Too Cold To Love (17 page)

Before she could think on that anymore the door
opened, and Agnes appeared with a broad grin on her face. She enveloped Elise
in a bear hug.

"Ah there ye be, lassie. So nice to have ye
home. The wee one ach she'll be so glad to be seeing ye. Mamma G is here, too.
And away ye both go, ye twa love birds away in and I be sorting them
cases."

And with a shove Elise found herself propelled
into the foyer, aware of Marco right behind her.

Mimi's delighted screech was followed by the
little girl launching herself at Elise. The toddler squeezed her tight and gave
her a big sloppy kiss.

"Elllolisssss."

"What did you say, Mimi?" Elise
couldn't believe her ears. She must have imagined that, surely. She was dimly
aware of Marco's voice rough with emotion echoing her just uttered question.

"What did you say,
bambina piccola
?"

Elise did burst into tears when Mimi turned
round and with a big grin addressed a stunned looking Marco.

"
Ello papa
!"

Chapter Eighteen

"Surprise!"

Stella Giovanni's smile lit up the room. She
handed Elise a tissue, which shegratefully used to dry her eyes. Marco looked
completely stunned, tears in his own eyes, as he hugged a giggling Mimi to
himself.

"How? When?" was all he managed to
croak out, before emotion overtook him completely, and he buried his face in
Mimi's hair making the little girl giggle more.

"Ickle Papa, ickle, down!"

Marco reluctantly let her go, and Mimi wrapped
her little arms round Elise's legs, before skipping to Agnes. The housekeeper
grinned from ear to ear.

"Aye wee one, ye did it. Right, time for ye
treat me thinks. Just dinnae tell papa, eh." With a warm grin over her
shoulder she spirited Mimi away to the kitchen.

"I don't understand. Why is she suddenly
talking? What happened?"

The rough timbre of Marco's emotionally laden
voice vibrated through Elise, and her heart went out to him once more. One
shaky hand went through his hair as he turned towards Mamma G. Her next words
made his head swing round, and his blue eyes collided with Elise's. They
widened in some undefined emotion Elise couldn't decipher.

"It's all due to Elise, of course. I told
you she was good for her."

Marco made a strangled noise in the back of his
throat. He stepped away and shook his head at Mamma G.

"Are you going to explain yourself, or has
my wife got magic powers I don't know about? Mind you the truth is something
she seems incapable of, so..."

"Marco, please," Elise interrupted,
mindful of Stella's raised eyebrows and pursed lips.

"Marco Giovanni, that is no way to talk
about Elise. Your papa would be turning in his grave if he could see you now.
After everything Elise has done for Mimi and you." Stella said

"Really? What exactly has she done? This I
need to hear. I can assure you she has done nothing for me, nothing, apart from
live a lie every minute of every day that I've known her, haven't you,
darling?
"

His once again frosty gaze raked over Elise in
disdain, but before she could respond Stella cut in.

"If you are referring about the fact that
she switched with Jemima, Marco, then I hate to disappoint you, but I know all
about that. Yes, Marco, as would you if you opened your eyes."

Marco's furious growl in response made Elise
jump, but Stella just stared him down. She switched to Italian, and put one
hand on Elise's arm, as if to reassure her.

Elise watched the two of them arguing in
helpless fascination for what seemed like an eternity. In reality it was
probably no longer than five minutes before Marco threw his hands up in
surrender, shook his head and murmured,"Forgive me for thinking my family
ought to be on my side." He strode off in the direction of the kitchen
without a backward glance.

"I don't know.That boy really needs to
lighten up. Please tell me he hasn't been like that the whole time you were
away?" Stella shook her head at her nephew's retreating back.

"No, he, he was, well he was..." Elise
blushed at Stella's knowing chuckle.

"That good, eh? Did you use the pineapples?
Blew his mind right?"

Elise wanted the ground to swallow her up, and
she was sure she'd turned a nice shade of beetroot red, to match Mamma G's
suit.

"Stella Giovanni, I'm
not
going to
discuss this with you!"

The elderly woman smiled and winked at Elise.
"No need to, your face tells me all, Elise.
 
I know you had some honeymoon at least, so
what went wrong? I figured he'd be so besotted with you he'd forgive you
anything. When did you tell him?"

"I didn't get a chance to. Giorgio
did."

"Giorgio? What has he got to do with any of
this? I swear if that boy has caused trouble between you two, I will get myself
on the first flight out to
Italy
and bring him back by the short and curlies to apologize!"

Elise had to smile at that mental image.

"I mean it, Elise. He's caused enough
trouble in the past. What is it with him and Marco's wives?"

"This isn't Giorgio's fault, Stella. It's
mine and mine alone. I should have told Marco the minute I took over, or at
least before we got married. Now he doesn't believe a word I say to him. But he
was so angry about what Jem had done; I had no choice but to protect her. Then,
when we were married, I ... well, I thought, maybe we had a chance, and now…
Damn this is all such a mess. He's going to file for divorce the minute he's
got full custody of Mimi, and I dread to think what he'll do to Jemima."

"He's not going to divorce you Elise, over
my dead body. One divorce is more than enough. Besides, after what I just told
him about Mimi, he should be eating out of your hand in gratitude." Stella
smiled at her."If it wasn't for all your hard work with those flashcards,
I'm sure she would still be locked in her silent world. Now that you're home
and can work with her yourself, she'll come on in leaps and bounds, I'm sure.
He'll see sense. He loves that little girl to distraction after all."

Stella nodded and patted her arm.

"Mamma G, that is no basis for marriage.You
know that, and besides, I can't stay married to man who is just with me out of
gratitude. I just can't."

A cold shiver enveloped her at the mere thought
of being locked in such a marriage. She wanted so much more than that. Hell,
she deserved more than that! She should have told him earlier, but that did not
give him the right to treat her like this. And Mamma G was living in fairy land
if she thought she would put up with this. Stella's next words shook her out of
her reverie.

"Well, well, well, you will have to fight
for him then, won't you?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

Stella's amused smile made Elise's hackle's
rise.

"What's so funny, Mamma G? I mean it, and I
won't stand for it. Marco doesn't want me, so what's the point?"

"The point is, I had you pegged for someone
who fights for those she loves. You've fought for your sister, and you still
are, and by golly she doesn't deserve it! So, I reckon you'll get my nephew to
see sense. Besides that boy needs you, even if he doesn't fully realize it yet,
and Mimi certainly does."

"You're not being fair; you can't ask this
of me."

Stella drew her in for an unexpected hug.
"I know I can't, but can you honestly walk away from the two of
them?"

Elise wanted to say yes, she really did, but
instead she shook her head.

"That's my girl. You're a Giovanni now. You
belong here; this is your home. Don't let circumstances drive you out of here.
He'll come round, you'll see."

****

Marco paused on the doorstep to his study,
willing his breathing to calm down. What he had just overheard made his blood
boil. He would come round, would he? This time his aunt had gone too far. He
was
so
over her match making interference. He'd wanted to strangle her
when she so calmly informed him that she'd known Elise wasn't who he'd thought
she was. Was he the only one in this god damn family who hadn't known? And how
could he have been such a fool? It was obvious now, looking back on that day
when he had first noticed Elise,
really
noticed her. He had known
something was different about her, hadn't he?

His body reacted to her in a way it certainly
had never done to her sister. If he hadn't been so occupied listening to his
dick, he would have figured this all out earlier. Even now, listening to
Elise's soft laugh as she entered the kitchen and talked to Mimi, memories
stirred of their honeymoon, and his cock hardened against his will. He'd loved
to make her laugh. He'd been a besotted, fucking fool when all the time she had
been lying to him. Perhaps she'd only wanted to protect her sister, but she'd
still lied to him in the process. What else had she lied about? He'd taken her
innocence for granted, assuming her passionate responses to him were just that.
What if they had all been part of some scheme to snare him?

And just when he thought he had it figured out
there was the thing with Mimi. He'd had an eye opening conversation with Agnes
in the kitchen, whilst Elise had her tete a tete with his aunt.

"Papa, sit. Lissss?"

He'd looked at Mimi, still not daring to believe
that she was actually speaking, and Agnes had laughed.

"Elise will be here in a minute, won't she,
Mr. Marco?"

He'd forced a nod, his heart thudding painfully
in his too tight chest when Mimi's little face lit up at the mention of Elise's
name.

"The wee one missed her, yae know. Elise
was the first thing she said when she started tae talk. Fantastic idea they
flashcards are. She made them hersel'. I was skeptical, thought she
wis
too young, but yer
wife, ach… she put me straight. Their wee minds are like sponges, Agnes, she
said. Yae see, she understands us; we just need tae encourage her. Swore us all
to secrecy, she wanted it tae be a surprise for yae when Mimi talked. I suppose
Mimi surprised her, too, in the end, eh?”

"How long, I mean how long had she been
working with her, Agnes?"

Agnes screwed her eyes up in her concentration,
wiping her hands on her massive apron. "Hmm let's see…Aye, I remember noo.
She first mentioned it the day you had that argument wae ‘she who mustnae be
named’. Next thing I ken the two of yae are engaged, and she really started
working wae her. Every time yae werenae here and that was loads, of course.
Hope yer no gonnae leave her on her own again, now yer hame."

"That's really none of your business,
Agnes, now is it?"

"Aye, maybe not, but am just saying, newly
married and aw that."

Mimi wanted his attention, saving him responding
to his forthright housekeeper. Marco smiled grimly remembering that scene.
 
How the fuck was he to deal with that? Women
couldn't be trusted; he knew that. He'd learnt it the hard way. Yet that little
bundle of curves with her open smile and deep brown eyes and goddamn devotion
to his daughter had broken through every one of his defenses until he had been
on the verge of – damn it all to hell and back.
 
But she lied to him, and until he truly knew why, he couldn't, he just
couldn't. Oh he was so fucked.

Marco poured himself a brandy and cursed as the
liqueur spilled all over the paperwork on his desk. His hands shook like a
leaf, the blood roared in his ears, as the god awful truth dawned on him. The
glass broke in his hand, and the carafe flew against the heavy oak door. He
swept the papers off his desk with a groan and slumped in his chair.

She could never know. If she did? D
annazioni,
he would leave himself open to a world of hurt. This wasn't some goddamn
romance novel after all. Happy ever afters, they didn't exist.

Don't they, Marco? What about Kitty and Alex?
What about your parents? They were happy. You were happy with her; admit it. So
what are you going to do about it? Are you a man or a mouse?

A soft knock on the door, followed by Elise's
hesitant voice brought Marco out of his dark thoughts.

"Marco, are you okay in there? We heard a
thud?"

Before he could respond Elise stepped through.
She frowned at the mess on the floor. Her worried gaze swept over him. She
gasped and all but ran toward him.

"Marco, you're bleeding. What on earth have
you done?"

Before he could stop her, she grabbed his hand
and used his shirt to wipe the blood off it.

"You've cut yourself. This will need
cleaning. What on earth were you thinking? Are you hurt anywhere else? Marco,
look at me, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothing, woman, don't fuss. It was an
accident. My hand slipped, that's all. Don't pretend to care."