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CHAPTER ONE

PORTIA CLOSED THE door behind her and breathed out as the car puttered off into the distance Finally, peace perfect peace

Somewhere, on the other side of the house, she could hear the chirrup of birds After three days of being constantly surrounded by people and chatter it was music to her ears

She leaned back against the cool wall, tempted to just slide down it

Her sister Miranda’s wedding was over She could stop s off the intrusive questions from her sisters Miranda had looked radiant, lost in the pink cloud of love and drifting off somewhere that seemed a million miles out of Portia’s reach

She was the oldest sister—wasn’t she supposed to get married first?

The tightness that had gripped her chest since she’d got here eased just a little

The last wedding guest had left Miranda was off on her honeyone back to work, and Immi had returned to her job in the family business Finally, Portia could have some quiet

It wasn’t that she didn’t love her sisters Of course she did It was just that being around them was sobusy They all talked at once, and over the top of each other And what she really needed right noas a chance to take stock, to weigh up what to do next

Her discarded e entrance hall al her

L’Isola dei Fiori had patchy e Villa Rosa had an old phone line that didn’t currently work, and no Internet

She didn’t need enal

The last conversation on the phone had turned her work life upside down

‘What have you brought us in the last four weeks, Portia? The award cereo Your red carpet interviews are yesterday’s news You’re supposed to be an investigative reporter This is Hollywood And at twenty-seven your ti me a headline story in the next four weeks or you’re history’

She’d felt nuative journalis a job in Fleet Street had been much harder When she’d decided to hitch around the US with a friend for a feeeks she’d no idea how her life would turn out One randoeles had led to a temporary job at a TV station as a runner When one of the producers had found out what she’d studied he’d asked her to pull soossip show Portia was smart and Portia was beautiful Two months later she’d still been there and when the TV host had been involved in an auto accident on the way to the studio, she’d filled in with less than an hour’s notice The audience had loved her Socialcurls, dark eyes, plulish accent and sense of humour had attracted more viewers Within a year the show had been a hit All for a job that Portia had landed due to a complete fluke

Five years on she’d broken more Hollywood stories than any of her rivals The truth was,

she’d been a little ruthless at first She’d had a natural tendency to sniff out a story at fifty paces and her boss had quickly pushed her for more and more headlines At first, she’d enjoyed it She’d interviewed film stars past and present with aplomb And while she’d chare For the last five years she’d happily exposed liars, cheats and corruption in Hollywood But as time had marched on the colours around her hadjaded She’d lost the fire that had once burned in her belly Hollywood see while the stories sounded the sa her for more scandal-led headlines—the kind that had started to make her stomach flip over

The thing was, she did have two major stories she could break But the conscience she’d developed wouldn’t let her One, about an elderly well-respected actor as gay As far as she are, virtually no one knew And no matter how h she kneould e to ‘out’ him The second story, about a major actress as secretly crippled by depression, would also make headlines This woman was known for her sense of hu was, Portia knehy Her daughter was very sick And it was a story that she didn’t think she should break either

It played on her mind Unless she could find another story in the next feeeks she would have to find a whole new career And what kind of story could she find on L’Isola dei Fiori? A place with a tiny population and barely any nal

It ht be ti for the last three years Anything would be better than feeling like this

A gentle sea breeze blew through the hallway The back French doors must be open

Space That was one of the marvels of this place

Portia wandered through to her favourite roo curved into a doh faded—ht above your head If she closed her eyes she could reed to Sofia, her sister Posy’s godmother Sofia had been a fao, the then Prince’s mistress If Portia could turn back the clock she’d love to interview Sofia When she was a child it had all just seee house on a rand staircase in a whole array of glittering gowns like sootten starlet