ALESSANDRA’S PHONE VIBRATED in her pocket. Grimacing, she fired off a couple more shots then carefully let go of her camera, which she kept around her neck. ‘You can change into the next set now,’ she said to the model standing in front of the white board, wearing nothing but a pair of skimpy knickers and bra.
She’d spent the past three days working on a shoot for a well-known lingerie brand. With a waist that seemed to be thickening by the day, spending days with semi-clad underwear models was not doing a great deal for her ego. Her pregnancy would soon be obvious to everyone.
She pulled her phone out, her heart skipping to see Christian’s name flash up. She read his message:
Just landed. How long are you going to be?
She fired off a quick reply.
A couple of hours. Meet you at my apartment.
When they weren’t physically together, most communication between them was done via messaging. She’d steered it that way. The first time he’d called after the embassy do a month ago, her hands had gone clammy just to see his name flash up in the screen. She’d stared at it until it had gone to voicemail, wiped her hands and written a quick message back, apologising that she’d missed his call. He’d messaged straight back. The next few times she’d done the same—avoided the call and then messaged him. Since then, he’d taken to messaging her without bothering to call. It made it easier for her. Having his rich tones play directly into her ear made more than her hands clammy.
Shoving her phone back in her pocket, she forced her concentration back to the skinny model, who’d changed into another lacy number with the help of an assistant, uncaring of who in the studio saw her fully naked.
‘Left arm in an arc above your head please,’ she said, lifting her camera back up to her face.
When the final frame was taken she packed her camera away, had a quick chat with her assistant, who was happy to pack everything else up, and left the building.
Soon she was nodding at the concierge and climbing the stairs to her apartment, grabbing the extra seconds gained by not using the lift to compose her thoughts and get her emotions in check.
Only three days apart, the longest since they’d been married.
She’d hoped the distance would be good for her.
Christian sat at the dining table, cradling a coffee and eating a bowl of pasta.
‘I saved you some,’ he said by way of greeting. ‘I thought you might be getting hungry.’
Alessandra had taken her health seriously from the moment she’d realised she was pregnant but since she’d entered the second trimester, she’d become fanatical about her diet.
Food and calorie intake she could control and she did so rigidly, making sure everything she ingested was as nutritionally perfect for her baby as it could be.
It was the only thing she could control. Everything else seemed to be slipping through her fingers.
‘How was Hong Kong?’ she asked, walking over to her little office space in the corner which was a little too close to the dining table than she liked. Being in Milan made it harder for her to tune Christian out. The apartment she’d always thought of as wonderfully spacious seemed to shrink whenever he was there with her.
God knew she was trying to keep her distance from him, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible.
Thankfully her work load had increased. The days she wasn’t on shoots were spent developing the results, spent in meetings with directors whether in person or via conference calls; being busy.
Conversely, Christian’s workload had seemed to abate. He now made it home at a decent time most evenings.
Now it was Alessandra holing herself away, burying herself in work. Avoiding him as much as she could.
It was the only way she could keep herself sane.
She’d never imagined marriage would be so hard emotionally, a feeling exacerbated at Stefan’s wedding to the beautiful Clio a couple of weeks ago. It had been a wonderful occasion but watching them exchange their vows had brought everything back about her own wedding day and the hope she’d been foolish enough to allow through.
She’d never imagined she would feel so emotional towards him.
‘No problems,’ he said. ‘The contract was signed.’
‘How did Kerstin get on?’ Good. Her voice was normal as she spoke the German’s name.
‘Very well. She’s staying in Hong Kong for a few days.’
Kerstin had started working for him a couple of weeks before. Right at the exact time as Alessandra’s nutrition control had taken on a life of its own.
Typically of Christian, as soon as he’d decided on a course of action he implemented it immediately. He’d decided they should marry—a month later it was done. He’d decided to employ Kerstin—a fortnight later she was his new protégée.
‘That’s good.’ Taking a seat at her desk, she fired up her laptop.
‘Are you working?’
‘We don’t have to leave for half an hour.’
‘I wanted to talk.’
‘About?’
‘We need to start looking for a proper house here in Milan. One we can raise a child in.’
She shrugged. ‘Go ahead.’
‘I’ve spoken to a property agent.’
‘Naturally.’
‘I’ve shortlisted a couple of homes we can look at after we’ve seen the obstetrician.’
She could feel his eyes upon her as she placed her memory stick into the side of the laptop. Her hands trembled.
‘We need to get moving on this,’ he continued. ‘I’ve asked the agent to provide a valuation for this place too.’
She snapped her head round to stare at him. ‘I don’t want to sell it.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘We agreed…’
‘No, you agreed. I’ll let you know when I’m ready.’
Christian counted to ten in his head, fighting to keep his features neutral.
He pushed his bowl across the table and got to his feet. ‘We should leave now.’
‘We’ve plenty of time.’
‘It’s always good to be ahead of the traffic.’
He didn’t want to argue with her, especially not prior to their appointment with the obstetrician, but if he stayed another minute in this damned apartment he would go crazy.
He’d given her carte blanche to redecorate all his homes to her own taste so she would come to think of them as her homes too, and what did he get in return? Nothing.
This was Alessandra’s apartment, not his. She had no intention of ever making it theirs.
It probably wouldn’t bother him so much if not for the fact that the distance between them now came from her, a state of affairs that had grown since the embassy function. Even at Stefan’s wedding she’d been distant, when normally she thrived at social events.
If he’d thought she was happy with the status quo it wouldn’t disturb him so much but, whenever he looked in her eyes, all he saw was unhappiness. When she was with him, she withdrew into herself. He was doing everything