Open-mouthed, Bella stared incredulously as Rico, appearing out of nowhere, cooly pulled out one of the two vacant chairs at their table for the exquisite blonde who was hovering with an air of unease beside him.
‘Sophie Ingram, this is Bella. Bella, meet Sophie. Since we are the cynosure for every eye in the room, we might as well join up, es verdad?’
‘Es verdad nothing!’ Bella hissed, recovering her tongue. ‘I do not wish to share a table with you. You’re butting in where you are not wanted—’
‘Bella, please,’ Griff intervened in a shocked whisper.
‘If you whisper at Bella you’ll make her shout,’ Rico murmured flatly, sinking down into the seat beside her and signalling to the hovering head waiter with an imperious movement of one hand. ‘Now, you are Griff Atherton… Does she accidentally call you Biff from time to time? I ask because when we first met it took Bella four attempts to even recall my name.’
‘Shut up!’ she bit out from between clenched teeth.
‘Bella, please,’ Griff said again. ‘Mr da Silva and Miss Ingram are very welcome.’
‘Of course we’re welcome,’ Rico drawled with lancing satire, shooting Griff a look of unconcealed derision.
Bella reached for her glass and drained it for a second time all in one go.
‘I’m very sorry about this,’ Sophie murmured, openly studying the engagement ring still lying on the linen cloth in front of Bella.
‘Wedding bells…’ Rico laughed sardonically.
‘If you don’t shut up and back off,’ Bella spat in a shaking undertone, ‘I’m going to hit you with that bottle!’
‘That would be a first.’ Incandescent golden eyes challenged her, his strong mouth twisting. ‘Another first. But not one half as enjoyable as the last we shared.’
‘Excuse me.’ It took immense restraint but Bella shakily reached for her bag and rose from the table.
She reached the cloackroom only seconds before Sophie. She spun from the sink her green eyes swimming with tears. The blonde gave her a wry glance. ‘If I could do to Rico what you can do, I wouldn’t be crying over it.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Bella said in a stifled voice.
‘You’re so young.’ Sophie sighed, studying her averted profile. ‘I came to bitch but I can’t. It isn’t your fault he’s about to dump me—he never stays with anyone longer than a couple of months. I’m past my sell-by date and frankly I’ve had enough. Rico has been like a stranger since the kidnapping—’
‘Has he?’ Bella looked up, all damp eyes and helpless curiosity.
‘He’s all yours.’ Sophie was extracting several items from her beautiful beaded bag. ‘The card that opens the city apartment, the keys for the main house on the Winterwood estate and the keys for the Porsche. He told me to keep it… but I don’t think I earned that size of pay-off.’
‘I don’t want them!’ Bella exclaimed in horror as the items were thrust into her hand.
‘You’re planning to marry Biff or whatever his name is?’
‘Well, no, but—’
‘Save Rico the trouble of getting extras cut,’ Sophie said very drily.
‘You’ve got it all wrong—’
‘Good luck. You’ll need it. He’s anti-love, anti-commitment and anti-marriage. Sensational divorces leave scars,’ she murmured tightly, turning to the door. ‘It’s just a pity that Rico doesn’t appreciate that he’s not the only one ever to have been hurt!’
Bella was left holding the keys. Sophie had shattered her. She was one very strong lady… one very generous lady. After all, had it once occurred to Bella whilst in that container that she was playing around with another woman’s man? Not once. Maybe she hadn’t wanted to recall seeing Rico with Sophie that very first night, emerging from that hotel, climbing into the Bugatti. Suddenly Bella, who prided herself on her principles, saw that she had sacrificed more than one with Rico, and whether it was fair or otherwise she hated him for reducing her to that level.
Head high, she walked back to the table, as beautiful and as remote as a moving statue. Without looking once at Rico, she dropped the keys and the card in front of him. ‘I want to go home, Griff.’
‘Hasta la vista, gatita,’ Rico drawled smoothly.
CHAPTER SEVEN
IT HAD taken quite some time for Griff to unload her paintings and possessions from the BMW. He was in an astonishingly good mood. Rico had known the way to Griff’s heart. He had promised to recommend him to one of his friends, who was currently enduring the horrors of a broken marriage.