The Italian's Ruthless Seduction

‘Then we will order him a couple of Roberto’s pizzas. They deliver, don’t they?’ She recalled Sergio ordering pizzas the first night she was here.

‘Sì.’

‘Wonderful. And whilst I’m in the village buying him a present, I’ll also get some of those decadent pastries he likes. What do you think, Maria?’

‘I think you love Sergio very much.’

Bella sighed heavily. ‘I do, Maria. I really do. But I’m not sure he loves me back.’

‘Oh, pah. Of course he loves you back. Sergio, he has always loved you. Ever since you were children.’

‘What?’ Bella just stared at Maria. ‘What do you mean?’

‘What you mean what I mean? It is clear, is it not?’

‘Not to me.’

Maria shrugged. ‘You are blind, like Sergio. He loves you, and soon he will see that. Then he will ask you to marry him.’

Bella could not have been more astonished. ‘You honestly think so?’

Maria looked offended. ‘I do not tell lies. Only the truth.’

‘Oh, Maria, I do so hope you’re right. I think I will die if he doesn’t love me back.’

Maria rolled her eyes. ‘And they say Italians women are drama queens.’

Bella laughed. ‘Oh, you are funny. Now I guess I’d better go get myself showered and dressed. I have work to do.’

By lunchtime a very happy Bella was back from the village with a lovely gift for Sergio, a not-too-mushy birthday card and far too many pastries. But they’d all looked so delicious she simply hadn’t been able to choose. She found Maria happily humming in the kitchen, the sponge layered cake already cooked but not yet filled and iced.

‘So what present did you buy?’ Maria asked her straight away.

‘A very expensive cologne.’ It was from Paris, of course. And was aptly named Seduction.

‘He will like that. Sergio is very fashionable these days.’

‘He certainly is.’

‘I am about to make some lunch. Would you like some?’

‘Yes, please.’

They ate their ham and tomato rolls out by the pool, washed down with freshly squeezed orange juice. The day was dry and hot, growing hotter by the second. Bella was contemplating spending the afternoon in the pool when her attention was grabbed by a water taxi pulling in at the small pier that jutted out next to their boatshed. A man alighted. A tall, elegantly built man wearing fawn cargo shorts, a bright purple polo and wraparound sunglasses. He had collar-length wavy brown hair, which glinted in the sunshine as he walked with long, confident strides towards them, an overnight bag swinging by his right side.

Bella did not recognise him in the slightest.

‘Maria, do you know who that man is?’

‘Sì. It is the English friend of Sergio. He stay here sometimes. His name is Jeremy. His last name is too long for me to remember.’

‘Good Lord. Jeremy!’ Bella exclaimed just as the man himself was close enough to hear her.

Once he reached the shade of the terrace he swept off his sunglasses and grinned rakishly at her. ‘Good Lord,’ he said, a speculative glint in his sparkling blue eyes. ‘Bella!’

Bella was not surprised that he recognised her. Her face was well known. She also presumed he knew she and Sergio had once been stepbrother and sister. According to Sergio they’d been close friends since their early Oxford days.

‘And what are you doing here, might I ask?’ Jeremy went on in a voice that made a mockery of his pretty-boy image. It was deep and rich and very masculine. ‘Or is that a rude question? Have you and Sergio been conducting a secret affair that he never told me about?’

Bella tried not to blush, but failed.

‘Well, well, well,’ was all he said before pulling out a chair and turning a warm smile towards Maria. ‘Hello, Maria, darling. You’re looking well. How’s that big Italian brute treating you? I mean Carlo, not the birthday boy. Who is where, might I ask? Don’t tell me I’ve come all this way to surprise him and he’s not even home!’

Maria stood up, slightly a-fluster also. Bella could see why Jeremy was such a hit with the ladies. He was a charmer all right. And sinfully good-looking. But not her type at all.

‘Sergio, he has gone to work,’ Maria said coquettishly as she cleared the table. ‘In Milan. But he will be home this evening.’

‘Well, thank God for that.’

‘Would you like something to eat or drink, Mr Jeremy?’ Maria offered. ‘I am brewing some real coffee. We also have lots of pastries.’