Tempted By The Bridesmaid

A coldness took hold of his entire chest. An internal ice storm wrought its damage as the news fully penetrated.

“My girlfriend was not having sex with Marco.”

* * *

Francesca’s eyes pinged wide, a hit of shock shuddering down her spine before she managed to respond.

“Your girlfriend? That’s... Wow.” She shook her head in disbelief. “For the record, she is an idiot. If you were my boyfriend, lock and key might be more—”

Luca held up a hand. He didn’t want to hear it.

It was difficult to know whether to be self-righteous or furious. In Rome, his relationships had hardly warranted the title. Since moving back to Mont di Mare...

The home truths hit hard and fast. Sure, Marina had been complaining that she wasn’t the center of his universe lately, but any fool—anyone with a heart beating in their chest—could have seen that his priorities were not wooing and winning right now.

He owed every spare ounce of his energy to his niece. The one person who’d suffered the most in that horrific car accident. His beautiful, headstrong niece, confined to a wheelchair evermore.

He looked across at Marco. The sting of betrayal hit hard and fast.

He and Marina had never been written in the stars—but Beatrice? A true princess if ever there was one. She was shaking her head. Holding up a hand so that Marco would stop his heated entreaty. From where Luca was standing it didn’t look as if the wedding would go ahead.

He swore under his breath. He had trusted Marco to treat Bea well—cautioned him about his rakish past and then congratulated him with every fiber of his being when at long last he’d announced his engagement to Princess Beatrice Vittoria di Jesolo.

The three of them had shared the same upbringing. Privileged. Exclusive. Full of expectation—no, more than that, full of obligation that they would follow in their ancestors’ footsteps. Marry well. Breed more titled babies.

Luca might have considered the same future for himself before the accident. But that had all changed now. Little wonder Marina had strayed. He’d kept her at arm’s length. Farther away. It was surprising she had stayed any time at all.

“Why don’t you go and get her? Ask her yourself?” Francesca wasn’t even bothering to swipe at the tears streaking her mascara across her cheeks.

“You’re absolutely positive?”

Even as the hollow-sounding words left his mouth he knew they were true. There weren’t that many women wandering around the basilica in swirls of weightless ocean-blue fabric. And there was only one bridesmaid with raven hair. The same immaculate silky hair he’d been forbidden from touching that morning when Marina had popped into the hotel suite to grab the diamante clutch bag she’d left while she was at the hairdresser’s. Not so immaculate when she’d appeared at the altar, looking rosy cheeked and more alive than he’d seen her in months, if he was being honest.

“I—I can go get her for you, if you like,” Francesca offered after hiccuping a few more tears away.

He had to hand it to her. The poor woman was crying her eyes out, but she knew how to stand her ground.

“Why don’t I go find her?” Her fingers started doing a little nervous dance in the direction of the church, where everyone was still waiting.

“No offense, but you are the last person I would ever ask to help me.”

“Isn’t it better to know the truth than to live a lie?”

Luca swore softly and turned away. She was hitting just about every button he didn’t care to admit he had. Truth. Deceit. Honesty. Lies. Weakness.

He had no time in his life for weakness. No capacity for lies.

He forced himself to look Francesca in the eye, knowing there wasn’t an iota of kindness in his gaze. But he still couldn’t give in to the innate need to feel empathy for the position she’d been put in. Or compassion for the tears rising again and again, glossing her eyes and then falling in a steady trickle along her tear-soaked face. How easy it would be to lift a finger and just...

Magari!

Shooting the messenger was a fool’s errand, but he didn’t know how else to react... A knife of rage swept through him. If he never thought about Marina or Marco again it would be too soon.

“It didn’t seem like it was the first time,” Francesca continued, her husky voice starting to break in a vain attempt to salve the ever-deepening wound. “I’m happy to go and get her if you want.”

“Basta! Per favore!”

No need to paint a picture. He almost envied Francesca. Seeing in an instant what he should have known for weeks. He should have ended it before she’d even thought to stray.

“If you want, I’ll do it. Go and get her. I would do it for any friend.”

Francesca shifted from one foot to the other, eyes glued to his, waiting for his response. He’d be grateful for this one day, but right now Francesca was the devil’s messenger and he’d heard enough.

The words came to him—jagged icicles shooting straight from his arctic heart. “I know you mean well, Francesca, but you and I will never be friends.”

* * *

Shell-shocked. That was how Bea had looked for the rest of the day. Not that Fran could blame her. Talk about living a nightmare. She knew better than most that coming to terms with deception on that kind of scale could take years. A lifetime, even, if her father’s damaged heart was anything to go by.

From the look on Luca’s face when they’d finally parted at the basilica he was going to need two lifetimes to get over his girlfriend’s betrayal. Good thing they wouldn’t be crossing paths anytime soon.

“Want me to see if I can find a case of prosecco lying around? A karaoke machine? We could sing it out and down some fizz.”

Fran scanned the hotel suite. The caterers had long been sent away, the decorations had been removed and the staff instructed to keep any and all lurking paparazzi as far away as possible...

“No, thanks, cara. Maybe some water?” Bea asked.

“On it.”

As she poured a glass of her friend’s favorite—sparkling water from the alpine region of Italy—Fran was even more in awe of her friend’s strength. All tucked up in bed, makeup removed, dress unceremoniously wilting like a deflated meringue in the bathroom, Bea looked exhausted, but not defeated.

“Want to tell me anything about this mystery job I’m due to start tomorrow?”

“No.” Bea took a big gulp of water and grinned, obviously grateful for the change of topic. “Although it will make use of both your physio skills and the assistance dogs.”

Fran frowned. “I thought you said she had a doctor looking after her?”

Bea blinked, but said nothing.

“The girl’s in a wheelchair, right? Lower extremities paralyzed?”

“Yeah, but...” Bea tipped her head to the side and gave her friend a hard look. “You’re not going to waste all those years of practicing physio are you?”

“What? Because the person I was stupid enough to go into business with saw me as a limitless supply of cash?”

“You’re clear of that, though, aren’t you?”

Fran grunted.

People? Disappointing. Dogs? They never asked for a thing. Except maybe a good scratch around the ears.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Fran flipped the topic back to Bea. “Don’t you want to stay in the palazzo with your family?”

“And listen to my mother screech on about the disaster of the century? How I’ve ruined the family’s name. The family’s genetic line. Any chance of happiness for the di Jesolos forever and ever. Not a chance. Besides—” she scanned the sumptuous surroundings of the room “—your suite is great and I’d much rather be with you, even if the place does smell all doggy.”

“Does not.” Fran swiped at the air between them with a grin. She’d washed the dogs to within an inch of their lives before they’d checked into Venice’s fanciest hotel. A little trust-fund treat to herself before heading out to this mystery village where Bea had organized her summer job.

“You don’t need to watch over me, you know,” Bea chided gently. “I’m not going to do anything drastic. And you are allowed to take the dress off. Don’t know if you’ve heard, but the wedding’s off!”

“Just wanted to get my money’s worth!” Fran said, knowing the quip was as lame as it sounded.

The truth was, she hadn’t felt so pretty in...years, really. When your workaholic dad bought your clothes from the local menswear shop, there was only so much ironic style a girl could pull off. When she’d graduated to buying her own clothes it had felt like a betrayal even to glance at something pink and frilly. It wasn’t practical.

“Not exactly what a proper engineer would wear, Frannie!”

So much for that pipe dream! It had died along with a thousand others before she’d found her niche in the world of physiotherapy and then, even more perfectly, in assistance-dog training. Dogs. They were who she liked to spend her time with. They were unconditionally loyal and always ridiculously happy to see her. When she had to hand over these two dogs to her mystery charge at the end of the summer...

Fran swallowed down another rush of tears. Bea shouldn’t have to be the one being stoic here. “I’m so sorry, Bea. About doing things the way I did. There just wasn’t time to catch you after I’d seen them, and before I knew it, we were all up there at the altar and—”

“I’m not sorry at all.” Bea said. “I’m glad you said something. Grateful you had the courage when no one else did.”

“That’s pretty magnanimous for someone who just found out they were being cheated on!”

“Others knew. All along. Even my mother.” Bea chased up the comment with a little typical eye roll.

Fran’s hands flew to cover her mouth. Wow. That was just... Wow.

“They were all so desperate for me to be one half of the most enviable couple in Europe. Even if it came at a cost.” She shuddered away the thought. “You were the only one today who was a true friend.”

Fran’s tear ducts couldn’t hold back any longer.

“How can you be so nice about everything when I’ve ruined the best day of your life?”

“Amore! Stop. You were not the one who ruined the day. Besides, I’m pretty sure there will be another best day of my life,” Bea added, with a hint of something left unsaid in her voice.

“Since I barely see you once a year, it would’ve been nice to be honest about something else. Like how ridiculously beautiful you looked today.”

Fran’s heart rose into her throat as at long last Bea’s eyes finally clouded with tears.

“Everyone has their secrets,” Bea whispered.

“Including you?”

Bea looked away. Fair enough. There had to be a full-blown tropical storm going on in that head of hers right now, and if she wanted to keep her thoughts to herself, she was most deserving. Thank heavens her family had the financial comfort to sort out the mess The Wolf’s infidelity would leave in its wake.

“You all ready for your new job?” Bea turned back toward her with a soft smile.

“Yes!” She gave an excited clap of her hands. The two dogs she had trained up for this job were amazing. “Not that you’ve told me much about the new boss, apart from the pro bono bit. I can’t believe you offered to pay me.”

Beatrice scrunched her features together. “Best not to mention that.”

“I have no problem doing it for free. You know that. If I could’ve lived in one place for more than five minutes over the past few years, I would’ve set up a charitable trust through Martinelli Motors years ago, but...”

“He was too busy making his mark?”

“As ever. We don’t have ancient family lineage to rely on like you do.”

“Ugh. Don’t remind me.”

“Sorry...” Fran cringed, then held her arms open wide to the heavens. “Please help me stop sticking my foot in my mouth today!” She dropped her arms and pulled her friend into a hug. “Ever wished you’d just stayed in England?”

Bea’s eyes clouded and again she looked away. This time Fran had definitely said the wrong thing, brought up memories best left undisturbed.

“That was...” Bea began, stopping to take a faltering breath. “That was a very special time and place. Those kinds of moments only come once in a lifetime.”

Fran pulled back from the hug and looked at her friend, lips pressed tight together. She wouldn’t mention Jamie’s name if Beatrice didn’t. The poor girl had been through enough today without rehashing romances of years gone by.

“Right!” Fran put on a jaunty grin. “Time to totally change the topic! Now, as my best friend, won’t you please give me just a teensy, tiny hint about my new boss so I don’t ruin things in the first five minutes?”

“You’re the one who wanted a mystery assignment!”

“I didn’t want them to know who I was—not the other way around!” Fran shot Bea a playful glower.

She’d already been burned by a business partner who had known she was heiress to her father’s electric-car empire. And when it came to her social life, people invariably got the wrong idea. Expected something...someone...more glamorous, witty, attention seeking, party mad.

It was why she’d given up physio altogether. Dogs didn’t give a damn about who she was so long as she was kind and gave them dinner. If only her new boss was a pooch! She giggled at the thought of a dog in a three-piece suit and a monocle.

“What’s so funny?” Bea asked.

“C’mon...just give me a little new-boss hint,” Fran cajoled, pinching her fingers together so barely a sheet of paper could pass between them.

Bea shook her head no. “I’ve told you all you need to know. The girl’s a teenager. She’s been in a wheelchair for a couple of years now. Paraplegic after a bad car accident. Very bad. Her uncle—”

“Ooh! There’s an enigmatic uncle?”

“Something like that,” Bea intoned, wagging her finger. “No hints. They need the dog so she can be more independent.”

“She needs the dog.”

“Right. That’s what I said.”

“You said they need the dog,” Fran wheedled, hoping to get a bit more information, but Bea just made an invisible zip across her lips. No more.

“That’s not tons to go on, you know. I’ve been forced to bring two dogs to make sure I’ve got the right one!”

“Forced?” Bea cackled. “Since when have you had to be forced to travel with more than one dog?”

“C’mon...” Fran put her hands into a prayer position. “Just tell me what her parents are like—”

Beatrice held up her hand. “No parents. They both died in the same accident.”

“Ouch.” Fran winced. She’d lost her mother to divorce and her father to work. Losing them for real must be devastating.

“So does that mean this devilishly handsome uncle plays a big role in her life?”

“No one said he was handsome!” Bea admonished. “And remember—good things come to those who wait!”

Bea took on a mysterious air and, if Fran wasn’t mistaken, there was also an elusive something else she couldn’t quite put her finger on. How could a person glow when their whole life had just been ripped out from beneath them? Bea was in a league of her own. There weren’t too many people who would set up a dream job for a friend who was known to dip in and out of her life like a yo-yo.

“Well, even if her uncle is a big, hairy-eared ogre, I can’t wait. Nothing beats matching the right pooch to the right patient.” Fran couldn’t stop herself from clapping a bit more, drawing the attention of her two stalwart companions. “C’mere, pups! Help me tuck in Her Majesty.”

Bea batted at the air between them. “No more royal speak! I don’t want to be reminded.”

“What?” Fran fell into their lifelong patter. “The fact that you’re so royal you’d probably bleed fleurs-de-lys?”

“That’s the French, idiot!”

“What do Italian royals bleed, then? Truffles?”

“Ha!” Bea giggled, reaching out a hand to give Fran’s a big squeeze. “It’s not truffle season. It’s tabloid season. And they’re definitely going to have a field day with this. I can’t even bear to think about it.” She threw her arm across her eyes and sank back into the downy pillow. “What do you think they’ll say? Princess left at the altar, now weeping truffle tears?”

Fran pulled her friend up by her hands and gave her a hug. It was awful seeing her beautiful dark eyes cloud over with sadness. “How about some honey?” she suggested, signaling to the two big dogs to come over to the bedside. “That mountain honey you gave me from the Dolomites was amazing.”

“From the resort?” Bea’s eyes lit up at the thought. “It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. Maybe...”

“Maybe what?” Fran knew the tendrils of a new idea when she saw one.

“Maybe I’ll pull a Frannie!”

“What does that mean?” She put on an expression of mock horror, fully aware that it wasn’t masking her defensive reaction.

She knew exactly what it meant. A lifetime of trying to get her father’s attention and failing had turned her into a wanderer. Staying too long in any one place meant getting attached. And that meant getting hurt.

“Don’t get upset. I envy you. Your ability to just pick up and go. Disappear. Reinvent yourself. Maybe it’s time I went and did something new.”

Fran goldfished for a minute.

“That phase of my life might be over,” she hedged. “Once this summer’s done and dusted I’m going home.”

“Home, home?” Bea sat up straight, eyes wide with shock. “I thought you said you’d never settle down there.”

“Dad’s offered to help me set up a full-time assistance-dogs training center—”

“You’ve never accepted his money before! What’s the catch?”

“You mean what’s going to be different this time?” Fran said, surprised at the note of shyness in her voice.

Bea nodded. She was the one who had always been there on the end of a phone when Fran had called in tears. Again.

“We spent a week together before I came over.”

“A week?” Bea’s eyes widened in surprise. “That’s huge for you two. He wasn’t in the office the whole time?”

“Nope! We actually went to a car show together.”

Bea pursed her lips together. Not impressed.

“I know. I know,” Fran protested, before admitting, “He had a little run-in with the pearly gates.”

“Fran! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It turned out to be one of those cases of indigestion disguising itself as a heart attack, but it seems to have been a lightbulb moment for him. Made him reassess how he does things.”

“You mean how he’s neglected his only daughter most of his life?”

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“Francesca Martinelli, don’t you dare tell me your heart wasn’t broken time and time again by your father choosing work over spending time with you.”

Fran met her friend’s gaze—saw the unflinching truth in it, the same solid friendship and loyalty she’d shown her from the day they’d met at boarding school.

“I know. But this time it really is different.”

“Frannie...” Bea’s brow furrowed. “He took you to a car show. You hate cars!”

“It was an antique car show. Not a single electric car in sight.”

Bea gave a low whistle. “Will wonders never cease?”

“Martinelli Motors is doing so well it could probably run itself.”

“No surprise there. But I’m still amazed he took time off. It must’ve been one heck of a health scare.”

Fran nodded. She knew Bea’s wariness was legitimate. The number of times Fran had thought this would be the time her father finally made good on his promise to spend some quality father-daughter time...

“It was actually quite sweet. I got to learn a lot more about him as we journeyed through time via the cars.” She smiled at the memory of a Model T that had elicited a story about one of his cousins driving up a mountainside backward because the engine had only been strong enough in reverse. “Even though we all know cars aren’t my passion, I learned more about him in that one weekend than I have...ever, really.”

He’d thought he was going to die—late at night, alone in his office. And it had made him change direction, hadn’t it? Forced him to realize a factory couldn’t give hugs or bake your favorite cookies or help you out when you were elderly and in need of some genuine TLC or a trip down memory lane.

“We’ve even been having phone calls and video-link chats since I left. Every day.”

Bea nodded. Impressed now. “Well, if those two hounds of yours are anything to go by, it’ll be a successful business in no time. Who knows? I might need one of those itty-bitty handbag assistance dogs to keep me chirpy!”

“Ooh! That’s their specialty. Want a display?” Without waiting for an answer, she signaled directions at her specially trained pooches, “Come on, pups! Bedtime for Bea!”

Fran was rewarded with a full peal of Beatrice’s giggles when the dogs went up on their hind legs on either side of the bed and pulled at the soft duvet until it was right up to her chin.

Snuggled up under her covers, Bea turned her kind eyes toward Fran. “Grazie, Francesca. You’re the best. Mamma has promised caffe latte and your favorite brioche con cioccolata if we head over to the palazzo tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll be up early, so don’t worry about me. I’ll just grab something from this enormous fruit bowl before I shoot off.” She feigned trying to lift the huge bowl and failing. “Better save my back. I’ve got to be there at nine. Fit and well!”

“At Clinica Mont di Mare?”

“Aha! I knew I’d get something from you beyond the sat-nav coordinates!”

Bea gave her a sidelong glance, then shook her head. “All I’m going to say is keep an open mind.”

“Sounds a bit scary.”

Bea gave her hand a squeeze. “Of all the people in the world, I know you’re the best one for this particular job.”

“Thanks, friend.”

Fran fought the tickle of tears in her throat. Bea was her absolute best friend and she trusted her implicitly. The fact Bea was still speaking to her after today’s debacle made her heart squeeze tight.

“Un bacione.” She dropped a kiss on her friend’s forehead and gave her hand a final squeeze before heading to her own bedroom and climbing into the antique wrought iron–framed bed.

“Freda, come! Covers!” Might as well get as much practice in as possible.

The fluffy Bernese mountain dog padded over, did as she had been bid, then received a big ol’ cuddle. Fran adored Freda, with her big brown eyes. The three-year-old dog was ever patient, ever kind. In contrast to the other full-of-beans dog she’d brought along.

“Edison! Come, boy!”

The chocolate Lab lolloped up to the side of the bed to receive his own cuddle, before flopping down in a contented pile of brown fur alongside Freda.

The best of friends. Just like her and Bea. It would be so hard to say goodbye.

Never mind. Tomorrow was a new beginning.

Exactly what she needed after a certain someone’s face had been burned into her memory forever.

“You and I will never be friends.”

Luca’s hardened features pinged into her mind’s eye. No matter the set of his jaw, she’d seen kindness in his eyes. Disbelief at what was happening. And resignation. A trinity of emotions that had pulled at her heartstrings and then yanked hard, cinching them in a tight noose. No matter how foul he’d been, she knew she would always feel compassion for him. Always wonder if he’d found someone worthy of his love.

CHAPTER THREE

“HOW MUCH?” LUCA’S jaw clenched tight. He was barely able to conceal his disbelief. Another five million to get a swathe of family suites prepared?

He looked at the sober-faced contractor. He was the best, and his family had worked with the Montovano family for years. In other words, five million was a steal.

Five million he didn’t have, thanks to his father’s late nights at the poker table. Very nice poker tables, in the French Riviera’s most exclusive casinos. Casinos where losing was always an option.

Luca’s eyes flicked up to the pure blue sky above him. Now that his father was pushing piles of chips up there, somewhere in the heavenly hereafter, it wasn’t worth holding on to the anger anymore. The bitterness.