The Sicilian's Defiant Virgin

by Susan Stephens

  He sat back and thought about this. It took him barely a few seconds to decide.

  ‘That’s a very good idea. Why don’t we change the name to the Raoul Tebaldi and Lyddie Sanderson scheme?’

  * * *

  Jay-Dee had left them when Jen reached for Luca’s hand. She guided it to the swell of her belly, where their son was kicking three bells out of her in an attempt, Jen decided in her crazy way, to reach his father—having recognised Luca as such, of course, being such an advanced child, even in the womb.

  ‘What shall we call him?’ she asked as Luca froze, with his hard face softened to an incredible degree.

  Luca’s answer was to kneel at her side. Turning to look at her, he cradled her face between his hands, and with the utmost reverence and tenderness he brushed his lips very lightly against hers. ‘Let’s call him Luciano, the bringer of light, Luci for short—unless you have a better idea?’

  ‘I think Luci’s perfect,’ Jen agreed.

  ‘Will you come home with me?’ Luca asked, frowning as he stood. Reaching out his hands, he helped Jen to her feet.

  ‘You have a home in London?’ she asked.

  He smiled. ‘I do. But once your work on the exhibition for the Queen’s Diamonds has been completed, I hope you’ll come home to Sicily with me?’

  Six months apart had been worse than a life sentence for Jen. To have parted on such bitter terms from Luca had left her bruised and hurt. To hear him issue this invitation now was like the cell door flying open, but before she stepped out she had to hear him say that there was more between them than mistrust over his brother’s will. She wanted to hear him talk about love, and what the future held for them and their child, as well as the island.

  ‘You’re right to hesitate,’ he said when she remained silent. ‘I have no right to ask this of you. I have no right to ask anything of you. I’ve treated you abysmally. And I’ll make no excuses,’ he said, holding up his hand when she wanted to reassure him. ‘I talked about money and I doubted you. I was sick with grief at losing the brother I had somehow lost in life, and lost again in death, but that wasn’t your fault. I’ve thought of nothing but you for these past six months—you and our child. Living apart from you has been my punishment, and I only hope you can forgive me, so that my punishment can end.’

  ‘So much misunderstanding,’ Jen whispered. ‘The past has conditioned us both to look for trouble, and not to give our trust lightly, but we have to move on.’

  ‘I don’t deserve you—’

  ‘To the future,’ she said.

  ‘So you’ll come back with me?’

  The expression on Luca’s face told her everything she needed to know. ‘I’d love that,’ she said honestly, staring into his eyes. ‘I love you.’

  ‘You have no idea how much I love you,’ Luca assured her fervently. ‘And I’m looking forward to working with you so much.’

  ‘Just to working with me?’ Jen teased gently as Luca took her in his arms.

  ‘I’m looking forward to making love to you most of all,’ he admitted wickedly, and when she softened in his arms he kissed her again, and this time the kisses went on and on, until he pulled back, when Jen frowned and asked him, ‘Won’t the bump be a problem?’

  ‘Cara, nothing on this earth is going to stand between me, and your pleasure. Shall we go...?’

  * * *

  Sometimes sleeping in a man’s arms told you more about the man than hours of conversation, Jen decided. Sleeping in Luca’s arms was like coming home. All the doubts, all the mistrust, all the hurdles along the way, were just steps she either wanted to take, or she didn’t. If something was worth having, it was worth fighting for, and she had.

  They had talked long into the night about the past, the present, and the future. So long as they travelled that road together, she didn’t much mind what lay ahead of them. Luca had trodden a straight line since leaving Sicily, he’d told her, and sometimes, because Raoul had stayed with his father in the hope of winning his love, that road had taken a detour around the brother who had loved him and whom Luca had loved. But he was going to do everything he could to honour Raoul’s memory, and Lyddie’s.

  ‘Good morning.’

  ‘Good morning,’ she whispered as he woke up. How precious these moments were after being so long apart. Luca was such a sight, even in the early morning. He was magnificent. His powerful body washed by the pearly light of dawn was sprawled across his big bed in his penthouse apartment. It was impossible to say how much she loved him. ‘I’ve been waiting for you to wake up,’ she admitted.

  He opened one eye. ‘Why? So we can continue discussing our plans for the island.’

  She shrugged. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but I have other plans...’

  ‘That’s a relief,’ he murmured gruffly.

  Luca made love to her slowly and deeply until she came apart in his arms, and not once, but several times. They slept afterwards, and when she woke, he kissed her and smiled. ‘Will you marry me? Or do I have to make love to you again?’

  She laughed with sheer happiness. ‘Both,’ she said. ‘I will marry you, but you have to make love to me first. After that you can ask me to marry you again.’

  ‘The eternal circle?’ he suggested.

  ‘Of lovemaking and promises,’ she agreed. ‘I’m up for it, if you are.’

  ‘Oh, I’m up for it,’ he said.

  ‘Can I just say—I love you so much?’ She smiled into his eyes as she kissed him.

  ‘You can say that all you want, Signorina Sanderson, soon to become Signora Tebaldi. In fact, I demand that you never get tired of saying it, as I will never tire of telling you how much I love you.’

  ‘I can’t wait to return to the island,’ she admitted. I’ve missed it—you,’ she admitted wryly, ‘more than you will ever know. I’m thrilled that I finally qualified and became a gemologist like my mother, and I know she’d be proud of me, as would Lyddie and my father, but when I took that diploma in my hand, I knew that what my mother really wanted for me—for both her children, was for us to be happy, and I’d almost thrown that away.’

  ‘Never, cara—’

  ‘Yes,’ Jen argued. ‘I was still prepared to risk everything, including you, for the sake of pride. I was hurt and blinded by insecurity and defensiveness, and so I pushed you away, when all I wanted was to bring you close. But I couldn’t admit it. I didn’t have the courage to admit it. When I inherited the money and heard about your brother’s plans for it from Jay-Dee, my first thought was that you must be involved. I knew that was what Raoul would want.’ Her eyes fired with certainty. ‘The three of us working together—’

  ‘The two of us living together?’ Luca amended with his sexy, slow-burning smile.

  Jen gave him the look she had always reserved for Luca when he teased her. ‘It would make the logistics of working together easier,’ she agreed, teasing him back.

  Suddenly the cell door wasn’t just open, it had vanished. ‘I love you,’ she said. ‘We’ve both learned a lot, and mostly about trust.’

  ‘Only trust?’ Luca whispered. ‘What about love? I’ve learned a lot about love, and I’m looking forward to returning to live on an island that will ring to the sound of our children.’

  He caressed her stomach and their child responded vigorously, as if in agreement.

  ‘I need to make up for lost time,’ he said bluntly. ‘I need proof that you’ve forgiven me.’

  Jen laughed. ‘You’ll stop at nothing,’ she said.

  ‘Too right,’ Luca agreed. ‘I’m hungry for you,’ he explained with a rueful shrug.

  ‘Not as hungry as I am for you, after a fast,’ Jen insisted.

  ‘I think you may have become insatiable,’ he murmured, frowning as he brushed her hair aside to kiss the nape of her neck.

  ‘I know I have,’ Jen whispered, pulling him close again.

  EPILOGUE

  THE CEREMONY TO renew their marriage vows was always going to be a special occasion,
but it didn’t take long for Jen to decide that it was the best day of her life. Luci was dressed in the pale blue shorts and comfortable white linen shirt he would be wearing for the ceremony, and she loved the thought that two children would be sharing the celebration with them.

  Their wedding had been an entirely different affair. Luca and she had married by special licence the same week they were reunited, so there had been no time to make elaborate arrangements, and no need for them, as both bride and groom had declared that all they needed was each other. With Shirley, Tess, and Jay-Dee as their witnesses, their wedding had been a quiet family affair with people they cared about.

  Jen had worn a warm, coral-coloured maternity dress she’d bought off the peg in a sale last minute, while Luca had stunned everyone including Jen into silence by looking like Lucifer redeemed in one of his stunning dark power suits. Sweeping her into his arms and his heart, he had declared her to be the love of his life.

  Today was very different, Jen mused as she led Luci by the hand into the flower-filled courtyard where their guests were waiting. Everyone cheered and applauded enthusiastically when she arrived, warming her heart and giving her every confidence for the future of the projects that she and Luca and Jay-Dee were working on together. It filled her with joy to know that she could do something practical to help the charity that had helped her so unstintingly.

  ‘You look beautiful,’ Jay-Dee told her; a sentiment echoed by Tess and Shirley, and all the many new friends she had made on the island.

  Luca had insisted they must travel to Rome with Luci and their two-year-old daughter Natalia—or Tallie, as the little redhead with bubble curls was known—so Jen could finally have the gown she deserved. Pale blue lace, fitted to her almost-back-to-normal form, the dress finished at knee-length, allowing Jen the freedom to sprint, if necessary, to lift either of the teeny Tebaldis out of a scrape. And Luca had insisted that on this one occasion she should wear the Emperor’s Diamond, which, far from being the curse everyone had thought it, had brought them nothing but love and happiness since the day it was set free from the dark box in which it had been kept, and exhibited in the light by Jen, for anyone who wanted to see it to admire.

  Jen had three spare outfits crammed into a workmanlike tote for Luci, and she still wasn’t sure that would be enough to keep her rascally son looking respectable throughout the day. If there was mud to be found, Luci would find it, and given half a chance he would be under the wedding table with one of the family’s dogs, sharing titbits out of his pockets. Their home in Sicily was light, bright, chaotic and wonderful, and, with the caterers having created a chocolate spectacular for the feast after today’s ceremony, Jen didn’t hold out high hopes that Luci would make it through the day without at least one very messy and sticky disaster.

  ‘Is my beautiful wife ready?’

  If there was a sight more spectacular than Jen’s husband, dressed in relaxed linen tailoring, backlit by shimmering sunlight, holding their baby daughter securely on the wide spread of his shoulders, it could only be when Luci whooped at the sight of his papà and ran to launch himself into Luca’s arms.

  ‘I should start a circus act,’ Luca exclaimed as he caught his son in one arm, while holding onto his daughter with the other.

  ‘The Tumbling Tebaldis,’ Jen suggested, thinking what a long way they’d come from suspicion and shadow to this beautiful light-filled courtyard in the gracious old house in Sicily, which they had transformed into a true home.

  ‘How about Viva For Ever as the headline banner for our publicity?’ Luca suggested with a teasing grin as he drew Jen and his children into the circle of his arms.

  * * * * *

  EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT

  The Forgotten Gallo Bride

  by Natalie Anderson

  CHAPTER ONE

  ‘Type the security code quickly and get through the gates before he sees you, or he’ll override the system and won’t let you in. Don’t get there after dark or you haven’t a hope...’

  ZARA FALCONER SQUINTED through the relentless rain, mentally reciting the long code while struggling to hold her freezing fingers steady enough to tap it into the keypad. Because of the storm clouds the sky had darkened early and Jasper’s warning rang loudly in her ears.

  Nervously she entered the last number he’d given her and held her breath, but the heavy wrought-iron gates remained as tight-locked as ever. She glanced back at the keypad, wondering if she should try again. A sudden loud clang told her she didn’t need to.

  The gates creaked more as they slowly opened, complaining they were unused to the movement. Zara didn’t trust them to remain open for long. The DO NOT ENTER and TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED signs pretty much gave it away. She hurried back to her car, slithering on the wet path in her haste. She inhaled deeply and tried to move more calmly. She’d only just driven through the gap when the iron gates began to close again behind her, groaning as they locked back into their defensive position.

  She switched her windscreen wipers onto a faster setting and put her headlights on full to try to see more clearly where she was going. Her breathing quickened as the wet gravel crunched beneath her tyres. Big, barren branches from the large trees overhead obscured the bruised, weeping sky. She inched her battered old car down the long driveway, taking the corner at the end. That was when she had her first glimpse of the large Georgian manor that was his home. With its two stories of imposing bricks and empty windows, it was a vast, gloomy obstruction at the end of the drive. The whole building was in darkness save a feeble light gleaming in only one low window.

  Her heart pounded as she pulled up right in front of the mammoth front door. She’d been driving all day and couldn’t quite believe she was finally here. She’d tried to imagine this moment every day for the past year, envisaging all kinds of possible scenarios—maybe she’d bump into him on the street, or maybe they’d be at an event together and see each other across a room, or maybe he’d come to find her...

  She’d really had no idea how it was going to happen or indeed if it ever actually would. But then Jasper had found her and basically got on his knees and begged her to visit the man to whom they both owed so much. Jasper’s tired appearance and desperation had surprised her. He didn’t know she needed no real encouragement to see the man who’d changed her life so drastically. She wanted to. Secretly she’d been aching to for months.

  So now here she was with her shoes and jeans wet, her hair a straggly mess, and she was late...but she was here.

  She grabbed her bag and got out of the car but, despite running to the door, only got more drenched. She no longer cared. She was too busy wondering how he’d react to seeing her again. Would he smile and laugh? Would he look concerned and caring? What would he say?

  Unable to suppress the scared-but-excited shivers running up and down her spine, Zara rang the doorbell. She bit her lower lip but she couldn’t stop the shy smile from slipping across her face. They’d had such a short encounter, but it had changed everything in her life. She’d relived those precious moments every day since. And every day she’d longed for just a few more.

  She didn’t hear any footsteps over the thumping of her own pulse. It seemed that the door just silently swung open without any warning. And then he was standing in the doorway frowning down at her.

  Tomas Gallo.

  All she could do was stare.

  He was taller than she remembered, and leaner-looking in his faded black jeans and thin black sweater. His hair wasn’t now cut in that perfect, almost preppy, businessman’s style, instead it was longer, a jet-black unruly mess with a hint of curl that ended just above his collar. Despite his olive skin, he was pale. There was no Caribbean holiday tan on him now. Not that devilish smile either. He hadn’t shaved in a couple of days and the stubble emphasised the sharp edges and planes of his jaw. He looked harder, unhappier. But his eyes were the same—still that beautiful dark brown. The soulful kind of eyes that you could look into for ever, but still never
understand the secrets they held. And there were definitely secrets. Even more of them.

  He was so striking and so unforgettable. In that one second he stole her breath—and her heart—all over again.

  ‘What?’ he snapped as she stood there speechlessly staring at him.

  Her shy offer of a smile froze.

  ‘How did you get in here?’ He glared down at her, clearly expecting an immediate answer.

  She wasn’t able to give him one. She wasn’t able to speak at all. She watched him closely for a hint of recognition in his eyes, but there was only mistrust—and building anger.

  ‘I don’t know how you got inside the gates,’ he added roughly, ‘but the gardens haven’t been open to the public in almost a year.’

  ‘I’m not here to see the gardens,’ she finally managed to answer.

  ‘Then what are you doing here?’ He continued to glare at her. There was no recognition, no softness, no humanity.

  The smile faded from her lips altogether. Awkwardly she stared back up at him. Jasper had said it was better to arrive unannounced. That he wouldn’t tell Tomas she was coming. But did he really not remember her?

  She knew she’d changed, but it was only clothes, a new hairstyle...she didn’t think such superficial things would have made that much difference.

  ‘I don’t want whatever it is you’re selling.’ He began to shut the door.

  That galvanised her into action. She’d not driven all day in such horrendous conditions to be given the brush-off in the first two seconds. In that way, she had changed.

  ‘I’m not here to sell you anything,’ she said, boldly stepping forward and blocking the doorway. ‘I’m here to help you.’

  For a beat he looked stunned before snapping back, ‘I don’t need help.’

  Defiantly she stood exactly where she was, uncaring that she was getting wet; she was not walking away from this just yet.