The Wedding Charade Page 14

  haven’t given it a moment’s thought,’ he said and, without another word, he left the room, the door closing behind him like a punctuation mark on the conversation.

  CHAPTER TEN

  NIC announced over breakfast the following morning that they would be returning to Rome, a decision Jade assumed meant their honeymoon was effectively over. She suspected he was putting a wall up between them, a suspicion that was confirmed as soon as they returned to his villa close to the Villa Borghese.

  Although he still joined her in bed at night and made love to her as passionately as ever, he didn’t engage in lengthy conversations, or even trivial ones for that matter. When he wasn’t putting in long hours at his office, he spent a lot of time in his study or on the phone, conducting his business matters with the sort of focus and drive she could only envy.

  A new housekeeper was appointed without any input from Jade, but thankfully the woman Nic had chosen was friendly and helpful, even effusively admiring the sketches Jade brought in each day after her treks around the city.

  Jade lost track of time as she wandered through the cobbled streets and alleyways as well as the major tourist drawcards. She spent hours at The Vatican, staring up at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel until the guards urged her on. She made sketches of The Vatican and St Paul’s

  Basilica and a sheltered glade in the Villa Borghese, as well as some street scenes that captured the essence of the Eternal City.

  On Friday she spent the morning at the Colosseum, and then did another afternoon tour of The Vatican. And then, on a whim, she walked back to do some window shopping. She stopped outside a baby wear shop, looking at the tiny clothes with a tight ache in her heart. Her desire to be a mother seemed to increase more and more every day. It was such a no-go area with Nic. She couldn’t understand why he was so adamant when he was clearly so fond of his little niece and nephews. Luca and Bronte had called in only a couple of evenings ago and again Jade had watched Nic play with Ella. He had swung her around in what Ella called a ‘whizzy dizzy’. Nic had gone round and round with her in his arms until the little toddler was giggling uncontrollably. It had been such a happy family scene and Jade ached to be a part of it. Instead, she felt on the outside again, looking in, a spectator instead of a participant.

  She went into the shop and picked up a little Babygro, a pink one with white polka dots. She ran her fingers over the velvet-soft fabric, wishing, hoping and dreaming for her life to be like Maya’s and Bronte’s. They were so deeply in love with their husbands and Giorgio and Luca were equally devoted.

  Jade wasn’t sure what made her look up at that point. A member of the press was standing outside the shop with his camera aimed straight at her. She put down the little suit and walked out, keeping her head down, ignoring the questions as they were fired at her.

  ‘Are you expecting the next Sabbatini heir, signora?’

  She moved past him and two other people who had stopped to stare.

  ‘Is your husband pleased about the prospect of a son or daughter some time in the future?’

  She skirted around another group of tourists and ducked down a side street but the journalist persisted.

  ‘Is this a honeymoon baby? ‘

  Jade finally managed to escape by slipping in amongst a guided tour group. Once the cameraman had gone, she walked back in the direction of Nic’s villa. She was about halfway there when from inside her handbag she could hear her mobile ringing and quickly dug it out and pressed the answer button. ‘Hello?’

  ‘Jade, where are you?’ Nic asked. ‘I’ve just got home. It’s after six. Why didn’t you leave a note to tell me where you were?’

  ‘I’ve been out sketching and then shopping,’ she said, stepping out of the way of some tourists who were busily snapping their camera phones at the scenery.

  ‘You could have at least sent me a text,’ he said, sounding distinctly annoyed.

  ‘I didn’t want to bother you,’ she said. ‘You seem rather busy lately.’

  ‘Feeling neglected, cara?’

  ‘Not at all,’ she responded tartly. ‘I know you have things to do. So have I.’

  ‘I haven’t just been working on my own stuff. I have been working on setting up a meeting for you with an art gallery owner,’ he said. ‘He’s coming at seven this evening to look at your work.’

  Jade felt her skin break out in a sweat. ‘Why? I told you it’s mostly rubbish. I don’t want anyone to see it, let alone a gallery owner. I can just imagine what he’s going to say. I’ll be mortified.’

  ‘He will give an unbiased opinion,’ Nic said. ‘You have no need to get into a state about it. Constructive feedback is important, in any case.’

  ‘I don’t appreciate you interfering with my private life,’ she said as she walked briskly back the other way along the footpath, her agitation rising with every step.

  ‘Jade, you are being childish about this. And of course I have the right to interfere in your private life. I am your husband.’

  ‘Only for the next eleven months,’ she said with cutting emphasis.

  There was a silence that lasted only a couple of seconds but, even so, it seemed more than a little menacing.

  ‘I will see you when you get back,’ he said in a clipped tone. ‘The art guy will be here in less than an hour. Don’t be late.’

  ‘Don’t tell me what to do,’ Jade shot back but he had already rung off.

  When Jade got back to the villa after taking a lengthy detour, which included a coffee to fill in the time, Nic was fuming. He threw open the door as she came in, his eyes blazing with anger. ‘Do you have any idea of what you might have just thrown away?’ he asked. ‘Clyde Prentham waited over an hour for you. He’s an extremely busy man and he made a special effort to be here to meet you. He left just a few minutes ago.’

  Jade tossed her head and stalked past but he captured her by the arm and turned her to face him. ‘Let me go,’ she said, glaring at him.

  ‘Jade,’ he said, this time lowering his voice. ‘You seem to want to deliberately sabotage any chance at a career.’

  She tugged on his hold but his fingers were like a manacle of steel. ‘You don’t understand,’ she said, terrifyingly close to tears. ‘I don’t want to have my work analysed and judged and laughed at.’

  Nic frowned and slowly loosened his grip to more of a caress on her arm. ‘Why are you so worried about what people think of your art when you don’t give a toss for what they think about you as a person? You seem to have it the wrong way about, cara. You let people say hideous things about you in the press without defending yourself and yet you hide your amazing talent as if it is something you are embarrassed about.’

  Jade blinked back the blur of tears that were banking at the back of her eyes. ‘I bet your art guy didn’t say I was amazingly talented.’ She brushed at her eyes with her free hand. ‘I bet he thought you dragging him here was a complete and utter waste of time.’

  ‘Actually, he was very impressed,’ Nic said, stroking her wrist with his thumb.

  She looked up at him with a guarded look. ‘You’re just saying that … ‘

  He sent his eyes upwards in a frustrated roll. ‘Why do you doubt yourself so much? Of course he was impressed. He said you have a very special way with colour and light. He couldn’t believe you hadn’t had tuition of any sort. You have natural talent, Jade. He wants to show some of your work, a limited space in a general exhibition to start with to get a feel for the market. He thinks you could have your own exhibition eventually.’

  Jade thought of all that would entail. The business side of things would be her downfall. She would end up looking a fool, not even able to read through a contract or write her own biography for promotional purposes. She would be mocked in the press—the illiterate artist who could paint but not write down her own address.

  ‘Why are you chewing at your lip like that?’ Nic asked, brushing her savaged lip with his thumb.

  ‘I can’t do it, Nic,’ sh
e said. ‘Please don’t make me.’

  ‘Cara, no one is making you do anything you don’t want. If you don’t feel ready to put your stuff out there, then that is your decision. It’s just that I thought you would be interested in having something to fall back on should you need it in the future.’

  She sent him a pointed look. ‘Don’t you mean when our marriage comes to an end and I’ve spent all the money? That’s what you think, isn’t it? That I’m going to spend all the money your grandfather left me and have nothing to show for it.’

  His frown deepened across his forehead. ‘I don’t think that at all. I just don’t believe you will be content with all that money unless you have a purpose for your life. Art is meant to be seen and appreciated. I don’t understand why you won’t take this chance to show the world you are not the shallow socialite everyone thinks you are.’

  Jade turned away, not sure she could keep her emotions in check with his penetrating gaze focused on her. ‘Let me think about it,’ she said, knowing full well what her decision would be.

  There was a small silence.

  ‘You won’t budge on this, will you?’ he said.

  She let out a tiny sigh and slowly turned around. ‘My art is the one thing I can keep private,’ she said. ‘Like you and your brothers, I have lived my whole life in the public eye. This is one area I can keep to myself. It’s an outlet for me. I do it because I love it, not because I have a deadline or a contract or an exhibition looming. I just love it.’

  Nic gave her a crooked smile. ‘You constantly surprise me, do you know that? ‘

  Jade bit her lip again. ‘I appreciate what you were trying to do for me, Nic, I really do. I’m just not ready to take that step.’

  He slowly nodded, as if he finally accepted her position. ‘So, tell me about your shopping trip,’ he said. ‘Did you buy anything? ‘

  Jade felt her colour blast like an open furnace on her cheeks. ‘Um …no …I didn’t.’

  ‘Any paparazzi lurking around? ‘

  She had to look away, her gaze going to the gardens outside. ‘They’re pretty hard to avoid,’ she said. ‘You know how it is.’

  ‘Yes, I do indeed,’ he said, coming up behind her to place his hands on her shoulders.

  Jade felt her whole body shiver in reaction. She automatically leant backwards, seeking his hard warmth. He brought his mouth down to the sensitive skin of her neck, just beneath the thick curtain of her hair, his teeth nibbling at her playfully, sending every nerve into a madcap frenzy.

  ‘You always taste so delicious,’ he murmured against her neck. ‘I can’t keep my hands or my mouth off you.’

  ‘Maybe after eleven months you won’t feel quite the same way,’ Jade said, desperately looking for reassurance.

  Nic turned her around in one movement, his eyes dark and frowning. ‘Why do you have to keep on about that?’ he asked. ‘You know the terms. We stay in this marriage until we get what we both want. That’s the deal. You signed on it, Jade. You read the contract. It’s in black and white with your signature at the bottom of

  it.’

  Jade moved out of his hold, cupping her elbows with her palms. ‘Don’t you ever think about anything else but money?’ she asked. ‘You drive yourself so hard in business, but what for? Who are you going to give it to when you leave this earth?’

  He looked at her for a tense moment before turning away to rub at a knot of tension at the back of his neck. ‘I haven’t any plans to leave this earth for the next sixty-odd years if I am lucky.’

  ‘You can’t know what life will have in store for you,’ she said. ‘No one can.’

  ‘I realise that, Jade, but you have to be sensible about this. This was never about the long term. We both agreed on that. When this is over, I want my life to continue the way it always has.’

  ‘But what if it can’t?’ she asked. ‘What if this year changes everything?’

  He frowned at her. ‘What do you mean?’ ‘What if that’s what your grandfather wanted to communicate to you by tying things up the way he did?’ she asked. ‘You can’t have life the way you want it, Nic. It doesn’t work out that way. Sometimes things happen that change everything and you can’t change it back.’

  He cocked his head at a wary angle. ‘What sort of things are we talking about here?’

  She bit her lip and looked away. ‘Nothing specific.’

  ‘Jade?’ He turned her with one hand, forcing her chin up to meet his gaze. ‘What is going on?’

  Her green eyes flickered with something but then she lowered her gaze. ‘I’m just tired,’ she said.

  Nic brushed his thumb across her cheek. ‘I can see that. You look pale and you have dark smudges under your eyes. Why don’t you go to bed and I’ll sleep in one of the spare rooms tonight?’

  She looked at him with a nervous flicker of her gaze. ‘You don’t have to do that … ‘

  He pressed a soft kiss to the little frown in between her finely arched brows. ‘Oh, but I do, cara mio,’ he said softly. ‘Otherwise I will keep you up all hours pleasuring you because I can’t stop myself.’

  She gave him a small movement of her lips that wasn’t quite a smile. ‘Well, goodnight, then,’ she said and stepped away.

  Nic caught her hand on the way past, closing his fingers around hers for a fleeting moment. He felt the tingles all the way up his arm, the flow of his blood increasing its pace as her fingers moved against his. But then her hand slipped out of his and she was gone, her soft footsteps fading into the distance.

  He stood staring at the space where she had been for a long moment, a frown pulling at his forehead as he pictured their final goodbye in eleven months’ time. His stomach felt wrapped in barbed wire as he imagined that parting scene: the final handover of money, the polite goodbyes and ‘thanks for the memories’ routine. Why had his grandfather locked them together like this when it would only cause grief and pain when it ended? It doesn’t have to end …

  Nic shook his head as if to get rid of the errant thought. Of course it had to end. Jade had the right to her own life—a life with someone who could give her the things she wanted. She believed in lasting love and she deserved it. No one deserved it more. She said she didn’t want children but he wasn’t sure if she was being truthful on that. He had seen her with his nephews and niece, the way her face lit up and her smile bloomed like an exotic and rare flower.

  He thought about her vulnerability. She pretended to be so tough but inside she was like a frightened little girl. Who would be around to protect her if he wasn’t? If they divorced as planned she would be even more vulnerable. She would be such an easy target for some creep after her money. She had a naivety about her that, in spite of her street-smart past, had never really gone away.

  Letting her go was not going to be easy. He had not expected their time together to be so intensely satisfying. He ached for her and couldn’t imagine how this need he felt so constantly was going to ever fade.

  Maybe it wouldn’t …

  He frowned until his forehead hurt. It had to fade. It always did. He had never fallen in love. Love was not an emotion he trusted. Sure, he loved his family and would put his life on the line for any one of them, but romantic love was something that came and went. It was unreliable and transient. He had no intention of allowing himself to be sucked into the fantasy of happily ever after, although he had to admit that in some cases, such as his brothers’ lives, it actually was a reality and not a fantasy at all.

  He gave a cynical laugh but it caught on something deep in his chest.

  Maybe there was hope for him after all.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  WHEN Jade woke up the next morning Nic was standing by the bedside with a newspaper in his hand. ‘What is the meaning of this?’ he asked, thrusting it at her.

  Jade frowned as she pushed her tousled hair out of her eyes. She glanced at the paper before returning her eyes to his glittering ones. ‘You know I can’t read Italian,’ she said. ‘Why don�
��t you read it to me?’

  ‘Here’s an English paper,’ he said, pushing another paper towards her. ‘It says much the same thing.’

  She looked at a photograph of her in the baby wear shop the day before. She couldn’t read the caption but the photo told the story: she was holding the pink with polka dots Babygro, looking down at it with a dreamy, wistful look on her face.

  ‘Well?’

  Jade looked at him. ‘It’s not what you think.’

  ‘Then why don’t you tell me what it is?’ His voice contained a thread of steel.

  She decided to be honest with him. ‘Nic, I can’t go on like this. I have to be honest with you.’

  ‘Is this another one of your attention-seeking tricks?’ He stabbed a finger at the paper. ‘To tell the press you were pregnant before you even told me?’

  Jade looked at him in shock. ‘Is that what it says? ‘

  His frown deepened. ‘What, you’re not pregnant?’

  ‘No, of course not,’ she said. ‘How could you think that? I told you I was on the Pill. I wouldn’t deliberately try and trap you like that.’

  Nic dropped the paper and rubbed a hand over his unshaven face. ‘I’m sorry, Jade,’ he said. ‘Just like everyone else, I immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion.’

  ‘It’s OK.’

  ‘No, it’s not OK,’ he said. ‘I’m the one who should know better. I know you. I should not have judged you so quickly.’

  ‘You don’t really know me, Nic,’ Jade said softly. ‘You don’t know me at all.’

  ‘How can you say that?’ he asked. ‘Of course I know you.’

  ‘Do you know what I want most in the world?’ she asked.

  His expression faltered for a moment. ‘You want to be loved,’ he said. ‘I know that you want to be loved and accepted for who you are.’

  ‘Do you love and accept me as I am?’

  His throat moved up and down over a rough swallow. ‘I care about you, Jade,’ he said in a gruff tone. ‘I admit I didn’t at first. I was annoyed that we were forced to marry. I couldn’t think of anyone I wanted to marry less. But I have come to see how wrong I was about you. You are a very special person. So talented, so beautiful and so damned sensual I can’t keep my hands off you.’