Page 30 of Unveiled As The Italian's Bride
She breathed in deeply, and geared up to push him away gently but firmly, but he beat her to it. And in that moment she knew just how important that cherished distance between them had to be, how vital it was that she never let herself forget that this was a business arrangement and nothing more.
Still trembling, she heard him murmur with a smile in his voice, ‘I knew you were nervous. I think that kiss should convince everyone that this is the real deal. Agreed?’
‘Of course. Yes.’
A kiss for show...to cement this deal in the eyes of the world. No more, no less. Yet how her body had ignited. Shame flared inside her.
‘Something else,’ he said huskily, and then he slipped a hand into a pocket and pulled out a small, deep-purple velvet box.
Kate looked down at it numbly.
What else but a fake engagement ring for a fake engagement? she thought.
He opened the box and murmured that he hadn’t been sure of the size, but there had been no time for measurements.
But, as he slipped it onto her finger, she could see that it fitted perfectly.
An oval diamond, glittering and sparkling on a slender white-gold band. There was nothing garish about it. It was the ultimate in good taste and refinement, and a thing of beauty. A searing gesture of what should have been a deeply personal and romantic moment between two people who loved one another.
‘Perfect fit,’ Kate murmured, raising her eyes to his, seething with resentment at the bewildering emotional response that well-timed kiss had roused in her.
She stood back and with a cool, controlled smile turned to face the mesmerised gathering, holding up her hand so that they could all admire the ring glinting on her finger.
His hand had moved to her waist—another well-timed gesture of affection. She slipped out of the casual embrace, fortified by the distance between them that kiss had put, by the ice-cold reality check it had produced.
She could see Antonio beaming and she headed towards him, pausing en route so that the diamond could be admired, and making sure she didn’t look over her shoulder at the guy who had almost managed to turn her world on its axis.
CHAPTER SIX
ALMOST,BUTNOTQUITE.
Kate had had her wake-up call, and had had a few moments of utter disorientation when he had kissed her. But now...? That had been three days ago and she had had time to put that kiss into perspective.
That kiss, those casual, fleeting touches, the whole business of a ring on her finger and a life not so straightforward for the next couple of years would be a good life, as things went, she’d told herself. The joy of knowing that her parents would be taken care of the way they deserved to be in exchange for Kate leading a life of privilege that most women would give their eye teeth for. Nothing more than attendance at some functions would be required of her.
That, and of course presenting the right front to Antonio so that he had the peace of mind he needed to get stronger. She could do that. The times spent in Dante’s company would be limited, although it had to be said they might very well end up doing stuff with Angelina. But would that be a hardship? No. She loved Angelina and she would set herself a mission to bring father and daughter together on slightly less forbidding and formal terms.
In fairness, as though obeying the change in their circumstances, Dante had been more present with his daughter in little but important ways. Angelina had shown her text messages on her mobile phone, which Kate had come close to suggesting might be a little too much for a child that young. She had composed responses, littered with loving emojis, and had giggled the day before when Dante had returned the favour but had got several wrong.
She had received the news of their engagement with the excitable, unquestioning acceptance of a child—no probing, no discussions. Presented with an odd and surprising development, for which there had been less than zero advance warning, Angelina had accepted Kate’s new role as though it was the most natural development in the world.
‘That’s the best newsever!’ She had smiled, her dark, serious eyes shimmering with earnestness. And then she had given them both huge hugs while she and Dante had looked at one another and smiled in a moment of perfectly unified compatibility.
A date hadn’t been set for the wedding and Kate preferred not to think about that. It would happen and it would be the first step on a road that would reap much-needed benefits for her family.
Beyond that, she was happy to shove any unease over the arrangement to the back of her mind. What was the point in dwelling on the down sides? She had to look at the bigger picture.
The only change to her routine, at the moment, was a move from her quarters to a rather splendid suite of rooms that adjoined Dante’s. The interconnecting door would remain firmly locked between them.
‘Isn’t that going to lead to speculation?’ she had ventured the evening before, as she had turned full circle to inspect her magnificent new accommodation. When she had finally swivelled to a stop to look at him, it was to see that he was half-smiling, eyebrows raised.
‘Explain.’
‘We’re not married yet...’
‘It would no longer be appropriate for you to be in the nanny quarters now that we’re engaged to be married.Thatwould lead to speculation. I may have loyal staff working for me, but they might question why you’re still in the servants’ quarters when my ring is on your finger.’
‘Servants’ quarters?’
