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"Too handsome for you?"

He had only meant it as a joke, but instead, she had shaken her head. "I don't think 'handsome' is going to cut it." And then her voice had gotten a little shy as she admitted, "I think you lookbeautiful—-"

And that was it, Massimo thought. He had asked his chauffeur to drive in circles while he rewarded hisfidanzatawith two consecutive orgasms, and he would have gone for a third if not for their incessantly ringing phones, and an exasperatedLa Stregasaying she would die of hunger if they were to delay another minute longer.

Life had been really good lately, Massimo conceded somewhat grudgingly. He could not even recall the last time it had been this good, and that was what disturbed him the most.

Had he really not loved Ynez at all, and that was why he could not recall having this good a time with her?

Had he truly been mistaken for everything he imagined her to be?

Sex with Ynez had been good - or at least it had been when they were still doing it. And anytime he had wanted to talk about business, Ynez had been able to converse with him at the same level, and he had liked that about her. It had made her all the more different from his mother.

But when he tried to remember the last time Ynez had made him laugh the way Ysabel often did—-his mind drew a complete blank.

What the hell?

They had been dating for five fucking years. Surely it was not possible that Ynez had never made him laugh?

"Massimo? What is it?" Ysabel's voice drew him back to the present, and he saw his family seated around him, all of them looking like they had no problem at all with the fact that just weeks ago, it was Ysabel's sister he had been dating.

That, of course, was not Ysabel's fault, but the fact that his family had never liked Ynez only made him feel guiltier about his previous relationship.

"You've been staring at me for some time," Ysabel whispered under her breath. "Do I have something on my face?"

Massimo's entire family could see that there was absolutely nothing on Ysabel's face...and not one of them was surprised to hear the reply of herfidanzato.

"Sì, ciliegina mia."

There was nothing Massimo liked more than having an excuse to touch hisfidanzata,and Massimo's body turned rigid with need as he ran his tongue over an otherwise clean spot next to the corner of her lip. He heard her catch her breath, lifted his head, and saw the stars in her eyes—-

Too damn adorable.

And so he could not resist doing the same thing all over again.

Cesare and Penelope, who were seated across the engaged couple, exchanged looks at how Massimo was acting towards hisfidanzata.He had the opportunity to speak with his brother in private last night, and when he had asked Massimo bluntly if he had already fallen in love with Ysabel—-

"Just because I am also about to be a married man does not mean I have also lost my heart to my future bride."

His brother's tone had been sardonic, and the smile that had accompanied his words had not reached Massimo's eyes. Cesare had told his wife about it, and she in turn had told him what sheobserved from the night Ynez had unexpectedly dropped by at the Marchettis' estate.

"I think she loves him, Cesare. And I think he loves her, too. But Ynez..."

"He will never cheat on Ysabel if that is what you're worried about."

"I believe you when you say he won't. But...there's more than one way for him to hurt her, and that's what worries me."

Penelope could see in the way her husband frowned that both of them were thinking of the same thing. It was also equally obvious that Cesare did not want to think of his brother capable of breaking Ysabel's heart...but such a thing seemed inevitable, with thefamigliaenjoying their coffee when news suddenly broke out on the Internet about a drunk and wildly sobbing Ynez going live...as she begged for Massimo to come to her andtalk.

Ysabel could already feel herself paling when she heard Massimo say her name in a low voice. She already knew what he was about to ask of her, and as much as her own heart broke for Ynez—-

What do I do, God?

She knew her sister inside and out, and this was not unfortunately Ynez's first attempt at emotional blackmail. In fact, Ynez had virtually done the same thing to get Ysabel to admit to a crime she had never committed, and so of course...of course, she understood why it was easy for Massimo to fall for the same trick. But—-

"Please don't go."

His gorgeous features hardened the moment she whispered the words, and Ysabel bit back a sob.