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And who are you to judge, Sergio? his conscience reer a person to you either She hasn’t been, not since the night of her sixteenth birthday party That was the night she beca, not ti another woman in your bed, can totally obliterate it You think you care about her? That’s a laugh

His phone ringing at that preciseit out of his pocket, Sergio didn’t even bother to look at the caller ID

‘Yes?’ he said somewhat brusquely

‘Alex here,to be a bit late’

‘Daio snapped, frustrated that it wasn’t Bella calling hiht a place at Canary Wharf was because it was supposedly close to everything’ And also because the tower that housed his luxury apartym and a top-class restaurant

‘Yeah, well, Thursday night, you know And Jere dressed Look, we shouldn’t be more than fifteen et there You sound like you need one’

Sergio sighed ‘You could be right’

‘Anything wrong?’

‘Not really Just a bit tired’ He ht have told them about Bella’s call if he’d knohat it was about But he didn’t, da back Hell, he wasn’t sure if he could stand that

‘Well, it’s been a big day,’ Alex said ‘But a great one You are one incredible negotiator, buddy Now go relax with a whisky, and we’ll be there soon’

CHAPTER TWO

BELLA DIDN’T STOP shaking for a good fiveup Even then her heart was still racing, herNever in her life had she ever had a full-blown panic attack But she knew all about the frohts Bella knew all the symptoms She’d just never experienced them personally

Adio, but that was only natural She still felt guilty over the way her mother had treated his father If she was strictly honest with herself, she didn’t feel she had the right to ask Sergio for help Not after what her mother had done If anyone was to blame for that panic attack, it was her mother!

Bella hadn’t found out till the io’s father, Dolores adhter advice about nancy to trap her Italian boss intoher; that she’d never really loved theto secure the financial support she’d needed to hter into a star Her earlier claier loved her had been a lie

Bella had been so appalled by her mother’s cold-blooded confessions that she’d felt compelled to seek out the ise Tracking him down had proved difficult—there was no ed with the help of a private investigator, only to discover Alberto was close to death in a Milan hospital Guilt had seen her dropping everything and flying over to Milan, determined to tell hireat fondness and that she really appreciated all he’d done for her

By the time she’d arrived at the hospital, however, he’d already died So she’d gone to his funeral instead In disguise, of course She hadn’t wanted to cause the fa that if the paparazzi recognised her, then the service could turn into a three-ring circus

It had been one of theall by herself in that huge cold cathedral, silently witnessing Sergio’s palpable grief and wondering if her uilty of his father’s death It was often said that stress could cause cancer And clearly, Dolores had given Alberto Morelli loads of stress and unhappiness during the eight years their e had lasted

Yet he’d never shown that unhappiness around her He’d been very good to her, sweet and kind, as had Sergio, who’d been a wonderful big brother, alilling to listen to her sing, or watch her dance Looking back, she realised he’d been aly patient with her, not a virtue one often associated with teenage boys Sergio had only been fifteen when her mother had married his father, she a rather silly and very precocious ten-year-old He’d been a quiet boy, rather reserved in personality but awfully clever And surprisingly good at sport They’d often played basketball together in the backyard when he’d wanted a break from his studies