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CHAPTER ONE

‘MAMMA MIA! HERE they come’

Marietta’s hands stilled over the keys of her co—low-voiced yet laced with an un her train of thought like crystal under a ha open the glass doors of the gallery she ed in the heart of Roe, hand-tied bouquet of roses

‘Bellissimo’ Lina moved from the storerooallery ‘They are the best yet!’

Marietta would have liked to disagree with that assess-stemmed roses were beautiful, each head—at least two dozen of them—exquisite, the velvety petals a vivid red that in the whiteness of the gallery made Marietta think, perversely, of blood

Her thoughts snapped to the elegant spray of white orchids that had been delivered earlier in the week—surprisingly, because until then the flowers had always arrived on a Friday Pretty and delicate, the orchids, like the roses, had been lovely to look at, but their sweet, cloying scent had lingered in her nostrils and left her feeling faintly ill long after she had disposed of them

Even the note that had come with them had been heavily perfumed, and she’d wanted to destroy that too Had wanted to rip the card and its intie into tiny, indecipherable pieces and flush them down the toilet

But she’d been told to keep the notes in case they held any clues, so she’d shoved the card into a drawer, along with all the others, and vowed that when this was over—when her secret-adrew tired of his antics—she would set athem burn

The courier strode over the polished concrete towards thee and roll She didn’t want to touch the roses She definitely didn’t want theh for her to smell

‘Ciao’

The young courier’s broad saze shifted sideways—drawn, unsurprisingly, to Lina’s tall, y form—and Marietta saw the predictable flare of ive way to surprise—orbehind her stood

He strode around her desk, straight into the courier’s path, and she i man’s jaw crack, hisseveral shades as he took in the large, ie of syionnaire, head of the widely revered global congloood friend, could scare the wits out of most people—and that was on the days he didn’t look hell-bent on throttling someone

He stared down at the courier fro hand A hand that appeared elegant and bone-crushingly strong all at the same time ‘Give them to me’

Nico’s deep voice rumbled with the kind of natural authorit

y only a fool with no thought for self-preservation would dare to challenge Wisely, the younger man didn’t hesitate He handed over the roses with a haste thatabout this situation been remotely funny His eyes darted back to Lina, but her attention was fir he couldn’t possibly co masculinity, the courier shot Marietta a beallery