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She blocked the number, then booked the three-week buying trip to Italy which she had been planning for months to sourcefabrics for her designs. She could work on the designs for her new commissions from a base in Lake Como—the heart of Italian silk manufacture—while also visiting factories she’d short-listed in Tuscany and Puglia for the best wool and cotton producers.
Completely coincidentally, it would keep her out of London until the celebrity gossip mill had run its course.
Of course, her absence would also make it impossible for Cade Landry to contact her, which was just as well, because she never intended to see or speak to that rat bastard ever again.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Three weeks later
ASTHELANDRYchopper settled onto the lawn of the lavish belle époque villa hotel on the banks of Lake Como, Cade could feel the fury and frustration he had been holding in check for weeks start to choke him.
The hotel’s staff rushed to meet him. Not surprising, given Landry Construction had spent a small fortune booking out every single room. Alongside the staff was the detective he’d hired—when Charlotte Courtney had hurled him into the middle of a social media tornado, then blocked his calls and disappeared.
As soon as the detective had contacted his PA with her whereabouts, he’d taken the company jet to Italy—more than ready to give her one hell of a nasty surprise.
‘Clear to disembark,’ the pilot announced.
After ripping off his headphones, Cade strode from the big black bird to be greeted by the young female investigator.
‘Where is she?’ he shouted above the thunder from slowing the blades.
‘I can take you to her,signor. She is at a silk factory fifteen minutes’ drive from this location.’
‘No.’ The last thing he needed was for them to get caught in public having a catfight.
Because he had no doubt Charlotte was not going to agree to what had to happen next without an argument. Her outspoken behaviour had captivated him in San Francisco. All it did now was infuriate him.
The prickle of awareness at the thought of seeing her again—and forcing her to return to the US with him—called him a liar. He dismissed it, because his libido and their combustible chemistry were not the driving force behind this situation any more.
The woman was a reckless, impulsive nightmare. But she’d left him with no choice. They were going to have to be a couple for the rest of the summer if he was going to win Helberg—a direct result of her decision to post those damn photos without asking him first.
The helicopter lifted into the sky and disappeared across the lake.
The approaching twilight gave the water a golden glow. The four-storey Italianate villa nestled into terraced botanical gardens which now housed a five-star hotel and spa couldn’t have looked more romantic.
Cade frowned.How damned ironic.
But the estate was also situated at the end of a private road. After spending a day moving the guests out at his request, the management had been more than willing to accommodate his meeting with Charlotte in complete privacy.
There would be no photographers, no press, and no members of the public to interrupt them—or witness any temper tantrums—while he explained to her in words of one syllable the consequences of her actions.
She’d got her pound of flesh—using his image to push her business. Now she was going to have to deal with the fallout—just like he’d been dealing with it for three solid weeks.
‘She’s going to be here tonight?’ he asked as they headed across the manicured lawn. ‘And she doesn’t know I’ll be here?’
The detective nodded. ‘Yes, her driver and theagriturismowhere she has been staying have been generously compensated for their cooperation.’
Cade nodded. It had been a major operation—and cost a small fortune—but no way was he giving her the chance to run out on him again.
The hotel manager arrived to greet them both as Cade and the detective walked into the hotel’s grandiose foyer.
‘We havela terrazza privataready for your evening meal, Signor Landry, as soon as your guest arrives,’ the hotel’s executive manager said with a confident smile. ‘It isbellissimain the sunset, perfect forun appuntamento romantico.’
A romantic date, my ass.
Cade’s Italian didn’t have to be fluent for him to guess even the middle-aged Italian hotel boss had probably heard of the media furore surrounding his ‘romance’ with Charlotte—which had only started to calm down in the last week.
Great.
