And to join Ella later in her bed...
She smiled now, watching him approach with a breakfast tray. It was a glorious day in early September, warm and sunny, and she had wanted to sit out on the living room patio. They were still in their robes and had planned to spend the day relaxing and going over their plans for a five-day visit to the Maddalena Islands. They would be presiding at the official opening of their new DiLuca resort and staying in the penthouse suite reserved exclusively for them.
Massimo’s eyes had twinkled like the diamond ring he’d held when he had proposed to Ella on his yacht during a weekend trip to check out the new resort back in August. After sliding the ring on her finger and giving her a kiss that was as scorching as the Sardinian sun, he had told her he had decided to call the resort Il Mare di Marinella—Marinella’s Sea.
She had been moved to tears and declared that she would come up with a surprise for him.
Two weeks later, they had exchanged vows in a private church ceremony near the baronessa’s villa, followed by a small reception for their closest friends in her gardens. The wedding planners had decorated the tent canopy and tables with flowers that Silvia had wanted Ella and Massimo to choose from her own gardens, and Chef Angelo had picked a special team to prepare a sumptuous seven-course dinner. Ella had insisted on spending their wedding night at Villa Serena, where their love had begun.
The rest of August had passed with every moment spent together there, creating new memories...
And now, she was ready to give Massimo the surprise she had promised him.
His hair still tousled, he smiled crookedly as he placed the tray down and leaned over to kiss her. “I want to spend the rest of my life like this, Marinella, enjoying the peace and quiet of our island together.”
He poured the espresso and set it down before sitting across from her.
She shook her head.“It won’t be quiet for long, amore.” She smiled and arched her eyebrows.
His brow furrowed and he set down the cup with a clatter. And then his eyes widened. “Do you mean...? Are you...are we—?”
“Yes! I am, amore! We’re going to have a ba—”
He leaped up and kissed her, cradling the back of her head. When he pulled back, he put a tentative hand on Ella’s belly, his eyes misting.
“I told you I’d come up with a surprise for you...” Her voice wavered, and she tried to blink back her own tears, but they started trickling down her cheeks.
“You made me the happiest man in the world when you told me you loved me and would be my wife,” he murmured, wiping her cheeks with the sash of her robe. “And now, you’ve given me the best gift I could ever hope for.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “Do you know when...?”
“The night of the official opening of the Center. Remember the sky that night? I had never seen so many stars in the heavens.”
“And I was in heaven that night, seeing the stars in your eyes,” he said huskily, kissing her again.
Ella sighed contentedly. “Well, what do you think about naming our baby Stellina...our little star? I just have this feeling we’re going to have a girl.”
He gazed at her thoughtfully for a moment. “Do you know what a ‘blue star’ is?”
Ella frowned. “No. I’ve never heard the term. Why?”
“In astrological terms, a blue star has a mass greater than the sun, and is one of the brightest in the constellation, appearing blue to the human eye.”
Ella cocked her head at him, wondering where he was going with this.
“And so, Marinella, why don’t we call our baby Stellina Celeste? Our little blue star?”
“It’s perfect,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.
“And if we have a boy?” His brow furrowed. “We should have a name in mind, just in case.”
“How about Angelo? Our little angel?”
Massimo let out a deep laugh. “I know someone who would be absolutely thrilled. Either way, Chef Angelo can be the baby’s godfather.”
He waved a hand at the breakfast tray. “Now I get why you haven’t been wanting your usual espresso... How about one of these sebadas? You need to keep up your strength, amore. Are you hungry?”
Ella cupped his chin and turned his face her way. “Sì, barone. Very.” She grinned, and showed him with her kiss.
* * *
If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Rosanna Battigelli
Rescued by the Guarded Tycoon
Caribbean Escape with the Tycoon
Captivated by Her Italian Boss
Swept Away by the Enigmatic Tycoon
All available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Surprise Reunion with His Cinderella by Rachael Stewart.
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Surprise Reunion with His Cinderella
by Rachael Stewart
PROLOGUE
JASMINE WRUNG HER hands together. ‘I’m not sure this is a good idea, Freddie.’
‘It needs to be done.’
‘But now?’
Nervously she bit into her lip and reached for his hand, tugging him away from the doors that led into the manor’s great hall.
The noise from the other side ebbed and flowed with music and chatter, the clinking of glasses, the sound of laughter. The Highgrove Boxing Day party was in full swing. Friends, relatives and staff all gathering to enjoy the centuries-old tradition of handing out gifts and enjoying the festivities.
‘It’s your parents’ big day.’ She tried again. ‘They love this party.’
‘I love this party.’
Freddie turned to look down at her, his foppish dark hair curling over his forehead and softening the sharp cut of his tux. Didn’t matter that she’d known him for ever, her breath still caught as she took his handsome face, his dreamy blue eyes all alive with his excitement.
She loved him. Loved him too much to refuse him, but this?
She toyed with her sleeves, their bell shape the reason the dress had caught her eye in the charity shop window. Its medieval style fitted her petite frame perfectly, enhancing her subtle curves and gaining Freddie’s wholehearted approval in the process. But now...now it just felt cheap and out of place.
‘Everyone is here,’ she whispered, her voice starting to fail her.
‘Isn’t that the point?’ He combed his fingers through her hair, pressed his forehead to hers. ‘Come on, Red. Isn’t it time you got some fire to match your blazing hair?’
Was it? She chewed the corner of her mouth and tried to lose herself in his gaze, to let it work its magic. To warm her heart, ease her fear...
‘I’m sick of them denying us, Red. I’m sick of the staff whispering about us. I’m sick of being made to feel like we’re doing something wrong, like we should be ashamed. Doing it this way, they will have no choice but to acknowledge our relationship, to accept it. And we can look to the future, our future.’
A shiver trickled down her spine. Her mother was one of the staff. She too would witness what was about to happen. And she didn’t want to make trouble for her. She’d been the Highgrove housekeeper for seventeen years. They’d employed her when others had passed her over for being a single mum with a one-year-old to provide for, so in a way Jasmine owed them too.
But Freddie was right, they’d tried to gain acceptance quietly and no one had taken them seriously. What choice did they have?
‘I love you, Red.’
Her heart soared with his emphatic declaration, her love for him swamping all else as a smile broke through. ‘I love you too, Freddie.’
‘And it’s time the world knew it, yes?’
She nodded and he lifted her left hand to his lips, kissed the tip of the diamond ring she should be used to wearing after six months. But tonight it felt heavy, weighed down by what they were about to do.
‘I can’t wait,’ he whispered over the stone, his eyes catching hers as she took a courage-seeking breath.
She wished she could have his confidence, but then it was always this way. Freddie was the adventurous one, forever pushing her to come out of her shell. Though she wouldn’t be able to hide behind him once they broke through those doors, hand in hand.
‘Hey, you want to be Mrs Freddie Highgrove, right?’
He straightened, his eyes still hooked on hers, and she felt the colour bloom in her cheeks, the excited flutter in her heart—Mrs Freddie Highgrove.
‘More than anything.’
He took both her hands in his and squeezed softly. ‘Then trust me...’
CHAPTER ONE
JASMINE WALKER STARED out at the tropical paradise beyond the floating white drapes that framed her serene, picture-perfect view, and clutched both hands to her fluttering stomach.
It was just nerves.
Nerves she should be able to deal with.
It wasn’t as though her livelihood was on the line.
It wasn’t as though she was heading into a critical investors’ meeting.
And it wasn’t as though she was standing before the stern face of Highgrove senior, having just been caught stealing from Maggie’s tray of freshly baked goods. Or worse, standing outside the doors to their great hall preparing for Freddie to announce their engagement.
So why couldn’t she get a handle on this?
And why on earth was she even thinking of the Highgroves now, and a ten-year-old memory at that?
She swallowed, closed her eyes and forced her hands to relax. She breathed in the soft fragrance of her room. Subtle and deceptively simple, its floral notes were designed to instil a sense of calm, something she could certainly do with now as her body tripped over itself.
You know why you’re thinking of them—thinking of him—so quit kidding yourself...
She opened her eyes, and saw the answer in everything around her, everything she heard. The suite with its mix of wood, soft cream furnishings and colourful creole art. The private terrace with its king-sized thatched cabana and the infinity pool that dropped off into the endless turquoise sea beyond. The lulling sound of the waves and the native wildlife.
It was a secluded oasis designed for romance and relaxation. For lovers. For honeymooners...
Of all the places the M dating agency to the rich and famous could have sent her on this crazy, outrageous week-long blind date, they had chosen here.
The Seychelles.
The one place Freddie Highgrove, her childhood friend, her teenage heartthrob, her one and only love, had promised to take her. And not just for a holiday, but for their honeymoon.
A bittersweet smile touched her lips and she dropped onto the plush mattress behind her, lay back and stared up at the netted roof to her four-poster bed.
Freddie. She breathed in his name and let it out with all the guilt, the remorse, the sadness. It was a lifetime ago, but she felt it all like yesterday. He was the reason every one of her relationships failed.
No one could stack up to the wild intensity of the naïve passion they’d shared.
The day their relationship had crossed over from friends to lovers had marked the start of a whirlwind affair that had seen Freddie proposing on her eighteenth birthday. The memory was so perfect and yet not, because it had heralded the beginning of the end.
She hadn’t been good enough, and that version of her—the insecure, shy little wallflower—had run. She had loved Freddie too much to bear the rejection of his family or, worse, to see him rejecting them.
It was time to let that version of her go.
Only...she wasn’t so sure that being matched by M was the answer.
Decisions made on nights out with your rowdy and far more adventurous girlfriends had a tendency to go a little pear-shaped. And of all those decisions, this was the most expensive and riskiest to date.
It was insane. One hundred thousand pounds and then some, insane.
As though her friends, Sadie and Izzy, could sense her rising doubts, her phone buzzed beside her. Sadie, the main instigator of this whole trip, had dropped a message into their group chat.
You there yet? Have you met him? What’s he like? Please tell me he’s hot. Like seriously hot!
She smiled, in spite of the continued butterflies and tapped in her reply.
Yes. No. Now, shh!
Sadie’s response was instant, her fingers like lightning thanks to all the practice.
Then text in a timely fashion and I won’t need to nag!
Jasmine shook her head.
Yes, Mum.
Then:
Have fun. xxxxx And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!
‘Yeah, right!’ Jasmine laughed. ‘From you, that means do everything and anything, Sades!’
She tossed her phone aside and shook her head all the more. This was the kind of crazy thing Sadie would do. Not her.
‘Not sensible, boring, workaholic, need-to-get-a-life Jasmine.’
She shuddered as she remembered those exact words spilling from Sadie’s lips and Izzy’s vigorous nod of agreement. But her friends were right. She did need to get a life outside work.
But now she was here...and so was he. Her ‘perfect match’ according to M. And of the hundreds and thousands of possible destinations, they were in the Seychelles.
She’d asked for somewhere hot. She’d asked for somewhere without too much digital interference—she should have specified no mobile phone signal on top of it and then she wouldn’t have to cope with friend inference either.
Truth was, she’d wanted a holiday, a break from it all, but the Seychelles...
She swallowed again, pushing the resurfacing Freddie from her mind and her heart.
It was no good being stuck in the past. This was about the future, her future. And if M said they had her match, then she owed it to them and to her bank balance to make the most of it.
Plus, Sadie and Izzy would never let her live it down if she bailed.
Her mobile buzzed with a new message and she sat up, taking it with her. It was Izzy.
Hope you had a good journey! Now enjoy and keep us posted! xx PS Sades, back off! ;-*
Jasmine grinned and started to type a response but a rap at the door sent her stomach somersaulting and her fingers stilled over her phone screen.
Another rap. ‘Miss Walker, it’s Monique, I’m here to take you to dinner.’
Oh, God. She shot up off the bed, wiped her hot and clammy hands on the little black dress she’d chosen and sucked in another breath. If she kept taking breaths like this she’d faint from an overdose of oxygen.
‘Miss Walker, are you there? Your perfect match awaits!’
Perfect match. Another gulp and she clutched a hand to the locket that she wore, the locket that contained a photo of her late mother. She who dares, wins, came her mother’s voice.
‘Coming,’ she blurted.
Taking one last scan of her serene room, her safe haven for the week, she told herself how perfect it was. That no matter who her date was, this week was a holiday and she hadn’t had one of those in a long time.
She walked to the door, pulling it open to see the petite woman who had shown her to her room earlier. She was lovely. Deep brown skin, warm conker-brown eyes and a big smile.
‘Thank you for coming to get me.’
‘It’s my pleasure. If you’d like to follow me... Tonight you are dining at the lighthouse.’
She offered her a smile over her shoulder, and
Jasmine tried to return it, trapping the squeak-like hum that threatened to erupt.
She tried to focus instead on what she was seeing, the raw wooden floor, the soothing cream walls, the colourful artwork and the various plants, all much the same as her suite. Monique herself was the picture of sunshine, her button-down dress a lemon-yellow, her hair pulled back from her face by a floral band, and her white slip-on shoes flat and quiet as she walked. Jasmine’s gold heels, on the other hand, click-clacked with a deafening resonance, her dress feeling too clingy and cloying.
Or was it more that her senses were in tingling overdrive as she fretted over the person she was about to meet?
It had taken M months to find him—months! She’d almost forgotten she’d signed up for the service when the email had pinged to say they had her match... Okay, so she’d tried to forget but, still, here she was...with him.
Just him.
On an entire island that was theirs for the duration. Rosalie Island. It even sounded romantic. The only other people here were the Golden Key resort staff, on hand to cater to their every whim...
At least her match had been properly vetted. A properly vetted man couldn’t turn out to be some axe-wielding serial killer. A possibility she’d thrown at Sadie and Izzy who’d both just rolled their eyes and blamed the crazy notion on her overactive imagination. They had then reminded her of the ridiculous sum each client had to pay up front and suggested that at least he would be a very rich axe murder who didn’t need to feast off her wealth.
But who exactly was her perfect match? She certainly didn’t know, and there was a part of her curious to find out.
Only one man had ever come close to perfect...
‘Freddie. Freddie. Freddie.’
Both Sadie and Izzy were in her head again, rolling their eyes dramatically.
‘Forget about Freddie!’
And they were right. She could not—would not—compare her match to him like she had every other partner she’d been involved with over the years. She had to stop.
Falling for the Sardinian Baron Page 16