‘What star sign would the tenth of June be?’ Evelyn had given up trying not to hope—she had a blood test in a couple of days that would determine her fate, and was frantically working out dates.
‘Gemini.’ Emma smiled, then put her head down and got on with her work.
‘What are Geminis like?’ Evelyn pushed, and Emma hesitated. She’d seen Evelyn’s devastation once and was dreading it happening again, yet was trying not to show it.
‘Charming, happy, witty,’ Emma said, wishing Evelyn wouldn’t get her hopes up so, but, then, who could blame her? It was, of course, all Evelyn could think about, all that was on her mind, no matter how she tried to get on with her day.
Emma could empathise with that.
‘I know I’m going over the top…’ Evelyn stood up to join Luca for his two p.m. meeting and glancing over and seeing Emma’s worried face, misconstrued it. ‘I think sometimes you just know—I feel different this time, I just know that I’m pregnant.’
For Evelyn’s sake, Emma prayed she was right.
For her own sake, she was frantically hoping that Evelyn was wrong because she was feeling different too. She pushed the thought firmly out of her mind and forced herself to concentrate on her busy afternoon.
* * *
Emma could hardly believe the variations in her workload. One minute she was arranging seven-star hotels in Dubai, the next she was dealing with a hysterical housekeeper on the phone and a dog that was convulsing.
Just another day behind the scenes of Luca D’Amato’s busy life.
Evelyn was with him in a meeting, so she texted her rather than rang.
There’s a problem with Pepper.
Housekeeper has to leave soon.
Vet on way.
She hit ‘send’—knew what the reply would be and wearily picked up her bag and summoned a driver to take her straight to Luca’s.
Somehow she hadn’t been to his apartment since that day—since their first kiss.
Stepping inside, it was hard to recall her innocence, her naivety—that she had thought that she could handle things, could somehow deal with the force of his charm and his hot-and-cold affection and come out unscathed.
* * *
‘The vet’s coming!’ Rita, his housekeeper, was in tears as she bent over the little dog. ‘He’s just a few minutes away. I have to get to school to pick up the children.’
Pepper was a sad sight, lying on the floor in obvious distress but snapping and snarling if anyone approached.
‘You go,’ Emma said. ‘I’ll wait for the vet.’
‘Luca will be devastated,’ Rita sobbed. ‘He loves that little dog.’
‘Really?’ Emma couldn’t keep the note of surprise from her voice. ‘He’s hardly ever here to see him.’
‘But he liked to come home to him,’ Rita said, emotion countering discretion. ‘Oh, poor Pepper. I could never understand Martha just leaving him behind…’
Emma hated this.
Left alone with Pepper, she hated this.
These glimpses into Luca were killing her.
Working with him was bad enough, travelling with him too, but she could almost deal with business, only this job involved his personal life too…
Being in his home—amongst his things—sitting trying to comfort a little snapping, snarling, terrified dog that had belonged to a woman he had once loved, was more than she could take, more than she could bear…
‘Where’s the damn vet?’
She hadn’t been counting on Luca arriving, she had never thought he would dash out of an important meeting for a little dog he didn’t seem to particularly like.
‘He’s two minutes away—he just rang.’
He knelt down beside the little dog, his face grim and his voice not particularly tender.
‘You’re fine,’ he said to Pepper in a gruff voice, and then glanced up at Emma. ‘If I start being all nice he’ll realise…’ He put his hand out to the dog who bared his teeth and Luca ignored it, just stroked the little thing, and Emma watched as finally Pepper relaxed. ‘You know you like it really, you know you won’t bite me,’ Luca said, and then, when the intercom buzzed, he addressed Emma.
‘Can you let the vet in on your way out?’
‘I don’t mind staying.’
‘There’s no need.’
He was stroking the little dog with both hands now, soothing it and calming it and now saying nice things. She just didn’t get him—never, ever would she get him!
‘Should you ring Martha?’ she asked and watched him freeze for a moment.
‘She left him,’ he snapped. ‘It’s not her dog any more.’
‘Why did you two break up?’ she asked curiously. Now maybe wasn’t the right time for this discussion, but it was the only window she had, the only possible time to ask the question she had for so long wondered about.