‘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 you go.’
‘Are you sure? What about your lunch?’
‘Maria, I am sure I can rustle up something. I saw how much food was in the cupboards and fridge. On top of that, it is only a short walk to the closest village where there is an excellent café and bakery. I have stayed here before, you know. A long time ago, but, as the driver told me the other day, Italy does not change much. And please, do not even think of coming back tonight. I will get Sergio to take me out somewhere for dinner when he gets home from work.’
Maria smiled with relief. ‘You are very kind. I will go now, then.’
‘Yes, please do.’
After Maria hurried off, Bella lay back on the pillow and sighed, having remembered that Sergio planned to go into Milan every weekday from now on, not just today. Which was somewhat disappointing. She’d been hoping to have him all to herself for the next month. Still, the family business was in dire straits, he’d told her during one of his brief rests from lovemaking last night. It had, in fact, been losing money for several years, his father not proving to be as astute a businessman as his grandfather.
‘Of course, the economic climate has changed,’ Sergio had explained. ‘So have the markets. Where once Morelli leather goods were huge sellers, both overseas and here in Italy, they now can’t compete with the cheaper imports from Asia. We don’t have any branches in any other countries any more. They just weren’t profitable. We now use independent agencies to try to sell our wares overseas. Without much success, I’m afraid.’
Bella recalled he’d looked very concerned.
‘Some of the staff have been with the company all their working lives,’ he’d continued. ‘My father found it impossible to let any of them go, but I will have to do some restructuring or all the staff will be out of work. Luckily, I have plenty of money of my own to invest in some much-needed change. But what those changes will be, I have yet to determine. Hopefully, I will get some inspiration tomorrow when I go through the factory and talk to the employees.’
Bella had made all the right noises, saying she had every confidence in him, but in reality she hadn’t been concentrating, her focus distracted by the way he’d been caressing her as he’d chatted away. He couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her. Not that she was any better. As the night had worn on she’d become addicted to stroking him very intimately, loving the way she could bring him back to erection within minutes of his having climaxed. She’d been doing just that when she’d playfully asked him what she had to do to make sure he’d visit her in New York. He’d just smiled and said she didn’t have to do anything special. Just be there when he arrived at her apartment, wearing nothing but perfume.
A smiling Bella had given him her faithful promise, at which point Sergio had stopped talking and started making love to her yet again.
What amazing stamina he had! And what incredible know-how. He knew exactly how to move when he was inside her. And how to move her. She’d been amazed at the various positions he’d shown her. She was already looking forward to Sergio coming home tonight. She would wear something sexy for him. Something new. The village she’d spoken of to Maria also had a nice little fashion boutique. Or they used to. Hopefully, it would still be there.
It was. Though with a new owner. It had also gone very up-market, selling high-end accessories along with designer clothes. Fortunately, the new lady owner didn’t recognise Bella despite her not wearing the red wig, though she did fuss over her once she realised money was no object. Bella’s stylist had drummed into her that buying quality was always worth it in the end, as long as you didn’t buy super-trendy things that would go out of fashion the following year. The owner was delighted when Bella invested in a sundress, a cocktail dress, a pair of shorts, two summery tops and a lovely cashmere wrap, Bella determined to have something for every occasion during her stay here with Sergio. Her last purchase was a pair of sensible but very expensive walking shoes, which would cope with the cobblestone paths better than the sandals she was wearing. Keeping them on, she asked the woman to hold her purchases till she’d had some lunch, which of course she was very happy to do.
Fifteen minutes later, Bella was sitting at an outdoor table connected to a nearby café, eating a delicious salad and drinking some sparkling mineral water when a brilliant idea came to her. At least, she thought it was brilliant. Excitement raced through her veins at the realisation that this might be the answer to Sergio’s prayers. Bella would have called Sergio immediately with her idea, but she didn’t have her phone with her, having deposited it in the top drawer of one of her bedside tables. She’d been determined to remain out of touch with the rest of the world for several days at least; hadn’t wanted to be confronted by the long line of missed calls that would inevitably be there, along with a whole swag of unread messages. Her mother would be the main culprit, trying to find out where she was and who she was with.
Bella felt a twinge of conscience at this last thought. She supposed it was a bit mean not to let her mother know she was safe and well. And she wasn’t a mean person. If truth be told, she was too kind for her own good, sometimes, especially where her mother was concerned. When her career had first taken off, she’d kept her mother on as her manager for much longer than she should have. Bella had known people didn’t respond well to Dolores’s aggressive, stage-mother manner. She’d been told more than once that she would do better with a professional manager, someone with the experience and the contacts to take Bella’s career to the next level. At the time, she’d been getting only minor roles on Broadway, plus the occasional singing gig on television back home in Sydney.
But she hadn’t wanted to hurt her mother. She also hadn’t had the confidence to take such a step. She’d only been a teenager, after all.
It had been Raoul coming into her life that had precipitated her finally getting out from under her mother’s thumb. An international polo player from Argentina, Raoul had pursued her with the kind of persistence Bella would always find very flattering. Even so, it had taken the Argentinian playboy several weeks to seduce Bella away from her mother’s stultifying influence and into his bed. Any satisfaction he had initially found in deflowering Bella, however, had gradually turned to dissatisfaction. He hadn’t been cruel when he’d broken up with her but he had been blunt.
‘You need to get that mother of yours out of your life, Bella, if you want to become a real woman,’ he’d told her. ‘She is keeping you like a little girl. You need to grow up and take control of your life, and your career. Get yourself professional representation before it’s too late.’
So she had, firing her mother and signing with Josh, who was a top New York agent. Dolores, of course, had put on the biggest tantrum, only alleviated when Bella had signed a contract where her mother still received ten per cent of her income, though only for the next ten years. Which possibly explained why her mother was so keen on her doing that movie, Bella realised, with her gravy train running out in just over a year’s time.
Not that Bella would ever see her mother go short of money. Neither did she want her to worry unnecessarily. Bella decided to bite the bullet and give the woman a call this afternoon, but not till after she’d rung Sergio. He was her priority at the moment. It gave her a warm fuzzy feeling to think she might be able to help him with his family business. Hopefully, he would agree that her idea had merit.
Excited now, she finished her lunch, then hurried along to the boutique where she collected her parcels, saying a silent thanks that the clothes she’d bought were not heavy items. Nevertheless, by the time she arrived back at the villa Bella was a little puffed, having walked at a solid pace all the way. Racing up the stairs to her bedroom, she