That was a question Belle hadn’t been expecting. But how could she say no when she’d just admitted to coming here freely to give herself in marriage? She said a faint yes, but didn’t know if the priest heard her.
“Take her hand, figlio mio.”
Leon’s grasp was warm against her cold fingers. He rubbed his thumb over her skin to get the circulation flowing. That she felt.
“Repeat after me. I, Leonardo Rovere di Malatesta, take you, Arabella Donatello Sloan, to be my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.”
The next few moments were surreal for Belle, who could hear the words of the ceremony uttered by the priest, and their own responses. Concetta’s baby talk provided a background.
Blood pounded in Belle’s ears when he said, “You have declared your consent before the church. May the Lord in His goodness strengthen your consent and fill you both with His blessings. What God has joined, men must not divide. Leonardo? You have rings?”
Oh no. Belle didn’t have one for him.
“We do.”
“Lord, may these rings be a symbol of true faith in each other, and always remind them of their love, through Christ our Lord. Leonardo?”
Belle watched him pull the gold band out of his pocket. “Put it on her finger and repeat after me. Take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
It was really happening...
Leon reached in his pocket again and pulled out his signet ring to hand to her.
The priest said, “Arabella? Repeat after me. Take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
After saying the words, she was all thumbs as she put it on the ring finger of Leon’s left hand. He’d removed his own wedding band. How hard that must have been, after the love he’d shared with Benedetta.
While she was still staring at his hand incredulously, Leon put a finger under her chin and tilted her head so he could kiss her.
“We’ve done it, Belle. You’re my wife now,” he whispered against her lips. “Thank you for this gift only you could have given, to help me raise Concetta. For that you will always have my undying devotion.”
When his mouth covered hers, it was different from a husband’s kiss. She didn’t know what she’d expected, but it was more like a sweet, reverent benediction. Quickly recovering from her surprise, she whispered back, “Then we’re even, because you’ve given me the gift of my mother and your precious daughter.”
By now Concetta was making herself heard and getting wiggly. Belle saw Leon reach for her, and with a triumphant cry hug her in his strong arms.
The staff huddled around Belle with moist eyes to congratulate her. Their well-wishing was so genuine she was moved by their warm welcome as Leon’s new wife. Over their heads she looked at the baby. Leon caught her glance and brought Concetta over for Belle to hold. The child came to her with a sunny smile.
Belle’s eyes closed tightly as she drew her close. This precious little girl was her daughter now! It was unbelievable.
The priest stood by with a smile, patting Concetta’s head. “The bambina now has a beautiful new mamma.” He made the sign of the cross over both of them.
“Thank you, Father.”
They all moved out to the vestibule, where the priest asked them and the witnesses to sign the marriage document. With their signatures on it, everything was official. Leon took the baby from Belle, but as she leaned over the table to take her turn, two petals from her corsage fell on the paper. She looked around and discovered another petal still in Concetta’s hand.
“She has the same sleight of hand as her papà. She’ll need watching,” Belle murmured.
His eyes gleamed molten silver. No man should be so handsome. Her hand shook as she wrote her signature. When it was done, she noticed the others were gone except for Leon. He rolled up the marriage certificate and put it in his pocket.
“Talia carried the baby out to our car. Shall we go, Signora Malatesta?”
Belle wondered if she would ever get used to her new name. He walked her outside to the church parking area.
“I looked up the meaning of your name in the library the other day, Leon. I knew mal meant bad, but found out testa meant head.” They’d reached the sedan where Talia had put the baby in the car seat. She was standing by the rear fender.
“If it meant bad people headed your family, then it had to have been a long time ago, because I’ve known nothing but good from your hands and your father’s. I just wanted you to know that I’m proud to bear your name.”
Some emotion turned his eyes a darker gray. “I’ll cherish that compliment. Thank you.” He helped her into the backseat next to Concetta, who was biting a plastic doughnut. Rufo lay at her feet, guarding her. Before Leon stood up, he planted a swift kiss on Belle’s mouth, then shut the door. While he walked Talia to the car where the others were waiting, Belle ran a finger over her lips.
He was her husband. She needed to get used to this, but every time he touched her, she went up in flame.
In a minute he came back to the sedan. Once he was behind the wheel they drove away from the church. With the palazzo their next destination, Belle’s thoughts darted to his family and their reaction when they heard the news.
Her heart ached for Leon. Though they both hoped the announcement of their marriage would help the situation with Dante, she knew her husband had been in pain over him for years. He had to be anxious right now.
“Leon?” she called to him in a burst of inspiration.
He’d been glancing at her and the baby through the rearview mirror. “Are you all right? You look worried.”
“I am, because I have an idea, but I don’t know how you’ll feel about it.”
“I won’t know until you tell me.”
Uh-oh. He was on edge. She could feel it. “The other day Mom told me Dante and his wife have their own entrance into the palazzo.”
“That’s right. They live in the other wing.”
Her lungs constricted. “What would you think if we drove around to it first and dropped in on them, unannounced and unexpected? Under normal circumstances Dante would be the first person you’d run to with our news.
“Why don’t you treat him that way instead of going through your parents? The element of surprise will catch him off guard, and might even please him if he realizes your parents don’t know yet. It’s worth trying—that is, if they’re home.”
For a long time Leon didn’t say anything. “I don’t know what they do with their Saturdays,” he muttered.
Belle got excited when she heard that. “Then let’s find out. What’s the worst he can do? Slam the door in our faces while we’re standing there with Concetta? I finally faced Cliff and look what happened!”
In the mirror, Leon’s eyes flashed silver fire. “I believe you’ve got a warrior in you. If you’re willing, I think your idea is rather brilliant.”
“Grazie,” she said in lousy Italian.
“First thing we’re going to do is get you a tutor.”
She laughed out loud. Miraculously, he joined her. It was the release they needed. When they entered the estate, he kept driving past the courtyard and on around to the other end. Belle saw a red sports car parked outside the entrance.
* * *
Pia’s car was missing. That meant Dante was home alone. If Belle’s suggestion was going to work, then it was better Pia had gone somewhere.
Leon pulled to a stop. By the time he’d gotten out, Belle had already alighted from the car with the baby in her arms. There was no hesitation on her part. Rufo rubbed against Leon’s legs as they walked to the door.
He would have, but suddenly the door opened. To say that a disheveled Dante, clad in sweats, was shocked to see him and his entourage was probably the understatement of all time.
“Sorry to burst in on you like this, but I wanted you to be the first to know.”
Dante squinted at him through eyes as dark a charcoal as their father’s. “What in the hell are you talking about?”
“Belle and I just got married. We’ve come straight from the church.”
“Be serious.”
“I’ve never been more serious in my life.”
A look of bewilderment crossed his face. “I thought you were still grieving over Benedetta.”
Leon nodded. “I’ll never forget her, but then something amazing happened when I met Belle. Papà is in for a shock when I tell him. You and I both know he has several women lined up, and expects me to marry one of them, but I could never do what he wants. I’ve never believed in titles.”
A full minute passed before his brother said, “He’ll tell you to annul your marriage.”
“Not when he learns we fell in love the moment we met and haven’t been separated since. I couldn’t let her go back to New York tomorrow.”
Dante took the scroll from him and unrolled it. After studying it he said, “But to marry Luciana’s daughter...” His eyes darted to Belle, who was entertaining the baby.
“We’ve never talked about it before, but I’m convinced the same thing happened to Papà when he met Luciana.”
Dante swallowed hard. “I figured that much out when I got a little older. Papà never loved Mamma that way,” he muttered.
“No,” Leon whispered, glad his brother had come to the same conclusion. “That’s why it hurt us so damn much when he got married that fast.”
“It did that, all right.”
Clearing his throat, Leon said, “There’s something I’ve been needing to say for a long time. I hurt you when I went to school in Rome. I shouldn’t have left you, but I was in so much pain, I thought only of myself. I’m hoping one day you’ll be able to forgive me.”
Dante eyed him with soulful eyes, an expression he hadn’t seen since they were teenagers, but he had no words for him. Fresh pain consumed Leon. As Belle had said, it was worth a try.
He took the certificate from him. “We’re going to go tell the parents now. It would be nice if you were there for a backup. You know how Papà feels when he sees either of us let our emotions overrule what he considers our duty. If he can’t handle this, then Belle and I will be moving to New York with the baby.”
An odd sound came out of Dante. “You’d go that far?”
“For my wife and daughter, yes.” He reached out and grasped his brother’s shoulder. “Thanks for answering the door. I purposely gave it our special knock to give you the chance to open it or not. Despite what you might think, you always were and always will be my best friend.”
He turned to Belle and took the baby from her. “Come on, my little bellissima. We’ll walk around to the other end of the palazzo and enjoy this wonderful day.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“JUST A MINUTE, Leon. I need to grab her diaper bag.” When they were out of hearing range, Belle caught up to him. “No matter what happens, you spoke your piece and your brother knows you love him. It’s up to him now.”
Leon grasped her hand and squeezed her fingers. “That’s what has me worried. Don’t forget he’s a Malatesta.”
“Have you forgotten I’m proud to be married to one? Remember something else. He didn’t slam the door in your face, either. That has to count for something.”
Leon had married an angel. “Are you ready to face the parents?”
She nodded. “Be honest. You are a little worried about their reaction.”
“You’re wrong, Belle.”
“Then what’s the matter?”
His bride was highly perceptive, but he couldn’t tell her the truth yet. He knew the reasons she’d entered into this marriage, but she didn’t know all of them. When she found out, that was what he was worried about.
“Your life hasn’t been like anyone else’s. Not even your wedding day could be like anyone else’s. I—”
“There you are!” Luciana called to them, cutting off the rest of what he was going to say. “I saw your car pull around the drive, but you were so long I came to see what was going on.”
Belle ran to meet her mother and they hugged. “Leon wanted to talk to Dante for a minute.”
“That was an awfully long minute, when I’ve been waiting for you. Sullisto went to the bank this morning, but he’ll be home any second.” They both gravitated to the baby. “Look at that outfit she’s wearing! Where have you been?”
“To church,” Belle answered with her innate honesty. “We were there quite a while. She needs a diaper change and a bottle.”
Leon carried Concetta into the house, deciding it was the perfect segue for what was coming. He handed her over when Belle reached for her, and all three females disappeared into one of the guest rooms, while he wandered around the living room, looking at the many family pictures.
There was an eight-by-ten that he particularly loved—his mother on her knees in the garden. She wore a broad-rimmed hat and was planting a rosebush. Flowers were her passion. So were her two boys.
She’d poured out all her love on them. In the process she’d spoiled them, but Leon could never complain. His childhood had been idyllic. That’s what he wanted for Concetta. He knew Belle would love her forever.
He picked up the framed photo. “Mamma? I wish you were here today. You’d love Belle the same way you loved Benedetta.”
When he heard voices, he put it back and looked across the room at the stunning picture of the three women in his life. They sat down on one of the couches while Belle fed the baby.
“I know she’s so good, but I’m surprised you took her to Mass,” Luciana said.
Belle flashed him a signal. He took the chair closest to the couch and pulled it around. “Not Mass. We arranged a private meeting with Father Luc.”
“Why?”
“This morning your daughter did me the honor of becoming my wife.” He drew the certificate out of his pocket and handed it to Luciana. “Last night we talked everything over. I asked her to marry me, so she wouldn’t go back to New York and meet some other man. As you can see, Concetta is already crazy about her.”
With tear-filled eyes, Luciana looked at Belle. “I only want to know one thing. Do you love him? Because if you don’t, darling...”
Leon knew what Luciana was asking. She was married to a man who’d done his duty with Leon’s mother, but the personal fulfillment hadn’t been there. The mother in Luciana didn’t want that for Belle.
“It’s all right, Mom,” she said with a gentle laugh. “When I first met Leon, I thought of him as the dark prince of Rimini. He frightened me, but he also thrilled me.”
Her half lies thrilled him.
“I can understand that,” Luciana murmured. “He has a lot of his father in him.”
“I tried not to be attracted, but that flew out the window, because we’ve spent hours and hours together. Then I met Concetta. The three of us had such a wonderful time watching the dolphins we didn’t want it to end, did we?” She kissed his daughter’s forehead. “We saw a lot of daddies there, but none of them had your daddy’s way.”
“Leon has been a remarkable father.” Luciana’s comment made him feel more ashamed of his prior behavior toward her.
“But I guess I didn’t know how deeply I felt about him until he told me he wanted to marry me,” Belle went on. “The thou
ght of turning him down and flying back to New York was too devastating to contemplate. I felt the same pain at the thought of leaving you, after having just found you.”
In the next breath Luciana jumped up from the couch. First she threw her arms around Belle and the baby, then Leon. “I’m so happy with this news, I can hardly contain it.”
Leon’s gaze fused with his wife’s. If Belle had any doubts about their marriage being the right thing to do, they were wiped away by her mother’s joy.
“Your father shouldn’t have left. Why isn’t he home yet?”
Leon had a hunch he’d been meeting with his attorney about the adoption. While he was thinking about that, they had a visitor. To his shock, his brother entered the living room, in jeans and a sport shirt, showered and shaved. “I just got off the phone with him.” Who called whom? “He’ll be here in a minute.” Dante eyed Leon. “Don’t worry. I didn’t spoil your surprise.”
He moved over to Belle and hunkered down in front of her. The baby had fallen asleep against her shoulder. “Belated congratulations. I would have invited you in earlier, but I wasn’t decent.”
“If you want to know the truth, when I’m at the apartment in New York, sweats are about all I wear.”
Dante grinned. “Do you run?”
“As often as I can, before work.”
That was news to Leon.
“We must be soul mates. Like you, I try to get in a run, but I usually do it after work.”
“Does your wife run with you?”
“Sometimes.”
“We’ll all have to do it together.”
“I’m afraid my brother swims.”
Belle nodded. “So I noticed. Like a fish, I might add. Maybe I can train him by getting him to push Concetta in her stroller at the same time.”
Dante roared with laughter.
“Where is Pia, by the way?”
“Visiting her mother, but I phoned her. She’ll be back soon.”
“Does her family live far from here?”
“No. Only a few kilometers.”
A Marriage Made in Italy Page 13