by Penny Jordan
CHAPTER NINE
JULIE’S hands trembled as she fastened Josh’s nappy and paused to blow a kiss at him as he looked back at her and smiled. Today was the day they would learn the results of the DNA tests, and in fact the doctor was due in less than half an hour, according to the message Maria had given her from Rocco at breakfast time.
Rocco. Julie hadn’t been alone with him since she had gone to sleep in his arms two days ago. It was quite clear what message he wanted to send to her. She had known that the moment she had woken up in the dark alone.
Perhaps she should feel ashamed of what she had done? Rocco probably thought so, but Julie wasn’t ashamed. She wasn’t ashamed of anything—not a single, wonderful second of it. She had wanted to know the depth and breadth of her own sensuality and now she did. And if Rocco Leopardi thought that that meant she was going to pursue him for more of the same then he couldn’t be more wrong.
One day maybe she would meet someone with whom she could fall in love in the same way that she had fallen in love with James, but this time she would know her own sexual nature, and its needs.
Poor James. He had hated hurting people so very much, and she suspected now that he had probably allowed her to believe that he loved her rather than hurt her with the truth that he merely liked her as a person rather than desired her as a woman. His love for her, she was sure, had been that of a friend, not a lover. That made her feel sad and regretful—more for her lack of understanding and awareness than anything else. But the anger she had felt was gone—swept away in the torrent of passion she had known beneath Rocco’s hands and in his arms.
She picked Josh up and cuddled him, in part to distract herself from the direction of her thoughts and to conceal her faint blush, although she never needed an excuse to show her love for her precious nephew. He was growing bigger by the day now, putting on weight and responding to the attention she gave him with smiles and joy that turned her heart over, until it felt as though it was melting with her love for him.
There was nothing she wouldn’t do for him to keep him safe and well.
She wished the ordeal ahead of her was already over, and that she knew one way or the other where Josh’s future lay: here in Sicily or at home in London. But wherever it was she intended to be with him.
‘You’re my baby,’ she whispered lovingly to him. ‘My adorable, gorgeous, wonderful baby.’
His chuckle made her laugh and Rocco, who had heard both her words and her soft loving laughter, paused on the landing outside her bedroom on his way past, immediately rejecting the sensation that tightened round his heart.
She meant nothing to him. How could she? He just hoped that her child would not turn out to be Antonio’s son. That way he could have her on the first flight back to London so that he could get on with his life and forget that he had ever met her, his duty to his family done.
And if the boy was Antonio’s?
The same thing applied. He had his own life. She and the boy would become his father’s responsibility, not his, and the castle her home—if his father allowed her to stay.
It was almost eleven o’clock. He’d been out at the development since seven o’clock, and he needed a shower before Luca arrived. Rocco rubbed his hand over his jaw. He hadn’t been sleeping well, waking up in the night with an ache in his body and a sense of loss and aloneness.
He cursed himself under his breath. Wasn’t it bad enough that he’d had unprotected sex with a party girl, without developing some maudlin sense of thinking that his bed felt empty without her in it?
Julie tried to smile naturally as she walked into the salon which she had previously considered to be the most ‘homely’ of all the villa’s formal reception rooms, but which now felt formidably grand.
Dr Vittorio and Rocco were already there. The doctor was formally dressed in a dark suit, in contrast to Rocco, who was wearing a soft, white, short-sleeved cotton top and a pair of clean but slightly faded chinos. His hair looked damp, as though he had recently been in the shower. Her belly cramped, her muscles compressing against the now-familiar ache that accompanied his presence in her thoughts.
Whilst the doctor smiled at her Rocco came forward, taking Josh out of her arms before she could protest.
Apprehension surged through her, leaching the blood from under her skin and leaving it milk-white.
Had the doctor already given Rocco the results of the tests? Had he taken Josh from her because—?
Maria’s entrance with coffee and some of her homemade almond biscuits, plus—thoughtfully—a bottle for Josh, cranked up Julie’s tension.
Maria had poured their coffee and left them before Dr Vittorio reached for his leather case and opened it, saying calmly, ‘Since I know you will both be anxious to hear the results of the tests, I will not delay any longer.’
He looked at Julie, giving her a look that made her heart turn over. It contained compassion and, she thought, regret. She watched him remove some papers from his case and hand them each a set.
‘You will both see for yourselves that the tests show quite clearly that Antonio is not Josh’s father.’
Not his father! Julie’s hand trembled, her whole body going weak with relief. The papers she was holding slipped from her grasp. She had to sit down. Only now could she admit how much she had wanted this result—and not just because she’d wanted to believe that James was Josh’s father. It was for Josh’s own sake that she did not want him to have been fathered by Antonio Leopardi.
And for her own? Because she didn’t think she could trust herself if she had to remain in close proximity to Rocco Leopardi?
Rocco frowned as he saw Julie’s reaction, his frown deepening when Luca helped her to one of the hard-backed satin- covered sofas, urging her to sit down.
Still holding Josh, Rocco went towards them, bending down to pick up the papers she had dropped as he did so. He registered both how much thicker the set she had was, compared with his own, and then the look of concern on Luca’s face as he stepped forward to say, ‘Let me take that for you, Rocco.’ He reached not for Josh, but for the DNA document.
Julie leaned back against the sofa. It was over. Josh was hers and only hers. The relief was making her feel slightly sick, as though it was almost too rich for her to digest.
Ignoring Luca’s words, Rocco flipped over the printed sheets of data. The first one was an exact copy of his own, but the second was different.
He had to read what it said twice before he could rationalise it, then his mouth thinned as he looked first at Luca and then across to where Julie was leaning back against the sofa with her eyes closed.
Luca placed a restraining hand on Rocco’s arm, his expression one of concern and disquiet, but Rocco ignored his silent message, shaking off his hand and striding over to the sofa.
She had nothing to fear from Rocco now, Julie reassured herself, reaching up to take Josh from him, assuming that that was the only reason he had come over to her despite the look of compressed anger he was giving her. But instead of handing Josh to her he sat down beside her, still holding him in the crook of his arm whilst with the other hand he waved the papers he was gripping in front of her.
‘What the hell does this mean?’ he demanded.
Julie looked at him blankly, and Dr Vittorio interceded warningly. ‘Rocco, Julie hasn’t seen the results herself yet.’
‘She doesn’t need to see them, does she? After all, she knows perfectly well already that she isn’t Josh’s mother.’
Julie gasped and looked helplessly at the doctor, who shrugged in apology and told her, ‘I’m sorry—I should have warned you. But I didn’t give Rocco a set of your results. Since I was going to talk to you later about your own health, I had planned to mention it to you then.’
‘So if you aren’t Josh’s mother then who the hell are you?’ Rocco demanded, barely waiting for the doctor to finish speaking before he fired his furious question at her.
Rocco still had Josh cradled in the crook of his
arm. Julie wanted very badly to take her nephew from him, but to do so she would have to reach across Rocco himself.
It was easier to say huskily instead, ‘Please give Josh to me.’
‘Why? He isn’t your child.’
It was as though he wanted to hurt her—his words a deliberate blow, a rejection of her place in Josh’s life. But why? Josh meant nothing to him. He wasn’t Antonio’s child after all. The DNA tests had proved that as conclusively as they had obviously also proved that she wasn’t his mother.
‘Not my child, no,’ Julie agreed, her chin firming with determination as she confronted him. ‘But he is related to me—I am his aunt.’
‘His aunt?’
‘Yes.’
‘So where’s his real mother? Or can I guess? Living it up with the man she found to take Antonio’s place—if indeed it is only one man. What do the pair of you do? Take it in turns to live the good life?’
Julie had had enough—more than enough, in fact.
‘You have no right to say that. You don’t know anything about me or the way I live my life.’
Colour stained her skin as she saw the manner in which he was looking at her. She knew he wanted to remind her of what had happened between them, and how she had abandoned herself to his lovemaking. It had been a lie to say that he knew nothing about her. Of course he knew something about her—he knew a great deal about her in one sense. Certainly more than any other man did. Maybe more than any other man ever would. There wouldn’t be many men prepared to take on a young woman with a child—especially when they learned the story of Josh’s conception and she was obliged to admit that she had no idea who had fathered him. It was too late now to wish, as she had so passionately on many occasions these last few days, that she had thought to ask for DNA tests to be done herself to see if James was Josh’s father. Unfortunately at the time of his death the issue of Josh’s paternity had been the last thing on her mind.
Julie exhaled shakily. ‘My sister is not partying.’ Her voice twisted. ‘And before you ask me how I can be so sure about that, the reason I know is that she is dead.’
Julie bent her head, concentrating on watching the way her fingers pleated the silky fabric of her long cardigan as carefully as though her life depended upon it.
‘Judy—my sister—our parents, James—her fiancé—and his parents were all killed in a rail accident earlier this year. They were going to Scotland to look at a castle Judy had read about as a possible venue for their wedding. They’d left Josh with me because—’
‘Because your sister didn’t want to be bothered with him.’
The ugly brutality of Rocco’s statement fell painfully across her heart.
‘It is difficult, when you’ve got something as important as a wedding to plan, to look after a small baby, and Josh hadn’t been very well. Our parents agreed that for his own sake he should be left with me.’
‘So it was your sister who was Josh’s mother, and presumably Antonio’s bed-mate?’
‘Yes. She told me about him. And…and about the fact that she was pregnant.’
‘Did she tell you he was the father?’
‘She thought he might be,’ Julie replied carefully. Thanks to Rocco, she now knew just what her sister had been doing whilst she had been in Cannes, and so could understand why Judy hadn’t been sure who’d fathered Josh, telling her that she only thought that Antonio could be the father of the child she was carrying.
‘You mentioned a fiancé?’
‘James? Yes.’
‘James.’
The way Rocco said James’s name told Julie that he had recognised it—and why.
‘Tell me something. When you referred to James in our discussions were you referring to him in your assumed role as your sister or on your own behalf?’
Julie frowned.
‘I’m sorry—I don’t quite understand.’
‘Was he your lover or your sister’s?’ he demanded bluntly.
Julie could feel the raw burn of her own humiliation.
Lifting her head, she faced him squarely and told him quietly, ‘He was my lover first and then Judy’s. Not that it is really any of your business.’
She wasn’t going to explain or attempt to defend herself. Let him believe what he wanted to believe.
Dr Vittorio, who had moved over to the window, must have moved back, because Julie heard him saying firmly, ‘Rocco, that’s enough, I think. All you really have a right or a need to know is that Julie here is the little one’s blood relative.’
‘And his legal guardian,’ Julie put in determinedly.
‘I need to speak with Julie about her own health, but first I’m afraid there’s something else I should tell you. Your father rang me this morning, insisting that I tell him the results of the DNA tests.’
‘And did you?’
‘Yes—since he was working himself up into a bit of a state, and it had in fact been proved that Josh is not his grandson. He is naturally disappointed.’
He certainly would be, Rocco reflected, but if he was honest he felt relieved for little Josh’s sake. At least now the child would be spared over-indulgence coupled with emotional manipulation—which, Rocco and his brothers believed, had led to Antonio turning into the adult he had become.
Julie was grateful to the doctor for having taken Rocco’s attention from her, and even more grateful when he asked quietly if he could talk to her in private about the results of her blood tests.
She was just about to nod her head when Rocco shocked her, by confronting the doctor and telling him crisply, ‘Patient confidentiality is all very well, Luca, but since I have a vested interest in Julie’s health, I should warn you that I intend to be made fully aware of her results and your diagnosis.’
In saying that he had a ‘vested interest’ in her health, was he reminding her that he had paid Dr Vittorio’s fees? Julie wondered uncomfortably. It was humiliating to know that she simply could not afford to stand up and tell him that she would pay her own bills and buy Josh’s and her own clothes.
‘Julie must give her permission.’
They were both looking at her.
He knew the secret she had been keeping from him now, so what was the point in refusing? Except, of course, for the boost it would give her pride. Until he pointed out that she had no money to pay the doctor’s bill.
‘I don’t know why you should be interested in my health,’ she told Rocco, before turning away to look up at the doctor and say quietly, ‘But, since obviously you are, then, yes, Dr Vittorio—I give my permission.’
The doctor opened his bag again and withdrew a file of papers, giving Julie a brief, reassuring smile as he saw the anxious look she gave it.
‘You are, as I thought, suffering from anaemia,’ he told her. ‘But as the blood tests I ordered have not shown cause for concern in the form of any kind of serious medical complaint which could have led to problems with your blood cell count, I think we must put your condition down to other influences. You are a young woman in sole charge of a small child, with no partner or family to support you. You told me yourself that Josh had health problems of his own, and I can guess that the deaths of so many people close to you must have had a traumatic effect. If in addition to that you have perhaps had financial problems…’ He paused tactfully, whilst the colour came and went in Julie’s face.
‘I… The nature of the deaths of my sister and our parents has meant that there will be delays in sorting things out. Josh and I are, of course, the sole beneficiaries of my parents’ estate, but my parents’ will did not cover this kind of eventuality. My solicitor is doing his best, but he doesn’t know how long it will be before we are able to receive anything. I did have some savings—not much, and when Josh was ill I had to take time off work. Then…’ She bit her lip, not wanting to betray Judy. ‘There were certain monies owing that had to be paid.’
‘You mean that your sister left you her debts?’ Rocco challenged her.
‘Not deliberat
ely. Judy didn’t know what was going to happen.’
‘She knew she had a child to support, and that she was shortly to get married.’
‘Things have been difficult,’ Julie admitted to the doctor, ignoring Rocco.
‘There is no real serious problem with your health, but I do not wish to minimise the danger of your anaemia. You really do need to eat properly and rest. Some warm sunshine and freedom from the burden of the worries you have been carrying would do a great deal to improve things.’
Julie managed a small smile.
‘I shall do my best to follow your advice,’ she told him, turning back to Rocco to say coolly, ‘Now that Josh has been ruled out as a potential Leopardi, I’d like to return to London as soon as possible. There’s no need for us to remain here now.’
It was Rocco’s turn not to answer. She was right. There was no reason for her to remain here now. His duty to his brothers and the Leopardi name was done; it only remained for him to inform Falcon of the results of the DNA tests.
There was, of course, the matter of their financially recompensing Julie for the disruption to her life—as Falcon had said they must if her child should prove not to be Antonio’s.
Rocco started to frown. That should surely be his responsibility, since he was in the best position to judge what adequate recompense might be. Swiftly he mentally surveyed his memories of the area in which Julie and Josh lived, and their circumstances when he had found them, adding them to the information about her health that the doctor had just given them. He came to an immediate decision.
‘On the contrary,’ he corrected Julie tersely. ‘There are two very good reasons why you should remain here, and I am surprised that you have not thought of them for yourself.’
Julie looked at him uncertainly and waited.
‘I am sure that Dr Vittorio will agree with me that, given your own poor health—’
‘My health is not poor. I am anaemic, that is all.’
Ignoring her outburst, Rocco continued, ‘And given the fact that Josh is making such good progress here, it not only makes sense but in many ways I consider it essential that you should stay here until your health has improved.’