LITMIR.BIZ

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but not insanity and in this case absolutely nothing needed to be done. ‘We can maybe do a small touch-up with fillers before the wedding and naturally I will see you a month before so that your cosmetic filler is at its optimum, but—’

      ‘Leo!’ Francesca interrupted impatiently. ‘I want this surgery. This wedding is very important to me. Tony is going to be there. I haven’t seen him in years. I want to take his breath away.’

      ‘You’ll more than take his breath away if you look like Cat Woman.’ Leo could be very direct when needed, though he did try to soften it with a touch of humour. ‘He’ll choke on his hors d’oeuvre.’

      ‘Leo, you are not listening to me.’

      ‘You are the one who is not listening to me, Francesca. Do you remember when I took over your care from my father? You made me promise that no one would ever be able to guess that you’d had some work done. I’ve kept that promise. You look stunning. Even knowing the work you have had done, I still can’t really see it and I’m the surgeon. What you’re asking me to do will have everybody knowing that you’ve been under the knife and that you’ve got a face pumped up with fillers, and I’m just not prepared to put my name to it.’

      ‘Leo, please!’

      ‘Francesca, we can arrange for some skin treatments in the lead-up to the wedding and as I said I will make sure that your—’

      ‘I want to have the surgery.’

      ‘And I’m not prepared to operate,’ Leo said. ‘There are risks with any surgery, Francesca, and at seventy-two years of age …’ Don’t mention the war, Leo thought as he watched her furious eyes widen, but Leo simply would not be swayed and he continued on with the truth. ‘It would be foolish at best to operate for absolutely no reason.’

      ‘So you are saying that I’m too old for surgery?’

      ‘For completely unnecessary surgery, yes,’ Leo said. ‘Francesca, why don’t we—?’

      But Francesca wasn’t listening. First making sure to drain the last of her brandy, angrily she stood. ‘You can’t say no to me.’

      ‘I can,’ Leo answered. ‘I just have. But I will—’ He didn’t get to finish. Francesca didn’t want to hear about fillers or skin treatments, she wanted surgery and she wanted it booked now! She stormed out in rage, hurling out her anger as she left.

      ‘I have been good to you, Leo! This is how you repay my loyalty, this is how you treat me …’

      Lizzie heard the fracas and chose not to ignore it. ‘Is everything okay?’ Lizzie checked, popping her head in.

      Leo rolled his eyes.

      ‘No jewellery to pick up?’ Lizzie checked.

      ‘Not this time.’ Leo gave a tight smile.

      ‘Not another lovers’ tiff, I hope!’

      ‘God, no.’ Leo actually laughed. ‘I do have some morals. Not many …’ Then his face went serious. ‘I refused to do the surgery she wanted.’

      ‘Oh.’

      ‘I did a full facelift on her last year. Francesca is seventy-two!’

      ‘Oh, my …’ Lizzie blinked. She could not believe that the woman she had seen was in her seventies. ‘I knew you were a good surgeon but …’ She shook her head. ‘She looks amazing.’

      ‘I’d love to take all the credit but, the fact is Francesca has the most amazing bone structure I’ve ever seen and still exercises daily and keeps herself in shape. She was a prima ballerina,’ Leo explained. ‘When I took over her care we both agreed to keep it minimal. Part of the reason she looks so good is that she doesn’t look as if she has had surgery—her face moves, she’s got lines …’ He let out a sigh. ‘Not for long, though.’

      ‘Meaning.’

      ‘The trouble with saying no to someone like Francesca is that she’ll find someone who is only too happy to say yes. The double trouble is …’ he shrugged ‘… she’s my favourite patient and I can’t stand to think of anyone else treating her. I know I’m the best and I want the best for her. I really do think a lot of her.’

      ‘Really?’ Lizzie smiled.

      ‘She’s so eccentric.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘She tells me all about Tony, the love of her life. How he wanted her to give up dancing yet she refused to. He wanted lots of bambinos and she wanted the stage so she ended it. There have been numerous young lovers and husbands since then but Tony is the love of her life. It turns out Tony is going to be at a wedding and she wants to look like she did the day she left him.’

      He headed over to a huge bookshelf and pulled down a ballet programme. ‘Signed.’ Leo smiled. ‘I asked her to bring in old photos to work from …’ He laughed at the memory. ‘I’d still be looking through them now if I hadn’t narrowed it down to this. She’s as neurotic and vain as most dancers are, and twice as temperamental. God, I hope she doesn’t go anywhere else.’

      He really did care about her, Lizzie thought, looking through the programme. Francesca was seriously beautiful now and in her day had been breath-taking. ‘A major part of her appeal is her gamine features,’ Leo explained, still flicking through the photos. ‘Look at that symmetry.’

      ‘Look at those eyes …’ Lizzie said.

      ‘They weren’t looking so doleful a few moments ago,’ Leo said. ‘She’s furious with me.’

      ‘But surely Francesca knows that you’ve got her best interests covered?’ Lizzie said, but Leo shook his head.

      ‘She determined that this is what she needs and, believe me, when Francesca sets her mind on something …’ He replaced the programme then chewed around the base of his thumbnail, pondering what to do. ‘Will you give Francesca a follow-up call?’ Leo asked. ‘See if she will come in and speak with me again—she’ll just hang up on me if I try to call.’

      ‘Sure.’

      ‘Women,’ Leo said.

      ‘Men,’ Lizzie sighed.

      ‘We’re not all bad.’

      ‘You are!’

      ‘I’m afraid so.’

      It was a warning and Lizzie heeded it but they stared at each other for a very long moment, a moment when Lizzie felt he might just lower that head and kiss her.

      She was imagining things surely.

      Except she was having to hold onto her tongue just to stop herself licking her lips in delicious anticipation.

      How did he do it? How, with just a look, could she almost taste his mouth?

      The door knocked and Ethan came in. Lizzie could feel the crackling tension between the brothers and she didn’t really understand Ethan’s slightly disapproving look that he shot in her direction.

      ‘I wanted to talk to you, Leo, about the patients I’ve got in mind. We can only take one and it’s proving impossible to choose …’ He had two files with him and on the front were images of two terribly disfigured children. ‘Burns,’ Ethan explained to Lizzie. ‘There aren’t any too many fireguards where they come from. Both need surgery, it’s just hell trying to decide …’

      ‘That one.’ Lizzie blinked as Leo’s finger jabbed at an image.

      ‘Why that one?’ Ethan asked.

      ‘Why not?’ Leo shrugged.

      ‘You’re an arrogant jerk …’

      There had always been tension between them, Lizzie was in no doubt as to that, but it was the first time she’d actually witnessed such a terse exchange. Maybe it was because Leo assumed Ethan and she had actually spoken about him, but in

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