire deep within him.
‘Then I too will be frank,’ he told her. ‘Humble shop assistant! That is nonsense. You feel no more humble than I do. You’re a strong woman, even an arrogant one, who thinks she could take on the world, and win. You certainly believe you could get the better of me. You might even be right.’
‘Always assuming that I�
�ll need to fight you,’ she said lightly. ‘But will I?’
‘I don’t know. I haven’t finally decided.’
‘I await your decision in fear and trembling,’ she told him in an ironic tone that conveyed just the opposite.
He raised his glass in salute. Heather raised hers in return, but she was still on her guard.
‘That’s the spirit, darling,’ Lorenzo said. ‘Don’t let him scare you.’
‘Let her fight her own battles,’ Renato told him. ‘She’s more than capable of it. You see,’ he added to Heather, ‘I know a lot about you. You left school at sixteen and got a job in a paper shop. For the next four years you went from job to job, always behind a counter, always climbing a little higher, until three years ago you came to work at Gossways.
‘You sought a place on their training programme that leads to management, but Gossways refused, saying they take only college graduates. So you set out to prove them wrong. You worked hard, studied languages, badgered them. At last, impressed by your persistence and your splendid sales figures, they gave in, and offered you a place on the next programme. Humble shop assistant! You’re a formidable woman.’
‘Hey, I didn’t know all that,’ Lorenzo said.
‘Your brother has been asking Gossways Head Office about me,’ Heather explained. ‘Snooping.’
‘Gathering intelligence,’ Renato suggested.
‘Snooping,’ she said firmly. ‘And it was very rude.’
‘Yes, it was,’ Lorenzo said. ‘You don’t think I did anything like that, do you, darling?’
‘You didn’t think of it,’ Renato informed him scathingly.
Heather felt a sudden need to get away from the two men, so that she could breathe freely. ‘Excuse me, gentlemen,’ she said, rising.
She found the powder room and sat gazing at her own reflection in an ornate gilt mirror, wondering why the world always seemed to be the wrong way up. She was being wined and dined at the Ritz, by two attractive men who were giving her their whole attention. That should have made her a woman to be envied, and if she’d been alone with Lorenzo she would have thought so too.
But Renato Martelli made her very, very suspicious.
CHAPTER TWO
W HEN Heather was out of earshot Renato said, ‘My compliments. She’s charming.’
‘You really like her?’ Lorenzo asked.
‘Yes, I think she’s admirable. I admit that I expected a floozy, but she’s a lady, which must be a first for you. It’s time you settled down.’
‘Now wait,’ Lorenzo said hastily. ‘You’re rushing me. Why did you tell her I mentioned marriage?’
‘Because you did.’
‘I said if I was thinking about marriage it would be to someone like her. It’s a very big step.’
‘All the more reason to take it while you’re young enough to be influenced by a good woman.’
‘You didn’t.’
Renato gave a wolfish grin. ‘Apart from our mother no woman has ever influenced me.’
‘That’s not what I heard. Wasn’t her name Magdalena-? All right, all right,’ he finished hastily, looking at his brother’s expression.
‘Magdalena Conti didn’t influence me,’ Renato said coldly. ‘She merely taught me that permanent relationships are not for me. But it’s different with you. Beneath your irresponsible ways you have the makings of an excellent husband.’
‘Oh, no! I see your game. One of us has to marry and provide a Martelli heir, and you’ve cast me as the sacrificial lamb. Well, to hell with you, brother! You’re the eldest. You do it.’
‘Forget it. I’m past praying for.’
‘And you don’t want to give up your nice enjoyable life with all those accommodating ladies,’ Lorenzo said indignantly.
‘Fidelity has no charms for me,’ Renato admitted.
‘Why can’t Bernardo do the family duty? He’s our brother.’
‘Our half-brother. He carries our father’s blood but not his name, owing to the circumstances of his birth. Besides, he isn’t Mamma’s son, and his children wouldn’t be her grandchildren. No, it has to be one of us, and you’re the one who’s in love.’
‘Yes, but-’
‘Hush, she’s coming back. Don’t be a fool. Make sure of her while you can.’
They rose to greet Heather and Lorenzo kissed her hand. She’d recovered her poise and accepted his tribute with a smile, but inwardly she was still wary.
During the main course a number of visitors came to their table, all of whom eyed Heather curiously, and she began to be self conscious. It was like dipping a toe in shallow water and finding yourself swept away by a tidal wave. Something was happening here that she didn’t understand.
At last the visitors had all gone. As Heather was enjoying her chocolate mousse Renato said, ‘Lorenzo, I see Felipe di Stefano over there. He’s a man you need to speak to.’
When Lorenzo had gone they looked at each other. ‘I thought you’d appreciate the chance to tell me exactly what you think of me,’ Renato said.
‘If I did that we’d be here all night.’
He laughed. ‘Go on, say it.’
‘Where do I start? Where would it end? Your impertinence in checking up on me with my employers, and then this afternoon-Charles Smith never existed, did he?’
‘I’m afraid not.’
‘You were auditioning me, sizing me up to see if I was “suitable”.’
‘Certainly I was curious about the woman who’s made such an impression on my brother. If I’d told you who I was you wouldn’t have acted naturally. I wanted to see you when you weren’t trying to impress me.’
‘Your conceit is past belief. What makes you think I’d have been trying to impress you?’
‘I credit you with enough intelligence to know that you can’t marry my brother without impressing me first.’
‘Always assuming that I want to marry Lorenzo. I don’t think I do, not if it means being related to you.’
‘I admit I was a little clumsy. But perhaps you’ll forgive me when you hear what I have to say. I admired your behaviour greatly, especially when I abandoned the sale and you lost a large commission. You controlled yourself splendidly.’
‘You-did-that-on-purpose?’ she breathed.
‘Of course. And you passed with flying colours. Lorenzo tends to be emotional and impulsive. Your cool, northern efficiency will be good for him. My congratulations. You’ve gone the right way to earn my respect.’
‘And you’re going the right way to earn a chocolate mousse over your head,’ she threatened, not in the least appeased by these compliments. ‘You actually-you actually-?’
‘The lady has finished eating,’ Renato said to a waiter, hastily removing her plate with his own hands. ‘You may bring the coffee- No-’ He corrected himself on seeing the glint in Heather’s eyes. ‘Best leave the coffee until later.’
When they were alone again he turned to her. ‘Please don’t be angry. I promise you, the opinion I formed of you was entirely favourable.’
‘The opinion that I formed of you was far from favourable. The things you said to me-’
‘I wanted to see if you’d respond to my money-’
‘If I was a fortune-hunter!’ she snapped.
‘The choice of words is yours, but the meaning is the same.’
Heather prided herself on her practical common sense, but this man annoyed her enough to make her toss it aside and take risks instead. The next words seemed to come out of their own accord.
‘You’d have looked silly if I’d said yes, wouldn’t you?’ she said coolly.
‘Why? Are you saying that you wouldn’t have delivered? I doubt it. I think you’re a woman of your word. If you’d promised to sleep with me, you’d have slept with me. We’d have enjoyed a mutually pleasurable experience-’
‘Oh, really?’
‘I promise you it would have been.’
‘Perhaps you’d like to give me signed testimonials from Elena and all th
e other fictitious ladies.’
‘They’re real enough, and I think they’d vouch for me-although not, perhaps, under these circumstances-’
‘At the price you offer I should hope they’d vouch for you under all circumstances. Otherwise they wouldn’t be giving what you pay them for, would they?’
That flicked him on the raw, she was glad to notice. His eyes glittered with a strange, dark light. ‘Perhaps I’ve only myself to blame if you sharpen your claws on me,’ he said after a moment. ‘Let it be. I made you a genuine offer-’
‘And never mind what it did to Lorenzo.’
‘If you’d accepted I’d have been doing him a favour, and he’d have seen that.’
‘People always see things your way, do they?’
‘With time and persuasion.’
She regarded him wryly. ‘Does that mean that, given time and persuasion, you think you could have seduced me?’
He was suddenly alert. ‘I don’t know,’ he said slowly. ‘I simply don’t know.’
It was like playing chess, she found, and suddenly very thrilling. Shrewdly she moved her queen into the centre of the board, inviting attack. ‘Perhaps you just didn’t raise the price high enough,’ she murmured.
‘What are you saying?’
‘Don’t you know that a woman who seems honest can charge twice as much as her more blatant sisters?’
‘Oh, yes,’ he said softly. ‘I know that. What now?’
‘Come a little nearer, and I’ll tell you.’
Slowly he moved his head closer to her. Heather leaned forward until her hair lightly brushed his face, and her breath fanned his cheek.
‘I wouldn’t want you if you were the last man on earth,’ she whispered. ‘Go and jump in the river, and take your money with you!’
He turned his head so that his eyes looked directly into hers. They were hard with astonishment, cold, appraising. ‘You are a very unexpected lady,’ he said. ‘And a very brave one.’
‘I don’t need to be brave. You can’t harm me because you have nothing that I want.’
‘Except that I hold your marriage to Lorenzo in my hands. I’m particular about who I take into my family-’
