Taming The Wild CEO novel Chapter 29

C H A P T E R 2 7 : B R E A T H L E S S

E L L A S T A N F O R D

Ella closed her door, searched through her purse to make sure she had her key, trying to stop the aching in the pit of her stomach as Javier took her arm and she felt the power of those strong fingers around her. They were walking in silence and after she could make sure that her heartbeat was steady and she was no longer out of breath, Ella pointed it out again, “You said you brought me to Sicily to help you persuade him to join us.”

Close to her ear, Javier said softly, “I want to sign him up, not strangle him, love.”

She felt a confused sensation of excitement and alarm, her ears drumming. Somehow she walked along the corridor beside him to the lift, trying to force her breathing to slow. In the lift she stood a foot away from him, her eyes lowered. They walked through the foyer to the car park in silence. Javier opened the door and she quickly slid into the passenger seat before he could touch her to assist her. As he took his own seat, she settled, far enough away to make sure his hand did not touch her thigh as he moved.

“So, have you called your brother?” she asked him quickly, as he drove out of the hotel car park, then realized that he had seven brothers so she added, “You know, the one who lives here in Italy.”

His eyes moved sideways to her before he replied with a short “No.” There was a faint frown on his face. “But my other brothers called.”

“Oh, let me guess. Your oldest brother, Thornton?”

For a split second, she could see his eyes widened infinitesimally and lines were drawned on his forehead before they cleared up as if he had found answers to the questions he had in mind. “Did he call you asking for me?”

“No.” Ella shook his head and caught his eyes landed on her for a moment before they were back focusing on the road. “But he is the only one you are doing business with at the moment. With the expansion plan and everything. He came to the office a handful of times so I figured he would be the one looking for you, wanting to discuss.”

“Actually Thornton did talk to me on the phone but for a very different topic.”

“Oh.”

“Maxon was the one who called first before he gave the phone to Tony.” Javier took a deep breath then released it with a sigh. “Piers had an accident.”

“What?! Have you called him? How is he? Perhaps you could go to see him when you've finished your business with Roberto,” Ella suggested. Her dark eyes were filled with concern. “You ought to see him especially since you are in the neighbourhood.”

“I know,” he said, sounding a little defensive. He tapped his finger on the steering wheel and murmured, “I promised to be back on Saturday so—”

“Surely, your brother is more important than London Starr,” she said accusingly. “Or Elsa Turner.” She added the name of the female which was linked to him lately due to them being caught by paparazzi while smooching outside the opera house. Another alarm rang at the back of her mind, reminding her that he was bad news and she should not let him kiss her ever again.

Ella took a deep breath and calmed herself before the storm for she was about to cross the line by telling him that how important it was for him to pay his brother a visit. “Look, I know this is none of my business but I do not think you do, Sir. You have a lot of brothers thus you may not realize how important it is to give each of them your affection. People tend to be careless with these then regret it when something happened. I may not have a sibling but if I do, I will love them and care for them dearly.”

“Don’t you think I know?” He said in a harsh tone and when he glanced at her, she felt her heart nearly stopped after being the receiving end of the piercing, hurtful eyes. “I was just thinking about ways to rearrange my plan because if Piers was hurt, I would rather stay here until he gets better. But I am not an irresponsible person who forgets that he has business to run. Too many people are depending on our company and I am not going to let the business go ashtray.”

“Sorry,” she offered an apology but he seemed to have decided that the best course of action was to ignore her altogether.

They turned into the drive of Roberto Capaldi’s villa some ten minutes later, through electronically operated gates controlled from the house, their tyres crunching over the silvery gravel until they halted before the house. Isolated behind high walls, in a quiet, exclusive area of Sicily, the villa lay among beautifully maintained gardens which were just visible by the soft light flooding from the terrace which ran all the way along the front of the building. A line of cypress trees made an oblong shadow on one side. Lawns and dark shrubs occupied the main part of the garden. The sky was darkening to the soft purple of a plum. Stars pierced it at intervals, occasionally fading as the glow of an approaching aircraft lit the dark.

From a long way off they could hear the sad murmur of the sea. Roberto was quite different tonight. He had chosen to wear formal evening clothes, his white shirt lacily frilled, the smooth black velvet of his suit making him even thinner and emphasising the shade of his white blond hair. He looked older, less brash, better looking, and as his eyes swept over her the admiration in them was unmistakable.

He bent his head to kiss Ella’s hand, taking her by surprise, and grinned when he noticed what he had caused. “Hello, Darling.”

She flickered a glance at her boss nervously. There was a polite movement on his hard mouth, the pretence of a smile, but no warmth in the blue eyes. Roberto took them into a room which was thirty feet long with shining woodblock floors reflecting bowls of scented spring flowers. They illuminated the room with beauty, the cool white and green of the colour scheme carried through in every object; soft white leather upholstery, floor-length green curtains, lampshades and cushions.

“This is lovely,” she commented, admiring some cold green jade elephants standing along the stone fireplace.

Roberto moved to a table. “What would you like to drink?”

“Just gin and tonic please,” she said. “Thank you.”