Chapter 11

Kate's POV

I was staring at the wall forlornly when I heard the door open. Thinking it might be Arya, I lost my cool.

“Get out or I will rip your head!” I said, trying to suppress my anger.

“I'm sorry ma'am, it's just that…”

The voice sounded terrified and timid. My head snapped around to see the maid that had followed Dante out minutes earlier.

She was clutching a bundle of clothes and staring at me with wide terrified eyes. I instantly felt guilty for scaring her. Imagining that she must be thinking I was no different from Dante after all, I softened my tone.

“Sorry dear, I thought you were someone else,” I said, trying to keep my voice as gentle as possible.

She seemed to hesitate, but ultimately entered the room, shutting the door behind her. She walked across the room, her head lowered, and respectfully dropped the bundle of clothes on the bed beside me.

“Mr Benedetto said to help you change into the dress,” the maid said.

I glanced down at my chest region where Arya had emptied the wine. It's dried now, but there was a patch with a color that wasn't quite the same as the rest of the cloth.

Normally, I could have worn it. But I was stepping into a society of socially sophisticated men and women and I had to admit I was a little nervous.

“Thank you,” I said, picking the dress.

I started walking to a door I assumed led to the bathroom, but the maid's voice stopped me.

“I don't think you can put on that without help, Missus,”

Stopping, I inspected the clothes. She was right. I sighed and walked back to the bed. I wasn't used to being dressed by a maid, or even dressing with another person in the room. But I guess as Dante's wife, there are a lot of things I will have to get used to.

“What's your name?” I asked when the silence between us became a little awkward.

I could feel the maid's finger shaking and knew she was probably very nervous. Thinking of my earlier words, I tried to set her at ease.

“Beauty,” the maid said.

“A fitting name,” I said, and meant it too. A quick glance told me she had an embarrassed smile on her face.

“You don't need to be embarrassed,” I said softly. “You're beautiful, really.”

After that, the air in the room became less heavy.

By the time the door opened and Dante walked in, we were chatting amicably. Dante looked surprised to see us chatting happily, but he instantly masked it under his usual expression of indifference.

I noticed Beauty trembled a little, so I quietly laid my hands over hers, offering reassurance.

With a nod, I followed Dante out of the room. The blast of music that hit me the moment we walked outside the door told me the party was already in full swing.

Dante inspected me as we walked down the stairs but didn't make any comments. His face remained blank.

Which for me, was a good sign and meant I passed the subtle scrutiny. I knew he would have frowned or said something if I didn't.

“For someone who was hellbent on not having anything to do with me, you became good friends with my maid pretty fast.” Dante said suddenly.

We were just a few steps from the bottom of the stairs, and I could already see the shadows of the guests on the wall.

I knew he was trying to build a couple's image for the benefits of the guests. I decided to play along. Taking his hands in mine, I stood on tiptoes to give him a quick peck on the cheeks.

I overbalanced and nearly fell, but he caught me, pressing me against his chest so we looked into each other's eyes.

I grinned at him.

“You're one hell of a kisser and I thought it would be a pity to walk away from such great kisses,” I said, brushing my lips against his just as a server walked past us, a tray of empty glasses balanced on her palms.

His eyes darkened, his lips pressed together and he pressed me a little tighter to himself. Almost imperceptible, but there.

“And you get aroused pretty quickly. Every girl likes a handsome man that appreciates her body,” I added.

By the peculiar way his eyes narrowed, I knew I had interpreted the subtle gestures.

‘You’re already learning him, dissecting him.’ I thought to myself.

I couldn't help it. It was instinctive. After I started living with my aunt, I quickly realized I had to completely learn her attitude and mannerisms to keep myself from being skinned for the slightest mistake.

The habit has stayed with me ever since then. And now I had resigned myself to living with Dante, it kicked in.

“Flavia has a better figure than you do,” Dante said, his tone bland. It told a different story from what I could see in his face. My grin widened.

“Shh. Don't let someone else hear that!” I hushed, smirking.

It felt so good riling up the inscrutable Dante di Benedetto.

Still smirking, I pried myself from his body, took his hands in mine and started leaving him down the stairs.

“So, you've really decided to my proposal? You're going to be my contract wife?” Dante asked.

The guests were already clearly visible. A few of them noticed us and turned to stare. As I turned to face him, I noticed more and more people turning to look. A phone's camera light flashed somewhere.

“Yes, I have. Note that's it's contract wife though, not a real wife. Just to save your image,” I said.

Dante studied me for a moment, as though wondering what could have made me change my mind so quickly.

“Alright,” he finally said, and I could almost see the internal shrug. “I will ring my lawyer now.”

And turning slightly aware from the mass of cameras that were now pointing at us, Dante got out his phone and dialed a number.

I took a deep breath, turned and smiled at the guests. In a few moments, I will officially become Mrs Benedetto.