What Alice’s specialty was to make him as mad as a wasp-stung bull. How could she date another man so quickly? What the hell was she doing going on a blind date? What if the guy was a freak? Some stranger who would—He couldn’t bear to think about it. Jealousy rose in him like bile. He was choking on it. He could feel it bubbling up his windpipe like an overflowing drain. ‘Where is she?’ he asked.
Meghan pointed to the salon. ‘She’s in her office working on accounts. But she doesn’t want to be—’
‘You can cancel your friend of a friend, okay?’ Cristiano said. ‘If she’s going on a date with anyone it’s going to be with me.’
* * *
Alice couldn’t concentrate on the rows of numbers on her computer screen. Normally seeing all those healthy figures would have made her do a happy dance. But she had never felt more miserable. A week had gone past and no word from Cristiano. Not even a text message. Nothing. A big fat nothing. The press had done their thing for a few days but she’d refused to speak to them. She’d even resorted to using disguises to avoid them when walking to and from her house or the salon.
Her mother had been ‘too upset’ to talk to her, which was typical. As if it was Alice’s fault the marriage wasn’t going ahead. Well, it was, but that was beside the point. But how could she go ahead with a marriage that was the opposite of what a marriage should be? What she wanted her marriage to be?
Meghan had been a stalwart support, making numerous cups of tea and bringing in a steady supply of cinnamon-covered doughnuts—Alice’s weakness when dealing with stress. Sugar and fat were the only pleasures she had in her life now.
There was the sound of bell tinkling as the salon door opened...although tinkling wasn’t the right word. Firm footsteps came striding through the salon and Alice barely had time to get to her feet when her office door slammed back against the wall and Cristiano appeared. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’
Alice kept her expression cool and composed even though her heart rate was doing its hummingbird impersonation. ‘Accounts. It’s been a good week for me. One of my best, actually.’
His expression was thunderous, all stormy clouds and dark shadows and lightning flashes in his eyes. ‘Meghan tells me you’re dating someone else.’
Alice frowned. ‘What?’
His mouth was pressed into a chalk-white line. ‘Don’t do it, Alice.’ He released a tight breath. ‘Please.’
Alice was starting to join some dots and it was creating an interesting picture indeed. ‘When were you speaking to Meghan?’
‘Just now, outside.’ He jerked his head towards the street. ‘She said she was setting you up on a blind date with some friend of a friend who wants kids.’
‘I don’t know anything about a blind date,’ Alice said. ‘And you’ve got a hide storming in here telling me what to do with my private life when it’s no concern of yours and nor will it ever—’
‘If you want to have kids so badly then you can damn well have them with me.’
Alice opened her mouth to fling back another round of fire but stopped and gaped at him instead. Had she heard him correctly? Kids? He wanted kids? But then she realised what was going on. Jealousy. Not love. The big green-eyed monster was behind his change of heart.
She narrowed her gaze. ‘So, let me get this straight. You’re offering to be a sperm donor and a cardboard cut-out husband because you’re...jealous?’ She said the word as if it were some sort of contagion.
Cristiano came around to her side of the desk and grasped her by the upper arms.
‘Damn straight I am. Alice, I love you. I’ve been a stubborn fool all this time refusing to acknowledge it. I can handle the loss of the shares. I can handle the loss of the villa. What I can’t handle is the loss of you. I’ve already lost you once. I don’t want to lose you again. I was already coming here when I ran into Meghan. Please believe me, cara. Don’t let anything else keep us apart. Will you marry me? Not because of Nonna’s will, not because I’m jealous but because I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you.’
Alice looked at him with watering eyes. ‘Do you mean it? You’re not just saying it because of the deadline?’
His hold tightened as if he were terrified she was going to slip out of his grasp. ‘I don’t care about the deadline other than I want to do what Nonna wanted. She knew I hadn’t got over you. She knew I was too stubborn to see you again so she orchestrated it so I had no choice.’
Alice smiled. ‘Like Meghan.’
He frowned. ‘Meghan?’
Alice laced her arms around his neck. ‘I’m not going on a blind date. Why would I do that when I only have eyes for you?’
Relief washed over his features and he smiled. ‘The little meddling minx. She and Nonna must be kindred spirits.’ He gathered her tight against his body. ‘She saw what Nonna saw, what I refused to see. I love you, tesoro mio. I love you desperately. Please say you’ll marry me.’
Alice looked into his handsome features so full of love and adoration for her. The softness in his dark brown eyes, the way he looked at her as if she were the most precious thing he could ever hold in his arms—made her feel so happy she could barely speak.
‘I will marry you, darling. I can’t think of anything I would rather do than be your wife and the mother of your children.’
He crushed her mouth beneath his in a kiss that spoke of the depth of his feelings. He drew back to smile at her, his own eyes suspiciously moist.
‘I’ve spent so much of my life avoiding getting close to people in case I lost them. But I got to thinking I might as well have jumped in my family’s coffins with them if I don’t live a full and authentic life. I owe it to them to make the most of the time that was snatched away from them.’