by Kate Hewitt
Surprise flashed across his features, followed by a ripple of pleasure, and then he nodded. Mia turned and walked towards the back of the plane with Ella in her arms.
He should have thanked her back, Alessandro realised belatedly as Mia closed the door of the plane’s bedroom behind her. She’d thanked him; he should have thanked her, for going along with his plans, for agreeing to so much. But he hadn’t thought of it, and the realisation shamed him, an unexpected, unwelcome feeling.
What he was doing was reasonable and generous. He was offering Mia far more than she could ever have on her own—a lifestyle of which she would have never been able even to dream. And yet…in some way he was taking her freedom. He recognised that, just as he recognised she was taking his. Still, it had been his idea, his will. He recognised that too.
Restless, Alessandro rose from his seat to prowl the living area of the plane, knowing he wouldn’t be able to work or settle to anything. He should be feeling satisfied, having arranged everything as he’d wanted it. Within twenty-four hours of arriving in California, he had Mia and his daughter back on a plane to Tuscany.
All was going according to his plan. So why did he feel so…restless? So dissatisfied and hungry, in a way he didn’t expect or understand?
He sat down again, pulling his laptop towards him, determined to work. But after only an hour he realised he hadn’t got anything done; he’d been staring at a spreadsheet of profit margins for at least twenty minutes.
With a near growl, he pushed his laptop away and strode towards the back of the plane. He could check on Mia and Ella, at least, and make sure they were okay.
He opened the door as quietly as he could; the bedroom was swathed in darkness, the shades drawn down against the night sky, the only light coming from the adjoining bathroom, the door ajar.
Mia lay on her side, her hair spread across the pillow in a golden sheet, Ella in the middle of the bed, cradled gently in her arm, both of them fast asleep. As Alessandro came closer he saw that Ella had finished feeding; a milk bubble frothed at her lips, one fist flung upwards by her round cheek. His gaze moved to Mia, and something in him jolted as he saw she’d changed into a white cotton nightgown, its buttons undone so she could feed Ella, one creamy breast on display.
All of it together—mother, child—was beautiful to him, and made him ache and yearn even more than he had before. More than he’d ever let himself.
He wanted this. Not just Mia, not just Ella. All of it together. Them. A family, the family he’d always ached for but never known. Finally, it could be his. He hadn’t even realised how much he’d been missing it until it was here, offered up in front of him, tantalising and beautiful.
Resolution crystallised inside him, sharpening into focus. Whatever it took, whatever it meant, he was going to knit them into a family. He would make Mia leave her regrets and fears behind; he would work hard to make her want this as much as he did. He’d worked hard for everything in his life, he could work hard at this too, the most important thing. The most important business deal he’d ever make. Not a hostile takeover as Mia had once suggested, but a true and purposeful merger. A marriage.
Carefully, as quietly as he could, he took off his shoes and belt, leaving his clothes on for form’s sake as he stretched out on the bed next to Mia, gently putting his arm around her. She stirred, and he waited, his breath held, wondering what she would do. Then she let out a breathy sigh and relaxed into him, her body softening against his.
Desire and something far, far deeper roared through him, elemental and overwhelming. Yes, he wanted this. He wanted it with every fibre of his being. And he would have it. Eventually he would have it.
Alessandro didn’t know how long he slept, but he woke when Mia shifted next to him, gasping as she sat up, her hair tumbled about her shoulders, her face flushed.
‘I didn’t mean to fall asleep…’
Alessandro blinked the sleep from his eyes as he took in the magnificent sight of her, her body rosy and soft with sleep, her eyes bright, her nightgown still unbuttoned.
‘I thought that was your intention when you lay down in bed,’ he said, keeping his voice light.
‘I was feeding Ella, and then I was going to put her in the Moses basket.’ She nodded towards the sleeping basket that had been in her apartment, and had been brought to the plane. It was next to the bed, made up with a fleece-lined blanket.
‘She can go in there now.’
‘I shouldn’t have fallen asleep with her on the bed,’ Mia said. She sounded upset. ‘It can be dangerous…’
‘She’s fine, Mia. Look.’ With one hand on her shoulder, he turned her so they could both look at their tiny, sleeping daughter. ‘She’s fine. No harm done.’ He rubbed her shoulder, a touch meant for comfort but which made him decidedly less so. Her skin was warm and soft, her nightgown slipping off her shoulder. He fought the urge to slip his hand inside and cup the breast he’d already seen and that was quite, quite perfect.
‘Still…’ Mia muttered. She sounded half-asleep.
‘I’ll put her in the basket now.’ Awkwardly but tenderly Alessandro scooped Ella up, conscious of her fragility, her utter smallness. He still wasn’t used to holding her.
The baby barely stirred as he laid her in the Moses basket, drawing the blanket over her. Then he returned to the bed, where Mia had already fallen back to sleep.
Gently he brushed a tendril of hair away from her cheek, letting his fingers skim along her silky skin. Her breath came out in a soft sigh and she relaxed against him, her body warm and pliant.
Alessandro shifted so he was lying behind her, one arm around her waist. Awareness prickled painfully through him. Sleep, he knew, would be elusive. Then Mia sighed again and wriggled closer to him, so her bottom was nestled against his groin, her head tucked under his chin. Yes, sleep would be very elusive indeed.
Alessandro kept his body relaxed so Mia would stay asleep, savouring her closeness even as it remained an exquisite form of torture. He breathed in her citrusy scent, revelling in her soft warmth, the nearness of her.
He never slept with the women he bedded. He’d always operated alone, on every level. He’d been happy with that. Yet now he found her closeness comforting, a balm as well as an undoubted enticement. He desired her, but he was also content to have her simply lie in his arms. For now, it was enough. It was more than he’d ever had before.
For a few moments he let his mind drift back over the years of his childhood, the loneliness, the uncertainty, the endless turmoil of being moved from one grotty flat to another, the parade of boyfriends who had raged or sneered or used their fists. And his mother…
But that hurt most of all. He tried never to think of his mother, to remember the look of weary defeat on her face, the words she’d said to him, too exhausted by life to be spiteful. They’d been simple truth.
‘I wish I’d never had you.’
No, he didn’t want to think of that. And he didn’t want his daughter to wonder, even for a day, a minute, if he felt that way about her. He would love Ella the way his mother and father had never loved him. And he would build a marriage with Mia that would be better than the candyfloss froth of fairy tales, a solid relationship of affection and companionship without losing control or being vulnerable the way his mother had been. The way he’d so often felt, as a child.
And yet he recognised, as Mia slept in his arms, that he’d already lost control, in some small but elemental way. Already he’d been more open and vulnerable, more emotional, with her than he ever had with anyone before…not that she would recognise that.
He still did, and it unsettled him. He’d never told anyone about his parents, or how he’d felt as a child. Already she knew more about him than anyone else, ever.
Somehow he was going to have to find a way to have the family he wanted without losing himself in the process. He could not relinquish the s
olitary independence he’d cultivated since he could remember. He didn’t know who he would be without it. And yet he wanted Mia and Ella in his life. He wanted the three of them to be a family.
He must have slept, because bright sunlight was visible underneath the rim of the shades as he stirred in bed, Mia wrapped even more tightly in his arms. In her sleep she’d rolled over to him, and now she was squashed up next to him so he could feel every delectable line and curve of her warm, warm body.
Her eyes fluttered open and she stared straight into his, her body stiffening as she realised how close they were.
‘Good morning,’ he said softly. ‘Ella is still asleep.’
Mia glanced down at their nearly entwined bodies, her breasts spilling out of her nightgown, pressed up against him. Colour flooded her face as she tensed even more.
‘What…?’
‘You were asleep,’ Alessandro said. ‘So was I.’
Her cheeks were stained crimson as she scrambled out of his embrace, buttoning up her nightgown with fumbling fingers.
‘I didn’t…’ she muttered, unable to look him in the eye.
‘Nothing happened, if that’s your concern,’ Alessandro said equably. ‘I would never take advantage of you, Mia. I promise you that.’
She opened her mouth, and Alessandro braced himself for what he was sure she would say. You already have. But then she closed her mouth and shook her head.
‘I’m going to have a shower and get dressed before we land,’ she said. ‘Can you watch Ella?’
‘Of course.’
She looked as if she wanted to say something more, but then she just shook her head again, slipping out of bed and hurrying to the en suite bathroom. The door closed behind her and Alessandro winced as he heard the lock turn with a decisive click.
CHAPTER TEN
MIA HELD ELLA to her as she stepped out of the limo into the warm spring morning. Sunlight glinted off the terracotta tiles of Alessandro’s villa, the Tuscan hills now covered in verdant green and bright blossom.
The place was huge and sprawling, made of white stucco, with terraced gardens on the hillside, bursting with colourful blooms. She could hardly credit that she was going to live in such a magnificent place, if just for three months.
Or maybe for ever.
Alessandro gently placed his hand on the small of her back as he guided her towards the imposing entrance. Mia’s eyes felt gritty, her body aching with fatigue and jet lag despite the few hours’ sleep she’d snatched on the plane, waking up so unsettlingly in Alessandro’s arms. For a second, before she’d woken up completely, she’d lain there, warm and comfortable, snuggled and safe.
Happy.
She’d been completely wrong-footed when she’d realised just how much she’d cosied up to Alessandro, and meanwhile forgotten Ella entirely. He still had that devastating effect on her, she realised. Perhaps he always would—the ability to melt her insides like butter, even as he fanned her to flame. It scared her, the power he could have over her if she let him.
After they’d landed, Mia had done her best to find a cordial but formal middle ground, although he suddenly seemed intent on being close to her whenever he had the opportunity, such as now, when he gently pressed his palm to the small of her back, sending shivers of awareness rippling through her, before he took Ella from her.
‘I’ll hold her for a bit. You look shattered.’
She was shattered, but Ella felt like her safety shield. Without her, Mia was exposed, unsure what to do with her arms, how to look or feel. Everything about this was so incredibly strange. Whether for three months or for ever, she couldn’t believe she and Ella were going to live here, with Alessandro, as a family.
She glanced around the soaring marble foyer in amazed disbelief. Several doors led off to various impressive reception rooms, and a sweeping double staircase led to the second floor.
‘This feels like a castle,’ she couldn’t help but say.
‘And you’re the princess,’ Alessandro told her as he hefted Ella against his shoulder. Already he was starting to handle Ella with more confidence, although he still carried her as if she was so fragile she’d break…or explode.
The flashes of uncertainty Mia saw on his face as he held their daughter made her melt in an entirely different way—he could affect her heart as well as her body. Both were dangerous.
‘You may do whatever you like to the place,’ Alessandro continued, a look of nervousness crossing his face as Ella began to fuss. ‘Redecorate however you want…it is your home, Mia. Yours and Ella’s and mine. Ours.’ He jiggled Ella uncertainly, and as their baby started to settle down he looked up at Mia with a small smile.
‘Do you think she knows me yet?’
‘She’s starting to.’ Ella gave Alessandro a gummy smile that made him grin back in delight.
‘She smiled. She actually smiled.’
Mia couldn’t help but laugh. ‘So she did.’ Watching Alessandro and Ella bond over something as simple as a smile made her heart ache. How could she ever contemplate ending this? Walking away from a family life that neither she nor Alessandro had ever had before?
It was just a smile, she told herself, and in any case, she didn’t yet know what kind of family life they would have. How it would work. No matter what assurances Alessandro made, she wasn’t yet convinced.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘Where…where is my room?’
‘Our room is at the top of the stairs, to the right.’
She turned to him, appalled even as a treacherous excitement made her stomach flip. ‘Our room?’
‘It will be our room,’ he amended somewhat reluctantly. ‘For now you may have it. But I look forward to the day when we might share it.’
‘If,’ Mia couldn’t help but say and Alessandro gave her a knowing look.
‘When,’ he repeated firmly. ‘Definitely when. Now, why don’t you go upstairs and have a bath, relax for a bit? I’ll watch Ella, especially since she seems to like me now.’ He smiled down at their daughter.
‘She needs a feed…’ Mia began, torn between wanting to rest and needing her daughter.
‘I’ll come and get you if she fusses.’
‘You mean when,’ Mia returned wryly, and Alessandro laughed.
‘True enough. When.’ He smiled at her, and Mia found herself smiling back. Maybe she needed to relax…not just in a bath, but with everything. With Alessandro. It was going to be a long, tense three months if she didn’t.
Upstairs Mia wandered into the first room at the right, gaping at the sheer opulence of what was clearly the master bedroom. As Henry Dillard’s PA, and then, briefly, Eric Foster’s, she’d seen more than her fair share of luxury, even if she hadn’t partaken in it directly. But this room exceeded all her expectations.
It was enormous, for a start, its tiled floor supplied with underfloor heating so Mia’s feet remained toasty warm as she slipped off her shoes with a sigh of relief. A king-sized bed stood on its own dais, piled high with silk and satin pillows. A separate seating area with deep leather sofas had a stunning view of the garden below, with an infinity pool and hot tub large enough to seat twenty. Thick-pile rugs were scattered across the floor, so Mia’s toes sank into their exquisite softness as she walked towards the bed.
It looked amazing, inviting, and huge. And one day—if or when—she was meant to share it with Alessandro. Why did that thought not alarm her as it should? She couldn’t deny the lick of excitement low in her belly, even as she tensed at the thought. She knew that giving herself to Alessandro again would come at an emotional cost. He might just see it as sex, but she knew she wouldn’t. Already she felt herself softening to him, and it scared her. She had too many memories, too many fears, to let herself relax and trust Alessandro…even if he proved trustworthy.
She pushed such thoughts out of her mind as she turned to the ba
throom, taking in the sunken marble bathtub, the shower big enough for two, the double sinks. She turned on the taps to fill the tub, and added nearly half a bottle of high-end bubble bath. She was going to have a good, long soak, and try not to think for a while, because if she did, her head might explode.
Twenty minutes later, having submerged herself in hot, soapy bubbles and nearly fallen asleep, Mia sat up suddenly as her breasts prickled and her body tensed. Faintly, so faintly, she heard Ella cry.
With a sigh she pulled the plug on the bath and swathed herself in the thick, velvet-soft terrycloth dressing gown she’d found hanging on the back of the bathroom door. She finger-combed her hair as she walked through the bedroom and then downstairs, following the sound of Ella’s now shrill cries.
She wandered through several empty, elegant rooms before she spied Alessandro rocking Ella in the kitchen, a cheerful and comfortable room at the back of the house, with French windows leading out to a wide terrace with steps down to the garden.
Mia paused in the doorway, spellbound by the simple yet heart-warming scene. Ella was crying with determination, while Alessandro danced around the kitchen, jiggling her rather desperately against his shoulder.
‘Now, bambina, you need to settle down or you’ll wake your mamma. Why are you upset, eh? What is there to be so sad about?’ He pressed a kiss to Ella’s cheek. ‘Are you hungry, cara? Is that the problem? Am I going to have to wake your mamma, after all?’
‘I’m already awake.’
Mia’s voice came out scratchy as she absorbed the scene in front of her, let it squeeze her heart. She’d never seen Alessandro look so gentle, or approachable, or…loving. He’d been loving. And it gave her a glimpse of a future that didn’t look as unfathomable or impossible as she’d assumed it would be. In a strange and surprising way, for a few seconds it had looked…wonderful. And that scared her too, because it was not what she’d expected, and it made her want things she was afraid to try for or even to dream about.
What if Alessandro was right, and they could have a relationship, a marriage, that was strong and true and good? Based on companionship and affection? What if that was possible?