Note: Upgrade your browser if you can't see the images.
Di CESARE PREGNANT MISTRESS - Chapter 5
You are reading Di CESARE PREGNANT MISTRESS Chapter 5 at mangacake.
Please use the Bookmark button to get notifications about the latest chapters of Di CESARE PREGNANT MISTRESS next time when you come visit our manga website
Cold, contemptuous anger solidified in his chest as he stared at the array of diamonds around Stephanie’s neck and assessed how much the necklace James had given her was worth. He could not believe that the beautiful blonde was interested in a man old enough to be her father for any other reason than that James was extremely rich. But her undisguised awareness of him provided him with an ideal weapon to foil her plans— and he would have no compunction in using it.
‘So You are an interior designer? Jennifer told me you recently completed work on Luciana and Liam’s flat,’ Alexander said, dipping his head so close to Stephanie’s that his warm breath fanned her cheek.
‘Yes,’ she murmured distractly, as she attempted to ease away from him a fraction. She felt his hand tighten on her hip so his pelvis rubbed sinuously against hers. Her thought process seemed to have deserted her, and she regretted drinking the glass of champagne she had been presented with when she had first arrived at the reception. Surely it was the alcohol that was making her head swim, rather than the intoxicating presence of the man who was holding her against his broad, muscular chest?
She wondered with a sinking feeling what else Jennifer had said about her. Luciana’s sister had never been particularly friendly towards her—but that was hardly surprising when she was a close friend of Stephanie’s ex-sister-in-law, Linda Harper. Linda had disliked her in sight, and had bitterly resented Stephanie’s presence in Fabian Harper’s life. Stephanie had understood that Linda’s fractured childhood and her parents’ acrimonious divorce had led her to cling to her older brother, but her jealousy had been one of many factors that had driven Fabian and Stephanie apart.
‘I was honoured when James appointed me to design the flat,’ she explained, lifting clear blue eyes to Alexander and smiling at him. ‘It’s Luciana and Liam’s first home as a married couple, and I wanted it to be special.’
And, of course, it had given her an opportunity to ingratiate herself with an extremely wealthy man, Alexander mused cynically, irritated to discover that Stephanie’s eyes reminded him of the cobalt Tuscan sky on a summer’s day. James Grainger inhabited the rarefied world of the aristocracy, and spent most of his time at his country estate or his gentlemen club. If it had not been for the commission Stephanie would never have met James, she had obviously made the most of her luck.
‘So, have you only known Graingers since you won the commission?’ he queried.
His sexy smile made it hard for Stephanie to think straight but she detected a slight nuance in his voice that puzzled her and she wondered why he was so interested in her relationship with the family.
‘Yes, As you can imagine, I worked very closely with Luciana and Liam, and I’m pleased so say they loved my designs. We became friends, and they asked me to their reception tonight.’
‘And I understand from Jennifer that you are also friends with James?’
Alexander’s expression was bland, but one again Stephanie Detected the faint note of censure in his tone. She decided she’d had enough of playing twenty questions. ‘James Grainger is charming, and I would like to think we are friends,’ she flushed guiltily as she remembered her promise to James that she would not reveal his secret to anyone. She guessed that Alexander was unaware of James’s health problems and it was not her place to tell him. ‘We met a few times when he came up to inspect my work on the flat, and on a couple of occasions we had lunch,’ she faltered when Alexander regarded her steadily with his unfathomable dark eyes. ‘I think James is lonely since he lost his wife,’ she added. ‘He seemed to want to talk about her.’
‘And I’m sure you offered a sympathetic shoulder for him to cry on,’ Alexander drawled softly.
While Stephanie was trying to work out quite what he meant by that statement, or if he had even meant anything at all, he trailed a long, tanned finger down her cheek and rested it lightly on the diamond necklace around her throat.
‘This is almost as exquisite as the woman wearing It,’ he murmured, the sensual gleam in his dark eyes causing Stephanie to catch her breath. ‘You have superb taste, bella, to have chosen such a beautifully crafted piece of jewellery.’
‘Oh, I didn’t buy it….it was a present,’ Stephanie hesitated; there was no reason why she should not say that the necklace had been a birthday present from James, but she had a strange feeling that Alexander would question why the Earl had given her such an expensive gift. It would be impossible to explain that James had wanted to thank her for the hours she’d sat in the hospital waiting room with him without revealing his secret.
Was it her imagination, or had the stunning Italian’s face hardened fractionally behind his smile? Although once again his voice was as seductive as molten syrup as he queried mildly, ‘A present from your lover, I suppose?’
He has to be teasing her, didn’t he? The look of disappointment on his face couldn’t be real. But the warmth of his body pressed close up against hers and the strength of his arms as they tightened round her waist were very real, and Stephanie shook her head dazedly. Common sense told her that a man as gorgeous as Alexander Di Cesare could not really be interested in her. But she remembered how their eyes had locked when she had first stumbled against him on the dance floor, and she recalled her instant and overwhelming feeling that she had known him for eternity. Was it possible that he had been overwhelmed too?
‘I don’t have a lover,’ she whispered, unable to tear her eyes from the sensual curve of his mouth.
‘I find that hard to believe, cara.’