A Price Worth Paying(28)

Simone didn’t bother denying it as Ezmerelda calmly went back to checking her make-up. She’d clearly made up her mind and, besides, wasn’t that what they wanted people to think? And then, just as abruptly, the woman stopped preening and stared at her in the mirror.

‘I like you, Simone. You don’t pretend to be anything that you’re not and I really do understand. You sleep with him—he buys you a dress and takes you to a big party. It’s a simple arrangement. I can see the appeal.’ She shrugged. ‘And because you have been honest with me, I, in turn, will be honest with you.’

‘I appreciate it.’ Simone waited as the other woman reshaped two perfectly arched eyebrows with her finger.

‘Alesander likes his women. Everybody knows that. But everybody here also knows that family comes first, whatever distractions he finds along the way.’ She tilted her head and smiled sympathetically. ‘And believe me, there have been plenty of distractions along the way. But our two families have always had an understanding and perhaps you should also understand. Alesander and I are to be married.’

Really? Funny how Alesander hadn’t mentioned that little fact along the way. ‘Do you love him?’ she ventured uneasily. She suspected not—Ezmerelda didn’t look as if she was pining for a man who didn’t seem to know she was alive, but she’d already inadvertently stolen a gown out from under her. She didn’t want someone’s broken heart on her conscience as well. That hadn’t been part of her plans.

For a moment the other woman looked perplexed. ‘I like him, yes, and it is a good match,’ she said before nodding, as if agreeing with her own words. ‘Together our families will create a new dynasty. He will love me, of course.’

Simone found a smile for Ezmerelda and this time it was genuine. What kind of life must she have, waiting for a man who showed no inclination to marry her—indeed, who flaunted his women in front of her? ‘Then I do understand. Thank you so much for taking the time to share that with me.’

The Spanish woman sighed and swivelled in front of the mirror, checking the view from every angle, before snapping her purse closed, her smile back on and in full force. ‘I’m so pleased we had this little chat. I should get back to the party now.’

‘You should,’ Simone agreed as the other woman headed for the door. ‘Oh, and Ezmerelda?’

‘Sí?’

‘You look stunning in that gown. You are far and away the most beautiful woman here tonight.’

And the other woman smiled. ‘Sí,’ she said, and slipped out of the room, leaving Simone staring blankly at the door, trying to get her head together. Alesander had asked if she had a boyfriend, but she hadn’t thought to ask him if there was someone in his life who would be upset by his marriage. She’d assumed he would never have said yes if there was.

But now there was Ezmerelda, who clearly thought she was first in line to marry him. And she might not love him, she might be all kinds of crazy to wait for a man who clearly had no intention of marrying her, but when their engagement was announced, she was going to be devastated.

How could she do this?

‘I thought I’d lost you,’ Alesander said when finally she emerged from the powder room, handing her a fresh glass of wine before walking her slowly towards French windows that led to a terrace overlooking the garden.

‘I would have been back much sooner, but your girlfriend and apparently my new best friend wanted to have a little heart-to-heart with me.’

‘My girlfriend?’

She rolled her eyes. Were there so many of them that he lost track? ‘Ezmerelda, of course.’

‘About the dress?’

She sipped her wine as she stepped out into the balmy night air and a courtyard strung with fairy lights. ‘Words were spoken about the dress, it’s true, although strangely enough the main topic of the conversation was you.’

‘Should I be worried?’

The lights reflected in his eyes, turning them playful. She wanted to smack him.

‘I was warned off you because apparently your families have an “understanding” and you’re practically betrothed. Imagine my surprise.’

He took her hand in his and lifted it to his mouth, his hot lips like a brand upon her skin. ‘Imagine Ezmerelda’s surprise when she learns that we are to be married.’

She pulled her hand away, wishing he wouldn’t do that thing with her hand and his mouth. Wishing even more that she didn’t shiver every time he did.