by Billy London
“Yes! And you can go to your church and pray forgiveness for taking me as your lover.”
Her face heated immediately. “I’m going.”
“Bella…”
“Don’t say my name like that,” she snapped. “Like I’ve done something wrong to you. You said no regrets. Why are you making me feel bad?”
“Because I want you to stay with me!” His passionate declaration echoed across the grounds. Belinda sucked in a breath, struggling to hold herself together. It would be so easy to say yes. But she wouldn’t forgive herself either.
“Paul and Sofia are going to Milan later today, Georgina and Nicholas will be in Sicily by this evening and then there will be no one here but me. Us.”
“I can’t.”
“You will not.”
“I can’t.”
He stared at the gravel again. “Same difference.”
She hitched her bag higher on her shoulder, biting down hard on her lip. His hands cupped her face, his mouth brushing persuasively over her own, before he lifted his head.
“Stay.”
Oh dear God. The look in those beautiful blue eyes. She was going to cry. Bawl her eyes out like a baby if she didn’t leave. Footsteps echoed loudly in the villa’s hallway, prompting Belinda to take a huge step back and push his hands away from her face.
Paul suddenly came out of the villa, rushing to her and swinging her into a hug. “Zia, you sure you don’t want to come to Milan?”
She gave a bark of a laugh. “I know you don’t understand work but I have to do a job.”
His face softened, as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll call you.”
“Of course! Where’s that troublesome child?”
“Here Auntie!” Sofia reached around Paul and gave her a tight hug.
“Look after my boy or there’ll be trouble, yo.”
Sofia snorted, “I always look after him.”
“Not just the bedroom,” she snapped. Gina and Nick swayed out of the villa hand in hand. Belinda’s heart swelled at how contented the girl looked. With a smile so beautiful, Gina’s arms snaked around her tightly before Nick joined in. “Thank you for everything.” Gina whispered.
Belinda really wanted to go before she embarrassed herself. “You are so very welcome.” She looked up at Nick. “You look after her. I’m warning you!”
He sent her a grin that was nothing but mischief. “I swear. Meda ase Auntie.”
Those gorgeous, glorious children. She turned her smile to Massimo who suddenly looked as cold as the perfect marble saints he so resembled. “Thank you, Massimo.”
He took her hand and kissed it. “Goodbye Belinda.”
Oh hell, it was Belinda again. Forcing her smile higher, she tucked herself into the car and it rolled away. She turned around and saw them all waving. Her eyes went instantly to Massimo, who faded into the distance, watching her even as the others returned to the villa. Her heart tore and without warning hot tears scalded her cheeks.
The driver noted and nearly came to a screeching halt. “Ms. Belinda, I’ll take you back.”
“Don’t be stupid,” she half yelled. “I have a flight to catch. Come on young man, bessem ma ye nko!”
Well she’d have to leave the crying until she got on the plane.
Chapter Nine
If anyone had even the slightest suspicion that Massimo had something to do with Abele Vitale’s present condition of death, it vanished the moment Massimo’s Armani clad person walked into the small chapel. He heard the barest intake of breath from the gathered mourners as he made the sign of the cross then stood in front of Vitale’s open casket. Vitale looked like a shrivelled, dried prune. A far cry from the man who stormed around London like Zeus on cocaine. Massimo laid a hand on Vitale’s chest and closed his eyes in prayer.
Lord, I thank you for taking this abomination to my family’s honour from this earth. My assistance was to your greater glory. May this day remind him, even as he burns in the pits of hell, not to ever cross me. Amen.
He sat in the pew behind the Vitale family who all turned and nodded their heads in respect. Good. At least Vitale hadn’t damaged that. Enzo offered his hand which Massimo reluctantly shook. Manners ensured the reluctance did not show.
“Thank you, Signor Da Canaveze,” Enzo breathed. “I appreciate you have other matters to deal with.”
Getting Belinda Afriyie to change her mind about me being at the top of the list. “It is a duty I take with a heavy heart. Your father will be missed.” Massimo hoped his earlier prayer of searing honesty would balance out the minor lie.
“Thank you. Is Gina not coming? And Nick of course.”
Massimo looked at Enzo for a long time. It did occur to him that other men would find his daughter-in-law attractive. He didn’t for once consider any would be as stupid as to voice it in his presence. “Your father’s coffin is right in front of you, Enzo.”
“I just know they’re both in Italy and I thought that—”
“They are on their honeymoon. I believe Georgina met your father once. At my late wife’s funeral.”
Enzo nodded enthusiastically. “Well. Perhaps another time.”
“What God has joined together, let no man tear asunder,” Massimo quoted. “Be very aware of that Signor Vitale. I understand your marriage did not end the way God intended, but believe me, I will endeavour to do God’s work if I find anyone attempting to interfere in my son’s marriage. Am I understood?”
The younger man looked distinctly ill. “Yes, sir. Clarity is everything.”
“I am sure you have more pressing things to concern you. Your father’s estate, perhaps?”
Looking relieved that he had escaped relatively unscathed, Enzo gave a shrug, “No, sir. Everything has already been arranged. Father was very ill. He had cancer of the bowel. It was a matter of when not if. All the formalities have been dealt with—” A wail disturbed the chapel’s muted atmosphere. “Arlo, pull yourself together!” Enzo barely turned his head to snap, before focusing on Massimo.
“Your brother is upset,” Massimo murmured.
Enzo sighed with exasperation. “My father was not the best parent. As much as he may be missed by yourself and business associates, the same cannot be said for us. We have made peace with his end.”
Massimo’s reactions remained internal. And he thought he was a cold man.
“I wanted to ask you, Signor...”
“Enzo. It is your father’s funeral. Give him the respect he deserves. Whatever peace you have made with your relationship with him, he is still your father. Behave accordingly.”
Enzo finally understood and turned back to the front with a nod to his elder. Impudent whelp! How dare he try to extract a favour with his father’s body less than three feet away? The service commenced and Massimo followed through soullessly. All his feelings had jumped on a flight back to London.
It wasn’t the same as the bewitching allure of Mary Alice in their twenties. There was something deeper than that with Belinda. If he pulled back the curtain of the early days with Mary Alice, it had been purely sexual. He fell in love with her, eventually, which was why he married her. But when Belinda had got into that infernal car and driven away from him, he felt empty. Deflated. Actually, crushed was more like it. And sex had been a wonderful bonus to what he felt being with her.
Everything replayed in his mind. The lift of her lips when she smiled, the sound of her laughter, and the screeching tone of her voice when she was telling someone off. Rather inappropriately, a grin tugged at his face before he controlled himself. For a woman who proclaimed to be too old to do, well, everything, there was such vivaciousness in her. All muffled by what she believed was the right thing to do. He could tell that she was the ‘almost’ girl. She’d almost done everything she wanted, but fallen short—with her husband, not having children, not fulfilling her dreams. Was it so very wrong that he wanted to share that with her? Help her to live while she still could, before it was all stolen from he
r whether by disease, by God or by time? But she had asked for space and he would honour that. He didn’t really have a choice about it.
It had only been a scant few days but he missed the woman fiercely. Missed the way she fitted to him perfectly, her touch, her smell, her bizarre way with words. It should have worried him how much he enjoyed the way she ordered him about but he knew it came from a place of affection. It was adorable and very amusing. Another smile was fighting its way free and he just about controlled it.
He glanced up from the order of service to see Arlo Vitale looking at him, red rimming his eyes. Massimo sent him the smallest smiles of sympathy. Arlo quickly turned his back and faced the front. Regrettable, he realised, but inevitable. And he’d promised himself no more of those. Just eleven more days to go then.
Seated behind his desk, Massimo tapped the wood with the tips of his fingers, hating the sudden indecisiveness that was plaguing him. He’d bought the gift with the intention of turning up at Belinda’s home with an order cloaked in suggestion that they should go together. On his way home, the intention turned into a nightmare of Belinda laughing in his face and telling him to get lost. Or asking him why he couldn’t follow a simple instruction. Leave me alone until I am ready. He didn’t like sitting around waiting for things to happen. It wasn’t at all natural to him. Just as he got to his feet, as if God himself was protecting Belinda from his advances, his son and daughter-in-law bounced into his office smelling like a beach. He was smothered in hugs and kisses.
“How was the honeymoon?”
“Bliss,” Gina beamed. “I love Sicily, not as much as Naples, obviously. But the peace and quiet was awesome.”
“All right Pads?” Nick asked, giving him two kisses. “We didn’t interrupt did we?”
“Nothing at all. Did you drive all the way back?”
“We did and I never want to look at a car again.”
Gina grinned. “Oh really?”
“Stop that,” he said softly. Her grin widened and Nick indulged her with a kiss to her forehead.
“Come,” Massimo directed, edging them to the kitchen. “You must be hungry.”
He laid out a spread of cold meats, bread, cheese, and lemonade for Gina and ice tea for Nick. “I’m not going to eat too much,” Gina mumbled through a mouthful of ciabatta. “I’m meeting my aunt in a bit.”
Massimo glanced up. “You have spoken to her already?”
“Called her as soon as we hit English soil.”
“All I could hear was screeching,” Nick yawned. “Pads, do you mind if I have a shower? I’ll pass out otherwise.”
“You trying to say I smell?” Gina demanded. He pressed his mouth to her neck.
“Beautiful.” He got up and left them to it.
Massimo topped up her glass of lemonade, thinking how beautiful she did look. “Pads,” Gina said gently.
“Yes my girl?”
“I know you think you and my aunt is all my idea…”
He raised his eyebrows, “The idea was there long before you started making rather obvious bridal demands.”
Her eyes widened, “Oh really? Knew it.”
He caught her hand, “What is concerning you?”
Gina took in a deep breath. “Being with Nick has been the best thing that’s ever happened. But it’s put me in a place I didn’t want to be. Ever. And even though I’m so glad and relieved I’m pregnant again, there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t think about the first baby or my dad.”
Massimo squeezed her fingers. “I would never—”
She covered his hand with her other. “I know you would do your best, but no one, not even a Da Canaveze has that much control. I know I moan about my aunt but I do love her.” She tapped her fingers lightly on his knuckles. “You are going to be serious about her, aren’t you?”
“I am not a monster, Georgina. Your aunt is very precious to me. But she has asked me for distance.”
Gina’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”
“Nothing as bad to warrant such an expression,” he frowned.
“What?”
He gave her hands a kiss. “I remember when Nicholas first introduced me to you.”
“What…?”
“My dear girl, no interrupting.”
“Yes Pads.”
“You were barely nineteen years old, you sang like Ella Fitzgerald and you are the only person I have ever allowed to beat me at chess. I had a feeling, a very good one, that you would become my daughter-in-law. I did not comprehend what else you would give me or my family.”
“Oh, Padre,” Gina whispered.
“I promise, if I warrant an expression of disappointment from you, I will allow it, because you are loved. And because you are loved, I would never do anything to upset your aunt. One moment.” He left her to collect the gift for Belinda. “Here. Please give this to your aunt.”
Gina looked at him, an unreadable emotion in her eyes. “Call her.”
“Georgina.”
“Call her. Or better, why don’t you go and see her?”
“Out of interest, why are you happy for this to grow?”
Gina smiled, resting her chin on a raised fist, “You’re good for one another. I think you’ll both learn there’s no need to be alone. So my vote is call her. My aunt’s really stubborn.”
“Er, Mrs. Soprano?” Nick’s voice sounded sternly from the doorway of the kitchen.
Gina blinked, her eyes wide with guile. “Why are you calling me?”
“You’re cheating.”
Gina tutted, “I am not.”
Massimo looked between his son and daughter-in-law, suspicion heavy in his eyes. “What are the two of you talking about?”
“Don’t let her sweet little face sway you,” Nick warned, lifting his wife bodily from her chair. “She’s doing it for personal gain.”
“Oi, I’m a woman of the heart.”
“You want my car.”
“I’m getting your car,” she corrected, stabbing his breastbone with a finger. “Pads, I’m going to clean up then meet my aunt. I will pass on your gift.”
“Say hello for me,” Massimo requested gently.
“Is that all?”
“Gina Da Canaveze!”
She sent him a rather stern look. “Don’t you take that tone with me. I’m the mother of your child.”
“For which I am eternally grateful. But stop cheating.”
She pouted at him and received a kiss for her troubles. “Excuse me Padre.”
“Nicholas, take a seat. I take it coffee is the order of the day?”
“Please,” Nick breathed out and ran a hand through his hair. Massimo still wanted to take a pair of scissors to his son’s locks. “Need to keep sharp, because my wife wants to rob my car.” Massimo laughed, turning to make the coffee.
“Oh we got you something. Two somethings. Just to say thank you for the wedding.”
Massimo frowned. “I did say not to worry.”
“Well we did.” He handed over a box of Massimo’s favourite lemon cakes from a special café in Palermo. Another smaller box held gold cufflinks engraved with his initials. He embraced Nick for a long time, touched by their thoughtfulness.
“Sit, sit.”
Nick did as he was told and asked, “Did you want to talk to me about something?”
Massimo placed the coffee in front of Nick before sitting down. “How do you feel about my… relationship with, another woman?”
“I think you’re brave,” Nick drawled, pouring the coffee into a huge mug. “Belinda doesn’t mess about.”
“Be serious.”
“I think, good for you.”
“You have no problem? I was married to your mother for a very long time.”
“I did for a bit, then Gina made me see the error of my ways.” Nick sighed, “All the more reason for you to enjoy a normal relationship. Look Dad, I know you’re lonely. I know you felt that way long before Ma even died. I know you hate rattling around in th
is big house by yourself. I don’t know why you haven’t thought about moving. Belinda will keep you on your toes at least. Besides, the one person you should really worry about adores Belinda.”
“Paul?”
“She’s missing a halo in his eyes,” Nick mocked.
“And what of you, what do you make of her?”
“Still scary as fuck, but she loves my wife, who hasn’t got a lot of family because of me. For that, I love her too. She’s very kind under all the headmistress clobber. I get the feeling people have taken advantage of her in the past and she’s wary. We’re probably the family she should have had. Even if she does think I’m a trouble maker.”
“You are a trouble maker.”
He smiled. “Genetics, dad. We’re happy. Me and Gina, Paul and Sofia. You don’t need to worry about us. And if certain things are holding you back, you should know that you don’t need to hold my hand any more. I’ve got it.”
There was nothing in his son’s actions or words to make him feel it wasn’t concrete fact.
“Thank you, son,” he said quietly. Nick lifted his cup in salute.
Belinda, my sweet, your time is almost up.
“Okay Auntie, am I going to expect a wedding invitation?” Gina demanded, sitting across from her in the cafe opposite the clinic.
“What for?”
“You and my father-in-law.”
Belinda’s face flamed with heat. “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Gina cleared her throat and extracted what looked like a tablet. “This is my iPad. And these are the photographs emailed over by the photographer. What caught my eye was this picture, here.”
She flipped it over for Belinda to hold. It was a picture of Massimo and Belinda dancing and whomever that photographer was, needed to be shot, point blank with something large and preferably Russian. They had captured the look that had passed between them, that they more than just understood one another. Just before Belinda dismissed the very idea of a mutual attraction as fanciful.
At that moment she had wondered what on earth would possess him to lose sensibility and misbehave with everyone in full view. Now here it was staring her in the face. In Massimo’s lowered eyelashes, in the clasp of his hand around hers, the smile on her own lips, pouting and playful. To think that she would have the man naked and in her bed within a few short hours of the photo being taken seemed unreal. To think that within twenty four hours of that photo they had done a lot of things naked seemed like a dream.