The Italian Billionaire's Disgraced Fiancée by Betsy Swann Read Free Book Online

her character. Probably not. He could just as well have made a snake the guest of honour.
    He crossed the room in the direction of the couple, but before he could get through the crowd the two of them put down their glasses and went up on stage. Enzo could only admire the way Hetherington managed to quieten the whole room by merely stepping in front of the microphone. The man had some presence, no doubt.
    ‘And now to the highlight of our auction,’ he heard Hetherington say, his smooth-as-honey voice instantly capturing the audience. ‘The highest bidder will have the pleasure of a dance with our guest of honour, the beautiful actress Rebecca Morton.’
    Applause filled the room while all eyes went to Rebecca, who glittered next to the host in her lime green sparkling robe. All eyes but Enzo’s. He had planned to spend half a million on the good cause tonight but certainly not on a dance with that bitch. Restlessly his eyes flickered over the crowd while the bidding started. He would hand in his donation later tonight, after the auction. There was no way he would…
    His breath caught. The White Rabbit. There was something about the way the waitress in the stunning white gown bent her head while offering a selection of canapés to the lady next to her, something that instantly sparked his interest. The twinkle of her huge periwinkle blue eyes behind that fluffy rabbit mask. The glistening silver blond of her tresses falling down to her slender waist. The soft curve of her lips. Time, movement, noises, everything around him came to a standstill while he kept staring at her, his brain seemingly having stopped working.
    How could he ever have thought that he was over Izzy’s betrayal?
    Enzo swallowed hard. What a fool he had been. Even deep enough in love to actually investigate if she had really spent the night in the hospital – only to find out that it had all come down to clever acting and a few, well placed tears. In the first few months after their break-up he had hated her with a vengeance, with every fibre of his being. Together with the loss of the family mansion it had almost broken him. Then, as the months went by and he had erected a safe distance between them after his move to Italy, his high emotions had slowly calmed down. Or so he had thought. Now, realising how her lovely smile still warmed his heart from across the room although it wasn’t even directed at him, he was not so sure anymore. He pressed his lips together. His stupid heart, jumping up and down for joy at the mere sight of her, was a fool. As was this other part of his treacherous body that had instantly hardened as soon as he’d become aware of her presence.
    Enzo finished his glass, his eyes still fixed on Izzy’s face, on that lovely mouth with the pink soft lips. He wasn’t even sure whether he’d be able to look away, if he tried. Dio! He hated this. Even more he hated her for all she had done to him, for betraying him in cold blood and so utterly and heart-shatteringly destructive that he would never allow himself to fall in love again. He felt anger rising up his body, gripping his stomach with steely fingers and freezing him from the inside. He hadn’t been able to look at another woman for a whole year after they’d parted, and even after that he couldn’t get her out of his head, no matter how stunningly beautiful or accomplished his lovers had been.
    Enough. He was here now, back in London. If this was the last thing he’d be doing, he’d get Izzy out of his system, at any rate.
    ‘Fifty-five thousand pounds, ladies and gentlemen,’ he faintly heard Hetherington’s voice at the back of his mind. ‘A dance with the fabulous Rebecca Morton is surely worth more than that… Ah, the gentleman in the white tuxedo is raising his hand. Thank you, Sir. Sixty thousand pounds, ladies and gentlemen…’
    Enzo saw Izzy’s lips tremble one of a sudden, as if she felt his brooding glare touching them. Uneasily her eyes shifted over