‘Oh, Lucio.’ She sank into his arms. ‘I can’t believe this is happening to me.’
‘Believe it, cara,’ he whispered into her hair. ‘This was meant to be. It is fate.’
Fate.
Anna got out of the lift and made her way to the staff room, her heart sinking at what she’d just committed herself to.
Three months as Lucio’s lover—no, mistress, she corrected herself. Mistress seemed to suggest a relationship of lesser value. She would be dispensed with as soon as he tired of her, his revenge complete.
It was understandable that he was still angry. She knew it was unreasonable of her to expect any different. In the same place she would have been devastated. It still hurt even now to think of him with someone else in the way they had loved, their bodies so attuned to each other he had only to look at her to make her want him.
She stepped out of her maid’s uniform and back into her street clothes, not for the first time wishing they weren’t quite so old and unfashionable.
She shook out her hair and lamented the absence of makeup on her pale face, wishing she could have some sort of physical armour against Lucio’s threats.
He’d changed.
He was no longer the gentle, gallant man of her dreams. He was a dark avenger, intent on righting the wrongs of the past by making her pay the price for her sins.
Oh, how she had paid for those sins!
A day never closed without her trying to make sense of her totally uncharacteristic actions. If the photographs didn’t exist to tell her otherwise she would have sworn it was all a lie.
On the surface Carlo had always presented himself as the charming younger brother of Lucio, happy to be the second in command. He’d taken the news of his brother’s engagement with his usual equanimity but somehow Anna had suspected he was annoyed. She’d often found his eyes on her at unexpected moments, his narrow-eyed look unsettling her. She’d wanted to speak to Lucio about it but he was tying up some loose business ends so he could concentrate on their wedding, which was set for one month’s time.
Those early weeks had flown past in a haze of sensual delight as Lucio had taught her the language of love and schooled her body into speaking it fluently. She had cried out her pleasure, sobbed in his arms at the intensity of her feelings, as he’d held her close, his long limbs entwined with hers.
Her happiness had known no bounds. She’d been glowing with it; her steps, so laden before with grief and tribulation, now light and carefree.
Even Jenny had lost her fragile look, her thin fifteen-year-old body filling out at last, her confidence visibly growing.
Together they had planned Anna’s wedding, staying up late at night going over designs and flowers, neither of them mentioning their mother, but both wishing she could have seen how happily everything had turned out.
But it hadn’t turned out happily.
Carlo had seen to that.
He had handed her a glass of champagne on one of the first evenings Lucio had been away on business, his smile a perfect guise for what he had in store.
‘To your future, Anna.’ He lifted his own glass.
Something in his tone alerted her to a sense of danger, but she ignored it, comforting herself with the knowledge that Jenny was in the next room.
It was only later, when she finally woke up in Carlo’s bed, the brilliant sunlight like an accusing eye on her naked form, that she realised her mistake.
Even if she had cried out no one would have heard her.
CHAPTER THREE
ANNA forced her thoughts away from the past.
It couldn’t change anything. What she had done could not be undone. She’d slept with her fiancé’s brother and there was evidence to prove it. Even though she could scratch together some vague details of that night, most of it still remained a blur.
She had no choice but to believe what Carlo had told Lucio.
She had seduced his brother and when he’d woken and realised his mistake he had taken the photographs to prove how wanton she was, knowing he’d never be able to convince Lucio without solid evidence.
As evidence went it was as damning as ever could be. She still cringed with shame at the way her body had been sprawled on that bed, her breasts and femininity on full show like something out of a B-grade porn film.
And out of seduction Sammy had been conceived, which had intensified the torture one hundredfold.
He was an innocent child; how could she ever tell him the circumstances of his conception?
She took a deep breath and lifted her hand to knock on the penthouse door, but before her knuckles connected the door sprang open and she almost fell into the room.
‘What took you so long?’ Lucio growled down at her.
‘I’ve only been ten minutes or so,’ she said somewhat defensively.
‘I said ten minutes, not ten or so.’ He slammed the door behind her, making his statement sound all the more commanding.
She sucked in an angry breath. So this was the way he wanted to play it, was it? I’m the master, you are the slave.
Resentment burned in her blue eyes as she faced him. ‘I had to hand in my locker key.’
‘When I designate a time I expect you to obey it to the second.’
‘Is there anything else?’ She glared at him. ‘Sir?’
His jaw tightened, ‘As a matter of fact—yes.’
Something in his expression sent a shiver of apprehension right through her. There was an unmistakable edge of cold-bloodedness about the firm line of his mouth, as if he were intent on making her suffer as much as possible for what she had done to him.
‘Get undressed.’
She reared back in shock. ‘What?’
‘You heard.’
She gaped at him for what seemed like an eternity, her heart hammering inside her, making her feel faint.
‘You can’t be serious!’
‘Get undressed or I will do it for you.’ The ruthlessness of his tone shocked her; it was so at variance with the man she had once known as a passionate but respectful lover.
‘I…I need time…’
‘You’ve had four years.’
Her eyes flew back to his. ‘Why are you doing this?’
‘You know why,’ he said.
‘Isn’t this taking revenge a little too far?’ Her composure was beginning to crack around the edges but she did her best to conceal it from him.
‘I have thought about this moment for a long time. You did this for my brother; now you will do it for me.’
A bubble of hysteria spilled into her throat and she swallowed deeply to stop it escaping.
‘Don’t do this, Lucio.’ Her voice was a mere whisper, her tone now pleading.
‘Do not tell me what I can or can’t do!’ His words were as sharp as a whip cracking. ‘You will do as I say or bear the consequences.’
‘I will hate you for ever.’
‘You showed me your hatred by sleeping with my brother. Now it is time for me to demonstrate my own.’
She stood immobile, coldness creeping into her bones even though the temperature outside was in the high twenties.
Never in her worst nightmares had she ever expected to be in such a situation. Her worries over Sammy, her fears for his health on top of seeing Lucio again, were suddenly all too much.
In spite of years of feminist teachings that insisted she take control and not give in to feminine weakness, she did what any self-respecting girl would do.
She burst into floods of tears.
Lucio stood in a frozen silence, the sight of Anna’s shaking shoulders and bent golden head driving all thought of revenge out of his mind.
‘Anna.’ He lowered his voice and stepped towards her. ‘Anna…’
She lifted her streaming face to glare at him. ‘Now see what you’ve done. Are you happy now?’
His throat moved up and down in a swallow and one of his hands raked through the thickness of his hair in a distracted manner.
&
nbsp; ‘I didn’t mean to make you cry.’
‘D…didn’t you?’ she sobbed. ‘What did you mean to do, then?’
He drew in a ragged breath. ‘I’m sorry. I had temporarily forgotten the stress you must be under with your little son.’
His gentle tone only made her cry all the more. ‘It’s been so…so hard,’ she choked. ‘I’ve done all I can do but it’s not enough. I can’t see him…die…Surely you understand that?’
His dark eyes held hers. ‘Of course I understand that.’
She sniffed and he handed her a clean white handkerchief. She buried her face in it, glad of a chance to escape his probing, watchful gaze.
‘I will take you home to him.’
‘I can catch a tram.’
‘Anna.’ His hands came to rest on the top of her shoulders, leaving her no choice but to lift her gaze to his. ‘This…thing between us is between us. I want you to know I will not involve either Sammy or Jenny.’
‘How very decent of you.’ Her tone was laced with sarcasm as she removed herself from his hold.
‘You are overwrought.’
‘I am angry!’ she shot back. ‘How can you humiliate me in such a way?’
‘So now you’ve had your little cry you are back to spitting and snarling at me, eh, cara?’
‘I would like to scratch your damn eyes out,’ she said through clenched teeth. ‘I hate you.’
‘I am unconcerned about your feelings for me,’ he responded with implacable calm. ‘By the time our affair is over you will undoubtedly hate me a whole lot more.’
The breath she drew in hurt her all the way down into her lungs.
‘How can you live with yourself? How can you stand there and speak so calmly of what amounts to nothing more than exploitation?’
‘I am not exploiting you, cara, I am helping you.’
‘For your own ends, yes!’
His eyes sent her a warning. ‘I will not tolerate your insults. I suggest you get them over with while I am still feeling sorry for you, for I can assure you I will not be so gracious in future.’
She swung away from him in fury, stomping across the room to put as much distance as she could between them.
‘When do I have to report for…duty?’ She made it sound as distasteful as she could, hoping to annoy him.
‘I will give you two days to pack your things. I will send a car for you all on Tuesday.’
‘Just like that?’
He gave her an unreadable look. ‘Just like that.’
Anna sat in miserable silence on the journey back to her flat, the tall, forbidding figure behind the wheel not even once glancing her way.
She gave him some clipped directions and he turned the Maserati into the kerb outside her run-down flat.
‘Thank you for the ride home,’ she mumbled and made to get out of the car.
‘Wait.’ His hand came down on her arm, stalling her.
Her eyes went to the steel bracelet of his tanned fingers around her wrist before travelling back to his dark, unfathomable eyes.
‘Aren’t you going to introduce me to your son?’ His expression held a trace of mockery.
‘He’s probably asleep.’ She reached for the door again but his hold tightened warningly.
‘Then you will wake him and introduce his uncle to him.’
‘I will do no such thing!’
‘Mummee!’ a little voice called from the top floor of the flat. ‘Mummee!’
Anna stumbled from the car, hardly even noticing how Lucio’s hand had fallen away from hers as if she had burnt him.
‘Hello, darling.’ She waved one still shaking hand towards her little son’s smiling face.
‘Who’s dat man?’ he asked.
‘He’s…’
‘Tell him I’m his uncle,’ Lucio said from behind her.
Anna swung back around to face him. ‘I can’t do that!’
His expression hardened as he looked down at her. ‘Why not?’
She shifted her tortured gaze away from the heat of his. ‘Because I told Jenny that Sammy was your son.’
‘Dio!’
‘I had to,’ she continued. ‘I didn’t want to upset her by…I thought it the best thing.’
‘So you weren’t even honest with your sister over what you had done?’
She bit her lip and turned away.
‘We will discuss this later,’ he said and took her hand once more.
Jenny’s startled expression spoke volumes as Anna and Lucio entered the flat. Her fingers flew with rapid-fire questions, her elfin face troubled.
‘It’s all right,’ Anna said, signing and speaking at the same time. ‘Lucio and I are seeing each other again.’
Jenny’s face broke into a smile and she spoke out loud, ‘Really?’
‘Yes, Jenny,’ Lucio said. ‘It is true. We are resuming our relationship. Our…misunderstanding has been dealt with and we are now planning our future.’
‘I am so happy for you!’ Jenny threw her hands to the sides of her face in rapturous delight. ‘I have dreamed of this day!’
Anna quickly signed back, ‘Don’t get too excited, Jen. We’re not getting married—just living together. He wants us all to live with him.’
Jenny’s smile hardly wavered as she signed back, ‘What does that matter? The important thing is that you are together once more. Sammy will have his father with him at last.’
Oh, the tangled web, Anna thought. It was as if every lie she’d ever told was coming back to haunt her.
She hadn’t thought she’d ever see Lucio again, so telling her sister he was the father of her son had seemed the right thing to do at the time. She hadn’t realised she was even pregnant until she was well into her third month, having put down her disrupted pattern to the trauma she’d gone through with her break-up with Lucio and her guilt over how she’d torn their lives apart.
‘I can see I shall have to learn to sign or you two will be saying things behind my back without me knowing it,’ Lucio drawled.
Jenny giggled.
Anna seethed.
And Sammy came bolting into the room, coming to a complete stop in front of the tall figure standing next to his mother.
‘Who are you?’ he asked as he hadn’t received an answer earlier.
Lucio squatted down and held out his hand, ‘I am your father.’
‘Are you really?’ Sammy’s deep brown eyes widened.
‘I am indeed,’ he said, lifting the small child up into his arms.
Seeing them together for the first time made Anna’s heart squeeze painfully. No one would ever know they weren’t father and son. They had the same raven hair and chocolate eyes, the same determined chin and intractable mouth.
‘I have heard you have not been well,’ Lucio said. ‘But I am here now so you can concentrate on getting better.’
‘But what about when I get better?’ Sammy asked. ‘Will you still be here den?’
Anna turned away, unable to watch him lie to her child.
‘I will make you a promise, Sammy,’ he said. ‘You get better and I will make sure I see you every day.’
A tide of fear rose in her stomach as realisation dawned.
The Ventressis were a wealthy family with access to the best legal advice money could buy. It would be a simple task to whisk Sammy away from his hard-pressed single mother and return him to his wealthy father. Carlo would be able to give him the sorts of things she had only ever dreamed about. The best health care, a private education and holidays by the seaside—the list went on and on inside her head. She wouldn’t have a legal leg to stand on. She had withheld the news of his birth from his father, which would, no doubt, be viewed in a pretty poor light in a country as patriarchal as Italy.
‘Sammy—’ Anna’s voice came out croakily ‘—why don’t you and Auntie Jenny go to the shops for me while I discuss some things with…your father?’ She sent her sister a grateful glance as Jenny took his hand.
‘Come on, Sammy,
’ Jenny said. ‘We can take a detour to the park on the way.’
‘Goodie!’
Anna waited until the front door had closed behind them before turning to Lucio. ‘You had no right to lie to him like that.’
He held her fiery look with ease. ‘I wasn’t lying to him. I meant it. I will see him every day.’
‘For how long? Three months? He’s a little child, Lucio, not a toy you can pick up and put down whenever the fancy takes you. He’ll become attached to you and then when you leave he’ll…’
‘He is most definitely a Ventressi,’ he said, ignoring her tirade. ‘But he looks more like me than Carlo.’
‘Well, thank God he doesn’t have your personality,’ she shot back before she could stop herself.
He stood watching her for a long moment, his closed expression leaving her confused at what was going on behind the dark screen of his contemplative gaze.
‘He should have been mine.’ He broke the heavy silence.
She looked down at her hands, ‘We can’t change the past, no matter how much we might want to.’
‘So you regret your actions?’
‘I’m surprised you can ask that,’ she said. ‘I regret everything. I regret meeting you and falling in love with you—’
‘You did not love me!’ His fierce tone cut her off. ‘You wanted a meal ticket and you reeled me in with your fake innocence. I was a fool to fall for it. You were a cheap little tramp who had her sights set on Carlo from the first.’
‘That’s not true!’
‘Isn’t it?’ His dark eyes narrowed. ‘He told me how you pursued him.’
‘What?’
‘All the time I wasn’t there he said he had to fend off your advances.’
‘That’s a lie!’
He gave her a scathing look. ‘You think I would hold your word over that of my brother?’
‘No, but that doesn’t mean he’s telling the truth.’
‘He’s never lied to me before or indeed since. But you—your whole life is a lie. You have kept my family ignorant of your son’s existence.’
‘But you seemed to know about him, all the same,’ she pointed out. ‘You asked after him yesterday in the café, remember?’
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