by Lynne Graham
The older man bid her good day and hurried back to his car, leaving Isla standing there like a stone statue.
Slowly, very slowly as if her very bones ached, she retraced her steps to Tania’s car, Puggle lagging behind her. She knew she couldn’t face Alissandru at that moment. She had to gather herself, work out what to do next...aside from repaying what she owed. It was as if her life were a deck of cards that someone had tYhrown up into the air and now everything had changed radically.
Her independence, her plans, everything she had depended on was being torn away. Just her bad luck, as the lawyer had said. From somewhere, Alissandru had obtained another will and, within it, Paulu had presumably left his worldly goods to his brother instead. Isla was shattered. She remembered the contents of Paulu’s desk being taken away and surmised that that was most likely where the second will had been found. Even she knew that a more recently dated will would take precedence over an earlier one. But Alissandru had seemingly learned about that will weeks ago!
Yet he still hadn’t told her. The house was already his yet he was even now determined to buy it from her. Why? Because he pitied her. Her self-esteem squirmed as though it had come into contact with something very nasty and hurtful. And she was hurt, seriously hurt that he had not told her about that second will as soon as he became aware of its existence.
Knowing that Alissandru had seen her sister as avaricious, she had made a big effort to keep Alissandru’s wealth out of their relationship. Pride had demanded that she stand on her own feet and Paulu’s legacy had made it possible for her to do that. But now that financial security had vanished. And, even worse, it left her broke and in debt to Alissandru because everything she had spent in recent months, after being given access to Paulu’s money, had not been her money to spend. How was she ever going to repay that money?
Thank goodness she hadn’t spent like a lottery winner, she thought heavily. Her native caution with money had meant that she was careful, but she had spent a fair bit of money simply travelling to Sicily and had been living off it ever since. How could he not have told her about the second will?
It had been a lie of omission. Feeling sorry for her, Alissandru had kept quiet. He had planned to virtually pay her off by paying for a house he already owned and he would never have told her the truth because he would’ve let her walk away with his brother’s money. And now she was pregnant and she was going to cost Alissandru even more money. She would be the financial liability he had never wanted.
Hot tears of mortification burning the backs of her eyes, she entered the house that was no longer hers and went upstairs to pack. She would return to London. What else could she do? She had to find herself some way of making a living again, at least until the baby was born. But no way was she about to tell Alissandru about the baby now face-to-face, not with this horrible financial bombshell engulfing her at the same time. She felt devastated and humiliated and taking herself quietly away seemed like her only dignified option.
She would write Alissandru a letter. That way, he could curse and storm when he found out that there was to be another baby. He wouldn’t be forced to be polite; he wouldn’t be forced to hide his true feelings. Once the dust had settled on that revelation, she would get in touch with him again.
She went online to see how soon she could get a flight to London but ran into difficulties when it came to travelling with Puggle. Travelling with a dog across Europe could not be done without foresight and planning. Puggle had to receive an injection several days prior to travel and she would need to arrange that first. Constantia would take him, Isla thought ruefully, but when would she ever be able to return to Sicily to reclaim him? Furthermore, leaving her dog with Alissandru’s mother would entail making explanations she had no desire to have to make.
Writing a letter to Alissandru took Isla hours. After several failed attempts, she decided to keep it simple. She admitted that she had found out about the second will and that she had no alternative other than to vacate the house. She made no promises of repayment because, with neither a home nor employment awaiting her in London when she finally got there, there was little point in talking about what she couldn’t deliver. She wrote about the baby in bald terms and assured him that she would get in touch once she was settled again.
Hearts didn’t really break, she told herself firmly as she walked out of the house with Puggle confined in his carrier. She would recover...eventually. Alissandru had not encouraged her to fall in love with him. He had been quite clear from the outset that they were simply having a casual affair. Now she needed to concentrate on finding a local veterinary surgeon and somewhere she could stay with a dog in tow.
CHAPTER TEN
ALISSANDRU DROVE HOME from the fundraiser and the whole way he assured himself that he was giving Isla a night of unbroken sleep. But his foot hovered over the brake as he reached the palazzo and failed to connect, ensuring he drove on in the direction of his twin’s former home. Isla had had an upsetting day and it was natural that he would want to check on her to ensure that she was all right, he reasoned ruefully.
The house was in darkness, which he hadn’t expected because it wasn’t late. Anxious now, he banged on the door, wondering if she had fallen asleep, and, when even that failed to rouse her, he dug out the key he had always had but neglected to mention and stuck it in the door. He called out her name, switched on lights, frowned and took the stairs two at a time, striding into her bedroom to find it empty. Where was she? The dog was missing, as well.
Obviously she had gone out. Was she with his mother? Since his mother had got the puppy, she had been communicating regularly with Isla about dog training. As if Isla could tell anyone anything about dog training, Alissandru reflected wryly. He called his mother to ask if she had company and, while she was telling him that she had not, he finally noticed the letter lying on the bed with his name printed on it.
As he read the first paragraph, which mentioned her unexpected meeting with Marco, he froze and he cursed. When she referred to her having left, he wrenched open the wardrobe door so roughly it almost fell off its hinges. It was empty. Per l’amor di Dio... Isla had left him. Alissandru was stunned into momentary paralysis. He hovered in the centre of the room and tried to entertain the concept of Isla being gone. No, he wasn’t addicted to her, maybe a little obsessed...occasionally. Isla gone.
The shock of that knowledge made him sit down on the side of the bed because his legs turned weirdly weak. He returned to the letter with renewed interest and then reached the section about the baby on the way again and suddenly, in the midst of his turmoil, Alissandru was smiling. What was it about them? They got together and five minutes later...hey, no complaints, Alissandru reflected abstractedly, enthusiasm at the prospect leaping through him. Isla was going to have his baby. Obviously they were meant to be. It wouldn’t have happened again, he reasoned, if the fates hadn’t intended it so.
Alissandru smiled, temporarily in a world of his own, and then he unfroze. Isla had walked out on him when she needed him. He couldn’t live with that awareness. In fact, it filled him with panic. Where was she? How was he to track her down? Could she have flown out of Sicily already? Should he go to the airport first?
His mobile buzzed, and he snatched it up.
It was Grazia and he only answered it because, if he didn’t, Grazia would simply keep on ringing and ringing.
‘Alissandru...’ he breathed harshly.
‘Have you lost anything? Or should I say anyone?’
‘How do you know that?’ Alissandru demanded rawly.
‘Because I’ve found what you lost by the side of the road, complete with a yappy little dog.’
‘By the side of the road?’ Alissandru exclaimed, leaping upright in consternation.
‘The getaway car broke down,’ Grazia said succinctly. ‘I drove past them on the way home, had to practically force Isla into my car. What have
you been doing, Alissandru?’
‘I screwed up,’ Alissandru bit out in a roughened undertone.
‘Well, they’re at my house and I’m off to my parents’ for the night. Keys in the usual place. Admit it... I’m the best friend you’ve ever had.’
‘You’re the best friend I’ve ever had,’ Alissandru recited breathlessly as he practically ran down the stairs, slammed through the door, flung himself into his car.
‘Now stop right there and think,’ Grazia urged as he fired the engine. ‘You don’t go in cold and without knowing what you’re going to say.’
‘I know. I know exactly,’ Alissandru told her boldly, and he did know, just the same way as his twin had once told him he knew, only it had taken an awful lot longer for the truth to hit Alissandru.
But the truth had hit him at remarkable speed when he’d walked through that empty house and the prospect of spending even one night without Isla had hung over him like a thunderclap of doom.
* * *
Emotionally speaking, Isla was all over the place. She had had the strength to walk away and then Tania’s car had broken down halfway between the estate and San Matteo. That was when the floods of tears had engulfed her. That was when everything going wrong had just combined into one giant heavy rock grinding her down, squeezing the life out of her. But above all had been the screaming sense of having left part of herself behind, as well.
She loved Alissandru Rossetti. She hated him for feeling sorry for her and neglecting to tell her about the will, but he was still the father of her baby and the man she loved. When Grazia had stopped and initially offered her a lift into town, Isla had had no choice but to accept the offer, and when she had asked if Grazia knew anywhere she could get a room for the night with a dog, Grazia had informed her that there was only one place. And she hadn’t explained until she’d pulled up outside a beautiful, newish-looking, modern detached house outside town that the only place that would take a dog for the night was her house.
Practically pushing Isla through the front door, Grazia had then shown her up to an en-suite bedroom, urging her to get into something comfortable while telling her that the kitchen was full of food and to make herself at home.
Puggle had required no such encouragement. He had curled up in a basket in the kitchen with Grazia’s elegant little grey whippet, Primo, and gone straight to sleep, the trauma of being pushed into his transport carrier gratefully left behind him.
Isla had showered and put on her pyjamas. She wasn’t hungry and she wasn’t sleepy either and the prospect of watching Italian television when she couldn’t speak the language had little appeal. When she heard the front door opening, she assumed it was Grazia returning from wherever she had rushed off to, and she stood up. The sight of Alissandru walking through the door was a total shock and her eyes flew wide.
‘How did you know I was here?’ she gasped.
‘Grazia. She knew I’d want to know. I owe her a massive thank you,’ Alissandru bit out harshly. ‘How could you just run off like that? What on earth possessed you?’
‘What else could I do in the circumstances?’ Isla hurled back. ‘How did you think I’d feel when I found out about the second will? Where was it anyway?’
‘Paulu’s assistant found it in the contents of his desk... Look, sit down. You shouldn’t be getting all riled up,’ Alissandru framed jerkily, shaken to look at her and appreciate that she was carrying his child again, even more shaken by how that made him feel. It made him feel better; it made him feel that he had a future again.
‘Why shouldn’t I be getting all riled up?’ Isla asked combatively. ‘You withheld vital information from me. Information that I had a right to know.’
Alissandru yanked loose his bow tie and undid his collar while expelling his breath slowly. He didn’t look as knife-sharp elegant and self-contained as he usually did. His black hair was untidy and lines of strain bracketed his mouth. He stared at her with glittering golden eyes. ‘Where were you going when the car broke down?’
‘I was hoping to find a hotel that would take Puggle but Grazia said there wasn’t one that she knew of and brought me here. Then she just disappeared.’
‘She’s gone to her parents’ for the night,’ Alissandru explained and he stalked round the room, stopped to shrug and then looked at her again. ‘How was I supposed to tell you about the second will? I knew it would wreck all your plans. I knew it would make you leave Sicily and that you wouldn’t accept my financial help. I didn’t want you to leave.’
‘I’m leaving,’ Isla told him, dry-mouthed. ‘I have to deal with this situation and get on with my life. I may be pregnant but I’m not living off you unless I’m forced to.’
‘Expect to be forced,’ Alissandru muttered half under his breath while scooping up Puggle and ruffling his curly head with a wry apology for not having a treat for him. ‘You see, if you’re Puggle, life is simple. He trusts and likes the people who feed him.’
‘I don’t need you to feed me, Alissandru,’ Isla said drily, while watching in surprise as he stroked her dog. ‘When did you start liking him?’
He set the dog down. ‘I wouldn’t go as far as saying I like him yet, but he’s yours and that makes a difference. He accepts me, I accept him.’ He glanced at her through the tangle of his long black lashes, golden eyes bright as sunlight. ‘I want this baby... I really, really want this baby. By the time I warmed up to the idea of the first baby, it was gone.’
‘I didn’t know you’d warmed up,’ Isla whispered shakily, thoroughly disconcerted by what he had declared.
‘You didn’t give me the chance to tell you,’ he reminded her. ‘You just shut me out after the...miscarriage. I didn’t think you’d believe me if I told you how I felt or that I was grieving, too. It was a loss to me, as well. I’d started looking forward to becoming a father, seeing the whole situation in a very positive light. But what restricted me back then doesn’t restrict me now.’
Her brow furrowed as she tried to accept that he had felt much more than she had given him credit for when she’d miscarried. But she could not doubt the sincerity in his eyes or the husky emotion lacing his words. ‘What restricted you?’
‘I still had you all tangled up with Tania inside my head back then. I didn’t trust you, didn’t really know you. That’s all changed,’ he pointed out.
‘Yes. But after the miscarriage, you said that it wasn’t meant to be, and that really upset me,’ she admitted unevenly. ‘I assumed you meant that people like you and me, from such different backgrounds, don’t have children together.’
His ebony brows pleated. ‘Of course, I didn’t mean that. I’m not a snob. I don’t rate people by how much money they have.’
‘You did me,’ she reminded him helplessly.
‘Tania cast a long shadow,’ he said ruefully in his own defence. ‘And I received a bad first impression of you. I didn’t want to make the same mistake Paulu had and get involved with the wrong woman. That’s why I left the croft so fast that morning. I wanted to stay longer. I wanted to spend time with you and that shocked me. I thought I’d soon get over it but after you, I didn’t want other women. You spoiled me for them. I’ve only been with you since that first night.’
Genuine joy unfurled inside Isla at that unexpected assurance. She had wondered, of course she’d wondered whether he had been with anyone else before she came to Sicily. The discovery that he had only been with her made her feel much more secure. That he wanted their baby as well and was willing to openly acknowledge the fact warmed her down deep inside.
‘When I stood in that empty house tonight, I was devastated that you were gone and I knew then that I loved you and that nothing but marriage would satisfy me this time around.’
It was quite a speech and it shook Isla where she stood. She blinked and swallowed hard and when she looked again he was still studying her as if she was the only
woman in the world for him. ‘You love me? You want to marry me?’
‘You once said you wouldn’t marry me if I was the last man alive. I hope I’ve risen a little higher in your estimation since then,’ he confided with entirely surprising humility as, to her shock, he got down on one knee.
‘Marry me, Isla,’ he urged. ‘I do love you, more than I ever thought I could love any woman. Unfortunately you came into my life when I wasn’t expecting you but having you in my life means everything to me and I don’t want to lose you.’
Absolutely gobsmacked, Isla stared down at him without words, in such shock that she was reeling. ‘You really love me?’
‘I started falling for you the first night but I didn’t realise why I couldn’t forget you. So, will you marry me? I’m starting to feel like a bit of an idiot down here!’ he told her drily.
‘Of course, I’m going to marry you,’ Isla informed him with newly learned confidence as she hauled him up to her with greedy hands. ‘You love me, you want me, you want our baby...that’s the biggest surprise of all!’
‘A piece of you, a piece of me, maybe even a dash of my brother or even Tania,’ Alissandru pointed out with only the faintest flinch at that final possibility. ‘How could I not want my child? It took me a long time to get here, Isla, but now you’ve got me, you’re not going to get rid of me again.’
Isla stood in the strong circle of his arms, trying to compute how life could travel from being totally horrendous to totally wonderful in the space of minutes, and not doing very well. ‘I don’t want rid of you,’ she mumbled shakily, and then the tears were coming, cascading from her eyes as though she had taps behind them.
And Alissandru grabbed her up in a panic and sank down on the sofa holding her. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I’m j-just s-so h-happy!’ Isla stammered apologetically through her tears.