And as if that weren’t enough, she’d worked with some of his clients on an individual basis. She’d seen first-hand some of the damage he’d wrought.
‘Alessio Capelli crushes women,’ she told her sister flatly, but Ruby simply shrugged.
‘Not all women. Just the greedy ones. You didn’t think he was so objectionable when he used his muscle to save you from that lowlife. I bet he’s a fantastic kisser.’ Ruby gave her a wicked look. ‘Rumour has it that what Alessio Capelli doesn’t know about seducing women isn’t worth knowing. Come on, Linny. I know you always use logic and common sense, but you have to admit he’s gorgeous. And if you don’t like your men dark and intimidating, there’s always his cute younger brother…’
Lindsay clamped her lips together, deciding not to point out that only two weeks earlier Ruby had been so devastated over the end of a relationship that she hadn’t seen the point of living.
‘Ruby—try and be a bit more analytical,’ she urged. ‘Think beyond the handsome face. Do you have the same views on life? Do you share the same values? Do you have what it takes to sustain a relationship?’
‘I’m just having fun, Linny. Not planning a wedding,’ Ruby snapped at her. ‘You’re so serious. You should have an affair with Alessio Capelli. It would do you good. A week of
sun, sex and hot Sicilian man.’
Closely followed by a lifetime of heartache.
‘I’m not interested in a meaningless affair with someone whose values I don’t respect. And we’re talking about you, not me. I just don’t think you should get involved with anyone else for a while,’ Lindsay said tactfully and Ruby’s eyes clouded slightly.
‘Don’t worry. I’ve learned that lesson.’
Lindsay stared at her cold coffee now.
Had she?
Or was Ruby in the middle of yet another wild, crazy affair that would undoubtedly lead to another major emotional crash?
Her thoughts driving her almost demented with worry, Lindsay reached for her phone and called everyone she knew one more time. But still no one had any news of Ruby.
So now what?
Feeling helpless, she glanced at the clock on the wall of the café. Ruby had less than an hour to make the flight.
She tried to think positively.
There was still time for Ruby to turn up. She knew the importance of reliability in the employment market—she wouldn’t let Alessio Capelli down…
Suddenly Lindsay felt an ominous stabbing pain above her eye and winced as she recognised the beginnings of a migraine. Oh, no, not now. And not here, in a foreign country where nothing was familiar.
Gritting her teeth, she reached into her bag for the packet of tablets she carried with her. But there was no sign of them. With a frown, she emptied the contents of her handbag over the table and rummaged through it. No tablets.
Infuriated with herself for forgetting to replenish the tablets last time she’d used them, Lindsay swept the items back into her handbag and tried to think clearly. Normally she’d take a tablet, lie down for a few hours and emerge revived.
This time she had no tablets and the hands of the clock were relentlessly moving towards four o’clock. She didn’t have time for a headache. She knew what Ruby was capable of doing—
Drenched with sudden panic, Lindsay forced herself to breathe slowly—to think.
What could she do?
With something approaching desperation, Lindsay pressed her fingers against her temples, searching for alternative options.
The knifelike pain in her head increased and she closed her eyes. But with her eyes closed she had a sudden vision of Ruby’s pale lifeless face and she shot to her feet in the grip of an overwhelming panic. It took a moment to wrestle her overactive imagination back under control and remind herself that she had no evidence that anything bad had happened to Ruby.
There was probably a perfectly simple explanation for all this.
Perhaps her phone was broken, or perhaps she’d simply lost track of the time and had every intention of returning to the Capelli offices in time for the Caribbean trip.
Perhaps she was there now, offering an apology for her lateness to Alessio Capelli.
Keeping that thought uppermost in her mind, Lindsay reached for her bag and paid for her coffee.