Not even an enchanting creature with the voice of a siren and skin plucked from his most erotic dream.
* * *
Maceo congratulated himself for blocking her out for several hours. Only when every last business detail had been attended to did he rise from his desk and stroll to his liquor cabinet. Drink in hand, he should be satisfied, and yet something niggled. A sense of elusiveness. Of loss...
His fingers tightened around the glass. Si, he missed Carlotta. He missed her laughter, especially during their occasional dinners, when he hadn’t worked late into the night. He missed those moments when she’d so
doggedly tried, and briefly succeeded, to pry him away from his demons. That was the reason he hadn’t been able to use her favourite west-facing terrace since her death.
But that wasn’t the source of his restlessness.
The puzzle unravelled itself in a flash of relief. Pico. Carlotta’s eight-month-old cockapoo. Maceo hadn’t seen him since he’d got home. While the dog had been unmistakably dejected in the days before and after Carlotta’s death, he unerringly hunted Maceo down within minutes of his return home.
Except today.
Icy dread invaded his stomach. His merciless condemnation of his parents’ and Luigi’s actions had resulted in the very worst-case scenario, leaving him alone with only his demons for company. Surely the cosmos wouldn’t be so cruel as to visit his transgressions on a defenceless dog in a bid to ensure he was truly alone in the world?
No...
Nothing had happened to Pico.
Not so soon after Carlotta.
Even he drew the line at the thought of such a turn of events.
Besides, the staff would have informed him if something untoward had happened.
Still, unable to shake the feeling, Maceo set his glass down. Exiting his office, he enquired after Pico from the first staff member he came across.
The young girl smiled. ‘He was playing in the garden with Signorina Faye the last I saw him, signor.’
Certamente. Why had he assumed she wouldn’t commandeer yet another being the way she’d wrapped his staff around her dainty little finger within minutes of her arrival?
Realising his mood was slipping again, and that his footsteps had drifted perilously close to the extensive gardens in search of her, Maceo veered about.
He’d had enough of Faye Bishop for today. Tomorrow would be soon enough to set out the precise parameters of her presence in his life. And they certainly wouldn’t include dragging things that belonged to him under her spell—especially the one creature that had kept him from feeling completely unmoored.
CHAPTER FOUR
FAYE TURNED HER FACE up to the sun, taking a deep breath as warmth seeped into her bones. In this early witching hour, before the staff descended on the villa to begin ensuring it and the grounds remained in pristine condition, she liked to steal away and find a large rock near the private beach to watch the sunrise.
In the three weeks since her arrival she hadn’t quite decided whether she loved the inside, with its stunning baroque architecture and soul-stirring paintings and masterpieces, or the outside, where a combination of tranquil gardens, awe-inspiring stone terraces and gorgeous landscaped grounds resided in beautiful juxtaposition with the churning sea beating itself relentlessly against the stone cliffs.
So far, she’d counted two dozen corridors and archways leading to intriguing courtyards, alcoves and neat little private gardens, each with its own unique mosaic or pedestal or fountain. Everywhere she turned she felt like a child, waiting to discover the next adventure.
In the first few days, when the staff had been open and forthcoming, she’d discovered that not only had Maceo’s family lived here, Luigi and Carlotta had also made Villa Serenita their summer home, shortly after joining business forces with Maceo’s parents, Rafael and Rosaria Fiorenti.
Faye wanted to dislike this place where Luigi had found happiness. Yet with each new discovery Villa Serenita worked its magic deeper into her soul.
But of course, there was the obligatory serpent within paradise.
Her thoughts reeled back to the morning after her arrival. Maceo had summoned her into his office at Casa di Fiorenti and laid down rules she’d apparently already flouted in the few hours she’d been under his roof.
First, she wasn’t to distract the staff with unreasonable requests or overfriendliness. Second, she had free run of the villa but wasn’t to grill the staff about its history or past residents. Third, and most importantly, Pico, the gorgeous puppy with chocolate eyes who’d stared at her so soulfully from his place on the kitchen floor that first evening, was off-limits. Never mind that the dog had taken to following her around wherever she went, stationing himself beside her seat at mealtimes, obedient, but irresistible enough to tempt small treats from her.
Faye had been perfectly content to flout that particular rule until Maceo had stopped her two days later, by simply keeping Pico in his private wing. Since then, her enquiries about Pico had met with guarded smiles from the staff.
It was clear Maceo was possessive about his dog. But Faye had weightier things on her mind. She was no further forward in discovering why Luigi had abandoned her so abruptly. Whether he’d believed he was doing her a favour by callously rejecting her and then, like Matt, pretending she was invisible. Matt had ignored her whenever he saw her on their university campus after she’d been foolish enough to reveal her secret.