The Billion-Dollar Bride Hunt by Melanie Milburne

Author:Melanie Milburne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-04-12T14:16:03+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

DINNER WAS A beautiful meal prepared with fresh produce from the estate, and Emmie delighted in every dish that was brought to the table. Valentina’s cooking took the whole pasture-to-plate trend to a whole new level. Succulent asparagus in a creamy hollandaise, trout caught from the river and pan-fried, served with an Italian-style salsa, and to follow a delectable honey-flavoured panna cotta garnished with plump strawberries.

‘Your housekeeper could open her own restaurant,’ Emmie said, finally putting down her cutlery with a sigh of pleasure. ‘Seriously, that was one of the best meals I’ve eaten in ages.’

‘Don’t tempt her to leave me,’ Matteo said with a wry smile, pouring a fresh serving of mineral water into Emmie’s glass.

Emmie leaned her head on one side to study him. ‘So, you can form deep attachments to people, then?’

He made a harrumphing sound. ‘Valentina and I go a long way back, even before she came to work for me.’

‘She’s old enough to be your mother,’ Emmie mused.

‘Precisely.’

‘So, she’s kind of a maternal figure to you?’

‘Si, and one I deeply admire. She was unable to have children of her own and her husband left her because if it.’ He picked up his glass of ruby-red wine but didn’t raise it to his lips. ‘She never got over it. She hasn’t had another relationship and instead has devoted her life to working for me.’ He took a token sip of his wine and put the glass back on the table.

Emmie wondered if Valentina’s infertility was the most heart-breaking thing for her or the rejection of her husband. Was that why she had never married again? ‘That’s sad... I mean, that she hasn’t had the family she longed for. She must have been devastated when you lost your wife and baby.’

Something flickered across his face. ‘Si, she was, but unfortunately she and Abriana did not get on well.’ His lips moved in a grim twist. ‘Valentina didn’t think Abriana was the right partner for me.’

‘Because you weren’t in love with her?’

‘That and other reasons.’

‘Such as?’

Matteo gave his mouth another twist. ‘I don’t wish to speak ill of the dead. Abriana did her best under difficult circumstances.’

Emmie secretly admired him for not spilling all about his late wife’s shortcomings. Too many of her clients spoke at length about how awful their previous partners were and it always rang alarm bells for her. The talking down of a previous partner often showed her far more things about the client than their ex. But Matteo had clearly respected Abriana even if he hadn’t loved her the way she had wanted him to. ‘Can I ask you something?’

‘Go ahead.’ His tone was bland but his gaze was watchful. Guarded.

‘Why didn’t you bury Abriana and Gabriel at the cemetery in the village? Why here, on the estate? And in that particular spot?’

Matteo’s expression clouded and she got a glimpse of the pain he was so good at hiding most of the time. ‘Abriana loved that shady area away from the villa. She used to go down there with a book and read for hours.

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