Page 21 of Unveiled As The Italian's Bride
Dante frowned at the rush of memories crowding his brain and saw that the woman next to him—the woman who was to become his wife—was looking at him with something very much like empathy. As that was something he didn’t need, he abruptly turned away, before moving the conversation onto more pedestrian ground.
Between them Angelina had shifted so that she was now resting against Dante’s arm, gently snoring, oblivious to the hushed conversation around her.
‘I meant to mention that your first social engagement is in the calendar.’
‘Sorry?’
Better, Dante thought, annoyed with himself for being derailed by beguiling almond-shaped eyes and a heart-shaped face oozing just the sort of gentle understanding he was not in need of. Much safer being back in the arena of discussing practicalities.
‘If you recall, part of the arrangement between us involved joint functions attended together?’
‘I thought that was destined for after the big day.’
‘The big day?’
‘Yes. When we tie the knot and pledge undying love and devotion to one another.’
‘Ah.Thatbig day.’ He smiled a slow, curling smile and looked at her with dark-eyed amusement. ‘Remind me...does obedience feature alongside the love and devotion?’
Kate blushed. The ice-cold guy with the killer looks clearly had a sense of humour, and that unexpectedly brought a rush of colour to her cheeks and a sharp sexual awareness that forced dampness between her thighs and made her blush even redder.
‘I think all those vows might have to be tweaked,’ she returned, voice hitched, still feeling the heat in her cheeks. ‘What is this function, exactly? Will I be there in the capacity of Angelina’s nanny?’
‘You will be there in the capacity of my future wife,’ Dante asserted. ‘Once the announcement is made and everything is official, we can jointly break the news to Angelina.’
‘Announcement...’
‘Don’t tell me that you didn’t give that any thought?’
‘Well, yes, in a manner of speaking...’ Had she? Not really. She’d considered the up sides and the ramifications, but the details had all been wrapped up in that pre-nup she had signed. All other considerations had been shoved to the back of the queue for further inspection at a later date.
‘I’m guessing from your blank expression that themanner of speakingyou refer to was somewhat on the vague side?’
‘Somewhat,’ Kate reluctantly agreed. She thought about the sort of people she would meet, and the reality of what she was about to do hit her with the force of a sledgehammer.
She would be catapulted into a level of wealth that would surpass anything she might ever have encountered—which truthfully wasn’t much, given her background. She had only vaguely seen from a distance the glamorous, expensively dressed people who circled around Dante, like twinkling stars orbiting the sun. The prospect of actually having to mingle with them made her feel a little nauseous.
‘It’s going to be a little odd, isn’t it?’ she ventured, chewing her lip and staring off into the dark distance as the chauffeur-driven car noiselessly gobbled up the miles.
‘Undoubtedly it will be for you, but that’s a big subject to broach in the back of a car with a sleeping child between us. We can talk about this when we are back at my uncle’s,’ Dante said with surprising kindness. When Kate focused she could make out the approach of the palace, its splendid pale contours as magnificent as an intricate gossamer confection.
Antonio had retired to his quarters, even though it wasn’t yet seven-thirty in the evening, and as Dante lifted Angelina out of the car and carried her into the house he looked at Kate and drawled with wry sarcasm, ‘My suspicion is that that sly fox has chosen to avoid a discussion on how the appointment with his consultant went.’
Kate burst out laughing.
‘Would he be that devious?’
‘That old man takes devious to another level.’ But he was smiling with genuine affection and warmth. and
Head tilted to one side, Kate smiled back at him, because for a guy whose smiles were as rare as hen’s teeth his was oddly infectious. She said thoughtfully, ‘You really adore him, don’t you?’
She remembered what she had been told about his parents, but that had been told to her in the strictest of confidences, even though now, with him about to take Angelina up to bed, she was so tempted to give in to curiosity.
Braced for an abrupt halt to a conversation which felt so different from most of their interactions in the past, she was surprised when he hesitated. And even more surprised when he mused, ‘Antonio...was the cool uncle, the uncle who blew in from adventures, filled with tales of excitement. For me? A breath of fresh air.’
‘Why?’
As if she had no idea.
