An Invitation to Sin(43)
The chairman joined in the conversation. ‘Perhaps this is a good time to give us some detail. I’m sure Nico is interested to hear how you intend to add value to the brand.’
‘That’s easy. Your occupancy is down because you have no appreciation of style or beauty,’ Luca said bluntly and Taylor almost laughed at the shock on their faces.
She loved his honesty. He didn’t care what people thought, which meant he wasn’t afraid to speak the truth. Working in a profession where people rarely told the truth, she found it a refreshing change to be with someone who spoke his mind.
Sadly Nico didn’t agree. ‘Perhaps we should talk in Italian so that we don’t bore Taylor with our business.’
Luca scooped up two glasses of champagne from a pretty waitress with a wink and a smile. ‘Taylor doesn’t speak Italian—’ he handed her a glass ‘—and unlike you, Nico, I have no problem with my fiancée expressing an opinion. I’d like her to be part of the conversation.’
They put him down at every turn and yet he was bigger than all of them, she thought. He had an innate confidence, a powerful belief in himself that resisted all their attempts to diminish him. They tried to make him look small and yet each time they knocked him down he rose higher, towering above them in every way.
She felt a flash of pride and then wondered why she would feel pride in a man who wasn’t hers.
Unsettled, she sipped her champagne and asked the question no one else seemed interested in asking. ‘So do you have a plan for the hotels, Luca?’
Luca didn’t hesitate. ‘We’re going to refurbish the top six from the latest Corretti Home collection. Out with bland, hotel uniformity and in with style and originality. Instead of guests walking away with white waffle dressing gowns they could purchase from any retail outlet, they come away with ideas for decorating their own homes and recreating luxury in their everyday lives. They leave not just rested, but inspired.’
Nico spluttered over his drink. ‘The Corretti name is already a strong brand. We don’t need your help with that.’
Luca smiled. ‘By the time I’ve finished Corretti won’t be a brand, it will be a lifestyle.’
There was a stunned silence.
Nico hadn’t touched his drink. ‘You’re assuming people would want your lifestyle.’
‘How could they not?’ Luca slid his arm round Taylor, who smiled up at him in full-on adoring-fiancée mode, but this time the act was easy because her admiration was genuine.
‘So you’re giving people the message that if they stay in a Corretti hotel, they soak up some of the Corretti style—that’s a totally brilliant idea.’
A faint frown touched his forehead. ‘Grazie, bellissima.’ He hesitated and then lowered his head and kissed her gently. ‘And now I think about it, you’d be perfect to front the campaign I have planned. Corretti Hotels—First Choice for Taylor Carmichael, Movie Star.’
‘I’d have to stay in it first, just to check it has my approval.’
His smile was intimate. ‘Once the hotel has been refurbished, we’ll christen the Presidential Suite.’
Her gaze collided with his. Her stomach twisted. the chemistry between them rocketed off the scale. Through the thick, lazy heat of sexual awareness she heard the chairman clear his throat.
‘It seems Luca has extravagant plans for the business, but what about the two of you?’ He beamed at them. ‘You’re just so perfect for each other. It occurred to us that a Corretti wedding would focus attention away from Matteo’s untimely elopement.’
‘Was it untimely?’ Still looking at Taylor, Luca raised his eyebrows. ‘I thought the timing was perfect.’
Taylor, still shaken by the depth of the physical connection between them, decided that goading the board was a sport to him.
‘What Luca means,’ she said quickly, ‘is that there is never a good time for such a thing to happen.’
‘Perhaps not.’ The chairman didn’t look convinced. ‘But there is no doubt that your wedding would divert attention and give the press something positive to think about. You should marry without delay.’
It was a suggestion she hadn’t anticipated and Taylor felt Luca’s arm tighten around her.
‘A rushed wedding would lead people to assume Taylor was pregnant and none of us want that.’
The chairman’s smile faded. ‘You don’t want to be pregnant?’