LITMIR.BIZ

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turn a dream into their job.’

      ‘How many? How many people manage that? Thousands, millions, of people try and only a handful make it. Stop kidding yourself. Look around you. See the competition.’

      Her sister’s chin lifted. ‘It’s only over when you give up. And I won’t give up.’

      ‘So you’re going to throw away your whole life? You’re deluded, Izzy. Ruin your own life if you have to, but I beg you, don’t ruin mine.’

      Izzy looked shattered, like a delicate vase that had been dropped onto concrete. ‘It’s not my fault that the press follow me around. It’s not like I ask them to.’

      Her voice sounded strange and Matteo felt a flicker of concern because he’d never seen anyone look quite so fragile. Standing in those towering heels she swayed like a reed in the wind and he instinctively shifted his weight, ready to catch her if she fell.

      Was it the drink causing her balance problems or those ridiculous shoes she’d insisted on wearing?

      Either way, she was as white as the marble statue she’d mocked and it was obvious that she was seriously upset.

      Matteo took control. ‘Leave it with me. I’ll sort it out.’

      Relief spread over Allegra’s face but Izzy’s expression shifted from miserable to mutinous.

      ‘I’m not an “it” and I don’t need “sorting out.” I’m more than capable of sorting myself out, thank you very much! And if what you want is for me to avoid the press then that’s what I’ll do.’

      Remembering the urgency in his brother’s voice, Matteo walked Allegra to the door. ‘This is your week. The press should be focusing on you and Alex. That’s what we all want. If I take your sister back to the hotel, they’ll be staking her out, so I’ll get her out of here in my car.’ And if part of him knew it was madness to put himself in a position where he’d be spending more time in the company of the most disturbing woman he’d met for a long time then he ignored it. He was a man who prided himself on his self-control. He’d exercise it. The priority was to see his brother safely married and fulfilling the role of Crown Prince. ‘My palazzo is heavily guarded and the grounds run straight to steep cliffs and a private beach. No press.’ He’d made sure of it. The place was like a fortress. ‘It’s isolated.’

      Allegra’s face relaxed with relief as she pondered that solution. ‘It sounds perfect. It will give Alex and me a chance to … be together.’

      ‘It sounds like hell!’ Izzy’s face was white as a bride’s veil. ‘So I’m just going to move in with you? Well, that’s cosy. Lucky me. I just know we’re going to live happily ever after. It’ll be like a perfect fairy tale.’

      Matteo ignored her and addressed his remarks to Allegra. ‘Go back to Alex.’

      ‘Hello!’ Izzy’s voice was high-pitched. ‘I’m here too, remember?’

      ‘A fact I am unlikely to forget.’ The chill in his tone earned him a wounded look from Izzy and a relieved smile from Allegra.

      ‘Thank you so much.’

      A sound emerged from Izzy’s throat—it might have been protest, but her sister had already gone, closing the door firmly behind her.

      Izzy was staring at the closed door, those black-rimmed eyes huge, as if she couldn’t quite believe what had just happened. ‘I need to talk to her—she’s not behaving like herself….’

      Given his own suspicions about the engagement that comment might have been worth exploring further, but Matteo decided that his brother needed to sort out his own problems. The limit of his intervention was going to be removing this girl from the scene.

      Knowing that the press wouldn’t expect anyone to leave the party early, Matteo pulled his phone out of his pocket. ‘We’re leaving right now.’

      She stood rigid. ‘I don’t want to spend another minute with you. Why you’re the world’s most eligible bachelor I have no idea but I certainly don’t want to meet anyone else on that list.’

      ‘Next time you make me your “goal” perhaps you’d better carry out a little more in-depth research,’ he advised in a silky tone. ‘Did you bring a coat?’

      ‘I don’t need a coat. I’m not going with you.’

      ‘You can come willingly or I can carry you out of here. Your choice.’

      ‘I’m absolutely not going—oh—’ She gave an astonished squeak as he scooped her into his arms and carried her towards the door on the opposite side of the room that led to a private exit. ‘Ugh. Don’t jiggle me around—I get travel sick. Put me down! It will serve you right if you put your back out.’

      ‘You weigh nothing.’ And acknowledging that cost him because it made him more aware of the feel of her in his arms, of the softness of her skin and the way her hair brushed against his jaw.

      ‘I’d weigh more if you fed me. I’ve lost several kilos since I arrived. Why on earth would you want me to come with you? You hate me.’

       If only.

      He wondered what she’d say if she knew his feelings towards her were far, far more complex than that. She was so black and white, he thought. So extreme about everything. A small, lethal grenade of passion just waiting to explode at the wrong moment. All the more reason to isolate her somewhere she could do no harm.

      Ignoring the astonished glances of the staff, Matteo strode down a set of steps and into a private courtyard at the rear of the palace.

      He was just congratulating himself on being back in control of the situation when he felt the warmth of her mouth against his neck. Fire flashed through his veins and heated his body.

      ‘What are you doing?’ His voice was hoarse and he lowered her abruptly to the ground.

      ‘I asked you nicely to put me down—’ she looked as unsteady as she sounded ‘—but you didn’t listen to reason so I’m trying alternative tactics. Flattered though I am that you see someone as small and insignificant as me as some sort of monarchy wrecker, I’m afraid I must refuse your kind invitation to stay at your palazzo. Firstly because I have a suspicion that you’re not a very nice person. Secondly because if tonight is anything to go by the hospitality probably isn’t up to much, and fourthly—’

      ‘Thirdly,’ he corrected her smoothly, and she blinked.

      ‘Whatever. I really liked my hotel room. It came with a big fluffy dressing gown. For one week of my life I was going to live in luxury. I was going to have the whole princess lifestyle without the inconvenience of a prince.’

      He was now standing a safe distance from her but he could still feel the touch of her mouth against his skin. ‘Your hotel is now a no-go zone. You’re coming with me and that isn’t an invitation, it’s a command.’

      ‘I like to make my own choices, thank you very much.’

      ‘Fine. Here are your choices. You can get in the car yourself, or I can put you there. Move.’ With a discreet flick of his wrist Matteo unlocked the sports car. ‘And don’t you dare be sick.’

      At any other time she would have danced with excitement at the prospect of being given another chance to impress him, but Izzy was feeling hideous. And it wasn’t all down to the champagne she’d drunk.

      She couldn’t believe the evening had gone so badly wrong. She needed to regroup. To plan. But she didn’t feel well enough.

      As she slid into the deep leather seat of the super car, a nasty mixture of misery and humiliation sloshed around her brain mingling with a massive dollop of disappointment. When she’d envisaged the end of the evening none of her daydreams had included her being whisked away under the cover of darkness from a discreet private entrance hidden in the depths of the palace grounds.

      She

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