Because I’m lonely, she wanted to say.
Because before Mia came along, I thought I had something of a career at Romano Holdings.
Because my days are increasingly empty and there surely has to be more to life than this?
Of course, she could not answer with that, and so she took a breath and attempted a more dignified response. ‘I want to make something of myself, by myself. I want, for a few hours a day, to take off the Romano name. Look, I know what I’m asking is a favour, but—’
‘Let me stop you right there,’ he cut in. ‘I don’t do favours.’
There was from Ariana a slight, almost inaudible laugh, yet Gian understood its wry gist and conceded. ‘Perhaps I make concessions for your father, but he was very good to me when...’
Gian didn’t finish but Ariana knew he was referring to when his brother and parents had died and, to her nosy shame, Ariana hoped to hear more. ‘When what?’ she asked, as if she didn’t know.
Nobody did silence better than Gian.
Surely, not a soul on this earth was as comfortable with silence as he, for he just stared right back at her and refused to elaborate.
It was Ariana who filled the long gap. ‘I didn’t get my father to lean on you, Gian,’ she pointed out. ‘I’m trying my best to do this by myself.’
‘I know that,’ Gian admitted, for if she had asked her father to call in a favour, then Rafael would have had a quiet word with him when he’d visited yesterday.
‘I won’t let you down, Gian.’
But even with Ariana’s assurances, Gian was hesitant. He did not want Ariana to be his problem. He did not need the complication of hiring and, no doubt, having to fire her. And yet, and yet, he grudgingly admired her attempt to make something of herself, aside from the family name she’d been born into.
She broke into his thoughts then. ‘Perhaps you could show me around?’
‘I do not give guided tours to potential staff, that is Vanda’s domain...’
‘Ah, so I’m “potential staff” now?’
‘I did not say that.’
‘Then, as a family friend, you can show me around.’
Gian took a breath, and looked into navy violet eyes and better understood the predicament her parents must find themselves in at times. How the hell did you say no to that?
CHAPTER THREE
TO THE SURPRISE of both of them, Gian agreed to the tour of La Fiordelise.
Ariana’s clear interest in the hotel pleased him, and if it had been a real interview, her request would have impressed him indeed.
‘Just a short tour...’ he nodded ‘...given you are my final appointment for the day.’
Perhaps it was the single glass of champagne on a nervously empty stomach, but Ariana was giddy with excitement as she stood up. There was even a heady thought that perhaps they might conclude the tour in the restaurant, and then dinner, of course.
And there Gian would offer her the role of VIP Guest Services Manager!
Oh, she could just picture herself in the bespoke blush tartan suits and pearls that the guest services managers wore!
It felt very different walking through the foyer with Gian at her side. Ariana was more than used to turning heads, but there was a certain deference that Gian commanded. Staff straightened at his approach, and guests nudged each other when he passed. There was a certain something about Gian that was impossible to define. Something more than elegance, more than command.
Ariana would like to name it.
To bottle it.
To dab her wrists with the essence he emanated.
Soon they had passed Reception and the Pianoforte Bar where, unbeknownst to Ariana, Svetlana sat drumming her fingers on the table, her silver platter of nuts empty, as was her glass. Vincenzo was taking care of that, though, and shaking another cocktail for her, yet Gian barely gave her a glance. He was working after all.
‘You know the Pianoforte Bar...’ Gian said rather drily, thinking of the array of colour Ariana and her friends made as they breezed in on a Friday night for cocktails to get the weekend underway. ‘No doubt your friend Nicki shall be here soon.’
‘She shan’t be,’ Ariana said. ‘Nicki is away, skiing with friends.’
‘Don’t you usually go?’
‘Yes, but I didn’t want to be stuck on a mountain with Papà so unwell so I told them to go ahead without me.’
‘They’re staying at the Romano chalet?’
‘Of course.’ Ariana gave a tight shrug. ‘Just because I can’t go it doesn’t mean I should let everyone down. It’s our annual trip.’
That took place on her dime, Gian thought.
He loathed her hangers-on, and all too often had to hold his tongue when her entitled, self-important friends arrived at La Fiordelise courtesy of her name.
He could not hold his tongue now. ‘Your partner was asked to leave here the other week.’
‘My partner?’ Ariana frowned, wondering who he meant. ‘Oh, you mean Paulo...’
‘I don’t know his name,’ Gian lied.
Absolutely he knew his name, and those of her so-called friends who added their drinks to the Romano tab, even when Ariana was not here. Gian had even spoken to Rafael about it and had been disappointed with his response: ‘Any friend of Ariana’s...’
Could Rafael not see his daughter was being used? No, because in his declining years it was easier for Rafael not to see!
‘Paulo was never my partner,’ Ariana cut in. ‘He and I, well...’ She shrugged, uncertain how to describe them. ‘It’s just business, I guess.’
‘Business?’ Gian checked.
‘The business of being seen.’
Oh, Ariana...
Still, she was not here for life advice, so Gian brushed his fleeting sympathy aside and got on with the tour.
‘This is the Terazza Suite. It caters for up to thirty and is used for smaller, very exclusive functions...’
‘Is this where my father married her?’ Ariana asked, refusing to use Mia’s name. She had been invited to the wedding, but of course neither she nor her brothers had chosen
