Second-Best Wife

by Rebecca Winters

  Gaby swung back around, not meeting his eyes. “I-if you don’t mind, I’m not feeling very well and would like to go directly to bed.”

  Having said those words she got the distinct impression that she’d angered him. A ruddy flush dulled his cheeks. But she didn’t have a choice. If they’d been alone, he would have argued with her until he’d broken her down and forced her to eat a meal with him.

  Under no circumstances could she allow that to happen. At Loretello, Gaby’s unwise behavior had tempted Luke to show his human side. Tonight she was weakening where her own strength of will was concerned. All it would take was one smoldering glance from him and she’d lose the little self-control she had left.

  Like a godsend, Bianca’s presence acted as the perfect buffer. Gaby would cling to the housekeeper in order to distance herself from Luke until she could leave Italy altogether.

  Ignoring his well-honed physique still poised near the doorway, she addressed the older woman. “I have a headache, signora. Do you keep any medicine here?”

  “Sì, Signorina.”

  “Would you show me please?” she asked before Luke could offer his assistance.

  The older woman nodded, indicating Gaby should follow her into the ensuite bathroom, the one place Luke couldn’t accompany them.

  Clearly not pleased, he watched her enter the spotless interior and disappear from his narrowed line of vision. To her relief, Bianca shut the door and pulled a bottle of pills from the cabinet.

  Gaby turned on the shower taps so they couldn’t be overheard. “Thank you, Bianca. If you’d be kind enough to bring my bags in here, I’ll wash and get ready for bed,”

  “I’ll bring up a tray in case you get hungry later.”

  “That’s very thoughtful of you, but it’s Father Luca who needs your help.” In a confiding tone Gaby whispered, “I am a close friend of his brother Giovanni who was in a car accident.”

  The older woman looked shocked and crossed herself. “Is he all right?”

  “He will be, but the poor Father has been worried about him and hasn’t slept for several nights. Please do everything you can to make him comfortable. Force him to eat something. If you have a little Verdicchio wine, that might relax him. Then let him sleep in tomorrow morning. He must be well rested before he returns to Rome.”

  “Of course.” The housekeeper nodded, obviously thrilled to be given such an important task. No doubt she loved fussing over the man she revered so much. “You can depend on me.”

  “I knew it.” She pressed the other woman’s hand, praying she’d won her confidence. “One more thing—” she murmured, eyeing the phone by the bed. “I’ll be leaving before he awakens. Say nothing about that to him or he will insist on driving me to the airport. You know how good and kind he is. How he loves to take care of everyone else.”

  The woman’s eyes brimmed over. “He is a saint.”

  A sad smile broke out on Gaby’s face. “He’s the most wonderful man I’ve ever known. But this is one time when we all need to watch over him. You understand what I’m saying?”

  “Si, signorina. I will do everything I can for him.”

  “God bless you, Bianca.”

  “And you, Signorina.” She crossed herself again.

  Before the housekeeper left the bathroom, Gaby asked for the address of the villa so she could tell the taxi exactly where to come in the morning.

  When she heard the door click, Gaby crossed her fingers and stepped beneath the spray. Since coming to Italy, she’d learned to conserve water by getting in and out of the shower as fast as possible. But because of her precarious circumstances, she remained inside for a long time and washed her hair. Anything to drag out the moment. Hopefully by the time she climbed into bed, Luke would have eaten and gone to his room for the night.

  Finally, when she’d dried her hair enough to braid it, she crept into the bedroom, shut off the light and dove beneath the covers.

  No sooner had she turned on her side than there was a tap on the door. It had to be Luke. Bianca would have walked in without permission. Gaby started to shake and couldn’t stop.

  “Gabriella?”

  Though he only whispered her name, she could feel the deep intonation pierce her skin to the innermost core of her.

  More than anything in the world she wanted to answer him. Instead, she got on her knees under the covers and prayed with all her might that he would go away.

  He called her name again.

  Gaby writhed in pain. If she encouraged him to come into the room, there was no telling what might happen. She couldn’t live with that on her conscience and continued to beg for strength to resist him.

  After a while, she had reason to believe he’d gone away. Her prayers were answered. For the rest of the night she sat propped up in bed with tears streaming down her face, watching the lights twinkle around the shoreline of the lake.

  At dawn, she quietly slid from the bed and got dressed, then phoned the operator to get the number of the taxi station. Within a few minutes, she’d called for her ride.

  With that accomplished, she went out on the veranda where the spectacular view of Lake Lugano spread before her like a fairyland. But right now her main concern was escape.

  There were steps leading up one side of the villa. If she climbed over the railing, it was just a small jump to freedom.

  She went back inside for her suitcases, then lowered them noiselessly over the railing into the garden, one at a time. After shutting the sliding door, she went back out on the veranda and heaved herself down to the stairs.

  Once her bags were in hand, she crept through the underbrush to the road where she hid beneath a flowering tree. Luke would never be able to see her from the villa windows.

  The longest ten minutes of her life went by while she stood there terrified because Luke might discover her disappearance and come running outside to see where she’d gone.

  But providence was with her, because she finally saw a taxi turn up the lane. Without waiting another moment, she ran toward it, hoping the driver wouldn’t come abreast of the villa.

  “Drive me to the train station, per favore,” she cried in her best Italian, jumping in the back seat with her suitcases. “Sono in ritardo.” She had told him she was late so that he’d hurry.

  The middle-aged driver turned around and grinned with typical male appreciation. “Capisco, signorina.”

  All Italian cabdrivers were insane so it didn’t take him long to reach their destination. Luckily the morning traffic had been light. There were fewer near-mishaps than usual.

  She got out of the car dragging her suitcases, threw some lire at him and started running. It didn’t matter which train was in the station. She’d take whichever one would get her out of town the fastest, even if it was going the wrong way. She could always get off at the next main station and regroup.

  As fate would have it, a local commuter was heading south to Milan. Without blinking an eye she bought a one-way ticket and promptly dashed outside, looking for the right track. The train was just starting to pull out of the station.

  She ran alongside it and literally tossed her suitcases into the passageway, then jumped on board. Out of breath, she stood on trembling limbs, clinging to the handrails on either side of the steps.

  In the throes of agony, she felt her life pass before her as Lugano eventually disappeared from view and Luca Provere with it.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “GABY?”

  At the sound of Wayne’s voice, she paused in the act of washing the plates from lunch and looked over her shoulder at her brother who was putting on his heavy-duty gloves.

  “I’m going out on the south range with Will for a couple of hours to do some fencing. When I get back, we’ll take that ride up the saddle and camp out.”

  “Don’t hurry on my account. I’m not in the mood to go anywhere, but thanks just the same.”

  He shoved a weathered cowboy hat on his blond head. “You know something, little sis
ter? You haven’t been in the mood since you got home from Italy. It’s past time you told me about the man who has put you into such a severe depression.”

  “I’m not in a severe depression!” she snapped with uncharacteristic sharpness. White-faced, she resumed her task at the sink of the trailer home provided for his use as foreman of the Red Fork Ranch.

  He chewed on a piece of straw, eyeing her shrewdly. “No? Dropping ten pounds, and not going to the university when you’re two quarters away from graduating, is what I call pretty damn depressing. If that weren’t enough, you’re living up here with no salary to speak of, no girlfriends, and no hope in hell of finding an eligible male. All in all, you’ve changed so drastically, I’m beginning to think the folks are right.”

  She blinked in alarm. “What do you mean?”

  “They want you to get professional help. I agree with them.”

  “I don’t need counselling.”

  “Then you’re going to have to prove it and talk to me when I get back later. Otherwise, I’m booting you out of here for your own good.”

  “No, Wayne! Please!” she cried in panic at her brother’s defection. But he’d gone out the door and there was no calling him back. Once he dug in his heels, that was it.

  Since her return, he’d given her her space, had made no demands. Wayne had always been her idol. She’d always been able to count on him. Or so she’d thought…

  Gaby clung to the edge of the counter. The fact that Wayne agreed with her parents about her needing help disturbed her greatly because deep inside she was beginning to believe it herself.

  Since her flight from Europe, each day had passed like a hundred years. There was a bleakness to her existence which had started to frighten her. Instead of time being the great healer, the opposite seemed to have occurred. Today was October fifth. Luke had been professed for a week now. Why couldn’t she forget him? What was wrong with her?

  In an effort to numb herself to the scalding pain of bittersweet memories, she finished the dishes and attacked her housekeeping chores with a vengeance.

  By the time an hour had passed and there was nothing else to clean, she came to the conclusion that she’d better unload to her brother before she had a complete breakdown.

  With hot tears gushing from her eyes, she flung herself facedown on the couch, wishing she could go to sleep and never wake up. Crying spells had become a habit she couldn’t seem to break.

  She knew she was pathetic and should pull herself together before Wayne got back. But drugged by her own inertia, she stayed curled up until she heard the sound of a motor.

  Since there was no more dirt road beyond the trailer, most likely one of the hands was coming up to talk to Wayne about a problem. Then again, someone could be lost.

  Mortified to be caught this way, Gaby jumped to her bare feet. But she didn’t have time to check the mirror before she heard footsteps outside followed by a rap on the trailer door. No way could she open it in her condition.

  “If you’re looking for Wayne, he’s gone to the south range and won’t be back until supper.” She’d been sobbing so hard, her voice sounded like a foghorn.

  “I’m not looking for Wayne,” came a low, masculine voice, distinctly unwestern.

  Puzzled, she took a peek out the curtained window and saw an unfamiliar Buick Skylark parked next to Wayne’s truck. Everyone who worked on the ranch drove pickups, which meant the man outside was a stranger.

  For no good reason, a frisson of apprehension made her stiffen. Wayne had always warned her about keeping the trailer locked when he was gone. Thank heaven he’d locked it on his way out.

  Struggling to sound calm, she said, “You must want Mr. Hayes, the owner of the Red Fork. If you’ll go back down the road a half mile and turn left, you’ll come to his ranch house.” At this point she wasn’t about to admit that Will wasn’t home, either.

  “I haven’t flown ten thousand miles to see the owner. Per Dio, Gabriella. Open the door before I break it in.”

  Her heart gave a great thump.

  It couldn’t be… It just couldn’t be!

  When she’d first heard Luke’s voice behind her on the castle ramparts in Assisi, she’d thought she was hallucinating.

  But hearing that same voice on a hidden ranch in the Sierra Nevada mountains of North America meant she had really lost her mind. Slowly, Gaby backed away from the door.

  “If there’s someone inside with you, get rid of him. Now!”

  She stood there paralyzed with shock, unable to make as much as a squeaking sound. Seconds later she heard the crack of splintering wood and suddenly Luke appeared inside the trailer, dwarfing it with his dark, powerful frame.

  Her blue eyes widened in total disbelief to see the true Duke of Urbino standing in all his magnificence not two feet away from her. It didn’t matter that he was dressed in Western jeans and a crewneck navy pullover. Nothing could disguise his striking aura, his sophistication.

  Lines marred his unforgettable male features. With undisguised intimacy, his devouring black gaze traveled over her face and figure.

  She was wearing one of Wayne’s Western shirts with the sleeves pushed up above her elbows. The hem hung lower than her cutoffs. It probably looked like she’d thrown it on in haste, and didn’t have a stitch on underneath. With no lipstick, and her hair loose and disheveled, she could imagine what he might be thinking.

  Judging by the way his hands worked into fists at his side, it was exactly what he was thinking. She felt fire lick through her veins.

  He sucked in his breath. “If you’ve got someone in the bedroom, tell him to leave,” he ordered in a deceptively quiet tone. “We have unfinished business.”

  He’d seen Wayne’s pickup and had jumped to conclusions. “T-there’s no one here b-but me,” she stammered enough to be heard, but the trembling of her limbs had taken over her ability to function with any coherence.

  “I don’t believe you.” His voice grated. The next thing she knew, he swept past her to explore the rest of the trailer. He moved about the claustrophobic interior as if it were his divine right. Because he didn’t know any other way.

  Gaby wouldn’t want him any other way. There was only one Luca Provere, and he was here in this trailer instead of in Rome. She didn’t know what it meant, but she thought she might die of joy.

  Like shockwaves, the tension suffused her being as he reentered the tiny living-room-cum-kitchen. “Why didn’t you open the door to me?” His fierce demand caught her off guard.

  Swallowing hard, she said, “B-because I couldn’t believe it was you. Seven days ago you took final vows.” Her voice shook. “I—I never expected to see you again. I thought maybe I was imagining you. You have to understand that I was afraid to open the door, for fear that y-you wouldn’t be there after all,” she admitted in a tremulous tone.

  There was a brief pause while he studied her classic features, the passionate mold of her mouth. Then his questing eyes fell lower, over every line and curve of her quivering frame.

  “Why did you run away from me in Lugano?”

  She averted her eyes, twisting her hands together. “You know why,” she whispered.

  “Tell me!” he snapped.

  “Because—” she began, “because I didn’t trust myself to be around you.”

  “Why?”

  He wasn’t about to give up. He’d keep digging away until he had answers.

  “Because you were a priest and I had no right to think of you as a man.”

  “If I hadn’t been a priest, would you have opened your door to me that night?”

  After a long silence she whispered, “Yes,” and heard another sharp intake of breath.

  “Have you ever made love with a man before?”

  Her cheeks burned. “No.”

  “Then why me?” He was utterly relentless.

  “Why are you torturing me like this?” she blurted in agony, looking everywhere except at him.

  “Because I want to hear
the words.” He moved closer. “You just told me you’ve never let another man touch you. So why would you have let me make love to you?”

  “The reason doesn’t matter.” By now he’d backed her up against the edge of the kitchen counter. “Now I really don’t know why you’ve come, but—”

  “The truth, Gabriella!” He sounded like a man who couldn’t take any more.

  She couldn’t, either.

  “Because I fell in love with you,” she began in a husky voice. “Because I’ll always be in love with you, and it hurts so much, I’m dying over it. There!” Her moist eyes darkened in intensity as she finally looked up at him. “You have my confession. Are you satisfied now, Father Luca?”

  He grasped her shoulders, his black gaze impaling her. “That’s not my name, so never use it again.”

  “W-what do you mean?”

  His fingers tightened on her flesh through the soft material of her shirt. “To take final vows meant losing myself to the will of a higher authority. It meant never looking back at what might have been.”

  His palms molded to her shoulders possessively. “I searched my soul and found I couldn’t make those sacred promises wholeheartedly. To stay would have been a lie… So I left.” His voice dropped several registers.

  Gaby stood there in shock. “But you’ve planned for this your entire life!” She simply couldn’t comprehend what he was telling her. “What happened to change everything, to change you?”

  His eyes smouldered. “You’re what happened to me,” he cried softly before his dark head descended, blotting out the light. “Help me, mia testarossa. Give me what I’ve been hungering for,” he murmured feverishly before his mouth closed over hers with a savagery that told of his deep need.

  She wanted answers to so many questions, but couldn’t think of one. After the deprivation of the past month, to be in his arms like this without the accompanying guilt of knowing he was a priest turned her startled gasp into a moan of surrender.

  Like a tenacious vine, Gaby wound her arms around his neck and embraced him with primitive longing, feasting on his mouth which had the power to drive her to mindless ecstasy. One kiss melted into another. What had been ignited in that cherry tree caused their hands and bodies to become an extension of each other.