Sweet Italian Christmas: Three Christmas Romances

by Helen Scott Taylor

  "She knows nothing about your handbag, and apparently a man called on the phone and canceled your room. Now they've let it to someone else."

  "What?" The word burst from Claire's throat in a yelp. "There must be some mistake. My things were in there."

  Leo snapped a few more words at the woman, who took a key from a board behind the reception desk. She paced down the dark corridor and unlocked a door beneath the staircase and pulled a cord. Light from a single bare bulb struggled to reach the corners of the cupboard. Claire's suitcase and laptop bag lay beside some dusty boxes.

  "They touched my things." Heat blasted into Claire's cheeks with her anger. She grabbed her laptop bag, laid it on a small table, and unfastened it. Along with her laptop, the cable was neatly folded and her memory stick was tucked away.

  Leo lifted her case from the cupboard and laid it on the floor. Claire unzipped it and rummaged through her clothes, noticing her passport was still in the pocket where she'd left it. They had packed all her things, including the two dresses and the jacket she'd hung in the wardrobe, and her toiletries bag from the bathroom. But what nerve!

  Claire re-zipped her case and straightened, anger sharpening her tone. "I booked the room for a week. How could you think I'd cancel it when my things were still here?"

  "A man called. And foreign girls like you…" The woman shrugged.

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  The woman turned away, muttering to herself, and headed back to the reception desk.

  Claire hooked the strap of her laptop bag over her shoulder while Leo grabbed her suitcase and they followed.

  "There is a room for you tonight," the woman said, staring at her computer screen.

  "No!" Leo's voice rang out.

  Claire had been about to say the same thing but he beat her to it. She glanced over her shoulder at him. Her affable knight in shining armor didn't look so calm and happy now. Angry lines bracketed his mouth and his eyes glittered darkly.

  "Come with me, Claire. We'll find you somewhere else to stay. Somewhere better."

  Leo marched towards the door with an air of suppressed fury.

  "Wait. You must pay," the woman said.

  Leo spat two short sentences and tapped his finger on his temple as if to suggest the woman needed her head examined. "I told her you would pay when hell freezes over," he said to Claire.

  "Okay." As they marched out, Claire glanced back at the scowling woman uncertainly. Had someone really canceled her room? It was the sort of thing Jonathan might do to mess with her head. Or had the hotel made a mistake? She hurried to catch up with Leo as he stuffed her suitcase in the Ferrari.

  She climbed into the passenger seat, her insides churning. "Without my bag, I don't have any money to pay for another hotel."

  "We'll find it. I asked her the name and address of the tour company. I'll take you there now."

  "Good. Thanks." She didn't remember him doing that, but she hadn't understood much of his conversation with the woman.

  Leo gunned the engine of his sports car and shot out into the road while Claire gripped the seat belt and hung on. She released her breath slowly and tried to calm her racing pulse after the distressing incident in the hotel.

  The more she thought about it, the more this situation had Jonathan's fingerprints all over it. He'd canceled her travel writing course because he didn't want her doing it. She'd only found out when she turned up for the first session. It was lucky the tutor had been understanding.

  • • •

  Leo stamped on the clutch and changed gears, his car engine growling. The way the hotel had treated Claire was unforgivable. Instead of showing concern that she hadn't returned last night, the management had packed up her bag and given her room to someone else. The woman in reception hadn't shown an ounce of remorse, either.

  Claire could have been hurt or in trouble—thank goodness he'd been the one to find her.

  She sat at his side, silent and withdrawn, her eyes glazed with shock, and he had a nasty suspicion things weren't going to improve for her.

  "I'm afraid the tour bus company is based in a rough part of town."

  She shrugged. "I don't care as long as I get my handbag back."

  Leo bit back a warning that her bag was probably gone for good. There was a slim chance she'd get it back, but he didn't like the odds.

  He maneuvered the Ferrari between vehicles parked along the edge of the road and Vespas weaving in and out of the traffic. They reached a tall fence topped with barbed wire surrounding a yard. A huge faded picture of a sandy bay ringed by tiny white houses and topped with blue sky hung on the wire. The name Amalfi Coast Tours was emblazoned across the top of the sign.

  "This is it." Leo turned between rickety gates that hung open and parked beside an old brick industrial unit. The smell of grease and rust filled the air, and the cement yard was stained with dirty black patches from years of leaked motor oil.

  "What a dump," Claire said as he opened her door.

  "My thoughts exactly." He placed a protective hand on her back, and they stepped around the worst oil spills and headed inside. An ancient bus that should have been scrapped years ago was propped up on a ramp while three men in grubby overalls worked on it.

  They paused and stared as Leo and Claire walked in.

  "Is the boss around?" he asked.

  One of the men poked a thumb over his shoulder towards an office in the corner. "He's in there," he said in what sounded like an Eastern European accent.

  All three men ogled Claire, making the hairs prickle on Leo's neck. He curved his arm around her shoulders. Thank heavens it hadn't been one of them who found her on the edge of the road.

  "I thought the tour bus I had was a heap of junk. Now I understand why." Claire rolled her eyes.

  Leo smiled at her, relieved she still had a sense of humor after the last two days.

  He knocked once on the office door and pushed it open. An older Italian man sat behind a desk. His overalls were open, revealing a checked shirt, and a cigarette hung from the corner of his mouth, the smoke spiraling up to join the murky cloud hanging beneath the stained ceiling.

  A nameplate sat on the desk. "Signor Addeo," Leo read. "You're the owner."

  "Yes." The man leaned back in his chair. "How can I help you?"

  "Signorina Chadwick was on your tour along the Amalfi coast yesterday. She left her handbag on the bus. We've come to collect it."

  The man squinted at them. "A handbag. Yes, I remember."

  He rose and pulled open the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet filled with bags, umbrellas, camera cases, and other items that must be lost property. "Do you see it here, signorina?"

  Claire picked up a large brown bag with a little sigh of relief and opened it. "This is it. Thank you." She pulled out a wallet and unzipped it.

  "Is everything there?" Leo rested a hand on her shoulder and leaned closer to see.

  "Oh no." She spread open the wallet and displayed the empty pockets. "My credit card and cash are missing."

  Tension climbed up Leo's neck. He pressed his lips together and turned a questioning gaze on Signor Addeo. "Where's the money?"

  The man shook his head. "It must have been empty when we found it."

  "I was told I could leave valuables on the bus when I got off. Your tour guide drove off and stranded me, now your staff has robbed me."

  The man frowned at Claire. When she finished speaking, Leo translated her words into Italian.

  "If you do not return to the bus on time, we cannot wait. And the money…" He shrugged and held out his hands.

  "She plans to sue you for abandoning her." Leo wanted to shake the man up, make him "find" the missing money.

  Signor Addeo shuffled back behind his desk, pulled some euro notes out of the drawer, and handed them over. "I'll return the cost of the tour. That's all I can do," he said.

  Leo gazed speculatively out of the grimy office window at the Eastern Europeans working in the garage. The money
and the credit card were probably in their pockets.

  "Okay." Leo took the euro notes and passed them to Claire to put in her purse. Then he slipped an arm around her shoulders and guided her out of the office. "We'll go straight home so you can call your credit card company."

  Leo tensed as the stares of the men in the garage followed them out. He quickly opened Claire's car door and rounded the vehicle to climb in himself. He wanted to get her away from here pronto. This place had a whiff of the mafia about it.

  Claire's breath hissed out as she counted the money on her lap in the car. "I have fifteen euros. That's not going to pay for a hotel."

  "You can stay with me again, cara." He had no intention of letting her out of his sight. He wanted to know she was safe. At first he'd been unsure about taking her to his home, but he had no doubt she was genuine. Last evening had been fun with her there. And his family liked her.

  "If you want to research Christmas in Italy, what better way than staying with a real Italian family and sharing in our celebrations?"

  Chapter Four

  "Okay. Thank you. Good-bye." With a sigh, Claire rested the phone on her thigh and stared at the magnificent view from Leo's studio at the top of his house.

  She tried to stay calm but nausea crawled up her throat and her pulse ticked rapidly. Was she ever going to get a break? Fate had it in for her.

  Apparently her credit card had been maxed out in the twenty-four hours since she left her bag on the bus. Whoever stole it hadn't wasted any time. The worst part was the bank blamed her for not reporting her card missing straight away. She'd intended to cancel it yesterday, but what with everything that was happening she'd forgotten.

  Another desperate sigh heaved in her chest and she swallowed back tears. Now she had the threat of a huge debt, and she couldn't afford to pay it back.

  The door behind her opened and small running feet slapped on the tile floor. Claire quickly wiped her eyes as Violet dashed towards the sofa. The child beamed a happy grin, revealing small pearly teeth. She rested her hands on the arm of the sofa and bounced up and down on her toes.

  "Hello, Claire. Will you play with me?"

  Leo chuckled as he sauntered up and placed his hands on his daughter's shoulders. "Claire's busy making phone calls, piccolina."

  "It's all right. I've finished." Claire handed his house phone back to him.

  "Is everything sorted out?"

  "Yes. I've canceled my credit card. They're sending another to my home so it will be there when I get back." Claire decided not to tell him that the card had been used. He already thought she was a charity case. No need to reveal she was in more trouble.

  Violet trotted away and grabbed a couple of dolls from the toy bag Leo had carried up and placed on a nearby chair. She came back and held out a doll to Claire. "Play with me."

  "Please," Leo added in a softly chiding tone.

  "Play with me, please." Violet shook the doll to emphasize her request. "You can have LaLa and I'll have Suki. They're sisters."

  "Okay." Claire took the doll and examined its baby face. At least playing with Violet would take Claire's mind off her problems.

  Violet climbed onto the sofa and settled on Claire's lap. Claire instinctively folded her arms around the little girl to hold her steady so she couldn't fall. The fragrance of sweet baby shampoo came from the child's soft dark hair. The sensation of this small person in her arms was unfamiliar. She felt so fragile, like a baby bird.

  The tiny bud of maternal instinct inside Claire unfurled and blossomed. She held this precious little person tighter, surprised by the confusing mixture of feelings flooding through her.

  Violet held up her doll. "Suki wants to play. Come on." She danced her doll around, singing, and Claire bounced her doll to join in.

  She glanced up to find Leo's gaze fixed on them, the expression on his face warm and loving. Something tugged deep in her chest as their eyes met. She'd never had a man look at her that way before, as if she were the most important thing in his world. Of course that loving look was really meant for Violet, not her. Leo's wife was a very lucky woman to be married to such a kind man.

  "If you're all right for a few minutes, I have a job I need to do," he said.

  "Yes, we're fine, aren't we?" Claire smiled at Violet, who nodded vigorously.

  "You go away, Papa." Violet flapped her hand at him.

  Claire shared a wry smile with Leo as he shook his head before wandering to his computer.

  For a few minutes Claire's problems receded and she enjoyed Violet's company, the innocent way every emotion the child felt crossed her face. She was an open book, so naive and happy. This little girl didn't have to guard every word and every glance in case she upset her father, like Claire had done when she was little.

  Thirty minutes later, Leo returned to them and dropped down on the sofa at their side. "I have something for you."

  "Me!" Violet shouted.

  "No, piccolina." Leo tweaked her nose. "Presents aren't always for you, my little angel."

  He pulled Violet onto his lap and offered Claire a smartphone.

  She hesitated before she took it and turned it over in her hand, frowning. This phone was an updated version of the one she'd had, and very expensive.

  "I've transferred your SIM card and set the phone up on your network."

  "Leo, you're very kind, but I can't accept this."

  She tried to pass it back but he didn't take it.

  "Please keep it. You need a phone and I can afford it."

  "No, honestly. I'm already in your debt and I can't pay you back."

  He swept away her protestations with a gesture of his hand.

  Violet slid off his lap and trotted to her toy bag, freeing Leo to swivel around to face Claire. "It's nothing, cara. Believe me. I have more money than I will ever spend."

  As her eyebrows shot up, he laughed. "I don't say that to boast, only to persuade you the cost of the phone is nothing to me. I'm paid a royalty every time something is sold that runs code I've written."

  It took Claire a moment to digest this. "You mean every single phone or car or whatever?"

  He nodded and pointed at the phone in her hand. "That, for instance."

  "Goodness." The thought left her light-headed. There had to be millions sold each year of this model of phone alone.

  "I have trouble finding ways to spend the money. I bought a café for my uncle. That's the place where you met me. I invested in my brother's robotics company. I paid to build a new hospital in India where my wife passed away."

  "Your wife's dead?" Claire pressed a hand over her mouth as she realized what she'd blurted. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to… I thought your wife must be away somewhere."

  Leo stared out across the bay, his usual smile fading. "She was away, always away. We were married for just over a year, and in that time I hardly saw her. She was passionate about alternative energy and worked for a charity. She was thirty-three weeks pregnant when she flew to India on a project. I asked her not to go so late in her pregnancy." He blew out a frustrated breath. "She never listened to me."

  Claire glanced over her shoulder at the happy little girl digging through her toy bag. "Your wife did give you a beautiful little girl."

  "Yes, my baby." Leo rose and went to his daughter. Picking her up, he hugged her until she squealed and wriggled to get down.

  "So Violet was born in India?"

  "Yes. But the facilities were primitive. Nicci, my wife, lost too much blood after the delivery, and the rural clinic wasn't equipped to treat her. I flew out to pick Violet up when she was a few hours old. My helicopter landed by the village and I couldn't believe the place where Violet had been born. It had no hot running water or power. A new hospital stands on the site now, built in my wife's name."

  Claire rose and walked towards him, needing to comfort this man who had done so much for her. She rested a hand on his arm.

  "I'm sorry for your loss, Leo."

  He was silent
for a few moments, then covered her hand with his. "Please keep the phone. I want you to have it. If you must, you can pay me back when your business gets off the ground."

  She stared into Leo's rich brown eyes, a warm tingly yearning inside her. His wife must have been crazy to leave him behind while she traipsed around the world. If Claire were married to Leo, she'd never want to be parted from him.

  • • •

  The next few days passed in a blur of activity as Leo's family prepared for Christmas, and Leo made it his mission to show Claire the highlights of Naples and the Amalfi coast. He retraced the route of her disastrous bus tour, stopping at each of the pretty coastal towns and telling her their history. They returned to the café where they'd met, and Leo introduced her properly to his uncle.

  Another day he took her to Pompeii and the ancient town of Herculaneum. Both had been buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Beneath a cerulean-blue sky, Leo took her hand and they wandered along the paved streets of Pompeii where ancient Romans had walked nearly two thousand years ago. Standing in the main square, the Forum, Claire tried to imagine the magnificent government building when it had been faced with gleaming marble.

  They wandered between the pillars in the basilica, marveled at the sophistication of the public baths, and examined the home of a wealthy merchant, and the more humble dwellings of ordinary people.

  Leo paused and rested a hand on a pockmarked block of stone in the doorway of a building that had once been a family home. "It's frightening to imagine what it must have been like when the volcano erupted."

  Claire's gaze rose to the looming presence of the sleeping volcano silhouetted against the blue sky. The Romans who'd lived here must have thought their way of life was permanent, but Vesuvius had swept away everything they knew and destroyed a thriving port city and the surrounding towns in a matter of hours. It was a sobering thought.

  Leo squeezed her shoulder and leaned closer. "Don't be sad. It happened a long time ago."

  She lifted a hand and touched his fingers. Here, where the echoes of the past whispered around them, reality felt fluid, unfixed. Anything seemed possible. If life could be swept away so easily, she should grab what she wanted while she could. She'd been raised to be ultra cautious and obey the rules. Jonathan had tried to keep her on that track, but so far that had only made her miserable.