similar.’
‘What’s that?’ she asked, pointing at a clue.
He translated for her and said, ‘The answer is
‘No, I definitely prefer
‘Bad night?’
‘No, it was a wonderful night, thank you. I just didn’t get any sleep.’
He laughed, and she settled down. She was deep in happy slumber when the sound of her mobile phone reached her from a distance.
‘Someone wants you,’ Dante said, reaching into her bag for the phone. ‘Here.’
It was a text:
Never thought you were the one to turn down the chance of a lifetime. The offer’s still open and this time I want the right answer. Money, money, money. Mick.
‘Who’s Mick?’ Dante asked, reading over her shoulder.
‘Can’t you tell?’ Ferne asked sleepily. ‘He’s my sugar-daddy. He wants to cover me with diamonds and buy me an apartment in the West End, but I told him no. That stuff is old-fashioned.’
‘Now I remember; he’s your agent, isn’t he? You mentioned him on the train the night we met.’
‘Uh-huh!’
She was trying to sound half-asleep, but inside she was alert and wary. She didn’t want Dante asking questions about why she’d refused a big job, in case he stumbled on the truth. Diverting him was going to be tricky.
‘Why is he mad at you?’ Dante asked. ‘What have you turned down?’
She sighed as if it was too boring to be discussed.
‘He wanted me to go back to London and do another theatre shoot with a big star who’s condescending to do a live play. Sandor Jayley with knobs on. No way!’
‘Who’s the star?’
She told him. Dante stared.
‘You rejected
‘He’s bringing his fiancee with him,’ she said, trying to sound petulant. ‘No chance for me to be vulgar and unprincipled there.’
Dante grinned, slipping an arm around her.
‘Can I flatter myself that you prefer to be vulgar and unprincipled with me?’
‘I can’t stop you flattering yourself,’ she observed indifferently. ‘Some men are so conceited.’
‘Not me. I can’t believe you’d choose me over the chance to make a lot of money.’
‘You forget,’ she said languidly. ‘I already made my fortune with Sandor.’ She drew a light finger down his bare chest. ‘Now I’m in the mood to spend some of it on, er, the
‘Oh, really?’ he said, speaking with some difficulty, she was pleased to note.
‘
‘Definitely. And she’s very demanding.’
‘So I’m here only for your pleasure?’
She surveyed him with wicked glee. ‘Well, what else did you imagine you were here for? I expect my every whim to be obeyed.’
‘I’m your willing slave.’
‘And my first whim is to swim. Into the sea with us.’
‘I was hoping for something better.’
‘Hmm! Being my willing slave didn’t last long, did it? Come on.’
She wriggled free of him and ran down the beach, hearing him just behind her. Once in the surf, he seized her and drew her further in, until the water was up to their chests; nobody else could have seen the way his hands were wandering.
‘Just what do you think you’re doing?’ she challenged.
‘Only my duty. I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.’
‘But you can’t do
‘It’s not in public, it’s under water. Perfectly respectable.’
‘There is nothing respectable about what you’re doing,’ she gasped.
After that she became incapable of speech and could only cling onto him, digging her nails into his shoulder in a way that left marks for days.
When they finally returned to their loungers, she asked him to fetch her a drink. While he was gone she texted Mick with shaking hands.
Sorry, can’t change my mind. Am out of action for a while.
She switched off the phone and hid it away safely, silently thanking a merciful providence for helping her get away with it this time.
Hopefully Mick wouldn’t trouble her again, whatever he might guess.
Oh, to blazes with Mick and what he might think! To blazes with everything, except getting Dante back into her bed
CHAPTER NINE
THE ‘willing slave’ fantasy kept them entertained for a while. Unlike many men, Dante was totally relaxed with it, his masculine confidence too powerful to be disturbed by such a joke.
They played it out in the bedroom, with her indicating her requirements and him following to the letter, both enjoying the challenge, laughing, not thinking any further. That was how they both preferred it.
One morning as they were preparing to go out the phone rang, and it was Gino.
‘The film crew have left,’ Dante informed Ferne when the call was over.
‘Already?’
‘There was some sort of a kerfuffle; Sandor threw a fit and everyone was out in an hour. Now we’re needed to sell the place.’ He looked at her, smiling. ‘Ah, well, I guess it was too perfect to last for ever.’
‘Nothing lasts for ever,’ Ferne said lightly.
‘That’s what I say.’ Then he sighed and added ruefully, ‘But sometimes it would be nice if it did.’
They spent two days at the Palazzo Tirelli before heading back to Naples, where they moved into a small apartment belonging to a friend of Dante who was currently away.
On the first night back they went to dinner at the Villa Rinucci. Hope broadcast the event to the family, inviting everyone to drop in. But for her the real point of the evening was to see with her own eyes that Dante was in good health, and even better spirits.
‘He’s told me all about it,’ she said when she and Ferne had a moment alone in the kitchen. ‘You actually slapped Sandor Jayley’s face because you prefer Dante?’
‘I’d have slapped his face anyway,’ Ferne protested. ‘It had nothing to do with Dante.’
‘Oh, come! What about that big offer you turned down?’
‘Well, I had to, after I made you a promise. Hope, Dante and I are ships that pass in the night, we both know that. We’re having fun, but it can’t last. He’s not in love with me, and I’m not in love with him.’
Hope didn’t reply in words, but her cynical gaze was answer enough. A moment later Toni called, and they both went out to where everyone was lounging in the garden as the evening wound down.
Ferne wished she could speak openly to Hope and tell her that love was impossible because she simply
