Italian Marriage: In Name Only (8 page)

‘Do you want me to help you to move Nathan?’

Hurriedly she shook her head. The memory of his hands against her skin was still sizzling inside her with disturbing intensity and the thought of him accompanying her into the
bedroom made her heart smash against her chest with even more force.

‘No, I’ll manage, thanks.’

‘OK.’ He returned his attention to the work he had put away. But out of the corner of his eye he was aware that she was lifting up the sleeping child.

The stewardess returned with his coffee as Victoria disappeared through to the master suite, closing the door firmly behind her.

That was better, Antonio told himself fiercely.

T
HEY
landed in Hong Kong in the early hours of the morning. It was a quick stop, probably no more than forty minutes. Victoria rolled over in the double bed and pulled the blind on the window up a little to take a peek outside but she could see nothing except the orange lights of workmen. A little while later the engines fired up again and once more they were thundering down the runway.

It was a strange experience to lie in bed with the seat belts firmly fastened over her as the plane took off and soared higher and higher into the darkness of the sky, the air currents shaking the cabin from time to time and the powerful engines roaring.

Despite the sleeping child next to her, she felt lonely, terrified of what might lie ahead. But she was being ridiculous, she told herself fiercely—there was nothing to worry about.

Once they reached Antonio’s house she probably wouldn’t see a lot of him. He’d probably be away at his office all day. And she’d have time to spend with Nathan.

She closed her eyes again and remembered the moment when she’d fallen back onto his knee. Remembered the powerful electrical feeling of desire as his hands touched her skin. The memory taunted her…made her shiver deep inside with feelings that scared her to death. Fiercely she tried to block the thoughts, hating herself for the weakness. It had just
been a crazy unreal moment—she’d imagined the way he’d made her feel. Just as she’d imagined for one wild instant that he might have been tempted to pull her closer, touch her more intimately.

She almost laughed at the stupidity of the thought. This was the man who could have anything he wanted whenever he wanted, including his pick of the world’s most beautiful women. And he had made it crystal clear to her that she was nothing to him, a mere belonging, acquired at a price…and for business, not for pleasure.

The aircraft levelled out as they reached the required altitude and the seat-belt sign went off.

She felt heart sore and exhausted, the emotions of the day tumbling around and around inside of her.

The next moment she had fallen fast asleep.

Strange dreams plagued her—dreams where she was walking down a church aisle to marry Antonio, and she was wearing a beautiful wedding dress. Dreams where they danced together at a party, Antonio pulling her closer in against him.

‘You want me, don’t you?’ he whispered mockingly.

She tried to say no but the word kept sticking in her throat and that made him laugh at her.

She tried to pull away from him but he was going to kiss her, and strangely her body wouldn’t move. She wanted him to kiss her, wanted to feel the heat of his mouth on hers—the mere thought made her dissolve inside with pleasure. But when she raised her eyes to look up at him she discovered that it wasn’t Antonio holding her, that it was Lee who was staring down at her, his lips curved in cruel mocking smile.

She awoke with a start, her heart thumping wildly against her chest.

For a moment the dream felt real…. She was in a complete panic.

She took deep breaths and forced herself to relax. It was
just a stupid nightmare, she told herself. Lee was long gone—and as for this marriage with Antonio…it would be over in a matter of weeks. There would be no chance of him holding her or kissing her…
or hurting her
. Neither of them wanted that complication.

She sat up and looked over at Nathan. The boy was just waking up and he had kicked back the covers she had placed over him and was trying his best to wriggle out from the safety belt that held him.

‘Hey, little devil, what are you up to?’ She rolled over and playfully tickled him and he laughed, his little legs kicking out even harder.

‘I know what you want—you want your breakfast, don’t you?’ She put her arms around her son and cuddled him closer, but he pulled away and gave an impatient little cry. Hunger was taking him over and Victoria knew that if he didn’t get his breakfast soon tears would closely follow.

‘OK, point taken.’ She smiled and unfastened her own safety belt and got up.

She would have liked to take a shower and wash her hair before going out into the main cabin but she knew from experience that she had to feed Nathan first, otherwise he would turn from sunny-natured into a loud and very rebellious grouchy child. So she reached for her dressing gown and tried to tidy her hair as best she could.

Nathan was giving little whimpers now, so she didn’t loiter on her appearance, just gathered the fractious child up into her arms and headed out into the main cabin.

She half expected Antonio to be asleep. But as she glanced down the plane she saw that he was still working on some papers, his head bent. Had he worked all night? she wondered in surprise.

Luckily she didn’t have to go down past him; the small galley kitchen that she had used to prepare Nathan’s dinner yesterday was just to her left. Hastily she busied herself,
plugging in the kettle and opening the fridge to find the banana, cereal and milk that she had placed in there yesterday. Nathan’s little wails of protest were starting to get louder and she spoke to him soothingly as she worked.

Antonio heard them before he saw them and put his papers down to glance further along the plane.

The sun was slanting in through the cabin windows, catching mother and child in a shaft of bright light. They made an intriguing picture of domesticity. She was wearing a long blue satin dressing gown and her hair was cascading in glossy waves around her shoulders. He hadn’t realized how lovely her hair was, or how long it was.

She looked very feminine and startlingly different…and for a moment he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

Then he was distracted by the stewardess coming out to ask him if he wanted anything, and by the time he glanced back up towards the galley she was gone.

He’d probably imagined it, he told himself wryly, just as he’d imagined a sensual pleasure when he’d momentarily held her close. Victoria was many things—she was interesting and certainly different, and without her glasses passably attractive—but there was no wow factor. And he certainly wasn’t attracted to her.

Victoria didn’t re-emerge again until the pilot announced that they were starting to make their final descent into Brescia Airport. Antonio was quietly relieved when he saw her walking down the aisle towards him, Nathan at her hip, because she was once more the staid woman he had first met at the restaurant. Her dark hair neatly scraped back from a face that was far too pale and dominated by glasses, wearing a rather shapeless black trouser suit that did nothing for her. He smiled to himself—obviously he had worked far too hard last night and had been hallucinating when he’d thought she looked beautiful.

‘How was the bed—did you sleep OK?’ he asked her solicitously as she reached his side.

‘Yes, it was very comfortable, thank you.’ She tried to smile but she was achingly self-conscious.

‘You need to sit down and fasten your seat belt—we’re nearly home.’

The words spoken with the warmth of his Italian accent were disorientating. But this wasn’t home, she reminded herself quickly as she slipped into the seat diagonally opposite him beside the window; this was just another stopgap in her life. She fastened Nathan into the seat beside her and then focused her attention out of the window.

Antonio found himself facing Nathan. And as their eyes met across the table the little boy smiled at him disarmingly. He was really quite a cute little fellow, Antonio thought distractedly. And Victoria seemed to spend more money and time on his appearance than she did with her own. The clothes he wore looked like a latest design and brand new. Not that he knew much about kids or their clothes, he realized. In fact, he’d never had much to do with children at all. He probably just wasn’t the paternal type; some people weren’t. Certainly the thought of getting it wrong and messing some poor child’s life up because he had commitment issues was scary in the extreme.

The pilot spoke over the intercom, telling them they were twenty minutes away from landing. Victoria was waiting for her first glimpse of Italy, excitement swirling inside of her, but for a while she could see nothing but clouds. Then the plane dipped and she had her first clear view of the landscape. The sun was shining and everything looked dazzlingly green and lush. She could see rolling vineyards and mountains, tiny roads weaving between fields of grain.

The engine noises increased and they were coming lower now, and a few minutes later the wheels touched smoothly down on the runway and the engine roared as the speed was pulled back.

Victoria glanced over at Nathan to make sure he wasn’t
scared, but he looked delighted and was taking everything in with great interest.

‘I think your son is going to be a pilot when he grows up,’ Antonio told her as he caught her eye. ‘He seems to love flying.’

She laughed. ‘He likes anything that involves speed—he’s absolutely crazy about racing cars too.’

‘Really.’ Antonio smiled at the child, then reached across to ruffle his hair. ‘I can see you are going to fit in very well around here,
bambino
.’

It was the first time that Antonio had acknowledged Nathan like that, the first time he had looked in any way interested in her child.

And for some reason it smote at Victoria’s heart.

He glanced over and caught her watching him, and quickly she looked away.

What on earth was the matter with her? she wondered angrily. Nathan wasn’t going to fit in around here any more than she was, because they were both outsiders, and in a few weeks would be surplus to requirements. And that was the way she wanted it, because the sooner this ridiculous marriage was over, and the sooner she gained control of her life again, the better.

They’d hardly spoken a word since they’d climbed into the limousine at the airport. Victoria sat on one side of the car, Nathan on her knee, and Antonio sat at the other.

Victoria wondered if it was her imagination or was the tension between them worse now that they were actually here. Maybe Antonio regretted this hasty marriage.

She darted a glance around at him, but his features were stern and determined as he looked ahead. And she almost laughed at herself. Antonio wasn’t the type of man to have regrets. He was too full of arrogant self-confidence.

She looked away again. The narrow road was following
along beside a lake that was so large Victoria thought it was the sea for a moment. Then they were driving through some spectacular mountainous scenery, the road winding and twisting with steep drops at one side. She had a sudden glimpse of a village perched on the other side of the lake. It looked medieval, like a picture from a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, the tangled riot of red roofs contrasting starkly with the sheer rocky cliffs that soared behind it.

‘This place is beautiful,’ she spoke impulsively, and Antonio looked around.

‘It’s called Limone,’ he informed her briskly. ‘The Italian word for lemons—the shore is renowned for its citrus trees. However, the name doesn’t originate from the trees but from an older Latin word meaning boundary.’

‘You know a lot about it.’

He smiled at that. ‘I should think so. The Cavelli family go back for many generations around here. Lake Garda is practically in the blood.’ He leaned forward and spoke in Italian to their driver and at the first opportunity he pulled into the side of the road.

‘Do you see that place down there?’ Antonio pointed through the tracery of trees down towards the water and she saw a mansion jutting out by the shoreline. Its huge stone walls were crenulated, its windows staring out blankly across the stillness of the blue water. ‘That is my ancestral home.’

Victoria’s eyes widened. ‘It looks more like a castle!’

‘Yes, the family always did have grand ideas.’ Antonio’s voice was almost derisive. ‘My father lives there. I was brought up by my mother in a smaller, more modest house further along the shore—that is where I am taking you now.’

‘So your parents don’t live together?’

‘They separated when I was ten. But my mother is dead now,’ he continued. ‘She died years ago.’

Antonio spoke in Italian to the driver and they pulled out onto the road again.

‘So your parents were divorced?’ Victoria gathered the courage to try and continue the conversation, curious to know more about his life.

‘No, my father didn’t believe in divorce,’ Antonio grated the words derisively. ‘He preferred the excitement of infidelity.’

The curt reply took her by surprise and was somehow probably more revealing than he would have wanted it to be. ‘You don’t sound as if you like your father very much.’

‘We tolerate each other.’

She noticed how closed his handsome features were now.

‘That’s sad…don’t you think?’

For a second he looked at her and frowned, as if the question startled him. ‘No, Victoria, I think it’s just a reality.’

The car stopped again but this time it was to wait for huge electric gates to grind slowly open.

Then they drove down along a gravel driveway through cypress trees and manicured gardens until it revealed a huge sprawling white house that was snuggled securely into the curve of the lake.

‘If you think this is a modest house, then it’s no wonder you thought my apartment was small,’ she said impulsively.

He laughed at that and opened the door into the warmth of the Italian day. ‘Come inside and make yourself at home.’

A middle-aged woman met them at the door. Victoria gathered that she was the housekeeper, and that her name was Sarah, but apart from that she couldn’t understand anything because the conversation that flowed so rapidly around her was all in Italian.

She did comprehend, however, that the woman was visibly surprised when Antonio introduced her as his wife. Her eyes raked over Victoria, and then lingered on the child in her arms with considerable consternation. Probably thinking that she wasn’t Antonio’s type.

Well, she didn’t care, Victoria told herself fiercely as she lifted her chin and met the woman’s cool appraisal head-on.

‘Show Signora Cavelli up to her room, please, Sarah,’ Antonio told the woman in crisp Italian.