by Unknown
Luca still had a fondness for Cluedo.
On her father’s third wedding day—a small, intimate affair for around two hundred guests, including a celebrity magazine, but not the groom’s only offspring—Luca had taken twelve-year-old Minty on an illicit road trip, pillioned on the back of his beloved Vespa. Rose had been furious when they had finally rocked back up long after dark, dirty, exhausted, exhilarated. Until she had seen the light shining in Minty’s eyes.
At sixteen, Minty’s boyfriend had dumped her by text. Another impromptu road trip, this time in Luca’s teeny Fiat—a present from Gio and Rose, who’d shared a fear of very young men driving powerful cars. Not that Luca had ever been likely to drive recklessly, not after his parents’ accident. They had headed south and ended up in Rome for an afternoon of sightseeing, shopping and very expensive coffee.
The last truce of all had been the night after Rose’s funeral. Luca’s hands tightened on the laptop keyboard at the memory. Six years later and he could still taste Minty, still recall exactly how it had felt to run his hands down those long, long legs; up over that supple waist to the swell of her small, firm breasts; her gasps and murmured endearments, begging him please not to stop, never to stop. He stared sightlessly at his keyboard, willing the memory to fade.
For the aftermath of these truces was always the same: distance; disdain. Minty acting out worse than usual, as if to wipe out those rare moments of vulnerability. And that last time she’d simply disappeared. For six years Luca hadn’t known who to despise more—himself for taking advantage of a grieving girl not yet out of her teens, or Minty for running away.
And now she was back. Wiping dishes in his kitchen as if they really were the family she had refused to allow them to be.
She was surprising him. There had been no moaning, no trying to shirk the long, arduous schedule he had put together for her. It was still early days, less than a week since she had taken up the challenge, but he had ensured her every moment was filled: a 4:00 a.m. start day for the morning milking; a gruelling day in the frozen-food section of the warehouse followed by two days on the road. Tomorrow would be spent in one of the kitchens; the weekend would be serving in the café which sold Di Tore Dolce products directly to the public.
‘I love that you haven’t changed anything,’ she said, banging the dishwasher door shut. She picked up a cloth and began to wipe down the sides. ‘The same dishes, pans, worktops. I like that it’s all the same.’
Luca put the laptop down on the table in front of him and leant back, the glass of wine in his hand. ‘What would I have changed?’ he asked.
Minty shrugged. ‘Sleek, black leather sofas and chrome everywhere,’ she suggested. ‘Knocking through into the next room. Creating an outdoor kitchen.’
Luca shuddered, looking round at the comfortable, cosy room. ‘That sounds completely horrible.’
‘Standard young CEO fare,’ she said. ‘The shinier, bigger and more expensive, the better. Hugely overcompensating, of course.’ She winked at him. ‘Good to see a man comfortable with what he has.’
‘This is part of my family’s history,’ Luca said, ignoring the wink and the innuendo. ‘Furniture made and chosen by my parents and grandparents. By Rose. Why would I change it?’
‘I’m glad you didn’t.’ Minty wrung out the cloth and hung it up over the sink taps before collecting her wine glass and bag and bringing them over to the sofas. Luca was relieved when she chose the other one to curl up into, her long legs folded under her. ‘There are so many old houses like this that have been remodelled. Botox for houses, turning them into wrinkle-free, soulless show-homes. This place wears its history proudly, wrinkles and all.’
Luca twirled the wine glass round a couple of times, as if looking for answers in the ruby depths. It hadn’t even occurred to him to change the house, to modernise it, although all around the local area houses like this one were being done up, turned into holiday homes or country retreats. ‘I’m not a big fan of leather and chrome,’ he said. ‘I guess I always imagined my children being raised in the same house that I was, eating at the same table, off the same plates. I always thought a house like this should be filled with children. It seems too big for just one.’
‘There were two of us in the holidays,’ Minty reminded him.
‘Si, but you were never a childlike child. Always so knowing, so old for your years. When you weren’t doing something crazy, that is.’
Minty had raised her glass ready to take a sip but at his words she set it back down on the table. ‘I wasn’t the only one. Old for my years, I mean, not crazy.’ She laughed. ‘Did you ever misbehave, Luca?’
He shook his head, smiling. ‘Only when you were with me.’
Their eyes met, blue held by gold, sudden awareness blazing between them, remembering the last time they had misbehaved together here in this room, on the very sofa Minty was curled up on. Awareness that it would be so easy for him to put down his glass and move just a few steps over to her. Awareness that it would take just one touch, that all he needed to do was run one finger down her cheek to the corner of her mouth, onto those full lips.
He swallowed, hard. It was tempting, when she looked at him like that: guileless, teasing, daring. Vulnerable.
But the price was too high to pay. It had always been too high.
None of her emotions were real. It was all a game.
He looked away, deliberately breaking the invisible line of attraction linking them. He took a sip of wine and leant back, to all appearances relaxed.
Even if he was coiled tighter than a snake in winter.
‘So, how many children would it take to fill this house?’ If Minty was affected by the sudden attraction—or by Luca’s withdrawal—she wasn’t showing it.
It was frustrating. But safer.
‘Four.’
She spluttered. ‘Four? That’s ambitious.’
Luca eyed her coolly. ‘I am ambitious. In every area of my life.’
‘Obviously. You’re, what, twenty-nine now? Better get a move on if you want to make it to number four. Unless you’re hoping for one a year?’
He shook his head, smiling. ‘Not quite that fast, but I would like them sooner rather than later.’
‘So who’s the lucky brood mare?’ When Luca didn’t reply, Minty raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re not planning single fatherhood, are you?’
‘I hoped to be married with at least one child by now, but it didn’t work out. I was engaged,’ he offered, surprising himself with his openness.
‘What happened?’
He shrugged. ‘We wanted different things.’
Minty smiled, although it didn’t reach her eyes, which were dark with sympathy. ‘Welcome to the club. You’ll have to do better than one failed engagement if you want premier membership, though.’
‘Thanks; I’ll stick to the basic category.’
She sipped her wine pensively then slid him a look from under those long eyelashes. ‘So who was it? Do I know her?’
‘Francesca Di Rossi.’
Amusement flared on the mobile face. ‘So she did it. Well done, Francesca. Lucky escape, if you ask me.’
Luca wasn’t sure what reaction, if any, he’d expected. The dark amusement in Minty’s voice was not it.
‘So she did it,’ Luca repeated slowly. ‘What do you mean by that?’ Although he suspected he knew what her answer would be.
‘You must know you were considered quite the catch locally: tall, dark, not too horrid to look at. Add in your family connections and the fact you employ half the district... I’m surprised prospective replacements aren’t queuing up around the block. Although the “four children” may be putting less committed candidates off.’
‘It’s not something I advertise.’ But her words were still rankling him. ‘Why “lucky escape”?’
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Minty shrugged. ‘I just wouldn’t have thought you and Francesca were very compatible, that’s all. I didn’t know her very well, but I know her type. I bet she would have remodelled the house before you got round to cutting the wedding cake.’
Luca blinked in surprise. Francesca had been full of suggestions: new bathrooms; a new kitchen. He had thought at first she was simply taking an interest in his life. The truth was she had wanted to change his life. Change Luca.
‘I thought she loved it round here, wanted to stay, settle down.’ Luca couldn’t believe he was volunteering the information. After they’d split up he had shut the door on that part of his past and had barely given Francesca a second thought.
Unlike Minty. How could one interrupted night have made more of an impression than two years with Francesca?
‘She didn’t?’ Minty’s voice jolted him out of his thoughts.
‘Not at all. She thought I should move the office part of the business to Florence so I could be near that side of my family.’ His mouth twisted wryly. ‘Near the aristocratic side. Turned out Francesca was a big fan of titles. She wanted us to have a fancy apartment and spend our time in fancy restaurants with fancy people. I wanted to stay here.’
‘You couldn’t compromise? Some time here, some time there?’
Luca shook his head. The truth was he hadn’t even considered it. ‘Honestly? I don’t think either of us cared enough deep down to make it work. For me, my work is here; my life. But Francesca felt stifled here. How do you compromise on that? In the end she found someone who wanted the same things she did. They’re very happy and that’s great.’ It was. When Luca analysed his feelings around Francesca’s infidelity, he felt a little humiliation—and a much greater relief.
Minty nodded sagely. ‘She was your starter fiancée—much better than a starter marriage, in my opinion.’
‘Che?’
She settled back, stretching slightly, and despite himself his eyes were drawn to the way her top stretched up, the enticing flash of midriff. ‘I bet you thought settling down was the right thing to do. There she was, a local girl. She knew the right people, went to the right parties, said the right things, was there when you needed her. Am I right?’
How on earth did she know that? Luca’s face must have shown his amazement, as Minty laughed. ‘I told you, I know girls like her. I’ve been a girl like her. Far better to find out you’re incompatible now than in ten years’ time when you have children. If you ask me, that mother of your four offspring won’t be someone quite so obvious. Someone who doesn’t make it quite so easy at the beginning, but who is comfortable to be with at the end.’
‘What made you so wise?’ The perception surprised him. Luca had never doubted that Minty had layers; he just didn’t think she had depth.
‘Three fiancés.’ She laughed as she said it but there was a glimmer of pain in her eyes that even Minty’s best carefree expression couldn’t hide. ‘I am the starter-fiancé expert.’
‘In that case, your theory doesn’t work,’ Luca said. ‘Shouldn’t there be one starter, not an entire buffet of them?’
‘Oh, they weren’t my starter fiancés,’ Minty said. ‘I was theirs. I’m the mistake that showed them exactly what they don’t want in a future partner. It’s a gift, really. I should get some kind of humanitarian award for it.’
Luca hated it when she did this: showed a hint of her inner self and covered it up with a brave face and a few self-deprecating jokes. It made a man want to get up and walk over to where she sat, supremely graceful, head up, eyes glittering, daring the world to feel sorry for her. It made a man want to gather her into his arms, pull her close and tell her it was all right, that she didn’t have to pretend.
It made a man remember just how yielding and vulnerable she could really be. Made a man think of hard kisses, soft caresses; how a man could get lost in those lips, those eyes. In her promise. He’d come so close to getting lost.
But he’d come to his senses.
It still sickened him, how close he had come to taking advantage of her, of her youth, of her grief. The only saving grace was that he had stopped, pushed her away, before it was too late.
By the time he’d risen from his sleepless, guilt-ridden bed, before he could apologise, make things right, she had gone, snuck away in the night.
Straight back to England. To Barty. To her boy-lover.
Luca looked over at Minty, her long legs curled under her, her head high despite the deep shadows under her eyes, despite the lingering sadness in their blue depths. A small part of him—the part of him that didn’t want a five-year plan; that didn’t want a predictable path; the ruthlessly suppressed part of him that occasionally, just occasionally wished to be spontaneous—wanted to walk over, raise her to her feet and pull her in close. But no. He couldn’t take the risk; he couldn’t trust her no matter how much she seemed to have changed.
Slowly, deliberately, he got to his feet. ‘Maybe you’re right,’ he said as lightly as he could. ‘Better a failed engagement than a bad marriage. And I learnt a lot from Francesca. Compatibility, shared goals, they’re what’s important in life; that’s what I’m looking for. A woman who values family, a home, a quiet life.’
‘Apron optional?’
Her eyebrows were raised enquiringly, a suspiciously innocent look on her face. Luca suppressed a smile. She wasn’t going to get to him that easily. ‘Would I like to come home to the smell of freshly baked bread whilst my bathed bambinos cluster about me? Of course. I think any man or woman would. But no, I am not looking for a homemaker, unless that’s what she wants, of course. I’m looking for someone I can rely on. Someone who relies on me. A partnership. Someone who will be there when I wake up.’
And on that parting shot he left the room, all too aware that he had yet another sleepless night ahead of him. Another night hyper-aware of his maddening guest so near, so far.
But he didn’t look back.
CHAPTER FOUR
‘I’M IN HEAVEN; actual, real-life heaven.’ Minty looked about, barely restraining herself from clapping her hands in delight. It was a child’s dream. Actually, Minty corrected herself, it was anyone in possession of working taste buds’ dream. A long, long counter was filled with box after box of brightly coloured gelato. Another one was stacked high with mouth-watering cakes and pastries. A few tables and chairs were dotted about inside and the full-length patio doors were flung open to the seating area outside.
‘So, this area is open to the public,’ Natalia explained as she took Minty through the exhaustive menu. ‘Take away or eat in, by the portion or the box. It’s on all the tourist maps so we get a great deal of passing trade, plus potential trade customers who like to drop in casually—and the odd competitor snooping around as well.’
The café had been opened at some point in the past six years, another of Luca’s innovations. The place was full of them. And the staff loved it. It was like working with a living saint, Minty thought. The wonderful Signor Di Tore—or Signor Luca to the older staff, who remembered every visit the infant prodigy had paid to the factory and could happily recount them in mind-numbing detail. His every word was listened to adoringly, every pronouncement admired, every movement scrutinised.
No wonder he was insufferable.
‘You have got the hang of it very quickly,’ Natalia said admiringly as Minty deftly dealt with a large group of teenagers, each with a different and complicated request. ‘You’re a natural.’
‘Not really,’ Minty confessed. ‘I ran a café back in London. Cupcakes; they’re pretty big there right now.’ She sighed. Her father’s manager was keeping an eye on them while she was exiled from the family fold. She hoped he wouldn’t interfere too much, or try to enforce his tastes on the staff. His favourite pudding was spotted dick. Minty shuddered. Even her talented bakers would have a hard time c
reating a tasty treat with that as an inspiration.
A range of cakes based on other traditional English classics might work, though. Minty mechanically served the next couple as her mind went through some ideas. Sticky toffee pudding, jam roly-poly and custard, rhubarb crumble, apple pie—all the basis of perfect little cupcakes. She might be banned from setting foot on the premises but her father couldn’t stop her from texting her ideas through. ‘Old school’, they could call the range. A vanilla sponge, rhubarb middle topped with a smidge of crème anglaise and finished off with a buttery crumble: perfect for the autumn. Mini summer puddings sandwiched together with cream for the coming season. Possibly some variations on a scone?
She rinsed out the metal scoop, her mind still humming with ideas, and pushed it firmly into the frutti di bosco, scraping out a perfect round scoop and placing it carefully into the paper cup. The gelato was a deep purple, bursting with berries. As she handed over the cup to an eagerly outstretched hand, a glimmer of an idea began to grow insistently.
As the post-lunch siesta hour kicked in, the flow of customers quietened down and for the first time in several hours there was no one waiting to be served. It was nice to have a few moments alone with her thoughts. The few customers that were left were content to sit out in the sun sipping their drinks. Natalia had taken advantage of the lull to slip out for some lunch.
Minty took out the small notepad and pencil she’d been issued with and began to sketch out some ideas. Keeping busy kept her mind away from dangerous topics, pushing memories of the other night with Luca firmly out of her mind. It was just that there’d been a moment, a few moments, when Luca had looked at her as if he’d seen something more. As if she weren’t just a thorn in his side, not just a spoilt child.
He’d looked at her like that before. Another memory she’d tried to forget.
Memories could be inconvenient. It was so easy to make them selective. They focussed on molten eyes, on heat, on want. They forgot the burning chill of rejection. They forgot how it felt to lie on a sofa suddenly impossibly alone, skirt rucked up, shirt undone, lips open with need. They forgot the look of horror. Of guilt. Of rejection.