Page 45 of Seduced by Her Billionaire Fake Fiancé

And? She pushed herself. You’ve done exactly the same thing with Sophie. Except Andie never planned for Sophie and Max to meet, and certainly not in a crowd of people. Andie had told Sophie knowing that Sophie’s knowledge would never put Max in a difficult position. Whereas Andie currently found herself caught between how she was supposed to be acting and her innate sense of honesty.

“When is the wedding?”

There was skepticism in Esther’s voice now.

“Oh, we haven’t set a date yet,” Andie said with a shake of her head and what she hoped passed for a dismissive smile. “We’re just enjoying being engaged.”

“I see,” Esther’s smile was dripping with mockery.

Andie sipped her drink, Carlo’s warning ringing in her ears. “Anyway,” she said with a lift of one shoulder, “I should go find my fiancé.” It felt good to be able to establish that in front of Esther. For some reason, Andie’s hackles were rising.

“I mean, I wouldn’t want my fiancé to have the same freedom yours does, but everyone is different, I suppose. And until you are actually married, it’s all fair, isn’t it?”

Andie’s face tightened as she turned to face the other woman. Carlo’s hand reached down, squeezed Andie’s.

“That’s enough, Esther.”

“What? I’d want to know that my fiancé had been with another woman during our engagement, wouldn’t you?”

Andie sipped her drink, but her fingers were trembling, and the action revealed as much.

“Esther, stop.”

“I’m just saying,” the beautiful woman responded, shrugged, smiled, and walked away.

Andie felt as though she’d been the victim of a drive-by shooting.

“Who was that?”

“Esther Campion. An heiress-slash-sometimes-actress-slash-philanthropist.”

“Right. I thought I recognized her. But who is she to the family?”

“A friend of Emilia’s.”

Andie nodded slowly. “And to Max?”

Carlo’s eyes scanned Andie’s face. “They’ve dated.” He leaned closer. “You’re doing an excellent job of playing the part of the jealous fiancé, by the way,” he said with a little shoulder nudge. “Anyone would think you really had feelings for him.”

Courtesy of Patrizia’sexceptional introduction skills, Andie had somehow managed to avoid spending very much time in the vicinity of her alleged fiancé at all. There were more than enough ‘safe’ people she had met who she felt comfortable going and chatting to, and most were easy to talk to, interested in her and her business, and of course her engagement to Max. She heard more stories about him than she wanted to hear in her life, particularly given that each story cast him as a sort of golden boy, all that was good and fair and right in the world.

Andie wasn’t disposed to think that well of him.

Because she’d met Carlo and she’d met Esther and in the space of a few short minutes, she’d had to reckon with the fallout from his actions. Firstly, in telling Carlo the truth, and secondly in acting in a way that exposed the truth to Esther. Worse, that established him as a cheat, which Andie knew he wasn’t, and never would be.

But what if he was?

They’d slept together then he’d come to Italy for a week. Had he seen Esther during that time?

He’d told her he couldn’t stop thinking about her, but what if that was a lie? Or maybe both things could be true, and he could have been thinking about Andie and sleeping with Esther all without contradicting himself.

The thought made Andie feel sick and she couldn’t believe she’d actually been letting her barriers down around Max, eating with him, enjoying his company.

This was a business deal, and she was a fool for letting the lines come anything close to blurred.

Having made that resolution, it was easier to function for the rest of the night. She put on the performance of a lifetime, so even when Max came and asked her to dance, as others moved to the makeshift space in the middle of the terrace, Andie agreed without hesitation.

Only touching him was an obstacle, because it had always been like this with them. The slightest contact, and her skin was on fire, her body craving him, so she stiffened in his arms and hardened her heart.

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