It Takes Two (Italian Summer Book 1) (17 page)

“You want to spend the day with daddy?” she heard Carlos murmur.

“What’s going on?”

When Carlos ignored her, Lizzi answered. “Tori’s father would like to look after the baby now that he is here. He says my services won’t be needed.”

Rona’s gaze darted to Carlos, who kept his back turned to her. Deliberately, she knew.

“Just a moment,” she said, putting her hands out to Lizzi. The girl had been promised a wage and this arrangement had suited them both. What was Carlos playing at?

“Can I have a word with you?” she asked him calmly.

Tori looked at her strangely, now that she spoke in an un-friendly non-mommy-ish voice. “Hey, beautiful,” said Rona, suddenly softening her pitch as she stroked her baby’s cheek.

Carlos ignored her.

“Carlos,” said Rona and bit through her teeth, trying not to lose her temper. She couldn’t lose it—he was right to be angry but…he had to believe her. He had to calm down. He was here for a goddamn wedding for goodness sake.

It wasn’t as if she’d had a full blown affair or anything.

“What?” He was going to make things difficult.

“Ava hired Lizzi for the summer. She’s been promised a wage. She’s been promised a minimum of four hours a day. You can’t just come in and take Tori off her.”

“I can do what I want—just like you did.”

She let out an uneasy sigh. “Can we discuss that matter in private?”

“I’m taking Tori today and as long as I’m here.”

“How long are you here for?”

He looked at her, his eyes shiny and soft for the briefest of seconds. “I took the month off for you but I’ve decided to leave the day after the wedding. You don’t have to come back, ever.”

She reeled back as though he’d shot her. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do mean that.” The hardened expression on his face told her. She could see he had made his mind up, and despite having Lizzi to babysit, Rona knew that it made perfect sense for Carlos to have Tori.

“Let me give you the keys to the pensione. They’re in the office.”

“I don’t need your keys,” he told her in a cold voice. “Don’t wait up.”

“What do you mean? Where are you going? She’s a baby. She can’t be out all day.” She stared at him as though he’d tipped over the edge. She wasn’t so sure leaving Tori with him was a good idea any more. It worried her. “Carlos, you’re not thinking straight—”

“Don’t you dare tell me what to think,” he snapped. But Tori started to whimper at his sharp tone.

“Hey honey, hey,” he said gently, soothing her quickly.

She got it—he was hurting and it would take time for him to calm down. She couldn’t speak to him when he was like this. She wasn’t going to get through to him yet and no amount of explaining would help at this time.

“All of her things are in the baby bag; her diapers, formula milk, and the hotel staff will give you hot water to make her milk up. Her changing—”

“I know how to look after a baby, I’ve done it before.” He growled. What hurt her more was that he turned away from her, holding Tori up in his arms. But he couldn’t bear to look at her.

She shook her head and turned to go.

“Lizzi, I might have something else for you to help me out with.” It was just an idea but it was better than sending her home. “But if you don’t want to…”

The girl’s face brightened. “If I can help, I would like to.”

“Follow me,” said Rona and led her back to the office. Tori was in safe hands, even if Carlos was angry, he would be good with the baby.

That was one less thing to worry about.

She passed through reception where she was stopped by a worried looking Gina. “Rona, what happened? A guest reported a fight in the car park and there is blood everywhere.”

The rumors had already started.

“It’s—it’s…” she didn’t know where to begin.

“It’s okay,” said Gina, leaving Rona to feel thankful for not having to repeat her sorry story all over again. “You can tell me later.”

Rona managed a pained smile and walked through to Ava’s office.

“I’m sorry for the change in plan,” she said to Lizzi, struggling to keep her voice neutral. The girl looked at her blankly and Rona was grateful for the girl’s seemingly blasé attitude. Lizzi had no idea of the emotions which had just rocked Rona’s world. Perhaps this was a virtue in itself because the last thing Rona needed was lots of questions.

“For today, you could help me. It’s not too hard, I will show you what to do, if you’d like to.”

“Si,” Lizzi nodded. “I would like to help.”

Rona set her the task of checking the inventory spreadsheet against the new stock they had ordered. While Lizzi busied herself with that, Rona stared at her computer screen and wondered how it was that her life had suddenly fallen apart in less than a day.

Chapter 26

Left alone with his thoughts and his daughter, Carlos sat in the pergola and contemplated the disaster that marked the start of his vacation.

He’d been in Italy for less than twenty-four hours.

“What shall we do today?” he asked his daughter. Tori scrunched her nose up at him and gave him a gappy smile revealing two tiny teeth.

“Shall we go for a walk?” He suggested, having an adult conversation with her as though she might offer up another alternative. The gardens were beautiful, and being out in the open cleared his mind.

“Come on,” he said, hoisting her up in his arms. “We won’t need this.” He left the stroller and the baby bag in the pergola and carried Tori in his arms as he wandered around the gardens of the Casa Adriana.

It wasn’t just that it was a hot, golden August day, or that the birds serenaded him, or that the flowers were in full bloom. He had no right to feel this happy, but he was grateful, even though his heart had been broken. He was grateful for his little girl. He kissed Tori’s head as he walked, and admired the greenery that dressed the gardens with beauty.

No wonder Elsa had talked so lovingly of her days spent here with Edmondo. He could see why. It was peaceful, it was calming and it was exactly what he needed to calm the tempest of emotions that still ran through his veins like molten lava.

Try as he did, he couldn’t get the image of that man with his wife out of his head. Punching him had alleviated the tension but only a little. His brows snapped together as he recalled the sorry state of affairs between him and his wife. If he hadn’t arrived when he had, if he’d come just a few days before the wedding as he’d originally planned—he would have forever remained ignorant of her deception.

It made him wonder how long she’d been making a fool out of him for. A slow burning rage seared his soul and only the sight of a man hunched over the ground distracted him enough to take his mind off his current problems. Carlos walked over to him, seeking a respite from his troubled mind.

The man looked up when he saw Carlos.

“Good morning,” said Carlos, nodding his head. The man stared up at him then looked across at Tori and nodded.

“Good morning,” he said, in a thick Italian accent, then continued with his work. It didn’t look as though he was in the mood for much company but just then Tori shrieked in delight causing the man to look at her sharply.

“What is it Tori, what do you want?” Carlos asked. The little girl clapped her hand.

“You want this?” the old man pointed to a bush of vibrant pink flowers. Tori held out her soft and fleshy hand, and her face flushed with excitement.

“I think she has her eyes on your basket.” He pointed to the assortment of gardening tools that lay on the grass. The man had pulled some weeds out and thrown them into the basket. He got up slowly from his gardening stool and picked up his bucket. “You want this?” he asked Tori, showing her the bucket full of weeds. In answer she clapped her hands even harder and excitedly bobbed her legs against Carlos’ body as though this would somehow bring her closer to the object of her desire.

“I’m sorry, I cannot give this to you, little one. It’s dirty.” He pulled a face signifying his distaste but managed to frighten Tori instead.

“It’s alright, Tori. Hush now,” said Carlos as he hugged the whimpering child.

“This is Tori?” the man asked him. Carlos nodded, suddenly wary when a stranger asked him about his child.

The old man nodded. “My granddaughter looks after your baby.”

Carlos suddenly understood. “Lizzi?”

“Si,” the man nodded.

“I’m Carlos.”

“I am Salvatore.”

They shook hands.

“You arrive here last night?”

“Yes,” replied Carlos and understood that this had been the man who had turned up late last night to pick Lizzi up.

“You work here?” Carlos asked. “The place is beautifully kept.” He marveled that one man could look after all of this.

“No, not me.” Salvatore said, shaking his finger. “This is not mine. Nico, he has people to do this but I look after it every day now. Little things, big gardens, lots to do. I tidy up and keep it beautiful. Edmondo…” He rolled his eyes heavenward. “Edmondo—he loved this place.” The old man placed his hand on his heart.

“I see,” said Carlos, “Edmondo was your friend.”

“No, no.” Salvatore shook his finger at him again. “Not my friend. My son and Edmondo’s sons are friends. Edmondo loved this garden. I look after it.”

“I see,” said Carlos, although he didn’t really.

Salvatore got back down onto his gardening stool again and Carlos presumed that the conversation was over.

“Goodbye, Salvatore. It was nice to meet you.” Carlos said, but the gardener was hunched over his plants and was diligently working away.

Carlos spent the rest of the morning in the pergola and the gardens. He had intended to go back to the park that they’d been to last time but that could wait for another day. Unfortunately, now that he had arrived early, he had no option but to remain here until the wedding. He could still salvage something from his vacation and carve out quality time for himself and Tori. Just enough to get through the wedding. He didn’t want to spoil the big day for Ava and Nico, and he couldn’t spoil anything for Elsa. She’d had such high hopes for his extended stay in Italy. He hung his head. Elsa had been so happy when he’d left Denver. He hated that out of all the people who would be affected by what had happened—it would be Elsa who would be hurt the most.

Chapter 27

“What blood?” asked Ava.

“What fight?” demanded Nico.

Gina threw her hands up and shook her head, as she surveyed their puzzled faces but gave nothing away. The suspense stretched out. Ava felt her shoulders tense up. The effects of their mini-vacation had instantly vanished the moment she and Nico set foot back at the Casa Adriana.

Nico had done the right thing in getting her to go away. It was only when she’d been away that she had realized how much she had taken on. Two days with Nico and nothing and nobody else had done wonders for her well-being. She’d been so relaxed up until this very moment. Nico, too, had been calmer, happier and more relaxed than she’d seen him in ages. He was back to being the man she’d fallen in love with in Venice.

Now she couldn’t wait for their honeymoon but they had to get through the wedding first.

“And?” asked Ava, growing impatient. Gina looked as though she didn’t know where to start.

“Slow down, and start at the beginning,” suggested Nico.

“A man came in here asking to talk to Rona.”

“Rona?” Ava asked.

“Who?” Nico wanted to know.

Gina shrugged. “I don’t know, I have never seen him. “He came in and Rona took him out into the car park.” She pointed towards the exit as though they might have forgotten where it was.

Ava’s heart began to beat faster and her body tensed. She already didn’t like the sound of this but knew she had to hear it all the way through.

“Then later guests came and told me that two men were fighting in the car park. They said there was blood.”

“Blood?” asked Nico. “In the car park?”

“
Two
men?” asked Ava, already wishing that she’d agreed to Nico’s suggestion of staying away another night. “Which two men?”

“I take responsibility for that.” A voice behind her startled her by its familiarity. A voice she hadn’t expected to hear. She turned around and smiled widely. “Carlos!” It was one good thing to come out of today.

“Look at you, Ava,” he said, walking towards her with Tori fast asleep in the stroller. “Mid-morning nap,” he explained and gave Nico a hearty handshake.

“This
is
a surprise,” said Nico enthusiastically.

“Yes, it is.” Ava looked down at her niece fast asleep.

“Pregnancy suits you,” said Carlos, beaming at her.

She blushed. “You take responsibility for what?” she asked as Nico stepped closer.

Carlos opened his mouth but the office door opened just then and Rona rushed out. She stopped when she saw four pairs of eyes on her.

“You’re back,” she said to Ava and Nico, her voice uncertain, her face flushed. Her gaze darted to Carlos for the briefest of seconds.

“We just arrived,” said Nico, appearing not to notice that the atmosphere was thick like glue.

It didn’t take much for Ava to see that something had gone terribly wrong while they had been away.

“What happened?” she asked Carlos again because she could tell by the way Rona averted her gaze that she wasn’t going to get a proper, or an honest answer from her sister.

“I punched a man and I think I might have broken his nose. He’s threatening to sue.” Carlos told them in a calm manner.

“
You
got into a fight?” Nico looked alarmed.

“Carlos, what happened?” Ava demanded. “
Why
did you punch this man?”

“Are you going to tell her or shall I?” His cold words delivered in that icy tone, with barely a glance at Rona told Ava most of what she wanted to know.

“I—uh—” Rona looked pained, as though she had a pin stuck to her sides. She stared at Ava ashen-faced. “I made a mistake.”

“She made a mistake and goodness knows what else she’d have done if I hadn’t turned up when I did,” said Carlos, his voice filling with anger.