The Italian’s Miracle Family

by Lucy Gordon

  Laughing, she turned to him and curtseyed, which made everyone cheer.

  But the cheering died abruptly into silence. And Alysa turned to find Drago standing there, watching her, tension in every line of his body.

  He looked as if he hadn’t slept for a week. His eyes were haggard and desperate, and he reminded her of the man she’d first seen months ago at the waterfall. He carried the same aura that he’d had then, as though he was being devoured inside.

  ‘I must speak with you,’ he said harshly. ‘Now.’

  He looked around at the others, silently ordering them away. They were inclined to protest at this high-handedness, but Alysa said, ‘Please leave us.’

  They trickled away. Brian regarded her with raised eyebrows, but at last he too departed. As soon as they were alone she went to Drago.

  ‘What’s happened? Whatever is the matter?’

  ‘I’ve come because I must take you back with me. It’s vital.’

  ‘But why? I can’t leave now-’

  ‘You must! No-no, I don’t mean that. But I can’t tell you how important it is. Help me, Alysa, I beg you. You’re the only person who can.’

  ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘I was going to call you,’ he said distractedly. ‘But when I picked the phone up I knew I couldn’t say it like that.’

  ‘Drago, was that you on the phone this morning?’

  ‘Yes, I called, then lost my nerve and hung up. Then I did it again.’

  ‘But I thought it was you, and I called you back. It was engaged.’

  ‘I was sitting there with the receiver in my hand, trying to make up my mind. Just an indecisive idiot. You’d have laughed if you’d seen me.’

  ‘No, I wouldn’t,’ she said gently. ‘Drago, please try to tell me what’s happened. I’ve never seen you in such a state.’

  He closed his eyes.

  ‘Tina knows,’ he said simply.

  ‘What?’

  ‘She knows that Carlotta had left for good. She knows her mother abandoned her.’

  ‘But how?’

  ‘She found out at school. One of the teachers is a client of Carlotta’s law firm, and of course the people there know the truth and talk about it. Tina overheard the teachers saying how Carlotta had just walked out on her, without caring if she never saw her again.’

  He broke into a stream of curses. Alysa listened in horror, not following the words, but understanding the meaning, which perfectly expressed the violence of her own feelings.

  ‘Oh God!’ she whispered. ‘What happened?’

  ‘Tina came home sobbing her heart out. I’ve tried to comfort her, told her it’s a misunderstanding, that her mother would never leave her.’

  ‘Good, you stick to that,’ Alysa said robustly. ‘Is Elena any help?’

  ‘She’s denying it too, which helps a little, but she blames me for everything.’

  ‘But how can it be your fault if people gossip in the law firm?’

  ‘It can’t, but Elena’s seen her chance to get Tina away from me. She says I must have told her. I’ve denied it over and over, but she just calls me a liar. She says I’m a wicked influence, and she’s going to “save” Tina from me. She wants to take her for good.’

  ‘You mustn’t let her,’ Alysa said at once.

  ‘I don’t mean to, but I can’t fight her alone. I told you about her family with its grand connections. It also contains two lawyers and a politician, and their influence is immense. They might just manage it.’

  ‘But don’t you have a lot of influence too?’

  ‘Yes, I can afford good lawyers. But Elena can present herself so well, and I present badly, especially if I lose my temper. You’re the only one who can help me,’ he said. ‘Tina likes you, and you can talk to her-explain, comfort her.’

  ‘But explain what? What do you want me to say?’

  ‘That’s up to you. Whatever it is you’ll manage better than me. I love that little girl, but I don’t know what to say. I’ve tried and tried, but my words don’t comfort her. She needs something more. You can give her that something, and make all those people see that they mustn’t take her away from me.

  ‘Please, Alysa, come back with me now. Tina and I need you more than you’ll ever know.’

  ‘Come back?’ she echoed.

  ‘There’s a flight in three hours. We can just catch it if we hurry. I promised Tina I’d be home tonight.’

  ‘You’ve left her alone?’

  ‘No, of course not. She’s with a friend of mine and his wife. She knows them, and they can be trusted, but I have to return when I promised. Please, Alysa.’

  She looked down at herself. Drago did the same, and for the first time he seemed to become aware of what she was wearing.

  ‘What did I interrupt?’ he asked.

  ‘I just bought this for a dinner party.’

  ‘And wore it in the office to show off to your escort. He’s the guy I saw you with before, isn’t he?’

  ‘Yes,’ came Brian’s voice from the door. ‘And the party is to celebrate her partnership.’

  ‘Congratulations,’ Drago said heavily. ‘You got what you wanted.’

  ‘Drago-’

  ‘All I ask is that you help me out in this matter, and then I’ll never trouble you again.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Please, Alysa, just come with me tonight.’

  ‘Come where?’ Brian asked.

  ‘ Florence,’ Alysa said.

  ‘ Florence, Italy?’ Brian sounded aghast.

  ‘It would only be for a day,’ Alysa pleaded. ‘I’d rush back.’

  ‘Alysa, this is Wednesday. The dinner is on Friday. You can’t be sure you’ll be back in time, and if you’re not there when I’ve laid it all on…’ He left the implication hanging in the air.

  ‘I will be, I promise.’

  ‘And what about tomorrow? Don’t you have appointments?’

  ‘My secretary will reschedule them. It’ll be all right, but I have to go.’

  ‘I’m surprised at you, Alysa,’ Brian said. ‘You’ve worked hard for this. I watched you with admiration, and I can’t believe that you’d risk everything at the last minute.’

  ‘You mean you’d take it all away from her because she missed one dinner party?’ Drago demanded.

  ‘We prefer our partners to be reliable,’ Brian explained. ‘And,’ he added with a significant glance at Alysa, ‘I’d rather not be made to look foolish. Don’t disappoint me at this late date.’

  ‘I won’t. I’ll be back, I swear it. But I must go, Brian.’

  Brian looked at her for a moment, then gave a shrug that clearly meant, ‘on your own head be it’, and disappeared.

  ‘Give me a moment to get changed,’ Alysa said.

  She did it in double-quick time, instructed her secretary, then hurried out with Drago. They didn’t speak on the short journey to her home. She was trying to take in the enormity of what she’d done, aware of Drago watching her with a slightly baffled expression, as though he too had been taken by surprise.

  They kept the taxi while she packed hurriedly, and then they were on their way to the airport.

  ‘Suppose I can’t get a ticket for this flight?’ she asked.

  ‘I took the liberty of buying you one.’

  ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ she asked with a little smile.

  ‘Yes, you might have expected it by now. Will he really make you suffer for this?’

  ‘I’ll be back by Friday evening, so he’ll have nothing to complain about. Don’t worry.’

  She wished she felt as confident as she sounded, but she could see the threat looming before her. Elena’s takeover bid for Tina had assumed manic proportions. She’d thought to control Drago by marrying him off to her friend, but that had failed, and now she was clutching at straws.

  The idea that she could steal the little girl from her father might sound paranoid, but that didn’t mean it shouldn’t be taken seriously. Alysa pitied the old woman’s suffering, b
ut she wasn’t going to see Drago devastated. Only she really understood what he’d lost, and while she had breath in her body he wasn’t going to lose any more.

  And if that meant that she was the loser, that she’d pay the price by throwing away everything she’d worked for, what then?

  She glanced at Drago in the corner of the taxi, his eyes closed, light and darkness chasing each other across his face, and she reached out to touch him. At once he gripped her hand painfully tight. She returned it just as hard, and they sat like that for the rest of the journey.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  D RAGO hardly spoke on the plane, and Alysa didn’t offer words of consolation that would have been useless. His face was drawn and haggard. Sometimes he made the effort to smile at her, but she could see the truth beneath it. He was in a hell of fear. She smiled back, telling him she was there for him.

  It was snowing at the airport, where his car was waiting to take them to the home of the friends who were caring for Tina. Florence itself was bright and cheerful, the streets full of decorations, the lights gleaming against the darkness of the sky and the white of the snow.

  ‘We’ll be there in a minute,’ Drago said at last. ‘It’s getting late. She’ll think I’m not coming-’

  ‘Stop it,’ Alysa said firmly. ‘It’s going to be all right. When you see her you’ll smile, she’ll throw herself into your arms and we’ll take it from there.’

  But she spoke with more confidence than she felt. Elena wasn’t going to see her best chance slip away without a fight, and as the house came into view she sensed that her worst fears were being realised. All the lights were on, the front door was open, and a woman was standing outside looking frantically along the road.

  ‘That’s Signora Lenotti,’ Drago said. ‘I left Tina with her and her husband.’ As the car stopped he leapt out. ‘It’s all right, we’re here.’

  But the woman burst into tears at the sight of him.

  ‘What’s happened?’ Drago demanded.

  ‘The signora was here. She demanded that I hand Tina over to her.’

  ‘But you didn’t,’ Drago snapped. ‘Tell me that you didn’t.’

  ‘What else could I do?’ Maria wailed. ‘She said she was her legal guardian, and she threatened me with the law.’

  Drago swore violently.

  ‘She just marched in and walked through the house,’ Maria said. ‘When she found Tina she-she acted as though we’d kidnapped her, telling her everything would be all right now that she’d been “rescued”.’

  ‘That poor little mite,’ Alysa said. ‘What must she be imagining now?’

  ‘How did she even know she was here?’ Drago raged.

  ‘I think someone in your house told her,’ Maria said.

  ‘I gave them strict instructions not to.’

  ‘But are they all loyal to you?’ Alysa put in. ‘I’ll bet she’s got at least one of them on her side.’

  ‘My God, she’ll stop at nothing,’ Drago muttered. ‘I never knew until this moment what I was dealing with.’

  ‘Where does Elena live?’ Alysa asked. ‘We’ve got to go on there.’

  ‘She’s in Bologna,’ Drago said. ‘That’s about sixty kilometres north of here.’

  ‘Then let’s go.’

  It was dark and the road was winding, but Drago’s driver was the best, and he had them there in an hour, finally drawing up outside a splendid villa.

  ‘There are no lights on,’ Alysa said, fearing the worst. ‘But why? They must be expecting you. Maybe they’ve just gone to bed,’ she said, but she guessed they were both clutching at straws.

  She knew the worst a moment later when the housekeeper came to the door and declared that the mistress had been away for two days, and she didn’t know where she was or when she was coming back.

  ‘My God, she could have taken Tina anywhere,’ Drago groaned.

  ‘Her other daughter,’ Alysa said. ‘Where does she live?’

  ‘No, that family is in America at the moment, attending a wedding.’

  ‘What about Leona? Where does she live?’

  ‘ Florence,’ he said desperately.

  ‘Fine. Let’s get going.’

  The driver had the engine running as they approached the car, and in a moment they were heading back the way they had come.

  All the time Alysa was praying that Leona’s house would be the end of the journey, and that this wouldn’t turn into a hideous search for a child who’d completely disappeared.

  When at last they saw the house she was fearful, for again the lights were off. But it was Leona herself who came to the door, and Alysa could see at once that she was uncomfortable.

  ‘Is my daughter here?’ Drago demanded.

  She nodded and stood aside to let him in, looking anxiously at his face.

  ‘Elena just turned up here without warning,’ she said in a placating voice. ‘She had Tina with her-’

  ‘And so you couldn’t turn them away,’ Alysa said at once. ‘You had to keep Tina safe until her father came for her. That was very kind.’

  Leona smiled at this understanding and hurried away.

  ‘Why are you sympathising with her?’ Drago demanded, outraged.

  ‘Because it’s not her fault, and she hates the situation,’ Alysa said hurriedly. ‘Don’t you see? She’s already half on your side. Let’s keep her there and get her the rest of the way. If you come on strong you’ll alienate her and this will be harder.’

  When he hesitated, unconvinced, she said, ‘Drago, why did you bring me here? Because you knew I could deal with this better than you can. So let me get on with it and don’t interfere.’

  After a moment he nodded, and she saw something she recognised. He had the same weary, defeated look that she’d seen at the airport in February. He was out of his depth, and he knew it.

  ‘Thank you,’ he whispered.

  She touched his face and turned back to the stairs, where Leona had just appeared at the top of it.

  ‘I’ve knocked on her door but she won’t come out,’ she said frantically. ‘She’s locked it on the inside.’

  ‘Where’s Tina?’ Alysa asked.

  ‘In there with her.’

  Beside her Alysa felt Drago stiffen, about to launch a thunderbolt, but her grip on his hand stayed him.

  ‘Please take me up to them,’ she said.

  They went up the stairs, along a corridor, with Drago determinedly following them, but keeping a cautious distance. At last they stopped outside a door. Alysa tried it but it didn’t give. From inside she could hear the sound of Elena sobbing.

  ‘Hello?’ she called.

  ‘Go away,’ Elena screamed.

  ‘Elena, please let me in.’

  ‘Go away! You tell lies, all of you. I won’t let you lie about her.’

  ‘Tina,’ Alysa said. ‘Are you there? It’s Alysa.’

  Then came Tina’s voice by the door. ‘I’m here.’

  ‘Can you open the door for me?’

  A pause, then a click as the bolt was shot back. But then there was a scream of, ‘No!’ from inside, and the sound of a scuffle. As Alysa entered she saw that Elena had managed to seize Tina and drag her to the other side of the room. Now she was sitting on the bed with the little girl in her arms.

  For a moment Alysa felt a spurt of temper. How dared this woman subject a child to such pressure? But then she saw Elena’s face streaming with tears, her eyes crazed with misery, her chest heaving with sobs.

  Through finding each other, she and Drago had come to terms with their own grief, but Elena’s loss could never be healed in the same way. She knew it, and the knowledge had driven her to desperation.

  ‘You’re all liars,’ Elena choked. ‘You say wicked things about my daughter, but they’re not true, they’re not true.’

  Alysa had a split second to make her decision, or rather to recognise that the decision had already been made. As the words came out of her mouth, she knew that she could have said nothing
else.

  ‘No, they’re not true,’ she said. ‘But nobody has been telling lies. It’s a simple misunderstanding, and I’m here to put it right.’

  She reached out to Tina, but Elena tightened her arms and drew the child away towards the head of the bed.

  ‘Don’t come any nearer,’ she said hoarsely.

  ‘Just this far,’ Alysa said, and sat down on the bed, close enough to Tina to reach out for her hand and feel the little girl grip her hard.

  ‘They said Mamma wasn’t coming back,’ she whispered. ‘They said she didn’t love me any more, and she just left me.’

  ‘That is nonsense,’ Alysa said firmly. ‘Listen, darling, I’m going to tell you something. I met your mother on the day she died, at the waterfall. I’d gone there with James, a friend, meaning to go up in one of those chairs. While we were waiting for the next ride we went to a little coffee shop nearby. Your mamma was there, also waiting, and we started to chat.

  ‘She told us about her husband and her little girl, and how she was looking forward to getting back to them. She’d been away on business, and her route back lay past the waterfall, so she’d stopped off for a ride because she loved the excitement. “Then I’m going home to my darlings”, she said.’

  Tina’s gaze was fixed on her. Alysa drew a long breath, knowing that she must tell the next bit carefully.

  ‘I enjoyed listening to her,’ she said. ‘Because I was in love, and I wanted to get married and have children that I would love as much as she loved you. She made it sound so wonderful.’

  ‘Truly?’ Tina whispered.

  ‘Truly. She loved you more than anyone in the world.’

  ‘What about Poppa?’

  ‘Yes, she loved him too, but you most of all.’

  ‘And she wasn’t going to leave me?’

  ‘No, she wasn’t, or she couldn’t have spoken as she did that day. She was full of plans about all the things you were going to do together.’

  Vaguely she was aware that Elena had grown still. Her grip on Tina had relaxed, and her gaze was fixed on Alysa as if she too was hanging on every word.

  ‘Then we walked out to the waterfall,’ Alysa went on, ‘to get into the rides, but at the last minute I lost my nerve and stayed on the ground. I never had much head for heights. It was really James who wanted to go.’