One-Night Baby. Susan Stephens

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СКАЧАТЬ film studios in Rome.

      

      If Santino wanted to give the cast the rest of the day off that was up to him. Kate refused to be fazed by his hard-eyed challenge. As she’d said to Caddy, she didn’t have the final word on his set, and for obvious reasons she was keen to get away once Caddy’s mind was put at rest.

      When Santino had asked for her name she had wondered if he was trying to humiliate her on purpose. But like the worst type of arrogant male Santino gave nothing away. Had he not been a world-class industrialist he would have made an excellent poker player. One thing was sure, the night that had made such a huge impact on her life meant nothing to him.

      ‘You do have a name?’ Santino prompted, breaking into Kate’s thoughts.

      His lips curved in the hint of a smile, but his gaze was hard. Kate felt as if ‘humiliation’ must be branded on her forehead, hearing him coolly repeat the question a second time. Would he remember her name if she thrust her visitor’s badge in his face? Had she even given him her name five years ago?

      Her face flamed red. There had been no time to exchange names on that occasion; polite introductions had been the last thing on their minds. She had only learned who Santino Rossi was later from the newspaper, by which time he had left England for Rome, having judged Westbury an unsuitable setting for his film.

      Kate refocused seeing Caddy hurrying across the set. She had sensed the stand-off and was rushing to her rescue, Kate realised fondly.

      ‘Is it all right if I take Kate away now?’ Caddy turned her most beseeching look on Santino.

      ‘Kate,’ Santino repeated softly, the corner of his mouth tugging up with faint amusement. ‘Would that be wild Kate? Or conformable Kate?’

      The Shakespearean reference made Kate’s cheeks fire up. So he did remember her. Santino remembered every moment of their night together and now he was taunting her with it. ‘Kate Mulhoon,’ she said briskly, holding out her hand for a formal handshake.

      Santino ignored the gesture and the humour died in his eyes. ‘We’ll discuss arrangements for your client over dinner tonight, Ms Mulhoon.’

      ‘Dinner?’ Kate’s breath caught in her throat. A cosy nighttime meeting was the last thing she wanted.

      ‘Time is short. You have to eat and so do I. And you’ll want to protect your client’s interests, I presume? The only available time I have is during dinner. We’ll discuss the way forward then.’

      There was no way out of it, Kate realised, and as Caddy’s representative she couldn’t afford to be indecisive. ‘I’ll need to talk things over with my client first—’

      ‘Eight o’clock sharp. I’ll pick you up at your hotel.’

      Santino had quickly restored the balance of power, Kate realised, feeling her hackles rising. But it was too late to argue with a man who had already turned on his heel and walked away.

      As the two girls linked arms Caddy drew Kate out of earshot of the rest of the cast. ‘I wanted to fling my arms around you and cheer the moment you arrived, but I thought I’d better let you establish your authority first. I didn’t think you’d want me hanging round your neck. But now you’re here—’ Caddy gave Kate a hug.

      ‘I don’t care what anyone thinks,’ Kate said with feeling, unable to stop herself tracking Santino’s progress across the lot.

      ‘Then you should,’ Caddy argued with concern, ‘because there are people in this industry who will stop at nothing to get what they want.’

      ‘Is that what this is about?’ Holding Caddy at arm’s length, Kate stared into her cousin’s face. ‘Has someone been unkind to you? It’s not Santino, is it, Caddy?’

      ‘No, of course not…’ Caddy took a quick glance around to make sure they weren’t being overheard. ‘I only hope he knows I’m not involved in the drugs—’

      ‘Drugs?’ Kate made an incredulous sound. ‘I doubt he’s that naïve. You’ve nothing to worry about, Caddy. If there are drugs on his set Santino will know about them and common sense will tell him you’re not involved. What would you have to gain by disrupting filming or risking your reputation? Nothing,’ Kate said, answering her own question. ‘You’re the best person for this role and Santino knows it, or he wouldn’t have hired you in the first place.’

      ‘He hired that scumbag director, didn’t he?’ Caddy threw a hostile glance towards the trailers parked up nearby.

      ‘Everyone in the industry knows he was Santino’s second choice. He’d done some good work in the past and Santino wanted the film completed on time—’

      ‘Are you defending Santino?’ Caddy tried but failed to hide her smile.

      ‘All I’m saying is that everyone is entitled to one mistake…’

      Kate fell silent as her careless words hung between them, and she was glad when Caddy squeezed her arm in a silent show of support. But she had come to Rome to look after Caddy, and it shouldn’t be the other way round, Kate reminded herself. ‘Diane Fox is said to be the best director in the business,’ she said, both to reassure Caddy and steer the conversation onto safer ground. ‘You’ll be fine once you start working with her—’

      ‘But will you be fine, Kate?’ Caddy’s voice had turned serious. ‘If I’d only known Santino would get here so fast—’

      ‘Of course I will,’ Kate said firmly, cutting across Caddy. ‘The only reason I’m going to meet Santino tonight is to talk business. I want everyone here to know that you have his full support, and I want you to concentrate on what you do best, Caddy, which is acting. You’re going to light up the screen—’

      ‘Do you really think so?’

      Caddy was easily distracted and was soon dreamy-eyed.

      ‘I’ve got no doubt,’ Kate said with confidence. ‘Holding a meeting over dinner is the most sensible way forward given the time constraints. All I’m going to do is speak to Santino on your behalf, relay any concerns you have to him, and—’

      ‘You make it all sound so easy,’ Caddy broke in, ‘and it isn’t easy, Kate. It never can be where you and Santino are concerned—’

      ‘But this isn’t about me and Santino. It’s about you, Caddy. You seem to have overlooked the fact that the agency I work for takes a huge chunk out of your fee and I’m responsible for you. The buck stops here. It’s my job to look after you.’

      ‘But what about you, Kate? Who looks after you? What about your feelings in all this?’

      ‘What feelings? My feelings for Santino, do you mean?’ Kate did her best to look incredulous. ‘I have no feelings for Santino, and he’s made it quite clear he feels the same way about me.’

      ‘Be careful, Kate. You’re taking an awful lot for granted.’ Caddy’s eyes clouded with concern. ‘And that’s a big mistake where Santino Rossi is concerned…’

      

      His suspicions regarding the morals of the film industry had just received another ringing СКАЧАТЬ