‘Venice.’
‘Venice?’ She stared at him, aghast. ‘I don’t have a passport.’
‘I had your assistant arrange it.’
‘You—what? When?’
‘When I left this morning.’
‘My assistant just handed over my passport?’
‘You have a problem with that?’
‘Well, gee, let me think about that a moment,’ she said, tapping a finger to the side of her lip. ‘You’re a man I’d never clapped eyes on until yesterday and now you have in your possession a document that’s of reasonably significant personal importance. You could say I find that a little invasive, yes.’
He dropped his hand from the back of the seat, inadvertently brushing her arm as he moved, lifting a familiar burgundy document from his pocket. ‘Now you have it in your possession. It was no conspiracy to kidnap you, Beatrice, simply a means to an end.’
Clutching the passport in her hand, she stared down at it. No longer bothered by the fact he’d managed to convince her assistant to commandeer a document of such personal importance from her top drawer, she was knocked off-kilter by his use of her full name. Nobody called her Beatrice any more. She’d been Bea for as long as she could remember. But her full name on his lips momentarily shoved the air from her lungs. dpg!
‘Why didn’t you just tell me?’
He lifted his shoulders. ‘I thought you might say no.’
It was an important clue as to how he operated. This was a man who would do what he needed to achieve whatever he wanted. He’d chosen to invite her to this event, and so he’d done what he deemed necessary to have her there.
‘Your business is too important to our company, remember?’ She was grateful for the opportunity to remind them both of the reason she’d agreed to this. It had nothing to do with the fact she found him attractive, and everything to do with how much she loved her friends and wanted the company to continue to succeed.
‘And that’s the only reason you agreed to this,’ he said in a deep voice, perfectly calling her bluff. Was she that obvious? Undoubtedly.
Continue reading
CINDERELLA’S NIGHT IN VENICE
Clare Connelly
Available next month
Copyright ©2021 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Special thanks and acknowledgement are given to Clare Connelly for her contribution to the Signed, Sealed…Seduced miniseries.
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower
22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor
Toronto, ON, M5H 4E3, Canada
http://www.harpercollins.ca
India
HarperCollins India
A 75, Sector 57
Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201 301, India
http://www.harpercollins.co.in
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
http://www.harpercollins.com
Dublin
HarperCollinsPublishers
1st Floor, Watermarque Building, Ringsend Road
Dublin 4, Ireland
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
