wasn’t long before Sadie’s thoughts strayed back to Don Alegon. No one had ever asked to speak to her personally in the middle of service, unless it was to request a special dish from the kitchen. Perhaps he’d wanted some last-minute advice on the menu for his sister’s party tomorrow night. A rush of hot embarrassment swept over her, because if that were the case, she should have agreed to see him. There again, if that was what he wanted, wouldn’t he deal directly with Chef Sorollo?
She glanced through the window in time to see him disappear inside Club Magia, where high society liked to congregate and check each other out. Some men with powerful physiques looked uncomfortable in a sharply cut suit, but the dark, exquisitely cut garment clung lovingly to what was undeniably a brutally masculine form.
Sadie’s heart was threatening to leap out of her chest by the time she turned back to her cooking. Why did she have to raise her head from the sauce in the first place, to see a man with the Duke’s reputation staring at her? Animal instinct, she supposed; the hunter and the hunted. The feeling of being a quarry was new to her and made this brief encounter with danger all the more exciting. There was something undeniably animal about him that made her mouth dry and her body yearn for things it had never experienced, but she had more sense than to encourage a man like Don Alegon, who moved in extremely exalted circles, while this kitchen was her home.
Nothing made Sadie happier than nurturing and feeding people. Perhaps as a result of her socialite parents finding her a nuisance, she had sought out the friendship and company of their servants, and it hadn’t taken long to discover the pleasure that came with making people happy by providing good food. When her father had died of one drink too many, and her mother had rejected her completely, Sadie had known exactly what she wanted to do.
* * *
The following evening Sadie and the team were making final preparations for Annalisa Alegon’s engagement party when Chef Sorollo was called to the phone.
‘A disaster!’ the great chef wailed on his return.
Everyone in the kitchen fell silent, and everyone, Sadie was sure, was filled with the same horror-struck thought: Not tonight!
Even the calmest chef could lose his cool sometimes, and Chef Sorollo was not the calmest of chefs, but this outburst fell outside the range of his usual tirade and he looked genuinely shaken up. Gentle probing by Sadie revealed that a close member of his family had been taken ill. Nothing came before cooking for Chef Sorollo, apart from his immediate and extended family, which included his staff. Fortunate enough to be included in the heart of that extended family, Sadie knew she had to step up to the plate.
‘Don’t worry. You go. I’ll take over,’ she said.
‘I knew I could rely on you,’ her friend and mentor exclaimed with relief as he called a cab.
It was the least she could do. The great chef had been like a father to her ever since the day she’d arrived in Madrid looking for a job. Having left home and blagged her way on board a super-yacht, Sadie had soon realised that a life at sea wasn’t for her, though her cooking had earned a glowing reference from the head chef in the ship’s galley. When the mega-yacht had docked in Barcelona, she’d headed inland to Madrid with the dream of pursuing a career in catering, specifically at the world-renowned El Gato Feroz. Sadie had read about the famous restaurant at school and could only imagine how wonderful it would be to work alongside the famous chef. Landing the lowly position of dishwasher was like a dream come true.
‘Start at the bottom and work your way up,’ had been Chef Sorollo’s advice. Unflinching loyalty and long hours of dedicated work in the professional kitchen was Sadie’s way of paying him back.
‘You’ve come a long way,’ Chef Sorollo commented as he grabbed his coat and prepared to leave her in charge of his kitchen. ‘Do you remember your first day here?’ he asked, glancing outside to see if his cab had arrived.
She would never forget it. ‘Vividly,’ she said, remembering how, with determination etched into every fibre of her being, she had followed a member of his staff through the back door. The best part of that first day at El Gato Feroz had been meeting the world-famous chef. She could hardly believe it when he’d insisted on personally conducting her interview. Having the great man show such interest in someone who was only going to be at best a very lowly member of staff had really impressed her, and she’d never forgotten it. Dishwashing was just the start, Chef Sorollo had promised, and if she agreed to stay on late each night, he would teach her to chop vegetables. If she mastered that skill, who knew how far she could travel?
‘That first day was the best day of my life,’ she told him now.
‘I knew this day would come,’ he told her with an affectionate smile that softened the lines of worry on his face. ‘I’ve always known I can trust you, Sadie. But don’t wear yourself out tonight. There’s no need to. You have a lot of support here, and Don Alegon is a good man. I’ve known him for years. He’ll understand why our plans have been forced to change.’
Sadie wasn’t quite so optimistic but said nothing to delay her friend.
‘Right, team,’ she announced as a cab drew up outside. ‘We’ve got this. Let’s get busy and make Chef Sorollo proud.’
* * *
‘What?’ Alejandro was incensed. He’d arrived early at Annalisa’s party to check everything was ready, only to learn Chef Sorollo would not be in the kitchen on this most special night!
A man who never lost his temper came as close as he ever had, because this celebration was not for him, but for his sister. ‘How can a head chef leave the kitchen on a night such as this?’ Silverware and crystal rattled at his bellow. The hapless maître d’ seemed lost for words. Not so, the woman who emerged from the kitchen. The woman who had refused to speak to him last night. On closer inspection she was even more beautiful, and not in a conventional way; it was the honesty shining from her eyes and the firmness of her jaw that attracted him.
‘Don Alegon,’ she said in the warmest of tones, ‘welcome to El Gato Feroz. How nice to see you—’
‘At last?’ he bit out.
Ignoring his ill temper, she smiled. ‘It’s very good of you to drop by early to check on everything. I would do exactly the same.’
‘Would you?’ he challenged sharply.
‘I’m sorry. I haven’t introduced myself,’ she said, not the least bit put off by his frosty manner. ‘Chef Sadie Montgomery, at your service tonight. But, please, call me Sadie.’
‘Alejandro Alegon...’
Ignoring his invitation to drop the professional barrier between them to the extent that she would call him by his first name, she held out her hand for him to shake, and said coolly, ‘A pleasure to finally meet you face-to-face, Don Alegon.’
Remembering the previous night’s snub, he gave her a hard stare. She smiled pleasantly. He grasped her hand briefly, but it was long enough to register a great deal about the young chef. Her hand was cool and dry, and her handshake firm and no-nonsense. It was the grip of a woman in charge. Was he wrong about the fire beneath her contained exterior? For once he doubted his initial verdict. He couldn’t imagine this woman ever losing control.
‘Allow me to reassure you,’ she continued, ‘that, in spite of Chef Sorollo’s absence tonight, the menu remains unchanged, and the food will be as delicious as always at El Gato Feroz.’
‘With you in charge?’ He was at a loss as to how to deal with such straightforward charm and felt bound to take her to task.
‘Yes,’ she stated firmly, holding his stare without flinching.
Her eyes were violet, he saw now, and she used them to good effect, staring directly at him with nothing more in her expression than the desire to please, and a calm determination to soothe him now that it was glaringly obvious he wouldn’t be getting the top chef he’d paid for tonight.
‘I