once again Simonetta’s knowledge that she was irresistible to any man.
Now that she knew she could have Cam, she had instantly lost interest. ‘Ciao, darling,’ she breathed.
‘There’s a name for girls like you,’ Cam said, but he sounded more disappointed than angry. He knew he’d just been played by Simonetta. He watched her lithe form emerge dripping from the water, this time her hands covering her assets.
Simonetta turned and dropped him a slow, seductive wink. ‘There’s only one name for me. It’s Simonetta.’ One day, she thought to herself, you’ll see it everywhere. ‘And now, I’m going to bed.’ Grabbing her clothes, she slid off into the darkness.
‘Jesus!’ Cam exclaimed, then dived under the water. He needed a cooling off.
There had been no sign of the other two at breakfast. As Sapphire made her way down to the beach afterwards, she wondered briefly what had gone on last night after she left. An image of Cam’s torso, muscled and glistening with water, suddenly popped into her head, making Sapphire’s stomach lurch. Had he been with Simonetta last night? Or even both? Sapphire couldn’t help feeling a bit gutted; she’d gone to bed last night thinking about his sexy body and dark eyes.
Any thoughts of Cam were temporarily suspended when she saw the huge, gleaming-white yacht moored at the end of the jetty, the name Spirito Libero emblazoned across the side. As she approached, Brad was standing on the beach talking on his mobile. Sapphire waited until he was finished and then stepped forward hesitantly.
‘Happy birthday.’ She gave him the flower she’d plucked from the veranda outside her bedroom.
Brad looked surprised. ‘What’s this?’
Sapphire blushed. ‘It’s your birthday, isn’t it? I mean, the party’s tonight. I’m afraid I didn’t get you a card or anything, but I thought you might like the flower instead.’ She coughed, embarrassed. ‘I mean, even though it’s your flower anyway…’ She sighed. ‘Sorry, it was better in my head.’
Brad smiled back. ‘I’m really touched, thank you. My birthday was actually last week,’ he added. ‘But this was the only available space in my schedule.’
‘Oh,’ said Sapphire, blushing.
You are such an idiot, she told herself. Why can’t you just keep your mouth shut?
Behind them, they heard a loud shriek. Madison had got one ridiculously high heel stuck in the sand and had fallen over. Staff rushed from nowhere to help her. Brad and Sapphire looked at each other and started laughing.
‘I’ve got a feeling this is a birthday celebration I won’t forget,’ he said.
Simonetta lay still, enjoying the warm sun on her face. They had been on board for a few hours now, and already her dark skin was turning the colour of mahogany. She thought of how she’d left Cam last night and smiled to herself. Not many girls would turn down Cam Tyler – she could already see the cow eyes Madison and Sapphire were making at him. Silly little girls! Simonetta had much more important things on her mind. She wanted a way into Brad Masters’ inner circle and there was no way she was going to wreck her chances with a stupid holiday romance.
Her thoughts drifted to her mamma. What would she be doing now? Probably preparing yet another meal for her brothers and sisters in the narrow kitchen of their poky little house. Simonetta couldn’t understand why none of her siblings, who were all younger than her, had expressed any desire to leave their boring village in search of fame and fortune. Of course, none of them were as blessed as her looks-wise, but still. Her sister Vera had a big sweet habit and even bigger thighs, but you’d have thought she could get a job as a secretary or something.
Simonetta thought more about her mother. Mamma would have a heart attack if she could see her daughter now, perched atop a luxury yacht in a thong bikini. She had been ignoring her mother’s calls since she got to Capri, but she could imagine what the voice-mails would be.
‘Why are you such a bad girl, Simonetta? Why do you do this to me?’
Her mother had always been harder on her than her brothers and sisters and Simonetta had never known why. Still, it didn’t bother her now. She was free to do whatever she wanted.
‘Simonetta.’ Sapphire was standing over her, smiling. ‘Lunch is ready.’
Simonetta watched the English girl walk away. Such an odd creature! She was quite pretty, but she had clearly never heard of couture. And those eyebrows! If she weren’t such a lost cause, Simonetta would sit her down and give her the wisdom of her beauty tips. She was embarrassed to be seen out in public with her.
And yet Sapphire had a secret pass to Brad Masters’ world, just like her and that bimbo Madison. Something linked all three of them and Simonetta couldn’t for the life of her work out what it was.
‘Is this how you spend your time off, Brad?’ Sapphire asked, forking a mouthful of spaghetti alla carbonara. Although she had initially been intimidated, Brad was surprisingly easy to be around and Sapphire was feeling more relaxed by the minute.
Brad smiled ruefully. ‘Days like this are few and far between unfortunately. My work seems to have a habit of taking precedence.’
‘Yeah, but you don’t have to work, do you?’ asked Madison. ‘I wouldn’t if I had all this.’
‘I do it because I enjoy it,’ he said, smiling. ‘Music is my passion. I’d work even if I wasn’t getting paid.’
Madison looked puzzled at this revelation. ‘Oh.’
‘What about you, Sapphire?’ Brad said, turning to her. ‘You work in a music shop, don’t you? It must be pretty interesting.’
‘Yeah, Jerry, the guy who owns it, is really nice. He helps me out a lot with my own music.’ Sapphire went red as both Simonetta and Madison looked at her contemptuously.
‘I’m looking forward to hearing some of your stuff,’ said Brad. ‘Your mum said it had kind of an Amy Winehouse-vibe.’
Sapphire’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Er…I’m all right with lyrics, it’s just the melodies.’
Brad smiled understandingly. ‘That old chestnut, eh? It’ll come.’
‘Do you really think so?’ she asked eagerly.
He shrugged. ‘Sure. Anything’s possible if you work hard enough. I started out in life with an overnight bag and a couple of quid to my name.’ It was well known that Brad had arrived in London from a sleepy town in Devon and worked his way up to the big time.
‘Quid?’ asked Madison, looking puzzled.
He chuckled. ‘Quid, dosh, wonger, however you want to say it.’
‘Brad means money,’ Sapphire said, smiling at
