A Ring for Vincenzo's Heir(29)

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.