CHAPTER 21

Marcello was getting frustrated by the fruitless search. Whoever they were after was covering up his tracks well. He had spent all day with Raffaele following an empty trail that led to nowhere. It was almost 5 pm and he was retiring to his hotel room to rest.

His thoughts went back to Celeste, he had missed her terribly and couldn't wait to see her again. He just had to finish this quickly since Lorenzo had trusted him with it and that was an honor.

He reached for his phone, considering calling Rosa and asking about Celeste but he remembered that his newlywed cousin was probably on her honeymoon so he stopped himself.

He just had to endure until he could see her beautiful face again, and watch her smile in that innocent way of hers that made her eyes crinkle.

He was about to enter his hotel room when he saw Lucia emerging from the opposite door. And he was taken aback to see her there.

"Lucia..." He called, and she halted then turned sharply to him.

"Marcello, you're back" she grinned, She was on a white Halter top and beige pants looking really beautiful.

"It seems like you were waiting for me" he questioned, moving closer to her.

"What are you doing here?" He asked,

"Oh your brother requested that I should come stay with you" she shrugged.

Marcello nodded thoughtfully. It seemed like Lorenzo had read more meaning into his friendship with Lucia than was necessary.

He must have felt that Marcello missed being with her and decided to send her to comfort him. Marcello sighed, if Lorenzo had sent Celeste he would have appreciated it more.

Suddenly it occurred to him, that maybe he could request that Lorenzo send her over since she was his Secretary, that way he could spend more time with her.

"Marcello, are you listening?" Lucia called loudly, distracting him from his thoughts.

"What did you say?" He asked completely distracted and unaware of what she was saying. Lucia sighed, "I said, will you want to go on a date with me?"

"Sure, I have nothing to do with my time as it is," he said nonchalantly, his fingers itching to call Lorenzo and request for Celeste.

"Will 7 pm be alright?" She asked,

"I will come for you" He grinned, flicking her forehead before entering his room.

*

*

*

"Celeste!!!!!!" A familiar voice shrieked startling Celeste, her mom Selena, Rosa and Aunt Amelita who were discussing side dishes for the reception.

"My word, who set that faulty record?" Aunt Amelita gasped, clutching her chest. Celeste laughed already knowing who was screaming her name like a Banshee.

"Must be her best friend Isabella" Selena said smiling and shaking her head. She and Aunt Amelita had gotten on so well like old friends since they both had the same weird sense of humor.

"Over here Bella" Celeste called from the drawing room, before excusing herself to go meet Isabella.

She was on the first landing when she spotted the familiar messy chestnut brown hair bobbing up and down as Isabella stomped out of another room searching for her.

"Bella!" She shouted and Isabella's head jerked up before an ear-to-ear grin spread across her face as she spotted Celeste.

"Come on and give me a hug doll," she said with outstretched arms.

Celeste laughed and sped down the stairs before launching herself into Isabella's arms.

The two ladies jumped in excitement as they continued their embrace. Finally breaking apart, Isabella broke into her excited tirade.

"My word Celeste Sicily is absolutely stunning and girl...a private jet is over the top, I was so shocked" she gushed and Celeste chuckled, happy that Marcello had gone out of his way to provide comfort as well as make sure her relatives had arrived for her special day.

"All thanks to Marcello, he kept his word," she said proudly, Isabella nodded enthusiastically as they both started up the stairs to the drawing room with Isabella chattering all the way there.

Rosa rushed out to meet them halfway, excited to meet Celeste's best friend. Celeste spotted her waving at them, and she hurried over with Isabella.

"Isabella meet Rosa my cousin-in-law and the newest bride, and Rosa meet my best friend, Isabella," Celeste said, looking between both ladies.

"My goodness, she is stunning," Rosa and Isabella said at the same time, they all paused and burst into laughter which rang through the building causing some servants to look up.

"I believe we'll be good Besties" Rosa laughed and the others agreed before heading into the drawing room.

The day went by quickly as everyone was busy with preparations. Lorenzo was nowhere to be seen which made Celeste restless. She missed him so much and wanted to be in his arms again.

'Well I better calm down since he will officially be mine tomorrow' She chided herself.

She decided to go to the Library and spend some time since everyone refused to let her do anything saying that she was the new bride.

She had protested fervently but they had all been adamant about it, insisting that she take a break. So here she was, in front of the master library trying to find solitude before he came back.

She had been shown the library earlier, but out of fear of taking liberties in someone's house, especially when that someone was her boss, she had refrained from entering.

But now she was about to be a member of the household she could enter at will without having such burden and guilt on her shoulders.

She was about to insert the key when she discovered that it was already open. Flashbacks from her first day at work hit her and just to be safe, she listened carefully before opening the door.

Thankfully the room seemed normal. The Library was still as imposing as the first time Rosa had shown it to her. With rows of floor-to-ceiling shelves stocked with books and documents.

A beautiful chandelier in the middle of it all. Illuminating the room and at the same time adding a lovely touch to it.

Celeste decided to check in the fantasy section to see if she could find something new to read since she had finished off a really good fantasy book back in New York. She was looking at each book carefully till she spotted a leopard skin book cover at the topmost part of the fantasy shelf.

It seemed like it was an actual Leopard fur book cover from where she stood. Curiosity got the best of her and she went to the opposite shelf to move the rolling ladder to the fantasy shelf.

Once the ladder was set firmly in front of the shelf, Celeste stepped gingerly onto it and began climbing towards the book that caught her eye.

When she could finally touch it, she found out that it was indeed leopard fur. She was surprised. This was her first time seeing such a book. Well, the Martinos were all wealthy so it's understandable that they would have rare collections of books.

Pulling it out carefully while maintaining her stance, she turned the book to the first page. The title was 'JOURNEYS OF A MAD POET' which was intriguing to her, and the design was so gorgeous.

But before she could turn to the next page, she saw at the bottom left of the page what was written in beautiful black calligraphy, the name of the owner of the book. LORENZO MARTINO.

Celeste gasped when she saw it. How did she forget?! Her fiance had a brother!

She had read that the two brothers had built VALVERRA together, but the name of one brother was not mentioned, and neither had she seen a picture of him.

She quickly climbed down with the book, both scared and curious about this mystery brother. Was there bad blood between them? Was that why Marcello never mentioned him? Or was he dead?

She shivered slightly at the last thought. Clutching the book, she headed for the cozy alcove meant for quiet reading. However, someone else had gotten there before her, two people actually.

Celeste was chagrined as she watched Harold grope under Antonia's dress. She cleared her throat loudly which caused the couple to break apart.

Harold turned beet red when he recognized who had made the sound and Antonio turned pale white. Before Celeste could say anything, Antonia dashed out of the room with Harold following suit.

Celeste was amused and surprised to see the couple flee from her, though their secret rendezvous was none of her business, but she hoped Antonia was wiser than that.

Maybe she would talk to Rosa or Marie and tell them to warn Antonia about Harold to avoid Scandal.

Marie and Antonia were Aunt Amelita's sister's husband's daughters from his first wife and she had raised them with Rosa after her sister's death since the husband had also died early In the marriage.

With their biological parents and stepmother dead, the two girls had no one to turn to, and Aunt Amelita being the sweet woman she was had welcomed them against Uncle Pietro's wishes.

It caused so many problems between Aunt Amelita and her husband that the girls were sent to boarding schools and only came home for vacations.

That was as much as Rosa told her. Shrugging it off, though still amused by her knack of catching people in uncompromising situations, Celeste settled down on the couch situated in the alcove.

She quickly opened the book ready to start reading, while keeping in mind to ask Rosa about Lorenzo Martino since she felt that Marcello may not be comfortable telling her.

However, fate seemed to be playing tricks on her because the next page after was an old picture of a family. Celeste increased the intensity of the light in the alcove to peer at the picture, excitement humming through her body at the prospect of seeing the mystery brother.

Then she gasped, her eyes widening in absolute shock. At the bottom of the picture was written Mr and Mrs Martino with their twin boys Lorenzo and Marcello.

But that wasn't what shocked Celeste but the uncanny resemblance of the twins. They weren't just twins but identical twins. Her fiance was an identical twin.