by Miranda Lee
Antonio’s guilt lessened once he saw the man for himself again, plus the marked improvement in his colour and condition. Paige too seemed very relieved. She might not think she loved her father all that much, but she did. The last thing Antonio wanted was to feel responsible for his death.
‘You worried the life out of me,’ he said by Conrad’s bedside.
‘I worried the life out of myself. Think I might have that operation after all.’
‘Good idea,’ Paige chipped in. ‘Then you can stop this retiring nonsense and look after your own company.’
Conrad smiled a wry smile at his daughter. ‘Just look at her. Married less than a day and already telling her old man what to do. I still can’t believe the change in you, missy. You’re a different person. Just shows you what the right man can do. Speaking of the right man… I know you won’t change your mind, Antonio, but would you stay on as caretaker CEO, just till I’m on my feet?’
‘Can’t Brock Masters do that?’ Antonio asked, rather tongue-in-cheek.
‘Brock Masters! You have to be joking. He’s already been given his third warning. Damned fool’s been taking drugs. He’ll be out by Christmas.’
‘Best move you ever made. And, no, Conrad, I won’t be staying on as acting CEO. I told you my reasons for leaving today, and you have to appreciate they’re very good ones.’
Conrad nodded resignedly, then smiled at both of them. Antonio smiled back. He might be a devious old devil, and what he’d done was very wrong, but Antonio would still always be grateful to his father-in-law for bringing him a happiness beyond anything he could have hoped for.
Beside him, Paige was slowly coming to the same thinking herself. No matter what her father’s motives, he’d given her Antonio, hadn’t he? Hard to hate a man who’d made her dearest dream come true.
Later that night, she snuggled into Antonio’s arms after some very serious lovemaking and asked him a very important question.
‘Would you like a boy or a girl first?’
It was a question which would consume them for the next nine months, especially after the doctor confirmed that Paige had indeed conceived, either on her wedding night or soon after. Antonio could not conceal his pleasure when the ultrasound at four months revealed a baby who was decidedly male.
By the time Julius Richard Scarlatti was born the following September, his ecstatic parents had moved into a nice four-bedroomed house on Maroubra Beach, painted the nursery green in case the next child was a girl, and bought a four-year-old black mongrel from the local dog pound who’d been on death row. They’d also completed production of the first series of an hourly programme called The Romance Show, which showed viewers romantic places, holidays, hotels, restaurants, clothes, lingerie, gifts and books. It had been Paige’s idea.
In the year it went to air, everyone who watched the show quickly became addicted to its feel-good theme. Most agreed that the most romantic aspect of the show was the producers. The way they looked at each other sometimes, when they were shown, photographed in the newspaper. The way they laughed, and held hands. They looked so obviously in love with each other. So obviously happy together.
Which they were.
ISBN 978-1-4592-0455-3
THE BLACKMAILED BRIDEGROOM
First North American Publication 2001.
Copyright © 1999 by Miranda Lee.
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