she took as the dress's train followed her down the stairs.
He felt his throat go dry and had to swallow a couple of times to clear it enough to speak. 'You look very beautiful, Emma,' he said. 'I have never seen a more stunning bride.'
'I feel like a dreadful fraud,' she said with a little downturn of her mouth.
He took her by the elbow and led her out to where his car and driver were waiting. 'This is going to be the easy part. The priest tells us what to say and we say it. You have probably been to or seen enough weddings on television to know how to act. Just smile constantly and look adoringly at me.'
She gave him a surly look without responding.
He settled her into the limousine and took the seat beside her, holding her hand in his. 'Stop frowning, Emma,' he said. 'Think about the money that is going to be in your bank account at the end of today. Surely that should bring a smile to any woman's face.'
She turned her head away to look out of the window. 'I can't wait for this to be over,' she said.
Rafaele felt the slight tremble of her fingers where they were resting against his. He gave her hand a little squeeze. 'Do not worry, Emma, it soon will be.'
The ceremony was very traditional even if the bride and groom had arrived in the same car, Emma thought as she mechanically repeated her vows. Then the moment came when the priest instructed the groom to kiss his bride. Emma could feel the anticipation of the congregation as Rafaele gently lifted the veil off her face. Her breathing came to a jerky halt in her chest as his eyes locked on hers. Her heart began to thud as he brought his head down, his warm, mint-fresh breath caressing the surface of her lips before he pressed his against them in a kiss that went from feather-light to red-hot passion within a heartbeat. Sensation exploded inside her as his tongue slipped through the softly parted shield of her lips to mate with hers in a blatant act of possession that sent electric shivers up and down her spine. Her breasts tightened and tingled simultaneously, her legs trembling so much she could barely stand upright and would have melted in a pool at Rafaele's feet if his hand hadn't been pressed to the small of her back, holding her against his rock-hard body. She felt the stirring of his groin against her, making her even more acutely aware of the formal ties that now bound them.
When he finally lifted his mouth off hers, Emma gave a tremulous smile for the benefit of the congregation, or at least that was what she told herself at the time. Rafaele smiled back, a warm, generous smile that made his eyes go very dark and the lines about his mouth relax, making him look all the more irresistibly handsome.
After the register was signed Emma stood sipping a glass of champagne an hour or so later, smiling until her face ached as she was introduced to the various colleagues and friends Rafaele had invited at short notice. Numerous people raved about her dress, remarking how it had made the wedding all the more special to think she had worn it in honour of Rafaele's much-loved mother.
One woman in particular, someone who had known Gabriela Fiorenza personally, came and spoke to Emma while Rafaele was engaged in a conversation elsewhere. 'I am so very glad Rafaele has found someone like you,' she said in heavily accented English. 'He always said he would never fall in love and marry, but that is because he did not want to end up like his father. Valentino did not handle Gabriela's death very well. He had been in love with her practically since childhood. And then losing poor Giovanni...' The woman crossed herself. 'God rest his soul.'
Emma wanted to ask what had happened to Rafaele's younger brother, but realised it might appear strange if she did so. As his bride she would be expected to know everything there was to know about Rafaele and his family, but, she realised with an unnerving quiver deep inside her belly as she met his gaze across the room, she knew very little...
Once the official photographs were taken and the wedding cake cut, Rafaele led her out to the car where the driver transported them back to the villa.
He turned to her once they