for show.
Past and present were blurring. Meshing.
Ciro’s head came closer and those eyes compelled her to stay where she was. Submit to him. At the last moment, in a tiny act of rebellion, Lara lifted her face to his. She wasn’t going to submit. She was an equal partner.
Their mouths met and every muscle in Lara’s body seized against the impact of that firm, hot mouth on hers. But it was useless. It was as if a hot serum was being poured into her veins, loosening her, making her pliant. Making her fold against him, letting her head fall back so he could gain deeper access to her mouth.
It was only a vague sound of throat-clearing that made them break apart, and Lara realised with a hot flush of shame just how wantonly she’d reacted. With not one cell in her body rejecting his touch. She pushed back, disgusted with herself, but Ciro caught her elbows, not allowing her to put any distance between them.
‘Smile, mia moglie, you’ve just married the man you should have married two years ago.’
Lara dragged her gaze away from Ciro’s and looked around. A sea of strangers’ faces looked back at her, their expressions ranging from impassive to downright speculative. And there were a couple of murderous-looking beautiful women who had no doubt envisaged themselves becoming Signora Sant’Angelo.
Ciro tucked her arm into his and led her back down the aisle to a triumphant chorus of Handel’s ‘The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba’.
Lara somehow fixed a smile to her face as they approached the main doors, where Rome lay bathed in bright warm sunshine—a direct contrast to her swirling stormy emotions. She was Ciro Sant’Angelo’s wife now, for better or worse, and the awful thing was Lara knew without a doubt that it was going to be for worse...
‘WELL, YOU CERTAINLY had us all fooled.’
Lara’s fixed-on smile slipped slightly when she saw who was addressing her. Lazaro Sanchez. Probably Ciro’s closest friend. She’d met him a few times two years ago, when he would often look at her speculatively and say, ‘You’re not like Ciro’s other women.’
Lara had used to joke with him that he and Ciro had a warped sense of what was normal and what was not, given their astounding good-looks and success in life. Lazaro Sanchez was every bit as gorgeous as Ciro, with messy overlong dark blond hair and piercing green eyes.
Yet in spite of the Spaniard’s devastating charm he’d never made her pulse trip like Ciro had. Did. She could still feel the imprint of his kiss from the church on her mouth and had to resist the urge to touch it.
Lara decided to ignore his barbed comment. ‘Lazaro, it’s nice to see you again.’
Lazaro folded his arms. His expression was not charming now. Far from it. ‘I’m afraid I can’t say the same. You know, two years ago, when you left Ciro in the hospital, I’ve never seen him so—’
‘Filling my wife’s head with stories like you used to?’
Lazaro scowled at Ciro, who’d interrupted them and who was now snaking a possessive arm around Lara’s waist. She was intrigued to know what Lazaro had been about to say but suspected she never would now.
Then she registered what Ciro had said—my wife. With such ease. As if this was all entirely normal.
He turned to Lara. ‘We’ll be leaving shortly to take our flight to Sicily. You should go and change—there’s a stylist waiting for you upstairs.’
The manager of the exclusive Rome hotel that Ciro owned, where Lara had stayed the night before and got ready earlier, escorted her to the suite where the stylist was waiting. Lara welcomed he opportunity to get away from the hundreds of judgemental eyes. Lazaro’s in particular.
In the past week, along with the wedding dress, Lara had been fitted for dozens of other outfits. Evening wear, day wear. Night clothes. Underwear. Now, as the woman and her assistant helped Lara out of the elaborate wedding dress and veil, she felt a pang of regret that this wasn’t a normal wedding or marriage and never would be. She’d always fantasised about a small and intimate wedding, and the fantasy had included staying in her wedding dress all night, until her groom lovingly removed it as he took her to bed.
But she had to remind herself that she’d only ever been a means to an end for Ciro. Access into a rarefied world. So she needed to forget about fantasies of small, intimate weddings. If life had taught her anything by now it was that she was on her own and had to depend on herself.
‘Bellissima, Signora Sant’Angelo.’
Lara’s attention was directed back into the room, where the stylist was standing back and looking her up and down.
The wedding dress was on its hanger again, and Lara now wore a sleeveless mid-length shirt dress in the softest blush colour. It had a high ruffled neck and was cinched in at the waist with a belt. She wore strappy high-heeled sandals. Her hair was left down, to tumble over her shoulders, and a make-up artist touched up her make-up.
For a hysterical moment she felt like an actress, about to take her cue to go on stage.
Ciro was waiting outside when she emerged. His dark gaze swept her up and down. ‘You look beautiful.’
The immediate flush of warmth that bloomed inside Lara felt like a betrayal. She didn’t want his words to have any effect on her. They weren’t infused with emotion. They were purely an objective assessment. She was a commodity. Just as she’d always been.
He’d changed into a dark grey suit and white shirt, open at the neck. Elegantly casual. They complemented each other. He extended his arm and she took a breath before putting her arm in his, so he could lead her down the stairs to the main foyer, where people were waiting.
The crowd parted to let them through, and a few people clapped Ciro on the shoulder as they passed. Lara caught Lazaro’s eye. He still had that grim expression on his face. She felt like pulling free from Ciro, so she could go over and tell him that he had it all wrong. Ciro had hurt her, not the other way around...
And then she glanced up and saw Ciro’s scar, standing out so lividly, and fresh guilt for her responsibility in that made her keep her eyes forward until they were outside and in the back of a sleek SUV. Lazaro Sanchez was right to look at her the way he did.
‘Try to smile, hmm...cara? You’ve just married the man of your dreams and you will never have to lift a finger again if you are wise with your divorce settlement when it comes.’
Lara’s rattled emotions bubbled over. She turned to Ciro as the vehicle pulled into the traffic. ‘I couldn’t care less about the money, Ciro. You, on the other hand, are obsessed by it. I pity you—because if it all went tomorrow, what would you have?’
Stupid question, Lara.
She realised that as soon as the words were out of her mouth. He’d have the towering Sicilian pride and immense self-belief that had brought him to where he was today.
But he merely shrugged lightly and said, ‘I’d start again and be even more successful.’
