A Ring for Vincenzo's Heir

Besides, she was Vin’s wife, the mother of his child. For better or worse. If she truly believed she was his partner, why treat him like an enemy? She didn’t want to be suspicious. She wanted to trust him.

So she would. End of story.

Smiling to herself in relief, Scarlett signed the papers with a flourish, then enjoyed the delicious breakfast. She polished off the almond croissant at the exact moment she heard her baby starting to fuss in the nursery. She brought the baby back to their bedroom and was cuddling and nursing him in bed when Vin came back, wrapped in a white terry cloth robe, his dark hair wet, his black eyes smoldering.

“Did you enjoy your breakfast, cara?”

“It was amazing. Thank you so much.” She held up the signed papers. “I have these for you.”

His eyes lit up with something dark and deep. He came forward. He gently took the papers from her. Seeing her signature, he kissed her on the temple and said in a low voice, “Thank you, Scarlett.”

“No problem,” she said, smiling up at him. Then she sighed. “If only I could solve the problem of what to wear tonight so easily.”

His own smile widened. “Cara, that is one problem I can solve for you.”

With a single phone call, Vin solved everything. He arranged for a team of stylists to come to the villa. Beauty specialists appeared that afternoon to do her nails, hair and makeup. As Nico rolled around on the soft pad of his baby gym nearby, cooing and batting at soft dangling toys, Scarlett sipped sparkling mineral water while clothing stylists presented thirty different gowns to choose from, each more exquisite than the last.

Then she saw one that took her breath away, long and sapphire blue. When she tried it on, it made her figure look like an hourglass, especially with the lingerie underneath, a push-up bra more outrageous than she would have ever selected for herself. It made her breasts high and huge with sharp cleavage beneath the gown’s low-cut bodice. The hairdresser twisted her red hair in an elegant chignon, and the makeup artist made her lips deep red, darkening her eyes with kohl. When Scarlett finally saw herself in the mirror, she gasped. She almost didn’t recognize herself.

“Bellissima,” her hairstylist said, kissing his fingertips expressively. Scarlett blushed.

Vin had said she’d be treated like a princess, and she felt like one. She turned anxiously to Wilhelmina, who was now holding the baby. She’d become Scarlett’s trusted friend. “What do you think?”

The housekeeper looked her over critically, then smiled. “Sugar, I think that husband of yours is likely to die of pride.”

Scarlett prayed she was right, and that Vin didn’t think she looked like an ordinary girl playing dress-up, pretending to play the role of a glamorous, sexy, sophisticated woman.

Kissing her baby’s cheeks, which were getting chubbier every day, Scarlett floated out of the master bedroom, into the hall, still trembling, wondering what Vin would say when he saw her. She paused at the top of the staircase as she heard low words from below.

“Blaise Falkner...”

The voices cut off sharply as Vin and his assistant saw her. But why would they be talking about that awful man?

Her husband’s eyes widened as she came down the stairs, holding the handrail carefully so she didn’t trip on her four-inch, crystal-studded high heels. He met her at the bottom of the staircase.

“You dazzle me,” he murmured too softly for his assistant to hear. Taking her hand, he whispered, “Forget the wedding. Let’s go back upstairs...”

Her cheeks burned pleasantly, but she bit her lip. “Were you talking about Blaise Falkner?”

Vin started to shake his head, but Ernest, his assistant, interjected, “We haven’t been able to track him since he left New York.”

“Track him? What do you mean?”

Vin glared at his assistant, then kissed the back of her hand. Scarlett shivered as she felt the hot press of his sensual lips against her skin. “It’s nothing to worry about. He’s probably just too embarrassed to show his face. Drowning his sorrows in a gutter.” He looked at her. “Scarlett. You are so beautiful.”

Her blush deepened. “Thanks. Um. You look nice, too.”