by Penny Jordan
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
‘WHAT’S wrong?’ Amelia got to her feet unsteadily as Alex put the phone down after he finished the call.
He met her worried gaze. ‘I’m sorry, Amelia, but I have some terrible news for you.’
‘My father’s dead?’
Alex wished he could find a way to soften the blow. He sat her down and took her hands in his, gently stroking them as he told her what Rico had told him.
‘Murdered?’ She gaped at him in horror.
‘It appears that way according to what your brother just said. The cottage was completely gutted.’
She pulled out of his hold and got to her feet, reaching for something to cover herself with. ‘I can’t believe it…’ she said as she struggled back into her clothes. ‘I was only talking to him this morning…. Oh, Papà!’ She put her head in her hands.
Alex threw on his bathrobe and came to her and held her close. ‘Rico said the police are interviewing the nearest neighbours to see if they heard or saw anything. He borrowed one of their phones to call me. He was worried you might have been in the cottage when it burned down.’
She eased herself away to look up at him. ‘Is there nothing left? Nothing at all?’
He shook his head grimly.
She sagged against him. ‘I don’t know what to do….’
‘You can stay with me,’ he said. ‘The police will no doubt want to speak with you at some point, but there’s no need to go up there right away. The forensics team will need to do their investigations.’
‘W-where is my father’s body?’
‘I’m not sure,’ he said. ‘But I would advise against seeing him.’
‘He’s my father. I want to say goodbye.’
‘I know you do, but do you really want your last memory of him to be tainted by what you’ll see if you go there this minute?’
Amelia knew he was right; she’d seen enough burn victims to know how hard it was to cope with seeing their often disfiguring wounds. It was distressing enough dealing with strangers as patients, let alone a full-blood relative.
‘Has Silvio been contacted?’ she asked.
‘Yes, Rico said he was on his way,’ Alex said. ‘He has taken charge of everything.’
‘Is he all right?’
‘He’s pretty shaken up but then who wouldn’t be?’
She moved out of his hold and rubbed at her upper arms in agitation. ‘My father was dying—everyone knew that. Who would want to hurry his death in such a way?’
Alex had been thinking the very same thing and so far hadn’t come up with any answers. ‘I’m not sure. Maybe someone wanted him to keep quiet about his role in my kidnap. When you think about it, he’s really the only one who could verify who I am.’
She turned to look at him, her eyes wide with alarm. ‘Do you think someone else knows who you are—apart from my brothers and me, I mean?’
He frowned as he thought about it. ‘I don’t know…possibly.’
‘My father is not the only person who could verify your identity,’ she said. ‘What about the couple who took you to Australia to be adopted?’
His brows met over his eyes. ‘You think they could have something to do with this?’
‘My father said it cost him everything to keep things quiet. I can only assume he meant the couple he paid to take you away.’
Alex rubbed at his jaw for a moment, the rasp of his hand against his unshaven skin almost too loud in the silence of the room. ‘It would seem feasible they wouldn’t want their role in it exposed,’ he said. ‘If they got wind of your father wanting to confess to his part in it they might have wanted to shut him up in case they were hauled before the courts.’
‘The whole island has been talking about you ever since you arrived,’ she reminded him. ‘News often travels between the ports of Mont Avellana and Sicily. Perhaps the couple heard of it and became worried.’
‘The one thing I know is you are best kept out of it, Amelia,’ he said with a worried frown. ‘Your brothers, too, need to keep their heads down until the police find out who is responsible.’
Amelia felt her stomach drop. ‘You think we could be in some sort of danger?’
He gave her a sombre look. ‘You’re a Vialli. You’ve told me yourself how you’ve been a target for taunts. Who knows what people will be incited to do?’
She bit her lip in agitation. ‘Maybe you should tell the king who you are right away.’
‘I don’t really think that’s necessary just yet. I think we should stick with the plan to get his surgery over and done with, and once he’s on the mend I might come forward.’
‘What do you mean you might come forward? You have to come forward!’
‘I came to this island as a commoner and I can just as easily leave as one,’ he said.
She frowned at him incredulously. ‘You mean not tell anyone?’
He gave an indifferent shrug. ‘It would save a lot of heartache for my family if I leave things as they are. They’re going to find it very hard to deal with the circumstances surrounding my adoption. My mother will blame herself, so will my father, not to mention my little sister, who has enough issues of her own to deal with.’
‘But what about your other family, your biological brother and sisters?’ she asked. ‘Aren’t they entitled to meet you after all these years of suffering? Don’t they have the right to get to know you and welcome you into the family you were born into?’
His jaw tightened a fraction. ‘I can’t be Alessandro Fierezza.’
‘You are Alessandro Fierezza whether you like it or not.’
He blew out a heavy sigh. ‘What did I do to make my life so complicated?’
She moved towards him and grasped him by the hand. ‘I know this is hard for you. It’s hard for me too. I have to live with the guilt of my father’s role in the destruction of your life. Don’t make it worse by turning your back on your heritage.’
He gave her a lopsided smile. ‘Those nuns did a really good job on you, didn’t they?’
‘What do you mean?’
He flicked her cheek with one finger in a gentle caress. ‘You positively ooze with guilt.’
‘I can’t help it. I feel as if this is all my fault.’
‘You’re not responsible, Amelia. You didn’t do anything wrong.’
‘Other people won’t see it that way.’
‘I’m not interested in what other people think.’
Amelia sighed as Alex held her close, her thoughts tumbling around her head erratically.
Her father was dead.
It didn’t seem real even though she had been preparing herself for this moment for months.
Alex spoke into her hair, his warm breath lifting the soft strands closest to her face. ‘Your father wouldn’t have suffered, Amelia. You have to comfort yourself with that. He would have died of smoke inhalation, especially with his lungs under-functioning the way they were. Rico said there was no sign of him trying to escape. He was found in bed.’
She suppressed a shudder and looked up at him. ‘I should have been there. If I hadn’t been out with you I would have heard something and perhaps been able to save him.’
‘You are not to blame yourself,’ Alex insisted. ‘You had a perfect right to go out. Besides, if your father hadn’t wanted you to go he would have said so, don’t you think?’
‘Yes…I guess you’re right.’ She gave a little sigh as she recalled her conversation with her father that morning before Rico had driven her to work. Her father had seemed pleased to hear she was spending time with the Australian doctor. He had even smiled as she’d bent down to kiss his sallow cheek and told her to have a good time.
She moved out of Alex’s embrace to pace the room, her stomach churning as she thought about the future. The very few possessions she owned were lying in ashes in the remains of the cottage along with the body of her father.
‘I don’t know what to do…’ She savaged her bottom lip again. ‘This seems so�
�so…unreal. I feel like I’m on the outside of myself looking in. It’s like it’s happening to someone else, not me. How can I have lost my father in such a way? I mean, he was dying of cancer…. Every morning for the last month I’ve walked past his room and leaned against the door to check if he was still breathing. Now he’s dead, murdered…’
‘Listen, Amelia,’ Alex said, taking her by the arms and holding her still in front of him. ‘The police will take charge of this. You will be safe with me. I’ll organise for you to have some clothes and essentials brought here. No doubt Rico and Silvio will have friends they can bunk down with.’
Her frown deepened as she looked up at him. ‘But the police will surely ask a lot of questions. They’ll want to know about possible motives and so on. How can we tell them of our suspicions without revealing your identity? Besides, Rico might have already mentioned something about you….’
Alex’s expression clouded for a moment. ‘It will take a few days for them to conduct their enquiries. Let’s hope that’s long enough for me to do the king’s surgery. After that, if the news comes out about who I am, then so be it.’
There was the sound of a car pulling up outside and Amelia’s eyes widened as they met his. ‘Is that the police?’ she asked in a whisper.
Alex looked through the gap in the curtains and nodded. He quickly dressed and answered the door and showed the two officers into the room where Amelia was standing, her hands in tight knots in front of her trembling body.
Alex stood to one side as the officers asked a series of questions, which Amelia answered as carefully as she could. Every now and again her worried gaze would flick to his, but if the police thought there was anything suspicious in it they didn’t let on, although Alex couldn’t help noticing the way the more senior officer watched Amelia with an intensity that was rather unsettling. But after he took copious notes and asked a few more questions about her father’s affairs, he reiterated his earlier condolences and left soon after with the junior officer close behind.
Alex closed the door on their exit, his eyes meeting Amelia’s across the room. ‘I think our secret is safe for the time being but I suspect it won’t be long before they put two and two together.’
‘I know….’ She hugged her arms close to her body. ‘I felt like a criminal the whole time they were talking to me. I always do around the police. It’s because of my name.’ She eased herself away to look up at him. ‘I need to see Rico and Silvio just to make sure they’re all right. Would you mind if I borrowed your car?’
‘Don’t be silly,’ he said, searching for his keys. ‘I’ll drive you myself. Do you think they’ll still be up there?’
She gave him a weary look as she followed him out to his car. ‘They’ll be there.’
The thin curl of smoke rising eerily in the night air sent an icy chill down Amelia’s spine as Alex drove up the uneven driveway. She stared at the remains of her family home, unable to get her head around the fact that there was nothing left. Not a single photo or article of clothing. There was nothing but the grotesquely charred skeleton of the cottage and silver ashes and the lingering smell of acrid smoke.
Once the last police vehicle drove away Rico and Silvio came over to where she and Alex were standing, their faces white with shock and their bodies visibly shaking as they each in turn enveloped her in a short, somewhat awkward hug.
Rico held out his hand to Alex. ‘My father told me who you are,’ he said with obvious embarrassment. ‘I don’t know what to say….’
Alex shook his hand. ‘Your father did what he thought was best at the time. It could have been much worse.’
Rico seemed at a loss for words and looked to his younger brother for help. Silvio shifted uncomfortably and, with a slight hesitation, offered his hand as well. ‘I can see the likeness even though it’s dark up here,’ he said. ‘I was the one who first alerted my father to the rumours about you. Does the king know?’
Alex shook his head and explained his reasons for keeping his identity quiet until the king was out of danger.
‘Did either of you mention anything to the police about the rumours?’ Amelia put in.
‘No,’ Silvio said. ‘I don’t even think the police are going to treat this as a murder investigation.’
She stared at him in shock. ‘But why not?’
He gave a cynical shrug. ‘One less Vialli on the island,’ he said. ‘There are plenty of people who have always suspected Papà was involved with the bandits. They’ll be celebrating his death, not grieving it.’
‘Has Papà…been taken away?’ she asked.
‘He was taken away a short time ago,’ Rico said, swallowing convulsively as he glanced back at the remains of the cottage.
Amelia felt her insides cave in at what her older brother must have come upon when he’d returned to the cottage that evening.
‘I was worried you were in there with him,’ he said, and took a cigarette from Silvio with a distinct tremble of his hand.
She watched as Silvio flicked his lighter to ignite his brother’s cigarette, the sudden flare of light illuminating the shocked pallor of his and Rico’s faces, but for once she decided against lecturing them both on the dangers of smoking.
‘Have the police found out anything?’ she asked instead.
Silvio lit his own cigarette and took a deep drag before answering. ‘Apparently no one in the neighbourhood heard or saw anything, or if they did they’re not saying. But Rico’s right—no doubt the police will make some token enquiries, but this is one case they won’t be in a hurry to solve.’
Amelia felt her body begin to shake with reaction. The night was warm, but she began to shiver uncontrollably until Alex drew her close.
‘I’ve arranged for your sister to stay with me for the time being,’ he informed Rico and Silvio. ‘Do you both have somewhere to stay?’
‘Yes,’ Silvio answered. ‘I have some friends down at the port who will put us both up. I’ve been staying with them for the last couple of weeks.’
‘I’m not planning on staying around once my father’s funeral is over,’ Rico stated. ‘I want to get away and start a new life without the past getting in the way.’
‘Me too,’ Silvio said. ‘I have work lined up on Mont Avellana. You should think about leaving too, Amelia. Once the news breaks about Dr Hunter’s identity it could get really unpleasant for you. Don’t forget that whoever is responsible for Papà‘s death was probably hoping you were in the cottage with him as you have been most nights.’
Amelia swallowed the lump of fear clogging her throat. ‘I’m not going to run away,’ she said with a determined lift of her chin. ‘I have work to do here.’
‘I’ll keep an eye on her,’ Alex assured them. ‘She’ll be safe with me.’
Physically maybe, but not emotionally, Amelia ruminated sadly as they left a short time later. She sat silently in the car beside Alex as he drove away from the ghostly remains of her family home, her grief over her father taking a second place to the sense of loss she felt at the thought of never being able to tell Alex how much she loved him. Once the news broke of his true identity their relationship would have to end.
Their two worlds had briefly collided but could never stay connected, not unless he was prepared to walk away from everything that was rightfully his, from everything her father had taken away from him thirty-four years ago…
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ONCE they were back at his cottage, Alex handed Amelia a small tumbler of brandy, his expression still full of concern. ‘How are you holding up? This must be such a terrible shock for you.’
She took the brandy and cupped it in her hands. ‘It is…. I feel sort of numb.’
‘That’s understandable. Even when a death is expected it’s still a shock when it finally happens, but in this instance it’s much harder to deal with, given the circumstances.’
Amelia took a tiny sip of the fiery liquid. ‘I know this sounds a bit strange, but I can’t help feeling reliev
ed he didn’t suffer in the end. Dying from a terminal illness can be so…so awful for the patient as well as the relatives.’
Alex took one of her hands in his and began to stroke it soothingly. ‘I know what you mean. I’ve seen too many people die from lung cancer to be under any illusions of how difficult it is in the last stages.’
Amelia looked at their joined hands before raising her gaze to meet his. ‘Alex…it’s very kind of you to offer to have me stay here with you, but I feel uncomfortable about what people will say, especially once the news breaks about your identity.’
‘They can say what they like,’ he said. ‘They don’t have to know our private arrangements. For all they know you could be sleeping in the spare room just like any other house guest.’
‘Maybe I should do that.’ She chanced a quick glance at him. ‘Sleep in the spare room, I mean.’
He gave her a studied look. ‘Is that what you’d prefer?’
She forced herself to hold his unwavering gaze. ‘I’m not cut out for this…er…arrangement, as you call it.’
‘You want to end our relationship?’ he asked.
‘I’ve known from the first that I’m being used to fill in the time,’ she said.
His frown brought his dark brows together. ‘You think that’s what this is about?’
‘Isn’t it?’
‘Of course it isn’t. Look, I admit I’ve fast-tracked our relationship a bit, but that doesn’t mean I’m not genuinely attracted to you.’
‘But for how long?’
‘How can anyone answer that?’ he asked. ‘I spent two years of my life with a woman I thought was in love with me but she apparently changed her feelings overnight. I’m sorry, Amelia, but I don’t feel like making myself that vulnerable again. If you’re not happy with our relationship as it stands, then feel free to walk away.’
Amelia inwardly cringed at his words. How could their relationship be genuine when he had no intention of it continuing? He was content to flirt and have fun, but it wasn’t for ever. She had been a silly fool to even think for a moment that things could be any different.