The Italian Billionaire's Disgraced Fiancée (14 page)

His heart racing, Enzo stared at the message.
Dio!
This couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t. Suddenly feeling terribly weak, he sunk into the next chair and buried his face in his hands. Izzy couldn’t possibly marry Luca and become his sister-in-law. Not now, not after all they’d shared. Not when he was still as crazy about her as two years ago.

In despair, he combed his hands through his hair. He must speak with Luca and tell him to keep his hands off her. Tell him that Izzy was his girl. That he wanted her for himself.
Needed her in his life. Loved her.

Dio
, could you even love someone you didn’t trust?

He felt cold sweat break out on his forehead. Last night, in her sleep, she had told him that she loved him. Finally she had said the three magic words that he had secretly longed to hear from her, but when Izzy had whispered them in her dream, they had seemed too good to be true. What if the man she’d dreamed about was Luca or Hetherington?

Enzo couldn’t bear the thought that she might love someone else. He shivered. There was no future for the two of them. How could there be, if he knew she was a gold-digger and still didn’t trust her? But then again, why did this feel so much like love? Why did his blood run cold at the thought to let her go?

No matter from which angle he looked at the problem, it all came down to one thing. Izzy had no reason to stay by his side, if Luca offered her marriage, wealth and respect. Even if she had never loved Luca, she had proved to be a gold-digger before, so it was reasonable to assume she’d go down that route again and marry him.

But maybe you’re mistaken
, an inner voice shouted in his ear.
Maybe you were the man in her dream. Maybe you’re the one she loves.

A throbbing pain started to build in his head. All this uncertainty drove him crazy. He sighed. Izzy hadn’t even mentioned Luca after he had been pictured with that brunette beauty on his arm. Instead, she had embarked on an affair with him without even trying to get Luca back. Such behaviour didn’t seem much like love to him. But what if Izzy
had
loved Luca after all and was still on the rebound? What if she was still hurt and hoping for Luca to forget that other girl and return to her?

Where did that leave him? Out in the cold, he guessed.

Dio
, why had he not fallen for someone truly worthy, someone loveable and perfect like Clarissa, the woman with the heart of gold? Why did it have to be a scheming liar like Izzy, who couldn’t be trusted?

Or had she told him the truth, after all?

The pounding in his head grew worse. There was only one way to find out, he decided with a shiver of self-loathing. Something he had promised himself not to do. He needed to have her checked out by that private investigator, after all.

Reluctantly, he reached for his phone.

CHAPTER TWELVE

The following morning and back in Rome, Izzy and Enzo were just discussing the necessary changes for the hotel, when Enzo’s personal assistant knocked on the door of his office. Frowning, Izzy lifted her head. An efficient office administrator like Flavia would never burst into a meeting, if it wasn’t truly urgent.

Sure enough, although impeccably dressed in a smart suit and elegant court shoes, the usually imperturbable woman looked visibly flustered. ‘I’m so sorry to interrupt, but we have this unexpected situation, and I really don’t know how to deal with it.’

Enzo’s left brow rose in an arch. Clearly he had never seen her like that.

‘No wonder you’re out of your depths,
Flavia. You have plenty to organise today, with tonight’s charity ball.’ He gave her a reassuring smile. ‘So fire away. What’s the problem?’

‘There’s this fifteen-year old girl, Ruby.
The one who is supposed to go to the ball tonight wearing a beautiful fairy tale gown. Well, the thing is…’ She gave a nervous giggle. ‘The gown is lost.’

Lost?
Izzy closed her eyes. It had been a nightmare to design the gown so that it neatly fitted over the girl’s spinal bracing, and Ruby had absolutely
loved
it. She didn’t believe for a second that the girl would have carelessly mislaid the dress.

‘It’s not really lost, actually, but quite out of reach for the moment,’ the PA went on. ‘Somehow Ruby’s suitcase ended on the wrong plane and, well, at the moment the dress is on its way to New York. There’s no way we can retrieve it in time for the ball.’

‘Where is Ruby now?’ Izzy asked, concerned about the teenager.

‘In her room, crying.’ Helplessly,
Flavia shrugged her shoulders. ‘She and her family arrived at the hotel about half an hour ago. They are absolutely devastated, and I really don’t know what to do. That dress was a special commission, as you probably know. Ruby wears a spinal brace, and we’ll never manage to find something suitable to fit over that ugly thing, at short notice.’

‘Did you try to get in touch with Clarissa, the designer?’ Enzo enquired.

Flavia nodded. ‘I did, but Clarissa is abroad at the moment and unavailable. Her assistant promised to leave her a message, but quite frankly I don’t think…’

‘I’ll take over from here,’ Izzy said firmly and stood up. ‘You have other things to do before tonight,
Flavia, so don’t worry about it any longer. I’ll sort it out.’

When the PA had left the room, she threw a questioning glance at Enzo. ‘I need to get the rest of the day off, if that’s okay.’

The deep crease above his nose told Izzy that he wasn’t convinced she could organise a new ball gown for Ruby at such short notice, especially one that ticked all of the girl’s fairy tale boxes.

‘Of course,
cara
. Take off as long as you need.’ He pressed the tips of his fingers to his temples. ‘How can you be so sure you’ll manage to get in touch with Clarissa?’

‘I have her private number.’ With a grin, Izzy pulled her phone from the pocket of her jeans. ‘She’s my former colleague, remember?’

Enzo still didn’t look convinced. Clearly, after all the extensive preparation he wanted the ball to be a success. Not just for the press but for Ruby as well. The girl deserved her greatest wish to come true tonight.

‘If Clarissa is holidaying abroad, she might not be able to help.’

‘In that case, I’ll think of something else,’ Izzy promised and planted a reassuring kiss on the tip of his nose. ‘Trust me.’

Leaving his office, she hoped that one day he would indeed find it in him to trust her.

***

With a sigh Izzy stepped out of the shower and onto the fluffy bath mat. The feel of the warm water streaming over her body after a frantic afternoon had been sheer bliss. After all these hours she’d spent sitting bent over the professional sewing machine that one of the friendly receptionists had organised for her use at short notice, her back had been stiff and aching.

She wrapped herself in one of the hotel’s soft white towels and dried her hair with the electric dryer until it fell down to her waist like a shimmering mass of silk. Swiftly she applied her make-up. It consisted of the most basic essentials, just a hint of mascara to frame her eyes and her favourite pink gloss for her lips. Satisfied, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror. That would do. The ball had already started, and she didn’t want to draw Enzo’s attention to the fact that she was late. No need for him to find out that she had sewn Ruby’s new ball gown herself, and that she had managed just now, twenty minutes ago, to clear her room from everything that might give him a clue that she herself was Clarissa, the designer.

Fortunately Izzy had stored the dress pattern on her laptop, so it had all come down to organising the sewing machine, a few haberdashery necessities and suitable fairy tale fabric. ‘Silk, blue and with glittering diamonds’ had been Ruby’s design brief when they had first met and by sheer incredible luck and a stroke of genius Izzy had been in the position to deliver. With a happy twinkle in her eyes she looked across the bathroom to the now unadorned window pane. Who would have thought that the stunning silk curtain would come in so handy in the hour of despair?

Quickly she returned to her bedroom and slipped into sparkly evening sandals and the mainly white and gold coloured evening gown she had chosen for tonight. It was one of her favourites, created in loving memory of her father and their last summer together. Inspired by the delicate
Mermaid
roses that climbed around the porch of their clapboard home in Suffolk, it had a tight-fitting sleeveless top with tiny white and gold pearls stitched around the neckline. The full, floor-length skirt consisted of layer upon layer of silk, fashioned in the style of rose petals, all in slightly different shades of whites and golds. With every turn, Izzy knew, the skirt would flow around her, the silky petals opening up like a bloom in the morning sun. When she stilled, they would close again. The effect was quite breath-taking and didn’t need the additional blink of expensive jewellery.

Izzy chose a beautiful yellow rose from the glass vase on the coffee table and cut the stem. With the help of a clip she fastened the flower just above her right ear. For a last time she glanced into the mirror. Perfect. Then she left the room and hastened downstairs.

As soon as she arrived in the glamorous ballroom, Izzy was swept away by the feeling of warmth and happiness drifting through the festively decorated hall. Everyone was chatting animatedly and there was a cheerful and contented atmosphere.

‘You’ve done a great job,’ she complimented Enzo’s PA
Flavia whom she found standing by the table plans, obviously making some final changes to the seating arrangements.

‘Thanks,’
Flavia smiled, looking much more relaxed than this morning. ‘I must admit, there was a moment when I thought it would all end in disaster, especially when I heard about Ruby’s ball gown. I’m so grateful to you for sorting this out.’

‘It was a pleasure.’ Izzy glanced over
Flavia’s shoulder. ‘And here she comes, our little fairy tale princess.’

Flavia
turned, her eyes widening when she saw the fifteen-year-old’s outfit for the first time. ‘
Madonna
, but she looks beautiful! This gown is absolutely stunning – and it fits perfectly over her bracing. How did you organise that dress at such short notice?’

‘Connections,’ Izzy muttered evasively. ‘I used to work in Clarissa’s team.’

Seconds later Ruby was there, a happy gleam all over her face. ‘Don’t I look pretty?’ She made a joyful little twirl. ‘This is the best night of my life, my greatest wish come true.’

‘I’m happy to hear it,’ Izzy heard Enzo’s deep voice. She looked up in surprise. She’d been so engrossed in the teenager’s delight that she hadn’t noticed him approaching their little group. Wearing his black tuxedo and as breathtakingly handsome as ever, his steel-blue eyes pierced her with a cool, angry glance. Then he shifted his attention to smile at everybody else but her.

Disquieted, Izzy bit her lower lip. Anxiously she glanced up to him. He completely ignored her, as if she weren’t even here. Was Enzo annoyed because she had arrived late, or why did he freeze her off?

Ruby, who hadn’t noticed the sudden tension, couldn’t help smiling. ‘It’s all thanks to Clarissa, the best designer in the world. Without her help, I wouldn’t have been able to come tonight.’ Enthusiastically she threw herself into Izzy’s arms. ‘Thanks so much for everything.’

‘You’re welcome,’ Izzy replied, breathing a silent sigh of relief. The teenager had phrased her words of thanks in such a way that neither Enzo nor Flavia would come to question her identity. They still believed that she had somehow contacted Clarissa and convinced her to provide a second gown to replace the first.

Ignoring Enzo’s bad mood, Izzy gave herself a little mental tap on the shoulder. None of them had an idea how extensive it was to sew a customised gown for a handicapped youngster within a mere matter of hours. No way Clarissa could have made it and sent it from her holiday destination to be here in time for the ball. If Enzo or
Flavia had any clue about these difficulties at all, they would have known straight away that Izzy and Clarissa were the same person – or at least that Clarissa must have been very close to the hotel this afternoon with a sewing machine and the pattern for Ruby’s gown and plenty of time on her hands to sew up that dress. Not to forget that bathroom curtain from the penthouse suite…

During dinner Enzo continued to ignore her. Izzy made a couple of attempts to start a conversation with him and find out why he was mad at her, but the only reply she received was a hissed ‘Why do you think?’, together with a chilling glance that made her blood run cold.

Fortunately Ruby and her family sat at the far end of the table of honour, together with the family of the nine-year old who had spent the afternoon driving in the red Ferrari with the famous racing driver. Deeply grateful for these seating arrangements, Izzy visibly relaxed. She had been lucky so far but the evening wasn’t over yet, and with an innocent remark Ruby or a member of her family could easily lift the secret of her identity. She didn’t even want to imagine Enzo’s mood when that happened, and it was bad enough already.

Her half-brother Nick, who headed the charity and had flown in from London this afternoon, was also seated at the top table. Izzy was desperate to hear his news about the negotiations with Rebecca Morton, good or bad. They hadn’t spoken since she’d asked him to acquire the
Vallorini mansion almost a week ago, and now he was sat too far from her to hold a conversation. No doubt Enzo had had an eye on the seating arrangements, still being convinced that Nick was paying for her London penthouse flat. Clearly he had no interest in her sharing a quiet moment with her assumed lover, and she was well advised to stick to her gut feeling and stay away from Nick tonight.

Well, her gut feeling had no say tonight. There was no way she would leave the ball without having a quiet word with her brother. She wished with all her heart that Nick had managed to persuade Rebecca to sell him the mansion. Nick could be very convincing, if necessary, but Rebecca was no fool. All Izzy could do now was put her trust in him and pray.

A uniformed waiter placed the first course in front of her, marinated salmon with chilly chutney and crusty Italian bread. Having lost her appetite because of Enzo’s strange mood, she merely picked at her food. How could she possibly gain Enzo’s trust without blowing Bella’s cover and telling him that the three of them were siblings? How could she make him understand that she had never even looked at another man? That she loved him and nobody else but him?

Slowly she bent forward und stared at her brother until she caught his attention. With her eyes she expressively pointed towards the terrace. ‘After coffee,’ she silently voiced, and he confirmed with a nod that he’d understood.

Good old Nick. Although one year younger, he was almost like a father figure for her. Nick was the only man in the family and, quite frankly, the only man in this world who really cared for her and trusted her with his life. Sometimes she could still hardly believe it. Nick had only met her two years ago, the long lost sister he hadn’t even known about. She’d been worse for wear, with tear-stained panda make-up and an uncontrollable hiccup, because her father had died, her fiancé had left, and it happened to be the worst birthday of her life. It was thanks to her siblings Nick and Bella that she had overcome this most difficult time of her life, and she would be forever grateful to them. In a way she was even grateful to Enzo. Without him and those photos he had shown her, she’d probably still didn’t know about her family or about the lasting strength of true love, no matter what stumbling blocks fate threw into its path. She would never stop loving him.

Smiling she leant back into her seat.

‘Any particular reason to be happy?’ Enzo hissed into her ear.

‘Yes,’ she whispered back, looking into his cold angry eyes. ‘I’m smiling because it’s a beautiful evening, and because I love you.’

There, she had said it, although he wouldn’t believe her anyway.

Sure enough, he frowned and remained silent, his lips firmly pressed together. Then he turned to his neighbour to resume their conversation.