He put his glass down on the counter.
How the hell had Issy got word of his arrival? He’d been careful not to tell anyone but his PA of his plans, just in case she did a vanishing act.
He stared at the girl, who was looking at him with a helpful smile on her face. He couldn’t wait any longer. Which meant he’d have to throw himself on this girl’s mercy.
It made him feel foolish, but any humiliation was likely to be minor compared to what he would face when he finally got Issy alone again.
Don’t go there.
He forced the panic back. That was exactly what had got him into this mess in the first place.
‘I need to ask you a favour,’ he said, hoping he didn’t sound as desperate as he felt. If she said no, he’d have to find out where Issy lived, which could cost him another night. Now he’d finally built up the courage to do this thing, he needed to get on with it.
The girl’s eyebrows lifted. ‘Of course, Your Grace.’
‘Call me Gio,’ he said, straining for the easy charm which had once come so effortlessly. ‘I didn’t come here to see the theatre. I came to see Issy.’
The girl didn’t say anything, her eyes widening.
‘We had a disagreement in Florence.’ Which was probably the understatement of the millennium. ‘I think she’s avoiding me.’
‘Oh?’ the girl said. ‘What’s the favour?’
‘Call her and tell her I’ve left. I can wait in your office until she gets back, and then say what I need to say.’ Although he didn’t have a clue what that was yet.
The girl stared at him.
The murmured conversation of the pub-goers got louder, more raucous, and the musty smell of old wood and stale beer more cloying as he waited for the girl’s answer.
How had he managed to screw things up so badly?
Ever since he’d returned home from the office that day he’d known he’d made a terrible mistake. But he had refused to admit it.
Anger had come first. Just as it had all those years before. He’d spent a week furious with Issy. How dared she delve into his psyche and tell him what he’d made of his life wasn’t enough? He’d thrown himself back into work. Determined to prove it was all he needed.
But as the days had dragged into a week the anger had faded, leaving a crushing, unavoidable loneliness in its wake. She’d been at the house for only a few short days—how could he miss her so much?
He’d tried to persuade himself the yearning was purely sexual. And the mammoth erections he woke up with every single morning seemed like pretty good proof. But even he had to accept, as the days had crawled past and the yearning had only got worse, that this was more than just sex.
Whenever he had breakfast he imagined her smiling at him across the terrace table, and felt the loss. Whenever he woke up in the night he reached for her instinctively, but she was never there. He couldn’t even visit any of the galleries and churches he loved, because without her there he couldn’t see the beauty any more. But what he missed most was the simple pleasure of listening to her talk. The silence had become acute, like a suffocating cell that followed him about, just as it had during his childhood, before he’d met her.
He’d been sitting in his office that morning when he’d finally acknowledged the truth. The only way to remedy the problem was to get Issy back.
He didn’t kid himself it would be easy. But he had to try.
He studied her assistant, trying to hold on to his patience. What was taking the girl so long?
Finally she pulled her mobile out of her pocket, began keying in a number. As she lifted it to her ear she sent him an astute look. The helpful smile had vanished.
‘Just so you know, I don’t care if you are a duke. Or if you’re the theatre’s angel. If you hurt her, I’ll have to kill you.’
He nodded, knowing the reckless threat wasn’t the worst that could happen.
‘Is Maxi still here?’ Issy shouted above the pub crowd to Gerard, one of the barmen.
‘Think she’s backstage,’ he replied, pulling a pint of Guinness. ‘Dave had a wardrobe emergency with one of the trolls. I can send Magda to get her.’
‘No, that’s okay.’ She was being ridiculous. Maxi had told her over an hour ago that Gio had left. She needed to stop being such a wuss.