perhaps we should say nothing.’
Celena’s heart gave a warning thud and she looked at him warily. ‘I trust you’re not serious.’
‘Perfectly,’ he announced.
She shook her head. ‘This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. I will not be a part of it; I insist that you tell her, right now.’
‘I cannot do that, Celena.’ His brown eyes were steady on hers.
‘Then I will tell her myself,’ she declared firmly, and took a step back towards the door.
‘Oh, no, you won’t.’ Luciano grasped her arm and forcibly led her away from his great-grandmother’s apartment, and he did not stop until he reached the privacy of a book-filled study on the ground floor. There he sat her down on a burgundy leather chesterfield and his expression was utterly ruthless as he stood over her. ‘I want my whole family to accept that you are my girlfriend.’
Celena stilled. ‘This isn’t accidental, is it?’ she asked in a frozen whisper. ‘You’ve set me up. The job was nothing more than a decoy.’ She had expected something, had known he would not pay her such a high salary for nothing—but she had certainly never anticipated being put into such an uncomfortable and undesirable position.
‘I wouldn’t exactly say that,’ he said, still with the same implacable expression on his face. ‘You’re already an asset to the team—a very valuable asset. This is just some little thing I want you to do for me.’
‘Little?’ she queried tartly. ‘I don’t call living a lie a little thing. It’s outrageous; I absolutely refuse.’
‘You would hurt my great-grandmamma?’ he asked, and managed to sound astonished. ‘As you said yourself, the shock of discovering what I am trying to do would very likely finish her off. It was purely to make an old woman very happy that I came up with this idea.
‘But why me?’ she asked tightly.
‘Because—’ he sat down beside her and attempted to take her hands into his, but Celena snatched angrily away ‘—because of your likeness to Simone,’ he said. ‘It’s uncanny.’
‘The girl in the photograph?’
‘Yes.’
‘The girl you didn’t want to talk about?’
‘The very same.’
‘I think I deserve an explanation,’ said Celena, her chin high, her eyes cold.
He was quiet for a moment and then said softly, ‘Six months ago I thought I was in love with Simone; she was everything I wanted in a woman—beautiful, kind, loving. I’d had girlfriends on and off over the years, naturally, but Simone was someone special.’
‘So what happened?’
His eyes turned black—deep, empty pits that echoed a pain he kept deep in his heart. ‘I slowly began to realise that I was wrong about her, that she was shallow and selfish and nothing like the girl I’d imagined her to be. But it was not until she ditched me for a man even richer than myself—an older man—much older—’ his lips twisted in disgust ‘—that I knew I’d been conned. She was yet another fortune-hunter—and I’ve had my fair share of those. A very clever one, a very talented lady. It certainly taught me a thing or two. I shall most definitely never fall in love again. I intend to remain a bachelor to the end of my days.’
‘You had a rough time,’ agreed Celena, privately thinking that he must have been a fool not to see through this woman, ‘but I still don’t understand why I should masquerade as Simone. What’s wrong with telling your family the truth?’
‘Because,’ he said slowly, ‘they are expecting you.’
‘EXPECTING me?’ squeaked Celena. ‘I don’t understand.’
Luciano’s mouth twisted wryly. ‘I’d already told them I’d met a wonderful girl, and obviously they expected me to bring her on this visit. I couldn’t possibly let my bisnonna down. She has been so excited ever since she found out that there was finally someone serious in my life.’
He must love his great-grandmother very dearly, thought Celena, to want to carry out this charade, and found it a surprising side to his character—one she had not expected. She warmed to him a little but was still not sure that she wanted to be a part of his devious plot.
‘I can’t see it working,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘They will surely sense that there is no love between us.’
‘I’m expecting you to put on an act.’ His voice went an octave lower, his brown eyes locking with hers, and triggered her senses in a way no one else had. Not even Andrew had managed to arouse her just by the tone of his voice.
‘I couldn’t; I couldn’t do that,’ she told him breathlessly.
‘Am I repulsive to you?’ It was a sudden, animal growl, attacking her defences, sending her whole body into panic.
‘No.’ Her answer came out as a yelp and she swallowed and tried again. ‘No, you’re not, but—we’re strangers—we—I—couldn’t possibly—’ And then on a stronger note she said, ‘I wish you’d been straight with me.’
His dark brows rose. ‘I could hardly go up to a stranger and ask her to pretend to be my future wife.’
‘So you dreamt up the job, got me out here, and hoped that when I saw your great-grandmother I would agree to do what you want,’ she accused him heatedly.
He inclined his head. ‘That was the general idea. She’s quite a person, isn’t she?’
The thought that he’d had his eye on her for some time sent a shiver of unease down Celena’s spine. She did not like to think that he had been observing her, talking about her, collecting his dossier on her while she had been in complete ignorance. She could not recollect ever having seen him before—and yet he knew about her! He had chosen her because of her startling resemblance to Simone.
Changing the direction of her thoughts, Celena tried to imagine what the pretence—if she agreed to it—would be like, what meeting the rest of the family would be like. ‘I’m no actress,’ she said, speaking her thoughts out loud. ‘I’m not sure that I could carry it off, Mr Segurini.’
He gave a snort of anger. ‘Will you call me Luciano, please? And of course you can; there’s nothing to it Just forget I’m your employer; think of me as a friend—a close friend. Do that and the rest will fall into place.’
Celena wondered whether he realised the enormity of his request. It was unreal, unfair, and yet she did not like to think of the old woman upstairs being hurt, possibly giving up her fragile hold on life after all these years of waiting and hoping for Luciano to find himself a bride. It would be on her conscience for the rest of her life if that happened. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to go along with it for a day or two?
Also, if she did refuse, he
