Italian Boss, Proud Miss Prim

Katie didn’t speak up quickly enough and as she watched Antonia handing the racy garments to the assistant they were being wrapped up before she knew it.

She could have stopped this at any time, Katie admitted to herself, but the bare truth was, she didn’t want to stop it. She wanted to take the underwear back to her hotel where she could try it on with no one seeing her scars, and pretend.

To make matters worse, the assistant, having secured Katie’s purchases in fuchsia-pink tissue paper, was lowering them reverently into a pale pink carrier bag decorated with the logo of a naked woman seated in a champagne glass. ‘Very subtle,’ Katie commented wryly as the two girls left the shop. She loved the bag, but part of her wished the logo didn’t have to be on both sides.

Linking arms with her, Antonia gave Katie a squeeze. ‘We’re going to buy a few more things for you, and then I’m under strict instructions from Rigo to put you in a taxi back to your hotel—Oh, look,’ she broke off excitedly, ‘there he is now…’

Katie gasped to see Rigo coming out of a menswear shop across the street. He was just pushing his sunglasses back on his nose and spotted them right away. He came over. How could she hide the carrier bag?

He stood in front of them, making every part of her sing with awareness. But worst of all he was staring at the brazen proof that her latest purchase had not been a toothbrush.

‘I trust you girls found everything you needed in the shops?’ he said, straight-faced.

She could read the subtext and blushed violently. ‘Yes, thank you,’ she said, raising her head to meet his gaze. ‘And, as you can see, I’m carrying some of Antonia’s bags for her.’

Rigo’s amused stare called her a liar.

CHAPTER SIX

WHEN Rigo left them Katie and Antonia continued their shopping, but there was a frisson of understanding between them now. Neither girl commented on the change Rigo had made to their day, but they were aware of how profoundly he affected them, each in their own way. It brought them closer, though it took a little time when he’d gone to recapture the rhythm of easy friendship they had established. When they did Katie almost forgot to buy her toothbrush.

The fun of being with someone as non-judgemental and as warm as Antonia was so unexpected Katie threw herself into the expedition with enthusiasm, and by the time she returned to her small hotel room there were lots more packages. Antonia had shown Katie the best shopping in Rome—small boutiques hidden in side-streets around the Piazza Novona and Campo di Fiori, and other places that were well off the regular tourist beat, and when they both finally admitted defeat, they had more coffee and ice cream at a café on Via Acaia, where Katie thought the lemon cream or crema al limone and the scrunchy chocolate stracciatella were to die for. She insisted before they parted on buying Antonia a special little gift to say thank you to Rigo’s sister for being so kind to her.

It was obvious Antonia adored her brother. To hear Antonia talk you would think Rigo was a saint—but, as Antonia appeared to be the chief recipient of Rigo’s generosity, Antonia could hardly be called impartial.

Katie smiled, remembering Antonia’s pleasure when Katie bought her a small aqua leather-backed journal. To prove the point, Antonia had started scribbling in it right away, and when she secured the small gilt lock she had exclaimed, ‘Thank you so much for today, Katie…’

And when it was she who had everything to thank Antonia for…

Katie’s heart went out to the teenager, who on the face of it appeared to have everything a girl of Antonia’s age could possibly want, but she suspected all Antonia really wanted was a little of her brother’s time.

Time. That was what so many rich and successful people lacked, Katie mused, moving the faded curtain back to stare out of the window. They had none to spare when it came to those closest to them.

‘We are friends, aren’t we?’ Antonia had demanded fiercely when they parted. Whatever she thought of Antonia’s brother Katie had put to one side, promising Antonia they would be friends for ever.

After a rocky start it had been a good day, Katie reflected, turning back to look at her purchases spread out on the bed. Now her smile was one of disbelief. What on earth had possessed her? Antonia was the simple answer. Thanks to Rigo’s sister, it was goodbye brown, hello colour! And in the open-air market Katie had spotted a silk dress swinging on its hanger in the breeze. In a bright gypsy-rose print, it had long sleeves and a short, flirty skirt, and there was a sexy cut-out panel at the midriff—one of the few places where she could afford to show some skin. With the option of trying it on taken away from her, she hadn’t been able to resist. She had added a couple of tops and a shawl to her haul, as well as a pair of jeans—something she had never owned before.

‘And trainers,’ Antonia had insisted, determined that Katie should update her image. ‘For someone who is only twenty-five, you dress too old,’ she had commented with all the blunt assurance of a teenager.

And that was me told, Katie reflected, smiling as she left the bedroom to enter her small ensuite bathroom. She had treated herself to some foam bath too. It was a cheap way to turn even the most basic of bathrooms into a better place. And now there was nothing more for her to do but soak and dream until she felt like ringing downstairs for Room Service.

Bliss.

Now he remembered why it was so long since he had treated Antonia to dinner. Nothing was quite right for his teenage sister. Their table could have been better—it was too near the door. Their fellow diners were too stuffy—meaning most of them were over twenty-five and had brushed their hair before coming out. She sniffed everything that arrived at their table with suspicion as if three Michelin stars was no guarantee at all, and to top it off she ordered chips with ketchup on the side, leaving everything else on her plate.

But his worst crime, apparently, was abandoning Katie in Rome on her first night in the eternal city.

‘Katie?’

‘Signorina Bannister insisted I call her Katie,’ his sister informed him smugly as he raised a brow.

‘May I remind you that Signorina Bannister is on a business trip and will shortly be returning home? She was invited to join us tonight, but she refused. And that’s an end of it, Antonia.’

And might well have been, had he not felt his conscience prick.

His sister lost no time in turning that scratch into an open wound. ‘Do you know where she’s staying?’ Antonia demanded with her customary dramatic emphasis. ‘How can you leave Katie in a place like that? Can you imagine what the restaurant is like?’

Yes, he could, unfortunately.

And so the rant went on until he couldn’t face another mouthful. Laying down his cutlery, he demanded, ‘What do you suggest I do, Antonia?’

Antonia appeared to be studying the menu, and he imagined she was choosing a pudding until she exclaimed, ‘A picnic!’

Before he could stop her she called a waiter over.

‘Take it to Katie—deliver it,’ she begged him, clutching his wrist in her excitement as the waiter hurried away with the order.

‘Don’t be so ridiculous—’

‘You don’t even have to see her—’

‘I have no time for this nonsense, Antonia,’ he snapped impatiently, shaking her off.

‘You never have time,’ she flared. ‘Katie gave me a whole afternoon of her time, which is more than you ever do.’ Her voice was rising and people were staring at the small drama as it unfolded. ‘Why can’t you do something different, for once?’

‘I do something different every day, Antonia. It’s called business. It’s what keeps you in the style to which you’re accustomed.’

Thrustin

g back her chair, his sister took her performance to its ultimate conclusion: The Dramatic Exit. ‘Well, if you won’t take the picnic to Katie, I will,’ she declared, storming off.

They had the attention of the whole restaurant now. As Antonia stalked away he stood up, politely murmuring an apology to those people closest to him. They should be glad of the free entertainment, he concluded as strangers exchanged knowing looks.

He caught up with Antonia at the door. ‘Stop this, Antonia. You’re drawing attention to yourself—’

‘Oh, no!’ she gasped theatrically, clutching her chest.

‘I will not allow you to walk the streets of Rome alone at night—’

‘That’s why you must take the picnic to Katie.’

The waiter chose this moment to bring out the hamper—to a touching soundtrack of Antonia’s inconsolable sobs. ‘Have you no shame?’ Rigo murmured, realising this was a ploy Antonia had contrived to get her own way.

‘None,’ his sister whispered back triumphantly.

Pressing money into the man’s hand, he thanked him for his trouble. Then he escorted Antonia outside. Bringing out a handkerchief, he mopped her eyes. ‘Stop crying immediately,’ he insisted. ‘Acting or not, you know I cannot bear to see you cry. If you’re so concerned about Signorina Bannister’s diet, I will deliver this hamper. But not before I see you safely home.’

He thought his voice had been quite stern, but he could have sworn there was a smile on Antonia’s face as he helped her into the car.

Katie had put on her new dress, and after examining it from every angle in the full-length mirror had reassured herself that everything she might want to hide was hidden. It was the perfect dress for the perfect night out in Rome. Not that she was going anywhere, but there was no limit to her dream. In fact the dream was so real she had put her shawl and bag on the bed, as if all she had to do was snatch them up last minute before leaving the room.