Harlequin Romance March 2015 Box Set: The Renegade Billionaire\The Playboy of Rome\Reunited with Her Italian Ex\Her Knight in the Outback by Rebecca Winters

Author:Rebecca Winters
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Harlequin Romance
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWO

MARIO RELEASED HER. ‘As long as we understand each other.’

Natasha drew a tense breath as the bitter irony of those words swept over her. They had never understood each other. Nor could they ever, except on the lines of mutual defensiveness and mistrust.

She turned to Giorgio, assuming her most businesslike tone.

‘So it’s time I consulted with the Publicity Manager. Tell me, what are my instructions?’

‘We must go on a trip around Verona,’ he said, ‘studying all the significant places. Especially the balcony. These days you can even get married in Juliet’s house. And afterwards the bride and groom always come out onto the balcony for the photographs.’

‘Useful,’ she said, taking out her notebook and beginning to write. ‘The balcony scene is the most famous part of the story.’

‘Yes, people love to imagine Juliet standing there, yearning for her lover, saying, “Romeo, Romeo, where art thou Romeo?”’

‘She doesn’t say “where”,’ Natasha objected. ‘She says “Wherefore”. It means “Why?” She’s saying “Why did you have to be Romeo, a Montague, and my enemy?” In Shakespeare’s time, if you wanted to know why someone had behaved in a certain way, you’d say—’ she assumed a dramatic attitude ‘“—Wherefore did thou do this, varlet?”’

‘Varlet?’ Giorgio queried.

‘It means rascal. You’d say it to someone who’d behaved disgustingly.’

Giorgio gave a crack of laughter. ‘I must remember that. Rascal—briccone.’

‘Or traditore,’ Natasha observed lightly.

‘Aha! So you know some Italian words?’ Giorgio said eagerly.

‘One or two,’ she said with a fair assumption of indifference.

‘I’d give a lot to know how you learned that particular one,’ he said cheekily.

‘You’ll just have to wonder,’ she chuckled.

Mario wasn’t looking at her. He seemed completely occupied with his wine.

A man appeared in the doorway, signalling to Giorgio.

‘I’ve got to leave you for a moment,’ he said. ‘But I’ll be back.’ He laid a hand on Natasha’s shoulder. ‘Don’t go away. I have a very good feeling about this.’

‘So have I,’ she said. ‘I’ll be right here.’

When Giorgio had gone, Mario refilled her wine glass.

‘Be cautious about Giorgio,’ he said. ‘He turns on the charm as part of his trade.’

‘But of course,’ she said cheerfully. ‘It’s a form of show business. No harm in that.’

‘As long as you’re not taken in.’

‘I’m not. These days, nothing and nobody manages to deceive me.’

He raised his glass to her in an ironic salute.

‘This is quite a coincidence,’ he said. ‘I wonder which of us is more shocked.’

‘We’ll never know.’

‘Just now you were very determined to say we didn’t know each other.’

‘Would you have said differently?’ she asked, watching him.

‘No, but I doubt I’d have said it so fast or emphatically. You denied knowing me as though your life depended on it.’

‘But we didn’t know each other. Once we believed we did but we were both wrong. You thought I was easy to fool or you wouldn’t have wasted your time on me. You never reckoned on Tania turning up and showing me what you were really like.’

‘I admit I once had a relationship with Tania, but it was over.

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