She’d given no indication as to what was going to happen when Christmas was over. Hadn’t mentioned whether she was staying or going, and he was afraid to ask in case his question provoked her into leaving.
He felt as though he was totally out of step with her thinking.
She confided in Jake, it seemed, but not him.
He inhaled sharply. Jake. He knew only too well that Jake had been crazy about Christy for a short time. Given the complexity and number of Jake’s subsequent relationships, he’d assumed that the connection had long since died. Now he was starting to wonder…
But no matter what, she was right about his behaviour, he reflected with grim self-awareness. He’d behaved that way from the first moment he’d met her. She’d been twenty and a virgin, and he’d fallen for her so hard that, given the choice, he would have locked her inside a room and never let her out.
She’d been with him for almost all of her adult life.
Could he blame her if she now wanted to dress up and party?
He ran a hand over the back of his neck and cursed fluently in Spanish.
Katy cleared her throat. ‘Thanks to those boring Spanish lessons I endure every Saturday morning, I understood that,’ she said calmly, and Alessandro threw her a quelling look.
‘I don’t need your comments at this time,’ he said in Spanish, and she gave a smile and responded in the same language.
‘Oh, I rather think you do.’
* * *
So much for expecting Alessandro to sweep her into his arms, Christy thought miserably as she reached for her coat. He hadn’t seen her as an attractive woman. Just as his wife, inappropriately dressed.
Part of her wanted to strip off the dress and have an early night in the spare room, regardless of the broken bed, but part of her was still determined to show him what he was missing, so she picked up the phone and called a taxi. Alessandro strode into the hall moments later. ‘Christy—’ ‘We need to leave,’ she said coldly, not giving him the chance to say what she would undoubtedly consider to be the wrong thing. ‘I ordered a taxi so that we can both have a drink. It should be here any minute.’
Alessandro inhaled sharply. ‘Por Dios, we need to talk.’
‘About what?’ She swept towards the door, her head held high, her hair streaming down her back like flames. ‘The fact that you don’t see me as anything other than the mother of your children? You’ve made that perfectly clear, Alessandro. I don’t need you to labour the point.’
She yanked open the front door, relieved to see the taxi arrive.
They made the journey to the manor house that was the venue for the Snow Ball in tense, brooding silence, and Christy turned her head to stare out of the window, afraid to look at him.
Afraid that she’d break down.
Merry Christmas, Christy, she thought bitterly as the taxi swept up the wide, snowy drive that led to the stately home. Christmas trees festooned with tiny lights adorned the entrance but she decided that it was impossible to be enchanted when your marriage was on the rocks.
Determined not to show Alessandro how much his casual indifference had hurt her, Christy handed her coat to the uniformed attendant and walked into the ballroom.
The party was already in full swing, the dance floor was crowded and the buffet table was loaded with festive food.
Huge boughs of holly and mistletoe decorated the room and the air was filled with the scent of pine cones and fir trees.
Christmas.
Christy blinked back tears. It should have been a happy time.
The first person she saw was Nicky, wearing a slinky green dress and clinging to her husband’s arm. ‘Christy!’ Waving a champagne glass, she sprinted over and embraced her. ‘You look amazing!’
At least someone thought so, Christy thought sadly, forcing a smile. ‘Thanks.’
Nicky grinned at Alessandro. ‘She looks unbelievably sexy, doesn’t she?’
Alessandro’s already black expression darkened still further and Christy quickly made conversation to cover his lack of response.
Clearly he didn’t find her sexy.