see,’ Winona had said quietly. And when her baby was born Mina had found that she could not bear to part with her, and the past three years had been one long, tough struggle to give her daughter the best she could, and for over two years that had meant living apart from Susie during the week and seeing her only at weekends.
Dear God, she hated Cesare, and yet when he had hauled her into his arms, when he had kissed her… Furiously she scrubbed at her swollen mouth again, loathing herself. How could he make her feel like that again? Her response had been mindless, wanton and utterly divorced from intellect. Four years ago she had been head over heels in love, and the passionate desire he had awakened in her had for the whole of one unforgettable night seemed as natural a part of that love as breathing.
But the events which had followed had taught her to bitterly regret her own lack of control. She could not even say that Cesare had misled her as to the exact nature of his intentions. They had gone in the space of minutes from the first kiss to the nearest bed, and she hadn’t once thought about what she was doing—indeed, had fondly imagined that Cesare had been similarly swept away by an explosive passion.
Now a little older, and she hoped a lot wiser, she knew differently. Cesare had simply taken what he realised was on offer and she had been pitifully naïve, the victim of her own equally silly romantic fantasies, to think for one moment that it meant anything more to him than the slaking of a momentary lust for a female body.
And tonight he had reached for her in a macho powerplay, seeking to humble her even further. Instead of angrily fighting him off, she had welcomed him, unable to resist the raw potency of his attraction. The acknowledgement filled her with shame. Was it any wonder that Cesare fondly imagined she was promiscuous? Maybe that was preferable to him thinking that she was sex-starved and a push-over, she decided, inwardly cringing from the painful revelation of her own weakness.
On a rolling wave of angry defiance, she got into bed. Tomorrow she was going into work. She would call his bluff. Tonight Cesare had had the advantage of surprise, and she had been so shocked by his accusations that he had walked all over her. But if he showed up tomorrow night she would call the police and accuse him of harassing her! See how he liked that…
Who the heck did he think he was? Not content with falsely accusing her of a crime, he then tried to deny her the right to earn a living, and he threatened her! Then, she knew Cesare’s temperament. Cesare was a creature of deep, dark moods where his emotions were concerned, and Cesare had been seething for the past four years.
It was funny how that made her feel good—the thought of him seething quite took her headache away. Susie had that temper too, she reflected, and then pushed the too intimate acknowledgement away again. Suddenly she began looking at the situation from his point of view, and on some insanely illogical level his viewbriefly—tickled her pink.
Cesare believed she had run rings round him. He might be all smooth sophistication on the surface, but underneath he was as liberated as Stone Age man. The mere idea that a woman had put one over on him must have been a deeply devastating blow to his ego. A concept so injurious to his pride was an insult to his masculinity. Therefore the slur had to be wiped out, the balance redressed…but in private. Well, if Cesare thought for one slippery moment that she was dumb enough to be blackmailed back into his bed, it was time he thought again!
Mina was on the phone at about eleven o’clock when Edwin Haland made his first appearance the next morning. He looked tired and strained and he avoided her gaze as he passed by her desk and entered his office. A few minutes later, he called her in.
He cleared his throat awkwardly. ‘I’m late in because I had an appointment at Falcone Industries.’
Mina tensed, her brows drawing together.
‘After what I witnessed last night, I felt I had to enquire further into the reasons for your dismissal.’
She turned very pale, her spine tautening. ‘I gather you weren’t satisfied with my explanation——’
‘It wasn’t a question of personal feelings,’ he said heavily. ‘But I was troubled that you had concealed the fact that you had formerly been employed by Cesare Falcone.’
Mina stiffened and flushed but she made no comment. An honest c.v. wouldn’t have got her a job with Earth Concern and she had been desperate to find employment at the time.
‘There’s no point in dragging this sorry business out.’ Edwin Haland sighed with unhidden discomfiture. ‘I’m afraid that dishonesty with money is not a matter which can be overlooked in an enterprise such as this.’
In a daze of sick shock, Mina flinched. Cesare had brought the roof down on her exactly as he had threatened to do, yet for some ridiculous reason she did not want to accept that even Cesare could expose her to this level of appalling humiliation. ‘But I——’
Edwin moved a silencing hand. ‘I really don’t want the details, Mina.’
‘Have you ever heard of innocent until proven guilty?’ Mina probed shakily.
He turned his head away and made no response. ‘I would like to ask you to tender your resignation without dragging us all through a great deal of unpleasantness. During your time with us you have been an excellent worker, and I am willing to give you a reference on the basis of those two years.’
‘You want me to leave because Cesare doesn’t want me here and you’re scared he’ll withhold the funds he’s promised for the campaign,’ Mina translated between clenched teeth. Woodenly, she nodded. ‘Fine. I’ll leave now. But when I clear my name, Edwin, you will apologise to me, because I believed that you, at least, knew me better than this!’
Never mind the promotion you were worrying about, what about the job you thought you did have? she thought as she left his office. In the space of twenty-four hours, Cesare had shattered her life again. And she couldn’t believe it. Of course, she could have stayed on at the charity until they found a real reason to sack her, but her pride was too great to stand the mortification of working beside a man who thought she was some kind of a thief and who could no longer meet her eyes! As it was she had a reference and Edwin’s assurance that he would not tell anyone why she had chosen to leave.
Everything up in smoke! Acrid tears burned her eyes. How long would it take her to find another job? How long to prove herself again? Her plans to bring Susie up to London to live with her as soon as she could afford somewhere better to live had been blown to smithereens, and she had worked so long towards that goal.
Now, all of a sudden, she was back where she had been three years ago but far less optimistic. Dear heaven, why had she ever got involved with Cesare Falcone? He was like a curse following her around. What had she ever done to deserve this? Awash with rage and humiliation, Mina’s sense of injustice was bitterly intense, but beneath all of that was this terrible pain that Cesare could have sunk so low.
She was walking down the street where she lived when she saw the Ferrari. Ferraris were not a regular sight there. The glossy paintwork gleamed in the sunshine, a jewel in a sea of beat-up cars. She knew it was Cesare. When she was within twenty feet, he sprang out and strode round the bonnet.
She stopped dead, smitten with bloodlust at the sight of him, finding every single detail of his immaculate appearance offensive: the light grey Italian suit, tailored to a perfect fît over those wide shoulders and long, lean legs, the pale blue silk shirt which accentuated the all-the-year-round gold of his skin, the hand-stitched shoes. A couple of giggling teenage girls on the other side of the street wolf-whistled at him. Par for the course for Cesare. He was a visual
