The Italian's Ruthless Seduction

She had to leave Lake Como, of course. And as soon as possible. She would ring Luigi and organise for him to pick her up first thing in the morning. Thank God she’d kept his business card. And thank God she hadn’t said anything to Sergio about the movie offer. This way, she had the perfect excuse to fly to New York ASAP. It was a pity that she couldn’t exit the villa before Sergio arrived home but that would be too odd. Facing him, however, knowing what she now knew, seemed an almost insurmountable hurdle. But Bella was used to facing insurmountable hurdles. You didn’t get to be a Broadway star without developing a lot of character, not to mention a hide as thick as an elephant.

Bella hoped she was as good an actress as Charlie kept telling her she was, because she was going to need all her acting skills in the coming hours. In a perverse kind of way she would almost enjoy telling Sergio that she had to leave tomorrow. He might not love her but he sure as hell enjoyed making love to her.

Though of course it wasn’t making love, was it? It was just sex. Jeremy had accused him of being sexually obsessed with her. Another depressing thought. Still, it wasn’t the first time a man had become sexually obsessed with her. In the past, such obsessions had quickly waned, once they’d discovered she was a bore in bed. This time, however, she’d been anything but boring in bed. She’d responded and behaved like the woman of the world Sergio obviously believed she was; the bed partner of many bad-boy lovers who was prepared to do anything and everything in pursuit of physical pleasure.

Maybe he didn’t believe she was promiscuous any more—surely he’d gleaned something of her true character by now—but the truth was he had thought exactly that in the beginning. But he’d still seduced her, oh, so cleverly, had still had her every which way a man could have a woman, had still tied her to his bed and done things that didn’t bear thinking about. And all the while he’d been planning to marry another woman and keep her on the side as, yes...his mistress.

So much for your silly dreams, Bella. So much for love.

Suddenly, she could not wait for Sergio to get home. Couldn’t wait to tell him that she was leaving the next day. Couldn’t wait to pretend that it was of no concern to her. They were just ships passing in the night. Just friends with benefits. And when he suggested coming over to visit her—and he would, she just knew he would—she would tell him very casually that it would be best if they called it a day.

It’s been a lovely interlude, Sergio darling, she could hear herself say. But now I have to get back to my real life. I’m sure you understand.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

SERGIO WASN’T AT all prepared for Bella’s announcement later that night that she had to fly to New York the following day. He stared at her with sinking spirits as she explained that she’d accepted the lead role in a movie version of An Angel in New York, and had been summoned to the producers’ table ASAP. He struggled to find the words to congratulate her, knowing immediately that all his plans to make Bella his wife had just been seriously derailed.

The evening—which so far had been quite good fun—suddenly lost all its lustre.

‘Well, that’s wonderful!’ Jeremy exclaimed with hearty enthusiasm. ‘Isn’t that wonderful, Sergio?’

It was no use. He simply could not pretend to be happy for her when he wasn’t.

‘I thought you didn’t want to go into the movies,’ he said grumpily.

‘I never actually said that. And this isn’t any old movie. I would never turn down an opportunity to make An Angel in New York.’

‘Fair enough. But why do you have to rush off like this? Surely you can stay another week or two. Tell the powers that be that you’re still suffering from a serious case of burnout and need some more time off.’

‘But that would be a lie, Sergio darling. The last couple of weeks I’ve spent here have worked wonders. I’m sleeping like a log every night and have more energy than I know what to do with, so I have no legitimate excuse not to get back to work. Trust me when I say when an excellent opportunity like this comes along, you don’t make waves. If a top agent like Josh says jump, you say how high.’

Sergio just stared at her, unable to find the right words. Never in his life had he experienced such confusion. He’d always known what to say when things got tricky, or sticky. Always had a clear head under pressure.

Bella’s imminent departure, however, had thrown him for six.