“As I can see from this impressive legal document.” She spoke seriously enough but he couldn’t shake the feeling Alessia was laughing at him.
“I wanted to show you that we could have a contract which serves us both. It covers where we’ll live, what our recourse is if we’re not happy there, what your marital trust fund will be, the hours I’ll expect to spend at home –,”
“As I said, you’ve thought of everything.” A little line formed between her brows as she frowned, her eyes knitting closer together.
“Not everything,” he shrugged confidently then reached across the table and put his hand over hers. “Naturally there are things I cannot predict, things that will change without our knowledge, but this is a good start. I want you to feel confident that this is safe and right.”
She shook her head a little, but with uncertainty. It wasn’t a ‘no’. “Why are you fighting so hard for this?” Her blue eyes pinned him to the spot.
“Doesn’t our child deserve that?”
She pursed her lips. “There are lots of way to make a child happy. Why this?”
He pushed back in his chair, regarding her through eyes that gave nothing away. Apparently unsatisfied, she kept digging.
“Because of what your parents did?”
He bristled, his past not something he generally discussed. “Because of what I never had,” he admitted stiffly. “And because of what you lost.” The words were gravelled, gentle, but she startled, her expression shifting painfully. Invoking her mother was important – she needed to see that the family she’d grown up in and lost was something their daughter deserved. He squeezed her hand. “We can give this baby something so special, Alessia. Marry me.”
Chapter Six
“EVERYTHING LOOKS THE SAME.”
Her voice was hollow, her heart hurting as she looked around the parlour of his enormous house in the middle of Rome. On the morning she’d left, she’d sworn she’d never set foot in this place again. The wedding dress she wore now was incredibly comfortable, except all of a sudden it felt too tight, as though it were strangling her. She pulled ineffectually at the neckline, trying to buy some breathing room.
“Si.” Massimo Montebello in any guise was almost too handsome to bear but like this, dressed in the tuxedo he’d worn to their wedding, he was a picture of vitality, strength and charisma. Her eyes lingered on his frame a moment too long before she turned her attention back to the living room.
“Naturally, you can change whatever you would like.”
Her heart stuttered. Change. It was so final, so lasting, as though she would be a permanent occupant in this house. Inwardly she fought against that. It was far better to leave everything as it was and think of this as ‘his’ house. She could live there, but she’d never really belong. She’d made the mistake of believing her first marriage was real, and she’d lived to regret it bitterly. This time, she’d be smarter.
The thick contract she’d signed was proof that this was far from a normal marriage.
“It’s fine. I’ll get used to it.” She looked around as if making that commitment to herself and then forced a smile to her lips. It felt brittle, but that could have been the icy cold day they’d used to re-pledge their vows.
“Which room shall I use? I’d like to get changed.”
His frown was one of bemusement. “You don’t remember?”
She shook her head, scanning his face.
“Our room is upstairs, to the left.”
“That’s your room.”
“Now it’s our room.”
Her heart turned over in her chest. “Max…”
“Are you truly going to fight me about this?”
He moved closer, his eyes latched to hers, making her feel somehow ridiculous.
“I’m too tired to fight,” she said honestly. “Tomorrow, we can discuss it.”
Sympathy crossed his handsome face. “Of course. You must be exhausted; it’s been a long day.”
It had been. From getting ready with Elodie and Maddie at the five star hotel near the church, to having to pretend that this wasn’t like an emergency root canal, to standing in front of a small but elite group of guests and pledging to spend her life with Massimo all over again. So many of the faces were familiar from the first time around, women who had always seemed as though they wanted to scratch Alessia’s eyes out, women who were obviously as drawn to Massimo as Alessia had been. Alessia wondered what they’d say if she shouted, ‘You can have him! I don’t want him!’