Obviously she’d need to clear it with Gianferro first, but what was the point of being a princess if you couldn’t just fly to America on a whim? But she would beg Gianferro’s silence, for she wanted it to be a surprise.
She just prayed it would be a pleasant one…
The sound of the doorbell punctured the sultry wail of the music, and Guido narrowed his eyes with irritation. Who the hell was that, and why the hell had they been allowed up? He had specifically told the porter that he did not want to be disturbed….
It pealed again. Unbelievable! He rose to his feet and pulled open the door, unable to make the connection for a moment. It was a bit like seeing an iceberg in the middle of the desert—completely unexpected. The very last thing he had expected was to see his wife standing on the doorstep.
‘Hello, Guido,’ she said quietly.
‘Lucy!’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘This is certainly a surprise.’
It wasn’t the greeting she had wanted or hoped for. He was standing there with a wary look on his face, yet his hard, lean body was tense and expectant.
‘Maybe I should have phoned. Aren’t you going to invite me in?’ And then she stopped focussing on him and focussed on the sound of sultry saxophone drifting through the air from behind him. Her eyes opened wide in horror. ‘Unless…unless—’ Oh, God. ‘Unless you’re busy, of course?’
He heard the accusation in her voice and his mouth tightened. ‘And what is it you think I might be busy with, Lucy?’ he questioned, in a soft, dangerous voice. ‘You think I have someone in here with me?’
The world stood still. She looked into his eyes, black and stormy as the night. ‘Have you?’
‘Why don’t you take a look for yourself?’
She needed courage then as she had never needed it before, and she brushed past him, her head held high, two wings of colour burning across her cheeks.
The room looked set for seduction. Soft lights. Soft music. There was even a bottle of wine opened. Her eyes scanned the table. One glass! She turned back to look at him again, only this time his eyes were taunting her.
‘Seen enough?’ he mocked.
She had come to a tentative decision on the plane, and the emotions which were rollercoastering around inside her now made it crystallise into certainty. She was through with treading carefully, as if she was negotiating some rocky and unknown path. From now on she was going to start walking proud and strong.
‘Are you alone?’ she demanded.
He gave an odd kind of laugh and walked over to the table. He poured himself a glass of wine, glancing over his shoulder at her. ‘Will you join me?’ he questioned, in a mocking voice.
He still hadn’t answered her question! But surely his careless attitude must mean that there was no one else in the apartment? Not even Guido could demonstrate sang-froid like that if some female was hiding out in the bedroom. The thought of that made her wince.
‘I’m pregnant!’ she said, relief making her snap at him. ‘Remember?’
‘How am I likely to forget?’ he lobbed back, and then sipped his wine. ‘Sit down. Take the weight off your feet and tell me why you’re here.’
Lucy sank onto one of the sofas, suddenly exhausted. Why was she here?
‘Or let me guess,’ he continued. ‘You thought you would turn up unannounced to “surprise” me, but in reality you were expecting to catch me in bed with someone—isn’t that right, Lucy?’
The strain had been building up for a long time, and now it had reached an unbearable pitch. His words were enough to make her snap. She stared at him, all pretence gone, for she did not have the appetite or the energy for it any more. ‘Yes!’ she cried. ‘Yes, I did! Yes, yes, yes—I did!’
His face was a cruel, dark mask. ‘And that would have played right into your hands, wouldn’t it? For, no matter how watertight a prenuptial agreement, what court is going to look kindly on a man who is unfaithful to his young pregnant bride within the first month of marriage? Was that why you refused to have sex with me, Lucy? Hoping to drive me to just that response? Because, if so, I hate to disappoint you—but on this occasion I’m going to have to. Feel free to search every nook and cranny of the apartment, but you will find it empty.’
She had thought that she could not be hurt any more than she already had been, but she had been wrong, for his wounding words slashed right through what remained of her composure. Did he really think she was so scheming that she would concoct such a thing? That she would use their sex-life—or lack of it—as some strategy—a carefully devised plan? Did he think so little of her that he thought she was capable of such deviousness?
A long, shuddering cry escaped her, and, willing the tears not to fall, she buried her face in her hands.
‘Lucy?’
She heard the concern in his voice but shook her head as if to deny it, her hair spilling untidily over her shoulders.
‘Lucy!’ he said urgently, and then he was by her side.
‘Go away.’