Rocco Mario leafed frantically through the file Elena had presented him with. Finally he thrust it down on the table. His complexion had taken on an unhealthy grey hue, his shock palpable. ‘Did Andrea Santino put all that stuff together for you?’‘Yes,’ Elena breathed. ‘Please don’t tell me any lies. I need to hear the truth.’‘It looks a lot worse than it is,’ Rocco declared defensively. ‘Let me explain how it happened—’‘It wasn’t something that just happened. Don’t talk as though it was something that you had no control over,’ Elena broke in tautly. ‘You forged my mother’s will so that I was left penniless. That’s what it comes down to!’‘You’re making too much of this,’ the older man argued vehemently. ‘It all started out quite innocently. When you were a baby, I tried to persuade your mother, Isabel, into a business partnership. I hoped that together we could build houses on the estate.’‘Build?’ Elena parroted. ‘But it’s against the law to develop a site that’s been listed as be

Shock at the revelation that she was, after all, the rightful owner of the estate that had been in her family for generations? Of course that fact would have to be ratified by a court of law before it was officially hers but, even so, it was good news, wasn’t it? Nobody would ever be able to take the estate away from her again and in her hands it would be safe. The plant nursery would belong to her once more. It had made a reasonable income. When she was no longer required to pass over all the profits to her father, she would be able to build up the business and look forward to more comfortable takings in the future.Yet even those rousing prospects failed to comfort her. What she had learned about her only surviving parent had devastated her. Worse still she was looking back and seeing that, although she had chosen to avoid acknowledging it, she had always been a rank outsider in her father’s family circle. She had hovered on the sidelines, eager to please, desperate to make a place

Elena threw a stick for Violet to fetch as she walked along the beach. Four weeks of perfect relaxation and contentment in Sardinia had put a healthy glow in her cheeks and a spring into her step. She had got her peace of mind back and the silliest things made her smile, she reflected cheerfully.Andrea had shamelessly bribed his way into Violet’s affections with chocolate treats. It had amused her that Andrea, so hopelessly competitive in every way, would not settle for mere tolerance from her pet. Violet now adored Andrea and one of his favourite spots to sleep was below Andrea’s desk. Unfortunately Andrea did not appreciate Violet’s amazingly loud snores.Elena thought about the fact that she adored Andrea just as much as her pet. She was very happy, but occasionally a cold chill would run over her when she considered the inevitable end of the affair. Nothing lasted for ever and she knew it. He was sure to get bored with her. She couldn’t believe that she had what it took to hold h

‘My mother was Carmelo Zanetti’s daughter and my father was the son of another crime family.’It took Elena thirty seconds to work out what he was telling her and if she was aghast, it was not for the reasons he had expected. ‘My word, that old man who died this week was your grandfather and yet you didn’t trust me enough to tell me that. No wonder you were upset last night!’‘Per amor di Dio! I wasn’t upset!’ Andrea launched at her in an immediate denial. ‘He was an evil man and I didn’t know him—we met only once when he was already dying.’Elena saw that being upset fell into the same category as being drunk and in shock in Andrea’s uncompromisingly tough expectations of himself. If he said it wasn’t happening, he could avoid having to acknowledge that he had emotions. She could only imagine how disturbing he must have found that meeting with his grandfather. She would have put her arms round him if she hadn’t known that such obvious sympathy would infuriate him.‘You may have despi

‘No, we passed that point long ago. You put me through hell. You kept on trying to dump me—you came to Sardinia of your own free will. You really mean more to me than you think and I am sorry that I gave you the impression that you are just my mistress.’ ‘Blame that on your fatal charm. Or maybe you brainwashed me. And don't even try to fool me into believing that you actually care for me. You don't. I obviously wasn’t clever enough to see that I was just part of your revenge,’ she muttered shakily. ‘You weren’t going to confess either, were you?’ ‘I didn’t want to lose you,’ he bit out thickly. 'I knew that if I told you the truth, you would leave. I knew you would hate me if you discover what I have done. And that kept me from telling you. Trust me, it has been eating me up and I have wanted to come clean to you.' ‘You never had me to lose,’ Ayesha lied, determined not to show her distress. ‘But I can see now that you set out to own me. You don't care about me. You just want to ke