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security and respectability.’
    She flounced to the other side of the kitchen, taking her wine with her. ‘I’m not going to talk about this any more,’ she said. ‘I’m marrying Julian, and you can’t stop me.’
    ‘Will he wait a whole year for you?’ Edoardo asked.
    She lowered her glass and sent him a furious scowl. ‘You heartless, controlling bastard.’
    ‘Sticks and stones,’ he said, picking up his own wine and raising it in a toast.
    She slammed her glass down so hard the stem broke and wine swirled in a red arc like a splash of blood. She yelped and jumped backwards, clutching her right hand.
    ‘Are you all right?’ he asked, stepping towards her.
    ‘I’m fine.’ She bit down on her lip.
    He took her hand and unpeeled her fingers to find a little gash in the pad of her thumb. ‘You silly little fool,’ he said. ‘You could’ve severed a tendon.’
    ‘It’s nothing.’ She tried to pull her hand away but he didn’t let go. She glared up at him. ‘Do you mind?’
    ‘You need a plaster on that,’ he said. ‘There’s a first-aid kit in the downstairs bathroom. Come with me.’
    She looked as if she was going to defy him but then she gave a frustrated sigh and allowed him to lead her to the bathroom next to the conservatory. ‘I can sort it out myself,’ she grumbled. ‘I’m not a little child.’
    ‘So stop acting like one.’
    She flashed him a furious scowl. ‘Why don’t you stop acting like an overbearing ogre?’
    ‘Sit on the bath stool,’ Edoardo instructed as he pulled out the drawer where the first-aid kit was stored.
    She sat and held out her hand with a recalcitrant look on her face. ‘It’s just a scratch.’
    ‘It’s just shy of needing a stitch,’ he said as he checked the wound for traces of glass.
    ‘Ouch!’
    ‘Sorry,’ he said.
    She glowered at him. ‘I bet you’re not.’
    ‘You know me so well.’
    She gave him a lengthy look. ‘Does anyone know you, Edoardo?’ she asked.
    He shifted his gaze to her thumb as he carefully placed a plaster over the wound. She had switched from spitting cat to gentle dove within a heartbeat. He had seen her work her lethal charm on others. He had seen grown men fall over like ninepins when she gave them that misty, doe-eyed look. She knew the feminine power she had and exploited it whenever she could.
    But he was not going to let her manipulate him.
    ‘What makes you ask that?’ he asked casually.
    ‘You don’t seem to have a lot of friends,’ she said. ‘You don’t seem to need people like other people do.’
    ‘I have what I need in terms of companionship,’
he said.
    ‘Who is your best friend?’
    He released her hand and moved to the basin to wash his hands. ‘You should take care of that thumb,’ he said. ‘You don’t want to get it infected.’
    ‘Edoardo?’
    He dried his hands on the nearest towel and then shoved it back on the rail. ‘I’d better go clean up that glass before Fergus steps on it,’ he said.
    She bit her lip again. ‘I’m sorry...’
    He gave her a brief glance before he shouldered open the door. ‘We all have our limits, Bella.’

CHAPTER THREE
    W HEN Bella came back from the bathroom, there was no sign of the spill of red wine or any shards of glass. Fergus was still lying on his padded bed near the cooker. Edoardo was dishing up a delicious-looking chicken and tomato dish that smelt absolutely divine.
    ‘Do you want to eat in here or the dining room?’ he asked without looking up from what he was doing.
    ‘Here’s fine,’ she said. ‘Fergus looks like he’s settled in for the night.’
    ‘He’s getting on,’ he said as he set a plate in front of her. ‘He’s slowed down a lot just lately.’
    ‘How old is he now?’ Bella asked, screwing up her forehead as she tried to remember. ‘Seven?’
    ‘Eight,’ he said. ‘Your father bought him when you decided you weren’t coming home for Christmas that year.’
    Bella frowned when she thought of how she had