Harlequin Romance March 2021 Box Set Cara Colter (the mitten read aloud TXT) 📖

She wandered over to the edge of the shaded terrace and peered down at the sea below, an intoxicating turquoise that made her want to dive right in, at least she would if she wasn’t several hundred feet up. Where were the swimming spots on this island? Matteo would know.

She turned, a question on her lips, then stopped as she took in the rigid look on his face.

He barely seemed to know she was there. ‘Good God! When? I see.’

‘What’s happened?’ she said, swimming forgotten, but he didn’t acknowledge her question, still engrossed in the call.

‘Yes. Yes. Of course. Right. Agreed.’

He ended the call but made no move towards her and her stomach dropped as she noted his compressed mouth, his brows drawn together, every trace of the holiday-maker gone. Even in shorts and a T-shirt, he was suddenly every inch the deputy CEO of Harrington Industries.

‘What’s happened?’ she repeated as he pocketed his phone, his face even grimmer if that was possible.

‘I’m sorry. I have to go.’ He rummaged in his pocket and held out the return ticket for the funicular and a handful of notes. ‘You stay here, go up to the villa as we arranged, get yourself some lunch. I need to take the boat back for speed, but there are plenty of ferries across to the mainland; you’ll be fine. Don’t let this stop you enjoying your day.’

‘Of course you need to take the boat back; I can’t sail,’ she said, realising as she said it that who took the boat was so not the point she needed to be making. ‘Anyway, I’m not staying here without you… Matteo, what happened?’

He ran his hand distractedly through his hair and for a moment she saw a flicker of fear behind his set expression, then it was gone, as if it had never been. He was shutting down, she realised wearily. Just like before.

‘It’s my father.’

In a moment she was by his side, her hand clasping his arm. ‘Is he okay? Has there been an accident?’ Of course she’d go back with him; he’d need her support. She knew he wasn’t close to his father, resenting his party-filled lifestyle and the way he had so easily left Matteo to be brought up by his grandfather. From what Matteo had said, his father had kept custody of him legally but hadn’t seemed to care whether his small son was at boarding school, in Italy or alone in his grandfather’s austere Richmond mansion with a series of nannies—his grandfather just as absent, only in his case through workaholism. Moderation, it seemed, was not a Harrington gene.

Matteo shook his head. ‘No, no, he’s just been caught bribing.’ He closed his eyes. ‘Just! The fool. As inept at illegal business as he is at any other kind of work.’

‘Bribing? Who?’

‘I don’t know; he was over in Chile. He’s a director of Harrington Industries, not that he’s ever done a day’s work in his life. I don’t even know why he was in Chile; last I heard he was on his yacht in Nice. But he’s been arrested on suspicion of bribery. This could be an absolute disaster for us PR-wise. I need to get back to London and talk to our Head of Security before he heads out to Chile. He’d better take our Comms VP as well to handle the story at that end. I should be in the UK handling any PR fallout. Damn him. What was he thinking?’

It wasn’t his father he was so concerned about, more the potential reputational damage to Harrington Industries.

‘But what about your father; is he okay?’

‘He’s been bailed.’ The hard line of his mouth curved into a humourless smile. ‘He’ll be fine; he always slides out of these things. But an allegation like this could go very badly against us. Open up all kinds of investigations. We are clean, of course, but we can’t afford to have any mud sticking, not with the delicate negotiations we have coming up in China.’

‘You can’t go back to the UK alone. I’ll come with you.’

But his head shake was decisive. ‘You have the gala, Charlie.’

The gala. Of course. A feeling of déjà vu swept through her. Once again she was on the cusp of doing something that showcased the best of her talents and once again her husband wouldn’t be there to see it. Not to mention that he’d promised to be by her side the whole time, that she needed him to translate.

‘You’ll be fine,’ he said, as if reading her thoughts. ‘Lucia can translate for you, and you know the children now and they know you. You don’t need me.’

If only that was true. ‘How long will you be?’

‘I don’t know. But I promise I’ll be back, Charlie. Back for the gala.’

She looked at him levelly. ‘Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Matteo. Don’t put either of us through that. Not this time.’

In two steps he was over to her, cupping her face with his hands, kissing her, quick and desperate. Taken aback by the fierce need in his embrace, she clung to him, only to find herself put firmly to one side.

‘I won’t let you down, Charlie. Trust me.’

Charlie watched him stride away until he was out of sight; he didn’t look back once, as if she was already forgotten. For a moment she thought about giving up, returning to Capri town, heading back to the harbour and getting the first ferry back to Amalfi. But nothing would be served by her giving up her day out, even if it wasn’t the day she’d planned. With a heavy heart and slow steps, she returned to the path and made her way up towards the Villa Jovis, thinking she’d gladly throw the whole of Harrington Industries off the cliff.

She did her best to enjoy the rest of the afternoon, combining sightseeing with a little bit of shopping and a plate of excellent pasta in a restaurant on