Page 21 of Seduced by Her Billionaire Fake Fiancé

When she found him looking at her quizzically, she explained, “I lose things.”

His eyes gave nothing away, but one side of his lips lifted in a begrudging half-smile.

“You ready to go?”

She nodded once. “Where is this place?”

“My parents’ villa, just outside Civitavecchia, about an hour away.”

She nodded slowly, but it was impossible for her temperature not to rise in response to his mention of an hour’s car trip. Only think how they might spend that time…

But perhaps mistaking her reaction, he rushed to reassure her. “Relax,bella.I’ll be driving.”

Her eyes widened as she hastened to ignore the rush of disappointment. “Good,” she responded tartly, reaching for the coffee percolator, and pouring herself a cup, lifting it to her lips then grimacing because it was far stronger than she’d realized.

“We’ll see,” he smirked back, so perhaps he hadn’t misunderstood her after all.

He drove the roads expertly,his presence in the car a force of strength and confidence, and easy charisma, so as completely transfixed as she’d been by him the night before, she felt even more so now. Every time his hand shifted the gear stick, she was conscious of the confident, masculine motion, the way he controlled the car on narrow, winding roads with such ease and familiarity. She tried to keep her gaze averted, to stare out of the window at the stunning scenery, but it didn’t matter whether she looked at him or not. Just like in her apartment, the air was changed by his presence. Shefelthim, even when she couldn’t see him.

“What’s your brother’s treatment plan?” Max surprised her by asking, halfway into the journey.

She cleared her throat, which was dry from disuse. “It’s not clear yet.” She toyed with her fingers, turning a little to face him, then wished she hadn’t, because Max chose that exact moment to tilt a sidelong glance at her. Their eyes connected and something sparked in the pit of her gut.

“He didn’t seem great yesterday.”

“No,” Max agreed, focusing again on the road.

“When we checked him in, the doctors said it would be a long process, that true recovery is a lifelong job, but I still thought…I hoped…we’d see more by now.”

“Understandably.”

“Honestly, if we were really getting married in the summer, I’m not sure he’d be able to make it.” She slipped the ring around her finger in circles. “The thought of him being included in a celebratory event, with alcohol and so many people…it would never work.”

“Probably not,” he agreed.

“I’m just devastated for him,” she admitted, surprised that she was being so honest with this man she barely knew. And wasn’t that a contradiction in terms, she thought, given that he’d been more intimately acquainted with her, on a physical level, than anyone else.

“It is very difficult to see those we love suffer.”

His voice was the same, but Andie felt something shift inside him, she felt a change in his demeanour, and angled herself in the seat to face him more fully.

“Max?”

He didn’t turn to face her but was silent, waiting, so she continued.

“What happened with your friend?”

His hands gripped the steering wheel more tightly, his knuckles turning white. “Which friend?”

But his voice now was thicker. He knew exactly what she was talking about.

“I remember reading somewhere that you’d lost a good friend. Some kind of an accident?”

“What do you want to know?”

She lifted one shoulder. “I guess, just what I need to,” she said softly. “Your family will probably expect…”

“Antonio will not be mentioned today.”

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