glared at him but he held her gaze.
‘I like playing games as much as the next man, cara, but you don’t have to play games with me anymore. And this is a game, isn’t it? You holding out for more and me giving you what you really want?’
She stared at him in silence. His blue eyes were as deep and tempting as the Tyrrhenian Sea.
‘Come on, cara,’ he said softly. ‘Umberto was a rich man, but accept my offer and you’ll be a far richer woman.’
Flora stared at the envelope in silence. A rich woman! She could almost picture the cheque: could see that authoritative swirling signature.
He watched with grim satisfaction as she hesitated momentarily and then took it from him. ‘Aren’t you going to open it?’
She looked up at him, hating the note of triumph in his voice. ‘No,’ she said quietly, her eyes fixed on his face. And then with slow deliberation she tore the envelope in two and threw it at him. ‘I don’t need to. You see, there’s nothing you can offer me that I will ever want. Except never to see your vile, arrogant face again!’
And before he even had a chance to reply she turned and darted through an archway and vanished as a light breeze blew the pieces of envelope and cheque across the flagstones.
MASSIMO STARED AFTER her in confusion. What the hell had just happened? Had she really just taken his cheque and ripped it up? Without even looking at it?
His stomach contracted. Everything he’d wanted had been almost in his grasp and now he felt stupid and out of place—almost as though she’d left him standing at the altar, with the pieces of envelope fluttering around his feet like discarded confetti. His breathing quickened. Damn her!
‘Mr Sforza?’ At the sound of Giorgio’s voice he turned sharply. Looking pale and flustered, his lawyer hurried across the flagstones. ‘I’m sorry I took so long. This place is like a maze. But I heard voices.’ His eyes popped slightly as finally he seemed to register his shirtless boss, and then he looked quickly away. ‘Er...is everything okay? I mean—’
Massimo’s face darkened. He was well aware of how he must look, standing there half-naked and alone like some spurned suitor. His confusion was gone, replaced by a rage so pure, so absolute, that it seemed to fill his entire body.
‘Everything is fine,’ he snapped. ‘I just thought I’d have a quick sunbathe.’
The lawyer gazed at him uncertainly. ‘Really...?’
Massimo shook his head in exasperation, his body seething with a frustration that took him straight back to his childhood. ‘No, Giorgio. Of course not. I was—’ Grimacing, he shook his head again. ‘It doesn’t matter.’ Breathing out slowly, he picked up his shirt and slid his arms into it. ‘You can tell Lisi she was right, though. She is volatile.’
‘That’s the impression I was given, sir.’ Giorgio nodded, a look of relief sliding over his face. ‘That’s why I think we should cut our losses and walk away before...’ He glanced furtively across at his boss, who was buttoning up his shirt with swift precision. ‘Before this gets any more out of hand.’
Massimo whirled towards him. ‘Walk away?’ Snatching up his jacket, he shrugged it on carelessly, his voice colder than marble. ‘Oh, I’ve got no intention of walking away, Giorgio. Not before I’ve taught Miss Golding a long and clearly overdue lesson in manners. Come with me.’
He turned and began to walk swiftly in the direction that Flora had just taken. Ducking under the archway, both men came to an abrupt stop as they emerged onto a neatly trimmed grass lawn. Across the lawn a high yew hedge rose out of the ground, in the centre of which was another archway. There was no sign of Flora—
‘This is getting ridiculous,’ Massimo muttered. ‘How many gardens does one palazzo need?’
They crossed the lawn and stopped in front of the archway. It wasn’t a garden.
‘It’s a maze!’ Giorgio gazed uncertainly at a small rusting sign. He looked up at his boss, his expression a mixture of astonishment and dismay. ‘Do you think she’s in there?’
Massimo scowled. Of course she was in there. No doubt laughing her pretty little head off at their expense.
He sighed. ‘I should have ripped the damned house down with her in it. I know I said this before, but I’m going to sort this out once and for all and then I’ll be back. And this time I really won’t be long. After all, how difficult can it be to find her?’
The answer to that question was really difficult, he decided some twenty minutes later, after he’d turned yet another corner to find yet another dead end. With a groan of frustration, he ran his hands through his hair and cursed Flora loudly.
‘I may not be a lady, but even I wouldn’t use words like that!’
His body froze as her voice, fizzing with malice, cut sharply through his tirade.
‘What’s the matter, Mr Sforza? Don’t you like hide and seek? I thought you liked playing games “as much as the next man”.’
He spun round, his gaze boring into the thick, dark leaves. ‘Oh, very funny. This is very amusing, I’m sure. But you can’t hide from me for ever!’
‘Probably not! But I’ve got a funny feeling that after an hour...’ she paused, and sighed elaborately ‘...or four spent wandering around in here, you might just want to go home. If a bullying, greedy monster like you actually has a home.’
He gritted his teeth and then his pupils flared as from somewhere behind the high green hedge, he heard a twig snap. Gotcha! Slowly, with delicate steps, his heart hammering with excitement, he crept towards the end of the path and stepped swiftly around the corner. But there was no one there.
‘You might as well give up and go home.’
Her voice floated through the foliage, the crisp, cool words acting like salt on his wounded pride. And yet despite his irritation part of him was enjoying this game they were playing.
His mouth curved into an almost-smile. ‘If you knew me better, cara, you’d know that I never give up or give in.’
‘Thankfully I will never know you at all. Anyway, carry on looking if you want, but I should warn you there’s over a thousand metres of paths and only one of them will take you to the centre. Still...happy hunting!’
Massimo glanced up at the sky, and his breathing slowed. She was going to pay for this. And a lot sooner than she thought. Reaching into his trouser pocket, he pulled out his mobile phone and punched in a number.
Flora stared up at the thick, yew bushes and felt a surge of satisfaction. The maze had been designed by Umberto and had a particularly fiendish layout. Massimo Sforza would be stuck wandering around between its high, impenetrable hedges hopefully until the sun set. She smiled happily. Which should give him ample time to ponder the ethics of harassment and bribery.
Her smile faded. His casual, unfounded assumption that her reason for staying at the palazzo was to squeeze more money out of him and his stupid company made her skin tighten with anger.
