‘Of course I will,’ Lily said, feeling tears of happiness— start to well up in her eyes.
‘Why are you crying?’ Vito leant forward to brush his thumb across her damp cheek.
‘Because I love you too,’ Lily answered. ‘I’ve always loved you.’
A smile of incredulous happiness broke across Vito’s face. Then the next moment he was crushing her in his arms again.
‘I can’t believe it.’ Vito’s voice was muffled against her hair. ‘Last night I was despairing that things could ever be right—and now all my dreams have come true.’
His words reflected exactly how Lily was feeling, and she clung to him tightly, feeling like she’d never let go again. But a moment later a tiny, mewling cry from the cot interrupted them.
‘He’s awake!’ Vito’s voice was full of love and pride, as if waking up was the cleverest thing any baby had ever done.
‘Would you like to pick him up?’ Lily watched as Vito lifted the baby out of the cot. His gentle hands seemed almost as big as his son as he gazed down at the crumpled, newborn face with adoring eyes.
‘What does he need?’ Vito turned to her for advice.
‘I don’t know,’ she replied honestly. ‘I’m new at this. Perhaps I should try to feed him.’ She unfastened the top few buttons of her nightdress and held out her hands for the baby. Vito placed him gently in her arms, then doing the same as the previous evening, guided the little head towards her nipple.
‘Ah, that’s the idea. I like to see a little bit of teamwork.’ Lily recognised the doctor’s voice and lifted her gaze to see him walking into the room. ‘We have the results of the blood test,’ he continued. ‘Unfortunately it seems this little fellow is following in your footsteps with a rare blood-type.’
Lily looked at Vito’s face to see how he would respond to this physical proof that he was the baby’s father. To her surprise a worried frown marred his features.
‘That’s a blow,’ he said. ‘I was hoping he would have taken after his mother.’
‘There’s nothing to worry about,’ the doctor said. ‘Your wife and I talked some more last night, and she understands now that it won’t be a problem. It’s just something it pays to be aware of.’
He walked over to the bed and gave a satisfied nod as he saw how well the baby was feeding. ‘I’ll be back to check on you later,’ he said as he left them alone again.
‘I thought you’d be pleased,’ Lily said. ‘Pleased to have concrete proof of your paternity.’
‘I didn’t need it.’ He turned and held her gaze with serious eyes. ‘I have all the proof I need, in here,’ he said, placing his hand over his heart.
Lily felt her lips quiver again as once more her eyes filled with tears of happiness.
‘I love you,’ she said.
‘And I you,’ Vito replied. ‘With all of my heart and soul.’
EPILOGUE
‘MY GREAT-GRANDSON,’ Giovanni breathed, looking down at the little baby cradled carefully in his arms.
Lily sat next to him on his huge bed, feeling tears well up in her own eyes as she heard the tremulous notes of awe and gratitude in his voice.
‘He’s called Giovanni,’ she said.
The old man lifted his head to stare at her with sparkling blue eyes, momentarily speechless as the information sunk in.
‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘Thank you for making me very happy.’
‘It’s an honour to do so,’ Lily said, leaning forward to kiss his paper-thin cheek. ‘I can never explain what your kindness has meant to me. How delighted I am to be part of your family, and how much pleasure I have knowing that my son will carry on your family name.’
‘You are wearing the necklace,’ he said, suddenly noticing the exquisite piece of antique jewellery that was fastened round Lily’s neck. ‘When you never wore it I thought it was not to your taste after all.’
‘Oh no, I love it,’ Lily said, reaching up to trail her fingertips over the smooth beads. ‘Vito was having it checked by antique jewellery experts to make sure it was strong enough to wear. I didn’t want to damage it.’
‘But today is an important occasion, Nonno—introducing you to my son,’ Vito said, gazing at his wife. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, and just looking at her made his heart swell with the great love he felt for her.
He was embarrassed that he’d kept hold of the necklace for months after it had been restored, but somehow he had never been able to find the right time to return it to her. But then she had asked for it this morning, smoothing away his awkwardness with tender kisses, and making him fall in love with her all over again for her kindness and understanding.
‘Yes, it is,’ Giovanni said, his eyes focussed back on the baby again, but Vito could tell he was beginning to grow weary.
‘We’ll leave you to rest now, Nonno.’ He lifted the baby gently out of his grandfather’s arms. ‘Don’t worry—we’ll come back tomorrow.’
‘See that you do,’ Giovanni said, but the abruptness of his words was softened by the fact that his eyes were already starting to close as he leant his head back against his pillows.
Vito led the way down to the canal entrance of Ca’ Salvatore and, once Lily was safely on the boat, he passed baby Giovanni down to her.
‘You’ve made my grandfather very happy,’ Vito said as he stepped down into the boat and sat next to her. A thick autumn fog was rolling in from the Adriatic, and the city was taking on an eerie quality. It made him want to hurry home and snuggle his little family up, safe and warm inside.
‘I meant what I said to him.’ Lily looked up through the fog at the magnificent façade of the baroque palazzo as the boat started to move out into the flow of traffic on the Grand Canal. ‘About being proud that my son will be part of this family.’
She dropped her gaze to look into the gorgeous face of the man she adored, and as their eyes met a little frisson of pleasure ran through her. She was tired from looking after their newborn baby, but she had never felt so happy in her entire life.
‘I love you.And I am so proud to have you as my wife,’ Vito said, slipping his arm around her and hugging her gently. ‘You belong here in Venice.You belong with me.’
‘I love it here,’ Lily said as the boat turned off the Grand Canal to head towards home. Tendrils of fog were creeping into the smaller waterways, and the boat driver was taking it carefully. ‘But, more than that, I love you. And I’ll always belong with you.’
The Millionaire
Boss’s Baby
Maggie
Cox
About the Author
The day MAGGIE COX saw the film version of Wuthering Heights, with a beautiful Merle Oberon and a very handsome Laurence Olivier, was the day she became hooked on romance. From that day onwards she spent a lot of time dreaming up her own romances, secretly hoping that one day she might become published and get paid for doing what she loved most! Now that her dream is being realised, she wakes up every morning and counts her blessings. She is married to a gorgeous man and is the mother of two wonderful sons. Her two other great passions in life—besides her family and reading/writing—are music and films.
To Evelyn, John and Stephen with all my love
CHAPTER ONE
IT HAD been a long, seemingly endless journey—the most ambitious drive Georgia had undertaken in ages. Her saving grace was that she adored driving and prided herself at being quite good at it. With her Labrador Hamish in the back behind her she had the best companion she could wish for, next to her brother Noah. Now, well into the summer evening, she— drove silently, with the radio off, her gaze lapping up the extraordinarily beautiful landscape of the Scottish Glens, tiredness banished by what had to be one of the most heavenly sights on earth.
Everywhere she looked she was treated to the most incredible beauty—sunlit lochs, mountain peaks and shimmering green fields. Even Hamish seemed to perk up as he looked out of the window, as if silently contemplating the large open spaces i
n which to romp and run free with eager relish. It was a far cry from the overcrowded London suburb where Georgia lived.
Already she sensed the accumulated knots and kinks of tension in her back start to unravel a little.
They had made quite a few stops during the long journey, for food and drink, but they had still made very good time. Now, Georgia knew, by the map opened on the seat beside her, as well as her new boss’s very precise e-mail directions, that there was not too much further to go before they reached Glenteign—the large country estate of which he was Laird.
‘No wonder Noah loved working here!’ she declared out loud, and Hamish wagged his tail enthusiastically— as if to agree.
Her brother had assured her that she would grow to love Glenteign too. He’d recently spent six months there, in his capacity as a freelance garden designer hired to help work on the formal gardens. It was a place where a person could really breathe, he’d told her, his passion for nature and beauty spilling over into his voice. And in his opinion Georgia wouldn’t regret leaving London behind for a while, with its continual gridlocked traffic and polluted air. Working as the Laird’s temporary secretary, while his permanent— secretary recovered from a bad fall, she would have some breathing space from the grinding commute into the City every day. She would find out what a different way of life it was up here—a much more relaxed, ‘sane’ way of life.
She had accepted the job because she wanted so much to believe him, but Georgia still had some reservations— about her decision. What would it be like working for a man who had probably never had to worry about where the next meal was coming from in his life? A man who, because of his status, epitomised— the old feudal system of ‘Lord of the Manor’ while— those around him were mere serfs?
She didn’t exactly have a problem with the concept of inherited wealth—she begrudged nobody their comfortable circumstances—it was just that she was so weary sometimes of her own struggle to keep the wolf from the door, and the idea that somebody could just be born into such good fortune and not have to do anything to earn it was apt to rub salt into the wound. Still, no doubt the wealthy Laird of Glenteign had his own problems…they just didn’t come in the same shape as Georgia’s. But—problems— or no—surely he couldn’t fail to take solace in so much wonderful scenery?
When her reliable but old Renault finally drew into the grounds of Glenteign, Georgia switched off the engine, leaned her elbow on the window’s ledge and considered her surroundings with a flare of wonderment— in the pit of her stomach.
The house immediately proclaimed its historic past—its impressive edifice of Pictish stone, with its turrets reaching towards the presently cloudless azure sky, reminding Georgia of an ancient impenetrable fortress that had survived every onslaught both nature and man could throw at it and still there it stood, proud— and inviolable, with an almost defiant grace. Turning her head, Georgia viewed the lushness of emerald lawns rolling out into the distance like an expansive— glittering carpet, and over to the right a high stone wall that perhaps led to the formal gardens that her brother had been working on for the past halfyear.
She couldn’t deny she was eager to see them—not— just because of the work Noah had done there, but— because he’d told her they were incredibly beautiful. Moving her gaze further afield, a grove of tall firs captured her attention, stretching endlessly beyond the exquisite perfection of the immaculate lawns. There was just so much land! It didn’t seem feasible that one person could own all of this. She began to realise what a prestigious opportunity this was for Noah, coming to work here. And now, because— of the success he had achieved, he was working at another large estate in the Highlands—a commission he had secured on the Laird’s recommendation— because he had been so impressed with what he’d done at Glenteign.
She felt a flicker of love and pride. Every sacrifice— she’d made to help Noah get his business off the ground had been worth it…
‘You found us, then?’
Abruptly lured away from her reverie, Georgia found her glance commanded by a pair of eyes that were so faultlessly, intensely blue that for a moment no speech was possible on her part. The rest of the features in the masculine face before here were not exactly difficult to look at either. It was as if they might have been sculpted—the planes and angles so strongly delineated that they were surely the loving work of an artist’s reverent hand? But Georgia wasn’t the only one who was transfixed…The man’s unflinching— perusal of her own face came as a shock.
She wasn’t used to being regarded with such uncommon directness and everything inside her clenched hard in sudden self-consciousness. But before she could find her voice, he was opening the driver’s door and standing aside for her to step out onto the gravel.
‘Yes…hello.’ She held out her hand, then awkwardly— withdrew it almost as soon as her skin came into contact with his. Such an acceptably polite gesture shouldn’t feel as if it was bordering on intimacy but somehow it did. As he considered her further, his gaze no less direct, Georgia silently bemoaned her travel-worn appearance. After several hours’ travelling her clothes must resemble unironed laundry, she was sure. The cream linen shift dress she wore, with its scooped neckline, had been cool and fresh when she’d donned it early this morning, but it definitely didn’t look like that now.
‘Did you have a good journey?’
Beneath the polite questioning Georgia thought she detected a slight strain—as though he neither welcomed nor enjoyed this kind of inconsequential chit-chat. Her heart sank a little.
‘Yes, I did. The directions you gave me were spot-on.’ —
‘Good.’
‘I presume you must be the Laird?’
‘Yes, I am…And you are Georgia…Noah’s sister.’
It was a statement of fact, not requiring a reply.
‘How do I address you?’ she asked, her voice determinedly— bright.
‘The correct title is “Chief,” but I would be quite happy for you to call me Keir—the same as I told your brother. Talking of which…I have to say I can hardly see a resemblance between the two of you.’
‘People usually say that.’
‘Then I’m sorry to be so predictable.’
He was still a little perturbed by the handshake they’d shared—although the contact had been less than brief, Keir had been genuinely taken aback by the warm electrical ‘buzz’ that had flowed straight through him. It had been a very arresting wake-up call, and now he sensed his attention magnetised by Georgia Cameron’s lovely face. He was surprised that she was so different in colouring from her tall, blond,— blue-eyed brother, and perhaps more pleased than he should be by the contrast. Anybody with a penchant for beauty would admire such dazzling green-gold eyes, but in a face as animated and compelling— as hers, with its high, elegant cheekbones and wide, generous mouth, it was hard not to elevate them as perhaps the most beautiful he’d ever seen…
But Keir could hardly attest to welcoming such distracting assets. It was her professional skills he was interested in, not her looks. He had employed her because her brother had assured him that if he was looking for a first-class secretary, he should look no further than his very capable sister. He’d said she was temping with an agency in the City, and her current job would be coming to an end soon, so she could start at Glenteign practically straight away.
Way behind with the administration of running such a large estate, after reluctantly inheriting the mantle of Laird from his brother Robert, who’d been killed in an accident abroad, Keir was in urgent need of some first class secretarial and organisational skills. Doubly so since his own secretary Valerie had unfortunately tumbled down the stairs and broken her leg. Only the next few days would tell if Noah Cameron had exaggerated his sister’s capabilities or not…
‘I expect you’d like to go straight to your room and freshen up?’
‘There’s something that I really need to do first if you don’t mind?’
‘What’s that
?’
‘I need to take Hamish for a bit of a walk. The poor creature’s been cooped up for too long in my small car, and to tell you the truth I feel the same. We won’t be ages…is that all right?’
‘That’s fine. I should have thought of it myself.’
Keir moved to the passenger door behind the driver’s seat of Georgia’s dusty little car, pulled it open and invited Hamish to jump out. The Labrador was ridiculously grateful, leaping up at him excitedly and wagging his tail at a rate of knots.
‘Oh, my gosh—he’s taken to you straight away! He doesn’t do that with everybody…he must sense that you’re friendly.’
Georgia’s smile was genuinely delighted.
Being the unexpected recipient of such a fulsome expression of joy, Keir stared—caught between wanting to arouse more of the same rather beguiling delight and needing to assert some formality between them pretty quickly. The truth was he suddenly found himself having serious reservations about the wisdom of employing this rather disarming woman to work for him…even though the post was only temporary.
He decided to try and keep her gestures of friendliness— at bay as much as possible. Theirs was a strictly business relationship, and if she didn’t come up to scratch then Keir would have no compunction in telling her she was no longer needed. And he wouldn’t cut her any slack just because her brother had impressed him either. James Strachan certainly wouldn’t have. A less compassionate and sentimental— man would have been hard to find anywhere! And, even though his father had shown evidence of relenting his rather austere manner towards the end of his life, the die had been cast. His efforts to try and forge with his younger son an emotional bond that had never existed before had come too late, Keir acknowledged— with some bitterness. It had certainly come too late for his brother Robbie…
‘I wouldn’t read too much into it,’ Keir said, deliberately— pushing his hands into the pockets of his light coloured chinos, as if signalling that he wouldn’t be paying the animal any undue attention while he was there. He had agreed to her request to bring the dog with her, and that should be enough. ‘He’s just grateful to be let out. You can walk anywhere, but I’d be glad if you kept the dog away from the flowerbeds. Is your stuff in the boot? All the staff in the house are busy, so I’ll take it upstairs to your room. It’s on the second floor. I’ll leave the door open so that you know which one it is. Dinner is at eight, and I like people to be prompt. Enjoy your walk.’
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