Angelique quickly schooled her features. She wasn’t ready to play confidante just yet, even if Poppy was the sort of girl she longed to have as a best friend. ‘Sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m not in love with him. We’re just making the most of being stuck together. I’ve always fancied him, but then what girl with a pulse wouldn’t?’
‘Oh, well...sorry. I just thought... Never mind.’ Poppy’s flustered look was replaced with a smile. ‘Just wait until you meet Lily, Raoul’s fiancée. She’s a darling. She’s quite shy but once you get to know her I’m sure you’ll adore her.’
‘I’m not worried about Lily or Raoul,’ Angelique said. ‘It’s Vittorio I’m concerned with. I’ve always been a little terrified of him.’
Poppy rolled her eyes. ‘Tell me about it. I avoid him as much as possible. So do Rafe and Raoul. I think Remy is the only one who can crack a smile out of him. But you know him, don’t you? Rafe told me you used to come here a lot when your father and Vittorio were business partners.’
‘Yes, but it was a long time ago, and there’s been a lot of dirty water under the bridge since then.’
Poppy gave her a friendly smile. ‘Maybe, but you weren’t the one to put it there. Now, let’s go and meet Lily and Raoul. That’s their car arriving. See?’
Angelique watched as a slim ash-brown-haired young woman stepped out of the car to go around to the driver’s side with a pair of crutches. ‘I thought Raoul couldn’t walk any more?’
‘He can take a few steps now,’ Poppy said. ‘Lily’s been amazing for him. They’re just the most adorable couple. Check out the way he looks at her. It just makes me melt.’
Angelique felt an ache around her heart when she saw Raoul take the crutches from Lily. He smiled a smile that was so much more than a smile. It was the smile of a man hopelessly in love. But when she looked at Lily she saw the same thing: Lily was besotted with Raoul and was not one bit ashamed about showing it.
They came over to where the rest of them were standing. Raoul leaned heavily on his crutches to offer a hand to Angelique. ‘Welcome to the family, Angelique. It’s good to have you here again. It’s been a long time. Too long.’
Angelique felt a sudden rush of emotion. Raoul had always been the nicest to her. ‘Merci. I’m sorry about your accident. I sent a card. Did you get it?’
He gave her a warm smile. ‘It meant a lot to me. It made me smile, which I wasn’t doing a lot of back then.’ He rebalanced on his crutches so he could get Lily to step forward. ‘Ma chérie, this is Angelique, an old family friend and now Remy’s wife. Angelique, this is my fiancée, Lily Archer.’
Angelique took Lily’s hand. ‘I’m very pleased to meet you.’
‘And you,’ Lily said with a shy smile. ‘Wow, you really are as stunning as you are on those billboards and in those magazines.’
‘You should see me before breakfast,’ Angelique said. ‘I spend a fortune on cover-up and I’m on a constant diet. How I look is totally fake.’ I’m a fake.
Lily’s smile said she didn’t believe it for a second. ‘Maybe you could give me some make-up tips for my wedding. I’m not very good at that stuff.’
‘I would be happy to. You have amazing blue eyes. They’re so incredibly dark. Has anyone ever told you that?’
Lily smiled and glanced at Raoul who was looking at her with such a tender look it made Angelique’s heart suddenly contract. ‘Yes; yes, they have. Many times.’
There was a rumble from inside the villa like a dragon emerging from his cave. Vittorio suddenly appeared at the front door with a savage frown between his brows as his gaze fell on Angelique. ‘I always knew you’d be trouble. You’re just like your two-faced father.’
Angelique stepped forward with her shoulders back and her chin at a combative height. ‘I don’t think it’s fair that I should be judged for the wrongs my father did to you and your family. I had nothing to do with it. I’m an innocent party.’
Vittorio glared at her. ‘There’s not too much about you that’s innocent.’
Angelique stared him down. ‘Yes, well, perhaps there’s some truth in that, given what your grandson has been doing with me over the last three or four weeks.’
‘You shameless hussy!’ Vittorio spat at her. ‘I bet your double-dealing father put you up to this. No wonder he couldn’t wait to crow about it when he called me the other day. You tricked Remy into marrying you so you could carve up his assets when you bail out of it.’