Page 43 of Seduced by Her Billionaire Fake Fiancé

“I thought we could stay out there over the weekend.”

The ground tilted a little beneath Andie.

“Oh,” she said, not because she didn’t want to, but because she was terrified by how much shedidwant that.

“It’s Emilia’s birthday,” he explained. “There’s a dinner. But if you would rather skip it, you can fly home after the meetings.”

So casual and respectful.

She shook her head though, immediately rejecting that. He’d done everything she’d asked of him, it was only fair that she did the same with his family.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll come. It will be…fun.”

Ten

“ANDIE! IT IS SUCH a pleasure to see you again,” Patrizia Valentino stood just inside the door dressed in an elegant silk slip dress, silver in colour, hugging her slender frame. Her dark hair was pulled back into a low bun, highlighting the streak of grey that ran from one temple all the way back. She had been a strikingly beautiful woman the first time Andie had met her, dressed casually for a small family lunch, but now, with the hub of a birthday party behind her, wearing evening attire, she looked breathtaking. “You listened to me, didn’t you, Massi, like a good Italian boy should,” she winked exaggeratedly at Andie.

“Listened to you?” Andie queried, shivering as Max put a hand in the small of her back.

“I told him he was not to come to Italy again without you. I intend to get to know my first daughter-in-law properly. Now, will you make time to talk about the wedding with me tonight?”

Guilt flushed through Andie.

“Mother, leave her alone,” Max growled, his hand stroking the base of Andie’s spine.

Patrizia slapped her son’s chest. “Oh, hush. Just because you are not interested in the details does not mean Andie isn’t. You are a man: weddings are not ever of interest to men.” She rolled her eyes. “But I imagine you have some thoughts, my dear?” She turned back to Andie.

Andie was lost for words.

“Andrea is busy running a huge company in the midst of enormous turmoil.”

“So, she is a very capable young woman,” Patrizia said, moving to link arms with Andie. “I have no doubt she can walk and chew gum at the same time.” And with one more wink over her shoulder, she pulled Andie away from Max, so she felt a chill at her spine where his hand had been moments before. A quick look backwards showed him watching with obvious disapproval. He lifted a single finger into the air and mouthed,one minute.

She nodded, relieved.

Only Patrizia was a force of nature, and she was intent on introducing her ‘future daughter-in-law’ to everyone she could find.

The party itself was a thing of beauty, as Andie should have expected. On the terrace at the back of the sprawling villa, with views in the distance of the twinkling lights of a large town, the terrace had been set up for a mid-winter party. Lights were strung, criss-cross style, across the terrace, and large braziers had been placed to provide extra warmth. There were bench seats provided for some guests to sit on, blankets draped across the back as a concession to the cool evening air, and in between introducing Andie around, Patrizia found time to lean close and say, “There will be fireworks later, for our little firecracker.”

Andie’s heart shattered a little, seeing the obvious love this mother had for her daughter.

Andie missed her mother always, but in that moment, she ached for her physically.

“Would you like a drink?”

Andie nodded and Patrizia procured, as if by magic, not just a flute of champagne but a piccolo bottle of a prestigious brand, with a bamboo straw.

Andie took a sip, enjoying the feeling of the bubbles in her mouth.

“Now, come and meet Carlo,” Patrizia said, “so I can go and welcome some old friends of mine who’ve just arrived.”

“Oh,” Andie demurred, her head already swimming from the people she’d had to speak to this evening. “I can just find Max,” she replied.

“Nonsense. Carlo is very keen to meet you.” Patrizia leaned closer. “He is Antonio’s brother, you know, and very good friends with the kids.”

‘The kids’, Andie took to mean, were Max, Leandro and Emilia.

Patrizia performed the introductions in a whirlwind of waving hands and bright red lipped smiles and then she disappeared.

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