by Kim Lawrence
We are neither of us thinking. The effort of will required to remove the small hand that was tugging at the buckle of his belt made him physically shake like someone in the grip of a fever.
Her searing blue passion-glazed eyes lifted to his face. Did I get it wrong? I thought you said you intended to seduce me.
Dio mio I didI dobut not here. I wanted it to be special the first time.
The first time she echoed, laughing.
Later the laughter had made sense.
There was a farm a mile or so back. I will walk back and get petrol.
Is there anything I can do to make you change your mind? she asked, shooting him a provocative look from beneath the sweep of her lashes as she began to unfasten the buttons of her blouse.
As the heaving upper slopes of her creamy breasts were exposed his control snapped and he pulled her roughly into his arms.
Thank God! she breathed into his mouth as they slid down in the seat.
She had been so totally uninhibited about expressing her pleasure at his touch that Francesco had not suspected until the actual moment he slid into her body and heard her tiny cry of shock that she had still been a virgin.
He was both appalled and aroused by the knowledge that he was her first lover.
Relax, let me make this good for you, he begged huskily as she arched beneath him and slid her hands across his bare shoulders, clinging on as though she feared she would fall.
Oh, my God, youre just incredible, Francesco!
The hoarse cries of astonished pleasure he was hearing in his head mingled with the more high-pitched sounds of laughter that drifted in through the window. Sucking in a deep breath through flared nostrils, Francesco dragged his thoughts kicking and screaming back to the present.
It took several moments for him to get the hunger that still roared like a furnace in his veins under control.
He sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. Reaching inside the glove compartment, he pulled out Erins letter. He slowly tore it in half, then in half again before throwing it out the open window. The gesture was purely symbolic, but it made him feel better to watch the pieces scatter as a gust of wind caught them.
CHAPTER FIVE
F ORGETTING about the phone call he had intended to answer, Francesco was about to turn the ignition when there was more laughter outside. And mingled with this laughter was a tearful cry that held an unmistakable note of fear.
Frowning, he turned his head at the same moment one of the youths moved and he saw the girls face; underneath the overdone make-up that caked her face she was very young. The terror he saw written clearly in the childish features radically changed the situation. This was not simply high spirits.
With a sigh he opened the door. The fact was he didnt need any of this, but Francesco had not been brought up to turn a blind eye and ignore his duty and social responsibility.
The youths were too busy, and, if the beer cans discarded on the floor were any indicator, too drunk to register his presence until he was right upon them.
I think the lady would like to leave.
As one they swung around to face him, their expressions uniformly smug and belligerent. The one who was obviously the self-appointed leader dug his thumbs into his belt and took a swaggering step towards Francesco who, rather than recoiling in horror as he was meant to, simply looked bored.
This reaction visibly troubled the glassy-eyed gang leader.
Who asked you?
Francesco smiled. It was a smile that sent a cold shudder down the young boys spine.
Why dont you boys just run along home, no harm done? Francesco suggested pleasantly.
The youth nearest raised a can to his mouth and drained it before mangling the tin in his hand and flinging it over his shoulder. Were not running no place, mate! he announced loudly. So why dont you mind your own business?
The pathetic bravado was wasted on Francesco, who was fast losing his patience. He lifted one hand, flicked the cuff of his jacket and glanced at the metal-banded watch that glittered against his olive-toned skin. He had places to be and his plan to reach there before lunch was beginning to seem optimistic.
That is, of course, your choice, but the young lady he nodded towards the scared-looking teenager would like to go home. Is that not so?
The young girl nodded and eagerly ran into the shelter offered by his outstretched arm. You are all right? Francesco asked softly.
The girl who looked up at him as though he was her saviour nodded and wiped the tears from her cheeks, smearing mascara over her face in the process. Looking at her more closely, Francesco realised that beyond the vibrant hair she bore no resemblance whatsoever to his wife.
For a start the woman he had married would not have cringed in a corner while brainless thugs intimidated her. One corner of his mouth lifted into a wry half-smile as he contemplated her probable actions if she found herself in a similar situation.
His redhead would have stuck out her chin and ripped her attackers apart with her rapier-sharp tongue. And if that hadnt been sufficient she would have aimed some kicks at their most vulnerable areas, and most likely landed a few.
Neither would she have welcomed his well-meant intervention. No, she would have told him in no uncertain terms that she was more than capable of taking care of herself.
I think its time you went home, he suggested gently to the girl, who did not resent his interference.
She did not require a second bidding. Casting him one last look of supreme gratitude, she fled.
I dont think so, Francesco said, turning his body to block the youth who had moved to pursue her.
But she liked me
Francesco smiled. Did you not know? It is a ladys privilege to change her mind, and a gentleman always remembers that.
Folding his long, lean length into the drivers seat, Francesco dismissed the incident from his mind almost immediately, or most of it anyway. But the hair kept triggering memories he fought to keep in check for the rest of the journey.
Valentina tracked her guest down to the small sitting room. The south-facing room was her own favourite in the big rambling house that had become her home when she had left her native Tuscany to marry her English husband five years earlier.
She glanced at her watch before hitching her infant son a little more securely onto her hip. Her expression was reluctant as she reached for the door handle.
Half an hour earlier her husband had revealed the details of his master plan. She had seen the flaws immediately.
What if she doesnt want to be in the library at eleven-thirty? she asked. What if Francesco is late? What am I meant to do then?
Youll think of something, and if Francesco says he is going to be here at a certain time he will be.
Valentina could not deny his last point. People who meant exactly what they said were rare, but her cousin was one of them.
You know, Sam, I think youre enjoying this cloak-and-dagger stuff far too much!
She, on the other hand, was having serious misgivings. When she expressed her doubts about being part of what amounted to a conspiracy, Sam dismissed her concerns.
Conspiracy? This isnt a conspiracy, Val.
Well, what would you call it? We invited Erin to a party that doesnt exist, when were actually going to lock her in a room with her estranged ex!
There will be no locking involved. Ive just made sure that they can have the house to themselves for a few hours.
Erin will probably never speak to me again, Valentina predicted gloomily.
Were just helping two people get back together, Sam soothed. Look at it this waydoes Erin look happy?
Couldnt he just pick up a telephone like anyone else?
Once the lawyers get involved things get complicated.
Maybe, but why does he want to see her?
Well, obviously he wants to try again. He wants reconciliation. What other reason could there be?
Valentina did not even attempt to explain about the compl
exities of Latin male, macho pride to her English husband. As much as she loved Francesco, she was not blind to his faults; her cousin was capable of being utterly ruthless.
Of course, it might be as simple as Sam suggested; he might just want to salvage his marriage. The problem was, where Francesco was concerned things were rarely simple!
Look, I really dont see what the problem is. Francesco has asked for our help. When did he ever do that?
Never, she admitted.
Her charismatic cousin was just about the most self-sufficient individual she had ever encountered. He was the type of person that people instinctively turned to in times of crisis. A cloud passed over her face as her thoughts turned to the tragedy that had recently devastated the Romanelli family.
Rafe, Francescos twin brother, had taken his own life.
She was ashamed to admit, but she had been so caught up in her own grief that she had spared very little thought to how Francesco, who had remained a tower of strength throughout, must be feeling.
Then on the day of funeral she had walked into a room and found him alone. At the sound of his name Francesco had lifted his headthe bleak despair she had seen in his eyes during that brief unguarded moment would stay with her for ever.
The family had considered it a good thing when he had thrown himself into his work with even more energy than usual, but she hadnt been so sure.
So when after weeks of being pretty elusive Francesco had telephoned out of the blue and announced he was getting married Valentina had been delighted for him.
A secret ceremony in a tiny chapel with only herself and Sam to witness the event had seemed the height of romance until shed realised the couple had only met five days earlier!
That had really set the alarm bells ringing!
It was hard not to conclude, given the timing, that his totally out-of-character whirlwind marriage had been some sort of backlash to his twin brothers death.
She hadnt really been surprised when the marriage had folded after a month.
I for one, Sam added, would do a hell of a lot more than tell a few white lies for him. He believed in me when nobody else did, or have you forgotten how much we owe him? Wed have lost this housethe stud, everything!
I knowI knowand Id do anything for him normally , but were lying to Erin. Hows she going to feel when she realises weve been tricking her?
In the end theyd come to a compromise: she would not spill the beans to Erin, but if the other girl asked her a direct question she wouldnt lie.
CHAPTER SIX
E RIN , who was curled up on the sofa, put the book she was reading to one side and rose to her feet when Valentina walked in.
Who were you talking to? Valentina asked, looking around the empty room.
The heroine, Erin explained, indicating the book that lay open. She is so good it makes me nauseous.
Then why are you reading the book?
Im hoping shell wake up and realise that the hero shes been waiting for doesnt exist. The problem with heroic-looking men was it was a massive disappointment when you discovered they were just as incapable of knowing the meaning of fidelity as any other man.
That makes you a terrible cynic.
That makes me an optimist, Erin retorted, running a hand through her hair before tightening the knot in the orange scarf that secured it in a loose ponytail at her nape. The vibrant colour clashed gloriously with the equally vibrant shade of her copper-red curls. She might not be as stupid as she seems.
Her glance drifted to the plump baby gurgling contentedly in his mothers arms. Valentina made motherhood look so easyjust watching her made Erin feel inadequate. Were good mothers born or could you learn? she wondered
Erin hoped, for the sake of her unborn baby, that the latter was true!
So, being an optimist, do you think people can change?
Erin tore her eyes from the golden-skinned baby and caught Valentina watching her with an expression that made her wonder uneasily if she didnt suspect something. It wasnt the first time she had received that impression.
For a moment Erin was tempted to tell her; she ached to have someone to confide in, someone to tell her that the doubts and fears that kept her awake nights were normal.
But then sanity intervened.
Francesco was Valentinas cousin and to ask her to keep the information from him would put her in an awful position. Valentina would no doubt consider that Francesco had a right to know and Erin could not disagree, she knew she had to tell Francesco about the baby.
She had actually been on the point of putting pen to paper to do just that earlier that week, not having mentioned it in her earlier letter, when she had picked up the phone and without warning heard his voice.
But when the moment had presented itself, she hadnt told him; she hadnt said anything.
She hadnt been able tothe protective defences she had struggled to construct had disintegrated and so had she! Her eyes had still been puffy and red the next day from the orgy of weeping just hearing his voice had triggered.
It would be so much simpler if her conscience would allow her to delay telling him until after the divorce. Because once he did know Erin knew that realistically there would be no question of a smooth, uncontested divorce.
It just wasnt going to happen.
Not given Francescos inflexible and unforgiving attitude when it came to the subject of fathers who tried to evade their responsibilities.
Francesco held the view that absentee fathers came slightly lower on the evolutionary scale than lice! And while he had once expressed some admiration for single mothers who brought up children and juggled careers, he had added the rider that it was inevitable the child would suffer.
The moment he knew about the baby Erin knew that he would use all his considerable powers of persuasion to make her give up the idea of a divorce completely.
But even if he had turned up on his knees begging her to come back, a scenario slightly less likely than snow in the desert, Erin would not have considered trying again, especially only for the sake of their unborn child.
It wasnt as if it would work out any better the second time around. Nothing had changed. Essentially they were the same people, the same totally incompatible people. If they got back together she would only end up having to walk away a second time.
And that was something she had to avoid at all costs. Leaving the first time had hurt more than anything in her life and the thought of feeling pain like that again Oh, my God, I just cant go through that again! she thought, gulping as she bent to pick up the stuffed toy Gianni had thrown on the floor.
No, I dont think people can change, she said, putting the toy back in the babys plump hand.
In order to change you had to admit you were in the wrongsomething that her estranged husband had refused point-blank to do. As her thoughts lingered on the subject of Francesco her soft features grew bleak.
It wasnt difficult to work out what she had seen in him. He had had more raw sexual magnetism in his little finger than a normal man had in his entire body.
Erin could forgive herself for the physical attraction, but what she couldnt forgive herself for was seeing emotional depth in his brooding silences and strength in his reticence.
It seemed laughably pathetic now, but she had really thought she had found her soul mate, the one man in the world that she was meant to be with. She had seen what she wanted, when in reality there had been nothing to see.
He had been shallow, selfish and cruel.
How had she ever imagined that their marriage could work?
She was confident that walking out and turning her back on him and a lifestyle to which she had been patently unsuited had been the right thing to do. She had no doubts at allif only she could forget that look of bleak devastation she had seen in his dark eyes
But sometimes Valentinas voice interrupted her thoughts.
Erin shook her head. My mum believed my dad could change for thirty years.
It was the fi
rst reference that Erin had made to her parents marriage. On the one occasion Valentina had met Erins mother, she had been far less restrained when it came to disclosing the gory details of her husbands numerous infidelities! Much to her daughters obvious discomfiture.
When you were growing updid you know what was going on? Valentina asked curiously.
Erin shrugged, her expression tight as she admitted, The entire village knew what was going on.
Valentina gave a grimace of sympathy. She herself had found it difficult to warm to Clare Foyle. She couldnt rid herself of the uncharitable conviction that the older woman rather enjoyed her status as tragic, dumped wife.
What Erin still struggled to understand was that, after all these years and numerous affairs, all her father had to do was look sheepish and contrite and his wife would welcome him with open arms no matter how many times he humiliated her.
Erin knew better than to challenge her father or attempt to make her mother see he would ever change. The only thing her previous interventions had never done was make her mother accuse her of not wanting to see her happy.
She gave a philosophical mental shrug. She had long ago accepted that where her father was concerned her mother could not think rationally.
And who was she to criticize? Hadnt she almost gone down the same road herself?
Theyre planning a trip to France to tour the wine-making regions.
My cousin married an Australian winemaker Valentina stopped and gave a self-conscious grimace. But then youd know that. Sorry, I didnt mean to
No need to be sorry, Erin said, pretending a pragmatism she was a million miles away from achieving. And actually there are entire chunks of Francescos life which are a total mystery to me.
Well, I dont suppose that is so surprisingyou actually didnt know one another very long. That isnt a criticism, she added quickly. Sam said he knew he was going to marry me five minutes after we met!