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.So he mustn’t find out who I am yet.Until Luca says that he loves me - if he ever does - I want him to think that I’m just Miss Jones from next door, an ordinary girl.’‘Surely you realise your plan can backfire,’ Izzy cautioned.‘Luca already thinks you’re a gold-digging tart because he mistook Nick for your secret lover.Exactly the same happened to Enzo and me two years ago.He’s never spoken to me again.’Izzy still couldn’t believe how quickly Enzo’s love had turned to hatred the moment he saw these wretched pictures in the papers.He hadn’t even given her the chance to defend herself.In seconds she’d turned from fiancé to sleazy whore, and that had been the end of it.‘Don’t worry, I’m sure you won’t bump into Enzo while you work in Luca’s office,’ Bella tried to reassure her.‘Enzo has been in Italy for nearly two years now, taking care of the Italian side of the Vallorini business.Luca would have mentioned it, if his brother was expected in London any time soon.’Nervously Izzy curled a silvery strand of hair around her finger.Italy was far away, but then again Enzo’s actions weren’t predictable.If he chose to leave Italy and fly to London on a whim, he would do just that.That terrible day in Enzo’s office was a long time ago now.Surely she could handle meeting him after all this time? An uneasy shiver went down her spine.The truth was she was still not sure whether she could ever face Enzo Vallorini again.She was afraid of bursting into tears just seeing his dark and beautifully chiselled face or, even worse, being confronted with some gorgeously beautiful woman by his side.A year after their split she’d unexpectedly stumbled upon a picture in a glossy magazine showing him with a barely dressed supermodel all over him.Since then Izzy had avoided reading this kind of popular press.It was just too much to bear.‘Please,’ Bella said again.‘Please, Izzy, I need to follow Luca to Las Vegas.Let me at least try to make him see that I’m not the gold-digging tart he now thinks I am.You just have to take my place in the London office and buy me some time, so that Enzo doesn’t become suspicious.’Izzy swallowed hard, trying to ease the lump in her throat.‘So you think it was Enzo, who arranged Luca’s sudden trip to Las Vegas, and without his personal assistant?’‘I’m sure of it,’ her sister confirmed.‘But as long as you stand in for me, Enzo won’t suspect that I followed his brother.’‘How can you be so sure?’ Izzy frowned.‘It’s more than likely that you and Luca will be photographed together by the paparazzi in Vegas.’‘I’d love the press taking pictures.’ Bella giggled.‘I tinted my hair a rich auburn brown and, in combination with a pair of stylish sunglasses, nobody will recognize me.Trust me: the whole world will think that Luca found himself a new lover.’ For a moment the line went quiet again.‘Have you decided yet, Izzy? Will you help me, please?’Izzy took a deep breath.‘Okay, I’ll do it,’ she finally said.‘But don’t you dare come home without a huge engagement ring on your finger.I certainly won’t repeat this stunt a second time.’Once they’d finished their conversation, Izzy went into her state-of-the-art kitchen and poured herself a glass of crisp white wine.She was worried that Bella had stolen her identity without her knowledge, just as Nick had been when he found out, but there was nothing she could do about it now.Only a daredevil like Bella would have aimed to gain the love of her personal Prince Charming by taking a job in his office under a false name, with false papers and a fake CV.Bella hadn’t meant to do any harm, of course, but she obviously hadn’t thought about the possible consequences either.The Vallorini and Hetherington hotel groups were in competition.Izzy didn’t even want to think about what might happen if Bella was found out, or if somebody ever suspected that Izzy’s first name wasn’t Isabella but Clarissa, and that wretched CV was as fake as it could possibly get? It would look like she was spying on the competition.She quickly repressed the thought.It wasn’t a good idea to paint the worst case scenario, not even twelve hours before she was due to face the dragon’s den.It was better to cross that bridge when she got to it.On her way to the living room Izzy crossed her spacious entrance hall and stared at her twin sister’s features in the full length mirror gracing the wall [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]