A Night in the Palace

by Carole Mortimer

  If she had never come to Rome then she would never have met Dmitri. Never have fallen in love with him!

  He became very still, his eyes narrowed as he looked down at her. ‘Is this true?’ he asked.

  ‘I don’t tell lies, Dmitri,’ Lily assured him tightly. ‘Felix may have tried to call me,’ she continued dully. ‘But as he still has no idea that I didn’t receive his message two days ago and that I actually came to Italy, I doubt he will have been successful.’ She took her mobile out of her bag, where it sat on the chair where she had dropped it the night before in her eagerness to be in Dmitri’s arms. In his bed! ‘As I thought—there are no missed calls.’ She held her mobile up in front of Dmitri’s face, so that he could see from the lit display that she wasn’t lying.

  ‘Dannazione!’ A nerve pulsed in his clenched jaw.

  ‘Exactly,’ Lily agreed, pretty sure the curse wasn’t lost in the translation. ‘And as you seem to know the reason for Felix wanting to speak to me perhaps you wouldn’t mind enlightening me?’

  Dmitri’s nostrils flared briefly. ‘As we suspected, Claudia and Felix flew onto another destination after arriving in Milano. To Las Vegas, to be exact. Where it appears they got married yesterday.’

  Lily had guessed what Dmitri was going to say before he’d said it—oh, not about Las Vegas specifically, but about the marriage. Even so, hearing the actual words was still enough of a shock for her to stagger backwards before sitting down heavily on the side of the bed.

  Claudia and Felix were married!

  Dmitri’s present anger might not be about the night the two of them had spent together, after all, but Lily could hardly believe that her little brother was now a married man, another woman’s husband. She was filled with happiness for Felix, of course, and yet at the same time aware of a deep sense of loss inside herself, along with an awareness of her own relationship with her twin changing, shifting. They were no longer Felix and Lily but now Felix and Claudia, and Felix’s sister Lily.

  It was...strange, to say the least. Would take a little time to adjust to.

  Time the icily furious expression on Dmitri’s face told her he wasn’t about to give her!

  Lily breathed out shakily. ‘You’re right, Dmitri. Perhaps it would be better if we discussed this downstairs once I’ve dressed.’

  He looked down the length of his aristocratic nose at her. ‘When no doubt our views on the subject will differ greatly!’

  She gave him a rueful smile.

  He didn’t return it. ‘Do not take too long. There are obviously telephone calls I now need to make.’

  ‘To Francesco Giordano for one,’ she muttered.

  He stiffened. ‘I believe any contact with the Giordano family can wait until Claudia returns to Roma and I have a chance to talk with her.’

  ‘Attempt to bully her into ending her marriage to Felix, don’t you mean?’ Lily suggested furiously.

  He glowered at her. ‘Do you disagree that they are totally mismatched?’

  She gave a weary sigh as she stood up. ‘I’m sure that my views on the subject will have little or no impact on what you intend to do or not do about it.’

  ‘At least we are in agreement on something!’ Dmitri snapped before swiftly leaving the bedroom.

  Lily’s heart felt heavy in her chest as she watched him go, knowing that it was probably the last thing that they would ever agree on...

  * * *

  Dmitri’s displeasure at the knowledge of his sister’s clandestine marriage hadn’t dissipated in the slightest by the time a pale-faced Lily joined him downstairs in the kitchen of the palazzo, ten minutes later.

  Although the fact that she was once again dressed in the black knee-length dress and red cardigan from yesterday evening was a stark reminder of the fact that he had spent the night here in bed with her rather than returning her to the hotel.

  It was a night that Dmitri knew he would never forget.

  It was the first time he had spent a whole night in bed with any woman. The first time he had intended to spend the whole day with a woman too. But that certainly wasn’t going to happen now.

  His mouth tightened. ‘I forgot to ask earlier how your hand is this morning.’

  ‘I told you—I heal quickly.’ She gave a small shrug as she held up her hand. Only a small plaster now covered the cut she had received after breaking the kitchen window two days ago.

  ‘Would you care for a cup of coffee while we talk?’

  Lily looked across at him guardedly. ‘I don’t see what there is for us to talk about.’ She sighed heavily. ‘Claudia and Felix are both over twenty-one, they’re married and that would appear to be the end of it.’ It was certainly the end of Lily’s own dreams—ridiculous, romantic dreams, she accepted now—of there being any sort of future for Dmitri and herself. At the moment he looked as if he would like to strangle with his bare hands anyone even remotely related to Felix; as his twin, she didn’t stand a chance!

  He bared his teeth in a humourless smile. ‘I am sure Claudia and Felix are both under the impression that it is the beginning, not the end!’

  Lily’s chin rose at the sinister undertones of that statement. ‘Which is exactly what it is.’

  Dmitri’s nostrils flared. ‘Not if I have anything to say about it.’

  ‘Which you don’t,’ Lily said firmly.

  His mouth tightened. ‘Do not underestimate me, Lily. As I warned you once before, until Claudia comes into her inheritance at the age of twenty-five I retain the power to disinherit her.’

  Lily frowned. ‘And is that what you intend doing?’

  Dmitri eyed her pityingly. ‘How long do you suppose her new husband will remain at her side if she is no longer the wealthy Claudia Scarletti?’

  ‘I believe you will find she is now Claudia Barton,’ Lily corrected tightly. ‘And perhaps you shouldn’t underestimate Felix, Dmitri. No matter what you may choose to think to the contrary, I don’t believe my brother would have married Claudia if he wasn’t deeply in love with her.’

  His mouth twisted derisively. ‘What a little romantic you are, Lily!’

  ‘And what a cynic you are!’ She felt stung into retaliating.

  ‘Any man in my position would feel cynical—’

  ‘And what position is that?’ Lily challenged.

  ‘I am the older brother of an impressionable young girl who has been seduced into marrying a penniless Englishman!’ Dmitri thundered wrathfully.

  Lily felt the warmth of anger in her cheeks. ‘That “penniless Englishman” happens to be my brother!’

  ‘I am well aware of who he is, Lily. And what he is,’ he added coldly.

  She became very still. ‘Oh? And what’s that?’

  ‘A fortune hunter, of course,’ Dmitri accused. ‘Nothing but a—’

  ‘I’m not going to remain here and listen to you insult my brother any further,’ Lily cut in, and she turned away.

  ‘You will remain here until I say otherwise—’

  ‘No, Dmitri, I won’t,’ she insisted as she glared across at him, her back rigid with indignation. ‘And if I have to break another window in order to get out of here then that’s exactly what I’ll do,’ she warned fiercely.

  Dmitri drew in a long and steadying breath, aware of his loss of the temper he was usually at such pains to keep firmly under his control. But what man would not lose his temper upon learning that his only sister, and one who had been more like his own child than a sibling, had not only married without any of her family present, thousands of miles away from home, but to add insult to injury had married a man he knew only as his employee, and certainly did not approve of as a husband for her?

  He looked across at Lily, knowing by the indignant stiffness of her body, and the way her knuckles showed white as her hand tightly gripped the strap of her shoulder bag that she meant exactly what she said.

  Surprisingly, this evidence of her righteous indignation on her brother’s behalf helped to calm some of his own ang
er. He sighed heavily. ‘I do not believe us resorting to insults will in any way help to solve this dilemma.’

  ‘No?’ Lily said. ‘That didn’t seem to stop you doing exactly that a few minutes ago!’

  His mouth thinned. ‘I apologise if you found offence in anything I said just now.’

  Lily wasn’t offended. She was way beyond offended. She was hurting so badly that if she didn’t soon get out of here she was afraid she was going to burst into loud, uncontrollable sobs. Which would only complete her humiliation...

  Wasn’t it bad enough that she had spent the night with this man, made love with him in ways that made her blush even to think of them, and fallen in love with him, without having to listen to him insulting her brother—and thereby her too? Of course it was! ‘Keep your apology, Dmitri,’ she said. ‘And just let me out of here.’

  ‘No.’

  Her eyes widened at his refusal. ‘What do you mean, no? Oh, don’t tell me,’ she continued scornfully. ‘You now intend to once again keep me a prisoner here, until Felix returns Claudia to you and you can have their marriage annulled!’

  His mouth compressed. ‘Considering that they were married yesterday, on Claudia’s birthday, I am sure it is a little late for an annulment.’

  Lily gave a pained wince at the obvious fact that even if Claudia and Felix hadn’t slept together before their marriage then they would certainly have done so now! ‘So what’s the plan, Dmitri?’ She eyed him curiously. ‘Do you perhaps intend to attempt to buy Felix off? And if that doesn’t work go ahead with your earlier idea of disinheriting Claudia?’ She snorted. ‘Before you do anything too rash, I think you should seriously stop and think how Claudia will react, and how you might irrevocably damage your own relationship with her.’

  A nerve pulsed in his tightly clenched jaw. ‘For one thing, I have no intention of setting a precedent by attempting to buy off a fortune hunter. Secondly, I am fully aware that Claudia will be...less than pleased if I intercede.’

  ‘From what you’ve told me of your sister, I think you’ll find that her emotions might go a little deeper than “less than pleased”!’ Lily said incredulously.

  His mouth tightened. ‘Nevertheless, I hope that she will eventually come to realise that I have acted only in her best interests.’

  ‘And if she doesn’t?’

  Dmitri looked bleak. ‘Then at least I will have the satisfaction of knowing that I acted only in her best interests.’

  ‘And will that be enough for you?’ she asked gently.

  His nodded. ‘It will have to be.’

  Lily sighed deeply. ‘All I can tell you is that if Felix so much as dared even to try and interfere in my life in that way, then I’d tell him to go to hell—after I’d punched him on his arrogant nose, of course.’

  Hell was pretty much where Dmitri felt he was at this moment.

  Definitely caught between a rock and a hard place. Damned if he did and damned if he didn’t.

  But there was no way he could simply stand back and accept his sister’s hasty marriage to Felix Barton without challenge.

  As for his own brief relationship with Lily... She was so angry with him at this moment that she would most likely administer that punch to his arrogant nose if he so much as broached the subject of the night they had just spent together!

  ‘I will bear your advice in mind.’

  ‘Oh, it wasn’t advice, Dmitri,’ she insisted. ‘If Claudia is half the woman you’ve implied she is then you would do well to tread very carefully in how you choose to deal with your disapproval of her marriage.’

  Dmitri was well aware of that; he was just too stunned at this moment to be able to think logically about the subject.

  Or about how he and Lily were to proceed now. If they were to proceed at all...

  ‘What are you own immediate plans?’

  ‘My immediate plans?’ The evenness of her tone did nothing to lessen the anger glittering in her deep blue eyes. ‘I believe I’ve already told you that I intend going back to the hotel—not to drink champagne, as you suggested earlier,’ she said, ‘but to check out and pay my bill. I’ll find somewhere cheaper to stay until I can get a flight back to England.’

  Dmitri stiffened. ‘I have told you that I intend to pay for your hotel—’

  ‘And I’m now telling you that under the circumstances I can’t allow you to do that,’ she cut in firmly.

  His eyes narrowed to glassy slits. ‘And what circumstances are those?’

  She met his gaze bravely. ‘Do you really need me to spell it out for you?’

  No, he didn’t require any explanation, Dmitri realised ruefully. He knew from the anger in her expression that by leaving the hotel she was firmly stating that she refused to accept any further assistance from him. A clear indication that she wished to have nothing more to do with the man with whom she had spent the previous night, who minutes ago had insulted her brother in the worst possible way...

  But Claudia was Dmitri’s sister—his beloved younger sister for whom he had cared for since she was six years old. What else could he do but try to salvage something from the mess he believed she had now made of her life?

  Even if by doing so he risked his own relationship with Claudia?

  Yes, even then!

  Even if it brought to an end any possibility of a relationship between himself and Lily?

  It was already at an end, he accepted heavily as he saw the distaste in Lily’s expression. ‘I will drive you to your hotel—’

  ‘I don’t think so, thank you,’ she refused. ‘I would prefer to get a taxi.’

  ‘That is totally impractical—’

  ‘But necessary,’ she assured him fiercely.

  ‘I was referring to the fact you will not find too many taxis in service on Christmas Day,’ he explained. ‘Even in Rome.’

  My God, it was Christmas Day, Lily accepted bleakly; she had once again forgotten that fact. It was rapidly escalating into being the worst of her entire life. And to think that last night, and again earlier this morning, she had believed it to be the best one...

  What a difference a single telephone call could make—especially when it had been intended to herald good news rather than bad.

  But Dmitri had made it more than obvious that he would never approve of Claudia and Felix’s marriage. And he would never see Lily now as being anything other than Felix’s sister...

  ‘Then I’ll walk back,’ she announced. ‘It isn’t far, and the fresh air will do me good.’

  Dmitri breathed his frustration with her stubbornness. ‘Claudia and Felix are planning to fly back to Italy in the next few days.’

  ‘I thought perhaps they might.’

  His eyes narrowed. ‘You do not intend to stay in Roma until they return?’

  Lily had thought about it—she had determinedly thought of nothing else as she’d hastily dressed before coming downstairs. Thinking about the night she had just spent in Dmitri’s arms would only have resulted in tears, and she fully intended saving them until she was in the privacy of her hotel room.

  And so she had concentrated on Felix. On what she should do next.

  Even when they were children Lily had always been the responsible one. The one who had always defended Felix and bailed him out of whatever mischief he had got himself into. That responsibility had intensified after their parents died. But his marriage to Claudia Scarletti was so much bigger than that; he was a married man now, with all the responsibilities that entailed. It was time that Lily stepped back and allowed Felix to deal with those responsibilities himself.

  Besides which, she was absolutely positive that he wouldn’t gain Dmitri’s respect or approval by hiding behind his older sister’s skirts!

  No, she would give Felix her verbal support and good wishes when next she spoke to him, but other than that she had decided she must leave it to him to fight his own battles from now on—in this particular case for both his marriage and his wife.

  She shrugged.
‘I think it best if I go back to England on the next available flight.’

  Dmitri scowled his displeasure at the idea, even though he realised it was inevitable that she would leave Italy eventually.

  They had said all that they had to say to each other—possibly more than they should have said. Circumstances dictated that all that remained was for them to say goodbye...

  ‘That is your own choice, of course,’ he said stiffly.

  ‘Most of my decisions are,’ Lily said dryly. ‘Thank you for helping to make my stay in Rome such an...interesting one.’

  Dmitri studied her through narrowed lids. ‘It is ridiculous that we should part in such a stilted way—’

  ‘Ridiculous, but necessary,’ Lily cut in, knowing that she’d suffered enough heartache for one morning. For a lifetime, in fact! Which was probably how long it was going to take her to get over loving Dmitri. ‘If you would just key in the code to open the front door, I can see myself out,’ she added.

  ‘Lily—’

  ‘Will you just do it, Dmitri?’ She turned on him

  fierily, eyes blazing, angry colour in her cheeks.

  He drew in a sharp breath. ‘You do realise that if I do not manage to convince Claudia as to the unsuitability of her marriage to Felix then you and I will meet again? If not before, possibly at the christening of their first child.’

  Lily gave a humourless smile. ‘That’s always supposing that Claudia is speaking to you again by then.’

  ‘Which is a big assumption on my part,’ Dmitri acknowledged fairly.

  The fact that he now seemed to be accepting that it might very well come to that was a step in the right direction as far as Lily was concerned; she was sure that the very last thing Felix wanted was to be the cause of a serious—possibly permanent—rift between Claudia and her brother.

  As to Lily and Dmitri ever meeting again...

  Just the thought of having to suffer him behaving towards her and looking at her as if she were a stranger to him—as if they’d never met, let alone spent the night in bed together making love, was enough to twist Lily’s insides into painful knots.