Boss Meets Baby(61)

‘The decision has been made,’ Vito said. ‘All that remains is to tell those who are important to us, and to start the ball rolling with the preparations for our wedding.— As I said yesterday, it will be at the earliest opportunity.’

Lily looked away from him, knocked for six by the thought of actually telling people that she was getting married. Her note to Anna certainly hadn’t gone into details like that. She knew her friend would have found such a sudden announcement bewildering, especially after the way Vito had callously thrown her out.

She didn’t want Anna to worry about her, so she’d kept the message simple and upbeat—just saying she’d run into Vito, they’d patched things up between them, and she was returning to Venice with him.

If she was getting married she ought to tell her mother, but she honestly couldn’t bear the thought of sharing her news with her mother, or anyone else she was close to. Although she knew she had to go through with it because it was the best thing for her child, she still had misgivings about the way Vito had treated her. About the way he was continuing to treat her.

How would she manage to keep up the pretence that it was a perfectly normal, happy marriage in front of people who knew her well and cared about her? She simply couldn’t afford to reveal the truth behind the marriage. Vito had made it plain that they must maintain a normal happily-married front. Her child’s future depended on it.

‘We’ll leave as soon as you’re ready,’ Vito said, walking to the door. ‘My grandfather is at his best in the morning. He tends to sleep in the afternoon.’

Lily pushed back the covers, got out of bed and headed for the en suite. Half an hour later, she was sitting at the dressing table, adding the finishing touches to her make-up while she waited for Vito to return.

She was apprehensive about meeting his grandfather,— and had tried to ease her nerves by taking extra care with her appearance. Her hair was freshly washed and straightened, so that it hung down in a sleek blonde curtain well past her shoulder blades. Her make-up was light and natural looking, but the judicious use of blusher had given her a bit of colour in her cheeks.

She had chosen to wear her ivory linen-suit again. It was a bit creased from travelling, but everything else was still packed haphazardly in her bags and was not likely to look any better. She looked in the mirror and decided that, although she might not look very glamorous,— she was perfectly presentable.

The door opened and Vito came into the room.

‘I’m ready to go,’ she said, standing up quickly and reaching for her handbag.

Vito looked at her, picking up small details that were different from the day before. She didn’t look so washed-out and, with her hair brushed down in that shimmering veil halfway down her back, she was starting to look more like the beautiful young woman he’d shared his life with over the winter. But she was still wearing the ill-fitting suit from the day before.

‘I know this outfit isn’t perfect,’ Lily said, as if she’d read his mind. Or maybe, he thought, she’d simply read his expression. Although her shocking act of betrayal had made her a stranger to him, he mustn’t forget that they’d lived together for five months. Undoubtedly she’d got to know him quite well in that time. ‘But I don’t have anything else suitable,’ she added.

‘A dress would be better.’ Vito turned to open the huge fitted-wardrobe on her side of the room. ‘Preferably— something with a bit of colour—to brighten my grandfather’s morning.’

‘But…’ Lily stared into the wardrobe in obvious surprise. ‘All my clothes.’

‘You didn’t take them with you.’

Vito selected a soft peach-coloured silk dress he had bought for her in Milan. Lily was always drawn towards natural, pale colours—her favourites were cream and ivory—and, despite the fact he knew they suited her, he’d— always had the urge to liven up her choices. ‘I had to assume none of the items I bought for you were to your taste after all,’ he added.

‘I didn’t pay for any of them,’ Lily said. ‘They were all so expensive—I didn’t think they were mine to take.’

‘Of course they were.’ Vito suddenly felt annoyed. He’d enjoyed buying things for her, and when he’d seen she’d left them behind it had been a brutal reminder of how she’d duped him—like a spiteful smack on the cheek, on top of her shameless infidelity. ‘What did you think I was going to do with them?’

‘I don’t know,’ Lily said, smoothing her hand over her hair in a gesture that revealed how unsettled she felt. ‘Maybe sell them. Or give them away. I never expected to find them still in the wardrobe.’

Vito turned and looked at her, deliberately keeping his expression bland as he laid the peach dress out on the bed. He wouldn’t let himself think too closely about why he’d never got rid of all the things she’d left in his room.

Over the years he had invited very few women to share his home. And, once he had decided it was over, it was over—completely. For the most part they had taken everything with them, especially anything of value, like designer clothes and jewellery. Then any remaining— items had been disposed of quickly, eradicating— any evidence that anyone had ever been in his home.

But when his housekeeper had enquired about Lily’s belongings, he had barked at her to leave them. After that the poor woman hadn’t mentioned them again—and— had left them well alone. Out of sight in wardrobes and cupboards. But not entirely out of mind.