The Sicilian's Surprise Love-Child / Claiming My Bride Of Convenience. Кейт Хьюит

was to be assistant manager of marketing. It was not something she had studied for, but she knew the area well and loved taking photos—and she had ideas. Many of them.

      Nico hadn’t actually got her the job; she did not need him to succeed.

      Well, maybe a bit…

      For without him there would be no hotel.

      Vincenzo was speaking of the excitement locally, and said there were a few interviews nationally, for various tourism shows and breakfast television and the like.

      ‘I shall handle those,’ Vincenzo said.

      ‘You can take turns with Aurora,’ Nico interjected.

      ‘But I have had media training,’ Vincenzo pointed out. ‘Aurora can be a touch…forceful, and we want to extend a gentle invitation.’

      ‘Vincenzo,’ Nico said. ‘I wasn’t offering a suggestion, I was telling you to take turns with Aurora.’

      He was not doing her any favours. Vincenzo was vain and self-serving—and, though he was brilliant at his job, it was as clear as day to Nico that Aurora, with her passion, her low throaty laugh, with her sheer love of Silibri, would be more enticing for potential guests.

      ‘Next,’ Nico said, and nodded to Francesca.

      ‘The fittings for the uniforms have been delayed.’

      ‘Then get them done,’ Nico said, even while knowing it wasn’t going to be as easy as that.

      ‘I have tried, but the staff have issues with the colour.’

      ‘And the fabric…’ It was the first time Aurora had spoken. ‘The wool is too heavy and the green makes us look like…’ She snapped her fingers. ‘That Englishman’s Merry Men.’

      Nico had to think for a moment. But then he always had to think when Aurora was around—she brought him no peace.

      He thought of the dark green uniforms that looked so elegant against the old Roman and sophisticated Florentine buildings, and worked well in both England and France, and then he joined the dots she had led him to with her mention of ‘the Englishman’s Merry Men’.

      ‘You mean Robin Hood?’

      ‘Who?’ Aurora frowned, and then she gave him a tiny smile to say of course she knew who he meant and was teasing him.

      Their minds jostled, and she could see he was fighting not to return her smile. She was still looking at Nico’s full mouth, with a smile on her own, when Vincenzo cleared his throat and spoke up.

      ‘We think that Silibri should have a more casual feel.’

      ‘It’s a five-star hotel.’ Nico gave a shake of his head. ‘I do not want my staff looking casual.’

      ‘Of course not,’ Vincenzo agreed. ‘But there is a stunning French navy linen, and teamed with crisp white shirts…’

      ‘We would look like sailors,’ Aurora sulked.

      Nico pressed the bridge of his nose between finger and thumb. What the hell had he been thinking? What had possessed him to venture into Silibri? He should have sold the land there and been done with it…

      Yet as he sat there he recalled Aurora’s emphatic no when he had suggested that the night after—

      Damn, no matter how he tried to avoid it, all roads led to that night.

      Nico forced himself back to the moment: What in God’s name was he doing, sitting here discussing fabric? It was his hotel and it had been four years in the making.

      The trouble with the Silibri venture was that the staff considered it to be their hotel too. They were all so involved and took it all so personally.

      ‘What about the same green as the other hotels, but in linen?’ Francesca suggested.

      Aurora shook her head.

      ‘That just takes us back to the Merry Men,’

      ‘So what do you suggest, Aurora?’ Nico threw down his pen in exasperation.

      Of course she had an immediate answer. ‘Persian Orange.’

      From her seemingly bottomless bag she produced several swatches of fabric and proceeded to pass them around. It was a linen blend that wouldn’t crease, she assured them, and with one look Nico knew she was right.

      ‘It is the colour of the temple ruins and the monastery just before sunset,’ Aurora said. ‘And you know how beautiful Silibri looks at that time of night. Mother Nature chose her colours wisely.’

      ‘It is a bold colour,’ Vincenzo objected. ‘A touch too bold, perhaps?’

      ‘I don’t agree that it is too bold; it is, in fact, quite plain,’ Aurora refuted, then cocked her head to the side.

      Nico watched as her knowing eyes weighed up Vincenzo.

      ‘Are you worried that it might clash with your red hair?’

      ‘Of course not…’ Vincenzo was flustered and smoothed said red hair down.

      ‘Because,’ Aurora continued, ‘we could have bespoke shades on the same theme, with Persian Orange being the main one.’

      ‘Bespoke shades…?’ Vincenzo checked.

      And Nico watched silently as his marketing manager warmed to his new assistant’s idea, and watched, too, Aurora’s small, self-satisfied smile as of course she got her way.

      Heaven help Vincenzo, Nico thought, trying to manage her. Because Aurora could not be managed nor contained.

      She was as Sicilian as Mount Etna, as volatile as the volcano it was famous for, and she could not be beguiled or easily charmed. She was perceptive and assiduous and…

      And he refused to give in to her ways.

      ‘I’ll consider it,’ Nico said.

      ‘Consider it?’ Aurora checked. ‘But what is there to consider when it’s perfect?’

      ‘There is plenty to consider,’ Nico snapped. ‘Next.’

      It had been scheduled as a thirty-minute meeting but in the end it took sixty-three—and of course it did not end there.

      As Marianna disappeared for a quick restroom break, and Nico attempted to stalk off, Aurora caught up with him. ‘I wonder if we could speak? I have an idea.’

      ‘It has all been said in the meeting.’

      ‘This isn’t about the uniforms. I have another idea for the Silibri hotel.’

      ‘Then speak with Vincenzo, your manager.’

      ‘Why would I share my idea with him?’

      ‘Because I don’t generally deal with assistants.’

      Aurora felt his cool, snobbish dismissal and told him so. ‘It is spring, Nico, and the sun is shining—yet you are so cold that when I stand near you I shiver.’

      ‘Then get a coat! Aurora, let me make something very clear—and this is a conversation that you can repeat to all your colleagues. You are here for a week of training to find out how I like things done and how I want my hotel to operate. You’re not here for little chats and suggestions, and catch-ups and drinks. I did not build a hotel in Silibri to expand my social life.’

      Nico wanted this conversation to be over.

      ‘You are shadowing Marianna for the rest of the day?’ he checked.

       ‘Sì?’

      ‘Then what are you doing standing in mine?’