Taken by the Highest Bidder

“Thank you, Cristiano, for everything,” she whispered.

He kissed her temple, smoothed her hair. “Sleep, bella. There’s a little girl anxious to see you in the morning, and trust me, she won’t care if you haven’t slept in days.”

The next morning they returned to the villa in Cap Ferrat and yes, Gabby was thrilled to see them. She danced around their legs as they walked from the car to the house and finally Cristiano picked her up to keep from stepping on her. “You’re as bad as a puppy,” he teased.

Gabby responded with a big lick on the side of his face.

Cristiano groaned and Sam laughed quietly thinking she’d been right, about those thoughts she’d had on the plane. Nothing was the same. Not for Gabby, not for her, not for any of them. But they did adapt, slowly settling into a new routine where they spent the work week in Monte Carlo and Cristiano’s penthouse apartment and then weekends and school holidays at the villa.

It was a relatively easy commute and Sam and Gabby loved the villa best. It was always such a treat to return to the villa after five days in the city.

It was nearly the end of January and with February approaching Sam knew she had to do something about Gabby’s party but wasn’t sure where to even begin.

“Call an event planner,” Cristiano told her when she confessed to him one evening that she was nervous about throwing a big party. Married to Johann they’d never had money to do a proper party and yet Sam knew that some of the parties Gabby had attended were incredibly lavish.

“That’ll cost a fortune,” Sam told him, crawling into bed after checking on Gabby once more for the night.

“Money’s not an issue,” he answered, “and you did promise her a real party. It’s her fifth birthday after all.”

“I know, but spending huge amounts of money on five-year-olds doesn’t really make a lot of sense.”

“It’s not about the money, Sam. It’s about giving Gabriela something special to remember.”

And Sam knew that, but one of the hardest transitions for her in married life was this concept of spending freely. She’d never had extra money. It was a necessity to be frugal and fifteen years later it was a very hard habit to break. “You honestly don’t mind me putting on a big party for Gabby?”

“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t. This has been a traumatic year for her. I’d like nothing better than for her to have an absolutely magical fifth birthday.”

“So clowns, face painters, trained dogs…that’s all okay?”

“Acrobats, jugglers, magicians. No problem.”

“What about elephants?”

Cristiano grabbed Sam, rolled her beneath him and kissed her until she melted against him. “No elephants,” he growled when he finally lifted his head. “And let’s skip the tigers, too.”

He dipped his head to kiss her once more and it didn’t take long for the sweet, playful kiss to spark into hot, explosive desire.

CHAPTER TWELVE

SAM hired an event planner Chef Sacchi had worked with when he was the head pastry chef at the La Palme d’Or in Cannes and after the event planner visited the villa, saw the space for the party and heard the circus theme, he promised he could create something fantastic that would thrill children and adults alike.

“We shall do our own Festival du Cirque Monte-Carlo, yes?” The theatrical young man said. “A tent, a marquee, red carpet and of course the circus acts.”

“My husband has only two stipulations,” Sam said. “No elephants—they would be hard on the gardens, and no tigers. If one escaped he knows the neighbors would complain.”

“Ah, yes, a wise husband.” The young man nodded his head thinking. “We can pass on the exotic animals but I can maybe find you a small elephant, one not so big it’d crush the daffodils.”

Sam fought the desire to smile. “I’m sorry. Cristiano was really quite clear. No elephants, but I think the children would love small ponies.”

Two days after trucks began to line the villa driveway as scores of workers from the different party rental companies set to work constructing the circus tent, the center ring and the bleacher seating. Lights were strung inside the white tent and more lights were strung outside the tent. A great cobalt-blue sign with fancy gold lettering that had been hand-painted just for the occasion was hung outside the tent, Festival du Cirque Gabriela, and in the middle was a big gold number 5.