by Dora Bramden
Could she and Alessandro really get back together? He wanted her to come back to Milan but that wasn’t because he wanted her. He’d had two years to claim her for his own. No, she was the mother of his son and why he danced with her now.
What kind of wife was never introduced to her mother-in-law? It didn’t matter how many touching walks in the park she’d had. He didn’t love her. But he might love his son. Would she deny Alex a father who did want him? She needed to get a few things straight before they returned to the table.
“Alessandro, I have a commitment here, with the Australian Ballet. I’m not prepared to give up my income. I won’t become…” She stopped short of saying dependent on him. She loved being Alex’s mother, but the grant was a part of her claiming the rights of a woman returning unaided to a career on her own terms. She wasn’t being kept or bought off.
The months of putting her life back together were about securing a future for her and Alex, a future that couldn’t be derailed by a man. She’d found work while she was pregnant and after Alex’s birth, teaching at the Australian Ballet School. Now was her chance to return to the stage she loved. Her injured knee threatened that, but it would heal and she would dance again.
“You never have to worry about money again. I’ve set up an account that exceeds the grant payments.”
“I live off what I earn, and it will stay that way.”
“Think of it as Alex’s father providing for him to live in a way appropriate for his upbringing.”
His hand, nestled in the small of her back, pressed her body tight. Hot tingles swarmed under her skin. She wanted to be firm with him but his hips brushing against hers made her soft and pliable. He squared her against him. His hand slipped down to her bottom. He pulled her against a firm bulge at his groin. She gasped as heated desire flamed up her spine and caught in her throat. He quickly replaced his hand where it should be, in the small of her back and twirled them into a new direction, crossing the dance floor.
The music stopped and they’d arrived back at their table. She was collecting her senses while reaching for a chair. The director launched into a speech before she had a chance to sit down.
“You’ve shocked me, Katrina. I’d have expected better from you. You injured yourself today. Dancing on that ligament, when the physio ordered rest, is not just unprofessional, it’s risking your return to the stage. I’d expect you to put the company interests above your personal life. Prima ballerinas know that they have to do that.”
Alessandro held her arms out and stared at her concealed knee. “What happened?”
“My knee cap slipped today. I’ll need to take a week out of rehearsal for Swan Lake.”
The Director stood up. “Your husband doesn’t even know what you’ve done to yourself?”
“I haven’t had time to tell him.”
Alessandro’s eyebrows plunged into an abyss. “You should have found the time.”
Again, she’d kept vital information from him. Because of that, he’d just taken her on several laps of the ballroom with a severely injured knee. She’d rather put up with pain, than ask him to consider her needs. Why didn’t she tell him when she needed help? He could throttle her for being so stubborn but also wanted to lift her in his arms and get her off the painful knee.
He moved quickly. Silver encrusted, midnight chiffon swirled around him.
Seven
“Put me down.” She hissed in his ear.
“No. We’re going home and you’re going to rest.”
The Director shook his head at both of them. “The grant is for mothers who have no other means to support themselves. Alessandro’s media show threatens to undermine the spirit of the grant. Obviously you’re on board with whatever it is he’s trying to do. You’re wearing a ring on your left hand.”
“We can discuss the grant later.”
“That dance proves that the two of you are intimate. Whatever your circumstances were when you applied for the grant, evidently they have now changed.”
“Later.” Alessandro turned away.
Katrina beat her palm on his shoulder and twisted her head to face the Director.
“NO. You don’t understand. I deserve that grant.”
Alessandro stopped walking. She was twisting in his arms and he didn’t want to drop her.
“My marriage to Alessandro is complicated but we are estranged, despite how it looks. That’s just for the press, so Alex isn’t branded…”
She didn’t say un bastardo. She was too classy for that.
Turning his head, he eyeballed the Director. “My wife and I are going to be reunited. We don’t need the grant. It will be repaid and to show how grateful I am for the financial help my wife and son received, I’ll fund an additional grant so another dancer, who needs it, gets support.”
“We aren’t reconciled yet. I’m not going to pay it back. If Alessandro wants to donate to the Australian Ballet for whatever reason, it has nothing to do with me.”
“Okay, I’ll fund grants for two other young mothers to return to dancing.”
“That’s a very generous donation. The circumstances at the time of Katrina’s grant being awarded were correct. I’ll leave it at that.” The Director turned his stern gaze on Katrina. “But you have to stay off that leg. I want you to go home now.”
“Agreed,” said Alessandro. He shifted his focus to the ballroom ahead and the exit door beyond. As he crossed the room, the music played on but dancing couples parted to make way for the injured star of the company.
Alessandro whistled at the driver. He came round to the back of the limousine and opened the door. Alessandro slid her onto the seat and closed the door. He hurried to the other side. She weighed nothing in his arms and he missed her being there. He was eager to have her once again where she belonged. Ever since their eyes first met three years ago in the same ballroom, he’d known she was different to all the women he’d known before.
Alessandro was drawn to the memory of attending that first fundraising ball so that he could meet her. He’d been scanning the room for her. He didn’t normally do celebrity functions when racing. He turned his head and caught sight of his desire, the prettiest ballerina in the room, appreciating his assets. He held up his glass and saluted. Not for the first time had he experienced a woman looking at him with unguarded desire. He was used to the looks of beautiful women being drawn his way. But this butterfly of a woman looked at him as though she wanted to be caught in his net.
She had smiled and tilted her glass of champagne in his direction. A blush of pink brightened her cheeks. She wanted him but wouldn’t chase. Why should she? The most elegant woman in the room could have any man, billionaire or sports star. He just happened to be both and she would be his prize.
He’d never had a goal he didn't obtain and getting Katrina in his bed was an exhilarating challenge. She’d taken him to unexplored sexual territory, bewitching him with eyes and mouth and deceptively strong limbs. In the morning she was gone before he woke.
A note lay on the pillow, a phone number that he would definitely be ringing.
Her skirt billowed up as he pulled her against him. He wanted to press his lips to hers but her head was down and she appeared busy with something in her lap. She extracted her phone from her purse and swiped the screen. A devoted mother, checking for messages to make sure her child was okay. With an arm around her, he used his free hand to drag his from his pocket. One-handed. he checked for activity.
A missed call from Maria, his half-sister. She didn’t ring unless there was a reason. He must call her back as soon as he’d dropped Katrina home. He hoped it wasn’t about his mother’s fragile health. But if it was an emergency she’d have left a voice message. There was also a second missed call from the team manager and a message. He’d listen to the message after he called his sister. It was probably to discuss how Alessandro was going to prepare for the next leg of the Grand Prix. Katrina was still staring at her phone when he’d slotted his inside his
jacket pocket.
“Do you have any messages from the babysitter?”
“No.” She swiped the screen. And put the phone back in her evening bag. “Just checking the time – it’s later than I… .”
He covered her hand with his. Her small white hand disappeared inside his tanned one. It relaxed and he massaged her palm with his fingers. He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her mouth. The way her gaze lingered on his lips drove him crazy. Too much time has passed while she’d been away from his side. He’d never let his flighty Kat run away again and not follow her. He’d made that mistake two years ago and he didn’t repeat mistakes.
He’d make sure that the next time he took Katrina to his bed, she’d never leave it again, but that injured knee meant tonight was not going to be that night.
“I’ll help you to the door but I won’t come in. I’ve some calls to return and an early morning meeting with the team manager.”
“I have to pick up Alex so don’t worry about seeing me to the door.”
“We’ll get him together.” He instructed the driver to pull up in the alley behind the house. He followed Katrina as she limped into the house next door. He couldn’t help admiring his stubbornness of his wife when she refused to let him pick up their son alone.
Alex didn’t wake when he lifted him from the cot. Katrina opened the back door and stood aside to let Alessandro carry Alex to his room. He laid him in the cot, being careful not to jolt him awake. He needed to speak with Katrina uninterrupted but he lingered to watch his sleeping child and wanted to stay here with him. Only a massive pull to secure his future drew him from his bedside.
He kissed his son’s forehead. “I’ll be back soon.”
Katrina limped down the hall ahead of him. Even with a limp, the star-dusted chiffon swishing with every sway of her hips worked their magic on his loins. Sensual and irresistible need gripped him. It shocked him that although she was in pain and needed rest, his body wanted her. But it was more than that. He wanted to spend the night lying next to her with their son asleep in the next room.
Staying the night would be sleepless, All he’d think of was making her mew with sexual desire and that must be a special pleasure that had to wait. Losing himself in Katrina was better than the exhilaration of taking the Parabolica corner at Monza, a zone where his personal history had taught him, life and death hung in the balance of a millisecond decision. Yet, her welfare was paramount.
He would have a moment only with her in his arms but remain in control, not lose himself in exhilaration on the deciding corner. Before she opened the back door his lips found hers. At last the pent up desire had its way. His tongue marooned his plans as it registered the sweetness of her mouth.
His hand curved around her breast and she stole the air from his lungs. He plundered, driven with burning desire that raked his body.
He crushed her against him. Hands wove into his hair, driving him on. She writhed against the hard place that ached to be released from confinement.
Damn, he wanted to take her now. Lift her into his arms and put her to bed and climb on top. But that knee couldn’t take it. Her lips were soft and yielding but he pulled back and released her. He’d lost control for a moment. He mustn’t let that happen again.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No, I’m fine.” She leaned her head on his shoulder.
He burned for her, he wanted her now. He’d stopped them last time because he didn’t have a condom he still didn’t have any but that wouldn’t stop him. They were husband and wife and children were part of that now. Another child would add to their family. He wasn’t careering into a corner on a racetrack. He was moments from his wife’s bed where he belonged. But there was no way he could endure her next to him and not have her.
“I’ll go now. You need to rest.”
“Of course you don’t want another unwanted child” Her eyes glistened and she turned her face away.
Placed his palm on her cheek and turned her face back to him. “I’m not concerned about that now. I want a life with you and our child. A real family, more children wouldn’t be a mistake but maybe not right away.”
“You say that now, but who knows how you’ll feel a year from now. When your life has changed and nothing is like it was before because someone depends on you.”
A moment of panic sped up his pulse, but he grappled the fear as he did on the track. He would go the distance with being a Dad. “Forever. We stay married forever.”
“We’ll see, won't we?”
He could see that his Kat would need to be won over. He’d have to begin again and this time there’d be no mistakes. “I know I’m asking for you and Alex to make some fast changes. Just give me a chance to prove they’re the right ones.”
“We have to get this right. You and I live separate lives even if our public one is united.”
“Is that what you want?”
“It is what it is.”
“I told you I want more.”
“I’ve heard it all before, Alessandro. I have to be more careful, because of Alex.”
“We’ll take it slowly, step by step Katrina.” He kissed her forehead. “It will be okay. I promise.”
He slipped into the car in the alley. Sitting in the back seat, he told the driver to head back to the hotel. He called Maria.
“Alessandro, Mamma has had a mild heart attack. She’s all right but needs to rest in bed.”
Had his baby news caused this attack? A pang of guilt spliced his conscience. He had broken his promise in marrying because he couldn’t bear for Katrina to leave. He hadn’t imagined they were really in love, but perhaps he had been. The idea slapped him awake like a wet towel. He actually might have been in love. Why else would it have hurt so much when he came home and found her gone?
“Alessandro? Are you still there?”
“Si. You’re sure Mama is okay?”
“She’s asking to see her grandson and Katrina.”
“Dio mio.” Alessandro rubbed his forehead. What should he do?
His mother wanted him to come home and to bring her grandson. Alessandro’s blood thickened to sludge and hammered in his ears. Fury at himself engorged his head.
He swore under his breath. He’d never wanted to hurt his mother the way his father had. That was why he’d protected her from the knowledge that he’d married a woman without love. Now it seemed he’d been kidding himself. From a young boy she’d drummed it into him not to play with women’s hearts. He’d promised not to marry while still racing cars. His partners had always known the score but his heart had not. He’d fallen for Katrina. His pulse thrummed in his ears. He was the vulnerable one, Mama had wanted him to protect the woman in his life but she’d failed to show him how to protect himself.
He had to get Katrina back and he needed to make sure Mama was alright. She wanted her grandson; he’d have to make that happen. He wasn’t the only one to have missed out on being in Alex’s life. His stubbornness to follow Katrina had cost not just himself but his family too.
What could he do to fix all of this?
After the press conference he’d called his mother and told her about his marriage to Katrina and about her grandson. She’d seemed calm about it on the phone but the stress of the publicity must have brought on another attack. He’d never risked telling her about his marriage to Katrina because her weak heart had prevented him. She’d just had a near fatal heart attack before Katrina and he had married. He’d entered a terrible bind. He didn’t want to lose Katrina and married her to keep her in Italy with him but couldn’t risk his mother’s health and tell her about the woman who filled the emptiness in his life.
Papà had betrayed Alessandro’s Mamma with at least one mistress, fathering a daughter, who’d been brought to live with them. His mother raised her as her own to hide the scandal. Now his secret marriage to Katrina had raised a scandal that traversed the globe.
“Go back.” Alessandro ordered the driver who reversed the car
back in the lane.
Katrina sipped a glass of water in the kitchen, and contemplated how Alessandro being back in her life would change things when someone started banging on the back door. It had to be Alessandro.
She opened the door as she spoke in a harsh whisper. “Shhh you’ll wake Alex.”
“We’re needed at Como. We have to catch the next flight to Milan.”
“What!”
“My mother is ill. She wants to meet her daughter-in-law and grandson before it’s too late.”
“Oh no. I’m so sorry. Yes of course she should meet Alex, but I don’t know if…”
“She’s had another heart attack and wants to meet her only grandchild. We have to go.”
No there wasn’t anything holding her, but how would Alex handle the flight. He would have to fly one day, if she toured.
“You have to go immediately, of course. Perhaps we can follow in a day or two.”
“It’s not just Alex. She wants to meet you, too.”
“She will, I won’t let Alex go without me.”
“She didn’t know we were married until two days ago I think the shock has brought all this on.”
“Really? Why didn’t you tell your mother about our marriage?” Katrina had always assumed the aristocratic lady had refused to meet her, not that she didn’t know they were married. That Alessandro hadn’t even told her made Katrina feel more invisible than ever before. Something crumpled inside. Her knee throbbed, should she fly with it injured?
“She’s had so much disappointment in her life. She wouldn’t have understood our arrangement.”
“You think I’d be a disappointment to her?” It stung like a swarm of hornets nesting in her chest. If he poked her there again, they’d come out of her mouth and sting him to death. She tightened her lips.
“I’d never marry a woman my family would be ashamed of, but I had my reasons for not telling her. We must go home to Italy.”