She left dinner in the oven. It’ll keep while we have a drink.”
Her eyes darkened at the order. Firming her mouth, she dropped her purse on a chair and swept by him.
“Angie?”
She swung around.
“Put your wedding rings on.”
She lifted her chin. “Is this how it’s going to be, Lorenzo? Just like old times? You firing orders at me? Expecting me to run and do your bidding?”
“Married people wear wedding rings.” He held up his left hand, the elegant, simple gold band she had given him glittering in the light.
Her face tightened. Turning on her heel, she disappeared down the hallway. When she returned, she was dressed in the comfortable black leggings she favored and a cream-colored tunic that fell just below her curvaceous derriere. Unfortunate, he decided. He’d have to fill in that part from memory.
“Drink?” he asked, walking to the bar.
“Mineral water, please.”
“It’s Friday night.”
“I’d still like mineral water.”
And the battle lines were drawn... He poured it for her, added a slice of lime and carried it out onto the terrace, where Angie had drifted. Strategically placed lanterns lit up a thirty-five-million-dollar view of the park.
He handed her the drink. Noted she wore her sapphire engagement ring and wedding band. “Which show?”
She blinked. “Sorry?”
“Which show are you designing for?”
“Oh.” She wrapped her fingers around the glass. “Alexander Faggini’s Fashion Week show.”
“That’s impressive.”
She lifted a shoulder. “A friend of mine introduced us. He thought my designs worked well with his. It’s an honor for me.”
“I’d like to see the collection.”
“Would you?” She turned those beautiful blue eyes on him. “Or are you just making an effort to appear interested?”
“Angelina,” he growled.
“It’s a fair question.” Her chin set at a belligerent angle. “I am, after all, playing at a start-up business that has somehow, magically, found success.”
He rested his gaze on hers. “Three-quarters of new businesses fail in this city. They don’t even last until their second year. You have done something extraordinary with yours. I’m proud of you. But at the time, it seemed like a long shot.”
“You didn’t think I had the talent? Not even with you nurturing me?”
There was a distinctly wounded edge to her eyes now. He blew out a breath. “I could see you were talented. But you knew I wanted my wife at home. We were having a baby.”
“You were like that after we lost the baby. When I desperately needed something to occupy my brain.”
His mouth flattened. “I could have supported you better, there’s no question about it. I should have. But someone had to run our life. I needed the sanity of you at home.”
“And I needed the sanity my work provided me.” She turned her gaze to the lush canvas of green spread out before them, Central Park in full, glorious bloom.
He studied the delicate line of her jaw, the stubborn set of her mouth, silhouetted in the lamplight. Defensive. Protective. It made him wonder about all the pieces of his wife he hadn’t known. Didn’t know. Had never attempted to know.
“Sanity from what?”
She shrugged. “My life. All of it.”
He frowned. He understood what being the offspring of a dynasty meant, because his family was as much Italian aristocracy as the Carmichaels were American royalty. Understood how the pressure of the relentless press coverage, the high expectations, the rules in their world could weigh a person down. What he had never understood was what about it his wife reacted so violently to.
“Why do you hate it so much,” he asked, sweeping a hand through the air. “This world? Why has being a Carmichael been so difficult for you? I could never figure it out. I know you have a combative relationship with your father and that having his affairs plastered across the media couldn’t be easy for you...but it always seemed like it was more.”
A cynical light shone in her gaze as she turned toward him. “Did it need to be more? Those affairs devastated my mother, cut her so deeply she never recovered.”
“No,” he agreed, “it doesn’t. My father worships the ground my mother walks on and rightly so. I can’t imagine how painful it must have been to watch your father disrespect your mother like that when she has stood by his side the entire time.”
Her dark lashes swept over her cheeks. “You see what everyone else sees. The glittering, perfect world of the Carmichaels. You don’t see the dysfunction on the inside.”
“So tell me about it,” he countered. “Help me understand.”
“They are private family issues. I would be betraying confidences if I did.”
“You are my wife. You can confide in me.”
Her mouth formed a stubborn, straight line. An oath left his lips. “This is one of those areas we need to fix, Angelina. How can we make this marriage work if there are big pieces of you I don’t know?”
“Like those big pieces of you I don’t know?” Her eyes flashed, a storm rising in their gray-blue depths. “You can’t press a button and summon emotional intimacy. Trust. It doesn’t work like that. It takes time and effort. If you want that from me, you have to lead by example.”
Heat seared his belly. He knew she was right. Knew he’d been operating on automatic pilot in the years after Lucia’s death, cauterizing his emotions, refusing to feel. But it wasn’t the easiest thing to admit.
“Bene,” he conceded harshly, opening his arms wide. “Consider me an open book, then. No subject is off-limits. Anything is fair game. But we are going to learn how to communicate—in ways that do not involve the bedroom.”
The stare she leveled at him rattled every nerve ending. Made him ache to resort to tried-and-true methods. But he wasn’t going there. He was making good on the promise he’d just given her.
“I think,” he said evenly, deciding a change of subject was in order, “we should host a party in the Hamptons over the long weekend. Marc Bavaro, the CEO of the Belmont chain, has a place there. I’d like to try and soften him up a bit. Get a few outstanding issues resolved. It would also provide an ideal opportunity to formally announce our reconciliation given the gossip that’s running rampant.”
She muttered something under her breath. His brow lifted. “Scusa?”
“I said to put your stamp on me. That’s why you want to have this party.”
“I already did that,” he murmured, eyes on hers. “Why would I need to make a public display of ownership when we both know the truth?”
A flush stained her cheeks. “Go to hell, Lorenzo.”
“I’ve already been there, cara. At least this time there will be a great deal of pleasure along with the pain.”
Her eyes locked with his. A long, loaded moment passed as they took a step into uncharted territory. Lashes lowered, his wife studied him, as if deciding whether to continue the charge.
Her chin dropped. “Everyone’s calendars will be full on the Labor Day weekend.”
“They’ll be doing the rounds. What’s one more stop? Speculation about us alone will pack them in.”
She