The Hidden Heart of Rico Rossi (14 page)

And Rico didn’t have a clue how he could make everything turn out right for both of them.

E
LLA
glanced at the screen and frowned. Rico didn’t usually ring her during office hours. Was something wrong? ‘Hello, Rico?’

‘Ella
bellezza
, do you have your diary handy?’

‘Yes. Why?’

‘I need to book a meeting with you.’

‘You’re seeing me tonight,’ she said. ‘Why do you need to book a meeting with me?’

‘Because the meeting’s going to be about business and tonight’s going to be about …’ He laughed. ‘Wait and see. Though benefits might be involved later.’

Warmth spread through her. ‘What kind of business are we talking about?’ she asked.

‘A potential commission. A cake for a launch party in a month’s time. So where do you want to meet? Your kitchen, or my office?’

She frowned again. ‘Your office is in Rome.’

He coughed. ‘My
London
office.’

Then the penny dropped. ‘You bought the hotel?’

‘Yup. We’re re-launching The Fountain in four weeks. Is that enough notice for you to make me a cake?’

‘Should be. Though we’ll need to talk about size.’

He gave a rich chuckle that had her blushing.

‘Rico!’

‘You said it, not me,
bellezza
. OK. So you want to know how many guests I’m inviting and what kind of design I have in mind.’

‘And what kind of flavours.’ She paused. ‘I can make a meeting any time after ten if it’s here, and any time after about ten-thirty if it’s at your office.’

‘Let’s make it four-thirty, today, at yours,’ he said. ‘And, Ella—this is official, by the way. It’s a business deal, not a favour.’

‘So you’re getting quotes from elsewhere?’ Some of the bubbles of pleasure burst.

‘It’s business,’ he repeated. ‘Though your prices are obviously market rate, and I already know the quality of your product. Give me the right design, and you get the commission. I’ll email you the other details. See you at four-thirty.
Ciao, bellezza
.’

By the time Rico arrived, Ella had three pages full of sketches.

‘Are those designs for me to approve?’ he asked.

‘Suggestions. Though I’ll listen to what you have to say, first. They might be the complete opposite of what I’ve come up with.’

‘You’re the creative one,’ Rico said. ‘I’d rather see what you’ve been thinking about.’

‘OK. First of all, I could do you a cake in the shape of the hotel. It’d be a scale model, of course.’ She showed him the picture she’d sketched from the hotel’s website.

‘That’s good,’ he said.

‘Or there’s the fountain in the courtyard. I could do you a normal sheet cake, decorate it as a garden, and do you a sugar-paste replica of the fountain as a topper. If I use wires, I can do you droplets of water coming down from the fountain.’ She showed him the sketches. ‘Obviously this isn’t
your
fountain. I’d have to come and take photographs
of it so I could make an accurate sugar-paste replica. But it’s an example of what I can do.’

‘Impressive.’

She warmed to her theme. ‘Or, if you’d rather the guests had individual cakes rather than slices, I can make a tower of cupcakes with a six-inch cake for cutting, like I do for wedding cakes. And I could do you a smaller sugar-paste fountain on top of the cutting cake.’

‘I definitely want a fountain,’ he said. ‘Given the hotel’s name, I’m planning a chocolate fountain and a champagne fountain, too.’

‘So maybe the cupcakes would be best. It’d reflect the shape of the other two fountains.’

He smiled. ‘I like how your mind works. Price?’

She handed him a piece of paper without comment.

He scanned it swiftly. ‘
Bene
. It’s a deal.’

‘I need to make the cupcakes on the day so they’re fresh,’ she said, ‘and then ice them. I take it you’re doing an evening launch?’

‘Yes. And it’ll be on a Saturday. Given that you’ve got the café orders to do as well, that’s going to be a lot of work for you. Do you need me to send over one of my kitchen staff to help you?’

‘You wouldn’t offer that to my competitors, would you?’ she asked.

‘No.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘But you’re pulling out the stops for me. And it’s in my interest to make life easier for you.’ He leaned forward to steal a kiss. ‘Think of it as … extra benefits.’

The pictures he’d just put in her head made her cheeks colour, and he laughed.

‘So do you want to borrow staff?’ he asked.

‘Someone to do the café deliveries would save me some time,’ she admitted.

‘I’ll sort it.’

‘What flavour do you want?’

He smiled. ‘Guess.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘Chocolate. If you’ve got a chocolate fountain as well, Rico, don’t you think that’ll be too much?’

‘Is there such a thing as too much chocolate?’ he asked.

She laughed. ‘Now you sound like a girl.’

‘Oh, do I?’ He looked thoughtful. ‘I might just have to make you take that back.’

He stood up, took her hand and yanked her into his arms. By the time he’d finished kissing her, Ella was completely breathless and dishevelled. ‘OK. I admit. You’re not girly in the slightest. You’re all man,’ she said. And how. She lifted her chin. ‘But I thought this was supposed to be a business meeting?’

‘It was. We’ve concluded our business. And we need to be elsewhere.’

‘Do we?’

He produced two tickets from his pocket and handed them to her. The best seats in the house, at a performance where tickets were like gold dust. ‘Wow. Rico, how did you …?’

‘Let’s just say there are some advantages to being a spoiled rich kid.’ He stole a kiss. ‘Go get your glad rags on,
bellezza
. Let’s go and have some fun.’

Over the next couple of weeks, Rico and Ella fell into a habit of meeting up after work. Sometimes they went out; sometimes Rico turned up with a bag full of ingredients, which he stowed in Ella’s fridge while he carried her off to bed, then cooked for her; and at the weekends they worked through their tour-guide list.

Ella couldn’t remember ever being so happy. Neither of them had made a commitment to the future, but she was
beginning to think that it’d be safe to trust Rico with her heart. Because maybe he was the man she’d thought he was, in Rome. Rico the CEO had a public face; she had the strongest feeling that Rico the tour guide was his private face, one he didn’t show to just anybody.

On the Sunday morning, Rico rang Ella at six. ‘Rise and shine,
bellezza
.’

‘So much for my Sunday morning lie-in,’ she grumbled. ‘Why are we getting up so early?’

‘Because today we’re going somewhere not on our list. Oh, and you need your passport.’

‘My passport?’ Still half asleep, she couldn’t get her head round the idea. ‘Why?’

‘Just bear with me on this—it’s something I think you’re going to like. I’ll collect you in thirty minutes, OK?’

Bemused, she showered and dressed, and was ready when he rang her doorbell. When the taxi dropped them off at the airport, she frowned. ‘Where are we going?’

‘Through here. For breakfast.’ Including superb Italian coffee.

‘Where are we going?’ she asked again, looking at the departure boards.

‘That won’t help you,
bellezza
. It’s not a scheduled flight.’

She blinked. ‘You’re telling me you have a private plane?’

‘No, it belongs to a friend.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘In the same way that your flat in Rome belonged to a friend?’

‘No, it really belongs to a friend. Like the restaurant.’ He spread his hands. ‘Spoiled rich kid territory. Some of my friends have
great
toys. And we share.’ He smiled. ‘I’m lending Giuseppe my car for a month, in return.’

She laughed. ‘Don’t tell me—would this be an Italian sports car?’

‘That predictable, am I?’

‘Sure are,’ she teased. ‘Where are we going?’

He shrugged. ‘About two and a half hours away.’

‘Talk about vague! Rico …’

‘Just go with it,’ he said, and kissed her. ‘It’s somewhere I think you’ll like. I know it’s a bit decadent, nipping over to mainland Europe just for the day, but … wait and see.’

She didn’t have a clue where they were going until they arrived at Vienna airport. And then she just gaped. ‘I can’t believe you’re taking me to Vienna for the day.’

‘You told me in Rome that you wanted to come here,’ he said with a smile. ‘I assume that’s because of the cafés and the cakes.’

‘Absolutely.’ She could still barely believe he’d whisked her off here just for the day. ‘Rico, this is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me. Thank you.’

‘My pleasure,
bellezza
.’ He kissed her lightly.

They caught the train from the airport into the city, then changed to the underground and emerged onto the street near the cathedral, with its green and gold chevrons on the roof. ‘Wow, what gorgeous architecture,’ she said. ‘Vienna’s beautiful.’ The wide, wide street was flanked with five-storey white and pastel-coloured buildings, and she’d never seen so many windows.

‘Come on. There’s somewhere we need to be.’

‘Where?’

‘You’ll see when we get there.’

Rico had clearly put a lot of thought and planning into this, and Ella was intrigued rather than annoyed by his vagueness.

He took her to one of the oldest
Konditoreien
in Vienna; she was enthralled by the glass cabinet displaying what
looked like fifty different types of cake, as well as displays of confectionery.

‘Come on. The café’s upstairs.’ He led her through to the stairs at the back of the shop.

‘Wow, look at that chandelier,’ she said as they reached the top of the stairs. ‘That’s beautiful. And this whole place—it’s like being transported back into a much more glamorous age.’

‘I’m glad you like it.’ And he was relieved that it lived up to the pictures he’d seen on the website. ‘Apparently the classic coffee here is a melange,’ he said, pronouncing the word
mel-anj
, as if it were French rather than German. ‘And I think we should have cake to go with it.’

‘How on earth do you choose from a selection as tempting as that?’ Ella asked, staring at the display. ‘Though I guess, as we’re in Vienna, I ought to choose Sachertorte.’

He kissed the spot just behind her ear. ‘We’re going to Café Sacher for that, a bit later. So you can try something else.’

Eventually she chose the Esterhazytorte. ‘I love layered cakes,’ she said as they went back to their seats. ‘We had an Aussie temp at the accountancy firm, and she introduced me to hummingbird cake.’

‘Obviously it’s not made from hummingbirds, so what is it really?’

‘Kind of like carrot cake, but made with tropical fruit. Banana and pineapple, normally, but I’ve got a recipe for a version that includes mango and passion fruit.’ She looked at him. ‘You’d really like it. If you’re good, I might make you one.’

He leaned closer. ‘Good at what?’ he whispered in her ear.

She blushed spectacularly, and he laughed. ‘Ah,
bellezza
. You’re so easy to tease.’

The waitress came with their coffees, two small glasses of water, and two slices of cake.

‘Oh, I really like this—it’s kind of a cross between a latte and cappuccino but without the icky cocoa on top,’ Ella said when she’d tried the coffee.

‘I thought you liked chocolate?’

‘Not quite as much as you do, and definitely not on my coffee.’ She smiled at him and tried the cake. ‘This is lush. Almond sponge and hazelnut cream. Try it.’ She fed him from her fork.

‘Very nice.’ He waited until they’d finished their coffee. ‘Ready for the next bit?’

‘Next?’

The look on her face when they went through a side door and were met by the head pastry chef with white coats and hats, and she realised he’d arranged a tour of the kitchens for her, was priceless.

The worktops were all marble; one pastry chef was working on flat-icing a line of chocolate cakes, while others were mixing batters, making frosting or laying out the delicate pastry for making apple strudel.

But the standout for Ella was a sheet cake with a beautiful Lipizzaner horse on top, which a pastry chef was delicately painting. ‘That’s stunning. Look at the sugar-paste work on his ears, and the saddle.’

The pastry chef talked her through various painting techniques. Rico wasn’t that interested in the details, but he loved seeing the expression on Ella’s face. She was clearly taking it all in, asking questions to clarify points here and there.

Yep, he’d definitely planned the perfect day for her. And it was true what he’d told her: in pleasing her, he was giving himself real pleasure. He’d never felt like that before.

‘That was amazing,’ she said when they left. ‘I can’t believe you did that for me. Thank you. That was so special.’

‘I’m glad you liked it.’ He loved her enthusiasm. And it was definitely catching. ‘We’re right next door to the Hofburg Palace. Do you fancy playing tourist?’

She nodded, beaming. ‘I’d love to.’

They wandered hand in hand through the imperial apartments, listening to the commentary from the audio guide.

‘Ankle-length hair. I’m not sure I could cope with that,’ Ella said. ‘Three hours every morning just to have your hair dressed. It’d drive me crazy!’

But she paused in front of a portrait of Empress Sisi in a white dress. ‘Wow. She really was beautiful.’

There was a case by the portrait, displaying reproductions of the diamond stars the empress wore in her hair. ‘You’d look lovely with those in your hair,’ Rico said.

She shook her head. ‘My hair’s not really long enough. And you’d need dark hair to set them off properly.’ She paused. ‘They’d look very nice done in icing.’

He blinked. ‘You could make them in icing?’

‘Sure. I’d use a glacé icing rather than buttercream. And then I’d do the stars separately, in fondant. If you paint white icing with a mix of silver lustre dust and alcohol, it’ll look silver. And then you can use white glimmer sugar for the diamonds.’

‘Glimmer sugar?’

‘The sparkly sprinkles I use on cakes.’

He laughed. ‘I love the way you see everything in terms of cake.’