by Lynne Graham
CHAPTER SIX
BEPPE CALLED ELLIE bright and early and asked her to come to his home. Ellie surmised that he had bad news and she took her time over her breakfast in the hotel courtyard, trying not to stress over what could not be changed. Beppe had been wonderfully approachable and kind and helpful and she wanted to thank him for that. He could’ve denied any knowledge of her late mother but instead he had told her the unvarnished truth, even though doing so had raked up guilty memories and regrets.
Ellie drove over to the palazzo and Adriano showed her out to the shaded loggia, quickly reappearing with a tray of coffee and biscuits. Beppe appeared then, rather flushed in appearance and with eyes that were a little shiny.
He studied her and he then smiled widely, a smile brimming with happiness and appreciation. ‘Ellie,’ he began emotively as he handed her a sheet of paper to study. ‘You are my daughter and I cannot begin to describe how much that discovery means to me.’
Lively with excitement, Beppe could hardly be persuaded to drink his coffee as he ignored her medical training to explain rather unnecessarily the 99.99 recurring percentage of accuracy established by the successful DNA test. ‘I would’ve been delighted to discover that you were my niece but to discover a daughter, a first child after all these years, is an unimaginable joy!’
Ellie reached across the small circular table and grasped his hand to squeeze it. ‘Thank you for saying that.’
‘It comes from the centre of my heart,’ Beppe told her warmly. ‘Amalia give birth to a stillborn son just weeks before she suffered her stroke. We were devastated. I don’t believe, though, that I could have told her about you were she still alive. It would have hurt her too much and my affair had already caused her enormous grief.’
‘How do you think Rio will take this news?’ Ellie asked, dry-mouthed.
Beppe emitted a heavy sigh. ‘He will be here for lunch and I will tell him then. He will be happy that I am happy but very disappointed to hear that I once betrayed Amalia. If only we had adopted him as I wished, he would have been more certain of his place in the family.’
Ellie sat forward, brow furrowed, her curiosity engaged. ‘You wanted to adopt Rio?’
‘Sì. I will respect his privacy by not giving you details but he had neither parents nor a home and I wanted to take him in, but Amalia refused to set another child in what she always viewed as our stillborn son’s place,’ he confided heavily. ‘There were also elements of Rio’s background which disturbed her and she could not be persuaded to change her mind. He never knew that I wanted to adopt him though. Our contribution to his life became less direct as he grew up. We advised him, ensured he got a good education and supported him when he needed us but we could have protected him a great deal more had we adopted him and brought him up here.’
‘That’s unfortunate but Rio has still done very well for himself, hasn’t he?’
‘If you measure success by prosperity, his wealth reached stratospheric proportions after he won the oil contracts in Dharia. He is very much a self-made man,’ Beppe declared with pride. ‘But he is also a man damaged by a traumatic childhood and a tough adolescence. I should’ve done more for him.’
‘By the sound of it, you did the best you could in the circumstances,’ Ellie remarked soothingly, troubled more than she liked by the reference to Rio’s traumatic childhood and troubled adolescence. Yes, she could imagine how such experiences would have hardened him and what a difference a loving, supportive home background could have made. After all, she knew that she too was marked by the lack of love in her childhood. Her grandmother hadn’t wanted to raise her daughter’s two illegitimate children and had only done so because Annabel had paid her handsomely to take on that responsibility. When that flow of money had stopped, presumably because Annabel had suffered bankruptcy and ill health, her grandmother had complained bitterly about how much of a burden her granddaughters were. Polly’s affection had provided the only love Ellie had experienced during those years.
‘I think I’ll go back to the hotel now,’ Ellie announced, hardening herself to Beppe’s look of disappointment. ‘Rio will be arriving soon and we both need some time to think. This is a lot to take on board and so much more than I ever expected to learn.’
‘I hope you will pack and come here to stay with me for what remains of your holiday,’ Beppe admitted. ‘And perhaps someday you will feel comfortable enough to call me Papà.’
Ellie’s eyes prickled with tears as she left. She felt ridiculously emotional and when Beppe gave her a small, almost daring hug on the doorstep it almost made the pent-up tears spill down her cheeks. He was willing to be her father and she was in a daze of shock and happiness. It bothered her to appreciate that Rio was unlikely to celebrate the same news. Rio didn’t like her and didn’t trust her and the revelation that she was his precious godfather’s daughter would hit him hard. Would it hurt him that she had the blood tie with Beppe that he had been denied? She flinched from the thought, marvelling at how oversensitive she was to any thought of Rio being hurt.
It was so ridiculous, she thought ruefully. Big, tough, angry, hostile Rio would not be so easily hurt. Why was she even considering how he would feel about her parentage? What business was it of his? After all, the scene had been set before she was even born by Beppe’s affair with her unhappy mother. By the sound of it that extramarital affair had caused tremendous unhappiness for all the parties involved, but surely after so many years Beppe could begin to forgive himself and both of them could now concentrate on forming a relationship? That conviction at the forefront of her mind, Ellie packed her case and then walked down to the village to kill some time and allow Beppe to speak to Rio in peace.
*
Rio departed from Beppe’s home reeling from what his godfather had dropped on him. An adulterous affair and a daughter? No, he had certainly not seen that possibility on the horizon and it changed everything, his own position most of all. Ellie had played a blinder of a game by concealing her true motivation for being in Italy right to the very end, Rio acknowledged bitterly. In fact, she had trussed him up like a chicken ready for the roasting pot. Beppe had openly voiced his concern that Rio nourished dishonourable intentions towards his newfound daughter. Beppe had no idea that Rio had already gone much further than that and if he found out it would destroy his relationship with Rio. Worse still, if she was pregnant, Beppe would be digging out a shotgun.
It was time to take the initiative, not a time to sit back and vacillate over what-ifs and maybes, Rio reflected sardonically. Left in ignorance, he had dug himself into a deep hole and he had to dig himself out of it again and to do that he needed Ellie’s help whether he liked it or not. Raging resentment surged up through the cracks inside him and there was no healing balm of acceptance to soothe it. Beppe was, after all, the only true family Rio had ever had, the only adult who had ever shown him love, consideration and understanding while he was still a child. And now Beppe had a daughter, whom Rio had wronged. That she could well be a money-grabbing young woman keen to feather her own nest scarcely counted now that she was about to become Beppe’s heir. Furthermore, Beppe would never believe the allegations made against Ellie for there was virtually no proof of misconduct on her part.
Rio had hired a second agency to check and update the evidence he had originally been given. The hospice enquiry had cleared Ellie of any wrongdoing and she had refused the inheritance left to her by one of her patients. The only dirt left in the first investigative report relied heavily on her embittered uncle’s tale about the diamond brooch and, as the police had refused to prosecute, the whole story could easily be written off as being more rumour and backstabbing than actual fact. And furthermore, if Ellie was a gold-digger, Rio was about to make her feel as if she’d won the lottery.
When he learned that she had checked out of the hotel he was taken aback until he noticed that her hire car was still parked outside. The receptionist told him that Ellie had walked down into the village. He found h
er in the cool of the ancient stone church, studying a much-admired triptych of the Madonna and Child.
When he spoke her name, she whirled round, a figure of light and movement in the dim, dark interior. Her dress was the ice blue of diamonds and the sunlight cascading through a stained-glass window high up the wall showered her in a dancing rainbow of colour that only emphasised the vibrant copper of her tumbling hair. She wasn’t quick enough to hide the dismay and anxiety that crossed her face when she saw him and the tense expression and attitude that took over to stiffen her into stillness was no more welcoming.
Welcome to your biggest challenge yet, Rio thought grimly, trying not to notice how beautiful she was in that naturally beautiful way that so many women tried and failed to achieve. He froze there, suppressing his body’s equally natural instincts, none of which felt appropriate in the House of God.
‘Rio…’ Ellie whispered uncertainly, mortified by the nerves that had stolen the volume from her voice.
He could have been carved from stone as he stood there, still and quiet as a predator, sheathed in a light grey designer suit. He resembled a stone angel with cutting cheekbones, a hard-hewn jawline and a mouth as wilful, stubborn and passionate as sin. His eyes were a pure dazzling gold in the light and she blinked rapidly, striving to shut the sheer intensity of him out and to be polite but distant, treating him the same way she usually treated men. But how could she achieve that when she knew in her heart that he had sought her out because he was shocked and agitated by what Beppe had shared with him?
‘Are you a believer?’ he prompted lightly.
‘Yes. Are you?’
‘I was raised by nuns in an orphanage and spent more time on my knees than in school. Of course I am,’ Rio told her wryly.
And it was as though he had squeezed her heart at the same time as he filled in some of the blanks in her repeated attempts to understand what made him what he was. An orphanage, she thought sadly.
‘I bet you were always in trouble,’ Ellie remarked without thinking.
‘Pretty much. Beppe and his wife raised funds for the home and did a lot to help the children, particularly the disabled ones amongst us,’ Rio admitted. ‘Although that home is closed now and conditions are greatly improved in its replacement. Beppe is still very much involved in finding employment and educational opportunities for the less fortunate. He is a good man.’
‘Yes,’ Ellie agreed tightly.
‘And you are his daughter,’ Rio declared without any perceptible emotion at all. ‘I must assume you take after your mother since you don’t look much like your father.’
‘She was tall, red-haired and pale-skinned like me. I think I get my lack of height from Beppe,’ Ellie breathed uncomfortably. ‘You’re angry that I didn’t tell you why I so particularly wanted to meet Beppe.’
‘It wasn’t your secret to share,’ Rio conceded, surprising her. ‘But I must confess that I was completely unprepared for what he admitted to me. I shouldn’t have been. There must have been times when he felt trapped in his marriage. He is only human.’
‘Let’s not talk about that,’ Ellie advised. ‘I don’t think we can ever understand that sort of situation unless we’ve actually lived the same experience—’
‘Porca miseria! That’s a very compassionate comment from judgemental Ellie!’ Rio commented, an ebony brow slanting up in apparent wonderment.
‘Let’s also try not to argue.’ Ellie sent him a rueful look of appeal. ‘You’re shocked right now, of course you’re shocked. You thought you knew everything there was to know about Beppe—’
‘I don’t want judgemental Ellie or Dr Ellie right at this moment,’ Rio interposed.
The pale triangle of her face flushed as though he had slapped her. ‘I’m not sure I know how to be anything else—’
‘We’ll have coffee…and talk,’ Rio framed, extending a lean, long-fingered hand to her in invitation.
Ellie hesitated as if a shark had bared its teeth at her. And then she forced her arm to lift and she grasped his hand, a frisson of quivering awareness shimmying down her spine. He was trying to accept her and because he was making the effort, she had to make it too. His attitude thoroughly disconcerted her because she had expected only anger, condemnation and suspicion from Rio and he had just as swiftly proven her expectations wrong.
She had expected Rio to walk her across the square to the local café but instead he tucked her into the car illegally parked outside. Belatedly it occurred to her that the busy little café would scarcely be a good choice for a private chat.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked.
‘My home. Have you had lunch?’
‘No, but I’m not really hungry… Too much excitement today,’ she extended wryly.
His long brown fingers flexed smoothly round the steering wheel and she remembered those fingers skimming across her body, expert and deliberate. She dragged in a short sustaining breath but she could still feel the tingling in her swelling breasts and the pulse of damp heat between her thighs. He had stripped her bare of every conviction she had once had about herself, she acknowledged reluctantly. She was a much more sexual being than she had ever dreamt but it had taken Rio to awaken and set free that side of her nature. It was terrifying to feel so vulnerable and yet Rio was currently on his very best behaviour, she recognised suddenly. Why was that? What was he planning? Why had he not yet said a single angry or insulting word to her?
‘Who did this house belong to before you bought it?’ she asked to break the silence as he steered the Ferrari down the long drive.
‘An ancestor of Beppe’s, who kept his mistress here—’
‘How novel,’ Ellie said drily.
‘Yes, he was considered the rotten apple in the very respectable family barrel and after he died the house was left to go to rack and ruin because no one in the family thought it acceptable to live in what had once been the mistress’s home. I bought it at auction and restored it. It’s convenient to have somewhere close when I visit…your father.’
He voiced the designation with cool clarity. Your father. It shook her to accept that she finally had a father and that the ancestor who had kept a mistress had actually been one of her ancestors, as well. It was as though a family tree had suddenly unfolded in front of her and she smiled at the wonderful sense of security that gave her. ‘I thought you would’ve stayed with Beppe when you visited—’
‘Not if I wanted female companionship. You may not have noticed it but Beppe is rather old-fashioned in spite of his liaison with your mother,’ Rio commented. ‘It’s simply easier to keep that side of my life away from him.’
Ellie climbed out of the car in the sunlight, grateful to have movement to distract her from thoughts of Rio’s chequered past. None of her business, she reminded herself doggedly as he led the way into the big house. A housekeeper greeted them at the door and Rio addressed her in Italian.
‘I ordered a light lunch for you,’ Rio told her. ‘You shouldn’t be skipping meals.’
Ellie compressed her lips on a hasty reply.
‘And you know I’m right,’ Rio added with unblemished assurance.
He guided her out to a shaded terrace and pulled out a comfortable padded chair for her. ‘Sit down…’
‘You’re so bossy,’ Ellie complained, settling down and kicking off her canvas shoes to flex her overheated bare feet on the cold stone.
His housekeeper arrived with freshly squeezed orange juice for her and a glass of wine for Rio. She wondered if she was being deprived of the alcohol option because she could be pregnant but said nothing because she had been avoiding alcohol since their moment of madness. She liked that label. A moment of madness suggested a crazy once-only impulse that was out of character, but then everything that had happened with Rio had been out of character.
‘What did you want us to talk about?’ she pressed boldly, not wanting him to think she was tongue-tied in his presence.
‘I brought you here to propose to
you but I’m not quite sure how to go about it,’ Rio murmured lazily. ‘If I got down on one knee, you would laugh. If I told you how much I’m worth, you would accuse me of being boorish—’
Her lashes lifted high on her bright green eyes as she stared at him fixedly. His lean, darkly handsome features were sardonic and she frowned in bewilderment. ‘Propose…propose what exactly?’
Rio gazed steadily back at her, dark eyes glittering like black diamonds. ‘Marriage…obviously.’
‘Are you out of your mind?’ Ellie gasped sharply.
‘No, possibly I’m foreseeing Beppe’s reaction if he discovers that I’ve got his wonderful new daughter pregnant,’ Rio extended quietly. ‘And, yes, I’m aware that we don’t know as yet whether you have conceived but it would be much worse to wait and see in the current climate.’
‘You are insane,’ Ellie exclaimed, gulping down a reviving swallow of orange juice.
‘Not at all. I know that Beppe will never forgive me if I’ve got you pregnant. He will blame me entirely for it because I have a rather raunchy reputation with women—’
‘Raunchy?’ Ellie rested her head to one side as if she was considering that word. ‘Do you think rumours of your three-in-a-bed sexcapades have spread?’
Rio groaned out loud and sprang upright while shooting her a reproachful look. ‘Can’t you please put judgemental Ellie away for a while and have a serious conversation with me?’
Ellie winced. ‘Not really. I can’t take a marriage proposal from you seriously.’
Rio backed up against a stone pillar like a cornered lion and studied her with scorching golden eyes. ‘That night in Dharia, I did not invite those women to my hotel room. They bribed their way in—’
Ellie pushed her stiff shoulders back into her comfortable seat and inclined her head. ‘Oh, I guessed that,’ she admitted. ‘I assumed you wouldn’t have double-booked yourself.’
The faintest colour scored Rio’s hard cheekbones. ‘You can’t blame me for what they chose to do—’