With a whistle, he turned away, dropping his towel to the floor. Scarlett's lips parted at the delicious view of her husband's muscular backside before he disappeared into the bathroom. It took several seconds before she was able to focus again.
She looked down at the papers, thinking of everything she had to do today before the evening wedding. After weeks of procrastination, she still hadn't figured out what to wear. She desperately wanted to look good at the formal event, to show her respect to Maria and the rest of Vin's family. But she dreaded the pressure of scouring the chic designer shops of Rome. She always felt like a chubby bumpkin. The thought of also going to look for an English-speaking lawyer to translate and advise her felt like one unpleasant task too many.
Besides, she was Vin's wife, the mother of his child. For better or worse. If she truly believed she was his partner, why treat him like an enemy? She didn't want to be suspicious. She wanted to trust him.
So she would. End of story.
Smiling to herself in relief, Scarlett signed the papers with a flourish, then enjoyed the delicious breakfast. She polished off the almond croissant at the exact moment she heard her baby starting to fuss in the nursery. She brought the baby back to their bedroom and was cuddling and nursing him in bed when Vin came back, wrapped in a white terry cloth robe, his dark hair wet, his black eyes smoldering.
"Did you enjoy your breakfast, cara?"
"It was amazing. Thank you so much." She held up the signed papers. "I have these for you."
His eyes lit up with something dark and deep. He came forward. He gently took the papers from her. Seeing her signature, he kissed her on the temple and said in a low voice, "Thank you, Scarlett."
"No problem," she said, smiling up at him. Then she sighed. "If only I could solve the problem of what to wear tonight so easily."
His own smile widened. "Cara, that is one problem I can solve for you."
With a single phone call, Vin solved everything. He arranged for a team of stylists to come to the villa. Beauty specialists appeared that afternoon to do her nails, hair and makeup. As Nico rolled around on the soft pad of his baby gym nearby, cooing and batting at soft dangling toys, Scarlett sipped sparkling mineral water while clothing stylists presented thirty different gowns to choose from, each more exquisite than the last.
Then she saw one that took her breath away, long and sapphire blue. When she tried it on, it made her figure look like an hourglass, especially with the lingerie underneath, a push-up bra more outrageous than she would have ever selected for herself. It made her breasts high and huge with sharp cleavage beneath the gown's low-cut bodice. The hairdresser twisted her red hair in an elegant chignon, and the makeup artist made her lips deep red, darkening her eyes with kohl. When Scarlett finally saw herself in the mirror, she gasped. She almost didn't recognize herself.
"Bellissima," her hairstylist said, kissing his fingertips expressively. Scarlett blushed.
Vin had said she'd be treated like a princess, and she felt like one. She turned anxiously to Wilhelmina, who was now holding the baby. She'd become Scarlett's trusted friend. "What do you think?"
The housekeeper looked her over critically, then smiled. "Sugar, I think that husband of yours is likely to die of pride."
Scarlett prayed she was right, and that Vin didn't think she looked like an ordinary girl playing dress-up, pretending to play the role of a glamorous, sexy, sophisticated woman.
Kissing her baby's cheeks, which were getting chubbier every day, Scarlett floated out of the master bedroom, into the hall, still trembling, wondering what Vin would say when he saw her. She paused at the top of the staircase as she heard low words from below.
"Blaise Falkner..."
The voices cut off sharply as Vin and his assistant saw her. But why would they be talking about that awful man?
Her husband's eyes widened as she came down the stairs, holding the handrail carefully so she didn't trip on her four-inch, crystal-studded high heels. He met her at the bottom of the staircase.
"You dazzle me," he murmured too softly for his assistant to hear. Taking her hand, he whispered, "Forget the wedding. Let's go back upstairs..."
Her cheeks burned pleasantly, but she bit her lip. "Were you talking about Blaise Falkner?"
Vin started to shake his head, but Ernest, his assistant, interjected, "We haven't been able to track him since he left New York."
"Track him? What do you mean?"
Vin glared at his assistant, then kissed the back of her hand. Scarlett shivered as she felt the hot press of his sensual lips against her skin. "It's nothing to worry about. He's probably just too embarrassed to show his face. Drowning his sorrows in a gutter." He looked at her. "Scarlett. You are so beautiful."
Her blush deepened. "Thanks. Um. You look nice, too."
Her praise felt woefully inadequate. His black tuxedo jacket was tailored perfectly, showing off his amazing physique from his muscular shoulders to his taut waist. His dark eyes were intense in his handsome face with a jawline and cheekbones that would cut glass. But he wasn't just superficially handsome. It was more than that. Some might think he was arrogant, but Scarlett alone knew his heart, his goodness, his love for his family. That was what she loved.
Frowning, Vin tilted his head. "You just need one thing."
"What?"
Reaching to a nearby table for a flat black velvet box, he drew out a large, dazzling diamond necklace. She gasped as she felt the cold weight of the diamonds clasped gently around her throat. Then he kissed her at the crook of her neck, and she felt a rush of heat. She whispered, "Thank you."
"Now we can go," he said softly.
They kissed their baby son good-night, leaving him happily cuddled in Wilhelmina's arms, and went out into the cold night. Vin gently draped her white stole over her shoulders as they crossed their cobblestoned driveway to the waiting limousine. The gate opened on the street, and the driver, with two bodyguards traveling behind them, whisked them off to the grand palazzo.
Maria and Luca's evening winter wedding was sublimely beautiful, lit with candles and white flowers in the gilded receiving room of the palazzo. Giuseppe walked her down the aisle, tears shining on his face. Sitting nearby, Joanne cried, as well. Scarlett watched the young couple speak their vows and her heart felt overwhelmed with joy as she looked at her husband beside her and felt all the love around them.
Afterward, they adjourned to the ballroom for a formal dinner. The young bride and groom sat at a table on a dais, with their immediate families on each side of them. That included Vin and Scarlett. She hugged the bride and groom, and then Giuseppe and Joanne. She listened to the speeches toasting the bride and groom, mostly in Italian, and tried to understand. She enjoyed the freedom to drink champagne.
But the whole time, Scarlett was aware of her husband beside her, looking down at her with his darkly sensual gaze. He kept giving quick stolen kisses on her bare shoulder above the sweetheart neckline of her strapless blue gown. He kissed her on her cheek. On the lips. She leaned against him, reveling in his nearness. It was a beautiful wedding, but she could hardly wait to get home...
"We're going to miss you," the bridegroom's father, a wealthy businessman who owned this grand palazzo, called across the table to Vin halfway through the third course. "My son was secretly hoping your wife would give Maria some cooking lessons."
"Papà!" the groom protested.
"Luca!" The bride tossed her head in her elegant white veil, pretending to pout. "But if I learn to cook, how would we support the restaurants? One must think of helping the economy!"
But Scarlett frowned at Luca's father. "What do you mean, you'll miss us?" She looked at her husband with dismay. "Are you going on another business trip?"
"I heard you're moving to New York," Luca's father said. "In fact, I heard you've already rented out your villa here on long lease to some Hollywood actor and bought a brand-new duplex in New York for some obscene amount. I read it in the paper-was it fifty million dollars?"
Scarlett relaxed, laughed. "I'm afraid you've heard incorrectly, Signor Farro. We are talking about New York, but we haven't decided anything. We certainly haven't rented out our..."
Her voice trailed off as she saw Vin's face. Ice entered her heart.
"You wouldn't do that," she said in a small voice. "Not without talking to me. After everything I put into our home, you wouldn't rent it out from underneath me..."
Vin's expression was closed. "The decision has already been made."
"By who?" Scarlett pulled away. "By you?"
The smiles had fallen from the faces of the bride and groom. Their parents started to look anxious. Chic guests at nearby dinner tables turned to look as their voices rose.