She shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t think my small connection with him would help you to secure a major business deal.’
‘All I would need is your presence, Dara. He is notoriously private and only holds meetings in his home or with the board of directors. There is an opera fundraiser at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo tomorrow night. Lucchesi and his wife will be hosting.’
Palermo? Tomorrow night? Dara fought the urge to laugh in disbelief. This was ridiculous. She had flown to Milan for a simple task and now here she was being asked to accompany a notorious playboy to the opera.
‘Why exactly would my presence benefit the situation?’ she asked rather breathlessly.
‘I understand that this is rather unconventional. But I believe meeting with him in a cordial setting, with a familiar face by my side, might make him look upon me more favourably. He sees me as my father’s son—a frivolous playboy with no morals. He clearly approves of you if he has worked with you on more than one occasion. Having you on my arm would be greatly beneficial.’
‘Are you asking me to pose as your date?’
‘What other reason would we have for being in Palermo together? It’s the most believable scenario.’
Maybe it was tiredness after the past twenty-four hours catching up with her, but Dara felt a wave of hysterical laughter threatening to bubble up to the surface. The thought that anyone would believe a man like Leo Valente was dating a plain Irish nobody like her was absolutely ludicrous.
He continued, oblivious to her stunned reaction. ‘You would leave the business talk to me. All I’d need is for you to act as a buffer of sorts. To play on your history with his family. Someone with a personal connection to smooth the way.’
‘A buffer? Well that just sounds so flattering...’ she muttered.
‘You would get all the benefits of being my companion, being a guest at such an exclusive event. It would be an enjoyable evening.’
‘Umberto Lucchesi is a powerful man. He must have good reason not to trust you,’ she mused. ‘I’m not quite sure I can risk my reputation.’
‘I’m a powerful man, Dara. You climbed up a building to get a meeting with me. I’m offering you an opportunity to get exactly what you want. It’s up to you if you take it or not.’
The limo came to a stop. Dara looked out at the hotel’s dull grey exterior, trying desperately to get a handle on the situation. He was essentially offering her the castello on a silver platter. All she had to do was play a part until he got his meeting and she would be done.
‘What happens if you’re wrong? If having a buffer makes no difference?’
‘Let me worry about that. My offer is simple. Come with me to Palermo and I will sign your event contract.’
She thought about the risk of trusting him. He hadn’t given her any reason to trust him so far. But what other possible reason could he have for asking her to go with him?
A man like him could have any woman he wanted, so this wasn’t simply about the chemistry between them. She was sure of that.
He must want in on the Lucchesi deal very badly if it had prompted him to consider her event. His initial reaction had been a complete contrast, his blatant refusal so clear. It was a risk to lie to a man like Umberto Lucchesi, but on the scale of things it was more of a white lie. And the alternative meant losing the contract. Losing everything she had worked for.
‘If I go with you—’ she said it quickly, before she could change her mind ‘—I want a contract for the castello up front.’
* * *
Leo felt triumph course through him as he felt Dara’s shift towards accepting his offer. He’d seen the uncertainty on her face, knew the difficult position he was placing her in.
‘You don’t trust me, Dara?’
‘Not even a little bit.’
‘I would expect nothing less. I will have a contract drawn up by tomorrow. And I promise to return you to your office bright and early on Monday morning.’
‘We would be staying in Palermo overnight?’
She asked the question innocently, but he’d seen the telltale movement of her hands in her lap. She was not as unaware of the tension as she made it seem.
‘The suite will have more than one bedroom.’
‘I want your word that there will be no more of your games. This is a professional arrangement.’
‘Are you asking me to behave myself? To ignore the intense attraction between us?’ he asked silkily.
‘Yes. That’s exactly what I’m asking.’
‘This is a business arrangement, Dara. You may be posing as my date for the evening, but I can assure you I am capable of separating the two. Whatever impression you might have of me, I can assure you that I am a man of my word when it comes to business.’
Leo rapped the driver’s window and the man got out and held the door of the limousine open for her to exit.
‘My plane will leave at noon, so you have plenty of time to get some beauty sleep.’
He watched until she’d disappeared through the doors of the basic hotel. He hadn’t lied when he’d said he was capable of separating business from pleasure. He was quite capable of it, usually. But his attraction to her was something that had caught him off guard.
After months of no interest in the opposite sex, this sudden acute awareness was almost painful. And she felt it too—he was quite sure of that. She would prove very useful tomorrow in cornering Lucchesi. But if he was being honest that was not his only objective. He wasn’t quite ready to walk away from the challenge she presented just yet.
Maybe it was boredom...maybe his pride was bruised. But something drew him to Dara Devlin more than to any woman he had ever met. She intrigued him and maybe that was why he had insisted on provoking her with those little stunts at the club. He was a grown man not a teenager, for goodness’ sake.
If he wanted to impress her then he had to get on her good side. It was his nature to be rebellious and provocative, but maybe a more subtle approach was needed. Either way, he always got what he wanted. And he was determined to show Dara exactly what she could have if she gave in to temptation.
* * *
The car turned sharply onto another narrow backstreet and Dara felt her stomach lurch. She sat bolt upright in the Porsche’s deep suede seat, one hand clutching her phone like a talisman, the other holding onto the door for dear life. Leo drove as if he was on the Nürburgring, not the tiny cobbled streets of Palermo.
Rounding the last corner, he pulled the powerful vehicle to a smooth stop. She was out of the car in an instant, straightening her skirt and trying to regain her composure.
‘You didn’t enjoy the drive?’
Leo handed his keys to the valet and fell into step beside her as she powered up the pathway to the facade of the ancient building they had arrived at.
‘I generally prefer to travel at a less ferocious pace.’
She stared up at the historical palazzo, amazed that she should be staying in such a place. They walked up marble steps and entered into a bright, ornate lobby. Dara felt her breath catch at the veritable feast of opulent decor.
‘I always knew that some of these old palaces had been converted into luxury suites, but I never thought I would see inside one.’
She craned her neck to look up at the ornate ceiling artwork. Most of the original features had been preserved, and it was like stepping through a doorway into the eighteenth century.
The