“I want this one, it’s a rainbow! And this one too, with teddy bears!” Millie jumped up, sitting on her bed, almost causing the fall of the gigantic decoration catalog that Massimo had given her.
“I thought you already decided on the pink and blue with ponies.” Alice laughed, holding up the catalog full of samples of wallpaper, flooring and toys, before Millie ended up falling out of bed with that folder that was almost as big as her.
“But these ones are so pretty too…” her lower lip stretched out in a desolate pout.
“Well, you have four walls here.” Massimo, who was sitting next to them still wearing the colorful wrapping in which the catalog had come wrapped like a Christmas present, said “You don’t need to worry about anything. I should have
“Are you going to shave your beard?”“I'm going to pretend I didn't hear the relief in your voice.” Massimo mocked, making her blush “Now, could you make some space? I need to get my shaving kit and take it to my room to get a floor-length mirror where I can see myself.” His voice became more and more bitter, as it always did when he had to talk about some adaptation to his wheelchair.“That’s going to make quite a mess, don’t you think?”“What? Are you afraid that I won’t be able to do even that?”“No, you grumpy fool. I'm saying there's no need to leave your bedroom floor covered in foam and fur when I can help you with that.” Before he could respond, she began steering his chair
“Thea, Thea! Can we put this necklace on mommy?” Millie squealed, running with the jewelry case in her hands, the necklace, which was certainly worth more than all the houses of all the clients Alice had ever worked for, swinging unsteadily.“Be careful with that, Millie...” Alice begged, but, as had happened that entire day, the two just ignored her."Oh, darling! How can you be so smart? This is just the one I had thought of choosing while finishing your mother's makeup!” Thea praised, taking a moment just to gently squeeze Millie's cheek, before turning her sharp gaze to Alice again “Very well. This is the last touch before perfection!”“I already told you that you don’t need to overdo it, Thea.” Alice tried to convince her again, her butt starting to hu
Did you see, Massimo? Doesn’t Mommy look like a princess?”Once again, Alice was forced to look up at him, surprised when she realized that he had approached without her noticing. Now, he was right in front of her face, his once emotionless expression now seemed focused on her, as if he was unable to tear his eyes away from her.“You...” he finally spoke, his lips emitting a low hiss, as if he were out of breath “You look beautiful. Millie is right.”“Uh… Thank you.” Alice cleared her throat, struggling to act like she wasn't totally out of her comfort zone at that moment, especially since Millie was looking at the two of them like she was watching a Disney movie “But... Shouldn't we go? I think I've already delayed you enough...”
Alice had forgotten how uncomfortable it was to arrive at parties like those. Even though the Bianchi's ancestral property was completely surrounded by walls as high as any low-story building, there were always paparazzi waiting on the road. They always desperate for some photos or scoops that never appeared on conventional gossip sites, but that the High Society ladies would eagerly browse in their favorite magazines, where only people with more than nine figures in their bank accounts would appear.“Just six months away from this kind of shit and I can forget how unbearable it is.” Massimo echoed her thought, resting his head against the back of the seat as the gates of the enormous mansion opened for them, revealing the entire brightly lit facade and with several other limos and sports cars leaving guests there “If there's one thing that old mummy was right about me, it's that I've nev
“Thank you for your kindness.” Alice smiled, making all the men look at her with disdainful surprise, almost as if they didn't imagine that she knew how to speak “I'm very happy that you were attentive enough to realize that my husband would need a good environment to continue his amazing job. If you need suggestions for architects, please don't hesitate to ask. It will be my pleasure to help so that my husband can return to his position as quickly as possible, as I know you all certainly want that too. I mean, how could you not be, after the news I saw earlier today that the shares of the food company, which is part of the Bianchi Group, fell?” she smiled sweetly, as all of their expressions turned cold, a far away from the confidence of seconds ago.“You didn’t want to close the contract with that Russian supplier, did you?” Massimo rolled his eyes “Well, a
“So you guys plan to focus on the future and let a Bianchi with natural talent get away?” Alice asked, again earning several sideways glances from those old men “That doesn't seem like a good strategy. Everyone at this party knows that the reason Dante Bianchi wasn't unanimously chosen from the start is because he may be a good CEO, but Massimo is excellent. Him not being Emma's son made many want to put obstacles in his path, but he was able to overcome them all.""Weren't those partners who you said were worried, the same ones who begged Massimo to take over as CEO after seeing his results as a manager?" Alice continued to confront them "It's funny, because I perfectly remember my grandfather saying that there was a decision by the shareholders to wait for Dante to turn 18 to decide between him and Massimo, but this was ignored when Massimo continued the work that his father assigned hi
From the snack table, Alice could still see, in the distance, Massimo, Emma and Dante talking. Or rather, Emma and Massimo having a low-key discussion while Dante seemed to try to mediate. God knew Massimo would be outraged if he knew how protective she felt towards him, but Alice couldn't help it. Just as she knew she couldn't meddle after he asked to face that woman alone, as he had done since he was a child.Head down and trying to convince herself that Emma wouldn't allow a real fight to break out to ruin her party, Alice looked ahead, searching across the huge table for Lucy to be at. Her husband had returned home after another business trip and so Lucy could never stay on her cell phone for long, but they had managed to talk long enough to know that they would both be there. Plus, there was a part of Alice that was genuinely curious to meet the woman named Ruby Bennett and find out if she really was
“What the...!” Massimo’s brother, or rather, her brother-in-law, cursed, pulling his lips away from the girl, but still keeping her protectively around his arms.With Dante away, Alice could see that the girl had dark blonde hair that fell in long curls down to her waist, light brown almost golden eyes hidden behind the thick lenses of her glasses and was dressed very differently from all the guests. Instead of a formal dress, she was wearing a half-open white blouse and a pencil skirt that had clearly been lifted up a bit.And, as she had clearly interrupted a special moment, Alice could only blush and put her hands in the air.“I... I’m sorry...” she stammered “I didn’t mean to come in like that. I was just looking for a bathroom...”