He didn’t answer for several rings, by which time Bella’s heart was racing.
‘Bella!’ he said at last, anxiety in his voice. ‘What is it? What’s happened?’
‘Nothing’s happened,’ she reassured him. ‘Nothing bad, that is. I went into the village to buy a few things and when I was there, I had this idea I thought might be helpful for the business. I would have rung you then and there but I didn’t have my phone with me. Anyway, I got so excited that I practically ran home so that I could call you ASAP. I haven’t rung you at a bad time, have I? You sound stressed.’
‘If you’d seen our sales figures you’d be stressed too. You’re going to have to be a miracle worker, my darling, to turn them around. But I’m all ears.’
Bella was so taken aback by his calling her his darling that she was speechless for a few seconds. Not that he’d meant anything serious by it. But it had thrilled her all the same. Thrilled her to pieces. The possibility that she was falling in love with him worried the life out of her. Not that Sergio wasn’t a man worth falling in love with. He was, his concern for his employees very touching. His spirit was generous, not greedy. Caring, not selfish. As Luigi had said, he was a good man.
But if she did fall in love with him, there was no use fantasising that he might fall in love with her in return. That would be too good to be true. It wasn’t going to happen. Sergio would never let himself fall in love with the daughter of the woman who’d ruined his father’s life. The truth was he fancied her for the reason men always fancied her. Because they found her beautiful and sexy-looking. Love had nothing to do with his feelings for her.
Best you concentrate on just being his friend with benefits, that sensible inner voice warned her. Because to start hoping for more is the way to a broken heart.
‘Bella?’ Sergio prompted. ‘Are you still there?’
‘Yes, yes. Still here. Just assembling my thoughts.’ And trying to be sensible.
‘Is this idea of yours complicated?’
‘Not really. Just hard to put into words.’
‘What’s the basic thrust of it? Try to use as few words as possible.’
‘Well, the bottom line is your products are too cheap.’
‘Too cheap! Are you mad? We can’t compete, price-wise, as it is.’
‘Then don’t. You’re on a losing battle to nothing trying to compete with imports from countries that can make things for a fraction of what you can. You should do what Italy does best, Sergio. Produce stylish, super-quality products for which you can charge a premium. People will pay over and above for true quality. Trust me. I know. I’m one of them.’
Sergio was silent for a long moment before he answered. ‘Yes, I see what you’re getting at,’ he said slowly. ‘My God, Bella, I think you’re right. We should be putting our prices up, not down. What a clever girl you are!’
‘But only if you lift the quality,’ Bella pointed out, glad Sergio couldn’t see how her heart had squeezed tight at his compliment. ‘You might also have to rebrand and advertise extensively. People need to look at your products with new eyes.’
‘Sounds good but that’ll take a lot of money, Bella. Money and time.’
‘Well, you have plenty of both, don’t you, Sergio? It’s not as though you have anything else to do.’
His laugh struck an odd note to Bella’s ears. ‘I dare say you’re right again,’ he said. ‘I don’t have anything important on my agenda in the near future, other than flying over to New York occasionally to see a certain person.’
‘Oh? And who might that be?’ she asked playfully. Yes, this was the way to handle things. No point in putting your heart on your sleeve.
‘A very beautiful lady with a very brilliant mind.’
Bella couldn’t help flushing with pleasure. And feeling exasperated with herself at the same time. ‘You don’t have to flatter me, Sergio,’ she said a bit tartly. ‘I’m a sure thing.’
‘Now that, my darling Bella, is something you’ll never be. Look, I’d better get off this phone and have a chat with some of the designers. See what they can do about creating a new top-of-the-range line of shoes and handbags. I suspect they’ll be quite excited.’
‘That’s excellent. Before you go, Sergio, could you bring home some samples of your shoes and handbags so that I can have a look at them and compare them with what I buy?’ In truth, she was genuinely curious. And very keen to help.