like a fairy tale,” Grace admitted. The two women were looking at her for some explanation and she felt as if she had to give them something. They’d been welcoming to her, clearly happy to see her. She hadn’t expected that kind of unreserved reception. “But it isn’t real.”
Vittorio had escorted Grace up to the penthouse of the Ferraro Hotel where Stefano and Francesca resided. As always, he had his hand on the small of her back, making her acutely aware of him. Sometimes his touch was so hot it felt as if he were burning a brand through her skin right to her bones. She never moved away from him, and she could have. She just didn’t. She’d told him she didn’t need him to sleep in her room, and he didn’t, but that meant she couldn’t go to sleep and she was tired. Her eyes felt sandy and swollen from crying most of the night. All for a dream. A fairy tale.
“What do you mean by ‘it’?” Sasha asked. “What’s not real?”
Grace sent her a smile, fighting the urge to cry. She’d been indulging herself in her room, staying there, hoping Vittorio would leave her alone so she could get used to being without him, but then when he did, she was devastated. It made absolutely no sense.
“I don’t know how this thing happened between Vittorio and me. I really don’t. I woke up in the hospital engaged to a man I don’t really know. And he doesn’t know me. He can’t possibly think he’s in love with me, and I should have known better to believe any of it.”
Grace pressed her fingers over her mouth to stop herself from blurting out another word. What was wrong with her? She was acting completely out of character. She’d stayed in her room, hiding from the one man who had shown her any kindness, because she was afraid. What did she think? That a man like Vittorio Ferraro was playing an elaborate hoax on her? That was absurd. She just knew she couldn’t take rejection from him, so it was easier to leap on the first legitimate excuse to run. Her jumbled fears weren’t making any sense.
“If I talk about this, I’m going to turn into a crying machine and I’m supposed to be cheering you up, Francesca,” she added.
“Vittorio is an honorable man,” Francesca said, ignoring Grace’s effort to change the subject. “In spite of what you read in tabloids, he is a man of his word. You can believe anything he tells you. If he says he wants to marry you—”
“Eloisa said I met the criteria and that’s why he wants to marry me,” Grace blurted out before she could stop herself. “She said he wouldn’t have looked at me otherwise. When I asked him, he admitted to me there is a criterion and that I did meet it.” Grace couldn’t keep the challenge out of her voice.
There was a small silence while Sasha and Francesca exchanged a long look. It was obvious that they knew what she was talking about.
There was another long look between Francesca and Sasha. Grace sighed. “It’s clear you know what Eloisa meant.”
“What it means, Grace,” Francesca’s voice was gentle, “is that because you meet those criteria, Vittorio is free to fall in love with you. I know it sounds archaic but think in terms of the royal family. They have certain duties they are born to take on and with that comes tremendous responsibility. They aren’t allowed to marry just anyone.”
“I am not royalty,” Grace denied. “And I don’t want a man to choose me simply because I meet a certain criterion.”
“Do you really believe that Vittorio Ferraro, who could have just about any woman he wanted, would choose you if he wasn’t capable of loving you? Do you think he wants a loveless marriage?”
When she didn’t answer, Sasha took over. “Do you believe Stefano loves Francesca?”
“That’s obvious to anyone who sees them together.”
“What about Ricco? Does he love Mariko?” Sasha challenged.
Grace thought about the times she’d observed them together. Ricco had been very much like Stefano, rarely leaving his wife’s side and focusing completely on her in much the same way Vittorio focused on Grace. Butterfly wings began to flutter in her stomach. Deep inside she began to have a niggling doubt.
“Yes, I believe he does.”
“You probably haven’t seen Giovanni with me,” Sasha said. “But I can assure you,