“Wow,” she muttered. “In fact double, triple wow. Well, it’s easy to see why poor Pete’s had his nose put well and truly out of joint. So how did you meet him?”
Lia studied her feet, avoiding Kelly’s gaze as she answered. “We ran into each other, and it was just like you said—a whirlwind. I couldn’t help myself. Neither could Luc.”
When she looked up, Kelly was scrutinizing her, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. She reached forward and lifted Lia’s hair to peek underneath. Lia winced.
“You’re lying,” Kelly said. “Your ears are bright red.”
Lia sighed. “Actually, they feel like they’re on fire. But I can’t tell you any more right now. Soon I hope.”
“Pete said you were getting engaged. Is it true?”
Lia shifted uneasily. “Sort of.”
“What does ‘sort of’ mean?”
Lia held out her hand, and Kelly grabbed hold of it and stared at the enormous sapphire ring on her finger. “At the risk of sounding repetitive,” Kelly said, “wow.” She inspected the hand more closely. “And look at that manicure, a bit better than my stick-ons.”
“Some friends of Luc came over and helped me get ready.”
“What sort of friends?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Oh yes, I do.”
“Hard luck, because I’m not telling.”
“You’re no fun.”
They both turned back to stare at Luc for a long moment. Kelly sighed dramatically. “He’s absolutely gorgeous, Lia, but do you know what you’re doing?”
“No.”
“Are you sure you aren’t in over your head?”
“No.”
She obviously sounded so mournful that Kelly laughed. “That’s okay then. As long as you’re quite aware that you’re in deep, deep trouble, there’s probably hope for you. Anyway, I plan to enjoy myself.” She looked around the party and shook her head. “This is out of this world. It’s just so…” she seemed at a loss for words.
“Out of this world?” Lia said.
“Well, it’s beyond anything I’ve ever seen. In real life, anyway. Look over there.” She grabbed Lia’s arm and pointed. “That woman, I don’t know who she is but I’m sure she was in last week’s Hello magazine. It’s like a fairy tale. Maybe not a fairy tale, but definitely like a spread out of a magazine.”
Lia glanced over at her friend with some amusement. She had never understood Kelly’s preoccupation with the lives of the rich and famous, but now she was going to make her day. “I think they might be here.”
“Who?”
“Hello magazine.”
Kelly went still. “You’re kidding me?”
“No. So perhaps you should go and station yourself next to someone you recognize, and you might find yourself immortalized on film.”
“I’m on to it. You coming?”
“No, there’s someone I want to talk to. I’ll see you later.”
…
“Thanks for sending the girls. They were great.” Lia flashed her fingernails with their French manicure.
Maggie smiled. “The dress is perfect.”
“That’s entirely thanks to you.” Lia smoothed the dark blue silk down over her hips. Glancing across the room, she saw Luc watching her. She couldn’t help but stare back. Out of all the glittering gorgeous people, he was by far the most beautiful. She tried to tell herself that that was all it was—she was blinded by his beauty. He put down his glass and walked toward her; her heart started to thump inside her rib cage.
“Are you avoiding me, cara?” he asked as he came to a halt in front of her.
She shook her head.
“Can I get you a drink, champagne?”
“Coffee?” she asked hopefully.
He slipped an arm around her waist and smiled. “Come with me.”
“So who are all these people?” she asked as he led her through the ballroom.
Luc lifted one elegant shoulder. “Some colleagues, some acquaintances, a few friends.”
“Family?”
He shook his head. “No, my family all live in Italy now. My mother doesn’t come back here much. England does not have happy memories for her.”
“You’re half English, so what about your father?”
“My father’s dead. He was an orphan and had no family.”
“You said colleagues. Any masterminds of the criminal fraternity?”
He smiled. “One or two, perhaps, but they’ve promised to be on their best behavior. And there’s one of them.”
Across the room, Harley Watson lounged against a wall, his enormous frame elegantly dressed in what had to be a custom-made tuxedo. A slender, handsome man stood at his side. Harley raised a hand at Lia and smiled.
Luc spoke to a few people briefly, but they eventually broke free of the press into the cool, relative quiet of the hallway. He led her across the tiled floor, through a door, and she found herself in a small comfortable sitting room. Luc picked up a phone and spoke briefly. “There,” he said to Lia, “coffee is on its way.”
“You seem to know this place well,” she said. “Have you been here before?”
He gave her an odd look.
“It’s a fabulous house, though,” she continued. “How did you find it? It must be costing a fortune to rent.”
“Rent? It’s mine, cara.”
“Yours?”
He nodded. “Shellwood is my house.”
Lia sank down into the chair conveniently behind her and stared at him. The house was a mansion; people didn’t live in houses like this anymore. He was either a very good crook or he got his money somewhere else. She really, really hoped it was somewhere else. The thought brought her up short. When had she started caring what Luc Severino did?
She tried to remember exactly what the house had looked like from the outside. A chauffeur had driven them here in a limousine. She hadn’t paid much attention to where they were going; she had been too conscious of Luc at her side, resplendent in his evening suit. Too conscious of the heavy ring on her finger.
Luc watched her closely, a slight smile curling the corners of his mouth, warming those stunning eyes. Tonight he seemed a different man from the cold-eyed stranger who had used blackmail to get his way. And from the friendly guy who had taken her little brother for a ride in his car. Which one was the real Luc?