Page 5 of In Bed with Her Billionaire Bodyguard

Pulling out into the traffic on Upper Thames Street, he decided on his route to Harcourts’ flagship department store in Mayfair. In the rear-view mirror he watched Hope gazing out of the window at the morning London scene. He found it strange that Hope never reached for her phone on her morning commute. There was something almost serene about the image.

A motorbike zipped past him and Luca refocused on the road until his personal mobile vibrated against his chest. The single burst of vibration meant the message from his team wasn’t urgent, and he could only conclude that they hadn’t yet found proof linking the Harcourt twins’ cousin, Simon, to the journalist responsible for a shocking seventy-eight percent of the negative press against Hope. Lucas was sure it was there though.

Even the tech analyst he’d put on the search had been angered and shocked by the sheer volume of hate and vitriol directed at a woman just going about her business. The same analyst had been tasked with looking deeper into Hope’s history to check areas of vulnerability in case there was something they needed to know.

As an oncoming car took a right turn across the lane, the headlights swept across his eyeline and he saw flashbulbs, thousands of them, the calls and yells of the crowd between him and his mother...

‘Give us a smile, Anna! Come on!’

‘Over here, Anna!’

‘Is it true that you’re involved with your co-star, Anna?’

‘When are you going to settle down, Anna?’

Without pause, Luca moved the car forward, inching towards their turn-off, despite the direction of his thoughts. Despite the memory of how his eternally glamorous mother had thrown her head back and laughed the sexy, throaty laugh she was known for and replied to the baying crowd, ‘Never, darlings. I’llneversettle down!’

And she hadn’t. Italy’s most famous actress had never married, never had a relationship lasting more than the promotion of her latest film, and had never—not once—acknowledged the fact that at sixteen she’d had a child out of wedlock, who had been raised by two members of her family in secret.

Disconcerted to find himself surprised as they pulled up to the majestic front doors of Harcourts in Mayfair, Luca mentally slapped himself. It was unacceptable to have been so distracted with a client. Frustration made his actions sharp as he exited the town car and held Hope’s door open for her. Getting out of the car, her skirt rose barely enough to show an inch of creamy skin between the hemline and her boots, and he looked steadfastly ahead. He saw the briefest frown above her sunglasses, as if she’d noticed the staccato edge to his actions.

She paused. ‘Elise will let you know when I’m done for the day. All meetings are internal so I won’t be needing you until then.’

‘I’ll wait,’ he said simply.

‘It won’t be necessary,’ she replied, that little frown still in place above her sunglasses.

‘I’ll be here.’

She looked at him for a moment more, before disappearing beneath the world-famous gold and purple awning into the building. He had frustrated her and, while that hadn’t been his intention, he hadn’t missed the moment where fire had ignited in the air between them. Two competitors wrestling for control, tension and force of will coming up against each other.

And he’d wanted it, he realised, cursing himself. Wanted to test the strength of it.

His phone vibrated against his chest again and he turned back to the car to drive it round to the underground car park, where he could check out what his people had found. It was time to stop messing around and get his head on straight.

Hope shook off the strange tension that still zinged in her blood from her interaction with Luc and entered her office, walking straight to the large window that looked out onto a snow-covered Hyde Park.

There was something magical about this time of year, especially for a department store like Harcourts, where people would come from all over the world to look at their festive display windows and the beautiful, bright Christmas decorations. There was an almost constant hum of excitement and holiday happiness from the staff and customers alike, but even that wasn’t as glorious as London in the snow.

Her office was in what the staff called ‘the old wing’, directly above the Mayfair store. The traditional character of the original building’s features remained strong, unlike the ‘new wing’ to the back of the large sprawling building, where the offices were all sleek chrome, glass and granite and full of the ego contests that spun back and forth between her brother and cousin.

Hers was larger than the smaller modern offices, but that wasn’t its appeal. This office had once belonged to her father. It was where she had visited him as a child and it was where she remembered him best. It was her connection to her parents, especially when the past grew a little less clear each and every day she grew older.Thatwas why she loved it.

It was later that day when she turned back to her computer, casting one last look at the email that would green-light a brand-new marketing campaign in the US. She’d travel out there later in the year, once it was underway, but she was excited by it. It was sexy and contemporary—things she wanted for Harcourts, rather than the dusty and predominantly old campaigns run in the past.

She’d had a good day so far. She’d nudged Daniel, the acting Financial Director covering for her brother, back on track after a showdown with Simon had knocked his confidence. She’d try to keep that from Nate if she could. The last thing her brother needed was to be worrying about Harcourts.

Elise stuck her head in the doorway, a light frown across her brow. ‘Just a heads-up. I’ve heard that the Chairman is attending the shareholders’ meeting this afternoon.’

‘Really?’ Hope asked. Her grandfather usually spent the period between Christmas and the staff party at home in Tunbridge Wells. Home being a sprawling family estate about as old as the Harcourts building. Frowning herself, she scanned the agenda for the meeting taking place in fifteen minutes’ time. ‘There’s nothing here that would warrant his attention,’ she noted, looking back at Elise.

Elise shrugged, seemingly just as confused.

‘Anything else?’

‘No,’ Hope replied absently.

‘Are you sure?’ Elise asked.

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