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She’d missed him terribly when he’d been sent away to a university in Roet his Italian roots She’d been thirteen at the tiirl in her class not to have hit puberty She’d only seen Sergio three times a year after that, at Easter and Christmas when he’d flown back to Sydney for a few days, then for the teeks during July when the family had holidayed at the family villa on Lake Como
Oh, how she’d loved those holidays! What fun the two of theenerally larking around
Not the last tifor his final exa year, their parents had already separated, Sergio had gone to Oxford for further studies and she’d been on her way to Broadway, and stardoined had been close—had suddenly no longer existed She’dbrother at first but soon she’d been consumed by her career and the attention that ith it Out of sight had eventually been out of mind
They’d crossed paths only once in the years since, at an after-concert party in London She hadn’t recognised hi, having finally filled out his tall, lanky fraet eyes like that So dark and so beautiful, and she’d felt unsettled by the hardness in his gaze It hadn’t taken her long to realise he’d still been angry with hera chilly edge to it
There’d been no chilliness in his eyes at his father’s funeral, however, only sadness and a gentleness, which by then she hadn’t felt she deserved Thank God she’d been wearing dark glasses, because behind the silent tears of wretchedness and remorse She knew that she should have contacted both hiret and gratitude Soht up at the ti on the verge of fulfilling heryour own She could excuse herself by saying she’d only been eighteen, but that was no excuse No excuse at all!
Bella had been quite overcoio had written down his private nu hi at all His coesture had threatened the last of her emotional control, so when a very attractive redhead had come up to them and linked ar, said a hurried goodbye and fled before she’d burst into noisy tears in front of everyone
Tears threatened again now Tears of frustration and ht She hadn’t slept well in ages Truly, she could not go on like this She had to get away Away from everyone who she knen deep didn’t have her best interests at heart They only wanted what they could get out of her, which hy they kept pressuring her to take on ers-on over the last few years At present she had a ent, a PA, a publicist, plus her own personal stylist Then, of course, hovering in the background, was her mother
They all wanted their cut All wanted their piece of her
She had no time to herself No ti but work
Lately, she’d begun to feel as if she were on a roller-coaster ride that never stopped She never stopped Well it had to stop She had to stop And she had to stop right now!
‘So stop being such a lily-livered coward and ring Sergio back,’ she ordered herself
Stiffening her spine, Bella ignored her suddenly pounding heart, grabbed her phone and hit redial
CHAPTER THREE
SERGIO WAS SITTING at the table with the best view of the river, sipping a glass of Scotch on the rocks and doing his best to relax, when his phone rang
His heart julanced at the caller ID, a wave of relief hitting hi again to say they would be even later The caller ID was blocked Which io suspected he would not have been able to sleep tonight if she hadn’t He would have had to do soator to find out her nu her