Kelly, Judy chuckled. ‘Aren’t you the dark horse?’
Kelly glanced at her and blushed.
Judy’s eyes lit with amusement. ‘Your local lad turned out to be Count Gianfranco Maldini—what a story! Come on, tell all. How did it happen?’
Kelly told her, ending with, ‘In a way I have you to thank, because apparently when you told him at New Year that I was pregnant he came to look for me, and the rest, as they say, is history,’ she quipped.
‘That’s great!’ Judy asserted with a grin. ‘But let me give you some advice; your Gianfranco has had plenty of women in his time, and he treated them all with a casualness you wouldn’t believe. He is not the type for deep emotional commitment. But you’re carrying his child, and Italians love children, so make sure you make the most of it, and don’t let him out of your sight.’
‘Thanks, Judy.’ Kelly forced a smile. She needed reminding of her husband’s past women like a hole in the head, but that was Judy. ‘But we are marr…’ She never finished the sentence, as someone bumped into her and sent a shower of liquid down the front of her dress.
‘Oh, I’m so sorry.’ Olivia appeared in front of Kelly. ‘I didn’t see you there, and now your dress is ruined. How clumsy of me.’ Kelly glanced up and the malevolence in the dark eyes that met hers froze her to the spot. ‘Now you will have to change.’
Kelly couldn’t believe the pettiness of it… But, overcome with embarrassment, as the dampness had made the fabric stick to her stomach, she did not want to make a scene. ‘Yes,’ she agreed.
With a hard glance at Olivia, Judy said, ‘I’ll come with you.’
Before they could move Gianfranco materialised at her side. His dark eyes swept down over her small body and the tell-tale damp patch over her stomach. ‘What happened?’ Everyone around them seemed to go silent.
‘Nothing, really—an accident. Don’t make a fuss.’ She turned a deep, embarrassed shade of red.
Olivia laid a hand on his arm and he turned towards her as she said something in rapid Italian. The people around them laughed. Gianfranco grinned and, glancing back at Kelly, placed a hand in the small of her back. ‘Hurry along, then.’
Kelly nodded without comprehending what had been said, and, with Judy at her side, exited the room.
‘That bitch did that deliberately,’ Judy remarked as they walked up the stairs. ‘You’re going to have to watch her.’
‘No, really, it was an accident,’ Kelly lied, not believing it for a second. ‘These things happen.’
‘That is not what she just told your husband,’ Judy revealed bluntly. ‘She joked it was the extra weight you were carrying—the Maldini heir—that made you stumble. Why do you think they all laughed?’
‘No, I don’t believe you,’ Kelly said staunchly, defending Gianfranco and at the same time feeling incredibly hurt.
‘Then I suggest you learn Italian—quick,’ Judy declared drily.
Ignoring her, Kelly stripped off the dress, and after a brief visit to the bathroom to sponge down her stomach returned to the bedroom.
‘Is this your bedroom?’ Judy asked, glancing around and wandering into the sitting room, and finally the dressing room, where she flung open the wardrobe doors.
‘Yes, of course.’ Kelly followed her in and eyed her meagre supply of clothes with a jaundiced eye.
‘You’re in worse trouble than I thought,’ Judy commented. ‘This isn’t the master suite of Casa Maldini. You do know that?’ Judy lifted an enquiring eyebrow in Kelly’s direction.
‘No,’ Kelly said with a dry smile. ‘But I do know my own bedroom suite.’
‘Maybe, but remember the magazine article I showed you, the luxurious master suite is in the other wing.’
‘That’s Olivia’s,’ Kelly muttered, pulling one of the new dresses from the wardrobe. The least offensive was a white muslin concoction sprigged with pink roses.
‘Ah! So the black widow is firmly entrenched. I’m sorry to say this, Kelly, but you’d better get a grip. You are the top female in this house now, and it’s time you started acting like it, or Olivia is going to walk all over you.’
‘Really, Judy, you’re being melodramatic.’ She liked Judy, but she knew her attitude towards men was manipulative; she only had to think of how she had used Kelly last summer to get her husband to agree to a full-time nanny.
Judy shook her head and sighed. ‘Listen up, Kelly. There have been rumours about Olivia and Gianfranco for ages now, but it is also common knowledge Olivia can’t have children. She was married for ten years to his brother and tried everything. If you are not very careful she will take over not just the master suite, but your husband and your child if you let her.’
‘You have a vivid imagination,’ Kelly muttered, lifting the dress prior to putting it over her head, but Judy’s words had struck a chord.
‘Oh, my God! You’re never going to wear that!’ Judy tore it from her hand. ‘Where is your style, woman?’
Kelly sighed. ‘Carmela and Olivia took me shopping and assured me this is what the best-dressed Italian mum-to-be wears.’
‘Over my dead body,’ Judy asserted and, rifling through the wardrobe, withdrew the winter-white cashmere dress that she’d worn for her wedding. ‘Here, wear that—at least it has some style—and for heaven’s sake think about what I have told you. You are far too trusting for your own good.’
The sound of music floated into the grand hall as the two girls made their way back downstairs. The dancing had started. Kelly glanced across the room just as Gianfranco took Olivia into his arms and started to dance.
Carlo Bertoni appeared and slid an arm around Judy. ‘Where have you been? I missed you,’ he declared, and as Kelly watched Judy smiled up into her husband’s eyes.
‘Helping the lady of the house change.’
‘And very lovely you look.’ Carlo smiled at Kelly. ‘Gianfranco is a very lucky man.’
Kelly forced a smile. ‘Thank you, Carlo.’ But, watching Gianfranco dancing, with Olivia’s arms now wrapped around his neck, she began to wonder how lucky she was herself. Somehow seeing the two so intimately together lent credence to Judy’s outrageous suggestions. She felt sick to her stomach and was hit by a wave of such bitter jealousy she had to close her eyes for a moment.
Opening them again, she glanced around the room. It wasn’t just Olivia who was ogling her husband, she noted. Gianfranco, with his great height and superbly muscled body, moved with a rhythm, a lithe, sexy elegance, which, combined with his dark good looks, attracted the appreciative eyes of almost every female present.
Gianfranco loved her, she told herself firmly. They were married, for heaven’s sake. But a fluttering in her stomach reminded her she was pregnant and why he had married her. Then Gianfranco caught sight of her, his glorious eyes widening in delight, and she was reassured by the brilliant smile that he winged her way. She was worrying over nothing.
