One Passionate Night's Miracle: One-Night Baby / The Surgeon's Miracle Baby / Outback Baby Miracle

‘It has been agreed that for the next couple of days, or until the new director arrives,’ she went on, ‘actors will use the time to work on the script while the crew takes this opportunity to hone the technical side of things—’

He was tempted to ask what the hell business it was of hers. ‘Really?’ There was a heavy edge of sarcasm in his voice, but she either missed it, or chose to ignore it, and she didn’t break eye contact with him once. Plus she was speaking to him in the same considered tone she used for everyone else, which grated on him, which made him impatient to exert his authority over her. He only held back because a purposeful air had crept over the set, and right now she had him between a rock and a hard place.

As he stared into those cool grey eyes he guessed she knew where she had him, but that didn’t mean he had to make things easy for her. ‘Don’t you think you should at least introduce yourself, Ms.?’ He felt a rush of satisfaction seeing her glance flicker for the first time. The fact that he had affected not to know her, or to remember their night together, had dealt a blow to her pride even she found hard to hide.

‘I am Cordelia’s cousin, as well as her new manager.’ She had recovered and was using a brisk voice. ‘Ms Mulhoon appointed me shortly before you arrived—’

She broke off at Cordelia’s approach, and as he turned to his leading lady for confirmation he was surprised to see tension colour Cordelia Mulhoon’s customarily sunny features.

There was something here he wasn’t getting. But he would. And then Cordelia gave a small nod to confirm what their visitor had said was true.

Interestingly, as he dipped his head to acknowledge Cordelia’s response he noticed that his leading lady was carefully avoiding his gaze.

CHAPTER THREE

‘WELL, Ms Mulhoon’s new manager …’ Santino switched his attention back to Kate ‘… we’d better take ourselves somewhere private where we won’t be interrupted—’

‘We’re not disturbing anyone here.’ She held her ground and his gaze.

‘Don’t my cast have plotting and rehearsals scheduled? They should stick to them.’ His voice was uncompromising.

‘Are you suggesting the actors should work on the set without a director?’ she asked him pleasantly, but with an edge of steel. ‘Their moves might be changed, and they could become confused. My suggestion is that everyone works on their script quietly for now—’

Somehow he managed to control himself. ‘And mine is that they take the afternoon off.’ Walking away from her, he said in a louder voice, ‘Gather round, everyone. I know you’ll all be pleased to hear that I’ve appointed a new director. Diane Fox will start work tomorrow—’ He had to break off as a buzz of anticipation swept the set. There wasn’t anyone who hadn’t heard of the award-winning director he had brought in to replace the waste of space, no good junkie currently sleeping off his latest hit of the white powder in his trailer. ‘Take the rest of the day off and relax while you can. See you on the lot tomorrow at five a.m…’

He glanced at Kate. ‘If that’s all right with you?’

His gaze might have been ironic, but hers was a little evasive, he thought. And what was with the no-make-up look? Was there some point in scraping back such glorious hair into an unforgiving pony-tail? The last time they’d been together her hair had flowed free and had felt silky beneath his hands.

He wanted her. He felt it like a heat running through him. She had been a revelation the first time around; to see her melt now would be sensational. And a thought was growing in his mind that maybe she could be useful to him.

The film industry didn’t respond to the usual rules of logic, which frustrated him. He had been in love with films since he was a boy when they had been the only magic in his life, but it was the finished article that enchanted him. He had no patience for the mechanics of film-making and even less for the people involved in it. This woman had proved she could handle the heat. And she intrigued him. He wanted her close; he wanted to know more about her and what had happened in the five missing years. A business meeting over dinner would give her the chance to answer some of the questions pounding his mind, and would give him the opportunity to propose she come and work for him at his film studios in Rome.

If Santino wanted to give the cast the rest of the day off that was up to him. Kate refused to be fazed by his hard-eyed challenge. As she’d said to Caddy, she didn’t have the final word on his set, and for obvious reasons she was keen to get away once Caddy’s mind was put at rest.

When Santino had asked for her name she had wondered if he was trying to humiliate her on purpose. But like the worst type of arrogant male Santino gave nothing away. Had he not been a world-class industrialist he would have made an excellent poker player. One thing was sure, the night that had made such a huge impact on her life meant nothing to him.

‘You do have a name?’ Santino prompted, breaking into Kate’s thoughts.

His lips curved in the hint of a smile, but his gaze was hard. Kate felt as if ‘humiliation’ must be branded on her forehead, hearing him coolly repeat the question a second time. Would he remember her name if she thrust her visitor’s badge in his face? Had she even given him her name five years ago?

Her face flamed red. There had been no time to exchange names on that occasion; polite introductions had been the last thing on their minds. She had only learned who Santino Rossi was later from the newspaper, by which time he had left England for Rome, having judged Westbury an unsuitable setting for his film.

Kate refocused seeing Caddy hurrying across the set. She had sensed the stand-off and was rushing to her rescue, Kate realised fondly.

‘Is it all right if I take Kate away now?’ Caddy turned her most beseeching look on Santino.

‘Kate,’ Santino repeated softly, the corner of his mouth tugging up with faint amusement. ‘Would that be wild Kate? Or conformable Kate?’

The Shakespearean reference made Kate’s cheeks fire up. So he did remember her. Santino remembered every moment of their night together and now he was taunting her with it. ‘Kate Mulhoon,’ she said briskly, holding out her hand for a formal handshake.

Santino ignored the gesture and the humour died in his eyes. ‘We’ll discuss arrangements for your client over dinner tonight, Ms Mulhoon.’

‘Dinner?’ Kate’s breath caught in her throat. A cosy nighttime meeting was the last thing she wanted.

‘Time is short. You have to eat and so do I. And you’ll want to protect your client’s interests, I presume? The only available time I have is during dinner. We’ll discuss the way forward then.’

There was no way out of it, Kate realised, and as Caddy’s representative she couldn’t afford to be indecisive. ‘I’ll need to talk things over with my client first—’

‘Eight o’clock sharp. I’ll pick you up at your hotel.’

Santino had quickly restored the balance of power, Kate realised, feeling her hackles rising. But it was too late to argue with a man who had already turned on his heel and walked away.

As the two girls linked arms Caddy drew Kate out of earshot of the rest of the cast. ‘I wanted to fling my arms around you and cheer the moment you arrived, but I thought I’d better let you establish your authority first. I didn’t think you’d want me hanging round your neck. But now you’re here—’ Caddy gave Kate a hug.

‘I don’t care what anyone thinks,’ Kate said with feeling, unable to stop herself tracking Santino’s progress across the lot.

‘Then you should,’ Caddy argued with concern, ‘because there are people in this industry who will stop at nothing to get what they want.’

‘Is that what this is about?’ Holding Caddy at arm’s length, Kate stared into her cousin’s face. ‘Has someone been unkind to you? It’s not Santino, is it, Caddy?’

‘No, of course not …’ Caddy took a quick glance around to make sure they weren’t being overheard. ‘I only hope he knows I’m not involved in the drugs—’

‘Drugs?’ Kate made an incredulous sound. ‘I doubt he’s that naïve. You’ve nothing to worry about, Caddy. If there are drugs on his set Santino will know about them and common sense will tell him you’re not involved. What would you have to gain by disrupting filming or risking your reputation? Nothing,’ Kate said, answering her own question. ‘You’re the best person for this role and Santino knows it, or he wouldn’t have hired you in the first place.’

‘He hired that scumbag director, didn’t he?’ Caddy threw a hostile glance towards the trailers parked up nearby.

‘Everyone in the industry knows he was Santino’s second choice. He’d done some good work in the past and Santino wanted the film completed on time—’

‘Are you defending Santino?’ Caddy tried but failed to hide her smile.

‘All I’m saying is that everyone is entitled to one mistake …’

Kate fell silent as her careless words hung between them, and she was glad when Caddy squeezed her arm in a silent show of support. But she had come to Rome to look after Caddy, and it shouldn’t be the other way round, Kate reminded herself. ‘Diane Fox is said to be the best director in the business,’ she said, both to reassure Caddy and steer the conversation onto safer ground. ‘You’ll be fine once you start working with her—’

‘But will you be fine, Kate?’ Caddy’s voice had turned serious. ‘If I’d only known Santino would get here so fast—’

‘Of course I will,’ Kate said firmly, cutting across Caddy. ‘The only reason I’m going to meet Santino tonight is to talk business. I want everyone here to know that you have his full support, and I want you to concentrate on what you do best, Caddy, which is acting. You’re going to light up the screen—’

‘Do you really think so?’

Caddy was easily distracted and was soon dreamy-eyed.

‘I’ve got no doubt,’ Kate said with confidence. ‘Holding a meeting over dinner is the most sensible way forward given the time constraints. All I’m going to do is speak to Santino on your behalf, relay any concerns you have to him, and—’

‘You make it all sound so easy,’ Caddy broke in, ‘and it isn’t easy, Kate. It never can be where you and Santino are concerned—’

‘But this isn’t about me and Santino. It’s about you, Caddy. You seem to have overlooked the fact that the agency I work for takes a huge chunk out of your fee and I’m responsible for you. The buck stops here. It’s my job to look after you.’