‘And, as you will no longer be the housekeeper, I thought it could be an opportunity to wear clothes a little more befitting the mistress of the property.’
‘But no one will be seeing me except the staff.’
Cassian shook his head mentally. No woman he knew would be turning down a chance to spend his money on clothes.
‘Your duties will be different now.’
Lili sighed audibly. ‘I guess so.’
Cassian found himself biting back a smile. She really would prefer to remain the housekeeper. ‘Have you picked the new housekeeper yet?’
‘Yes, a local woman called Eloisa. She seems to be working out well.’
‘Good.’
Cassian’s assistant appeared in his office and he said with more reluctance than he would have expected, ‘I have to go.’
‘Okay, goodbye Signore Cor—’ she stopped herself and amended, ‘Cassian.’
‘Goodbye, Lili.’
Cassian cut the connection. It was strange, because he barely knew Lili really, but in the two weeks since she’d agreed to marry him and they’d had a couple of phone conversations like this, he’d found himself thinking about her and wondering what she was doing.
Even more disconcerting, he’d found himself feeling a sense of anticipation at seeing her again. Surely she wouldn’t have the same effect on him?
‘Signore Corti?’
Cassian frowned and looked at his assistant. He’d not even noticed the man waiting to talk to him. Feeling prickly now he said, ‘Yes?’
‘It’s Allesandra Amante on the phone. She wants to know if you’d like to go to dinner this evening?’
Cassian felt an immediately negative response to that idea even though she was someone with whom he’d enjoyed a no-strings arrangement over the years. ‘Tell her I’m busy.’
‘Very well, sir.’
Cassian turned back to the view. Even he knew it would be in bad taste to have announced an engagement and then be seen out with a woman, even though he could ensure it was done discreetly. But he had no desire for any woman.Except for your frumpy housekeeper.He scowled.
No. That had been an anomaly. Once they were married and they’d embarked on their IVF journey and she was ensconced in the villa securing his inheritance, life would go back to the usual routine.
But instead of a sense of relief at that assertion, all Cassian could see in his mind’s eye was an image of the Villa Corti, a place he’d spent years avoiding as much as possible, rising up out of the lake, and that provocative image of his housekeeper—fiancée—emerging from the pool under the moonlight, every dip and hollow and curve of her body burnt onto his brain like a brand.
Damn.
Two weeks later
The wedding day had dawned bright and serene. Cassian—Lili still had trouble thinking of him asCassian—had arrived yesterday but after a brief conversation, he’d been in his study most of the time working.
Lili had since, reluctantly, moved herself into a guest suite near Cassian’s bedroom. She knew it was appropriate to do but it still felt as if she was transgressing.
It was now nearing midmorning, and time for the service in the chapel on the villa’s grounds. The stylist Cassian had organised, a woman called Carlotta, was fussing around Lili smoothing the dress. Lili was putting up with the attention, gritting her jaw as the woman’s hands fluttered around her.
Because of the wedding she’d had to endure being touched but to her relief, it hadn’t been too stressful.
Lili had chosen the most covered up dress, much to the stylist’s obvious dismay. She’d said, ‘You have a beautiful figure, Signora Spirenze, you mustn’t be afraid to show it off.’
Lili had still chosen the dress that covered her from neck to toe and shoulder to arm—and crucially, a dress that she could remove easily without having to ask for help. She liked it, even though the lace did cling to her figure in a way that she wasn’t entirely comfortable with.
The stylist had arranged for someone to trim Lili’s hair and while it was still comfortably long, the weight had been taken out of it and layers added, making it feel much lighter and move in a flattering way around her face and shoulders.
