When she entered the ballroom, the band was quiet and everyone’s attention was focused on a raised podium at one end of the room. As she slipped through the crowd, there was a ripple of applause, and Luc took his place behind the microphone.
She was finding it hard to believe she’d been kissing him only minutes before. It wasn’t only his looks; he had a presence that had everyone glued to his every word. He glanced across and caught her eyes, held them for a moment.
“Before I move on to my prepared speech,” he spoke into the microphone, “I want to make a very special announcement. I recently asked someone to marry me, and she accepted. So I would like to introduce you all to my fiancée, Olivia Brent.” He paused and held out a hand. All the eyes in the room turned toward her. Lia wanted to sink into the floor, but she forced herself to walk slowly forward and take Luc’s hand. She gripped it tight in her own and saw his flicker of surprise. He urged her up onto the podium, and Lia stood by his side. The room erupted into applause and calls of congratulations. She caught sight of Maggie’s troubled face below and Pete’s stony expression.
Luc had gone into his speech, but he still held her hand, and she was fixed firmly at his side. She didn’t take in much of what he was saying, just listened to his voice, allowed it to caress her ears. Before she knew it he was thanking everybody for their donations to the charity he was supporting, and finally, it was over, and he stepped down to another rousing round of applause.
She moved forward automatically, but they were surrounded by groups of people congratulating them, wanting to shake his hand, kiss her on the cheek. She felt like an absolute fraud, and at the first opportunity she slipped away; it was Luc they all wanted anyway.
“I’ve been trying to talk to you all night.”
Lia turned as she heard a familiar voice behind her. She smiled absently at Pete. “I’m sorry, but it’s all been a bit mad. Is everything okay at the stables? Where’s Kelly?”
“Kelly’s fine. I wanted to talk about your boyfriend—or should I say your fiancé. There are things you need to know.”
“Luc?” Lia asked warily. “What about him?”
“I did a search on the Internet. It took a bit of digging, but there’s loads of stuff about his aristocratic Italian relatives. If you dig deep enough though…” He paused.
“Get on with it, Pete. What is it you think I need to know?”
“He’s been in prison, Lia.”
Lia went cold. She glanced over to where Luc still stood among a crowd of people. He caught her glance, and gave her a warm smile.
“That’s not possible,” Lia said.
“It’s true, Lia. He killed a man.”
A wave of nausea washed over her, and she put out a hand to balance herself on the nearby wall.
“Are you okay?” Pete asked. When she didn’t answer, he grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and handed it to her. “Drink this, Lia.”
She took it almost blindly and drank it down. Glancing back at Luc, she found he was watching her, brows drawn together, his eyes glancing from her to Pete with a hint of suspicion lurking in their depths.
“Lia—” Pete’s voice brought her attention back to him. “I’m sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up tonight, but I felt you should know.”
“No, of course you needed to tell me. Look, Pete, I really need to talk to someone, okay? I’ll see you later.”
Pete obviously wanted to say more, but Lia was staring around the room searching for someone. She finally located him standing on the sidelines also watching Luc; she hurried over to him. “Mr. Watson?”
He turned to her and smiled. “Call me Harley. What is it, darling?”
“Harley, was Luc in prison?” There was no time for niceties. She had to get to the bottom of this.
Harley’s gaze shifted to somewhere over her shoulder. She peered around and was unsurprised to see Luc still watching her.
“It was a long time ago,” Harley said. “And this is something you should talk to Luc about.”
“Just tell me.”
Harley’s eyes widened at her vehemence.
“I need to know,” she said.
He looked back at Luc, but finally nodded. “Yes.”
Lia swallowed. “I didn’t want to believe it. I thought there must be some mistake. Oh, I know I had my doubts about what he was, what he did, but I really, really thought I’d been wrong.”
“Lia, darling, it’s not that bad, just ask Luc.”
Lia stared at him. “How can you say that? It is bad. It’s awful. He’s a criminal.”
A cold mask settled over Harley’s face. “If you want to know the truth, I suggest you talk to Luc.”
Lia watched him walk away, his shoulders stiff. She felt as though she were breaking up. The only thing that was solid and real was the cold, hard lump lodged in her stomach. She couldn’t bear it. What had she gotten herself into? All her childhood had been tainted with the shadow of what her father was, the way he’d lived. It had ruined her mother’s life, and Lia had sworn that she would never have anything to do with anybody involved in crime.
She pulled herself up short. Wait a minute, she thought. I don’t have anything to do with Luc. She stared at the ring on her finger. It was a sham, just like their whole relationship; it wasn’t real. Tonight, she had started to feel something for Luc Severino, started to believe that he was a good man. More sham.
Across the room, Luc seemed to sense that something was wrong and glanced across at her. He raised a hand and Lia quickly looked away, but out of the corner of her eye she saw him moving toward her. She forced herself to stand up straight.
“What is it, Lia?”
He put a hand to her shoulder, and she pulled away.
She stared him in the eye. “I just found out that you’ve been in prison.”
Luc went instantly still. She watched as he mentally withdrew from her, his eyes cooling until they held all the warmth of polar ice.
“So?”
“Aren’t you going to deny it?”
“Why would I deny it, it’s a matter of public record.”
“It’s true then?” She hated the desperation in her voice, but she needed him to tell her it was all a mistake.
“Isn’t that what I just said?”
He started to turn from her, and Lia realized that he was going to leave her, no explanation, nothing. Reaching out, she gripped his arm to stop him. He looked down at it through cold eyes, and shrugged her hand away.