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And the other thing...
All night long her heart and body had been wrestling with her mind regarding Christian. She longed to spend the night in his arms. To pretend she hadn’t broken off their engagement in a foolish rush because she’d thought to beat him to the punch. But could she have married him thinking that he was merely following through on a contract he’d made with her? It had been one thing to marry him knowing he didn’t love her when they were both taking steps to secure the future of the country.
“This has been a fantastic couple of days,” Victor said, his enthusiasm dragging Noelle’s attention back to the ballroom. “I think your line is going to be a huge success.”
“Have I told you how much I appreciate all you’ve done?”
“I’ve just started things rolling.”
“You’ve done more than that. You’ve created a tsunami of media interest and made sure that I’m meeting all the right people to make this line a success.”
“I believe in you.” Victor’s shrewd brown eyes softened. “I wouldn’t have partnered with you if I didn’t. You’re talented and business-savvy. It’s been a pleasure working with you.”
“It’s been wonderful working with you, as well.” Throat tight, she gave him a smile as she squeezed his hand. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go back to the hotel and tuck my son into bed. I’ve neglected him terribly these past two days.”
“I understand perfectly.”
Noelle turned down Victor’s offer of his car and left him to make her way out of the ballroom. It was nine-thirty, but she doubted Marc was in bed yet. She was in the process of sending Christian a text letting him know she was on her way back when someone behind her called her name. With a weary sigh, Noelle turned and spied a tall, bone-thin woman in her early thirties coming toward her, recognizing her as the Charme magazine editor who’d been overheard making disparaging remarks about her most recent fall couture collection. Not surprising, since she and Giselle had been rivals at Matteo Pizarro Designs and Giselle knew how to hold a grudge.
“Giselle, how lovely to see you.” Noelle gave her former coworker a polite smile.
“I understand you and Prince Christian Alessandro are hot and heavy once more.”
In the old days, before she’d realized what a snake Giselle could be, Noelle had told the seemingly sympathetic woman all about her two-year relationship with Christian. “We are friends.” There was no way Noelle was going to tell the woman anything.
“Friendly enough that he accompanied you and your son to New York.”
Although there had been speculation, the media hadn’t yet discovered Christian’s true relationship to Marc, and Noelle had no intention of sharing anything with Giselle.
“He’s a friend,” Noelle repeated, keeping her tone bland. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s been a long couple of days.” She turned to go, but Giselle’s next words stopped her.
“I hear you’re launching a ready-to-wear line.”
Reminding herself that despite the animosity between them, Giselle had an influential position in the industry, Noelle put on her interview face. “That’s why I’m in New York. To meet with my backer and start making arrangements for manufacturing.”
“Oh, Prince Christian isn’t backing you?” Giselle’s surprise didn’t ring true. “I thought with you two being so close...and since he’s helped you out before.”
What was Giselle trying to get at?
“Prince Christian has never helped me.”
When triumph flashed in Giselle’s eyes, Noelle felt her uneasiness rise. Giselle had sabotaged her efforts several times when Noelle had first joined Matteo Pizarro Designs. Naively believing Giselle had been her friend had enabled the older woman to take credit for Noelle’s ideas and ruin an entire week’s worth of sketches before they were set to present their designs to Matteo as part of a special runway collection he was to exhibit at the Louvre. When, in the hour before they were to meet with Matteo, Noelle had crafted five sketches and Matteo had selected one of those, Giselle had been livid.
“You can tell the rest of the world such lies, but I know the truth.”
“What truth?” Noelle knew better than to ask, but Giselle’s absolute confidence had rattled her.
“That you never would have gotten the job with Matteo Pizarro without your prince’s help.”
