Read Online Unmasking Elena Montella by Victoria Connelly - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Victoria Connelly
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at Elena but she fired back a look which warned her away from their discussion of that morning.
‘ How come Rosanna thought you were engaged to this Mark, then?’
Elena shrugged. ‘Rosanna?’
Great! It was pass the buck time. Rosanna might have guessed. She felt so angry. How was she meant to know that the half-naked man in the middle of Sandro’s apartment wasn’t Mark, her sister’s fiancé? One minute, Elena was telling her about this man she’d met at work and, after what seemed to her to be an extraordinarily short space of time, got engaged to. She’d shown her the ring too - a beautiful diamond solitaire. A little smaller than she’d imagined Elena ending up with but lovely all the same. Then, after chiding her for her behaviour, she went out for a few brief moments and came back to find a semi-naked man padding around the apartment. A man called Reuben to whom her sister was engaged. Was she going mad?
For a few tense moments, she let them stew whilst her mind tumbled. Half of her wanted to expose and embarrass Elena - to flush out her lies and find out exactly what was going on; the other half - the sisterly half - got the better of her and, like a fool, she heard herself backing her sister’s ridiculous story.
‘ I’m sorry,’ she heard herself saying. ‘I must have got confused. We had a few drinks last night and, what with not getting enough sleep, I had the most horrendous headache this morning. I’ve obviously got everything muddled.’
Reuben nodded sagely. Rosanna was an appalling actress but her lie was obviously what he wanted to believe.
‘ You see?’ Elena said, her tone jovial but jarring to Rosanna’s ears. ‘You can be so silly and jealous sometimes,’ she said, hugging Reuben and kissing his cheek.
Rosanna couldn’t quite believe what she was witnessing and she had an uncontrollable urge to slap her sister. She didn’t know what was going on but she’d wager Elena was up to no good.
Chapter 12
Mark wasn’t savouring his flight to Venice. There weren’t many people in the world that could get him on a plane and, even though it was only a two-hour flight, he couldn’t help wishing that Elena had a sister in Norfolk instead of Italy.
Barney’s girlfriend had come good with his three hundred pounds but he wasn’t likely to see much change from it if he had to find a hotel. He was really hoping that Elena would let him stay in the apartment. He smiled to himself. Venice was meant to be one of the most romantic cities in the world. He had visions of them walking through the streets as if they were honeymooners. They might even want to go back for their honeymoon, he thought, trying not to think how many thousands of feet in the air he was at that precise moment and also refusing to think about how much this wedding and honeymoon were going to cost. It would mean taking out a loan and the thought of that made his stomach flip. But Elena deserved nothing but the best. For a moment, he tried to imagine her in a wedding dress – something floaty yet elegant – like Liv Tyler in Lord of the Rings . Yes, he liked that idea. He’d already been checking out venues for the reception and had found a perfect coaching inn in the Thames Valley with the prettiest garden looking out over the river. Well, if you were going to get into debt, you might as well do it with style, he reckoned.
They hadn’t talked much about where they were going to live but it was pretty obvious that his grim flat wasn’t in the running. He’d never been to Elena’s. She’d assured him that her flat was worse than his and that it wouldn’t do at all as a marital home so he guessed they’d be looking for something else over the summer.
Mark had wondered about asking Tomi about a pay rise but he’d thought better of it when he was told by another of the teachers that the last person to do that had been ‘let go’ and replaced by someone half his age for, presumably, half the salary.
‘ How come Rosanna thought you were engaged to this Mark, then?’
Elena shrugged. ‘Rosanna?’
Great! It was pass the buck time. Rosanna might have guessed. She felt so angry. How was she meant to know that the half-naked man in the middle of Sandro’s apartment wasn’t Mark, her sister’s fiancé? One minute, Elena was telling her about this man she’d met at work and, after what seemed to her to be an extraordinarily short space of time, got engaged to. She’d shown her the ring too - a beautiful diamond solitaire. A little smaller than she’d imagined Elena ending up with but lovely all the same. Then, after chiding her for her behaviour, she went out for a few brief moments and came back to find a semi-naked man padding around the apartment. A man called Reuben to whom her sister was engaged. Was she going mad?
For a few tense moments, she let them stew whilst her mind tumbled. Half of her wanted to expose and embarrass Elena - to flush out her lies and find out exactly what was going on; the other half - the sisterly half - got the better of her and, like a fool, she heard herself backing her sister’s ridiculous story.
‘ I’m sorry,’ she heard herself saying. ‘I must have got confused. We had a few drinks last night and, what with not getting enough sleep, I had the most horrendous headache this morning. I’ve obviously got everything muddled.’
Reuben nodded sagely. Rosanna was an appalling actress but her lie was obviously what he wanted to believe.
‘ You see?’ Elena said, her tone jovial but jarring to Rosanna’s ears. ‘You can be so silly and jealous sometimes,’ she said, hugging Reuben and kissing his cheek.
Rosanna couldn’t quite believe what she was witnessing and she had an uncontrollable urge to slap her sister. She didn’t know what was going on but she’d wager Elena was up to no good.
Chapter 12
Mark wasn’t savouring his flight to Venice. There weren’t many people in the world that could get him on a plane and, even though it was only a two-hour flight, he couldn’t help wishing that Elena had a sister in Norfolk instead of Italy.
Barney’s girlfriend had come good with his three hundred pounds but he wasn’t likely to see much change from it if he had to find a hotel. He was really hoping that Elena would let him stay in the apartment. He smiled to himself. Venice was meant to be one of the most romantic cities in the world. He had visions of them walking through the streets as if they were honeymooners. They might even want to go back for their honeymoon, he thought, trying not to think how many thousands of feet in the air he was at that precise moment and also refusing to think about how much this wedding and honeymoon were going to cost. It would mean taking out a loan and the thought of that made his stomach flip. But Elena deserved nothing but the best. For a moment, he tried to imagine her in a wedding dress – something floaty yet elegant – like Liv Tyler in Lord of the Rings . Yes, he liked that idea. He’d already been checking out venues for the reception and had found a perfect coaching inn in the Thames Valley with the prettiest garden looking out over the river. Well, if you were going to get into debt, you might as well do it with style, he reckoned.
They hadn’t talked much about where they were going to live but it was pretty obvious that his grim flat wasn’t in the running. He’d never been to Elena’s. She’d assured him that her flat was worse than his and that it wouldn’t do at all as a marital home so he guessed they’d be looking for something else over the summer.
Mark had wondered about asking Tomi about a pay rise but he’d thought better of it when he was told by another of the teachers that the last person to do that had been ‘let go’ and replaced by someone half his age for, presumably, half the salary.
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