By the sound of it, Leandro had selected the perfect wife. A childhood friend and neighbour, popular with his family and with whom he had shared a great deal more than he could ever share with Molly. She was also willing to bet that he had taken the love of his life away on a honeymoon.
The dress was a vibrant emerald green that gave her skin a glow of creamy perfection and highlighted her bright eyes. The glistening fabric shaped her body from bust to hip and flared out into a short skirt.
‘You will turn every head in the room, gatita,’ Leandro forecast from behind her.
Surprise made Molly jump and she spun round from her inspection of the mirror. ‘I didn’t know you were back.’
‘I’m sorry I missed dinner. Work had piled up while I was in London. I won’t be long. All I have to do is shower and change.’ Brilliant dark golden eyes rested on her and her tummy flipped a somersault and her mouth ran dry. Sleek and dark in an elegant business suit with his black hair slightly ruffled and a blue-black shadow of stubble defining his hard, handsome jaw line, he looked utterly spectacular to her appreciative gaze. ‘But I thought you might want to wear these this evening…’#p#分页标题#e#
He extended a jewellery case.
Molly lifted the lid to reveal a magnificent necklace composed of perfectly matched large lustrous pearls and matching drop earrings. ‘These are amazing.’
‘There’s a tremendous collection of jewellery in the safe, all of which is now yours to wear.’
Molly lifted out the pearl necklace. He helped her attach the diamond-studded clasp, his fingertips brushing the nape of her neck. She put on the earrings. Worn together, the set looked incredibly opulent. ‘How old are the pieces?’
‘Turn of the last century, given on the occasion of my great-grandfather’s birth…
‘And this is from me…’ Leandro extended a much smaller box.
Her heart beating very fast, Molly opened it and studied the glittering diamond ring with stunned eyes. ‘It’s gorgeous.’
Leandro extracted the ring and reached for her hand to slide the ring onto the same finger as her wedding band. ‘We missed out on the usual steps, querida.’
‘I love it.’ And when she collided with his shimmering dark eyes she suspected that some day she might well start loving him too, for sometimes he could do or say something that cut right to the heart of her concerns and touched her deep. The night they had met he had told her that she made him feel more alive than he had felt in years and he had called that a cause for celebration. In the same way the giving of the equivalent of an engagement ring and the recognition that their relationship had skipped several important stages made her eyes prickle with stinging tears of appreciation. ‘I really love it…’
‘I’d better get in that shower.’ Leandro strode back to the door between their bedrooms and a moment later he was gone.
She admired her new collection of jewellery and enjoyed the fact that he obviously wanted her to be able to hold her own amongst the other women at the party.
‘So how long have the separate bedrooms for husband and wife been operating?’ Molly enquired when they were descending the magnificent staircase together.
Leandro dealt her a look of surprise. ‘Centuries.’
Molly leant closer and whispered huskily, ‘Time for a change.’
The familiar citrus-fresh scent of her hair flared his nostrils and heated his appreciative dark gaze. ‘You could be right, querida.’
‘Is that you actually admitting that you might be wrong about something?’
‘No, that’s you misinterpreting me,’ Leandro quipped without skipping a beat.
Knots of guests in elegant dinner jackets and exquisite
gowns and glittering jewellery drifted into the beautifully decorated ballroom to greet them. As the evening wore on Molly’s head swam with the sheer number of different names and faces she tried to match. She met Leandro’s neighbours, friends and loads of other bankers. It was a warm evening and the crush of people and the noise of the music and the chattering voices combined in a suffocating wave that made her feel slightly nauseous and dizzy. She drifted over to the doors that stood open onto the terrace to allow fresh air to filter in. Just as she was hanging back from joining Leandro, who was patently talking business with a group of like-minded serious men, Julieta approached her. Looping her arm round Molly’s to draw her into a girlie aside, Julieta whispered, ‘Can I trust you with a secret?’
‘If you want to,’ Molly responded a little uncertainly.
‘I’ve been seeing Fernando Santos for weeks,’ Leandro’s youngest sister confided in an explosive rush. ‘I’m crazy about him!’