was happening to him?
‘I’ll be back Tuesday,’ he said, getting to his feet then leaning over to capture her lips.
He’d told her yesterday morning that he needed to go to America on business. He hadn’t specified which American continent and she hadn’t asked. She had no idea he was travelling to Brazil.
It would be the first time they’d been parted since he’d rescued her from those thugs on Nutmeg Island.
Her arm looped around his neck and she kissed him back, her teeth razing gently along his bottom lips when she pulled away, still holding him, and gazed into his eyes.
‘When you get home...’ She swallowed, colour flooding her cheeks. ‘We can enjoy trying again to make a baby.’
How could she be like this around him? How could she even bear to look at him?
He took a deep breath and gave her one final, lingering kiss.
He prayed it wouldn’t be their last.
As he got into his waiting car an hour later, he knew he would have to come to a decision soon. Tomorrow he would meet Carlos in Brazil. If Gabriele played his cards right, the original documents would be handed over. If he could meet Carlos’s price, he should be able to persuade him to testify in person.
If everything went as he hoped, Ignazio would be arrested within days.
And he would lose Elena.
* * *
Elena got out of the test car and pulled the helmet off her head, unable to wipe the beam from her face.
That had to count as one of the best experiences of her life.
Monty, the official test driver, had called her that morning to say he had an unexpected free window and the test car was available for her to take out on the track. She hadn’t needed asking twice. She’d jumped straight into the small Mantegna sports car Gabriele had given her the keys to before he’d left, and only just kept within the speed limit in her rush to Mantegna HQ.
Monty had driven the first couple of laps, explaining all the pertinent information before letting her loose. After a cautious first lap, she had put her foot down, the speedometer reaching one hundred and ten miles an hour before she’d lost her nerve and slowed it to a more reasonable ninety.
It had been an amazing experience.
What had made it extra special was knowing she had enjoyed it for herself; not as a means of proving a point to the men of the world—specifically her father and brothers—but for the sheer exhilaration.
Finally she understood what Gabriele meant about her having desires that were specific to her and not her gender. She was a woman learning to embrace the feminine side of her nature but also learning that the feminine side didn’t exclude the traditionally masculine pursuits she enjoyed.
She suspected she would have enjoyed punching her brothers when she’d been a child even if she’d been dressed in pretty pink dresses and had her hair tied in neat little plaits.
Gabriele had done this for her. He’d opened her eyes and forced her to see and accept who she really was: a flesh and blood woman.
Knowing he was mid-air, flying back to Florence, she hadn’t bothered calling to tell him she would be testing the car. He’d told her to expect him home late afternoon so she would tell him about it then. And tell him she’d decided to resign from her job. That was something that had solidified in her mind over the past couple of days, when Gabriele’s absence had given her time to really think.
She’d missed him so much it scared her. It was like a great hollow ache in her entire being.
She knew the day would soon come when she would have to live with missing him permanently. They had no future. They never would.
However her feelings had developed, she still had Ricci blood running through her veins.
But something had passed between them the night of their party; changed them fundamentally. Whether it was enough...
Enough for what though? For a life together? A real life?
After Monty had put the boiler outfits they’d been wearing away, they headed back to the car park.
About to walk through the double doors, Elena did a double take at a car parked at the front and the driver leaning against its door smoking a cigarette.
‘Is Gabriele here?’ she asked the receptionist when she’d got inside the main building.
‘He arrived an hour ago,’ the receptionist said, recognising her. ‘He’s in his office.’
‘Thanks.’ Checking her phone for any missed calls or messages, of which there were none from Gabriele, she climbed the stairs.
What was he doing here? When she’d spoken to him last night he hadn’t mentioned anything about coming back early.
Excited to see him, Elena hurried her pace, heading in the direction she recalled his office being in.
Taking a left at the top of the stairs on the third floor, she passed a skinny man in a garish silver suit. Thinking he looked familiar but unable to place where from, she arrived at Gabriele’s office door.
She knocked, not wanting to presume too much and barge in without invitation.
The door was opened by Anna Maria, whose eyes widened to see her.
From behind the desk, visible from her vantage point at the threshold, Gabriele shot to his feet.
‘Elena? What are you doing here?’ he asked hoarsely.
They were both clearly shocked to see her. No, make that horrified. They looked like a couple of children caught in the act of stealing.
Anna Maria appeared frozen, making no attempt to get out of her way. Elena pushed past her and strode to the desk.
‘What’s going on?’ she demanded, half expecting to see discarded underwear on the floor.
‘Nothing.’ A sheath of papers was strewn over the desk, which he was gathering together. ‘I wasn’t expecting you.’
‘I’ve been on the test drive you suggested Monty take me on.’ As she spoke, she tried to see what was on the papers. Whatever they were, Gabriele didn’t want her to see them, not if the way he was rushing to file them away was anything to judge by.
Something icy cold snaked up her spine.
That man in the corridor...
She snatched the papers from Gabriele’s hand.
‘Elena—’
He tried to take them back but it was too late.
She only needed a quick scan for her eyes to swim and her brain to fill with cold fog.
That man. She knew who he was.
