A Legacy of Secrets(23)

Santo didn’t seem to notice any difference in her. It was Santo who had changed, for this time as he faced her in the lift, he was a different man going down than up. Relaxed even as he headed out, not even bothering to scowl to the media, he saw her into the car, then drove towards Ella’s villa. He needed no direction as he had dropped her off a couple of times before, but she had never asked him in and neither did she now. But Santo was having none of it.

‘Make me coffee.’ Santo yawned, because there was another drive ahead now to get to the run-down docklands where they were filming, only Ella wasn’t joining him till Tuesday. ‘And if you do...’ He smiled. ‘I will give you today off.’

‘I was already taking it off anyway!’ Ella said as he followed her into her villa. She was just a touch embarrassed—it was pretty sparse, just a small one-bedroom rental. As she headed into the kitchen to put the coffee pot on the stove Santo stayed in the lounge, looking at the few books she had and noticing they were all about directing.

Noticing, too, that, apart from that, there were no real clues to her.

He was very used to checking out women’s homes—it was a fleeting game he played—but there was nothing to be learned about Ella here. Maybe it shouldn’t have surprised him—she was only here temporarily after all—but there wasn’t even a family photo above the fireplace.

And nothing much about her in her bathroom either, Santo noticed when he excused himself for a moment and shamelessly peered into her cabinets. He did make a mental note of her favourite scent and then smothered a smile, because he had been about to let Ella know, so she could order some, and flowers and jewellery too! Had she not been a woman she had just bedded, Ella would have been told later this morning that the works were needed for her new lover. For once, Santo wasn’t feeling seedy after excess. Nope, there wasn’t even the vague pang of guilt that happened all too often after an empty encounter.

‘Coffee!’ he heard her call from the kitchen. Santo glanced into her bedroom, saw the unmade bed and a bra on the floor. As exhausted as he was, as much as he needed to get to work, when he thought of her lying there calling him a bastard into her phone, he could easily have called to her to say to hell with the movie and that he wanted his coffee in bed.

Instead he headed back to the kitchen, watching as she poured the thick black coffee into two small cups and then sweetened them. She passed one to him and he took a grateful sip.

‘For that—’ he smiled ‘—you can turn your phone off till tomorrow.’

‘And have you go crazy that I didn’t pick up? I don’t think so.’

‘I mean it,’ he said. ‘Just have a day—I’ll deal with anything that comes up. Turn your phone back on when you get there tomorrow.’

‘I’ve got some things that need to be done....’

‘Nothing that cannot wait. Do them tomorrow and then drive down—maybe get there in the evening. There won’t be much action on set for a couple of days. It will all be setting up and getting to know the others.’

‘You’re sure?’ Ella checked, because Santo was a pretty demanding boss, but she really was exhausted.

‘Of course I’m sure,’ Santo said. He watched her face closely when he spoke next. ‘Unless you need to keep your phone on in case your family ring...’

‘No.’

He took another sip of his coffee. She really gave nothing at all away.

‘Your mother’s Italian?’ he checked. ‘From where?’ Santo asked, though he knew already from her dialect, but he wondered if she would share.

‘Sicilian.’

‘And your father?’

‘He’s Australian.’

And her eyes warned him that she would tell him no more than that, but he chose to ignore. ‘Are they still together?’

‘Why do you ask?’

‘I just wondered...’ Santo said. ‘I was just asking about your family in the same way you asked about mine.’

And yes, Ella realised, she was being brittle and defensive when there was absolutely no need to be. It was a simple question after all. ‘Yes—’ she gave a tight smile ‘—they’re still together.’

‘Now,’ Santo said, noticing her breathe out in relief as he changed the subject. But that soon faded when she found out to what he was changing it to. ‘We need to speak about this job that you are considering taking....’