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Di CESARE PREGNANT MISTRESS - Chapter 43
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After considerable arguing she had eventually settled for a narrow plain gold band, and he was sure she had chosen it because it was one of the least expensive rings in the shop.
As if she could read his mind, she suddenly said, ‘you don’t have to wear your ring. I wasn’t sure if you would want one or not. I mean…’ she shifted restlessly in her seat, sounding as if she wished she had never started the conversation ‘….it’s not as though ours is a normal marriage, and you might not want to advertise the fact that you have a wife.’
Stephanie had a stark image in her head of him chatting up gorgeous women at the nightclubs in Florence, his ringless finger advertising that he was a free agent, and a heavy weight settled in her chest. Alexander had a reputation as a playboy. He was hardly likely to curtail his socialising because he had acted honourably and married the woman who was expecting his child.
‘I am quite happy for the world to know I am married,’ he murmured coolly, ‘and I will be honoured to wear my wedding ring.’
He swung the car through the gates of the Villa Rosala, his mind dwelling on Stephanie’s assertion that their marriage was not a ‘normal’ one, and wondering why he wanted to smash his fist into the thick stone walls of the Villa.
The house looked warm and inviting, with golden lamp light spilling from the downstairs windows. It had been his childhood home—a place of love and happiness before the bitter dispute that had divided him and his father. But now it was going to be a family home again—if he had not completely wrecked his marriage before it had even begun, he thought grimly.
He pulled up on the drive and cut the engine, but instead of getting out of the car he turned his head to Stephanie, unable to hold back the question that had been eating away at him ever since his conversation with James Grainger shortly before the wedding.
‘Why didn’t you tell me about James?’
Beside him, Stephanie Stiffened. ‘Tell you what about James?’
‘That he had cancer. That the reason he went to London every week was to attend hospital and receive treatment. And that his chemotherapy left him feeling so weak that he relied on your help,’ Alexander finished tensely.
‘How do you know all this? Do Jennifer and Luciana know about James’s illness?’ Stephanie queried sharply.
‘I assume so. He told me that Luciana went with him on his recent visit to the specialist.’
‘Thank goodness,’ Stephanie murmured. ‘I begged him to tell them before, but he was determined to deal with it without worrying them, and he didn’t want anyone to know he had cancer.’
‘Apart from you,’ Alexander said quietly.
‘Yes, but it’s not what you think,’ Stephanie replied quickly, her heart sinking at Alexander’s grim expression. He already believed she had befriended James because he was a wealthy widower—what would he think of her now he knew James was suffering from a potentially life-threatening disease?
’James and I became friends when he hired me to design Luciana and Liam’s flat,’ she explained. ‘I think he confided in me because he had no one else he could talk to. He was desperate to save his daughters from more worry when they were still grieving for their mother, but he could discuss his fears with me, confident that I would never betray his secret.’
Alexander’s jaw tightened. ‘Your loyalty is commendable, bella. You allowed me think the worst of you, to accuse you of being a gold-digger like my step-mother, and you never attempted to defend yourself by explaining the real reason for your meetings with James in London.’
‘I couldn’t,’ Stephanie said simply. ‘I promised James.’ She hesitated, and then muttered, ‘Even if I had told you, I don’t think you would have believed me. From the outset you were determined to think the worst of me. When you looked at me you saw your stepmother, and because you couldn’t punish her for wrecking your relationship with your father, you punished me.’
‘That’s not true,’ Alexander growled angrily. There were many pointers that proved you were like Monica, and I don’t deny I was determined to save James from making the same mistakes my father made. The old man who made you the beneficiary of his will— ‘Alexander broke off and raked his hand through his hair. ‘Your father told me today that you put most of the money you inherited into a charity that organises care for the elderly, to enable them to live in their own homes.’
Stephanie shrugged awkwardly. ‘I spent some of it on me. I paid for Jess and I to go on holiday—she stuck by me through my darkest days after my marriage ended and I wanted to thank her—and I bought some new clothes. My confidence took a battering when Fabian left me, and I suppose I was trying to re-invent myself. I didn’t marry him for his money, you know. I married him because I loved him. But I have no idea why he married me,’ she said bitterly, ‘because he was unfaithful from the day we returned from our honeymoon until the day he walked out and moved in with his mistress.’
She opened the car door and stepped onto the drive, drawing her coat around her to shield her from the rain that had been falling since they had arrived in Italy. ‘I’m glad James told you the truth. He still faces an uncertain future, and he needs the support of his friends. I swear I’m not like your stepmother, Alexander. I’ve never wanted anything from you.’ Apart from your love, she thought silently. But his face was a hard, arrogant mask, and even though he now knew that she hadn’t planned to fleece a vulnerable widower, she could detect no softening in his attitude towards her. Suddenly she felt desperately tired and dejected, and her shoulders slumped. ‘We’re married now, and I suppose we’ll just have to get on with it,’ she muttered.