champagne bottles. Since then Cass could never leave the debris of the night before until the next morning.
âWhat the hell are you doing?â
She froze as Marco roared at her. And then she fired up. His manner was insufferable. Why had he paid her to come here at all? She was a member of his staff, and she saw no reason why she couldnât make a start on tidying up.
âLeave it!â he insisted. He was at her side in a couple of strides. âI have staff to do this.â
âAre you going to make them work through the night?â she demanded, shaking his hand from her arm.
âOf course not,â he exploded.
The last thing he had expected was for her to answer back, Cass suspected as they glared at each other.
âMy staff will be here in the morning,â Marco informed her brusquely.
And meanwhile they were alone...the last guest had left. And so far there was no sign of Marcoâs driver.
âWhat are you so angry about, Cassandra?â
She wasnât angry. She had just realised the compromising position she had put herself in. âYou think you can insult me and I wonât feel anything?â
âInsult you? What on earth are you talking about?â
âYou,â she fired back. âYou talk about your staff as if theyâre robots programmed to obey. You promised to introduce me round. You said it would be a great opportunity for me to network, and I thought so too, but you ignored me all night. Iâm not sure why Iâm here at all.â
âThere were plenty of opportunities for you to network. It was up to you to take them. Everyone was here.â
âEveryone in your world,â she pointed out, âand though Iâm usually quite good at chatting to people and introducing myself, they just didnât want to know. An introduction from you would have broken the ice...â She paused. âOr was it that you didnât want anyone to know you had brought your lowly gardener to the party?â
âDonât be so ridiculous. What about the ambassador? You were talking to him. The embassy has beautiful gardens. There was an opportunity for you right there.â
âI was chatting to the ambassador because I wanted to talk to him. He was a really interesting man. Should I have taken advantage of that? Was I supposed to ingratiate myself with him for no better reason than to persuade him to give me a job?â
âWhy not?â Marco demanded with a dismissive gesture. âThatâs what networking is all about.â
âIn that instance, it would have been calculating, and not very nice.â
âThatâs your opinion.â
âYes, it is.â
âItâs possible to be too nice, Cassandra.â
âIs it? Is it really? I had no idea there was such a thing as being too nice. I liked the ambassador. We got on well together, and I had no thought of using him for networking, as you suggest.â
âHe could have given you a glimpse into another worldââ
âAs you can?â she flashed. âMaybe I donât want to see whatâs in that other worldâmaybe I already know. Youâve got no idea, have you, Marco? You live such a privileged life you donât have a clue what itâs like to be on the outside, looking in.â
âYou couldnât be further from the truth,â he assured her tensely. âI know exactly how that feels.â
âDo you?â she exclaimed angrily. âDo you also know how it feels to be described as a nobody?â
Marcoâs expression blackened âWho said that?â
âYou did!â she flung back at him. âIs that how you think of everyone who works for you? Are we all nobodies?â
âI have no idea what youâre talking about.â
âI heard you say it.â And when Marco looked at her blankly, she spelled it out for him. âWhen one of your guests asked you about me, you said I