An Invitation to Sin

‘Love?’ The director started to laugh. ‘You expect us to believe that nonsense? Today it’s Luca Corretti—who will it be tomorrow?’ Perhaps if he hadn’t sounded so contemptuous, she wouldn’t have said it but she was so upset at his implication that she was unlovable, the words fell out of her mouth.

‘It won’t be anyone tomorrow,’ Taylor heard herself say, ‘because I’m in love with Luca and he’s in love with me. We’re getting married.’ People used her all the time. Why shouldn’t she use someone else for a change? And since this was all Luca’s fault, he was the lucky candidate. ‘We didn’t want to say anything on Saturday and draw attention away from the bride and bridegroom.’ She couldn’t for the life of her remember their names. ‘We were trying to be unselfish which is why we sneaked a quiet few minutes together.’ For a few seconds she had the satisfaction of seeing the pair of them silenced. She held her breath, knowing that they were never going to believe her. Never.

Santo was the first to break the silence. ‘If my cousin were engaged, I would have heard.’

‘It’s a secret.’ So much of a secret that even Luca didn’t know about it. Her insides clenched as she realised the enormity of what she’d done. ‘No one knew but us. And because we’re keeping it a secret, obviously we had to be discreet.’ She snapped her mouth shut before she could trip over her own tangle of lies. ‘And now I’d be grateful if neither of you would mention it again. As far as the media is concerned, I’m single. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?’

The director let out a stream of profanities and raised the palms of his hands. ‘I can’t work with this. If you want me on this project, I demand another actress.’

Santo stood in silence, a frown on his brow.

Taylor felt sick. So that was it. It was all over. She was just about to slide back into her car and hide her humiliation behind tinted glass when Santo spoke.

‘Taylor stays on this project.’

The director’s eyes narrowed. ‘If she stays, I go.’

‘Then go.’ With a total absence of sympathy, Santo nodded his head at Taylor. ‘We’ll talk to the press and then get on with the job we’re here to do.’

‘You just fired the director.’ Stunned by his unexpected support, Taylor could hardly speak. ‘And yesterday you told me to be discreet and not say anything to the press.’

‘That was when I thought you were likely to stir up a scandal. Taylor Carmichael engaged to Luca Corretti isn’t scandal, it’s news. It will stop the media focusing on your past and it will shift attention away from my family’s wedding fiasco. Don’t look so shocked—’ he placed the flat of his hand on her bag and guided her towards the press pack ‘—you’ve finally done something right. Relax, you still have a job.’

There were only two thoughts in her head. The first was that when Santo found out the truth, he’d fire her anyway, and the second was that Luca Corretti was going to kill her.

CHAPTER THREE

‘I’VE BEEN CALLED before the board, no doubt to answer for my sins. This promises to be a gripping meeting, Jeannie, the general tone of which will be that I’m a very bad boy who can’t possibly be trusted with the company even though my brother has just very inconveniently gone AWOL and another of my disgruntled cousins is trying to take over our flagship hotel.’ Hiding his bitterness beneath layers of boredom, Luca leaned back and put his feet on his desk, earning himself a reproving look from his long-suffering PA.

‘You could try not to be so shocking all the time.’

‘Where would be the fun in that?’

‘I’m just saying it might help if you were more…’ She hesitated and he lifted an eyebrow to prompt her.

‘More?’

‘More conventional.’

‘Conventional?’ Just saying the word made Luca shudder. ‘In the fashion business that word is death. And talking of death, whose idea was it to put lilies in my office? Get rid of them. They remind me of funerals.’

She put a strong cup of coffee in front of him and glanced at the extravagant display of fresh flowers that dominated the centre of the table he used for internal meetings. ‘I’ll have them changed. Gianni is having a meltdown. He wants to know if you’ve approved the location for the fashion shoot? The agency is driving him mad. He wanted me to remind you the theme is nautical, using unexpected twists on classic elements.’

Luca rolled his eyes. ‘Roughly translated from designer-speak to normal language, that means the sea, yes?’