Page 13 of The Maid Married To The Billionaire

Enzo lowered Brodie to the bed and watched him snatch up a scruffy rabbit soft toy, pressing it to his chest and turning over, all liveliness draining away as evidently the day’s activities caught up with him. Shaking loose the duvet to cover him, Enzo straightened as Skye settled her sister into the cot.

‘The solicitor thinks there’s sufficient evidence for Ritchie to be arrested and charged,’ she told him quietly, something of her mental turmoil showing in her troubled gaze. ‘I can’t get past the fact that I thought he loved me and yet he didthatto me.’

Enzo lounged in the doorway, his big frame lithe and sleek and relaxed as she switched out the light. ‘I thought a woman loved me once but it went badly wrong, although she didn’t assault me,’ he remarked with graveyard humour, brooding dark eyes glinting beneath lush black lashes. ‘Now I steer clear of the love thing...’

His blunt candour disconcerted her and as he stepped back to allow her to partially close the door of the children’s room, she winced and sighed. ‘As will I in the future.’

CHAPTER FOUR

‘IT’SLIKEBEINGa princess for the day!’ Alana carolled. ‘I’m so envious I’m ashamed of myself!’

‘Alana...’ Skye felt guilty and rather vain for being equally thrilled by her elegant, groomed appearance in the mirror.

It was so very long since she had seen herself polished up to her best. The last time had been for a formal dance at college in her final year. A visit to the beauty salon at the exclusive hotel where her sister worked had transformed her hair and the professional but subtle make-up covered her fading bruises to perfection. Her rebellious curls had been tamed into glossy honey-blonde ringlets that tumbled artfully down to her slim shoulders. The dress, in the palest shade of lilac, was fashioned in a glistening fabric that caught the light and came to mid-thigh, short enough to be fashionable, long enough not to be daring. Her arms were bare, and an unusual toning collar of artificial pearls contrived to conceal the marks on her neck. The stylist, whom Enzo had organised to come to the house, had brought a selection of cocktail dresses for her to choose from. She slid her feet into the delicate high heels and lifted the beaded purse and shawl that completed the outfit.

‘Well, when did either of us last have any fun?’ Her sister sighed. ‘We lost Mum and Dad and it was one long struggle to survive afterwards. There was no time and no money for girly stuff and remembering that we were still young.’

And that was true, horribly true, Skye conceded with regret. In the midst of their shock and grief, she and Alana had made the decision to step into their late parents’ shoes for Brodie and Shona’s sake and that had entailed serious sacrifices. Initially, it had been a long, dreary haul, working hard to meet the bills, find employment and somewhere affordable to live. Alana had insisted on dropping out of university, as determined as Skye to do the very best she could for their younger siblings.

Skye turned back to her sister. ‘I promise that you and I will have a night out some time soon and relive exactly what it is like tobeyoung.’

Alana’s eyes lit up and then fell again. ‘We’ll need a babysitter.’

‘We’ll find one,’ Skye declared and hugged the younger woman. ‘We’ll look for somewhere where we can live together after Christmas, when Enzo leaves.’

‘Ihaveto live in at the hotel,’ Alana reminded her with a frown. ‘Even if I get this assistant night-shift manager promotion, I’ll still have to live in.’

‘We’ll cope, but maybe get to spend more time together, make it more about us than about the kids,’ Skye proposed. ‘The little ones do get star billing all the time!’

‘But that’s what makes you a great second mum,’ the blonde told her a little chokily, her eyes filming with tears.

Skye was a little misty-eyed and touched by her sister’s faith in her. Enzo strode out of the sitting room. Over the past ten days, she had seen surprisingly little of him and her attention locked onto him as though he were a magnet and she an iron filing. He was working long hours, leaving very early in the morning and rarely coming back before nine in the evening. Sparky was on his heels as usual. Sparky, their late parents’ pet, had always preferred men and had once been her stepfather’s shadow. Now Sparky was like a horse out of the starting gate the instant he heard Enzo’s car pulling up.

He wore yet another different suit, but this one had a designer hip edge of fashion that could have come straight off a Paris catwalk, and the man within that beautiful light grey suit teamed with a dark roll neck was as sleekly, smoothly and smoulderingly sexy as a movie star. That very thought shook her. She didn’t look at men and think...hmm, he’s sexy, but Enzo was in a class all of his own and very good at knocking her off balance. Not a thought she should be having about him, absolutely not, she censured herself and wiped her mind blank of all such embarrassing stuff.

Enzo stared intently as Skye approached him. ‘You look amazing,’ he murmured sincerely, rather taken aback by just how beautiful she looked, his gleaming dark gaze flaming to gold and his appraisal lingering. There was a lightness in her shy smile and a glow in her face. As he had hoped, she had enjoyed a day of pampering, a day unshaded by the turmoil her ex-boyfriend had plunged her into.

Her curls framed her heart-shaped face, brushing against her fine flushed cheekbones, and the make-up had been applied brilliantly to cover the dark shadowing that still marred her eye. The colour of that dress, that particular shade of lavender, lit up her eyes like stars. The bespoke fit enhanced her diminutive frame, only hinting at her slender curves while putting a pair of award-winning legs and dainty ankles on display. The hardening at his groin was as familiar as it was forbidden, and Enzo breathed in slow and deep to steady himself. She trusted him and he would not betray that trust.

He was well aware that he was attracted to her and that he shouldn’t be. He grasped her hand in his. ‘You’re cold.’ He swept the light shawl from her loose hold, shook it out and draped it deftly round her.

‘Thanks,’ Skye murmured, suddenly unsure of him and the weirdly tense intimacy of the moment. She lowered her eyes to avoid his clear dark golden gaze. He was so polite, so protective and concerned for her comfort. She wasn’t used to those qualities in a man. Ritchie had been hewn from a much rougher rock and she had told herself that that was his tough upbringing, not any lack in him. She supposed that that had been her making excuses for him, overlooking his flaws, refusing to see the bigger picture and that she had picked a man who hadnocaring, respectful side to his character.

As she parted from her sister, Alana bent her head and whispered, ‘Enzo is sohotfor you.’

‘No way!’ Skye laughed, lest Enzo guess that her sister had been talking about him because Alana had never been a good dissembler and Enzo was as observant as he was quick on the uptake. He was also, she had discovered that very day, chaotically untidy.

‘Why didn’t you tell me that you were still living out of suitcases and garment bags?’ she asked in reproach as she joined him in his car. ‘I only found out when I went into your room to change the bed this morning.’

‘Sì...you’ve got me all sorted out now. I intended to thank you. At least I can see the floor now,’ he remarked with amusement.

Skye gritted her teeth on a tart response. ‘Are you aware that all your shirts are dry-clean only?’ she continued.

‘On the domestic front I am...pretty useless,’ Enzo conceded after a moment’s pause. ‘But I shine in other fields.’

‘I put the shirts into the dry-cleaners in town. Which other fields?’

‘I’m good at dealing with people...as long as I’m sober,’ he qualified, thinking back darkly a couple of months to the dinner party that he had unwisely attended at his grandparents’ home. ‘I’m innovative in business and courteous. I was very well raised. I’ve also discovered to my surprise that I can work very hard when I’m challenged and that my concentration is stellar.’

---