The Count's Christmas Baby

by Rebecca Winters

  Having been in the building earlier, she knew where to go. She’d just started to make her way down the hall when a man strode swiftly past her and rounded a corner at the end. He was a tall male, elegantly dressed in a tan suit and tie. Maybe he was in his mid-thirties. For want of a better word, he left an impression of power and importance that appeared unconscious and seemed to come as naturally to him as breathing.

  Sami passed several men and policemen who eyed her in masculine appreciation before she turned the corner and entered the reception area of the police chief’s office. With the exception of the uniformed male receptionist she’d met before, the room was empty. Where had the other man gone?

  After she sat down, the receptionist picked up the phone, presumably to let the chief know she’d arrived. Once he’d hung up, he told her she could go in. After removing a few blond hairs from the sleeve of her navy blazer, Sami thanked him and opened the door to the inner office.

  To her shock, the stranger who’d passed her in the hall moments ago was standing near the chief’s desk talking to him. Obviously the chief of police was busy, so she didn’t understand why his secretary had told her she could go in.

  At a glance she took in the other man’s lean, powerful physique. Her gaze quickly traveled to the lines of experience etched around his eyes and mouth. Maybe she was mistaken, but beneath his black brows, those dark eyes pierced hers with hostility after he’d turned in her direction. That wasn’t a reaction she was used to receiving from the opposite sex.

  Of medium height, she had to look up to him. His unique male beauty fascinated her, especially his widow’s peak formed by hair black as midnight. Swept back like that, it brought his Mediterranean features and gorgeous olive skin into prominence.

  The chief spoke in heavily accented English, drawing her attention away from the stranger. “Signorina, may I present Signor Alberto Degenoli.”

  Sami’s spirits plunged. This isn’t the man I’m looking for. But perhaps he is a relative? “How do you do?” she murmured, shaking the hand of the striking Italian male who’d extended his. He had a strong, firm grip, like the man himself.

  “How do you do, Signorina?” His polished English was impeccable with barely a whisper of accent. But it was the depth of his voice that sent a curious shiver through her body, recalling an echo from the past. Maybe she was mistaken, but she thought she’d heard that voice before.

  But that was crazy. They’d never met.

  “You’ve gone pale, Signorina. Are you all right?”

  “Yes—” Sami gripped the back of the nearest chair. “I-it’s just that you’re not the person I’m looking for and I’m disappointed,” she stammered before gazing at him again. “You have his name, but you’re...too young. Obviously there’s more than one Alberto Degenoli living in Genoa.”

  He shook his head. “No. There’s only one.”

  “You mean you?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Perhaps instead of Genova, you meant Geneva in Switzerland, Signorina,” the chief inserted. “Many Americans become confused by the two similar spellings.”

  She frowned. “Possibly I misunderstood. Mr. Degenoli’s in shipping.”

  “So are others on Lake Geneva.”

  “But he’s Italian.”

  “Thousands of Italians live in Switzerland.”

  “Yes. I know.” Maybe because of the differences in pronunciation, she’d gotten the name of the city wrong. How odd. All this time... “Thank you for the suggestion.” She looked at Mr. Degenoli. “I’m so sorry you’ve made this trip to the police station for nothing. I’ve put both of you out. Please forgive me.”

  “Perhaps if you gave me a clearer description of him?”

  “Well, he’d probably be in his sixties. I’m not sure. I feel terrible about this. Thank you for coming here on such short notice.” She glanced at Chief Coretti. “Please excuse me for taking up your time. You’ve been very kind. I’ll leave now so you can get on with your work.”

  At her comment, he squinted at her. “You sounded desperate when you came to me, Signorina. Therefore I will leave you to get better acquainted with this gentleman you’ve inconvenienced, and the two of you can discuss...business.”

  Business? “What on earth do you mean?”

  “Surely you’re not that naive?” the chief replied.

  Upset by the distasteful insinuation, she felt heat rush to her cheeks. “You’ve evidently questioned my motives, but whatever you’re thinking, you’d be wrong—” she blurted.

  At this point she felt oddly reluctant to be left alone with the intimidating stranger studying her with relentless scrutiny. “I haven’t found the person I’m looking for, so there’s no point in this going any further. I truly am sorry to have caused either of you any inconvenience.”

  Chief Coretti gave her a nasty smile. “What is going on, Signorina? You said it was a matter of life and death.”

  “It is.” She hated the tremor in her voice.

  He threw up his hands. “So explain!”

  “I know I’ve been secretive, but I’m trying to make this inquiry as discreetly as possible to protect all concerned. When my other searches failed yesterday, I came to you for answers and hoped nobody would get hurt in the process. But the fact remains I’m looking for an older gentleman. I suppose he could even be in his early seventies.”

  Time seemed suspended as Mr. Degenoli swallowed her up with those jet-black eyes of his. “Signor Coretti—if you’d be so kind as to leave us alone for a moment.”

  “Of course.”

  After he left, the room grew silent as a tomb except for the thudding of her heart. It wouldn’t surprise her if the stranger could hear it.

  His lips twisted unpleasantly before he moved closer. “You’ve been secretive long enough. I’d like to see your passport.” Sami had the strongest conviction he was curious about her, too. At this point she knew she’d heard his voice before. But where? When she’d come to Europe a year ago, she hadn’t visited Italy.

  While she rummaged in her purse, her mind was searching to remember. He stood there waiting, larger than life with an air of authority much more commanding than any police chief’s. She handed the passport to him. After he read the information, he gave it back.

  “I’ve never heard of you.” His eyes glittered with barely suppressed anger. “The Alberto Degenoli I believe you’re looking for is no longer alive, but I think you already knew that. How well did you know him?” he demanded.

  Ah. Now she understood the police chief’s earlier remark about “business.” Both men assumed she’d been involved with the man she was looking for. Sami lifted her head. “I didn’t know him at all. In fact I never met him, but I’d h-hoped to,” she stammered. Sadness overwhelmed her to realize she’d come to Italy for nothing.

  “What did this man mean to you?”

  Wouldn’t he just love to know, but he’d be so wrong! She took a fortifying breath. “Since he’s dead...nothing.”

  “How did you hear of him?”

  Sami had heard of him through his son, but he was dead, too. If this man was the only living Degenoli in Genoa, then what the chief of police had said was probably true. She should fly to Geneva to start her search there before flying home.

  “It no longer matters.” She tried to swallow, but the sudden swelling in her throat made it difficult. “Forgive me for bothering you.” She spun around and made a quick exit.

  As she flew down the hall to the entrance of the police station, she suddenly realized what had been bothering her. The man she’d just left had the same kind of voice as her baby’s deceased father. That’s why it had sounded so familiar and disturbing...except for one thing.

  This man didn’t have that tender, caring quality in his voice. His tone and manner had been borderline accusatory. Her body gave a shudder before she stepped into the first taxi in the line-up in front of the building.

  * * *

  Ric had caught only a glimpse of t
ear-filled green eyes before she dashed from Coretti’s office. Could there be two American women in existence who sounded that identical? He supposed the coincidence was possible, since he’d never seen this woman in his life.

  For months he’d looked for the woman he’d been trapped in the snow with, hoping she would come looking for him, but by summer he’d decided she must have died in that avalanche.

  He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the way this woman’s husky voice had trembled. Much as he hated to admit it, a part of him had felt her emotion was genuine. The classic features of her pale blond beauty, so different from his own countrywomen, already bothered him in ways he was reluctant to admit.

  But great as her acting had been, Ric was convinced Signorina Argyle had lied to him, or at least hadn’t told him the whole truth. Whatever her secret, he was determined to find it out.

  Running on pure adrenaline at this point, he buzzed Carlo, his head of security, and told him to follow the twenty-six-year-old blonde American woman leaving the police station. When she reached her destination, he wanted to know exactly where she went from there, so he could arrange a private meeting.

  Now hadn’t been the time to stop her. The conversation he intended to have with her needed to be someplace where they could be strictly alone with no chance of anyone else walking in on them.

  With his visit to the chief’s office accomplished, he went out to the limo. Within a few minutes he learned she was booked in at the Grand Savoia—one of the best, if not the best hotel in Genoa. It was expensive any time, but especially over the holidays. He told the driver to take him there. Carlo indicated Ric would find her on the third floor, to the right of the elevator, four doors down on the left.

  Before long he alighted from the limo and entered the hotel. Deciding to take her by surprise, he dispensed with the idea of phoning her and took the stairs two at a time to her floor. When he reached her door, he knocked loudly enough for her to hear.

  “Signorina Argyle? It’s Signor Degenoli. We need to talk.” He got no response, so he decided to try a different tactic. “Why were you trying to find Alberto? I would like to help you if you’d let me.”

  Carlo had told him she’d gone into her room and hadn’t come out again, but she might be showering. He gave her another minute, then knocked again. “Signorina?”

  A few seconds later the door opened as wide as the little chain would allow. He saw those green eyes lifted to him in consternation, but they were red-rimmed. By the look of it, she’d been crying. That much was genuine.

  The champagne-gold of her collar-length hair gleamed in the hall light. She’d discarded her jacket. From the little he could see, a curvaceous figure was revealed beneath the silky white blouse she’d tucked in at the waist of her navy skirt. Every inch of her face and body appealed strongly to him.

  “I didn’t realize the police chief had had me followed.” The natural shape of her mouth had a voluptuous flare he’d noticed back at the station. But right now it was drawn tight. She hugged the door, as if she didn’t trust him not to break in on her.

  Ric lounged against the wall. “Don’t blame him. I asked one of my men to keep an eye on you until I could catch up with you.”

  “Your men?”

  “My bodyguards. If you’ll invite me inside, I’ll be happy to explain.”

  A delicate frown marred her features. “I’m sorry, Mr. Degenoli, but as I said at the station, there’s nothing more to discuss and I have other plans.”

  “As do I.” He was already late leaving for Cyprus. “But we have unfinished business,” he rapped out. To his disgust, he wondered what her exact plans were. Deep inside, his gut twisted to think that he could be this intensely attracted to a stranger. His interest in her made no sense, but the sound of her voice and the way she talked still played with his senses.

  A sound of exasperation escaped her lips. “Please believe me when I tell you how badly I feel that you were called into the police station for nothing. If you’d like me to pay you for the inconvenience, I could give you fifty dollars to cover the gas money. It’s all I can spare.”

  If that were true, then she’d chosen too expensive a hotel to stay in. “I don’t want your money. To be frank, I knew you were upset when you left the station.” He cocked his head. “I can tell you’ve been crying. Now that we don’t have Chief Coretti for an audience, you can speak freely with me.”

  “I probably could, but there’d be no point.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. “I’ve come to the end of my search. I have to say goodbye now.”

  There was no question in his mind she was holding back something vital. He put his foot in the door so she couldn’t close it. “Not until I get more answers. For one thing—” He only got that far because he heard a baby fussing. The sounds came from the other side of the door. I knew it!

  “Not so fast.” Ric put his weight against the door so she couldn’t shut it on him. “Whose baby is it?”

  “Mine.”

  “And Alberto’s?” With his mind firing, all Ric could think was that his father had made love to this woman and she’d come to present him with the fruit of that union, but it was too late.

  “No—” she cried.

  “Then prove it to me.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  IN HER mind Sami could hear Pat’s dire warning, but she hadn’t heeded it.

  This situation had hit rock bottom and was exactly what she’d hoped to avoid, but this man wouldn’t let it go and had followed her to the hotel. Since she’d started this, she decided that if she didn’t want to deal with Chief Coretti again, she’d better let him in.

  After undoing the chain, she hurried across the room to the crib. Once she’d picked up the baby, she cuddled him against her shoulder in a protective gesture. Kissing him, she said, “You heard noises and they frightened you, didn’t they, sweetheart? Don’t worry. It’s okay.” She flicked Mr. Degenoli a curious glance. “Our visitor will be leaving soon.”

  The arresting-looking Italian had already come inside the room and locked the door behind him. She shivered a little as he drew closer to look at her baby.

  Sami decided this Mr. Degenoli had to be a relative of her baby’s father. That’s why his voice sounded so familiar to her. Back at the station he’d been as cagey as she’d tried to be in her effort to protect people and reputations, even to the extent of possibly lying about his name, but with both father and son dead, there was no worry now. The only thing to do was answer his questions, then go home to Reno in the morning.

  “Excuse me while I change him.” Reaching for a towel, she spread it on top of the bed and put the baby down.

  “Where did you leave him while you were at the police station?”

  Sami undid the baby’s stretchy blue suit. “Here, of course. Don’t you know the last place for a baby was that smoke-filled building? This hotel happens to have an outstanding child-minding service.” Sami’s sister had made the reservation for her. “That’s the reason I booked in here. They sent a qualified nurse to watch over him while I went to the police station.”

  He didn’t look as if he believed her. “I didn’t kidnap him. If you’re so skeptical, call the front desk and ask them yourself. They’ll verify who I am.”

  At this point his eyes were riveted on the baby. “How old is he?”

  Sami used the baby wipes and discarded everything in a plastic bag. After powdering him, she slipped him into a fresh diaper. “Two months, but that information wouldn’t have any relevance for you. I couldn’t bring him to Genoa to meet his grandfather before now.”

  “Grandfather—”

  “Yes. Why do you seem so shocked? Most children have them. I’m heartbroken that my son is never going to know him or...his father.” Her voice faltered.

  She kissed the soft baby hair that was dark and too beautiful for a boy. His handsome face was all flushed, but he stopped crying long enough to notice the intruder who was thoroughly inspecting him.<
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  After fastening the snaps on the stretchy suit, she wrapped him in his quilt and picked him up to snuggle him. “I think you’re ready for your dinner, young man.” She walked over to the dresser for a fresh bottle of ready-mixed formula and sat down on a chair to feed him.

  “Your voice sounds familiar to me, Signorina.”

  So she wasn’t the only one imagining their connection. “Yours does to me, too. Strange, isn’t it, when I know we’ve never met?”

  His dark brows furrowed. “More than strange. Were you in Europe on holiday recently?”

  “Not for close to a year, but I’ve traveled to Europe before.”

  “I’d like to see your passport again.”

  “Let me feed my son first, then I’ll get it for you.”

  He was a good little eater, but he’d been awakened before his nap had been over and was ready to go back to sleep. She burped him, then put him back in the crib and covered him with the quilt.

  Aware of Mr. Degenoli’s eyes watching her every move, she walked over to the dresser and pulled the passport from her purse. “In case you were wondering, I applied for this passport several years before my baby was born.”

  Her visitor took it from her and studied the pages with the various entry stamps. “This last one dated in January says you visited Austria—”

  “Yes.”

  “Where in Austria?” The inflexible male sounded in deadly earnest.

  “Innsbruck.”

  At the mention of it, his complexion took on a definite pallor. “Why that town?”

  “Because my sister and her husband own a travel agency, and I was checking out some hotels for them there and in the surrounding areas. They’re always looking for new places to book their clients into.”