Page 42 of His Wedding Day Revenge

The blonde with the hard eyes was looking Jane up and down. Her expression suggested she had awarded Jane a grudging five and a half, and Jane might have been amused except there wassomethingabout this woman.

Reproaching herself for judging by appearances, Jane forced a smile.

‘So are you all part of thisgreenthing?’ the blonde asked with another artificial-sounding laugh.

Jane nodded.

‘So you are staying in one of those awful rooms?’ She made the en suite facilities sound like hovels and Jane, who had visited Luciana in hers, knew they were anything but.

Luciana, who was normally friendly to everyone, stood, her lips tight, but, making an obvious effort to be polite in the face of the other woman’s rudeness, intervened.

‘Joe and I are, but Jane is staying up in the palazzo, as a guest. She has her son with her.’

The woman’s patronising smile faded and one of her pencilled brows rose as her spiteful, speculative stare turned towards Jane. Her interest was of the malicious variety, something in those heavily made-up eyes making Jane feel uneasy.

‘In the palazzo, how very nice,’ she trilled back, making it sound not nice at all. ‘I am not allowed up there any longer.’ She placed one heavily ringed hand on her heart and, adopting the persona of a heroine in a Victorian melodrama, revealed in a throbbing voice, ‘But it was once my home.’

Jane heard Luciana mutter something in her native tongue under her breath. It did not sound complimentary.

Home...?

Even though the woman’s facial muscles were no longer capable of moving, Jane sensed her frown as she turned her attention back to her.

‘Have we met before?’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘Oh, I think so, and I never forget a face...’ The woman tapped the side of her head. ‘It will come to me.’

It sounded like a threat.

‘Do you know her?’ Jane asked as the blonde made her sinuous way ahead of them, where a door swung open and she vanished, along with the sounds of chatter and laughter that had spilled out.

‘Sì, I will explain later,’ Luciana said in a confidential aside behind her hand as a pair of servers in smart black trousers and white shirts passed by carrying trays containing arrays of edible works of art, minuscule but pretty. ‘Take no notice of her. She is an utter bitch and I have no idea why she is here tonight except if it is to cause trouble.’

Mystified by this uncharacteristic venom, Jane wondered who the woman was and what her connection was to the palazzo. She’d lived there?

Could she be an ex of Draco’s...? It was as hard to imagine Draco being seduced by a predatory older woman as it was to imagine him moving one of his overnight girlfriends in.

Jane dismissed the possibility almost immediately. The woman’s face might be lifeless, but her eyes were not young. She fell into step with the young couple as they stepped through the open door.

Jane blinked. The overnight transformation was dramatic! The double doors that interconnected the four meeting rooms had been opened and the space was impressive.

Music provided by a string quartet was playing at one end of the room and serving staff circulated with silver trays among the beautifully dressed guests. There were a few jeans and jumpers from the usual suspects, but even they looked less crumpled than usual as they mingled with the sprinkling of movie stars, politicians and aristocracy.

Jane found herself wondering where she fitted in, and then realised she probably didn’t as she grabbed a glass as it was offered. A couple of sips made her feel a little less panicky.

‘Jane...?’

Jane tried to place the tall, slim, good-looking young man in a blue velvet tux and then it hit her.

‘Jamie?’

Draco’s half-brother, no longer a skinny beanpole of a kid, grinned and hugged her. ‘My God, what are you doing here?’

‘I keep asking myself the same thing,’ Jane admitted.

‘So are you and Draco back together?’

---