The Billionaire's Prize. Rebecca Winters

probably three by four inches. He heard her gasp. “Oh, Guido—”

      “I saw it in Florence at the House of Gold and couldn’t resist. Consider it a gift to celebrate the publication of your book.”

      Just then Rini came in the room. “Caro—” she cried and rushed over to show her husband.

      His friend flashed him a warm glance. “You knew exactly what she’d love.”

      “I read the book and was so impressed by your knowledge I had to do something to honor you.”

      “I’m glad you liked it. This is exquisite. I’ll treasure it forever.” She laid it on the hunt board and undid the large gift. “Oh, how adorable! A purple octopus! Brazzo will love it!” She gave Guido a kiss on the cheek. “Come and sit down. We want to hear all about the team and how things are going.”

      “First I want to hear about Brazzo.”

      “He’s gorgeous! We’ll show you videos later.”

      No sooner did they get settled and start to eat than Guido heard the helicopter overhead.

      “That’ll be my parents,” Alessandra murmured as they enjoyed their meal. “They’ve been in Milan.”

      “For another of Dea’s fashion shows?” Damn if the question wasn’t out before he could recall it.

      “Oh—I guess you didn’t know that she has given up her modeling career.”

      Guido’s fork dropped on his plate. No more modeling? He couldn’t comprehend it. “Since when?”

      “Quite a while now. She realized the life of most supermodels fades after twenty-five years of age and it’s past time for her. Dea went back to her true passion and this last year has been finishing her degree at the Accademia Roma. This is her last semester.”

      Her true passion? Guido blinked. He didn’t know she’d ever gone to college. “I had no idea. What is she studying?”

      “Period costume fashion design. I’m so thrilled for her. She has an extraordinary gift in that area.”

      Before Guido could think, he heard voices at the entry. Alessandra’s parents walked in the room, but he only had eyes for the gorgeous woman behind them. His heart thundered.

      Dea!

      She wore her long hair back in a chignon, a style he hadn’t seen her in. All that glossy brown hair with streaks of sunlight was hidden. The oval of her face with less makeup than he’d ever noticed before caused him to stare. With those dark burgundy eyes—like the color in a stained glass window—she was beautiful in a brand-new way.

      Guido stood up and greeted the three of them. Alessandra begged her parents to join them for dinner, but they said they’d already eaten and were going upstairs.

      “What about you, Dea?”

      “I’d love some dinner, but first I want to see the baby. I brought Brazzo a present. I hope he doesn’t have a bear yet. This one speaks!” She handed it to Alessandra, who opened it and pressed the button. They all listened and laughed.

      “Brazzo will love this, but we left him with Rini’s father and family. They wanted to give us a break.”

      “I’m sure you’re thrilled, but I’m horribly disappointed.”

      “There’ll be plenty of other times for the rest of our lives.”

      “You’re right, of course.” She sat down at the table. “I left work without grabbing a bite and now I’m starving. This dinner looks wonderful. Baked halibut and vegetables with feta cheese. How perfect!”

      She was wearing a simple white blouse and a print skirt. Her outfit was so unexpectedly casual that Guido was still trying to make sense of everything when she sat down next to him.

      For the rest of the meal Guido was amazed to watch her dig into her food and eat everything. Where was the woman who never ate anything that wasn’t on her special diet? Come to think of it, she looked like she’d gained some becoming weight since the last time he’d seen her at the wedding.

      Over a glass of wine she turned to Guido. He noticed she no longer wore her fingernails long and painted. “There’s a girl at the shop named Gina. She and her fiancé, Aldo, went to the soccer game at the Stadio Emanuele last weekend.”

      Where was this leading?

      “Aldo came in to pick Gina up and she told him I knew the owner. He fell all over me.” Guido could believe that. “According to him, you were the greatest soccer player he’d ever seen and he desperately wants to meet you in person sometime, hopefully with my help.”

      Dea had discussed him with her coworker? He couldn’t believe it.

      She kept talking. “According to Aldo, the Scatto Roma team is going to win the championship this year. He was a soccer player himself, not on your level, of course. He thinks you walk on water already for lifting the B team to top-tier status.”

      “Thank you, Dea,” he said, attempting to take it all in, but he couldn’t understand her interest. “Have you ever been to a soccer match?”

      “Never,” she confessed without shame. “I’ve never even watched it on TV. You must think I’m terrible. I had no idea you’d won so many championships for Italy. Aldo said you were everyone’s favorite player and the women were crazy about you.”

      “They were,” Rini inserted with a grin.

      She hadn’t talked to Guido like this at the wedding reception, where she had seemed very stiff. This was something else. He decided to change the subject.

      “I understand you’re no longer modeling.”

      “Not for the last year.”

      “Where do you work?”

      “I started at the shop of Juliana Parma ten days ago. She’s the costume designer for the opera. I’ve been permitted to shadow her. My aunt Fulvia made it possible. You remember her from the wedding?”

      “Of course.” The woman had taken Dea away from the table before the wedding cake had been served.

      “They’re best friends and Juliana took me on as a favor to my aunt. But now that I’m working there, I’m on my own and I’m terrified.”

      “How could you possibly be that when you’ve been Italy’s top model?”

      “That period of my life is over, and modeling modern-day fashions has nothing to do with being a period costume designer for the opera.” Guido still had a hard time believing she had changed her whole life in the last year. To his mind, she was more beautiful than ever. “I have to prove myself in a whole new field. I’m not like you.”

      “What do you mean?”

      “Alessandra said that when you bought that floundering soccer team, you had the satisfaction of being one of the greatest soccer players ever to compete in Italy. With your knowledge and confidence, you’ve been able to turn your team around. I’m very impressed.”

      “He’s done that, all right,” Rini concurred. “So I have an idea. Why don’t the four of us go out behind the castle and play a little soccer before it gets dark? Two against two. It works even if we don’t have a whole bunch of guys around. Since Brazzo was born, Alessandra and I haven’t had a weekend to enjoy like this. Let’s team up.”

      “That sounds fun!” Alessandra chimed in with enthusiasm that sounded real. “I like soccer, but I’d love to learn more about it since Rini is determined our son will be a great player like you, Guido. What do you say, Dea?”

      “I’m hopeless when it comes to sports and would hate making a fool of myself, but I’ll do it this once.”

      So she was willing to toss him a bone after she’d just admitted she’d never even