She moistened her lips with a nervous dart of her tongue. ‘I’m not afraid of anything.’
‘You’re afraid of being out of control,’ he said. ‘I make you feel out of control, don’t I, Bella? I’m not like all those simpering boyfriends you surround yourself with. You can control them, but you can’t control me. You can’t even control yourself when you’re with me. It scares you that I have so much power over you.’
She gave him a glittering glare. ‘You don’t have any power over me.’
He arched a brow as he trailed a finger over her bottom lip. ‘Don’t I?’ he asked.
Her lip trembled under his touch before she wrenched herself out of his reach. ‘You want to wreck my life, don’t you?’ she asked, eyes flashing. ‘You want to cause trouble for me because you’ve always resented me for being born to wealth while you were born to nothing. You think by dragging me down to your level it will somehow even the score. Well, it won’t. You will always be a reject who landed on his feet.’
Her taunting words rang in the silence.
‘Feel better now you’ve got that off your chest?’ Edoardo asked.
She put up her chin, her brown eyes still glittering with defiance. ‘I’m leaving,’ she said. ‘I’m not staying another minute here with you.’
‘Good luck with that,’ he said. ‘It’s been snowing like a blizzard for the last hour. You won’t get as far as the end of the driveway.’
‘We’ll see about that,’ she said and flounced out.
* * *
‘Damn it.’ Bella slammed her hands on the steering wheel in frustration. She had been so determined to prove Edoardo wrong. And she had almost done it, too. She had got further than the end of the driveway. She had made it to the road before her car had slipped sideways and become bogged up to the windows in a snowdrift. But now she was out of sight of the manor and, with the snow blocking the road for as far as she could see in either direction, she could be stuck here for hours. It was freezing cold in spite of the heater in her car. She knew she couldn’t leave the engine running for too long without flattening the battery. She could call for roadside help, which might take hours to get here. Or she could call Edoardo.
She rummaged for her mobile in her bag on the seat beside her. She held it in her hand, looking at the screen for a long moment where she had pulled up Edoardo’s number. As much as it pained her to admit defeat, she pressed the call button.
‘Do you want me to come get you?’ he asked without preamble.
Bella silently ground her teeth. ‘If it’s not too much trouble.’
‘Stay in the car.’
She glanced at the wall of snow that had fallen against both of her doors. ‘I can’t get out even if I wanted to,’ she said.
While she was waiting for Edoardo to come, her phone rang. Bella glanced at the caller ID and suppressed a groan. Her mother only ever called her when she wanted something, usually money. ‘Mum,’ she said. ‘How are things?’
‘Bella, I need to talk to you,’ Claudia said. ‘I’m in a bit of a fix financially. Have you got a moment to talk?’
Bella looked at the snow-covered landscape surrounding her little capsule of a car. ‘All the time in the world,’ she said with a jaded sigh. ‘How much do you need?’
‘Just a few thousand to tide me over,’ Claudia said. ‘I’ve decided to leave José. Things haven’t been working out. I’m in London for a few days. I thought it’d be nice if we spent some time together—hang out a bit, you know? Go shopping, do girly things.’
‘I’m not in London right now,’ Bella said.
‘Where are you?’
‘I’m...um, out of town.’
‘Where out of town?’ Claudia asked.
Bella drew in a little breath and carefully released it. Would it hurt to tell her mother where she was? Maybe if she were a little more open with her, Claudia would start acting more like a mother towards her. She longed to have someone to talk to who would understand. She was tired of feeling so isolated and alone. ‘I’m at Haverton Manor.’
‘With...with Edoardo?’
‘Yes... Well, not with him as such,’ Bella said. ‘I hardly see him. He does his thing. I do mine. He’s—’
‘I suppose he’s told you a heap of lies about me, has he?’ Claudia said. ‘Your father was a sentimental fool to let him take control of your affairs. How do you know if he’s ripping you off or not? He could be selling off your assets behind your back and you wouldn’t know a thing about it.’