Page 62 of A Very Italian Wedding
Rose knew she’d said the wrong thing when Luna’s eyes widened.
‘I need a friend right now, not a Love Doctor, or a lecture in “I told you so”,’ she muttered, before turning on her heels and marching away.
Rose stumbled after, her stomach in knots. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I’m not blaming you; I’m just upset.’
Luna stopped as she reached the front steps of the villa and Coco stood beside her growling as Rose drew closer. ‘You got what you wanted. I’m not getting married and I’m going to end up alone — just like you,’ her friend said, before spinning on her heels and marching into the villa.
‘What’s happening?’ Elena asked as Luna bumped into her in the hallway just as Rose caught up. Her head was spinning. How had everything gone so wrong so quickly?
‘The wedding is off!’ Luna declared, before racing up the steps.
‘What?’ Elena cried.
‘It’s what?’ Marco yelled, his eyes widening as he and Ben appeared from the sitting room that led from the garden. ‘Tesoro, you can’t mean that?’ He jerked his gaze to Rose looking angry. ‘What did you do?’ he moaned. Then he shook his head before bounding after Luna as she headed upstairs.
22
BEN
‘What happened?’ Ben asked as Elena rushed into the kitchen, shouting for Leonardo while Marco chased Luna to the second floor.
‘I thought you were going to talk to Luna about saving the wedding? I’m guessing it didn’t go well?’ He paused, taken aback by Rose’s pale face and furious expression.
‘You could say that,’ she said tightly, nodding towards the sitting room he’d entered the villa through seconds earlier. She marched into it, waiting until Ben followed before slamming the door. ‘I don’t think we need an audience,’ she explained, narrowing her eyes when he opened his arms in a gesture that signalledwhat the hell?
‘What’s going on?’
‘I like the Marino family – most of them anyway – but I’m not looking to upset them even more,’ Rose spat back.
‘Okay.’ Ben shook his head, baffled. ‘What’s going on?’ he repeated. Rose looked furious, but even worse, she looked upset. What could possibly have happened since they shared that moment in the gardens of the villa? Everything had been finethen. ‘Is it your parents?’ he guessed. ‘Did they contact you about their weddings again?’
Rose’s mouth pinched. ‘We heard you talking to Marco in the garden,’ she said darkly. ‘Every…single…word…’
‘What?’ Ben stumbled trying to recall the conversation, wondering how Rose and Luna could possibly have overheard any of it.
They’d been sitting by the pool and Marco had offered him a beer, which Ben had refused. They’d been talking about the wedding and Marco’s hopes and dreams, then the conversation had turned to Rose.Oh dear God.
The penny dropped and Ben’s insides mirrored the movement, making him swallow a surge of dread. Dammit. ‘It’s not how it sounded, Rose.’ He took a step towards her, but she held up a palm. ‘I know some of what we said probably sounded bad.’
He winced. That was an understatement. Marco had effectively thanked him for keeping Rose out of his hair, had been celebrating the fact that Ben had slept with her. He remembered every appalling word, could feel the flush of mortification and guilt creeping up his cheeks. ‘Rose, you have to know that’s not what happened. Marco did ask me to keep you occupied, but I refused.’
She gave him a withering look and he let out a long breath. It had sounded awful, but surely, she must know him better than that by now? Knew there was no way he’d do any of those things to her.
‘I don’t know why I forgot all the rules I’ve spent a lifetime crafting,’ she said stiffly, and Ben watched her tighten her shaking hands into fists before shoving them by her sides.
‘It seems I was wrong about you, and I was wrong about Marco,’ Rose continued, her eyes flashing with barely contained rage. ‘Luna’s right to have called off the wedding. She’s a sweetand honest woman while Marco and you—’ She shook her head vehemently.
Ben frowned. ‘We’re what?’ he asked, feeling the first stirring of temper. ‘You’ve judged me, Rose. Harshly I might add. I don’t blame you for it, but you seem to have decided I’m guilty without even trying to see my side.’ He waited, hoping to see a crack in her anger, a sign that she wanted to hear him out.
Rose blew out a breath. ‘What would be the point. I heard everything and my ears don’t lie, but in my experience people often do.’ She injected the last words with enough venom that Ben was surprised he didn’t immediately crash to the ground and start convulsing.
‘You overheard a conversation,’ he said sharply as his shoulders went rigid. ‘Not all of it I might add. I expect you missed the part when I told Marco how much I cared for you. You also didn’t hear the talk we had in the restaurant when I told him I wasn’t going to seduce you — or trick you into staying out of Luna’s way.’ He held his breath, hoping at least some of his words would convince her. If she knew him at all, she’d know he was telling the truth.
‘And yet you did,’ Rose said quietly, the simmering temper morphing to hurt in front of his eyes, which cut far deeper than her words ever could.
‘Rose – everything that happened between us was genuine,’ Ben said desperately. ‘And Marco truly loves Luna. He just lost his head for a while. He wants to marry her, to make her happy.’
Rose gazed at him, her expression part pity, part disgust. ‘Luna and Marco won’t be marrying. She heard him too, remember. He’s tried to bully her into this wedding, and the date is more important than Luna’s feelings, or her own mother being here. In addition to that, he asked you to keep me – her best friend – out of the way, using any means necessary. He’s all wrong for her, just like you’re all wrong for me.’
