Page 23 of Unveiled As The Italian's Bride
‘You shared a house with other guys—like a regular person?’ She tried to imagine that and failed.
‘In a manner of speaking. Two friends, and the house belonged to me.’
‘Of course it did.’
Dante burst out laughing again, a proper, sexy, full-throated laugh, and in that instant there was absolutely nothing cold or remote about him. In that instant, he was dangerously, thrillingly, all red-blooded male.
‘So maybe you have a point.’ He was still half-laughing as he spread his arms wide in a gesture of pious acceptance. ‘I may be a little spoiled after all.’
‘Alotspoiled. And I guess you also had a bunch of people waiting on you hand and foot?’
‘Not in the last year of my residency,’ he drawled. ‘Too many bodies in the house when, at the time, I was only interested in one.’
It took her a few seconds but, when she understood what he was saying, she went beetroot-red and was lost for words, which made him chuckle.
‘You have a very transparent face, Kate. I’ve embarrassed you.’
‘Not at all. Uh...no...’
‘We’re both adults.’ He shrugged. ‘I just say it as it was. So, moving on...’
Kate was only too glad to move on. Those casually uttered words had filled her head with graphic images and made her break out in a sweat. Yes, they were both adults, but for her? No. Casual sexual experiences were not in her playbook and she had never been in any hurry to put them there.
‘Yes,’ she said breathlessly. ‘This thing—this function—will it be big? When is it?’
‘Not big, no. Just relatives, friends and then we can sit with Angelina, explain it to her and take our time doing so.’ He half-smiled. ‘We cannot expect a young child to keep such news to herself, and I’d rather her friends know after it’s been announced to their parents, so to speak.’
Kate relaxed. She wondered whether he still harboured doubts about her commitment to this proposition, hence the necessity to formalise their agreement in the eyes of those close to him before he told his daughter. If he’d known how much the money would mean to her parents, then he’d certainly have known that backing out, for her, was not on the cards. And as for this little get together... Something small and contained would be manageable, surely? She could deal with that.
‘It’s been put together in some haste but—’ he shrugged ‘—no matter. What I can tell you is that it’s perhaps sooner than you might wish for, but I don’t see the point in waiting, especially when I suspect my uncle isn’t going to let the grass grow beneath his feet. He’ll be spreading the news faster than a town crier.’
There was wry indulgence in his voice when he said that. It made her think of him as he must have been all those years ago, leading a splendid and privileged life of duty and responsibility, with Antonio the carefree genie in the lamp bringing magic and stardust to his childhood.
From her point of view, the sooner the beginning, the faster the conclusion.
‘Sooner? Sooner as in...when, exactly?’
‘Tomorrow evening.’
Kate’s eyes widened and she looked at him in consternation.
‘I’m not sure I’ll be...er...mentally equipped to deal with... That’sverysoon.’
‘Would waiting another week change anything?’
‘Maybe not, but—’
‘Excellent!’
‘And so, this event is going to be here? You’d better tell Antonio first thing in the morning so that he can prepare himself.’ She glanced around her, as if trying to spot a concealed army of waiting staff and platters of food, along with other warning signs of a party in the process of being arranged.
‘Not here, no. The less stress my uncle has to face, the better. I have a yacht moored at the mooring pile of La Salute. Excellent views.’
‘You have ayachtmoored?’
‘Small. Nothing fancy, but I suspect the guests will shun jeans and sweaters.’
‘So, formal—how formal?’
