‘I do?’ Evanthia asked, picking one of the suitcases up.

‘I can do it,’ Alessandra answered with a smile. ‘Thank you for the offer.’

Evanthia started talking, gesturing wildly.

Not having the faintest idea what the housekeeper was saying or what her gestures meant, Alessandra smiled and nodded politely. Eventually Evanthia bustled off after making gestures Alessandra thought might have indicated food.

As soon as she was alone in her room she set about unpacking, hanging her clothes in the empty dressing room.

A dressing room that would only ever contain feminine clothes.

Silly little Alessandra, she thought, folding into drawers the new underwear she’d brought expecting her husband to remove them.

She could wear bloomers and he would neither know nor care.

in the preceding weeks she’d allowed herself to believe their marriage could be like a small nursery garden that, with some care and attention, might—just might—bloom into something substantial. Something

be someone in whom she could trust, not only with her baby but

reminder that he’d never wanted the garden in the first place. He’d put her subtly but firmly

on their wedding night? Out of duty? To consummate it

was there and he could.

experience that had failed

them to sleep together again

question. The humiliation of his answer would be too

to know that an experience she’d found so special and fulfilling had been all one-sided. Christian had been going through

Why did she think she was so special that Casanova Markos would want to share a bed with her more than once? She’d

wasn’t doing anything they hadn’t previously agreed. She had to accept things as they were, not as she now wished they

the villa. Flat and one-dimensional and not

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