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Chapter Twenty-seven
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Ninety Days To Be His Chapter Twenty-eight
‘It was none of Andrea’s business,’ Elena declared, refusing to look at either man.Andrea strode forward and immediately extended a hand down to Michael to help the younger man up. ‘I’m sorry. I owe you a sincere apology.’ He sent Elena a shimmering glance of challenge. ‘Why didn’t you tell me? How wasn’t it my business?’Her cheeks flushed a discomfited pink, Elena folded her lips on a stinging retort. A slanging match in front of Michael in which Andrea was certain to give as good as he got would only embarrass her more. She already felt foolish, angry and guilty that Michael had got hurt. She did not want to recall that, when she first realised that Andrea had followed her down to Somerset, she had been pleased.‘Are you coming back to my hotel with me?’ Andrea drawled softly.Elena jerked her chin in grudging affirmation. ‘How could you do that?’ she snapped the minute she was alone with Andrea.‘You’re responsible for that stupid farce,’ Andrea drawled with cutting cool, thrusti
Ninety Days To Be His Chapter Twenty-nine
The money had been taken from the garden fund around the same time as the money from Andrea's company. In many ways it could be seen as another strand of the same offence, she told herself bracingly.When she appeared for breakfast, Andrea acknowledged her with an inclination of his handsome dark head. He was poised by a desk across the room and talking in rapid Italian, and it was clear to her that he was fully engaged in business. She watched him covertly while she chased some cereal round a bowl, her appetite steadily dwindling at the prospect of the dialogue that lay ahead.Andrea tossed the phone aside and strolled fluidly towards her. In a well-cut suit the colour of rich caramel, a silk shirt and a narrow trendy tie, he was drop-dead beautiful, she acknowledged helplessly.‘Sleep well?’ he enquired casually.‘Yes … thanks.’‘I didn’t.’ Lean, powerful face intent, Andrea lounged back against the table edge. He watched her with a smouldering intensity that spoke louder than any
Ninety Days To Be His Chapter Thirty
Elena laced her fingers through each other and threw back her slight shoulders as she steeled herself. ‘I desperately want my father to have the chance to turn his life around—’Andrea threw up his hands in a gesture of total derision and walked over to the window to turn his back on her. ‘Oh … please,’ he said acidly.‘He’ll never do it if nobody believes in him. He’ll go to prison if the garden committee has to press charges and what choice do they have? Some very influential people donated money to the fund. Please consider replacing the money,’ she whispered shakily. ‘Even as a loan.’‘Dio mio … A loan with what security?’ Andrea swung back and rested sardonic dark-as-night eyes on her. ‘You almost had me convinced that you were different and I liked that idea. A lady with principles. Until now you had the unique distinction of being the only woman who has never asked me for money … Or jewels to the value of.’The blood drained from below her fine creamy skin. She wanted to sink t
Ninety Days To Be His Chapter Thirty-one
Rocco Mario leafed frantically through the file Elena had presented him with. Finally he thrust it down on the table. His complexion had taken on an unhealthy grey hue, his shock palpable. ‘Did Andrea Santino put all that stuff together for you?’‘Yes,’ Elena breathed. ‘Please don’t tell me any lies. I need to hear the truth.’‘It looks a lot worse than it is,’ Rocco declared defensively. ‘Let me explain how it happened—’‘It wasn’t something that just happened. Don’t talk as though it was something that you had no control over,’ Elena broke in tautly. ‘You forged my mother’s will so that I was left penniless. That’s what it comes down to!’‘You’re making too much of this,’ the older man argued vehemently. ‘It all started out quite innocently. When you were a baby, I tried to persuade your mother, Isabel, into a business partnership. I hoped that together we could build houses on the estate.’‘Build?’ Elena parroted. ‘But it’s against the law to develop a site that’s been listed as be
Ninety Days To Be His Chapter Thirty-two
‘Your mother’s solicitor worked in the same practice as I did. He was elderly, overdue for retirement. It was easy to remove papers from his safe,’ the older man admitted. ‘I approached a loan company in London and pretended I owned the estate. Using it as security, I borrowed a large sum of money. I had to have some way of meeting my obligations at home. Remember you and your mother were my dependants then.’Elena frowned, finally grasping the connection, even if she didn’t credit the preceding story. ‘How could you do that to my mother? Was she just one more person to be used and fleeced? Is there anyone you won’t use?’‘When your mother died, there was still an outstanding loan against the estate and I had to cover up the evidence of that. What choice did I have? I may have forged that will but I did it with the best of intentions. I had such wonderful plans.’A ragged laugh fell from her lips. ‘Mum wanted me to have the estate, not you.’‘I gave you a home. I adopted you,’ her fat
Ninety Days To Be His Chapter Thirty-three
Shock at the revelation that she was, after all, the rightful owner of the estate that had been in her family for generations? Of course that fact would have to be ratified by a court of law before it was officially hers but, even so, it was good news, wasn’t it? Nobody would ever be able to take the estate away from her again and in her hands it would be safe. The plant nursery would belong to her once more. It had made a reasonable income. When she was no longer required to pass over all the profits to her father, she would be able to build up the business and look forward to more comfortable takings in the future.Yet even those rousing prospects failed to comfort her. What she had learned about her only surviving parent had devastated her. Worse still she was looking back and seeing that, although she had chosen to avoid acknowledging it, she had always been a rank outsider in her father’s family circle. She had hovered on the sidelines, eager to please, desperate to make a place
Ninety Days To Be His Chapter Thirty-four
Elena was only dimly aware of the other man’s shaken apologies and immediate retreat. She was so overjoyed that Andrea had recovered consciousness that she was incapable of appreciating anything else. Her eyes filled with tears of relief. ‘I was scared you were never going to wake up. I’ll ring the bell for the nurse.’‘Not yet.’ Andrea surveyed her, taking in the tousled honey tumble of her hair, her mascara-smudged-and-shadowed eyes and her unflattering pallor. He had never seen her look less beautiful and could not comprehend why, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary, she should look so wonderful to him. ‘How long have I been out of it for?’‘Almost eighteen hours.’She was still wearing the same clothes. Most probably, he reflected, she had not even looked in a mirror, for she was not vain. ‘Have you been with me all that time?’‘Yes, of course.’She had not left his side. She had sat up all night. He could not imagine a single woman of his acquaintance caring so little fo
Ninety Days To Be His Chapter Thirty-five
Elena threw a stick for Violet to fetch as she walked along the beach. Four weeks of perfect relaxation and contentment in Sardinia had put a healthy glow in her cheeks and a spring into her step. She had got her peace of mind back and the silliest things made her smile, she reflected cheerfully.Andrea had shamelessly bribed his way into Violet’s affections with chocolate treats. It had amused her that Andrea, so hopelessly competitive in every way, would not settle for mere tolerance from her pet. Violet now adored Andrea and one of his favourite spots to sleep was below Andrea’s desk. Unfortunately Andrea did not appreciate Violet’s amazingly loud snores.Elena thought about the fact that she adored Andrea just as much as her pet. She was very happy, but occasionally a cold chill would run over her when she considered the inevitable end of the affair. Nothing lasted for ever and she knew it. He was sure to get bored with her. She couldn’t believe that she had what it took to hold h
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