by Miranda Lee
Bella groaned, any happiness this realisation brought—she much preferred love to lust—tempered by the reality that it was a one-sided love. Sergio did like her. And he desired her. Maybe, after today, he even admired her. But that wasn’t the same as love.
Frowning, Bella stood up and wandered out onto the balcony, wondering how she could get Sergio to fall in love with her. Despite being a confident girl where her career was concerned, she wasn’t at all confident when it came to men, her past relationships having battered her self-esteem in that regard. Also, there was still the problem of whose daughter she was. That could be a huge hurdle in Sergio’s mind. It was a dismaying thought.
* * *
In the end, Bella decided all she could do was love him to the best of her ability and hope he eventually reciprocated. She dismissed the idea of telling him she loved him. That would make her sound needy and clingy. A long-time bachelor like Sergio would not respond to a woman who was either needy or clingy. No, she would have to be patient.
Patience, however, was not one of her virtues. Neither was not getting what she wanted. Dolores had unfortunately passed along a degree of stubbornness to her daughter, plus a determination to win. Bella had never wanted to win a man before. In the past, it had all been about men trying to win her.
Bella was mulling over lots of various thoughts when her phone rang.
Her groan carried exasperation at the realisation that she hadn’t turned it off after talking to Sergio. She knew who it would be. Who else but her mother? Dolores didn’t have the patience to wait for someone to ring her back.
Bracing herself, Bella walked back into the bedroom and over to where she’d left the phone on the bedside table. Picking it up, she checked the caller ID then lifted it to her ear.
‘Hello, Mum,’ she said calmly. No point in getting herself in a twist. After all, she’d already decided earlier to give her mother a call.
‘At last she deigns to turn her damned phone on and answer me!’ came the snappy retort. ‘What on earth have you been thinking, girl? You have responsibilities. And a career. Or you did have one before you disappeared off the face of the earth without telling anyone where you were going. Do you know how many calls I have had complaining that they can’t get in touch with you?’
Bella smiled a rueful smile. Lord, but her mother was just so predictable. She wasn’t worried about her daughter’s physical safety. Just her career.
‘Actually no, I don’t,’ Bella replied with deliberate nonchalance. ‘How many?’
‘Too many to recount. Just go to your voicemail or your message bank and you’ll see for yourself. Josh is desperate to get in touch with you. And so is Charlie. I’m sure it’s about the Angel in New York movie. I did ask but they wouldn’t tell me.’
Thank heavens.
‘I’ll ring Josh as soon as I get off the phone to you,’ Bella offered. She could not deny being curious. Josh was never desperate. But if Charlie had been able to get that movie onto the drawing board again, then her manager would be very excited. And so would she. She loved that musical. Singing the song she wrote for it last night had reminded her just how much.
‘That’s more like it,’ Dolores said. ‘Go do it right now. But promise you will ring me back straight away and tell me what’s going on.’
‘Don’t you want to know where I am?’ Bella couldn’t resist asking.
‘Humph! No point in asking that when I know you won’t tell me.’
‘True. But I still expect you to ask.’
‘Do you know you’ve grown into a very frustrating woman?’
‘Takes one to know one, Mum. But at least you called me a woman this time, instead of a girl.’
A heavy sigh wafted down the line. ‘I don’t want to argue with you, Isabel,’ she said, always resorting to her daughter’s full name when she was severely irritated.
Bella relented with the teasing. ‘I don’t want to either, Mum.’
‘Good. Then get off this phone and ring Josh!’
Bella did as she was told for once and rang Josh, who informed her that he and Charlie had got together and decided to produce An Angel in New York independently with their own money, provided she starred in it. Naturally, she told him she would, but she also stood her ground and said she needed a holiday first. Thankfully, he didn’t argue with her, though he did make her promise to be back in New York by the first of August to help them with the casting and the costumes. She agreed, knowing that she couldn’t hide away here with Sergio for ever. Her dream holiday had to come to an end some time.
She hung up, feeling an odd mixture of excitement and apprehension. Part of her wanted to tell Sergio about the movie—she was thrilled that it was going ahead—but instinct warned her not to. She’d just made an important connection with him with her ideas for his family company and she didn’t want to spoil that by talking about her own career. In the short time she had left, Bella wanted to concentrate on him and his needs. It crossed her mind as she planned out the rest of her day that Sergio was as lonely as she was. He needed her as much as she needed him.
Hopefully, by the time she had to leave Lake Como for the flight back to New York, he would realise that. Hopefully, he would come after her the way he’d said he would. And even more hopefully, he would eventually fall in love with her.
‘And who’s being the cockeyed optimist now, Bella?’ she said to herself as she took a deep breath, then resignedly rang her mother back.
CHAPTER TWENTY
SERGIO RESISTED THE urge to speed on the drive home from Milan to Lake Como, despite his impatience to be with Bella. Not for sex. Sex was not his priority this evening. That could come later. First, he wanted to sit down with Bella over a meal and tell her everything that had happened at work once he’d started putting her truly brilliant idea into action. He’d sent her a brief text just before leaving the office, giving her his approximate time of arrival. But he doubted now that he’d make it by seven-thirty. The traffic was appalling. He’d stop and text her again, but that would only take precious time. A quick glance at his watch brought a sigh of relief. So did the turn-off to Lake Como. He wasn’t going to be too late, after all. Maybe just a few minutes...
* * *
At seven twenty-five Bella started looking out for Sergio, leaving the back doors open so that she would hear the crunch of his tyres on the driveway. By seven thirty-seven she started to worry. Italian drivers were a little on the hair-raising side, she knew. She toyed with the idea of sending him a text but decided against it. Too clingy and way too needy. But she couldn’t help pacing around the kitchen before unnecessarily stirring the Bolognese sauce one more time, her anxiety level rising with each passing minute. Just when she was about to explode with escalating tension, she heard the wonderful sounds of his car arriving.
With great difficulty she stopped herself from dashing outside and throwing herself into Sergio’s arms like a loving wife greeting her soldier husband home from a dangerous war.
‘Play it cool,’ she muttered under her breath as she forced herself to stay put in the kitchen.
Which she did, till he walked in with his arms full of shoe boxes and large plastic bags, his dark eyes glittering with happiness.
‘I was getting worried,’ she said before she could stop herself.
‘I would have texted you but that would have made me even later. Wow, something smells good,’ he added, dumping all his parcels on the large kitchen table and coming over to have a sniff of the very aromatic spaghetti sauce, which had been simmering for several hours. ‘Yours, or Maria’s?’ he asked as he lifted his head to smile at her.
‘All mine,’ she said. ‘One of Maria’s children has a cold so I sent her home.’
‘You’re a good woman,’ he said, turning to draw her into his arms. ‘And a brilliant one. That idea of yours was
sheer genius. So a thank-you kiss is definitely in order.’
Without waiting for her to reply Sergio kissed her. Hard. His mouth devouring hers for a delicious length of time, Bella quite breathless by the time his head lifted.
‘You are like one of Roberto’s pizzas,’ he growled. ‘One slice is never enough. But you are also like fine wine, my darling Bella. Even better if left uncorked for a while.’
She laughed, loving the way he kept calling her darling. ‘Thank you very much. I think...’
‘Speaking of fine wine, I recall Jeremy sent me a case of truly wonderful reds last Christmas. I’ll just pop down to the cellar and get us a couple of bottles to have with that incredible food you’ve made us.’
‘I still have to cook the spaghetti. Or would you prefer another form of pasta?’
‘Spaghetti will do fine. And there’s no rush. It will be nice to sit here with you and talk till it’s ready. I have so much to tell you. And show you.’
‘Yes, so I see,’ she said, nodding towards his mountain of parcels.
He shrugged. ‘Wasn’t sure which ones to bring. After all, I know next to nothing about female fashion accessories. Like I said, I like my women naked,’ he added with a devilish grin. ‘Back in a sec.’
She shook her head at him as he left. He really was a bit naughty. But extremely lovable. And very sexy. She was going to find it hard to keep her hands off him till he’d talked himself out. Still, Bella could not deny that she was curious over what his new plans were for the business. She was keen too to have a look at the various samples he’d brought home.
By the time Sergio returned with the two bottles of red, the spaghetti was on and Bella was looking at the shoes and handbags on the table.
‘Well, what do you think?’ he asked her as he opened both bottles.
‘I’m no expert,’ Bella said thoughtfully, ‘but they all look very good quality to me. Not cheap at all. The leather is lovely and soft on the shoes. And the handbags have timeless classical lines. They’re also not too big or too small. Same with the handles. Possibly you could improve the quality of the linings. The material is a bit thin. And the colour is not the best. Black linings are really annoying. I can never find anything in handbags with black linings.’
Sergio nodded. ‘I would never have thought of that.’
‘Why would you? You’re not a woman. Thank heavens,’ she added with a saucy look.
He laughed, then poured them both a glass of wine. ‘Now tell me what you think of this wine.’ And he handed her a glass.
‘Once again, I’m no expert,’ she said as she swirled the glass, sniffed the bouquet, then took a small swallow.
‘Yes, I can see that,’ he said with a dry laugh.
‘Come now, Sergio, a modern western woman is not going to reach the age of thirty without absorbing a little wine know-how. I can’t say red wine is my favourite tipple but this is exceptional. Goes down like silk.’
‘Jeremy only drinks the very best.’
‘Sounds like a bit of a snob.’
‘Oh, he is. But a nice one. You’ll know what I mean when you meet him.’
‘I can’t see that happening any time soon.’
They ate out on the terrace where Bella had already set the table complete with candles. By the time the food was gone and they started on the second bottle of wine, Bella had the full picture of what Sergio’s new plans were for Morelli’s shoes and handbags.
After hearing Bella’s ideas over the phone, he’d immediately called a meeting of all the managerial staff in those departments, right down to the factory floor, explaining to them that they weren’t going to try to compete with the cheap shoes and handbags being made in Asia any more. They were going up-market, lifting their quality and prices. He also wanted to introduce a very exclusive and more colourful designer range of shoes and bags—including luggage—which would have limited production but super-high prices.
The reaction he’d received was generally very positive, with only a few older members of staff clearly unhappy about the changes. Apparently, Sergio took these aside after the meeting and offered them all redundancy packages that were too generous to refuse. One of them was a distant cousin who his father had put in charge of the company after he fell ill.
‘I gave him a little extra,’ Sergio admitted. ‘He’d done the best he could but was too set in his ways to embrace new ideas.’
‘You did the right thing, Sergio,’ she reassured him, picking up the bottle of wine and refilling Sergio’s glass.
He lifted the glass to his lips and took a deep swallow, his eyes carrying a degree of regret. ‘I felt bad to begin with but I really had no alternative. It’s a case of sink or swim in this economic climate and Morelli’s was sinking. Which reminds me...’ Now his eyes brightened, as did Bella’s spirits. The last thing she’d wanted when she’d come up with her idea was to cause him trouble. ‘I’ve decided that the new designer range of shoes and bags will need a new brand name. I hope you don’t mind but I would like to call it Bella.’
‘Mind! Why would I mind? It’s got exactly the right ring to it.’ She threw him a flirtatious smile. ‘I think you might just be as brilliant as I am.’
His smile was wry. ‘I have a long way to go to catch up with you, my darling. I’m still amazed by that song you wrote. You know, I’ve never seen that particular show of yours but I’d love to. Are you planning on another season on Broadway any time soon? Maybe I could see it when I come visit you.’
She almost told him then. About the movie. But she didn’t. Which was just as well, as it turned out.
‘There’s no immediate plans for another season,’ she said instead.
‘Pity. Not that I need an excuse to visit you, mind.’ His eyes glittered with desire as they raked over her. ‘Have I told you how sexy you look in that dress?’
‘No,’ she said, her own desire flaring in an instant.
‘What say we leave this mess for Maria to clean up tomorrow and pop off to bed?’
Yes, please, her eyes must have told him.
‘Come on.’ He put down his wine, stood up and held out his hand.
‘Do you think I could sleep with you here the whole night,’ she asked breathlessly when he pulled her up the stairs and into the master bedroom.
‘If that’s what you want,’ he replied, turning her to face him.
‘It’s what I want. But is it what you want? Maria will think things when she finds my bed unslept in.’
‘Maria already thinks things, Bella. She’s an incorrigible romantic, like Claudia.’
‘It’s a common female trait.’
‘I thought you didn’t like to talk during sex,’ he said as he started on the buttons of her dress.
‘I never used to. But I’m different with you. You’re my friend as well as my lover.’
‘That’s sweet, Bella, but could we just concentrate on the lover part tonight? I’ve done enough talking for today.’
She might have said something more but he stopped with the buttons and kissed her till she didn’t want to talk either. When Sergio fell asleep an hour later with his arms tightly around her, Bella’s heart was full of love for him, and a small measure of hope. She liked it that Sergio wasn’t worried about what Maria thought any more.
That was cause for hope, wasn’t it?
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
‘I THINK THERE is something you should know,’ Maria said casually two weeks later as Bella walked into the kitchen after seeing Sergio off. She’d got into the habit of rising to have breakfast with him on weekdays, then walking with him to his car and kissing him goodbye like a good little girlfriend. Though of course she’d rather be his good little wife.
‘What’s that, Maria?’ Bella said a bit blankly, her mind still on Sergio.
&n
bsp; ‘Today. It is Sergio’s birthday.’
‘What? Oh, dear God, why didn’t you tell me this yesterday?’
‘I was not here yesterday. It was Sunday. Sergio gave me the day off.’
‘Sorry. So he did. But you could still have said something this morning. I didn’t hear you wishing him a happy birthday at breakfast.’
‘I did not wish to shame you.’
Bella knew Maria meant embarrassed. But Bella felt shamed as well. Because she should have remembered his birthday was due around now. They’d always celebrated it during their summer holiday here. Around three weeks after hers. Sergio was five years older. Which made him thirty-five today.
Bella groaned. ‘Now I feel terrible. I should have remembered.’
‘It is no big deal. Men, they do not care about birthdays once they are all grown up. But perhaps you could go buy him something today and I will make him a cake.’
‘Oh, would you? That would be lovely. And maybe you could cook him his favourite meal.’
‘Can no do. His favourite meal is Roberto’s pizzas.’
‘Then we will order him a couple of Roberto’s pizzas. They deliver, don’t they?’ She recalled Sergio ordering pizzas the first night she was here.
‘Sì.’
‘Wonderful. And whilst I’m in the village buying him a present, I’ll also get some of those decadent pastries he likes. What do you think, Maria?’
‘I think you love Sergio very much.’
Bella sighed heavily. ‘I do, Maria. I really do. But I’m not sure he loves me back.’
‘Oh, pah. Of course he loves you back. Sergio, he has always loved you. Ever since you were children.’
‘What?’ Bella just stared at Maria. ‘What do you mean?’
‘What you mean what I mean? It is clear, is it not?’
‘Not to me.’
Maria shrugged. ‘You are blind, like Sergio. He loves you, and soon he will see that. Then he will ask you to marry him.’
