‘Straight to it?’ she murmured, as much for her own sake as his.
He sipped his coffee without speaking, his silence deeply unnerving.
She swallowed past her nerves, trying not to think of anything except her cousin. Nothing else mattered—he’d made that perfectly clear when he’d dismissed her from his house. ‘I came to find out what’s going on with the hedge fund.’
Cesare didn’t visibly react, and the longer he stayed silent, the more anxious she became. The directness of his stare was completely unsettling. ‘Laurence says you’ve had the contract a fortnight but you haven’t been answering his calls.’
Cesare lifted his brows. ‘And?’
Her stomach flipped and flopped. ‘It’s not fair to keep him in suspense like this.’ Her voice was crackly. She cleared her throat. ‘If you’re going to buy into the fund, you should do it. Otherwise tell him definitively so he can explore other options.’
Cesare’s smile was wolf-like. ‘Such as bankruptcy?’
Jemima felt the warmth fall from her face. It was a cruel thing to say and it showed in
her features, hurt emanating from her as she spun away from him, moving towards the large boardroom that was framed by enormous glass windows.
‘Either you’re interested or not. Jerking him around like this...’
‘He is asking for a large sum of money. You don’t think some due diligence is required?’
Jemima placed her bag down on top of the table and focussed her gaze on the stunning vista of this ancient city. ‘How long is that going to take?’
Silence. She was glad then that she wasn’t looking at him. She felt his disapproval from a distance and she hated it.
‘Let me get this straight,’ he said finally. ‘Laurence doesn’t like how long I’m spending on this and so he sends you, knowing our history, in an attempt to motivate me?’ He made a snorting noise of contempt. ‘And you didn’t think you’d try to guilt-trip me into anything?’
She sucked in a harsh breath, on the brink of denying his charge, but he continued before she could speak.
‘I can see why he’d think I’d be persuaded, given what happened between us, but surely you’ve learned your lesson, Jemima? If you play with fire, you get burned, and I am definitely fire where you are concerned.’
She winced and spun around to find him closer now, only a few feet away, watching her with an intensity that made her heart skip a beat. ‘He doesn’t know I’m here,’ she contradicted. ‘And he doesn’t know anything about that night. About what happened between us.’
She caught a flash of surprise in the depths of Cesare’s eyes, but only briefly, and then he was cynical and detached once more.
‘Then why are you here?’ He prowled towards her, his eyes morphing from steel-grey to the colour of the ocean on a stormy day. Before she could realise his intention, he was right before her, his body so close they were brushing, his face intently watchful.
Her breath caught in her throat, and for a second she found it almost impossible to think, certainly to find any words to offer.
‘I just think you should move faster.’ She furrowed her brow. ‘I’m asking you to make up your mind, one way or another. He deserves to know where he stands.’
Cesare’s expression didn’t shift. ‘And you thought that if you came here to ask me to snap my fingers and invest in his fund I would simply agree?’
She shook her head. This was a mistake. Why had she thought he’d listen to her? Or that he’d have any motivation to help her?
‘No. I guess I’m asking you as a decent human to put him out of his misery.’ She swallowed. ‘I know it’s probably not good business sense to tell you how desperate he is but Cesare, truly, I’m worried about him.’ She lowered her eyes so he wouldn’t see how close she was to tears. ‘He’s at his wits’ end. And he’s worked too hard to lose everything now. He can’t lose everything. Too much depends on it. Please.’
She’d said too much. This was a gamble she was going to lose and the consequences would be disastrous. ‘But you don’t care, do you?’ she whispered, wondering at the deep sense of surprise that permeated her.
‘I barely know your cousin. If you’re asking if I’m personally moved by your worries for him, then no. I told you that night, I do not mix business with pleasure. If you think that the fact we slept together somehow predisposes me to want to help Laurence, then you completely misunderstand the kind of man I am. He made his bed, and he may very well now have to lie in it.’
Panic scorched her, but she tried not to lose sight of the man Cesare was. No way would he have come to London to meet with Laurence if he hadn’t been motivated to move. ‘But you are interested in investing, right?’
He dipped his head forward in silent agreement.
‘So why delay?’
Cesare’s eyes sparked in his face. ‘I’m not sure that’s any business of yours.’