The Magnate's Holiday Proposal

by Rebecca Winters

  “Promise you’ll be here?”

  She was beginning to realize what Luca had been living through for the last two years. Everything you said and did with Dino meant life and death to him because he’d seen his mother vanish before his very eyes, never to come back. It was not hard to understand Luca’s burden. He had no idea what was going to happen once Dino came back from that operating room.

  “I promise.” She kissed his forehead and left the room.

  Gabi knew she couldn’t sleep yet, so she went downstairs to the living room. Luca followed her and stoked up the fire. Then he sat down on the couch next to her where they could feel its warmth.

  She turned to him. “What kind of tumor does he have?”

  “It’s called an astrocytoma, a slow-growing, noncancerous tumor that is usually found in children from five to eight.”

  “I see. If there’d been no avalanche, how would you have known about the tumor?”

  “He would have eventually manifested several symptoms, with headaches being the most obvious.”

  “What will his surgery be like?”

  “The doctor said he’ll perform a keyhole craniotomy. In other words, it’s a minimally invasive surgical procedure. Dino is a good candidate for it because his skull-based tumor is in a good location.

  “They go in behind the ear where there’s little scarring. The doctor said there’s less pain and a faster recovery time. The downside, of course, is the danger of disturbing tissue around it. The more precise he can be in removing it, the better.”

  “Has he given you an idea of how long Dino will be in the hospital?”

  Luca rubbed the back of his neck, a gesture she’d seen once before at his most vulnerable. “If all goes well, he could be home in three days. Some children go right back to school if there are no complications. Others have to be watched for several weeks or months. The doctor said every case is different, but most children bounce back faster than adults.”

  “Then we’ll just have to pray that happens. I’m not going to think about what could go wrong. That doesn’t help any of us.”

  He stared at her. “One of these days Edda will know my gratitude for sharing you.”

  She smiled at him. “I talked to my mother, too. She’s a nurse and will do anything she can to help. So—” Gabi put her hands on her knees, “I’m here to stay for as long as you believe Dino needs me around.”

  “How about for as long as I need you? When you’re with me, I feel like I can cope.”

  “That’s a very touching compliment, but it’s also a huge responsibility. Will it help if I assure you I’m not going anywhere?”

  “I’ll take you any way I can get you.”

  She laughed, but with those words her heart had started to thud. He hadn’t told her he loved her. What if he never did? How would she be able to bear it?

  “In case you were wondering, I’ve enjoyed kissing you at every chance possible,” he inserted, knowing exactly what was on her mind. “To be honest, I never wanted to stop. As for tonight, it was a good thing you heard the children beating a path back to the family room. So I’m giving you fair warning. You’re in big trouble if you get too close to me.”

  Luca didn’t know it, but he was in danger from her. “I’m not worried.”

  “For all the reasons that my son is crazy about you, it seems I, too, have developed a crush on this amazing woman from Padova. To think she has a fascination for chocolate-covered insects and an addiction to cartoon heroes like Tex Willer! Who would have thought?”

  Loving this man as she did, there were things she wanted desperately to know about him. “For Dino to have loved his mother so much, she had to be a very remarkable woman. Was Catarina your first love?”

  “My first real love? Yes. First attraction, no. From the age of twenty to twenty-five, I competed on the Italian national ski team and met a lot of women. After placing first and second at the Olympic trials, I made the Italian Olympic team. It wasn’t until after I gave it up and went into the family business that I met Catarina.”

  “Was she a skier, too?”

  “No. I tried to teach her, but she wasn’t crazy about it. What about you? Have you ever done any skiing?”

  “No. None at all. That probably sounds crazy to you, but I never had an opportunity. My friends didn’t ski either. How many medals have you actually won?”

  “I was only in the Olympics one year and brought home the gold medal for the downhill. But if you’re talking about awards, I won a lot during the years I was on the Italian ski team.”

  “Where are they?”

  “In storage.”

  “Your gold medal, too?”

  “Yes.” That explained why his son hadn’t shown the medal to her by now. “I already sold the family chalet in Piancavallo so he never has to be reminded of what happened there.”

  Gabi could understand Luca avoiding the place where disaster had struck. Skiing hadn’t been a part of life with his son since the avalanche. Maybe he’d train his son to be an Olympic swimmer.

  While she was deep in thought, he got up from the couch and turned to her. “Do you know we never talk about you and your life? It’s always about me. Are you still in so much pain over your divorce, you can’t talk about it? Do you still love the man you married? Where is your ex-husband now? Is Parisi your married name, or your family name?”

  She stood up. “Luca—we’ll talk about me another time.”

  His eyes never left hers. “In ways, I feel I know you through Dino. He’s dropped little pieces of information here and there. Just enough to tease me. Why didn’t you pursue a career in art? Is that why you love Venice so much? Did you only own one dog? I’m planning to get Dino a dog after his operation.

  “The more we’re together, the more I realize I don’t really know you at all or how you ended up working for Edda Romano. But what is evident is that my son has bonded with you, and I thank God you relieved him of a great worry tonight after he said his prayers. It also relieved me because I’m going to need you tomorrow when I tell him he has to go to the hospital on Friday.”

  Gabi nodded. “I’ve been thinking about that, too.”

  “Shall I bring it up tomorrow night at bedtime, or earlier? What does your intuition tell you?”

  She paced the floor for a minute. “I should think the less time he has to worry about it, the better.”

  “Then we’ll do it together before he says his prayers.”

  She wanted to wrap her arms around him and tell him everything was going to be all right, but a drawn expression had broken out on his handsome features, causing an ache in her heart. Now wasn’t the right time.

  “I’ll go on up and see you in the morning. I hope you’ll be able to get some sleep tonight.”

  “I doubt there’ll be much sleep for either of us,” his voice grated.

  Gabi hurried out of the living room to the family room to get her suitcase and take it upstairs. She passed Dino’s room but didn’t hear a sound. It had to be a good sign he was asleep.

  In a few minutes she climbed into bed, but her mind was reeling from all the questions Luca had raised about her, questions she never knew he wanted answered. He hadn’t brought them up until tonight, but he was so distressed and preoccupied, she imagined he was on the phone right now, needing to talk to his mother. Gabi realized that Giustina had been the one he’d turned to in order to cope all this time.

  She tossed and turned during the night. When morning came, she was glad to get up and dressed. After putting on jeans and a cream-colored crew neck sweater with push-up sleeves to the elbow, she reached for her purse and hurried downstairs. Gabi heard Dino’s voice coming from the kitchen and headed there.

  As soon as he saw her, he ran over to hug her. He was dressed for school in his smock. “Buongiorno
, Dino!” She hugged him hard. By this time tomorrow, he’d be in the hospital having the operation.

  He put his head back and looked up at her with shining eyes. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “So am I.” This was a moment she needed to remember.

  After lifting her head, she smiled at the cook and Ines before sitting down. “What a beautiful day! From my bedroom window I saw that the sun is out with no clouds. I can’t believe it.”

  “I wish I didn’t have to go to school.”

  “But think about all your friends who will be excited to see you. Especially Paolo.”

  “Gabi’s right,” his father’s deep voice filled the kitchen.

  “I guess.”

  Luca had been out running and was still wearing his navy sweats. There ought to be a law against a man who looked like a black-haired god from Olympus running around this early in the morning. It could give a woman a heart attack.

  He sat down next to Dino. “Pia has made us a feast in Gabi’s honor. You need to finish your breakfast so we can drive you to school.”

  Luca started eating as if there wasn’t anything in the world troubling him. That helped Gabi, who ate another roll with her cappuccino before they headed out to the car. Dino brought his backpack and got in the backseat. She could get used to this life so fast it was scary. That’s what was worrying her.

  “Will you both pick me up right after school?” They’d stopped near the entrance. Gabi climbed out with Luca.

  “What do you think?” He rubbed Dino’s head. Gabi gave him another hug. “Where else would we be but right here?” Other kids were going inside. One of the girls waved to him.

  “Who’s that?” Gabi wanted to know.

  “Filomena.”

  “Ah. She’s cute. Maybe you should offer her one of the suckers in your backpack.” Her suggestion produced a laugh that made his frown disappear.

  “A presto!” Luca called to him.

  When Dino had disappeared inside, they got back in the car. “Your son appears to be a normal Italian male. Already he’s attracting the ragazze.”

  Luca laughed as they drove away from the piazza. To hear it warmed her heart. She noticed he hadn’t taken the road back to the villa. “Where are we going?”

  “Since you haven’t been here before, I thought we’d take a drive through the hills to Tauriano. I’ll show you my manufacturing plant where the skis and boots are made. It will give me time to hear more about your life. I want to know what the world was like for you in the beginning. We’ve got until one o’clock with nothing else to do.”

  “The beginning?”

  “Yes. What was your legal name before you were married?”

  “I was born Gabriella Russo. My childhood was idyllic. We lived in a small house in Limena on the outskirts of Padova. My father, Enrico, worked in business for the Constantini paper company.”

  “I know of it.”

  “My mother, Nadia, grew up in Padova and went to nursing school. Afterward she started work at a doctor’s office where they met when Papà had to see the doctor.”

  “Was it love at first sight?”

  She chuckled. “I think so. They got married fairly soon and moved into a little house. Before long I came along. There were lots of children in our neighborhood. We played all the time. I remember when one of my friends had some guinea pigs and we planned a marriage ceremony for them.”

  Luca laughed again and kept laughing as she told him her various antics. “As I told you earlier, when I was seven my father got sick with pneumonia and couldn’t get better. I heard my mother tell her friend he might die. I loved him so much I was in agony. You know the rest. The priest told me to go home and ask for help myself. I got mad.”

  By now they’d reached the small town of Tauriano. Luca pulled in a lay-by that opened up into a fabulous view of the valley. He turned to her. “Why did you get mad?”

  “Because I was afraid to do it myself, but somehow I found the courage.”

  “And history was written,” he said in a soft voice.

  Her eyes swam with tears. They always did that when she remembered what had transpired.

  Luca pulled her over so she half lay against him. “I need to kiss you again, Gabi. You’ve become my addiction.”

  She responded with a hunger that surprised her because she’d been trying hard not to give in to her longings. But it was ridiculous to hold back, and he wouldn’t let her anyway. They clung to each other, full of desire and the underlying emotions driving them.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured against her neck and throat. “You don’t know what you do to me, what you mean to me.”

  “I feel the same way about you,” she admitted. “In this whole world there’s no one else like you.”

  Just as she’d said it, a car pulled into the lay-by behind them and some people got out. Luca groaned. “Wouldn’t you know we couldn’t have a moment’s peace?”

  Gabi straightened up and moved back on her side of the car. Luca started the engine, then grasped her hand and gave her a tour of the town. He drove them past the large two-story building with a sign that said Giulia.

  “That’s your trade name? I’ve seen it everywhere!”

  He nodded. “I needed one unique word that would sell my product. It’s identifiable as coming from the northeastern province of Italy, but I shortened the full name by cutting off Friuli-Venezia.”

  “I love it. Italian and original, just like you.”

  In the next breath he leaned over and kissed her even though people could see them. When he lifted his mouth, he said, “I’m not going to apologize for giving in to the impulse. I find myself wanting to do it constantly.”

  Heat filled her cheeks before he sat back and started driving again.

  “Can we drive to Spilimbergo? I’d like to see where the big boss works.”

  “That’s a good idea. When we get there I’ll buy you a pizza patate. And en route I want to hear why you didn’t pursue a career in art.”

  She shook her head. “That Dino has a lot to answer for.”

  “He absorbs information like a sponge, if he’s interested.”

  Gabi chuckled. “Even though I had a part-time job, I’m afraid art school was too expensive and my father didn’t make enough money to pay for it all. That was a disappointment because I liked to draw.”

  “That butterfly is a masterpiece.”

  “Hardly. But art school was out, and Papà urged me to try for a grant and go for something practical like an accounting degree. Businesses needed accountants, and it wouldn’t cost so much.”

  “That was excellent advice.”

  “Needless to say I took it and ended up getting my degree. My father was very happy for me, but by then he’d developed heart problems and died of a fatal heart attack.”

  “Another difficult time for you.”

  She nodded. “I’m ashamed to say my faith wasn’t very strong at that point.”

  “I hear you,” Luca murmured. “Mine has been stretched many times. No one can measure the pain of another person’s trial.”

  “That’s true in theory. My mother helped me out until I could get an accounting job. I didn’t know what I wanted to do and scanned the want ads. Nothing appealed because I was in a dark place.

  “About then I found a temporary job at a bank working as a teller while I waited for an accounting job to materialize. It was there I met Santos Parisi, manager of the bank. I fell hard for him. We got married four months later.”

  “That was fast.”

  “Too fast, and my happiness didn’t last long once I’d suffered a miscarriage. One of the girls at the bank had seen Santos at a local club with another woman while he was supposed to be in Florence on business. She felt sorry for me be
cause I was so recently married and thought I should know.

  “When he got home I confronted him and found out he’d been with the woman he’d been having an affair with for a long time. He said it didn’t mean anything and that he would give her up. But that was it for me. I’d been a fool.”

  “He was the fool, Gabi.”

  “Thank you for saying that. I moved out of our apartment and filed for divorce using any money I’d saved to pay the attorney fees.”

  “You’ve been through hell.”

  “That was a time when I thought the world was over for me. Then I saw there was an opening at the Start with a Wish foundation that helped children with problems realize a dream. I felt like a child myself, one who needed a dream to come true, so I applied. Since then life has been so much better.”

  “For Dino, too.” Luca parked around the side of a café in Spilimbergo and kissed her again. “Thank you for confiding in me. Now I’m not quite so jealous of my son, who knows so many things about you I still have to learn. Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

  A few minutes later he returned with the food he loved and gave her a piece. “I’m still full from breakfast and don’t think I can eat all of it.” But she was wrong and had finished it by the time Luca drove them by the Berettini Plastics Company, an enormous building.

  “Even if you don’t enjoy your work there, I’m impressed you can run two entirely different companies at the same time.”

  He sat back. “It’s just work and I don’t want to talk about me. Let’s head back to the villa. I need a shower, then we’ll pick up the new puzzle I ordered for Dino at the store before we reach his school. They only had one left.”

  “What kind of puzzle?”

  “It’s a thousand-piece cartoon version of building the Roman coliseum. I thought we’d set it up in the living room in front of the fire. He’ll love it, particularly since you bought him and Paolo those gladiator outfits. It has little figures of gladiators, soldiers, horses, plus workers and slaves. It’s fascinating.”

  “I can’t wait to get my hands on it!” If Luca only knew she needed a distraction to keep her hands off him.