Still the Billionaire's First Choice - Chapter 1

Sophia Dimou froze in the doorway, stunned by the man standing in the centre of Milan’s most glittering venue. Flanked by two predictably stunning women and three obsequious suited men, Felipe Mazzoni was the flame attracting every moth, butterfly, living being…

She caustically wondered which of the two beauties was his current squeeze. Probs both. She’d foolishly looked him up in the depths of her humiliation two years ago and seen he’d been aboard a veritable merry-go-round of women. She’d killed that search instantly, not needing more heartache then.

She didn’t need it now, either.

But why was he here tonight? The ball guests were due to arrive shortly and he’d not been on the guest list—she’d totally have noticed—nor had his name been mentioned by the client rep she’d been liaising with. Shocked, she remained still—staring—yet deep inside, a damned volcano of emotion stirred. Stone-cold fury, right?

He was even more handsome than she remembered. His perfectly symmetrical features were sharply sculpted, while well-worked muscles now fleshed out his tall frame. She caught the glint of his arresting blue eyes and remembered how penetrating his gaze could be. And as she remained immobilised—appalled—Felipe Mazzoni laughed. That easy, infectious sound reverberated within her, shaking free her deepest, secret, most unwanted memories together with the truth. She hadn’t always hated him.

Once upon a time Felipe Mazzoni had lived in the Tuscan village where Sophia had spent every summer until she was almost eighteen. His mother had been the housekeeper of her family’s holiday villa. As a teen, Felipe had worked there, too. For the first few years he’d been her friend, while in the last he’d—

Sophia shut her eyes but it didn’t stop those memories flickering through her mind.

Those annual holidays had been a rare respite from the claustrophobic pressure she’d faced back home in Athens. Not academic pressure—her family didn’t have dreams for her to have some stellar career—rather, they expected she marry ‘well,’ advantageously like her aunt had. So she’d needed ‘proper’ education—elite finishing school, a degree in modern languages and an extensive wardrobe with the requirement to remain an acceptable size. As she’d be hosting high-society events, cultivating charm and conviviality was essential.

But Sophia was reticent by nature. Not to mention scared of screwing up and being punished for it with further absence from her father. Whereas Felipe had naturally been convivial and carefree. He’d teased her until she’d laughed and relaxed. Some of the best nights of her life had been in the villa’s kitchen when she’d tried to resist the sweet cookies his mother had made. She’d always failed.

It had been in that last summer when her father had stunned her with a blasé passing comment that she would marry Ares Vasiliadis—her cousin by marriage and surprise heir to the shipping dynasty. Apparently, it had been an unspoken contract for years, that her social standing would smooth over the ‘stain’ of Ares’s illegitimacy. She’d been horrified and couldn’t believe Ares would be interested—he’d always been cold and distant with her.

But back then Sophia hadn’t the spine to rebel against her father. She’d been too desperate for his approval. So she’d buried her head in the sand, becoming ridiculously well educated, yet all but unemployable along the way. It was only recently that she’d realised she could get paid to plan the kind of parties she’d been meant to preside over. And she needed to nail tonight’s ball. It was only her second event as lead coordinator, so she needed to get over the fact that Felipe Mazzoni was here.

What did it matter that she’d kissed him? Or that he’d brutally eviscerated her with insults? All that was so long ago, he probably wouldn’t even recognise her. But she needed a moment to collect her shattered wits. Stepping back from the ballroom she turned down the corridor.

‘Sophia Dimou.’ His achingly familiar drawl stopped her in her tracks only seconds later. ‘What a surprise.’

Yet, oddly, he sounded as if her presence was no surprise at all. Slowly, Sophia turned and suppressed a shiver as Felipe’s piercing gaze raked down her body.

His eyes narrowed as he read the discreet name badge on her simple black dress. ‘Surely, you’re not leaving? Don’t you have a job to do?’