Page 61 of A Very Italian Wedding
She glanced at Luna who was frowning too. ‘Occupied?’ her friend mouthed silently, grimacing.
‘What do you mean?’ Ben asked, sounding a little put out.
‘Aside from last night.’ Marco chuckled but thankfully didn’t elaborate. ‘You took her swimming after you picked up the wedding gift which ensured Rose and Luna didn’t get time to talk. Plus, you distracted Rose by taking her shopping to Francesca’s while Luna got her hair done. It’s been obvious since Rose got here that she’s been distracted by you. That’s made it easier for the wedding plans to progress without interference.’ His voice trailed off at the end, and Rose wondered if he was remembering that his almost bride was having second thoughts despite him conniving to keep them separated. ‘But are you somehow responsible for her change of heart now? Is that why she’s not so dead set against the wedding anymore and why she’s agreed to get Luna to speak to me? I’ve a feeling if my fiancée decides to marry me, Rose will be a big part of the reason behind that.’
Rose winced when Luna mouthed, ‘What?’
‘That’s not true,’ she mimed. But was it?
‘Rose knows her own mind,’ Ben said. ‘If she’s coming around to the idea of you getting married, that’s down to your fiancée and you. It’s got nothing to do with me.’
‘All I’m saying is I’m happy Rose is finally on my side. You have a magic touch with women. Perhaps you could encourage her to talk toNonnanext?’ Marco asked.
‘I think she’s planning on doing exactly that,’ Ben said, and Rose’s stomach went into freefall.
Had this thing between them all just been an elaborate hoax? Had he always been plotting, trying to get her to make sure the wedding went ahead? Had Ben somehow staged their conversation by the lake when they’d spotted the shoot on the olive tree? A million possibilities raced through her mind. None of them good. ‘She told me that she’ll speak with Isabella later,’ Ben added, and Marco let out a quiet cheer.
Rose bit her lip, she knew she was only hearing half a conversation, had coached enough couples to realise this might be a misunderstanding. But what if it wasn’t? What if Ben had been playing her? Had everything that had happened between them just been an act – a way to encourage her to get the wedding back on track? Suddenly, she felt sick.
‘What’s happening?’ Luna whispered, leaning closer and squeezing Rose’s arm. ‘What’s he talking about — are you really planning on speaking toNonna? What about?’
‘Nothing important,’ Rose croaked, swallowing a wave of bile. ‘Am I hearing this correctly?’ A gust of wind blew into them from nowhere making her shiver.
‘You mean did Ben deliberately seduce you to stop you from ruining the wedding?’ Luna asked softly, her face a picture of confusion. ‘I think that’s what they just said. What I can’t believeis Marco would even ask that of him.’ She paled. ‘What kind of man am I planning on marrying?’
What kind of man had Rose let herself fall for? ‘I don’t know,’ she croaked. This couldn’t be happening. A few minutes ago, she’d been humming with excitement about a relationship that might not be real.
She’d dropped her defences, allowed herself to feel something for the first time, trusted Ben when she should have known better. She’d overturned her entire life, abandoned everything she’d built and believed in in less than four days. How could she have been such an idiot?
‘I’m going to speak with Marco,’ Luna suddenly snapped, and was about to reveal herself when her mobile beeped from the pocket of her dress. She juggled Coco into another arm and tugged it out. ‘It’s Mum,’ she hissed, indicating that they should move away from the men.
‘I need to take this. Then I’m going to sort this out.’ Luna shot a furious look towards where Marco and Ben were still talking as she guided Rose towards the house. Rose’s head was spinning, her insides pulsating with pain. She’d been so stupid. The woman with all the rules had allowed herself to be played. How had that happened? Was it just because of Ben’s handsome features; had she been too flattered by his attention to see below the surface? Had she simply seen what she’d wanted to see?
When they were out of earshot, Luna quickly dialled her mother while Rose leaned her head against the cool brickwork of the villa. She felt sick, but worse, she felt gullible and foolish.
She’d spent a lifetime first witnessing and then counselling others against getting involved too quickly. Now she was reaping the devastating consequences of ignoring her own advice. She’d abandoned her rules, decided they didn’t matter – and she should have known better.
Luna let out a sudden sob, and Rose jerked her head up just as her friend pushed her mobile back into her pocket.
‘What’s happened?’ she asked, sucking in a deep breath and trying to pull herself together. She was strong and she’d get through this. Hadn’t she walked her parents through all of their heartbreaks? They’d survived, even if they had simply gone and done the same thing all over again.
‘That was Mum.’ Luna swallowed, her face paling. ‘She lost my grandmother’s necklace on the way to the hotel. She’s just arrived and searched everywhere, but she can’t find it. She’s so upset. She told me she’s not getting on her flight; she’s going to try to retrace her steps instead.’ Her voice edged into hysteria.
‘She’ll find it,’ Rose said more out of reflex than anything else.
‘She won’t. She had it in a special bag, but that’s not in the taxi because she checked with them, it’s nowhere. The only thing she can think is that she lost it or it got stolen on the train.’ Luna’s eyes flooded. ‘It’s gone, my grandmother’s necklace is lost and my mother’s not coming. If that’s not a sign that this wedding should be cancelled, I don’t know what is.’
Rose opened her mouth to argue, before shutting it again.
‘If I’d never agreed to this wedding, we’d still have my grandmother’s necklace,’ Luna wailed, suddenly looking so fragile.
‘You’re right.’ Rose sighed. ‘Rushing into love always ends in disaster.’
Hadn’t her parents shown her that a million times?
‘So now you’re blaming me?’ Luna squeaked, jerking her head up as more tears streaked across her face.
‘Of course not,’ Rose soothed. ‘But you do keep leaping into these relationships. You’ve known Marco for barely a month, got engaged to him in such a rush. Perhaps this is for the best.’
