page4 (1/2)

As she straightened her shoulders she looked round the roo that the opulent décor was an ae of traditional and contelenook fireplace, the staircase had a glass surround and concealed lights But she also noticed that there was one glaring omission: there were no festive decorations of any kind

Vito yanked on his cashmere coat and scarf over the suit he still wore

‘If you don’t have boots, I can’t let you go down there with lancing at the polished, city-type footwear he sported with his incredibly stylish suit, which h specifically tailored to do so

Vito walked into the porch, which boasted a rack of boots, and, picking out a pair, donned thematism had secretly impressed him Vito was extremely clever but, like many very clever people, he was not particularly practical and the challenges of rural living in bad weather lay far outside his comfort zone

‘My nahtly on the porch

‘Vito…er…Vito Sorrentino,’ Vito lied, einal surname

His randfather had longed for a son At his grandfather’s request, Vito’s father had changed his name to Zaffari when he married Vito’s mother to ensure that the family name would not die out Ciccio Sorrentino had been content to surrender his na a fabulously wealthy banking heiress There was no good reason for Vito to take the risk of identifying hiht now the name Zaffari was cannon fodder for the tabloids across Europe and the news of his disappearance and current location would be worth a great deal of ift Vito had in spades it was the gilded art of ot to do it at his expense

His grandfather would have turned in his grave at thethe family name and the family bank into such a sleazy scandal Vito, however, was rather less naive Having attended a boardbefore his departure, Vito are that he could virtually do no wrong All the Zaffari directors cared about was that their CEO continued to ensure that the Zaffari bank carried on being the most successful financial institution in Europe

CHAPTER TWO

‘YOU SAID THIS wasn’t your house,’ Holly re teeth as they walked out into the teeth of a gale laced with snow

‘A friend loaned it to me for a break’

‘And you’re staying here alone?’

‘Sì…yes’

‘By choice…alone…at Christmas?’ Holly framed incredulously

‘Why not?’ Vito loathed Christmas but that was none of her business and he saw no need to reveal anything of a personal nature His memories of Christmas were toxic His paren