AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘I thought the wedding would be a chance for you to repair your relationship with your mother.’ Paloma’s wide blue eyes searched his face, and he had the uncomfortable feeling that she saw more than he wanted her to. ‘Our wedding has been labelled by the media as the society event of the year. Shall I tell you what I think?’ She did not wait for him to reply. ‘I think you withheld an invitation to your mother to punish her because you believe she abandoned you when you were a child.’
‘Shedidabandon me,’ Daniele gritted. ‘She made it plain that she was ashamed of her marriage to my father and ashamed of me.’
‘Stefano thinks you should—’
‘Dio, I don’t give a damn what my half-brother thinks. He is bound to take my mother’s side because she stayed with him. He did not watch her get into a car and drive out of his life when he was five years old. Stefano never had to wonder why his mother didn’t love him, or why he wasn’t good enough for her.’
Daniele broke off, as stunned by his outburst as Paloma clearly was by his loss of control. He never, ever revealed his emotions, not even to himself most of the time. Cool and calm—that was what he prided himself on being. But right now he felt like a clamshell that had been prised open to expose his innermost feelings. ‘Why do you care if my mother attends our wedding?’ he muttered.
‘I think you were traumatised when your mother left, and you will continue to be affected by your past unless you can find answers and understand why she went away.’ Paloma hesitated. ‘You should talk to her. At least give her a chance to explain her side of the story. I’m asking you to invite her to our wedding, Daniele.’
He frowned. ‘I’ll ask you again. Why are you concerned about my relationship, or lack of one, with my mother?’
‘The truth is that I appreciate everything you have done to help me. If it were not for you, I might have disappeared in Mali...’ her voice was unsteady ‘...perhaps for ever. Without your intervention, Franco would have persuaded the board of trustees to appoint him as my grandfather’s successor. The wedding will be an opportunity for you to meet your mother on your terms. At the very least, it can’t do any harm to invite her and your brother.’ Paloma grimaced. ‘And before you accuse me of having designs on Stefano, he is madly in love with a chalet maid he met at a ski resort in Switzerland and intends to marry her with or without your mother’s approval.’
Daniele exhaled heavily. ‘Very well. I will ask my PA to send the invitations by courier. But I won’t be surprised if my mother declines to come.’
Paloma did not seem to hear him. She was leaning over the stone balustrade and looking down to the entrance hall at the glamorous woman who had swept through the door, followed by several footmen weighed down with luggage. The woman’s voice was audible from the second floor, and probably throughout the castle.
‘You there—be careful with that hatbox. I will hold you personally responsible if my hat for my daughter’s wedding is crushed.’
‘Oh, God! My mother has arrived.’ Paloma glanced at Daniele. ‘Lady Coulton likes to be addressed by her title unless she gives permission for you to use her name, Veronica. The only person my mother has ever loved is herself. She married my father for his money, and she has done well financially from her four subsequent marriages and divorces. But she cares about me in her way, and, despite her many failings as a mother, I love her.’ Paloma’s wide blue eyes held Daniele’s gaze. ‘You are not the only one who had a less-than-perfect childhood.’
‘Why do you love her when by your own admission she was an uninterested mother while you were growing up?’ he asked curiously.
‘Mama is all I have. My only other family member is my great-uncle Franco, who you think might have been responsible for my kidnapping so that he could seize control of Morante Group.’ Paloma’s wry smile did not reach her eyes. ‘I don’t doubt that now I have inherited a fortune my mother will want to be my best friend.’
Daniele watched her walk down the stairs to meet her mother and felt a tug in his chest when he remembered that Paloma believed everyone wanted something from her. Including him, his conscience pricked. Marrying her would give him entry to the high ranks of Italian society and put him on a level footing with his mother instead of feeling, as he had for most of his life, that he was beneath her. Paloma had been right when she’d guessed that he hadn’t invited Claudia Farnesi to the wedding because he’d wanted her to know how it felt to be rejected, Daniele acknowledged uncomfortably.
‘Darling!’ Lady Coulton’s voice soared to the rafters when she spotted her daughter. ‘Forget whatever you are planning to wear at your wedding. I’ve brought you a dress that will complement my mother-of-the-bride outfit perfectly.’
Her second wedding was a very different occasion from her first, Paloma thought ruefully. She had married Calum in Las Vegas in front of a neon sign and two witnesses whom she had never met before.
‘I can’t wait for you to be my wife,’ Calum had told her. ‘We don’t need a big wedding with hundreds of guests. Let’s go abroad, just you and me.’
Paloma had been flattered by his impatience and had convinced herself that she was in love with him, so she’d agreed to an elopement. By then she had told him that she was an heiress and believed his assurance that he loved her for herself, not her money. But only hours after the wedding ceremony, they’d had their first row when Calum had lost hundreds of dollars in the casino, and he’d been furious when she’d refused to give him more money. He had been too drunk to attempt to make love to her on their wedding night, and that had been the beginning of a nightmare few months as Calum’s lies had unravelled.
‘Apologies for sounding smug, but I knew the dress would look amazing on you,’ Laura said in a satisfied voice.
Paloma dragged her mind from the past and smiled at her friend, who had arrived from England early that morning. ‘It’s one of your best creations yet. I can’t believe you made the dress in three days. You must have sat up all night to finish it.’
‘That’s what friends are for. Luckily, your measurements haven’t changed since I made an outfit for you to wear to Ascot last year and the dress only needed a few alterations.’ Laura grinned. ‘I can’t believe you are getting married in a royal palace, and to the sexiest hunk on the planet. You kept your romance with Daniele Berardo a secret.’
Paloma heard a faint note of hurt in Laura’s voice. ‘I’ve known Daniele for years,’ she explained quickly. ‘He was close to my grandfather. After Nonno died we realised that we...um...have feelings for each other.’ She hated lying to her best friend, but Daniele had insisted that, while there was still a threat to her safety from an unknown source, no one must know their relationship was fake.
‘It’s obvious that you are head over heels in love with your fiancé.’ Laura turned away to pick up a pearl-and-diamond tiara from the dressing table and did not see Paloma bite her lip.
She must be a better actress than she’d realised if she had convinced her friend that her feelings for Daniele were genuine. Obviously, she would not be idiotic enough to actually fall in love with him, Paloma assured herself.
Laura placed the tiara on Paloma’s head and checked that her chignon was secure. ‘You look stunning and chic. Very Jackie Kennedy.’
Paloma studied her reflection in the mirror. The dress was an exquisitely simple design, made from pure white silk, with a high neck and cut-away sleeves that left her shoulders bare. The bodice was fitted over her bust and emphasised her narrow waist before the skirt flowed elegantly to the floor. The only adornments on the dress were tiny diamanté and pearls around the neckline that matched the jewels on the tiara.
‘I hope your mother won’t make a scene when she discovers you are not in the meringue-like dress she is expecting you to wear,’ Laura muttered. ‘What was she thinking with that peach-coloured sash and enormous bow?’
‘The accessories were to match the colour of her outfit. But Mama has set her sights on a Spanish duke who she met yesterday at a dinner hosted by the Prince. I don’t suppose she will take much notice of me.’
Laura went to answer a knock on the door and took delivery of a box from the maid. Inside was a bouquet of white roses and lily of the valley, which she handed to Paloma. ‘Elegant and beautiful just like you. Your fiancé has good taste.’
