Page 42 of Expecting His Billion-Dollar Scandal
She dreaded to think what would happen when he learned that she, Cordelia, would be spending the majority of her time in Italy. Her brain ached from thinking about it all.
She was on a different planet when Sylviana told her to wake up.
‘Is ready, Signorina Cordelia.’
The reflection staring back at her in the mirror was a woman she didn’t quite recognise.
The contours of the face were the same, but the subtle application of make-up had given her aristocratic cheekbones and...were her lips really so full...her eyelashes quite so thick and long?
Her curls hadn’t been tamed but theyhadbeen styled to ripple down her back in a far more orderly fashion.
But the most amazing thing was a figure she had always taken for granted.
Tall, rangy, not particularly curvy had been transformed into six feet of elegance once the nude heels were on.
Cordelia turned round and giggled a little nervously as she reached for the gold clutch bag, which was completely empty save for her mobile phone in case her dad called while she was busy bustling downstairs.
She towered over Sylviana but she was still walking on air as she got accustomed to the heels and made her slow way down the staircase in the general direction of the noise.
Vast areas of the house had been transformed and when she glanced outside, she could see that the same applied to the grounds, with tiny lights everywhere, and lanterns hanging from the trees.
When it was completely dark, it would make a marvellous sight.
This was going to be her home. This magnificent, palatial house was going to be where their child grew up. If they stayed together, who knew? There might very well be other children.
They would have all of this at their disposal. The world would be their oyster. When Cordelia thought of the lovely but narrow life she had lived, when she thought back to her yearning to see what was out there, she knew that she had done the right thing in agreeing to marry Luca.
How could she have, in good conscience, denied their child this birthright?
She paused to glance at the frenetic activity in the hall. It would be chaos in most of the other rooms.
Where was Luca?
She didn’t think he would be found tasting the food to see whether any further tweaks were needed.
In fact, the thought of him doing that brought a smile to her lips because if there was one thing he had zero interest in, it was what went into the production of all those fine meals that were brought to him by his very talented and loyal staff. Food was always an amusing accompaniment to the main event, which was the wine.
She headed away from the kitchens and the fuss happening in that expansive wing of the villa.
She headed in the direction of his office because she knew that he would probably be working.
It got quieter. She thought of their lovemaking and that, too, made her smile and fired up something proprietorial inside her. He’d made that remark when he had surprised her chatting to the guy with the boat for hire at the lake.His woman.There were times when she had a similar feeling, which was that Luca washer man.
The office door was ajar when she got there. Where the rest of the sprawling mansion was floored with a mixture of wood and marble, a combination of cool and warm, the long corridor with the far more comfortable rooms leading off it, including Luca’s office, was carpeted.
Her steps were soundless. She couldn’t hear anything inside but she pushed open the door just to make sure he wasn’t there and froze.
Literally, she could feel a coldness washing through her, turning her to ice.
She was numb with it as she looked, open-mouthed, at Luca and the woman in his arms.
They didn’t see her. The office was in semi-darkness, as was the corridor down which she had walked, so there was no back light behind her as she watched and stared.
They were standing and they were...entwined. That was the only word for it. Entwined. He had his hands in the woman’s hair and Cordelia could hear the sound of quiet, muffled sobbing.
Isabella.
She didn’t know how she knew that, she just did. The small, fragile woman curled against Luca was the woman he had been destined to marry, and of course the reason there was so much sobbing going on would be Isabella’s distress that she was not going to be the name announced as the lucky fiancée.
