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Chapter One
THE SHRILL RING of the phone invaded her dreah Jackly white duvet and blindly felt around the bedside table as her brain tried to orientate her to tih’s shirtall in the na the world, of course
After a few fumbles, she finally found the phone and pulled it under the duvet next to her ear “Phoebe Gates” She winced The phone was cold, much like the air outside her duvet New York had spent the last few days covered in a snowstorer
“Ms Gates, hoould you like to earn a quarter of a million dollars?”
The voice was snize It was like being smothered in melted chocolate
“Whwhat?” She snuggled further down under the duvet Maybe she was still sleeping Maybe this was all just part of the dream
“I said hoould you like to earn a quarter of a million dollars?”
Phoebe frowned and rolled onto her back “That would be wonderful”
“Are you free?”
“Excuse me?”
“Are you free for the next month?”
Her brain started to shift gear “Hey, wait a minute You’re one of those creepy callers, aren’t you? Well, you picked the wrong girl There’s no way—”
“Ms Gates,” the voice interrupted her with a hint of impatience but Phoebe had finally started to wake up
“Well, if you’re not a creepy caller you’re one of those scam artists Don’t tellaccount and you’ll get the ht to me”
She pushed herself up in the bed, wincing at the bright white light everywhere Snow just seemed to reflect snow “Do you knohat day it is?” She turned to her clock, “And what tiled curls Thank goodness there was no mirror around She was definitely the “before” of so Day It’s 8:00 am Haven’t you heard of the word Christmas?”
There
was a loud ih at the other end of the phone “Ms Gates, are you available in the next feeeks or not?”
She was definitely waking up now Arrogant He’d invaded the best dreaht he could be snarky?
“That depends entirely who I’ about You haven’t seemed to introduce yourself In my world, we call those bad manners”
Silence at the end of the phone Good Maybe Hugh Jack for her
“Apologies, Ms Gates You’re right My grand the back of my head”
This tie of humor in his voice
“Matteo Bianchi I have a house—two houses in fact—that I need some work done on I need them dressed and ready to sell in a feeeks”
Work This really ork But she couldn’t help herself “And you had to phone ?”
“Christmas Day is over I don’t like to waste time Are you available, or not?”
He was getting snarky again Phoebe shifted position in her bed and looked out at the falling snow She’d planned on going to the sales But braving the snow, as well as the chaos of the crowded shops, was slipping further down her list of priorities
“Where are the houses?” she asked
“The first is in the Hamptons,” he said quickly “Southampton, to be exact”
She felt her heart rate quicken The Haets The two things she’d always dreamed of Particularly as her mother’s medical costs mounted
She tried to stop her voice squeaking “And the second?” How much had he offered to pay?
“Rome” Her heart plummeted Rome An airplane ride away Probably more than one airplane Her skin prickled instantly and it wasn’t the cold
“Oh” It was the best response she could do
“I’d need you to start straight away I’ll make sure you have a company credit card to pay for any work or items that you need”
She hadn’t found her voice yet Her heart was clao to Rome?
“Ms Gates? Are you still there?”
“Yes The Hamptons is fine I can look at the house whenever suits As for the house in Roht be more of an issue”
“Why do you need to see the house?” It didn’t matter she hadn’t
“I always look over any house before I agree to dress it for sale” He didn’t mention the Rome comment
There was another sigh
Her curiosity was sparked She’d never heard of Matteo Bianchi and, with an accent like that, if she’d uarantee she’d remember
“Fine I’ll pick you up in an hour”
“What?” She sat bolt upright in the bed
“You want to see the house? I’ll pick you up in an hour and you can see the house”
She was stunned One minute she was in theDay