by Margaret Way
Tali was Jason’s child. What was the matter with her that she should have these bizarre thoughts? She couldn’t handle it right now. Neither could she will it away. She hadn’t seen Carlo De Luca for nearly seven years. He had gone to stay with relatives in Sydney while he studied for his medical degree. Why should he turn up tonight of all nights? She had hoped for a happy trouble-free night but trouble had arrived in the guise of an old friend.
A terrible anxiety began to beat in Olivia’s breast. If she had seen the resemblance—the smile—the dark curls—why hadn’t others? Coincidence, that’s why, she clung to that. She could be as fanciful in her imaginings as she liked. She could discuss them with no one else. The only other person she could have confided in was Harry and Harry had gone forever.
Except it wasn’t her imagination.
She knew.
Robyn and her helpers were near exhausted by the end of the evening. Olivia thanked them most sincerely and handed Robyn her cheque with a handsome bonus thrown in.
“You deserve it all, Robyn.” Olivia stood in the kitchen while the last of the dishes were cleared away. “I can’t thank you enough. Everything went brilliantly. I know Steven had a great time.”
“He fell asleep. He’s exhausted.” Robyn smiled. “That Tali is a trick! You’d swear you were talking to a grown woman. She came in to say good night.”
“Yes, she’s gone home with Jason’s grandmother, Renata.”
“Another character,” Robyn said. “If Jason’s around I’ll get him to carry Steven out to the car. He’s grown too heavy for me.”
Olivia nodded. “A few of the men have stayed to stack all the chairs, Jason will be with them. You’ll find him near the marquees. You must be wanting to get away home.”
“I’m really grateful to you, Olivia, for giving me the job.”
“You certainly earned every penny. There’ll be other occasions, Robyn, I’m sure.”
Still in a tumult of emotion Olivia watched Robyn hurry away to find Jason. Robyn was a single mother with a small son. Why wouldn’t she hope to meet a good caring man who could make her and her little boy happy? But Robyn was taking a huge risk allowing herself to fall in love with Jason Corey. Jason was still enmeshed in his past.
As was she. Tonight of all nights Olivia thought they could never erase it.
Long after everyone had gone home and Grace had retired tired out and happy, Olivia sat on the cushioned porch swing, pushing herself back and forth with the toe of one sandalled foot. She knew she wouldn’t sleep. She felt over-wound to a degree that was truly upsetting. She needed quiet. She needed time to think. Though her thoughts continued to run as inner debates she knew beyond a scintilla of doubt Tali’s resemblance to Carlo De Luca was such she had to be a blood relative.
Daughter? Salvatore had divulged Megan had been “after Carlo before she got her claws into Jason.” Was that the truth or something Salvatore imagined at the time? All the girls were after his handsome son? Maybe Bella De Luca had been aware of it, too? She certainly gave her husband a powerful prod in the back to shut him up. Most probably so Salvatore wouldn’t cause any further embarrassment to his hostess who had been so publicly jilted.
Recognition had presented Olivia with a monumental problem. What was she do? How was she to act? Where did her duty lie? It was an ethical dilemma. Should she try to extract information from Carlo without raising his suspicions. What was she supposed to say? Did you have a sexual relationship with Megan Duffy? She could imagine how he’d react.
What business is it of yours, Olivia?
She’d been about to marry Jason when Megan Duffy came to him and told him she was carrying his baby. She wasn’t. She was carrying another man’s child, one she mightn’t have found so easy to get to marry her. Carlo was set to embark on his life’s ambition to become a doctor. His parents had worked so hard to make it happen, nothing and no one could be allowed to stand in the way.
Certainly not a young wife and baby.
That case could be argued. Did her own sufferings and a shattered life give her the right to come forward with her suspicions, Olivia agonized. In doing so she risked bringing down more suffering on other people’s heads Then her mind spun round to focusing on Carlo’s rights. Didn’t Carlo have the right to know he had a child? Didn’t his parents—grandparents—have the right to be told they had a grandchild they didn’t know about? Closer to home, shouldn’t Jason know Tali’s wasn’t his? And what of Tali? Of Renata? Tali had Italian blood and it showed, but it was De Luca blood that ran through her veins. If I’m right about Tali’s true identity and it became public many lives would be turned upside down, Olivia thought wretchedly. Megan was the one who would know. Devious little Megan. How she and Jason had misread her.
But was it her role to sort out the deception? If indeed it was ever to be sorted out. The happiness and well being of a small child was at stake. Bubbly little Tali who adored Jason. How could she possibly destroy that precious relationship? But what would Carlo De Luca do if he ever came to know Tali Corey was his? It seemed certain Megan had never told Carlo she’d fallen pregnant. Megan must have decided what she was going to do when Jason literally fell into her arms.
As she swung back and forth in some agitation Olivia came to the conclusion there was nothing else for her to do but keep her counsel. There was always the possibility Jason when he spoke to Carlo tonight was visited by the same revelation that had poleaxed her.
Tali wasn’t his daughter. Megan had lied to him.
It almost seemed like she was waiting for him. Jason mounted the steps that led to the front terrace pausing at the top, one arm outthrust as he leaned against a vine wreathed column for support.
“I’d have thought you’d be longing to turn in. It’s been a long night.”
“I’m very wakeful.” She stared across at him, poised so nonchalantly. His eyes in the porch lights were a blazing sapphire, those same lights drawing out the flames in his dark red hair. He looked perfectly relaxed. Obviously he’d seen nothing disturbing in Carlo’s appearance. Her underlying fear ceased to exist. Tali was Jason’s daughter. Nothing was going to change that.
None so blind as those who had no wish to see.
“Mind if I join you?” His smile mocked.
Didn’t she long for him to join her even if she wasn’t about to let him know. “Okay. For a little while.” She moved along the cushion, making room for him. Once this had been a favourite place, swinging gently back and forth in the perfumed shadows, the scent of gardenias all around them, the sky studded with a billion diamonds, Harry gone off to bed. Just the two of them. He pulling her across his lap, his warm mouth finding hers, his free hand caressing her breast, the smooth length of her leg, beneath her raised skirt.
His love had empowered them both.
“You’re very serious tonight?” He dipped his head so he could stare into her face.
“I’m a serious person.”
“I accept that. Only something extra is on your mind. What?”
She shook her head. “Nothing at all.”
“All right, so you’re not going to tell me.” He rested back, the hand nearest her fingering the silk hem of her skirt. “I love this dress. It reminds me of a field of scarlet poppies—red looks beautiful on you.”
“Thank you. You’re beautiful, too, Jason, as I discovered to my cost.”
“Don’t tip the bucket of ice over me, Liv,” he implored, dropping the hem of her skirt.
“No. Bitterness is not my true nature. What did you think of Carlo and his fiancée?” she asked, turning her head to look at him.
“She’s nice, I liked her. Steady, no-nonsense, intelligent. She’ll be good for Carlo. He’s matured a lot. His becoming a doctor would see to that, but he was a tad wild when he was growing up.”
“I don’t remember that.” Olivia was surprised.
“Liv, you weren’t one of the boys. Or one of the girls for that matter. Harry Linfield’s beautiful niece l
ived in a different world. Carlo was a bit of a heartbreaker in his younger days.”
“I thought you were that,” she said with heavy irony.
He shook his head. “I wouldn’t choose to be described like that. I didn’t make it my business to check out every girl in town. I had you. I always had you. I never saw anyone else. All I’m saying is Carlo, like plenty of other guys, had a bit of a problem with his sex drive. I’m sure he’s settled down. They both looked very happy. They said you’d invited them over for before they go home?”
She nodded. “A small dinner party. I’ll get Robyn to cater it. She would appreciate the money—it can’t be all that easy for her.”
Jason shrugged. “Like I said she has guts. Are you going to tell me now, or save it? Am I invited?”
“Inviting you might be a mistake.”
“In what way? I can carry on a decent dinner party conversation. Is it because I’m an employee?”
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous!” She was genuinely disgusted. “It’s because having you at the dinner table would stir up too many memories. As far as that goes right now you’re too close for comfort.”
With great exaggeration he inched away. “Better?” He leaned back, so handsome, so dynamic, stretching out his long legs. “I wouldn’t have put you down for a coward, Liv.”
“You don’t believe the sentence must fit the crime?” she asked. “I expected love and loyalty from you, Jason. You got it from me. I still care about you. That’s my sentence. If I could do something about it, I would.”
“Except neither of us can overlook what was a deeply loving relationship. Love is pain. Love is loss. There’s no real life without it. You must know that. I didn’t work on a plan to seduce Megan—or any other girl including you—it’s not my style. All I can remember about my unpremeditated one-night stand was a spectacular headache that went on for days.”
“You shared the same bed after you were married,” she said, feeling intensely upset her Jason had probably made love to Megan Duffy many many times. They were married after all, damn it!
Jason sighed deeply. “I tried, Olivia. I had to try, but trying didn’t help at all. Having sex with someone you don’t love is my idea of misery. I felt sorry for Megan, I still do, she’s a troubled soul. After she gave birth to Tali was the worst time of all. You can’t know! Her doctor didn’t diagnose postnatal depression which had been my fear. It was much more like Megan simply didn’t want the responsibility of a child, she didn’t want to be tied down. She even resented my love for my own child. Instead of focusing on my sins, Liv, you might try to get a handle on your own. Other women can bring themselves to forgive.”
“Under circumstances as bad as ours?” She held up her ringless hands.
“That’s up to you, Liv.” He gathered himself, rose to his impressive height, looking down at her. “I’ll say good night.” He moved with the long familiar gait across the colonnaded porch and down the steps, walking briskly as though he couldn’t get away from her fast enough.
“Hey, come back!”
She scrambled up after him as he strode off into the darkness Why oh why did she send him on his way when she craved his love and attention? Because she kept telling herself it wouldn’t work. She could see why she’d avoided commitment with other men. She would never get over Jason.
She chased him across the springy grass, thinking she would never catch him. “Jason!”
He ignored her. Most of the house lights had been turned off as had all the fairy lights in the trees. Only the huge full moon burned a bright orange turning the extensive areas of lawn into lakes of copper.
“Jason?” she cried out again in protest.
“Go to bed, Liv,” he called back, increasing his long-legged stride.
“No, I will not! I will not have you walk away from me,” she fumed.
He turned suddenly and she broke into a run the scarlet silk of her skirt billowing like wings. Why should he torment her?
“Blast!” Her body juddered to a stop as a pain shot through her foot. She’d run into some obstacle sticking out of the ground. She could feel herself pitching forward, putting out a hand to save herself. She landed harmlessly on the soft grass, hoping she hadn’t snagged the silk of her expensive dress.
Jason was beside her, dropping down onto his haunches. “That’s the trouble with running in high heels. Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay,” she said indignantly. “I’m sprawled out on the grass. What in the world did I trip over?”
He peered around the semidarkness. A lacy pattern of light spilled through the open branches of the tree above them. Waves of fragrant frangipani blossom were coming at him. Memories stirred…he and Olivia alone in the enveloping darkness of Havilah’s beautiful garden.
“Hard to say.” He managed to speak casually. “Probably an exposed root from the tree. Want me to help you up?” He extended an arm.
“Do I look like I’m going to spend the night on the lawn?” she retorted, putting up her hand.
“You wouldn’t have to be on your own.”
He said it in such a way a great spurt of excitement broke through all her practised reserve. He brought her up in one smooth movement, holding her body close to his. “I have you,” he murmured, lowering his head.
There was no refusing his mouth. Those sweet honeyed deeply questing kisses. The unforgettable magic of them. She let herself be enticed, her hunger for him growing. There was no drawing back. The flames of desire needed no fanning, they leapt into the night sky enveloping them in heat. Her whole body flushed as his hands moved slowly over her shoulders and across her back, down to her buttocks, taut beneath the scarlet silk.
He pushed her lustrous cascade of hair aside as he sought the hidden zipper of her dress.
“I love this dress,” he murmured. “I’d love it even better if it was lying on the grass.” He flipped the thin straps from her shoulders, smoothing, caressing her heated skin. Gradually he moved his lips to her collar bone, the creamy flesh like satin. “I can’t go another day, another night without you, Liv.” He took her breasts in his hands palming their tender weight. “Let me love you, as I want to. Don’t be sad and bitter. I’ve been punished.”
His tongue found its way into her mouth, gently probing, flickering, coaxing hers into a sensual mating dance.
She was very near tears at this insistent sexual teasing. “What are you saying, Jason?” She swallowed, started again, wracked by anxieties and indecisions. “You want us to start over?”
“Yes!” His tone was urgent, heartfelt. “Haven’t we both suffered enough? I want you back, Liv.”
Her heart was hammering, not just with physical excitement but emotional trauma, too. What was she to do? Let him take her to bed? Her yearning was insatiable enough, but then a pang hit her. In surrendering to Jason she could be destroying her last defence. It could be a perilous mistake. She had worked hard to remove herself to a safe distance. She’d launched herself on a career. Now she was back within his magnetic orbit, her body betraying her at his every touch.
Was it really possible to get back to what they had?
Her body arched, shaking with the effort of pulling away. The fantasy was over. The halcyon days, the days of innocence, would never come again. Megan Duffy had changed everything, coming between them, producing a child. It was fear of the implications of that complicated situation as much as Jason’s power over her that made her say, “So you’d have me and Havilah to sweeten the marriage deal?” She smiled at him strangely. “Some might call that the perfect arrangement!”
The cold contempt in his voice seared her. “Is that what you think?”
“I’m older and wiser now, Jason.” She was amazed at how controlled her voice sounded.
“I know what you are.” Severity tightened his handsome features. “Wisdom has nothing to do with it. You’re a cold, unforgiving, patronising woman. You even enjoy playing the role, Olivia Linfield, arbiter of morals. I don’t think
you could bring off a future with anyone let alone me.”
She was hot to the roots of her hair. An answering outrage consumed her. “You’re absolutely right! I lived for you once, Jason. It’s going to take a little longer than I thought to live without you.”
“I’m supposed to take that seriously?” His voice was harsh in his throat. He was angry, very angry. He seized her, kissed her with a fierce, tormented passion like a brand that would stay with her all her life. “What a hypocrite you are. The empty noises you make. I could have you begging in a minute. I could pick you up right now and carry you off to bed. But you know what? You’re not worth the trouble. You’re stuck in a time warp, Olivia. I’ll leave you alone.”
Sick at heart she watched him storm off, getting into the estate vehicle and slamming the door hard. She felt as if she’d been caught up in a raging tide, her arms flailing helplessly, her head barely above water. She was doing everything in her power to drive him away yet she couldn’t seem to stop herself. She couldn’t even begin to analyse her contradictory reactions. The deep secret she had stumbled upon tonight had gone a long way to throw her off balance. How could she possibly start up again with Jason when so many unanswered questions surrounded him?
Olivia started a slow walk back to the house. Despite what Jason believed, it wasn’t inconceivable Megan could turn up again. Olivia could almost see her small figure lurking in the shadows. She had to accept now Megan Duffy had probably hated her all along. Olivia had Jason. Olivia had rich Uncle Harry. She lived in a beautiful house. She was loved and admired. All the things that would bring Megan’s demons to life. She would be a fool not to face the fact Megan had the potential to cause trouble if she ever got to hear she and Jason were back together again. It now seemed clear the last thing Megan had wanted was for her and Jason to be happy. Megan had demonstrated she was ruthless when it came to self-interest. Megan had blackmailed Jason once and she was quite capable of doing it again secure in the knowledge no one knew her guilty secret.