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CHAPTER ONE

‘SIGNORA?’

The voice, hesitant but insistent, jerked Ava from deep sleep Momentarily disoriented, she pushed a swathe of Titian hair off her forehead but the nightes of her consciousness

‘I’ain’ The stewardess, dressed in the enia, held out the sleek black phone Ava eyed the phone, the same one she’d been presented with three tiht hours ago

Different e the last of her dreaed her whenever she thought of Cesare, rose to hts of him elicited

For a few seconds she forgot the heart-rending devastation she’d left behind Her mind croith the forceful presence of thethousands of miles away, had the power to make her breath catch Thewith every second that passed

‘Please tell hiain, that I’ll speak to him e land’ She needed to conserve every ounce of her strength for what lay ahead

The stewardess looked bewildered ‘Buthe insists’ No doubt she’d never encountered another living being who refused to fall at Cesare di Goia’s feet Especially when that being was currently ensconced in unspeakably suling scale of the di Goia experience

All around her, froundy leather club chairs, the shiny cream marble tables to the bespoke silk-triraced every seat on the jet that could easily have carried several dozen passengers, Cesare di Goia’s wealth and influence made itself forcefully blatant

‘Signora?’ the anxious stewardess pressed

Guilt for her predicament made Ava reach for the phone

‘Cesare’ She held her breath

‘Now you deign to answer ht voice

‘Why should I take your call when you’ve been avoiding mine for over teeks now? You told me you’d return to Bali last week’ The ease hich he’d put her off hten on the phone It ith e for the last year

‘I was delayed in Abu Dhabi Unavoidably,’ he added tautly