‘This is where you are meant to be,’ he said as though reading her mind. His arms tightened. ‘Where you should have been all these years.’
She had no desire to resurrect the past. ‘I’m here now, so do we talk or did you have something else in mind?’
Dante’s laugh was so joyous that Rose laughed with him as his lips and hands told her exactly what he had in mind as he made love to her with patience which ended abruptly when for the first time she initiated some caresses of her own. Dante surrendered joyously to his hunger and took her to the very peak of physical rapture and held her there, gasping with her in the throes of it before they returned to earth.
‘If we get married—’ she said later, lying boneless in Dante’s arms.
‘When we get married,’ Dante corrected and turned her face up to his. ‘What were you going to say, amore?’
‘I wondered what kind of wedding you had with Elsa.’ So they could do something completely different—if her answer was yes. As it was going to be, she realised. There was no way she could deprive her child of the kind of life she’d experienced today.
‘Elsa was in such a hurry after I told her about you she changed her plans for the wedding of the year into a brief visit to the town hall—but with many photographers there to record the wedding of Elsa Marino, supermodel, naturalmente.’ Dante shrugged. ‘I was glad of a civil ceremony. It was easier to end our marriage later when she met Enrico and his money.’
‘But you must have been in love with her in the beginning, surely?’
‘I was attracted by the outer beautiful shell—also she was very skilled in bed,’ he said bluntly. ‘We knew each other for so short a time I did not discover the true Elsa until our wedding night, when she told me the pregnancy was a lie, and that she had no intention of having children ever.’
‘What on earth did you do?’ said Rose.
He took a deep breath. ‘For the first time in my life I could have done violence to a woman. To avoid this I did something which injured her far more. I went into the salone of our suite and locked the door. She screamed and cursed me for rejecting her but, as I told you before, and I swear it is the truth, I never touched her again throughout the sham of our marriage.’ Dante shuddered and hugged her close. ‘No more talk of Elsa, per favore.’
Rose agreed fervently. ‘I just asked so we could plan something completely different for our wedding.’ She felt the graceful, muscular body tense against hers as she turned her face up to his.
‘Finalmente! You will marry me?’
‘You said it’s what you want.’
His eyes blazed with triumph. ‘More than anything in my life.’ He caught her close and kissed her passionately. ‘I promise you will never regret this, Rose.’
‘I’ll hold you to that.’ She kissed him back.
Dante rubbed his cheek against hers. ‘Now you have said yes at last we must make plans. We could have the wedding at the Hermitage. Tony does these often. Then after the ceremony we have a party like the Vilari wedding.’ He reached out a hand to switch on the bedside lamp and looked down into Rose’s face. ‘But this time you will be the bride and I shall gain my heart’s desire of a child at last.’
Tears welled in her eyes, and Dante caught her to him. ‘Do not cry, tesoro. If you do not like this idea—’
‘Oh, but I do, I do—I love it,’ she said thickly, and knuckled away the tears which had welled at the mention of a child. Not, she assured herself, ashamed, that she was jealous of Bea. She just wanted Dante’s heart’s desire to include her as well as Bea.
Dante slid out of bed to take a handkerchief from his dressing chest and dried her eyes. ‘What can I do to dry your tears?’
Rose sniffed inelegantly. ‘Just hold me, please.’
‘Always,’ he said, and slid under the covers to pull her close. ‘So why did you weep, cara?’
‘Because it’s exactly the kind of wedding I wanted but didn’t like to ask.’
‘Perche?’ he said, mystified. ‘Rose, surely you must know by now that I would give you and Bea the moon if I could.’
‘How lovely,’ she said unsteadily and grinned at him. ‘But a Hermitage wedding with our families around us is all I want—complete with our own personal bridesmaid!’
Dante laughed and held her closer. ‘Bea will enjoy that very much, I think.’
‘She will,’ said Rose fervently, and then frowned. ‘Will your mother mind having the wedding in England?’
‘No, because she is so delighted that I am marrying again. And to please her—and myself—we can repeat our vows privately later before a priest in Fortino. But we must arrange our wedding very soon, not only because I am impatient, but so Charlotte can be there.’ Dante gave a deep sigh of satisfaction. ‘I am sure Tony will be happy to make space in his Hermitage schedule for his favourite cousin.’
Rose smiled at him ruefully. ‘I can’t believe this is all happening. Pinch me, Dante, so I know I’m not dreaming.’ She hissed as he gently pinched a nipple. ‘I didn’t mean there! You’ll have to kiss it better now.’
‘If you insist.’ He sighed and then eyed her sternly as she punched his shoulder. ‘Be still while I obey your command.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE REST OF their stay at the Villa passed so quickly in visits to Dante’s parents to ask their blessing, and to Harriet and Leo and the Vilaris to give their news, the day of departure was on them all too soon.
‘It seems a shame to drag you all the way to England just to take us home,’ said Rose the night before.
Dante shook his head. ‘I must make sure you arrive safely, then I will stay the night in your bed and try not to think of all the nights when I’ll lie in this bed alone until you come back to me.’
‘You spent a lot of nights in it alone in the past,’ she pointed out.
‘But that was before I knew the joy of sharing it with you, amore. Now it will be hard to sleep without you.’
‘You haven’t slept much with me!’
‘Certo. Why waste time in sleep when we can make love?’ Dante held her close. ‘But it is not just the lovemaking I will miss. It is having you here to talk and laugh with, to share my life with you and Bea.’ He tensed as he heard a cry from his daughter’s room and shrugged on his dressing gown. ‘Stay there, amore. I will fetch her.’
‘You’re in Daddy’s bed,’ Bea accused tearfully when Dante brought her to Rose.
‘Mummy’s going to sleep here with me now,’ he informed his daughter.
‘When I get bad dreams I sleep in Mummy’s bed,’ she told him militantly.
Dante laid her down alongside Rose and got in beside them. ‘But now I will be there, too, to chase the bad dreams away,’ he said firmly and smiled at Rose as their child nodded contentedly and laid her curly head on his shoulder.
* * *
With the prospect of parting from Dante looming over her, Rose found it hard to smile for Bea on the flight home as her child chattered about seeing Gramma and Tom again. She felt uneasy and oddly tearful. Stupid, she lectured herself. Soon they would be married and could be together for the rest of their lives. A prospect she’d never imagined, ever. And in the meantime she would have enough to occupy her with her normal workload added to the wedding arrangements and finding a purchaser for her business.
‘You are sad, tesoro?’ said Dante quietly as the plane began its descent into Heathrow.
‘Yes,’ she said honestly and tried to smile.
He clasped her hand tightly. ‘I will miss you both so much,’ he said as Bea began to stir from her nap. ‘Wake up, piccola. We are almost there.’
Since Rose had texted her mother on the car journey from the airport, Grace and Tom were waiting at the front door of Willow House, arms outstretched as Bea ran to them, talking at the top of
her voice.
‘Gramma,’ she cried as Grace snatched her close to kiss her, ‘Daddy’s mummy is Nonna, and his daddy is Nonno, and I got lots of cousins, and Daddy bought me a doll. Her name is Dolly.’ She turned to Tom, arms up. ‘Auntie Charlotte gave me a present for you, Tom.’ Beaming, she gave him two smacking kisses as he swung her up.
‘Thank you, Honey Bea,’ he said, returning the kisses with gusto as Rose hugged her mother. ‘How was Auntie Charlotte?’
‘She’s a lot fatter,’ Bea informed him as he put her down. She ran to Rose and picked up her left hand. ‘Look, Gramma—Daddy gave Mummy a present.’
Grace took a look at the ring and hugged Rose close again. ‘How absolutely lovely.’ She smiled warmly at Dante as he brought the luggage. ‘Welcome back.’
‘Thank you, signora.’ He kissed her hand and turned to Tom. ‘Charlotte is looking very well, sir.’
‘Good to know. Any hope of Fabio letting her fly over soon?’ said Tom wryly.
‘As a matter of fact, yes,’ said Rose, and exchanged a smiling glance with Dante. ‘Let’s go inside so we can tell you why.’
* * *
Bea was incensed the next day when she found Dante was leaving, and clung to him in tears when the taxi arrived.
‘Soon,’ Dante promised as he held his child in his arms, ‘we shall be together at the Villa Castiglione, but until then you must help Mummy and Gramma plan the wedding, yes?’
Bea’s tears dried a little as she looked at her mother. ‘Can I, Mummy?’
Rose nodded. ‘Of course, as soon as Daddy arranges the date for the party.’
Bea brightened. ‘With balloons?’
Dante laughed as he set her on her feet. ‘With balloons, yes! Now I must go, but first I will kiss your mamma goodbye.’ He held Rose close as he kissed her. ‘Do not work too hard, and take great care of yourself, carina.’
‘You, too,’ she said and smiled brightly.
* * *
The period that followed was one of the most hectic of Rose’s life, but the soonest wedding date possible for everyone concerned was a month later, which made it still possible for Charlotte to come, but did not please Dante. ‘Tony Mostyn could not do it sooner, even for me! But this is good for you, Rose?’
‘Yes. It’s not long. Actually, I’m glad of time to get everything settled.’ Secretly, she would have preferred it sooner, with less time to worry about Dante’s motives for marrying her. But every time doubts crept in she thought of Bea, and how she had clung to her daddy as they parted. And as Rose had done since her child was born, she did what was best for Bea, which in this case was to get on with marrying Bea’s father.
‘Rose?’ said Dante in her ear, ‘are you still there?’
‘Yes,’ she said hastily.
‘I thought I’d lost you. I shall contact Tony right now to confirm and will ring you again later. Or will you be too tired?’
‘No. Ring me whatever time it is.’
He sighed. ‘Ah, Rose, I wish I was there with you. It is strange that I have survived for years without you, yet now the wait to have you both here with me is intolerable.’
Both. Rose yearned for Dante to long for her alone for once, and felt mortified because she did. ‘By the way, I’ve had some feelers about my business, but I’m going to wait for a while before putting the house up for sale.’
There was silence for a moment. ‘Perche? You feel the need of a sanctuary to run to if I do not make you happy?’
‘No. It’s just that the market is flat right now, so I’ll wait until things improve.’
Dante sounded unconvinced as he said goodbye. Rose wished she hadn’t mentioned the subject, and by the time he rang again later to report on his talk with Tony her headache was making her queasy.
‘All is arranged, cara,’ he told her. ‘Tony and Allegra are very happy for us.’
‘That’s good.’ Rose hesitated. ‘Dante, are you upset because I’m keeping the house?’
He laughed. ‘No, I am not. It is your house to do with as you wish. Now, let us talk of wedding dresses. Please allow me to pay for them, Rose.’
‘Thank you, but no, Dante. Mum insists on footing the bill for the bride—and the bridesmaid.’
* * *
When the wedding day finally came—though at one stage Rose had been convinced it never would—she felt a sense of déjà vu as she entered the Hermitage. But today she was the one holding Tom’s arm, and of the two strikingly handsome Italian men waiting for her, this time round Dante Fortinari was the bridegroom. Her bridegroom.
At first sight of the smiling faces turned towards her in the private room used for the ceremony, Rose’s heart filled with such mixed emotions she felt giddy and held on tightly to the small hand of the bridesmaid, who grew very excited when she spotted assorted cousins waving at her.
‘Look, Mummy,’ Bea said, waving back, then beamed. ‘And there’s Daddy with Uncle Fabio.’
Dante watched the progress of the bride and bridesmaid with pride blazing in his eyes. He received Rose from Tom with murmured thanks and kissed his daughter lovingly before Tom bore her off to sit with Grace and Charlotte.
Dante made the simple vows with such passionate sincerity Rose had to fight against tears as she responded, hardly able to believe this was really happening at last as Dante drew his bride’s hand through his arm afterwards to walk past the rows of smiling guests.
‘Who is the fair man with Leo and Harriet?’ asked Rose.
‘Pascal Tavernier, my cousin’s husband. Rosa is not here, much to her wrath, because she is about to give birth. Her absence will save much confusion. She is only distantly related to Harriet, but so strongly resembles her she could be her twin.’
‘She must be very beautiful then,’ said Rose.
‘Certo, but not as beautiful as my wife,’ said Dante in a tone which transformed Rose into the quintessential blushing bride as their daughter came running to join them in a flurry of organdie frills, the chaplet of flowers still miraculously anchored to her curls as she linked hands with her parents and beamed for the photographers.
Among the festive gold and silver balloons in the Hermitage ballroom, Rose could hardly believe this was happening as she stood with Dante to receive their guests in almost exactly the same places they’d occupied years before at Charlotte’s wedding. Something Charlotte was quick to point out while Grace and Tom, and then Maria and Lorenzo Fortinari hugged and kissed the bride and groom.
‘I am so happy,’ said Maria, dabbing carefully at her eyes. ‘You look so lovely, Rose—and so does our little angel.’ She bent to kiss Bea. ‘That is such a beautiful dress, bella.’
‘I choosed it myself,’ said Bea happily, and tugged on Grace’s hand. ‘This is my gramma, Nonna.’
Maria kissed Grace, and then smiled up at Tom and kissed him, too. ‘Now we are all family, tesoro,’ she informed her granddaughter.
After so much hugging and kissing, Rose left her daughter with her two grandmothers and went off with Harriet and Charlotte before the meal to make repairs.
‘That’s a very clever dress,’ said Harriet as Rose straightened the folds of chiffon.
‘More clever than you know,’ said Charlotte. ‘It’s a replica of the one she wore as my bridesmaid. How on earth did you find it, love?’
Rose smiled. ‘I was lucky enough to find the right shade of fabric and a dressmaker willing to copy the dress in the photograph.’
‘From his reaction when he saw you, Dante believes he’s the lucky one,’ said Harriet.
‘That’s because I come part of a package with our daughter,’ said Rose, smiling as Allegra Mostyn put her pretty freckled face round the door.
‘Get a move on, Signora Fortinari—the bride, not you, Harriet. Dante’s getting impatient out there.’
>
‘Coming,’ said Rose, surprised as Harriet gave her a fierce hug.
‘You are so wrong, Rose. Make no mistake, Dante’s in seventh heaven because he’s finally got you. So off you go, sister-in-law. A wedding day goes by fast—enjoy every minute of it while you can!’
Charlotte smiled triumphantly. ‘And today you’re the bride, not the bridesmaid.’
Still finding this part hard to believe, Rose held out her arms as Grace joined them to kiss her daughter tenderly, her eyes bright with unshed tears beneath the spectacular hat Tom had bought for her. ‘Are you enjoying your day, my darling?’
Rose nodded and hugged her tightly. ‘Thank you so very much, Mum.’
‘What for?’
‘Everything.’
Dante was waiting impatiently in the lobby as the others hurried on their way to let the bride and groom make their triumphal entry. ‘You look so beautiful, tesoro,’ he told Rose, his eyes glowing. ‘And so like the girl at the Vilari wedding I thought I was dreaming when you walked towards me today.’
‘You like my dress?’
‘So much I cannot wait to take it off,’ he said in her ear, then laughed delightedly at her heightened colour and took her hand as music struck up inside the ballroom to herald the arrival of the bride and groom. ‘Allora. That is our song!’
Later that evening, when they were finally alone in one of the luxury suites at the Chesterton in town, Dante took his bride in his arms and kissed her with a sigh of relief. ‘At last I have you to myself, Signora Fortinari.’
Rose smiled wryly. ‘Is that really me?’
He nodded and rubbed his cheek against hers. ‘It is a title you share with my mother, also with Harriet, so, to be sure you know who you belong to, sposa mia, think of yourself as Signora Dante Fortinari.’
‘I will,’ she assured him and hesitated, wondering whether to give him her news now. No. Best to keep it for later. ‘It was such a lovely day, Dante.’ She turned her back. ‘I should have changed before we left the Hermitage but—’
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