‘The Count was the pianist. And a brilliant one at that. I loved listening to him play. Do you play the piano, Bella?’
‘I do,’ she admitted, surprising Sergio. He’d never heard her play during the years he’d lived in the same house as her. They hadn’t even had a piano. ‘Not all that well, however,’ she added. ‘In the performing arts school I attended, playing the piano was mandatory. We also had lessons in composition. It helps to play the piano if you want to write songs. Of course, most songwriters nowadays use an electronic keyboard rather than a piano. I keep one in my apartment in New York. It cost me the earth but then it does have a lot of features including auto recording, a must if you don’t want to risk losing your work.’
‘You actually write songs?’ Sergio asked, then kicked himself for sounding surprised.
Her expression was rueful. ‘Yes, Sergio, I actually write songs. I wrote the main song for An Angel in New York. I’ve earned almost as much money from writing that song as I have from singing it.’
‘What a clever girl you are!’ Claudia said. ‘Ah, here’s Gina. Just put the tray down there, dear. I’ll pour. Now, after we’ve had our coffee, I insist you sing that lovely song you wrote, Bella darling. This room has perfect acoustics. You will sound like an angel. An Angel from New York,’ she added with her most persuasive smile.
Bella wasn’t just clever but exceptionally talented, Sergio was reminded as he listened to her play the piano and sing at the same time. Her voice was as unique as she was. Clear as a bell, with perfect diction, it could soften then soar with effortless ease. But it was the emotion she put into her performances that lifted her talent to a level that had made her the darling of Broadway. She might be burnt out at the moment, but you would never know it listening to her tonight. Singing and performing were her life-blood. Sergio could see that. She could never give it up. Any man who expected her to would be a fool.
Sergio didn’t consider himself a fool. If and when...no, when he married Bella, he would have to be prepared to put his own working life on hold occasionally whilst he supported her career. He would have to learn to delegate so that he could be with her in New York, or London, or wherever her career took her.
It wasn’t what he was used to doing. He’d been a very hands-on boss in their franchise business. He’d also been looking forward to the challenge of making the family business a success again. His falling in love with Bella, however, was forcing him to change his priorities. Winning her heart was now number one in his life. The family business would have to take a back seat till that happened. Though who knew? Maybe a miracle would happen and he’d find a way to turn things around during the next month. Of course, the only way to do that was to get started. Pronto. Come tomorrow, he would definitely be driving into Milan to see the lie of the land, up close and personally.
But that was tomorrow, his focus right now was on other things, namely getting Bella back home where he could show her his love by making love to her with some more of the passion he’d bottled up for years. He would have to be careful, however, not to tell her that he loved her in the heat of the moment.
Patience, Sergio, he exhorted himself.
Not one of his favourite virtues.
Finally, he was able to get her away from Claudia without appearing to be in a hurry.
It was Bella herself who almost proved to be his undoing, turning to him as soon as they were out of sight.
‘I think I’m going to die, Sergio, if you don’t kiss me right here and now,’ she said, her voice vibrating with an urgency that echoed his own.
‘I think we should wait till I get you home,’ he said, trying to keep it together.
‘No,’ she argued, her face flushing as she wound her arms around his neck and pressed up against him. ‘No more waiting. I’m done with waiting. Tonight has been nothing but sheer torture.’
Still, he hesitated. But then he slowly lifted his hands to undo the button at the back of her neck. He peeled the top downwards, till she was naked to the waist, pushing her away from him so that he could look at her, taking in her erect nipples and her rapid breathing.
‘If I kiss you now,’ he said, his voice low and husky with desire, ‘I won’t stop at kissing. Your lovely clothes will be ruined and the sex won’t be as good as it should be.’
‘I don’t care,’ she cried, her voice and her body trembling uncontrollably.
‘But I do,’ he told her, and bent to scoop her up into his arms. She gasped, then wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.
‘You obviously need more than a quickie in the garden. You need me to make love to you till you can’t move a single muscle. I will tie you naked to the bedposts and make you come and come till you beg me to leave you alone. That is what you need, isn’t it, Bella?’ he ground out as he started carrying her along the path at considerable speed.
She didn’t say a word. Just groaned, then buried her face into his chest.
WHEN BELLA WOKE the next morning, she was astonished to find herself back in her own bed. She had definitely been in the master bedroom when she’d finally fallen asleep last night. Sergio must have carried her back to her room at some stage but she had no memory of it. The clothes she’d worn the night before were draped over a chair in the corner, her sandals placed neatly underneath.
Clearly, Sergio didn’t want Maria knowing they were sleeping together. No doubt if she knew, Maria would have them married off even quicker than the Countess. Though how he imagined they could keep their relationship a secret for a whole month she had no idea. Maria was a very intuitive woman.
Sighing, Bella rolled over and glanced at the small antique clock that sat on the mantelpiece over the fireplace. Lord, it was past noon! She hadn’t slept so soundly in years. Obviously, a satisfying sex life was the answer to that. And it was satisfying. Very. After their first rather frantic mating last night—up against the back of his bedroom door, no less!—Sergio had proceeded to make slow love to her in bed for ages, Bella adoring the way he’d looked deep into her eyes as he’d done so. She’d lost count of the number of times she’d come. It was no wonder that in the end she’d fallen into such a deep sleep, one where she’d been blissfully unaware of being carried back to her own room.
A soft knock on her bedroom door had her sitting up abruptly, pulling the sheet up over her bare breasts.
‘Sergio?’ she said, feeling perversely shy all of a sudden.
‘No, no, it is me. Maria. Sergio...he has gone to Milan. He left a couple of hours ago.’
‘Oh, yes. He did tell me he was going there today but I forgot. Come in, Maria.’
She opened the door and bustled in, looking uncharacteristically worried. ‘I’m sorry to wake you. Sergio said you had a late night. But I must go home soon. My little Antonio, he has a bad cold and Carlo, he is working on the other side of the lake today.’
‘Then you should go home straight away, Maria,’ Bella said.
Maria frowned. ‘But I have to make your bed and clean your bathroom.’
‘I am quite capable of making my own bed and cleaning my own bathroom. Now off
