The Italian’s Miracle Family Read online

  Drago was absorbed in the little girl, whom he was holding up in his arms. Alysa marvelled at how his face softened as he murmured to his daughter, words she could not catch.

  The woman spoke in Italian. Alysa picked up ‘introdurre’, and guessed it meant ‘introduction’.

  ‘I am Signorina Alysa Dennis,’ she said.

  The older woman nodded and switched to English.

  ‘I am Signora Fantoni, and this is my granddaughter, Tina.’

  Tina had been watching Alysa over her father’s shoulder, her eyes bright. Now Drago set her down and she immediately turned to Alysa, holding out her hand, speaking English slowly and carefully.

  ‘How do you do, signorina?’

  ‘How do you do?’ Alysa returned.

  ‘We came here because of my mother,’ the child said, like a wise little old woman. ‘Did you know someone who died?’

  Beside her, Alysa heard Drago give a sharp intake of breath, and her heightened sensitivity told her everything.

  ‘Yes, I did,’ she said.

  Incredibly she felt a little hand creep into hers, comforting her.

  ‘Was it someone you loved very much?’ Tina asked softly.

  ‘Yes, but-forgive me if I don’t tell you any more. I can’t, you see.’

  Without looking at Drago, she sensed him relax. He’d been afraid of what she might say in front of his little girl.

  Tina nodded to show that she understood, and her hand tightened on Alysa’s.

  ‘It’s time to go home,’ Drago said.

  ‘Yes, I’ll be leaving too,’ Alysa agreed.

  ‘No!’ Drago rapped out the word so sharply that they stared at him. ‘I mean,’ he amended quickly, ‘I would like you to join us tonight, for supper.’

  His mother-in-law frowned. ‘Surely a family occasion-’

  ‘We all belong to the same family of mourners,’ Drago said. ‘Signorina, you will dine with us. I won’t take no for an answer.’

  He meant it, she could tell.

  Drago stroked his daughter’s hair. ‘Go ahead to the car with your grandmother.’

  Signora Fantoni glared, silently informing him of her disapproval, but he ignored her and she was forced to yield, taking Tina’s hand and turning away.

  ‘Poppa,’ Tina said, suddenly fearful. ‘You will come, won’t you?’

  ‘I promise,’ he said gently.

  Relieved, she trotted away with her grandmother.

  ‘Since her mother died she’s sometimes nervous in case I vanish too,’ he said heavily.

  ‘Poor little mite. How does she bear it?’

  ‘With great pain. She adored her mother. Thank you with all my heart for guarding your words. I should have warned you, but she came to us so suddenly there was no time.’

  ‘Of course I was careful. I guessed you hadn’t told her very much.’

  ‘Nothing. She has no idea that Carlotta had left us. She thinks her mamma had to go away to visit clients, and was on her way home when she stopped off at the waterfall. If she hadn’t died, she would have been home next day. That’s what Tina believes, and what I want her to believe, at least until she’s older.’

  ‘Many mothers would have taken their child with them,’ Alysa mused.

  ‘Yes, but she abandoned hers, and that’s what I don’t want Tina to know. Even my mother-in-law has no idea. She too thinks Carlotta was on a business trip and meant to return. Why should I hurt her with the truth?’

  ‘No reason, so it’s better if I don’t dine with you.’

  ‘Not at all. I trust you. You’ve already proved that I can do so. You understood everything at once. Shall we go now?’

  But suddenly Alysa’s alarm bells were ringing. This man was dangerous to her precarious peace. How dared he take her consent for granted? She should run away fast, take the next plane back to England and safety.

  ‘Look, I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘But I never agreed to this. I have to go home.’

  ‘Not before we’ve talked,’ he said firmly.

  Her anger rose.

  ‘Don’t try to give me orders,’ she flashed. ‘We’ve only just met, and you think you can dictate to me? Well, you can’t. I’m going.’

  She tried to turn away but he gripped her arm.

  ‘How dare you?’ she snapped. ‘Let me go at once.’

  He gave no sign of obeying her demand.

  ‘Only just met,’ he scoffed. ‘You know better than that.’

  She did, and it was like a blow to the heart. They had known each other only a few minutes, yet their shared knowledge gave them a painful intimacy, isolating them together, facing the whole world on the far side of a glass barrier.

  ‘When you saw me across the water,’ he grated, ‘you knew who I was, didn’t you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘I researched your wife on the internet, and you were part of what I found. Somehow I just had to find out about the woman James left me for.’

  ‘Yes, you had to find out. I felt the same, but for me there was no way to do it. I knew nothing about the man she went away with, except his name, and that led nowhere. You’ve been able to answer some of your questions, but can you begin to imagine what it’s like for me, never to be able to find a single answer?

  ‘In there-’he stabbed his own forehead ‘-there’s a black hole that I’ve lived with for a year. It’s been like standing at the entrance to the pit of hell, but I can’t see what’s there.’

  ‘Do you think I don’t know what that’s like?’

  ‘No, you don’t know what it’s like,’ he raged. ‘Because the torment springs from ignorance, and you’ve managed to deal with your ignorance. But I’ve lived with mine for a year and it’s driving me crazy.’ He shuddered then seemed to control himself by force. ‘You’re the one person who can free me from that horror, and if you imagine that I’m going to let you go without-without-’

  It was harsh, almost bullying, but beneath the surface she could feel the desperate anguish that possessed him, and her anger died. So he was ill-mannered-so what? When a man saw his last hope fading, he would do anything to prevent it.

  Slowly his hold on her arm was released. ‘Please,’ he said. ‘Please! You and I must talk. You know that, don’t you? You know that we must?’

  She’d fought his bullying, but his plea softened her.

  ‘Yes,’ she said slowly. ‘We must.’

  Why should she flee? There was no safety anywhere, and in her heart she knew that this was why she had come here-to meet this man, and learn from him all the things she didn’t really want to know.

  ‘Come on, then.’

  ‘Only if you let me go. I’ve said I’ll come with you, and I’ll keep my word, but if you continue to try to push me the deal’s off.’

  Reluctantly he released her, but he watched closely, as though ready to pounce if she made a wrong move. His nervous tension reached her as nothing else could have, softening her anger. Wasn’t his state as desperate as her own?

  His limousine was waiting for them, chauffeur in the driving seat. But Tina and her grandmother were standing outside, watching for his return, the little girl bouncing as soon as she saw him.

  ‘I suggest you sit in the front,’ Drago told the woman, and she did as he wanted, leaving him to open the rear door for Alysa and join her with Tina.

  ‘The drive will take about an hour,’ Drago said. ‘We live just outside Florence. Where are you staying?’

  She named a hotel in the centre of town, and he nodded. ‘I know it. I’ll drive you back there later tonight.’

  She spent most of the journey looking out of the window as the land flattened out and Florence came into view. Once she glanced at Drago, but he didn’t see her. All his attention was for the little girl nestling contentedly against him, as though he was all her world. Which was true, Alysa thought. She wondered how he coped with the child’s heartbreaking resemblance to her dead mother.

  At that moment Tina
opened her eyes and smiled up at her father. His answering smile made Alysa look away. She had no right to see that unguarded look. It was for his child alone.

  But it was the little girl’s adoring face that lingered in her mind, and instinctively she laid a hand over her stomach, thinking of what might have been.

  Now they were driving through the city and out again, taking a country road leading to a village, then turning into a lane lined with poplar trees. After half a mile the house came into view, a huge, gracious three-storeyed villa stretching wide, surrounded by elegant grounds.

  She knew little of Italian architecture, but even so she could tell that the building was several-hundred years old and in fine condition, as though Drago, the builder and restorer, had lavished his best gifts on his home.

  The entrance to the house lay through an arched corridor where the walls were inlaid with mosaics, and the ceiling adorned with paintings. At first sight it was so impressive as to be almost forbidding, but as they went deeper inside the atmosphere became more homely, until finally they came to a large drawing-room where Alysa gasped.

  Everywhere she saw Carlotta’s face. On one table stood a huge picture of her alone, while on the next table another picture showed her with Tina in her arms. The next one showed mother, father and child together. Various other pictures were dotted around the room, plus souvenirs, as Tina eagerly explained to her.

  ‘That was Mamma’s medal for winning a race at school,’ she said.

  ‘My wife was a fast runner,’ Drago explained. ‘We always used to say that she could have been an athlete if she hadn’t preferred to be a lawyer.’

  ‘She could run faster than anyone, couldn’t she, Poppa?’

  Alysa saw Drago’s suddenly tense face, and realised how cruelly double-edged this remark would seem to him. But he gave his child a broad smile, saying, ‘That’s true. Mamma was better at everything,’ he said with a fair pretence of heartiness. ‘Now, we must entertain our guest.’

  Tina set herself to do this, the perfect little hostess. If she hadn’t been functioning on automatic, Alysa knew she would have found her enchanting, for Tina was intelligent and gentle. When supper was served she conducted her guest to the table, and in her honour she spoke English, of which she had a good grasp.

  ‘How do you speak my language so well?’ Alysa asked, for something to say.

  ‘Mamma taught me. She was bi-bi-’

  ‘Bilingual,’ Drago supplied. ‘Some of her clients were English, as are some of mine. We’re all bilingual in this family. Tina learned both languages side by side.’

  ‘Do you speak Italian?’ Tina asked her.

  ‘Not really,’ Alysa said, concentrating on her food so that she didn’t have to meet the innocent eyes that were turned on her. ‘I learned a little when I was researching someone on the internet.’

  ‘An Italian someone?’

  ‘Er-yes.’

  ‘Was that someone there today?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Are you going to see them tomorrow?’

  Her hand tightened on her fork. ‘No, I’m not.’

  ‘Will you-?’

  ‘Tina,’ Drago broke in gently. ‘Don’t be nosey. It isn’t polite.’

  ‘Sorry,’ Tina said with an air of meekness that didn’t fool Alysa. Even hidden away inside herself as she was, Alysa could see the enchanting curiosity in the little girl’s eyes, and understood why Drago was determined to protect her at any cost to himself.

  That’s how I would feel, she thought, if I had a-She blanked the rest out, and fixed her attention on drinking her coffee.

  CHAPTER TWO

  F OR the rest of the meal Alysa forced herself to act the part of the ideal guest, assuring herself that it was no different from concentrating on a client. You just had to focus, something she was good at.

  She became sharply aware of tensions at the table, especially between Drago and his mother-in-law, whom he always addressed as ‘Elena’. For her part she looked at him as little as possible, and talked determinedly about Carlotta, who had, apparently, been a perfect daughter, mother and wife. Drago had spoken truly when he’d said his mother-in-law had no idea of the truth-or, if she had, she’d rejected it in favour of a more bearable explanation.

  ‘My daughter’s clients had no consideration, Signorina Dennis,’ she proclaimed. ‘If they had not insisted on her travelling to see them, instead of coming to her as they ought to have done, then she would have been alive now.’

  ‘Let’s leave that,’ Drago interrupted quickly. ‘I would rather Tina forgot those thoughts tonight.’

  ‘How can she forget them after where we have been today? And tomorrow we go to the cemetery…’

  Alysa saw Tina’s lips press together, as though she were trying not to cry. She put out her hand and felt it instantly enclosed in a tiny one. The little girl gave her a shaky smile, which Alysa returned-equally shakily, she suspected.

  This was proving harder than she had expected, and the most difficult part was still to come.

  When supper was over Elena said, ‘You’re looking sleepy, little one, and we have another big day tomorrow. Time for bed.’

  She held out her hand and Tina took it obediently, but she turned to her father to say, ‘Will you come up and kiss me goodnight, Poppa?’

  ‘Not tonight,’ her grandmother said at once. ‘Your father is busy.’

  ‘I’ll come up with you now,’ Drago said at once.

  ‘There’s no need,’ the woman assured him loftily. ‘I can take care of her, and you should attend to your guest.’

  ‘I’ll be perfectly all right here for a while,’ Alysa said. ‘You go with Tina.’

  Drago threw her a look of gratitude, and followed the others out.

  While he was gone Alysa looked around the room, going from one photograph to another, seeing Carlotta in every mood. One picture showed her with a dazzling smile, and Alysa lifted it, wondering if this was the smile James had seen and adored. Did her husband still look on this picture with love?

  She heard a step, and the next moment he was in the room, his mouth twisting as he saw what she was holding.

  ‘Let’s go into my study,’ he said harshly. ‘Where I don’t have to look at her.’

  His study was a total contrast-neat, austere, functional, with not a picture in sight. After the room they had just left, it was like walking from summer into winter, a feeling Alysa recognised.

  The modern steel desk held several machines, one of which was a computer, and others which were unknown to her, but she was sure they were the latest in technology.

  He poured them both a glass of wine and waved her to a chair, but then said nothing. She could sense his unease.

  ‘I’m sorry you were kept waiting,’ he said at last.

  ‘You were right to go. I get the feeling that Tina’s grandmother is a little possessive about her.’

  ‘More than a little,’ he said, grimacing. ‘I can’t blame her. She’s old and lonely. Her other daughter lives in Rome, with her husband and children, and she doesn’t see them very often. Carlotta was her favourite, and her death hit Elena very hard. I suspect that she’d like to move in here, but she can’t, because her husband is an invalid and needs her at home. So she makes up for it by descending on us whenever she can.’

  ‘How would you feel about her moving in?’

  ‘Appalled. I pity her, but I can’t get on with her. She keeps trying to give my housekeeper instructions that contradict mine. Ah, well, she’ll ease up after a while.’

  ‘Will she? Are you sure?’

  He shot her a sharp look. ‘What do you mean by that?’

  ‘I mean the way she tried to stop you going upstairs to kiss Tina goodnight. Tina needs you, and Elena wanted to keep you away. Are you sure she isn’t trying to make a takeover bid?’

  ‘You mean-?’

  ‘Might she not try to take her away from you-for good?’

  He stared. ‘Surely not? Even Elena wouldn’
t-’ He broke off, evidently shocked. ‘My God!’

  ‘Maybe I’m being overly suspicious,’ Alysa said. ‘But during supper I noticed several times, when you spoke to Tina, Elena rushed to answer on her behalf. But Tina doesn’t need anyone to speak for her. She’s a very bright little girl.’

  ‘Yes, she is, isn’t she?’ he said, gratified. ‘I noticed Elena’s interruptions too, but I guess I didn’t read enough into them.’ He grimaced. ‘Now I think of it, Elena keeps telling me that a child needs a woman’s care. It just seemed a general remark, but maybe…’

  He threw himself into a chair, frowning.

  ‘You saw it and I didn’t. Thank you.’

  ‘Don’t let her take Tina away from you.’

  ‘Not in a million years. But it’s hard for me to fight her when she’s so subtle. I manage well enough with everyone else, but with her the words won’t come. I’m so conscious that she’s Tina’s grandmother-plus the fact that she’s never liked me.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I’m not good enough,’ he said wryly. ‘Her family have some vaguely aristocratic connections, and she always wanted Carlotta to marry a title. My father owned a builder’s yard-a very prosperous one, but he was definitely a working man. So was I. So am I, still.’

  ‘But your name-di Luca-isn’t that aristocratic?’

  ‘Not a bit. It just means “son of Luca”. It was started by my great-grandfather, who seems to have thought it would take him up in the world. It didn’t, of course. They say his neighbours roared with laughter. What took us up in the world was my father working night and day to build the business into a success, until he ended in an early grave.

  ‘I took over and built it up even more, until it was making money fast, but in Elena’s eyes I was still a jumped-up nobody, aspiring to a woman who was socially far above him.’

  ‘It sounds pure nineteenth-century.’

  ‘True. It comes from another age, but so does Elena. She actually found a man with a title and tried to get Carlotta to marry him. When that didn’t work, she told me that Carlotta was engaged to the other man. I didn’t believe her and told her so. She was furious.’

  ‘So you really had to fight for Carlotta?’