Rumours: The Secret Billionaires. Дженнифер Хейворд

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       CHAPTER THREE

      AS THE FIRST week turned into the second, Antonio was forced to admit it was going to be even harder than the first and it had nothing to do with the tiny apartment or the work. It had everything to do with Sadie.

      Last weekend in the park he’d almost come clean, almost blown his cover. The temptation had been huge. As soon as he’d realised that Sadie’s little boy was almost certainly his child, he’d wanted to insist they return to Rome with him right there and then. It was only his loyalty to Sebastien, as well as Stavros and Alejandro, which had halted that impulse. That loyalty had been far stronger than the need to prove Sebastien wrong. Now he knew for sure their challenges had nothing to do with surviving without their fortunes. Sebastien had more than done his homework setting this challenge for him and no doubt had something of a similar nature planned for Stavros and Alejandro.

      Now, at the end of his last week, he wiped his hands on a cloth and tossed it impatiently aside, eager to leave Toni Adessi behind, eager to put into motion what he needed to do.

      As he slipped on his sunglasses he didn’t have to turn around to know that Sadie was coming down the steps from the office to the workshop. Every nerve cell in his body alerted him to her presence.

      ‘I understand you are leaving today.’ Sadie’s silky-soft voice so close to him caught him unawares after she’d spent the last week avoiding him. ‘Is this not the job for you after all? Have you failed in your mission to prove you can?’

      Antonio channelled the gruff mechanic he’d been concealed behind for the last two weeks and turned to look down at Sadie’s face, her beautiful green eyes sparkling with mischief. Was she flirting with him, emboldened by the knowledge he was leaving?

      ‘I never fail, Sadie, but I am leaving today. I have much more important matters to deal with.’ Finally he was able to say something truthful to her.

      ‘So where are you going?’ A hint of anxiety sounded in her voice, despite her light and playful tone. Why was she suddenly so interested? She’d barely glanced his way since that afternoon in the park. The day he’d nearly blown it all, risked everything he, Stavros and Alejandro had agreed to, in order to claim what was his. Leo. The dark-haired little boy whose eyes were the intense black which all Di Marcellos seemed to possess.

      ‘I think I’m more suited to living in Rome.’ He had to stifle the smile which threatened to form at her obvious shock.

      ‘You live in Rome?’

      ‘Sì.’ He could feel Antonio sliding back into place as he thought of his modern offices and the luxury apartment with views across the city he’d made his home. From the city he would often drive out in one of his highly collectable cars and enjoy the freedom of the road. He longed to get back to all of that, back to normality. Except what he’d discovered whilst working here undercover had changed things—changed him.

      Sadie’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, highlighting those deliciously long eyelashes. ‘So why are you here, Mr Adessi? Why work here in a small garage in Milan for just two weeks?’

      The accusation in those questions was as clear as the sparkle on the Mediterranean Sea in the summer. Did she know who he was? A frisson of panic rushed through him. He couldn’t blow it now on the final day, not when so much more was at stake. This went far beyond Sebastien’s donation to the search and rescue charity, far beyond the need to prove anything to anyone.

      ‘I was helping out a friend.’ He had to force the roughness he’d adopted for the last two weeks to stay in his voice. He was so close to completing Sebastien’s challenge and there was no way he’d risk it all now. Not when Stavros was about to start his two weeks and Alejandro was yet to discover where he would be sent. Besides, Antonio Di Marcello never failed—at anything.

      That thought infused him with the strength he needed to see this challenge to its conclusion. Once he’d got there he could deal with the reality of Sadie and the little boy he was almost certain was his.

      ‘When do you go back to Rome?’ Sadie seemed anxious, glancing around them as if looking for something or someone.

      ‘Not for a few days. I have some business to attend to first.’ That business involved seeing his parents, finding out just what they knew of Leo. Before he could tackle Sadie, he had to know if she’d gone to his family—and been turned away by them. Once he knew for sure that she had been there, that she had tried to contact him, he would be back—and this time it wouldn’t be as Toni Adessi.

      * * *

      Sadie looked at Toni, annoyed he’d once again chosen to hide behind his sunglasses. It didn’t help the unease that had grown with each passing day and when she’d learnt he was leaving after only two weeks of starting work. It only convinced her further that he’d been sent by Antonio to check up on her—or Leo. His mother must have finally passed on her message and a man as powerful as Antonio Di Marcello would have no problem finding her. But why now?

      Was this the day she’d dreaded since the door of his parents’ grand imposing house had been slammed in her face? The day she would have to face up to the might of Antonio Di Marcello drawing closer? Toni Adessi worked for him, of that she was certain, and she fully intended to let Antonio know he was not welcome in her life, not when he wasn’t man enough to face her himself.

      ‘You have business here?’ she prodded gently, keeping her voice light and teasing. Being defensive, she decided, wouldn’t help her find out what Toni was up to, or even if he was working for the man she had no wish to see again. Even so, she would love to tell him exactly what she thought of his philandering playboy ways.

      ‘Sì, sì, I do. But first it СКАЧАТЬ