Enemies at the Altar. Melanie Milburne
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flatmate, said a couple of days later. She looked up over the newspaper and frowned. ‘Hey, I thought you said they were about to get engaged?’
Sienna turned her back to wash a perfectly clean cup in the sink. ‘What Andreas Ferrante does or doesn’t do is of no interest to me whatsoever.’
‘Hang on a minute …’ The paper rustled as Kate spread it out over the clutter of the breakfast table. ‘Oh, my God! Is it true?’
Sienna turned to see her flatmate’s eyes were as big as the saucer she had just put on the draining rack. ‘Is what true?’ she asked warily.
‘It says you’re the other woman,’ Kate said, gaping at her like a fish. ‘It says you’re the reason they broke up.’
‘Let me see that.’ Sienna frowned as she snatched up the paper. She scanned the article, her heart galloping like a spooked thoroughbred.
Mega-rich French-Italian furniture designer Andreas Ferrante admits his secret involvement with former housekeeper’s daughter Sienna Baker destroyed his relationship with heiress Portia Briscoe.
‘That’s a downright lie!’ Sienna slammed the paper down, knocking over the milk carton in the process. ‘Oh, shoot!’ She grabbed a tea towel and mopped ineffectually at the mess while her mind ran on with fury.
‘Why would he say something like that?’ Kate asked with a wrinkled brow.
Sienna ground her teeth as she rinsed the cloth at the sink, splashing water everywhere in the process. ‘He wants me to marry him, that’s why.’
‘Erm … did I hear you correctly?’ Kate asked. ‘I think you said he wants to marry you. Did you actually say that?’
Sienna flung the milk-sodden tea towel in the sink. ‘I did but I’m not marrying him,’ she said with a scowl.
Kate clutched a hand to her chest theatrically. ‘Be still my heart,’ she said. ‘Andreas Ferrante—Florence-based millionaire, no, make that billionaire playboy—the most gorgeous-looking man on this planet—if not the entire universe—wants you to marry him and you said no?’
Sienna gave Kate an irritated look as she reached past her to wipe the milk off the bottom of the peanut butter jar. ‘He’s not that handsome.’
‘Not handsome?’ Kate gaped at her. ‘What about his bank account?’
‘I’m not interested in his bank account,’ Sienna said. ‘I married once for money. I’m not doing it again.’
‘But I thought you really loved Brian Littlemore,’ Kate said. ‘You cried buckets at his funeral.’
Sienna thought of her late husband and how close she had become to him in the few months before he died. She had married him for protection and security, not love. It had been a knee-jerk reaction when her life had spun out of control soon after the death of her mother. After a horrifying incident in which she found herself in bed with a complete stranger after one too many drinks, Brian Littlemore had offered her security and respectability at a time in her life when she had neither. Like her, he had been forced to live a lie for most of his life, but during their marriage he had been honest with her in a way few people ever were. She had come to love him for it. As far as she was concerned, his secret had died with him. She would never betray his trust in her. ‘Brian was a good man,’ she said. ‘He put his family before himself right to the day he died.’
‘It’s a pity he didn’t leave you better provided for,’ Kate said, reaching for the dishcloth. ‘I guess you could always ask your rich twin sister to help you out with the rent if you don’t manage to get a job in the next week or two.’
It still felt a little strange to Sienna to think of having a sister, let alone an identical twin. Gisele and she had been separated at birth when Sienna’s mother had accepted a pay-out from the high profile Australian married man who had got her pregnant. Nell had taken Sienna and handed over Gisele to the childless couple, Hilary and Richard Carter, who had subsequently raised Gisele as their own. Nell had taken the secret to her grave. Sienna had found out quite by accident about Gisele’s existence when she had been travelling in Australia a couple of months ago. She had only taken the trip on a whim when she’d seen a budget air fare online. She had always longed to go to Australia and, after Brian’s death, it seemed a good opportunity to help her clear her head a bit before she made a decision about her future. A chance encounter in a department store had brought about her reunion with her twin.
Although Sienna loved Gisele dearly, she was still finding her feet with the relationship. Gisele had suffered a very bitter and painful breakup because of the sex tape scandal Sienna had been caught up in. Finding herself in that man’s bed with no real memory of how she had got there had been such a shameful experience she had immediately left the country, thus having no idea of the fallout it had created for her sister. How that damning footage had got on the Internet and been wrongly linked to Gisele was something Sienna knew she would always feel dreadful about.
Gisele’s fiancé Emilio had believed Gisele had betrayed him, and it had only been the discovery of the truth about Sienna’s existence that had finally set things right. Their upcoming marriage in Rome was something she was looking forward to with bittersweet feelings. Her behaviour had almost wrecked Gisele and Emilio’s lives. They had lost two precious years together and a baby. What could she ever do to make it up to them?
But Kate had made a very good point. She had to find a source of income and find it soon. Before he had become ill, Sienna had worked in the office of Brian’s antiques business, but the family had stepped in after he had died and promptly sacked her. The trust fund Brian had left her had been just about gobbled up by the ongoing instability of the economy. Her dream of purchasing a home of her own had slipped out of her grasp, and there was no way—short of a miracle—for her to get it back.
Or was there?
Sienna thought of the money Guido Ferrante had bequeathed her. It was more than enough to buy a decent piece of real estate. The rest of it, invested sensibly, would set her up for life. She would be able to pursue her hobby of photography, perhaps even take it a step further and make a proper career out of it. How wonderful to be known for her talent instead of her mistakes and social blunders. How wonderful to be on the other side of the lens for a change, to be the one taking the pictures instead of being the subject.
She chewed at her lip as she thought of the conditions put on the will. Six months married to her worst enemy. It was a high price to pay, but then the reward at the end surely compensated for it?
It wasn’t as if it had to be a real marriage.
An involuntary shiver rippled over her skin at the thought of lying in Andreas’s strongly muscled arms, with his long hair-roughened legs entangled with hers, with his …
Sienna dried her hands on a fresh tea towel before she picked up her bag and keys. ‘I’m going away,’ she said. ‘I’m not sure when I’ll be back. I’ll send you the money for the rent.’
Kate swung around with the empty milk carton in one hand and a wet dishcloth in the other. ‘Away where?’
‘To Florence.’
Kate’s eyes bulged. ‘You’re going to say yes?’
Sienna gave her a grim look. ‘This could turn out to be the longest six months of my life.’
‘Six months?’ Kate frowned in confusion. ‘Isn’t marriage meant to be until death us do part?’
‘Not this one,’ Sienna said.
‘Aren’t you going to pack?’ Kate asked, eyes still out on stalks. ‘You can’t just turn up dressed in torn jeans and a T-shirt. You’ll need clothes, lots and lots of clothes and shoes and make-up and stuff.’
Sienna flung her handbag strap over her shoulder. ‘If Andreas Ferrante wants me to dress like one of his mistresses he can damn well pay for it.