Page 24 of Never Too Late
‘I know. I sometimes think Den deliberately tries to wind Rob up in the hope that he’ll lash out. A black eye would be a small price to pay for seeing his brother fall out of favour with Mum and Dad.’
‘Your mum said you know how to deal with Denver. Why didn’t you teach Robert?’
Sky shrugged helplessly. ‘I’m afraid it’s too late for that. The damage has been done. Still, with Den living in the US now, Rob’s much happier. He was with us every day last month and he was looking and sounding really relaxed.’
‘So does this mean you got to meet some of his lady friends?’ This was a bit personal, but Sky didn’t seem to mind.
‘Not one. He keeps them very much at arm’s length. He certainly didn’t bring anybody up to the villa.’
‘A bit tough on his girlfriends.’
‘I’m not so sure. I take all the newspaper stories with a pinch of salt. I think there are some women who prey on men like him for the publicity it provides. Don’t get me wrong, he’s no angel, but I think he’s more sinned against than sinning.’
The yacht passed through the narrow straits between the wooded slopes of the island of Palmaria and the mainland, and rounded a rocky headland to reveal Portovenere, which was, as Cesare had indicated, quite stunning. As the name implied, it was a little port with a harbour full of moored boats, but it was the backdrop of houses that really made it stand out. The whole harbour area was lined with traditional Italian town houses, all joined together, some even four or five storeys high, all with dark green shutters but each house painted a different colour ranging from light cream through a whole palette of oranges, blues, greens and even bright red. On the hillside above the town was an ancient fortress and the overall impression was charming. The trouble was that, even from out here, they could see that the place was heaving with people. For that reason, their yacht with its celebrities on board didn’t put into port but swung around and returned to the island.
They anchored just off the far side of the island and the launch ferried them ashore to a little sandy beach between rocky outcrops. Sky and Tom wasted no time in stripping to their swimming things and plunging into the crystal-clear water in the company of the Labrador and his master. Steph followed them and soon found herself floating about surrounded by most of the others. Unfortunately, she also found herself a bit too close for comfort to Denver. He came up behind her without her seeing him and the first she knew of his proximity was a voice at her ear.
‘Has anybody told you how good you look in a bikini?’
She swung round so she was facing him and paddled backwards to a safe distance just in case.
‘That’s a very personal remark to make to one of your father’s employees.’
‘Employee? The way they’re treating you anybody would think you were part of the family.’
‘Well, I’m not, even if your mum and dad and your sister have been very kind.’
His face hardened. ‘Faye’s not my mum.’
‘Whatever, but they’ve all been very welcoming.’
‘Well, I’m just being welcoming as well, and all I was saying is that you look good.’
He wasn’t making any attempt to draw nearer so she gave him the benefit of the doubt. After all, she couldn’t really accuse him of anything too improper. ‘Well, thank you for the compliment.’ An idea came to her. ‘But Ethan doesn’t like it when other men pay me compliments, so I’d be grateful if you stopped.’
For a moment she felt she could see him weighing up how he might fare in a confrontation with Ethan, who was a tall, strong man, before he retreated with dignity.
‘Okay, enough said. Enjoy the rest of the day.’
Steph heaved a sigh of relief. It appeared that Ethan hadn’t told him they were now no longer together. This should continue to provide a welcome line of defence.
Denver turned away and swam off and that would probably have been the last of it except for the fact that Steph suddenly felt herself being watched. Looking past the retreating head and shoulders of Denver, her eyes alighted on Willow who was standing in the shallows staring hard at her and the expression on her face was unequivocal. Had they been two dogs, Willow would have bared her fangs to reinforce her territorial message. Steph, relieved that there were twenty metres of water separating them, gave her a cheery wave and turned away. She hoped that Denver had now got the message that she wasn’t interested, but it appeared that the same couldn’t be said for his girlfriend.
Steph decided to stay in the water for a while longer in the hope that Willow would lose interest, so she bobbed around for several minutes until she saw Denver reach the beach where Willow made a proprietorial grab for him and led him away. Steph then started to swim lazily back in the direction of the shore, and she soon found she had company in the shape of a big black dog.
‘Ciao, bello. Enjoying your swim?’
The dog then did his best to climb onto her shoulders and almost drowned her in the process. She was rescued from his affectionate advances by his master.
‘Waldorf, vieni qui!He hasn’t scratched you, has he?’
Steph brushed her hair out of her eyes and gave him a smile. ‘Ciao, Robert, I’m fine, thanks.’
She was mildly surprised to see him swim closer to her and as the two of them floated about, they chatted, while the dog kept coming over to nudge her with his nose. Although barely more than monosyllabic at first, Robert eventually began to loosen up to some extent. In true British fashion they started by talking about the weather but then moved on to his career. Slightly reluctantly he told her it was going well, and that he was performing at an outdoor concert near Florence in a couple of days’ time. As he began to relax in her company and she in his, he asked about her career and when she told him about the offer she had received from his father to play along with them on the new album, he sounded genuinely pleased for her.
Although all she could see of him was his head and his bare shoulders, she couldn’t ignore the feeling of attraction he aroused in her. There was a hint of a smile on his face today and for the first time she found herself looking into his bright blue eyes at close range. There was no getting away from the fact that he was very appealing, but she warned herself not to do anything silly. Men like him needed a WARNING sign on their foreheads. Besides, as she recovered from the demise of her own relationship with Ethan, the last thing she needed was to get involved with another man, particularly when he was the son of the man who could materially advance or destroy her career, and a womaniser to boot. No, it was much safer to avoid Robert, although her head and her heart weren’t necessarily in complete agreement over this.
Back at the beach Cesare and Donatella, assisted by members of the yacht’s crew, had set up trestle tables and heaped them with food until there was a vast selection of cold dishes to choose from. There were bottles of wine and beer in ice buckets along with soft drinks on one table and another laden with a mouth-watering choice of desserts. Gradually they all helped themselves and took their plates to convenient spots to eat their lunch. Steph toyed with the idea of slipping off somewhere to change out of her wet bikini first, but almost everybody else was just in swimming gear – apart from Cody Havergill’s bodyguard who was looking decidedly uncomfortable in his suit – so she decided to let the sun dry her, and on a spectacular day like today she knew that wouldn’t take long.
