‘Well...’ Liane did her best to ignore the fluttery panic taking up residence in her stomach. ‘I hope to.’
‘Ah, Liane!’ Ella let out a throaty chuckle. ‘That’s the spirit! He’s crazy about you, you know. Don’t doubt it.’
‘You drive me mad.’
But how had Ella been able to see that? ‘Crazy about me for the moment,’ she agreed, ‘but that’s all.’
‘Then enjoy the moment,’ Ella advised. ‘And see what happens. Is it just the two of you?’
‘No, his father’s ex-wife and her daughter are here. Sophia. She’s fourteen, and clearly adores her brother.’
‘Sophia, hmm? I’m sure they’ll both be eager to give you some privacy. Anyway, he adores you.’
‘Ella! He doesn’t.’ Liane’s face flushed and she lowered her voice, not wanting anyone to overhear. ‘It’s...it’s not like that.’
‘I wouldn’t be so sure.’
‘Trust me—’
‘Oh, he might be fighting it, and you might be as well, but I know what I see.’ She let out a peal of laughter. ‘Social media doesn’t lie.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Liane protested. The last thing she wanted to think about was wretched social media. ‘Anyway, I just called to tell you where I am.’
‘Right. Well, I could have guessed that,’ Ella told her loftily. ‘Or at least who you were with. Keep me posted. And I mean that literally.’
‘You seem happy, Alessandro.’
Alessandro turned to see his former stepmother glancing at him in gentle speculation. She’d been married to his father for only a handful of years before she’d left him because of his unfaithfulness, but she’d been pragmatic about the relationship, and grateful she’d got a daughter out of it. Even though she’d divorced his father over ten years ago, because of Sophia they’d remained close.
‘I am,’ he replied equably. Christina had shown Liane her room, with Sophia in tow, before returning downstairs to him.
‘Because of her?’ she asked, and he gave her a quelling look, or at least the approximation of one. In truth he was feeling too light and easy inside to get seriously annoyed with his stepmother’s curious questions.
‘Don’t read more into it than there is,’ he warned her. Even if he already felt the more in himself. His feelings for Liane went beyond the physical, he knew that much. ‘We’ve only known each other a week, after all.’ Could it really be such a short amount of time?
‘Sometimes that’s all it takes. I fell for your father in a single night.’
Alessandro’s stomach tightened. He was not going to be like his father. ‘And look how that turned out.’
‘That may be, but I still loved him. Love doesn’t follow rules, Alessandro.’
‘This isn’t love.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Give it a rest, Christina.’ He spoke good-naturedly although he was starting to feel tense. ‘And don’t push.’
‘I won’t,’ she promised with a laugh. ‘But it’s nice to see you happy, with a woman. Sophia will be the one ringing the wedding bells for you. She can’t wait to have a little niece or nephew.’
‘Good Lord.’ Alessandro shuddered, but there was more theatricality in it than conviction. He found himself picturing Liane’s fairy tale garden, with the dogs and the cats and, yes, the children. ‘I think I’ll go see how Liane is settling in.’
His stepmother’s laughter followed him out of the room. ‘You do that,’ she said.
Upstairs he found Liane perched on the window seat of her bedroom, with Sophia sprawled on her bed, her chin planted in her hands. Liane, he saw, was looking bemused, Sophia eager.
‘So you’ve been to four balls together?’
‘Well, not exactly together...’ She glanced at Alessandro, who flicked his fingers at his half-sister.
‘Out, scamp. I want to talk to Liane alone.’
Far from looking injured at being so dismissed, Sophia’s face lit up. ‘Of course you do,’ she said as she scrambled off the bed.
Alessandro turned to Liane. Sophia hesitated by the doorway and he let out a good-natured groan. ‘Sophia.’
With a laugh she scampered from the room.
‘It seems we haven’t escaped the speculation here,’ Liane said lightly as she turned to look out of the window.
‘Naturally they’re curious.’
‘Your gardens are beautiful.’
He took a step towards her, his hands in his pockets. ‘There’s even lilac.’
She closed her eyes briefly. ‘Don’t, Alessandro.’
Surprised by her reaction, he put his hand on her shoulder. ‘Don’t what?’
‘Don’t... I don’t even know...don’t tease. Or warn. Or whatever it is you’re doing. I know what this is. I’m perfectly fine with it, trust me.’
He pressed her shoulder gently to turn her towards him. ‘And what is this?’
‘An affair. One of your arrangements.’ She drew an unsteady breath. ‘I just want to be clear with you that I understand, so you don’t have to keep giving me reminders. I’m not going to hope for or even think about more than...than what we have. I promise you I won’t.’
Her words should have given him great relief, but he only felt disquiet. ‘Is that supposed to reassure me?’
‘Yes, of course it is.’ A flash of something almost like ire was in her eyes. ‘Why shouldn’t it?’ Indeed, that was the question, wasn’t it? ‘Anyway,’ she dismissed, ‘enough about that.’
Alessandro continued to gaze at her, noting the steely glint in her eye, the determined tilt of her chin. She’d made up her mind, without any regrets. He should be thrilled, he thought wryly. He had everything he’d wanted—Liane with him, agreeing to an affair, no strings, no complications. No possibility of either of them getting hurt.
So why did he feel so...strange?
‘Why don’t we go explore the garden?’ he suggested. ‘I want to show you the property.’
‘All right.’ The smile she gave him was both bright and determined. ‘Let me just change.’