LITMIR.BIZ

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She pursed her lips. There was no way her mother would be capable of running that kind of business, and it was unlikely Rosa would want to stay in one place and help. Maybe, much as the idea broke Anna’s heart, her mother should sell the island to someone who could look after it.

      She’d broach the subject after the wedding. There was no point getting embroiled in a family drama before.

      She led Leo through the grand hallway, now a hotel reception area, a board behind the huge desk holding the big iron keys that still unlocked the bungalow doors—no flimsy key cards here—and along the wooden panelled hallway until they reached the vast kitchen where her mother was still sorting crockery.

      ‘Mama?’

      Piles of brightly painted terracotta plates, bowls and cups covered every surface and most of the floor. In the middle of the chaos Sancia stood swaying, her hair falling out of its customary loose bun, her eyes closed as she sang along to the ear-piercingly loud music blaring from the radio. Anna winced, unable to even glance in Leo’s direction.

      The scene was all too reminiscent, a flashback to her teenage years. She’d soon stopped bringing friends home, no idea what would greet them once they walked through the front door into the untidy hallway. Sancia was usually at home, but she would be preoccupied with her current fad; dancing, painting, sculpting, cooking. Whatever it was tended to take over the whole house, a chaotic tangle of colour and mess. It was all about the creative journey, Sancia would say, whenever Anna or her father suggested she keep her artistic endeavours confined to one room. Which was a good thing as usually the end result was good for nothing at all. Anna preferred to spend her after-school time at her friends’ houses instead, in ordered, peaceful homes where everything had its place and routines ruled.

      ‘Mama!’ she said again, this time loudly and sharply, and Sancia’s eyes flew open, fastening onto her daughter reproachfully.

      ‘Querida, there is no need to shout.’ She switched her gaze over to Leo and her dark eyes widened, her still-full mouth curving into a smile. ‘Hola.’

      Anna’s heart sank; she recognised that particular flirtatious smile. It was her mother’s default smile for any reasonably attractive man and Anna had seen it used, always to great effect, on friends of her father’s, and on her own friends’ fathers. No girl should have to grow up seeing grown men reduced to red-faced boys by her own mother. Anna knew it wasn’t conscious, that warm smile of appreciation, it wasn’t meant with malice or intent or even deliberate flirtatiousness, but it was all the more devastating for that.

      Leo didn’t seem to be immune, his own smile wide as he bent over Sancia’s outstretched hand. ‘Hola,’ he answered, his voice so low it was a cross between a purr and a growl, a deep rumble Anna suspected was used as often as her mother’s smile and with a similar effect—only she was pretty sure Leo di Marquez knew exactly what he was doing.

      Sancia preened. ‘Who is your charming amigo, Anna?’

      Anna made a concerted effort not to grind her teeth. ‘Mama, this is Señor di Marquez, he is Valentina’s brother and he’s come to check the island is suitable for his sister’s wedding.’

      Sancia turned her smile up another watt. ‘What a lucky girl to have such an involved brother.’ She gazed up at Leo as if he were edible and Anna tried not to follow her mother’s gaze, especially as she seemed fixated on Leo’s half-bared chest.

      ‘Your resort is beautiful, señora,’ Leo said, a smile still playing around his beautifully sculpted mouth.

      ‘Gracias, and please, call me Sancia. Señora always makes me feel so old. I trust you’re happy with everything? We are so looking forward to welcoming Valentina and her fiancé in a month’s time.’

      Anna stared at her mother in disbelief. Did she really think anyone would be happy with the state of the island? After all, it wasn’t as if she didn’t know what a huge task she had in front of her—she had called both her daughters to beg them to drop everything to come and help. Maybe now Anna was here Sancia considered her own job done. She had always relied on Anna to look after the dreary practicalities in the past. ‘That’s my sensible, organised girl,’ she would say, as if sensible and organised were things to be tolerated, to be pitied, not to emulate.

      By the way Leo’s mouth quirked he was evidently amused by Sancia’s blind optimism. ‘Obviously you are not quite ready for the season,’ he said. Why was he being so diplomatic with Sancia when he hadn’t minced one of his words with Anna? ‘As you know Valentina needs everything to be perfect and so I have promised to help you prepare the island for her wedding. I trust this is acceptable?’

      If Sancia’s eyes grew any wider they would fall right out of her head. As it was she was currently resembling a cartoon character more than a real human being. ‘That is so kind of you.’

      Anna couldn’t stop her toe tapping impatiently on the tiled floor. Was her mother going to look at this practically in any way? Check that Leo was who he said he was, that Valentina wanted his input and, most importantly, that his presence here for a month wouldn’t result in any reduction of the lavish payment Valentina had offered in return for a week’s exclusivity? She took her mother’s arm and steered her through the piles of bowls and plates to the open back door, lowering her voice and doing her best to ignore Leo’s sardonic glance. ‘Mama, don’t you think you should check with your client first, and make sure this doesn’t mean there will be any renegotiation on the price? That Leo is who he says he is.’ But she knew she was wasting her breath.

      ‘Querida, the fates have brought you a handsome young man and you want to check his references? Live a little, Anna. You’re getting hunched, all that time over a keyboard, and you look positively sallow. A few weeks in the sunshine with some agreeable company is exactly what you need.’

      ‘I’m not here for my health, Mama. I’m here to help you...’

      ‘And thanks to Señor di Marquez your job will be a lot easier. After all, Anna, you’re not the most practical of people, are you?’ And while the gobsmacked Anna was still trying to formulate an articulate response her mother stepped away, turning back to Leo. ‘We have plenty of space here in the villa, Señor di Marquez. I would be very happy to accommodate you.’

      ‘Señor di Marquez has his own accommodation,’ Anna interjected quickly.

      Her mother’s smile barely wavered. ‘But we will feed you, I insist, it’s the least I can do. Lunch will be served in just a couple of hours so shall we meet back here at two? I’m really looking forward to getting to know you better.’

      Uh-oh. Anna knew exactly what that meant. At least four courses, wine and two hours of the day wasted. Then, no doubt, her mother would suggest a siesta and before Anna had had a chance to make even one list the day would be over. ‘There’s no need for a formal lunch. There’s far too much to do. We can easily just grab a roll and some cheese and work through. It’s only early May. It’s not as if the sun will be too unbearable,’ she finished a little doubtfully as she glanced out of the window at the perfectly blue, cloudless sky.

      ‘Oh, Anna...’ Her mother couldn’t have sounded more reproachful if Anna had suggested drowning kittens, but her sorrowful protestation was drowned out by Leo, who leaned against the huge scrubbed table, arms folded and a sardonic gleam in his eyes.

      ‘Skip lunch? Absolutely not. I’m looking forward to it, señora—I mean, Sancia. What’s life without time out for good food and good conversation?’

      Narrowing her eyes, Anna stared over at the insouciant Spaniard. ‘I thought you wanted everything to be perfect for your sister’s wedding?’

      ‘I do, it will be, but there’s no reason we can’t have a little fun while we’re working, now, is there?’

       CHAPTER THREE

      LEO TOOK A small sip of his coffee and grinned over at Anna. She

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