“Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up,” he whispered in Sophia’s ear.

“I’m not blonde!” She threw a pillow at him and rolled to the other side of the bed. Muscles she didn’t know she had, complained with the movement. She grunted.

“Come on, Beauty. Wake up.”

She groaned, “You wore me out.”

“And you liked it,” Alistair laughed. He lay across the bed on his stomach and his fingers caressed her back.

“Yeah, I did like it.” She opened one eye, looked at him and mumbled something in Portuguese that he was not sure he wanted her to translate. “I want more.”

He had already showered and dressed in a white linen shirt, with the sleeves rolled up over his strong forearms, and loose jeans.

She rolled to his side and stretched. “What time is it?”

“Eleven o’clock. Everyone’s already had breakfast and Munro called. He left the airport with your sister and her fiancé a few minutes ago. They will be here at any moment.”

“Oh, my God!” Sophia jumped from the bed and ran to the bathroom. “I’ll be ready in ten minutes.”

Felipe and Angelica from Rio de Janeiro and the twins from Florence had arrived on the day before. Alice and Elena had planned a weekend at Galewick Hall to take some of the load off Sophia’s shoulders. The MacCraig, Allenthorp, and Espírito Santo families had blended very well.

Even the twins. Alistair chuckled to himself and lay down on his back. He could hear bells toiling in the air. It was funny to see Alexander and Tavish agog with the blonde petite women. The only ones missing were Carolina and her fiancé, who had just arrived from California.

Alistair’s forehead creased. There’s something about that guy that I don’t trust. The way he looks at Sophia. He shook his head, annoyed, remembering the way Drake had treated Sophia on the few occasions they were together in Rio. He better keep his hands away from Sophia. He sighed. Davidoff, Ashford, Westwood…the list is growing. Well, this is the price I—

“Ready, Handsome,” Sophia threw herself over his body with a huge smile on her face.

He was startled from his musings. “Jesus Christ, Sophia! Are you planning on killing me before the wedding?”

She smiled mischievously and rubbed herself on his crotch, kissing him passionately, her hands delving in his silky hair to slant his mouth to her exploration.

He grunted in her mouth and his hands went under the skirt of her dress finding the round cheeks of her buttocks. He broke the kiss, frowning. “Are you going commando?”

She threw her head back in a happy laugh and picked up his hand showing him the tiny thong she was wearing.

He moaned, closed his eyes and his hands pressed her onto him. “Definitively, you want to kill me.”

Her eyes were sparkling when she dropped a last kiss on his lips, “Only with sex, milord.”

* * *

Sophia sat beside Felipe on one of the library sofas and whispered, “What happened to Carol?”

Felipe harrumphed, “She says it’s love.”

Maybe it was exactly what Carol needed. Sophia was flabbergasted. She almost didn’t recognize the ravishing and fashionable woman who regally stepped out of the Rolls.

In less than four months, Carolina was a new woman. She was thinner than Sophia, and wearing contact lenses under rosé gold Cartier sunglasses, a stylish short dress and high-heels that elongated her already long legs, she looked like a model. Especially next to Drake who treated her like a porcelain doll. However, there was something strange Sophia could not name.

Sophia crossed her legs. Immediately, Alistair placed an arm over her shoulders and his free hand came to rest on her thigh. She looked up at him and saw lust in his green depths. He raised an eyebrow and dipped his head to whisper in her ear, “I can’t forget your thong. Want to go upstairs?”

She gave him a mischievous smile and shook her head. “Behave.”

“Sophia, have you been to the ESCALA?” Carol asked Sophia.

Where? “Escala?”

“The Essex Collection of Art from Latin America,” Tavish said as he sat in the armchair next to Alistair. “It’s nearby at Wivenhoe Park on the grounds of the University of Essex. They have a very interesting collection.”

“In fact, Tavish Uilleam, it’s the only public collection in Europe that is dedicated to modern and contemporary art from Latin America,” Drake drawled from his place beside Carolina. “Carol is going to play one of the roles in my next movie and she needs to immerse herself in the field.”

Sophia’s gaze crossed with Felipe’s.

“I didn’t know that Carol had talent for acting,” Felipe raised his brows.

“Carolina,” Drake drawled her name sensuously on his tongue fixing his eyes on Felipe’s, “is a woman of many, many hidden talents. It just took me a minute to see she was not valued as she should be.”

Really? Sophia put her hand over Felipe’s fisted one.

Carolina looked at her fiancé with adoration in her eyes. She entwined her fingers in his and told Sophia, “Drake is a dear.”

“How about you, Sophia?” The Californian film director raked his gaze over Sophia. “You could play the supporting character.”

“Thank—” She was interrupted when Alistair’s possessive hand fell from her shoulder to her waist and he yanked her closer.

“Sophia will only be playing the leading role of my life.” Alistair glared at Drake. “Not a chance I’d share her with anything else. Not even Hollywood.”

Drake’s eagle eyes sparkled and he licked his lips unpleasantly. “Your loss, Sophia. No man is worth such a sacrifice.”

Alistair’s angry grunt sprung Sophia into action. She jumped from the sofa. “Vic, Val! Let’s take a walk around the stables. They are amazing!”

Alice immediately stood up. “Great idea, Sophia.”

“We are heading to the ESCALA,” said Carolina. “Aren’t we, my love?”

In his Californian accent, Drake answered Carol without taking his eyes off Sophia and Alistair. “Yeah, we are.”

* * *

He was feeling too miserable to dispute anything. Since Sophia had told him about her wedding, a strange feeling of doom had descended upon his soul. But somehow he kept on. His business was booming and Barbara had been doing her best to cheer him up.

The blow of reality had come when he saw Sophia leaving that wretched gallery with a blade sticking out of her soft belly and holding on to Alistair’s hand as if he were her lifeline. His heart broke and he understood in that moment that she was lost to him.

He felt as if his life had ended.

He didn’t have any more hope. She was to be married. Ethan knew his heart could only take so much pain. The only thing he could enjoy from Sophia was her friendship. He’d rather have that than nothing.

“So, sir, how much are you going to give her foundation as a wedding gift?” Scott smiled, gently calling Ethan’s attention back to him.

I don’t care. Everything I have is hers. “Call Mrs. Chanda. See what’s the average donation and double it. Think about a few lines for the card. I don’t have the heart to do it.” His eyes roamed around his soulless home. As empty as his life was now. He had everything money could buy, but he didn’t have what he wanted most: Sophia’s love. His eyes stopped on the Francis Bacon. He remembered she said she loved his paintings on the first night they made love and when they went to Tate Modern together. “Scott.”

“Sir?”

“Call White Cube. See if they have someone that could take the Francis Bacon down and wrap it. Send it to her house as my wedding present. Today.”

“Sir…” Scott’s mouth dropped open. He knew Ethan loved the tortured painting more than any other in his apartment. Besides, it was worth a fortune. “The Francis Bacon?! But-but—”

“No buts, Scott,” Ethan sipped his coffee. “She loves Bacon’s paintings.”

Scott was flabbergasted by the whole scene. He had never seen Ethan having breakfast in his pajamas, with his sun-kissed hair tousled from sleep, unshaved, no light in his azure eyes. It pained him to see his boss so down and disheartened. He knew Barbara had been sleeping in the guest room. Alone.

“I want her to have something that will remind her of me. Something personal.” This way, at least, she’s going to think of me every day.

* * *

“It’s not that simple,” Scott answered. “He doesn’t want to go ahead with the plan anymore.”

“Simple? No. Doable? Yes,” replied Ghost’s computerized voice. “And, what is best: it would not cost much. Can you imagine how he would feel with her beside him? How grateful he is going to be?”

“I don’t know…” Scott ran the back of his hand over his forehead.

Scott would do anything to see the smile back on the face of the proud man who had showed him only kindness. However, to act behind his back and against his wishes could have terrible consequences.

“It’s not magical or anything. No one will ever know how we did it. MacCraig’s sister-in-law is bent on revenge. We can use her and then put all the blame on her.”

Scott scratched his head, not sure of what to answer. “Mr. Ashford loves her. He’ll be furious if she is hurt or humiliated.”

“I can guarantee her honor would not be touched, if this is your fear. In the end, the fault would be MacCraig’s or Miller’s.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. Did I ever disappoint you?” Ghost smiled as he heard Scott’s sigh and his negative response. “Great. Hear me out.”

Scott sat more comfortably on his chair, praying he was doing the right thing and said, “I’m all ears.”