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CHAPTER ONE

IT WAS the first time Bella had been home since the funeral Haverton Manor in February was like a winter wonderland, with a recent fall of snow clinging to the li driveway leading to the Georgianfields and woods beyond were shrouded in a thin blanket of white, and the lake shone like a sheet of glass in the distance as she brought her sports car to a stop in front of the foringerly rose froreet her with a sloag of his tail

‘Hiya, Fergs,’ Bella said and gave his ears a gentle scratch ‘What are you doing out here all by yourself? Where’s Edoardo?’

‘I’m here’

Bella swung round at the sound of that deep, rich, velvet-s a funny little juure standing there She hadn’t seen him face-to-face for a couple of years, but he was just as arresting as ever Not handsoular features for that His nose was slightly crooked froh it, like a jagged pathway cut through a hedge, both hoofmarks of his troubled adolescence

He earing sturdy work-boots, faded blue denim jeans and a thick black sweater that was pushed up to his elbows, showcasing his strong, muscular arms His wavy, soot-black hair was brushed off his face, and dark stubble peppered his lean jaw, giving him an intensely masculine look that for sole She took in a little jerky breath andher neck out to do it ‘Hard at work?’ she said, adopting the aristocrat-to-servant tone she customarily used with him

‘Always’

Bella couldn’t quite stop her gaze drifting to his rooves either side of it indicating it wasit She had once come too close to those sensually sculptured lips Only the once, but it was a memory she had desperately tried to erase ever since But even now she could still recall the head-spinning taste of him: salt, mint and hot-blooded male She had been kissed lots of times, too many times to recall each one, but she could recall Edoardo’s in inti detail

Was he reether in a scorching kiss that had left both of theues had snaked around each other and duelled and danced with earthy, brazen intent?

Bella tore her eyes away and glanced at the da at soardener?’ she asked

‘He broke his aro,’ he said ‘I told you about it when I emailed you the share-update information’