or a nail file, causing several thousand euros worth of damage. It was not my brother-in-law’s, as you thought, but mine. I expect you to pay for it.’
Ally swallowed convulsively. ‘Um… look… I think you’ve got the wrong person. I’m not who you think I—’
He stepped closer, almost touching her in the small space of the tawdry kitchen. ‘Do you realise I can have you sent to prison for this alone, not to mention the issue of the money you stole?’ he asked in a biting tone.
Ally blinked at him. The money? What money? What did he mean…? She felt her insides turn to liquid as she suddenly remembered.
The money currently in her handbag.
Her knees began to knock together slightly. She dragged in a breath that felt as if it had a bramble attached as the scorch of his accusing gaze held her fast. ‘I didn’t do it,’ she said, her head spinning at his closeness. ‘I—I didn’t deface your car, and I… I don’t know anything about any money.’
He let out a vicious swear word in his mother tongue. Even though Ally only knew a few phrases of Italian she knew it was an expletive just by the sheer force of its delivery. ‘You think I do not have proof?’ he barked at her savagely.
Ally wanted to tell him who she really was, but knew if she did so he might press charges on Alex, in spite of her fragile mental state. He certainly looked angry and ruthless enough to do so, and until she knew what Alex was being accused of she had no choice but to continue with her artifice.
‘W-what sort of proof?’ she asked, backing away as far as the kitchen counter would allow, her spine feeling as if it was being sawn in half by the pressure of the counter digging into it from behind.
‘We will deal with the car issue first,’ he said in a flint-like tone. ‘You were photographed by a passerby on a camera phone.’ He reached inside his jacket pocket, took out a slim envelope and handed it to her.
Ally took it with fingers that felt as if the bones and ligaments had been taken out, making the task of opening the envelope almost impossible without betraying her trepidation. But somehow she finally managed to take out the three shots of her twin, which clearly showed her gouging the shiny red paintwork of a top-model Ferrari with what seemed to be a key. Ally had no idea what had made her sister act in such a destructive way, but if the look on her face was any indication Alex had been totally out of control, with a rage so intense her eyes looked wild and her whole demeanour dangerous.
If only Ally knew what had been going on! What had caused her sister to fall apart emotionally? Alex had had numerous break-ups with boyfriends in the past, and while each one had upset her it had never been on this sort of scale. Why had this one caused such a reaction?
‘Are you still going to stand there and deny it was you?’ he asked.
Ally let out a scratchy sigh and put the photos back inside the envelope. She handed them to him. ‘There doesn’t seem much point, does there?’ she said, mentally resigning herself to the task of maintaining the charade a little longer.
He put the envelope back inside his jacket pocket, still holding her gaze. ‘Now,’ he said, ‘we come to the issue of the money.’
Ally disguised a lumpy swallow. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
His eyes were like black diamonds as they tethered hers. ‘Three days ago Rocco was in possession of a large sum of company funds which he was intending to take to the bank. He told me you intercepted him, and that rather than cause a scene on the street he agreed to talk to you in the privacy of a nearby hotel room. After spending a short period of time with him you disappeared—along with the money.’
Ally felt her stomach drop in alarm. ‘I’m not sure why that necessarily means I am responsible,’ she said, pushing her chin up defiantly. ‘Anyone could have taken it. Rocco included.’
His top lip lifted in an arc of derision. ‘Rocco might not be my favourite brother-in-law, but he is a valuable asset to my investment company. I employed him because of his financial acuity. I have never had a moment’s doubt about his professionalism. If he says you stole the money I have no reason not to believe him.’
Ally had to think on her feet, and fast. The money was burning a hole in her handbag and he had only to insist on searching the flat to find it. Her sister would not escape the heavy hand of the law—especially as she was to all intents and purposes a visitor to the country. A theft on that scale would not be overlooked. Certainly not if Vittorio Vassallo had his arrogant way about it.
‘It’s his word against mine,’ she said, throwing him a challenging glare. ‘If you go public about this I’ll give my own interview to the press on how your brother-in-law seduced me. I’m sure that will go down a treat with all your high-flying investors.’
Anger exploded in his dark gaze. ‘You conniving little bitch,’ he ground out. ‘That’s exactly the sort of thing you would do—which is why I am here to do everything in my power to stop you.’
Ally straightened her spine, even though her legs beneath it wobbled alarmingly. ‘You don’t scare me, Mr Vassallo.’
His eyes glittered dangerously. ‘Give me time, Mrs Sharpe,’ he drawled. ‘Just give me time.’
The ensuing silence was so tense the air crackled with it.
Ally stood as still as her trembling body would allow. There was a roaring in her ears, a sinking feeling in her stomach, and a tight band of tension around her forehead at the thought of taking Vittorio Vassallo on in a battle she couldn’t possibly hope to win.
She was outclassed.
She was out of her depth.
She was a fraud…
‘Rocco informed me you left your job in London to follow him here. Is that correct?’ he asked.
Ally tried not to fidget under his piercing scrutiny. ‘Er… yes.’
‘So you are currently unemployed. Is that also correct?’ he asked.
‘That is correct,’ she lied, her conscience not even niggling her this time. Why should it? she thought. She was on leave for the next two weeks, so technically she wasn’t working.
‘I have a proposition for you,’ he said into the ringing silence.
Ally lifted her chin to a pugnacious height. ‘Oh, really?’
‘My brother-in-law has been a stupid fool where you have been concerned, but he would perhaps not have succumbed to temptation if you had not pursued him so relentlessly,’ he said. ‘Can you imagine how my sister would feel to find out she has been usurped by a common little slut like you?’
Ally was incensed at his choice of words. ‘If your sister was being a proper wife to him perhaps he wouldn’t have strayed in the first place,’ she threw back.
A tiny hammer of tension began beating beneath the dark stubble on his jaw next to his mouth. His coal-black eyes blazed with simmering anger, making her stomach suddenly contract in fear.
‘You are like a bitch in heat,’ he snarled at her. ‘You will bed anyone, any time,
