them I’ve seen you. Where are you staying, just in
case anyone asks?"
Reluctantly Jodie told her, and saw how her eyes
widened a little more in recognition of the exclusivity
of the hotel.
"My! You have gone up in the world, Jodie!"
Jodie could feel her face starting to burn.
"We must go — but hopefully we shall see you this
evening," Lorenzo offered politely, quickly steering
Jodie away before she could give vent to her feelings.
"That woman is such a snob," she complained angrily
as Lorenzo unlocked the car and opened the
door for her. "The moment I mentioned the hotel she
was all over us like a rash. And she doesn’t even
know about your title."
Lorenzo closed the passenger door and walked
round to get into his own side of the car.
As soon as he had started the engine, Jodie told
him fiercely, "Lorenzo, I Don’t want to go tonight.
When I first said that I wanted to, I wasn’t thinking
things through properly. I Don’t think we should go."
"We can hardly not go now," Lorenzo pointed out
calmly. "We will be expected."
She ought to be grateful to Lorenzo, Jodie knew.
He had rearranged his schedule in order to accommodate
this visit for her, and now here she was, telling
him that she didn’t want to be here.
Lorenzo looked at Jodie’s averted profile. He could
see the effect the thought of seeing her ex-fiance. and
his bride-to-be was having on her, and how much it
was upsetting her. So why was he insisting on her
doing so? What was he trying to prove that was worth
proving? Why didn’t he put his foot down on the
accelerator, head for the hotel and take her back to
Italy before she could change her mind? Once there,
he would have nearly a whole year…
A year in which to what? To persuade her to remain
married to him? That was what he wanted, was
it?
What if it was? It didn’t mean anything other than
that he was beginning to feel that it would be easier
to remain married to her than not to do so. Marriage
gave a man a certain sense of purpose and stability.
Just because previously he had not considered the
value of an old-fashioned arranged marriage, that did
not mean he was so inflexible in his thinking that he
could not recognise it now. He and Jodie were married,
after all; there was much to be said from a practical
point of view for them staying married.
He would still be able to maintain his emotional
barriers. Once he had assured himself that she accepted
that this ex-fiance. of hers was now unavailable
to her, and a part of her past, he felt confident that
they could develop a working relationship.
And a sexual relationship? His body tightened in
betrayal.
Jodie in turn would have the protection of a husband
and a life of comfort. There could even be children,
if she wished. He frowned sharply as this magnanimous
thought provoked a reaction within his
body and his emotions that went a whole lot farther
than any mere sense of self-laudatory approval of his
generosity. He had never previously considered the
production of children an essential part of his life
plan — he had more than enough male relatives to produce
the next Duce — but with the future of the
Castillo to be considered it made sense for him to
have heirs of his own to hand it on to. And Jodie
would not desert her children.
He braked sharply to avoid a cyclist, mentally denying
that his immediate and instinctive belief was a
rash emotional reaction rather than one based on
logic.
He wouldn’t, he decided as he turned into the hotel
grounds, make any firm decision until after tonight,
when he had seen how Jodie reacted to the sight of
her ex-fiance.. If after that, and further careful thought,
he was convinced that their marriage had a future,
once they were back in Italy he would tell her so.
She really wished she hadn’t ever said she wanted to
do this. Jodie studied her reflection in the bedroom
mirror and smoothed a nervous hand over her beautifully
cut cream cre.pe trousers.
"Ready?"
Numbly she nodded her head as Lorenzo walked
into her bedroom. He looked exactly what he was: a
tall, dark, impossibly handsome and even more impossibly
arrogant, totally male man — the kind of man
any woman would be attracted to. The kind of man
any woman could see would make her emotionally
vulnerable if she wasn’t careful. What a pity she
hadn’t been woman enough to recognise that right
from the start.
She could see the way he was looking at her, but
if she had been hoping for a compliment about her
appearance she was in for a disappointment, she realised.
As she started to head for the bedroom door he
reached out and stopped her. For one wild heartbeat
her head was filled with impossible images and even
more implausible scenarios — Lorenzo taking her into
his arms and refusing to let her go; Lorenzo insisting
that he wanted to keep her here in this room and make
love to her; Lorenzo telling her passionately that he
loved her. Weakly she refused to admit how much
she wished they could actually happen, and tried to
focus instead on what Lorenzo was saying to her.
"I think you should wear this tonight."
She looked down at the familiar emerald ring.
"It is, after all, your betrothal ring," Lorenzo
pointed out, "and a symbol of our relationship."
Wordlessly Jodie reached out to take it from him,
but he shook his head slightly and took hold of her
hand, sliding the ring onto her finger himself.
Tears stung her eyes. Foolish, foolish tears that betrayed
to her just how badly she had misjudged her
own vulnerability. Only a woman deeply in love
could feel the way she felt right now.
It didn’t take them very long to reach John’s parents"
home. A marquee had been set up in the garden,
and the field adjacent to the house already contained
several rows of neatly parked cars.
They were greeted at the gate by a young dinner-
suited cousin of John’s, who recognised Jodie and
gaped slightly at her, then blushed.
"I suppose we ought to try and find John’s parents
first," Jodie told Lorenzo.
"That sounds a good idea," he agreed.
"what’s that you’ve got?" Jodie asked curiously,
noticing the small parcel he was carrying.
"Hand-made chocolates for our hostess," he informed
her, adding, "I’ll have a dozen bottles of wine
sent to our host later."
Jodie gave him a rueful look and reached into her
bag, producing an almost identically wrapped box.
"Snap," she told him, laughing up at him, smiling naturally
for the first time
since they had arrived in
England.
"Jodie! Lucy said that she’d seen you in town this
afternoon."
Jodie’s smile vanished as she saw John’s mother
standing in front of them.
Instinctively she moved closer to Lorenzo. John’s
mother was scrutinising them both very sharply, Jodie
saw, and her chin suddenly lifted as she looked back
at her.
"I hope we aren’t gatecrashing?" she said calmly.
"May I introduce my husband to you, Sheila?"
"Your husband? Lucy did say, but I wasn’t sure…
My goodness, this is a surprise." John’s mother gave
a small tinkling laugh. "And there we were, worrying
about you being upset and broken-hearted."
"Jodie recognised very quickly that calf love means
nothing when one finds the real thing." Lorenzo’s
smile might have taken some of the sting out of his
words, but Jodie still gave him a sharp look, and
wasn’t surprised to see the cold gleam in his eyes.
"Well, I hope the two of you will be very happy,
Mr…" Sheila began insincerely.
"Lorenzo Niccolo d’Este, Duce di Montesavro,"
Lorenzo introduced himself, with cool, insouciant
confidence.
"You’re a duke?" Sheila asked faintly.
Lorenzo inclined his head in assent, and said
suavely, "But please do call me Lorenzo."
Suddenly Jodie was almost beginning to enjoy herself.
"And how is Councillor Higgins?" she asked
sweetly, turning to explain to Lorenzo, "John’s father
is a local councillor."
John’s mother had, she noticed, begun to turn an
unflattering shade of pink. It was funny how Jodie
was beginning to remember all those occasions on
which John’s parents had let her know that they considered
her to be just that little bit inferior to them.
Of course she was behaving very badly, she knew,
but sometimes behaving badly could be fun!
"that’s one of the benefits of being married to you
and not to John," she murmured to Lorenzo as they
moved away to allow Sheila to greet some new arrivals.
"What is?"
"No mother-in-law," she said succinctly.
By now they had begun to attract rather a lot of
attention, as people recognised her and did a small
double take before turning to look more closely and
curiously.
Lorenzo had put his hand beneath her elbow in a
very solicitous manner — probably because he was
afraid that she might trip in her high heels and end
up flat on her face and thus disgrace them both, Jodie
reflected as she managed to negotiate the unlevel
ground.
"Jodie…"
She spun round with a genuine smile as she heard
the warmth and pleasure in the voice of the local doctor.
"Dr Philips!"
He gave her an enthusiastic hug and then smiled
down at her. "You’re looking well."
"Italian food, Italian sunshine—"
"And an Italian husband," Lorenzo cut in, making
the doctor laugh.
"I shouldn’t say this," the doctor whispered with a
grin, "but I always thought you were wasted on young
John. A nice enough lad, but a bit on the weak side—
and very much under his mother"s thumb."
"Poor John — that’s not very kind," Jodie protested,
but she still laughed.
Lorenzo lifted two glasses of wine from a passing
waiter"s tray and handed Jodie one.
She still hadn’t seen either Louise or John, although
she thought she had caught sight of Louise’s
parents. She had always liked Louise’s mother, but
she had no wish to see her now. Naturally, as a
mother, she would support her daughter no matter
what that daughter might have done.
And besides, honesty compelled Jodie to admit that
if Louise and John did love one another, then surely
it was only right and proper that they should be together.
She no longer cared what they did, because
her own life and her own feelings had moved on. She
looked at Lorenzo and allowed herself the pleasure of
a private fantasy in which she would suggest to him
that they leave and go back to their hotel. He"d agree
with satisfying alacrity and an even more satisfyingly
intimate smile because of the sensual pleasures to
come. She gave a small sigh as she relinquished this
unlikely but, oh, so alluring scenario.
"Your leg?" Lorenzo questioned immediately, misunderstanding
the reason for her sigh.
Should she fib and pretend that it was bothering
her so that they could leave?
But before she could say anything the vicar and his
wife had joined them, and Lorenzo had become involved
in a discussion with them about Florence.
Jodie took a small sip of her drink, and was looking
for somewhere to put her glass when she heard Louise
saying sharply, "I want a word with you!"
Louise was on her own, and there was no sign of
John.
"Don’t think I Don’t know what You’re up to and
what You’re doing here," her ex-friend whispered angrily.
Jodie could feel her face starting to burn. She was
guiltily aware of her original motive in coming here.
But perhaps there was a chance, instead, to forgive—
to end the bitterness between them?
"This is real life, Jodie, not some romantic novel,"
Louise was saying. "John isn’t going to take one look
at you and throw me over to come back to you."
"Good. Because I honestly Don’t want him to,"
Jodie told her. "Louise, I’m married now, and I—"
"Married? You?" Louise gave her a contemptuous
look. "You might have taken everyone else in, but I
Don’t believe it for one minute. My guess is that you
aren’t married at all — you certainly Don’t look it—
and I think your supposed ""husband"" is some actor
you’ve hired." She glared at Jodie angrily. "No man
as good-looking as he is would want you, with that
leg of yours. everyone’s laughing at you. You know
that, Don’t you? Pretending that you’ve married a
duke. As if! And that ridiculous ring that You’re wearing,"
she added, her lip curling. "It’s so obvious that
It’s fake — just like you and just like your marriage.
I’ll bet You’re still that same pathetic little virgin you
were when John dumped you."
Instinctively Jodie looked towards Lorenzo, a silent
plea in her eyes. He looked back at her.
And then he was coming towards them, responding
to the silent emotional message she had sent him.
Relief filled her. It was all she could do not to throw
herself into his arms and beg him to take her away.
Lorenzo felt Jodie’s pain in his own heart. Fury
and an instinctive desire to protect her boiled through
him. He had heard what Louise had said to her, and
he hadn’t needed the silent plea she had sent him,
begging for his help, to take him to her side. He
wanted to snatch her up and take her away from these
people who did not appreciate her, from the man who
had not loved her as she so deserved to be loved…as
he in his stupidity had tried to refuse to love her. But
now that love was filling him and driving out everything
else, everyone else. Nothing, no one mattered
other than Jodie and her happiness.
He reached her and took hold of her hand, watching
as relief shone emotionally in her eyes.
"For your information," he told Louise coldly, "I
am not an actor. Jodie and I are married, and I worship
the beauty of her body almost as much as I love
the sweetness of her nature. And as for the authenticity
of both my title and my family betrothal ring…"
The look he gave Louise was so withering that Jodie
was surprised it didn’t shrivel her to nothing on the
spot.
"Since you are engaged to a man who obviously
cannot tell what is genuine and what is not, I suppose
one might expect to hear you expressing ill-informed
and ignorant opinions," he continued levelly. "And so
far as our reason for being here goes…" Lorenzo now
raised his voice slightly, as a curious crowd gathered
around them. "That was my decision. I wanted to see
where Jodie had grown up, to meet the people she
had grown up amongst. And I confess I also wanted
to meet the man who was foolish enough to give her
up. Jodie merely wanted to offer you both her best
wishes."
Lorenzo was still holding her hand, Jodie recognised,
and what was more he was holding it very
firmly in his own as he moved protectively closer to
her. Automatically she leaned in to him, welcoming
the sensation of his body absorbing the sick, trembling
shock of her own.
"What a pitiful creature you are," Lorenzo said to
Louise in a very quiet voice, inaudible to most of
those around them. "You steal a friend"s fiance., and
then, because of your inadequacy and lack of emotional
depth, you are forced to live in fear of losing
him back to her."
Louise turned from red to white as Lorenzo’s cutting
words hit home, and suddenly the woman Jodie
had always thought of as such a beauty actually
looked ugly.
John had come hurrying over to Louise’s side and
was looking helplessly back and forth between the
women. When she looked at him Jodie recognised
how poorly he compared with Lorenzo, and how
weak he was as a man. If she hadn’t already realised
THE ITALIAN DUKE’S WIFE Page 17