A Moment on the Lips(4)



It was a risky strategy, she knew, but she had no other real choice. And there was only one way to find out if he’d help her.

Given that he was a workaholic, it was a fair bet that Dante would still be at his office. Her hand was shaking as she punched the number into the phone. ‘Come on, Caz. Don’t be such a wimp,’ she told herself as she pressed the last digit. But with each ring of the phone, her nerves increased. Maybe she’d made a mistake. Maybe he wasn’t there. Maybe she should just give u—

‘Dante.’ His voice was crisp, clear—and every coherent thought went out of her head.

‘Hello?’

Get a grip, Caz, she told herself and took a deep breath. ‘Signor Romano? It’s Carenza Tonielli.’

‘How can I help you, Signorina Tonielli?’

If he was surprised—or if he’d expected her to call and say she’d changed her mind, once she’d had a proper look through the books—it didn’t show. He was polite, formal and absolutely expressionless. Which unnerved her even more.

‘I, um, wondered if we could talk. There’s something I wanted to run by you.’

‘Where and when?’

He certainly didn’t waste any time. Maybe that was why he was so good at business. ‘My office?’ As for when …

‘When would be convenient for you?’

‘Now?’

‘Now?’ She almost squeaked the word into the phone. Whoever had a business meeting at this time of the evening?

Then again, she didn’t need any more time to prepare. There wasn’t anything she could add to make her case. ‘OK. Um, do you know where my office is?’

‘Yes.’

Stupid question. Of course he did. He’d been planning to buy the business. No doubt he’d met her grandfather here. ‘Good. I’ll, um, see you in a bit, then.’

‘Ciao.’

Her hand was still shaking slightly when she put the phone down. Well, she’d done it now. She was going to have to go through with it. Anyway, what was the worst thing that could happen? Just that he’d refuse. And if he did that, she’d still be in the same position she was in now. It wouldn’t make things any more difficult. So it was ridiculous to feel so nervous about seeing him.

She busied herself shaking coffee grounds into a cafetière and boiling the kettle. She’d just rearranged the cups on the tray for the third time when she heard the knock at the shop door.

‘Thank you for coming, Signor Romano,’ she said as she let him in and locked the door behind him.

‘Prego.’ Still perfectly polite and formal. And his face was even less easy to read than his voice. Maybe she should’ve asked him over the phone, instead. It would be a lot easier without those piercing eyes watching her every movement.

‘May I offer you some coffee?’ she asked as she led him through to her office.

‘Thank you. No milk or sugar.’

Easy enough. She could do this.

Except her hand shook as she brought his cup over to the desk, and she spilled coffee all over his suit trousers.

‘Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to—’

He cut her off with a shrug. ‘No problem. It’ll come out in the wash.’

But he was unsmiling. Grim, even. And her heart sank. Why had she ever been daft enough to think he was going to agree to this? It wasn’t just a risky strategy, it was an insane one.

‘So what did you want to run past me?’ he asked.

She placed her own coffee very carefully on her desk and sat down. ‘I’ve looked at Nonno’s books.’

‘And? ‘

‘And you have a point. I admit it. I don’t have the experience to turn things round. But—’ she sucked in a breath ‘—if you’d agree to mentor me, I could do it.’

‘Mentor you.’ Again, his voice and his face were completely expressionless. She had no idea whether he was amused, outraged, surprised, interested. Definitely not a man to play poker against.

And then he was silent.

Thinking about it, maybe. Did she interrupt, or give him space, or what?

‘What’s in it for me?’ he asked eventually.

‘How about, you can say “I told you so” and feel really, really smug?’

That earned her a smile, and maybe the slightest softening in those beautiful dark eyes—which gave her enough heart to continue. ‘Seriously, I can pay you to mentor me,’ she said. ‘Tell me what you charge.’

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