“Come on, Ales… Alessondo. It stinks in here because my puppy yucked on the floor.”
“It does.” Chuckling, he took the small boy’s hand, led him into the hall, and handed him a beautifully wrapped present.
“Ooh, thank you.” James gasped. “Can I open it?”
“Yes, of course.”
Amy came downstairs a few minutes later to find James sitting beside Alessandro, ripping the paper off his gift. She hoped it wasn’t anything too extravagant, knowing Alessandro’s penchant for over-the-top gestures, and was relieved to see a Juventus shirt with number ten on the back and a pair of football boots appear from the packaging. James was ecstatic and rushed off to show them to Gabriel as he walked through the door.
“Thank you, Alessandro. He’ll love that,” said Amy. “I’d like you to meet Gabriel.”
The two men shook hands, eyeing each other thoughtfully.
“Gabriel!” James flung himself at his friend and was enveloped in his arms. “Look what Alessondo gave me.” He proudly held up the football strip for Gabriel to admire.
“Cara,” he said to Amy, “can I give James my gift now?”
She nodded and smiled, watching as Gabriel led him down the garden to the shed. He proudly wheeled out the bicycle, and James, flushed with pleasure, flung his arms around Gabriel. “Thank you, Gabriel. I do wish you were my papa.”
An awkward silence fell, and Gabriel glanced anxiously at Alessandro. The tension was broken when the doorbell rang and James’s classmates, who all seemed to have come together, rushed in, a noisy and exuberant crowd who surrounded him with parcels and cards.
“I’m sorry about that,” said Amy, but Alessandro shrugged pragmatically and accepted a glass of wine from Carmela.
“I hope that in time, he will be allowed to know who I am, but for now, I am content. I just find it hard to believe that five years ago, you gave birth to my son and I wasn’t there.”
The doorbell rang again, and Antonio ushered in Constanzo and Simona with yet another card and gift for James, who was by now looking a little overwhelmed.
Amy moved to welcome everybody and herded the children into the dining room. Simona, who still had an eye for a handsome man, went to talk to Alessandro, and he found seats for the elderly couple, brought them some drinks, and stood chatting to them for quite some time.
He really can be quite personable and kind. I never saw that side of him.
The afternoon passed quickly with games organized by Gabriel, Amy, and Sonya—and to her surprise, even Alessandro joined in. He seemed very relaxed with the children, and when Donna fell and grazed her knee, he took her to the kitchen, washed the wound, and put on the plaster Carmela found for him. Amy watched, unseen from the door, and was even more astonished when he showed Donna his open hand, then in a flash, produced a two-euro coin, apparently, from her ear. She quickly forgot her sore knee and giggled with pleasure.
He loves children. I have denied James so much, and now, whatever the cost to me, I must somehow put that right.
“Mama, Alessondo, come and play blind man’s bluff with us,” called James, and it was then that Alessandro turned to see Amy watching him.
He smiled a little self-consciously and shrugged.
“I belonged to the magic club at university. Most of life is an illusion, don’t you think?”
Like your love for me was, she thought, turning away.
“Mama, come on!” James tugged her hand, and she returned to the garden, a smile on her face that did not reach her eyes.
When it was Sonya’s turn to wear the blindfold, James spun her round until she was dizzy and pleading for mercy before pushing her into the crowd to find her victim. She groped around as children danced around her, calling her name, and finally, she made a grab for a small boy who suddenly dodged out of her way. With a shriek, she lost her footing and fell into Gabriel’s arms. He held her for a moment before removing her blindfold, and the color flooded to her face.
“It’s my lucky day,” murmured Gabriel.
“Okay kids, that’s enough of that. I do believe tea is being served.” Flustered, Sonya extricated herself from Gabriel’s arms and rounded up the children.
Tea was sumptuous, with a magnificent birthday cake in the shape of a train, which Sonya had made, and then Coco the Clown arrived. For the next hour, squeals of delight and laughter rang round the old villa. At six o’clock, parents arrived to collect their tired children, and James, flushed and happy, was finally able to ride his bike around the garden. It was almost dark, and Gabriel walked behind him protectively while Sonya and Donna cheered him on as he wobbled round the lawn.
“He’s a good man,” said Alessandro as he and Amy watched from the landing window. “For that much, I am grateful.”
“Yes, he is a good man. I love him dearly.”
“Do you?”
She knew that she was on very dangerous ground and close to telling an outright lie. “Alessandro, he’s kind and…and normal…and yes, he makes me happy.”
“Does he, Amy?”
Alessandro turned to her and pulled her round to face him. Before she could protest, he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her. She tried to protest, but her traitorous body was having none of it. As her lips parted and he invaded her mouth so sweetly, she slipped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her tightly to him so that she was pressed along the length of his body and able to feel how much he wanted to possess her. Finally, he pulled away and looked into her eyes, his own full of anger.
“So, he makes you happy, does he? Well, I think the poor man is in for a lot of pain, and I feel sorry for him. No doubt, one day, you will run away from him too. I’m leaving now, Amy. Say goodbye to James for me. I am returning to Rome tomorrow, but my secretary will contact you next time I am due to be in Venice. I hope you might then let me take my son out for the day.”
He turned on his heel and left, and Amy pressed her head to the window, eyes squeezed tightly shut, in an agony of remorse. When she finally opened them, she realized Sonya was staring at her from the garden, having seen the whole episode, and the expression on her face was one of disdain.
The exhausted children came into the house a few minutes later and Sonya gathered her sweater and handbag. “We must go, Amy. I’ll come by in the morning to help you clear up.” There was a coolness in her voice and a tight smile on her face.
“Sonya, I’ll walk you home before I go back to the island,” volunteered Gabriel.
“Thank you.” She smiled at him.
“Goodbye, Amy. I’ll see you in a few days.” He gave her squeeze and kiss on the cheek.
James came yawning to the door and kissed everyone, including a blushing Donna. “Thank you for my lovely day,” he said sleepily, and Amy picked him up and cuddled him as they watched their friends walk down the road.
In the streetlights, Amy saw Donna move between Gabriel and Sonya and take a hand of each. They suddenly looked like a family, and the image made Amy feel so lonely and wretched, she buried her face against James, breathing in the warm scent of him.
“Mama?”
“Sorry, James. I just needed a hug,” she whispered. “Let’s go and find Teddy and get you both to bed.”
Once he was settled, she showered and flung herself naked into her own bed, weary but unable to sleep. Alessandro’s kiss replayed in her mind; her lips grew warm remembering his touch, and her body ached with longing for him. But in her head, as she had so many times before, she heard his father, Giovanni, telling her, “He’s a heartbreaker, my dear. You are one of many. If you have any instinct for self-preservation, you will leave…” and knew that she had to be strong. She would have to maintain a cool, polite relationship with Alessandro for James’s sake and keep her own emotions severely under lock and key. He was a married man, and she had no right to him—or he to her. But she knew that through James, Alessandro had all the keys to her heart and mind and that the child was now the fulcrum on which her relationsh
ip with his father balanced.
Fitfully, she tossed and turned because something else was worrying away at her subconscious, and then she suddenly saw Sonya’s face, staring up at her from the garden and remembered how cool her friend had been after that.
She saw him kiss me. Sonya thinks I am going to start an affair with Alessandro and she disapproves, Amy decided. Tomorrow, I will try to explain. And finally, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
Chapter Nine
The next morning, Amy woke to the sound of church bells. James was still sleeping peacefully, and she looked down at his innocent face, long dark lashes resting on his cheek and that entrancing dimple in his chin. Leaving him to rest, she slipped on a robe and went downstairs to make some much-needed coffee. The debris from the party was still strewn all around, and she began to fill the new dishwasher with cups and plates while the coffee machine bubbled and spat. Then the doorbell rang, and assuming it to be Sonya, Amy went to the door and opened it without checking.
Alessandro came striding in and walked straight into the kitchen before turning to face her. She gaped at him in astonishment and pulled her robe protectively over her nakedness.
“I thought you would be on your way back to Rome.”
“My flight is this afternoon. I was rude yesterday, and I came to apologize.”
“Well…that’s a first. But apology accepted.” She faced him, trying to look calm and in control, but she was aware of the heat running through her body. Please don’t touch me...
Alessandro looked intently at her for a moment before continuing. “If we are to have an arrangement over my access to James, I realize we have to be civilized with each other, and I have no right to interfere in your life. Gabriel will obviously be kind to James—I can see that the child adores him, and I promise I won’t try to spoil that relationship.”
“Thank you. Would you like some coffee?”
Alessandro’s shoulders relaxed visibly at the invitation. He nodded and sank into a chair.
“I’ve been thinking too, Alessandro. I had no idea you would have such a rapport with children—frankly, it’s a side of you I never saw, and it came as a complete surprise. I feel very sad, mostly for James that he has been denied knowing you, and I plan to put that right.”
“You do?”
“If we can have a truce. You have to let me get on with my life, and please, please don’t…”
“Kiss you?”
“It doesn’t help anything, does it? We’ve both moved on; we have other commitments now, and that…relationship…has to be put in the past. What we decide now must be for James’s sake. If you will accept that, then I will tell James you are his father and you can spend whatever time you like with him.”
“Amy, it would mean the world to me. Is he still asleep?”
“Yes, you can come and see him if you want to.”
He nodded and followed her upstairs into James’s room. He was just stirring as they went in, and he sleepily regarded Alessandro before putting his arms out to Amy for a cuddle. She sat on the bed, pulled him onto her lap, and smoothed his ruffled hair.
“Alessandro has come to say goodbye. He’s going back to Rome this afternoon.”
“I enjoyed your party, James,” said Alessandro, squatting down to face his little boy. “And I wondered if I could come to see you the next time I come to Venice in a few weeks?”
“Can we play football?”
“Yes, we certainly can.”
“I like my football kit. I’ll wear it next time you come.”
“I’ll look forward to that.” Amy could have sworn there was a sparkle of tears in Alessandro’s eyes. “I have to go now, but I’ll see you soon.”
To the amazement of both his parents, James suddenly put out his arms to his father, and with a glance at Amy, asking her permission, Alessandro took his son in his arms for the first time.
Neither Amy nor Alessandro were able to speak, and it was James who finally broke the tension. Prodding his father’s face, he said “You’ve got a dimple in your chin, just like mine.”
“Yes, I have, and one day, you will have just the same problem trying to shave round it as I do.”
A few minutes later, having left James to play in his bath, Amy and Alessandro went downstairs, just in time to come face to face with Sonya as she and Donna breezed through the front door, which had been left ajar. Sonya’s eyes widened as she took in the image of Amy, wearing a loosely gathered robe with obviously nothing on underneath, and Alessandro fully dressed, clattering down the stairs behind her.
“I’m so sorry,” stammered Sonya, “I had no idea…I mean…the door was open, and I thought…we’ll come back later.”
“Sonya, please stay!” called Amy, but her friend had rushed, scarlet-faced, out the gate and was hurrying down the road, dragging poor Donna by the hand.
“Shall I go after her?” asked Alessandro.
“No. I need to talk to her properly. Don’t worry.”
“Amy, here are all the details of where you can contact me if you should need to. May I take your phone number?”
She nodded and wrote it down for him.
“I won’t rush in and spoil James—he is a fantastic little boy and a real credit to you—but if there’s anything at all you or he need…well, you know what I’m trying to say.”
“Yes, and I appreciate it. But James has everything he could possibly want right now; he has a happy life with lots of friends. He loves his school and he’s very secure. There is nothing you could buy him that would improve on that.”
“You never were very impressed by material things, were you?” He smiled.
“No. I’m sure it’s difficult to know who your friends are when you are so rich, and I couldn’t bear to have to wonder if the people I cared for just had an eye on my bank balance.... I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so cynical.”
“I’ll call you soon.”
He turned and walked towards the vaporettos, and she went back into the house, closed the door, and leaned against it feeling weak. Being so close to Alessandro and watching him hold James so lovingly had been such an ordeal, she felt quite dizzy. How was she ever going to get through the rest of her life, cope with this pain and longing, knowing this scenario was going to be repeated every time Alessandro was in town?
With a groan, she went back upstairs to where James was splashing in the bath, dive-bombing a plastic boat with a large turtle.
“I like Ales…Alessondo…I can’t say his name, Mama. Can I have a different name for him? What can I call him?”
“We’ll think of something,” she whispered. “Yes, I know you like him, and he likes you too. Very much.”
Half an hour later, Amy and James walked down the road to Sonya’s apartment and rang the bell. It was a while before she came to the door and immediately clear she was upset. “Come in. James, Donna is in the lounge watching television. Why don’t you go and find her?”
“Okay.” He pottered off, and Amy followed Sonya into the kitchen.
“I’m sorry for walking in on you this morning, Amy. I am deeply embarrassed. I should have realized yesterday that there was something afoot with Alessandro—I just hadn’t expected him to stay the night. It’s all right,” she continued before Amy could answer. “I’m not condemning you—it isn’t my place to—but I am concerned you will hurt Gabriel very badly.”
“Gabriel?”
“Surely you realize he’s in love with you…and I had rather assumed you felt the same.”
“He’s not in love with me!”
“Of course he is.”
“Sonya, you don’t understand. Gabriel and I are just…we’re simply…I love him too, but—”
“Then you have a funny way of showing it. I can see why you would be attracted to Alessandro—he’s sex on legs—but Gabriel is a kind and dear man who doesn’t deserve to be two-timed. Oh, you needn’t worry; I won’t tell him what you did, but—”
“Sonya, will you
shut up for a moment! I didn’t spend the night with Alessandro. He came round this morning to say goodbye to James, who was still upstairs in bed.”
“Oh…I’m sorry. Anyway, it’s none of my business.”
“No, it isn’t,” Amy snapped. “But for your information, I have promised to tell James that Alessandro is his father and have agreed they can spend time together, which was your advice, if you remember. This means that Alessandro will visit from time to time—it does not mean I am having an affair with him. He kissed me last night, and I know you saw that. But I have made him promise never to do that again if he wishes to see James, and he has agreed. Understood?”
“Yes…I’m sorry.”
“Well, I’m going home now, and if you are in a better frame of mind, perhaps you and Donna would like to come round later to finish the party left-overs with us. I’m sick of the sight of jelly, ice cream, and cold sausages.”
The two women looked at each other for a moment, and then both began to laugh.
“Oh, Amy, thank God you don’t hold a grudge. Am I forgiven?” Sonya took Amy’s hands.
“Yes, of course. I don’t blame you for drawing the conclusions you came to. It must have looked very peculiar. Now, if that’s fresh coffee I can smell, please can I beg some?”
Relieved that her friendship with Sonya was back on track, Amy left James to play with Donna and went back to the house to finish clearing up. She leaned on the gate and looked at the old house, which was now transformed almost beyond belief. Gone was the peeling grey paint, replaced by a pale terracotta finish. New windows gleamed in place of the old sash ones, which had been so hard to open and draughty when closed. Inside, the building alterations were complete: ten refurbished bedrooms with en suite bathrooms and, nearing completion, a small apartment on the ground floor for James and Amy with two bedrooms, bathroom, and a living room. The magnificent dining room with adjoining conference suite were all completed except for decoration and furnishing. They were well on track to finish by mid-January, and she had to plan some advertising to fill the hotel in time for the Venice Carnival in February. She also needed staff to cook and clean, so there was still a lot to organize.
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