A man stepped casually in front of her, leaning forward to drop a light punch on Rigo’s arm. Nicole stepped back, the gesture catching her off guard. Rigo didn’t seem fazed at all by the action. In fact he practically beamed as recognition dawned.
‘Fratello! You made it after all.’ He turned to embrace the man, clapping his hand roughly around his shoulders. After a moment he stepped back, circling his arm around her waist once more. ‘Nicole, this is Valerio—my brother.’
Nicole offered her hand and a polite smile, trying to ignore the coldness in her future brother-in-law’s gaze. Apart from the blue eyes, the brothers were very different. Rigo was tall and athletic, whereas Valerio was more hulking and broad. But they definitely shared the ability to make a woman feel thoroughly disapproved of.
‘I thought at least one member of our family should be present at your big announcement.’ Valerio turned back to Rigo without another glance in her direction.
‘Will your parents not be joining us tonight?’ Nicole turned to Rigo.
‘They’re currently on a schooner cruise in the Indian Ocean,’ he explained. ‘They will return in time for the wedding.’
Nicole nodded, biting her lip. If his brother was openly disapproving, she dreaded to think what his mother would be like.
Nicole looked around at the throng of people staring at them, their hushed conversations and averted looks doing little to disguise their blatant curiosity. They were all wondering the same thing: Why were they here? It was public knowledge that Rigo Marchesi was a self-professed bachelor. Now all of a sudden he had a fiancée and a six-month-old daughter and the world was supposed to not blink an eyelid. The ridiculousness of it suddenly became too much. She needed a drink—or three.
* * *
Rigo watched as Nicole made her way across the room towards the bar. She had excused herself politely but he had felt the tension building in her from the moment they’d entered the room. She was on edge—but then so was he.
‘So, your fiancée...?’ Valerio’s smile didn’t quite meet his eyes as he took a long sip of his whisky. ‘What has it been? A whole week of courtship?’
‘What can I say, little brother? When you know, you know.’ Rigo shrugged.
‘This whole situation is like history repeating itself. Are you sure the child is even yours?’ Valerio lowered his voice.
‘I’m not even going to grace that question with an answer.’ Rigo’s jaw tightened.
‘I know you haven’t told Mamma yet. Just because they’re in the middle of the ocean doesn’t mean she hasn’t got a satellite phone glued to her side.’
‘I thought it best to wait until they had finished their trip.’
‘You’re afraid to tell her.’ Valerio smirked. ‘I would be, too. After you jumped into proposing to the last one.’
Rigo felt every muscle in his body tense at his younger brother’s reminder of a time when he had been younger and infinitely more naive. He resisted the urge to throw him down and fight it out, as they had as boys. Maybe he would postpone that for the future...in a less crowded place.
‘No more talk of that—not tonight.’ Rigo motioned to a waiter to bring him another drink. ‘We are here to toast my beautiful fiancée.’
He raised his voice so that the men and women surrounding them joined in, thus cutting off their intimate conversation.
* * *
Taking a deep breath, Nicole ignored the heat flushing her cheeks and stopped to take a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. It didn’t take long for her company to be monopolised by the other guests. Everyone wanted to know more about the woman who had finally snared the elusive Rigo Marchesi.
Rigo’s PR team had advised her to stick to the essentials and avoid awkward questions about their time apart. After a few minutes she felt her nerves melt away. Suddenly she found herself almost enjoying the pretence. She talked about her fiancé with the compulsory flowery endearments, referring to their relationship with all of the expected love-struck excitement of a newly engaged woman.
After the third time reciting the story she almost started to believe it herself.
How wonderful would it be if this were actually true? She sipped from a flute of champagne and listened as the group of women surrounding her gushed about her ring. What would it be like to be actually engaged to Rigo Marchesi? If this had truly been a celebration of their love with their closest family and friends? What would it be like to be the woman who held all of his attention?
As she began to describe their fictional proposal story for a fourth time she became aware of a commotion at the doors of the ballroom. A woman burst in, her shrill voice cutting across the soft music of the jazz band.