The Italian’s Baby

‘Unfortunately both sides need to be willing, and I’m not.’

‘They won’t be pleased if you snub me,’ he said, jerking his head towards the house.

So he knew that she’d been told to charm him. Of course he did.

‘They can conduct their business without my help,’ she retorted crisply, and began to walk away from him.

‘Are you going to marry Danvers Jordan?’ he called after her.

She turned and asked, ‘What did you say?’ in a tone that was meant to warn him.

‘I want to know.’

‘But it does not suit me to tell you,’ she said slowly and emphatically. ‘Goodnight, Signor Montese.’

She hoped she could slip back into the conservatory without attracting attention, in case someone should wonder why she was alone. But Luca caught up and entered behind her, just close enough to make it look as if they were still together. To her relief he did not try to talk to her again for the rest of the evening.

But when they said goodbye he held her hand a little too long and said softly, ‘Arrivederci per ora.’ Goodbye for now.

And she answered swiftly, ‘Mai piu.’ Never more.

She would not see him again, and it was best that he knew it now.

He said nothing but released her hand and turned away.

On the way home Danvers said, ‘Well done, darling, you made a hit with Montese. He couldn’t speak highly enough of you.’

‘I wish I could say the same,’ she said, sounding bored. ‘I thought he was an impossible man. Rude, vulgar, graceless-’

‘Oh, of course. What can you expect? But as a money man he’s got no equal.’

‘I just hope I don’t have to see him again.’

‘I’m afraid you will. Apparently he’s going to be living at the Allingham.’

‘But why?’ she cried in protest before she could stop herself.

‘He has no home in this country. It makes sense for him to live in a hotel, and naturally he picks the one where he owns stock. It’s perfectly reasonable.’

Of course it was reasonable. It was so reasonable that it alarmed her.

‘When did he tell you this?’

‘Just before we left. That’s why I say you did a brilliant job. And Steyne is bowled over by you. He keeps dropping hints about my “acquiring a prize asset”.’

The right response would turn this into a proposal, one that had been long expected. She took a deep breath and said, ‘That’s nice of him.’ She yawned. ‘Oh, dear, I hadn’t realised I was so tired. Just drop me at the door, and I’ll go straight up to bed.’

He accepted his dismissal without complaint, although his goodbye was rather chilly. She couldn’t help it. When they reached the Allingham she said goodnight and walked quickly away.

Nigel Haleworth, the hotel’s managing director, was a genially cynical man. Rebecca got on well with him, and at their regular weekly meeting next morning, when routine business had been dealt with, he said with a grin, ‘You’ve met King Midas, I gather. He’s arriving today. Penthouse suite, of course.’

‘King Midas?’

‘Luca Montese. Do you remember the story of Midas?’

‘Yes. He made a wish that everything around him should turn to gold,’ she remembered. ‘But he forgot his beloved daughter, and when he touched her she too turned to gold. He was left with nobody to love.’

‘Right. That’s what they say about Montese-not the daughter bit, because he has no children. But there’s nothing in his life but money.’

‘I believe he’s divorced.’

‘A few months ago. Touchy subject. A “king” likes to have an heir, but he never managed to make her pregnant in six years of marriage. Then she had a baby by another man.

‘You can imagine what that did to him. I gather he’s a very frightening man if you’re on his wrong side. He’s made a thousand enemies, and they’re all jeering at him behind their hands-what’s wrong with “the king” that he can’t do what any other man can do? That sort of thing.’

‘It’s nonsense,’ said Rebecca sharply. ‘They may just have been incompatible.’

‘Or maybe he simply can’t father a child. That’s what they’re whispering.’

Rebecca shrugged. ‘If they’re his enemies they’ll believe what they like.’

‘What did you think of him?’

After a moment she said, ‘Let’s say that I can understand why he has enemies.’

‘Why not research him a bit before he arrives?’

Back in her suite she logged on to the internet.

English websites carried little about Luca or his firm, but Italian ones were more informative. Raditore had swiftly risen from a small outfit to a huge conglomerate with a speed that spoke volumes of its owner’s skill and lack of scruple. But there was nothing about his personal life. He might never have had one.

And that was it, she realised suddenly. The man she had met the previous evening had seemed to have no hinterland beyond his fixation on herself, as though he’d shut down every part of himself except one.

Now she could feel something for him, and it was pity. She had frozen to protect herself from insupportable pain. Had he done the same?

She found a multitude of urgent tasks to prevent her from being in the hotel when Luca arrived that afternoon. When she returned she was in a more settled frame of mind, even willing to concede that they needed to talk.

Doubtless he would call her and they would meet for a sedate dinner. They would bring each other up to date, after which she would be freed from ghosts. Feeling calm and prepared, she waited for the phone to ring.

Instead there was a knock on the door. Frowning, she opened it.

‘This is for you, ma’am,’ said the man with the package. ‘Please sign here.’

When he had gone she opened the package cautiously, and found a jewel case.

Inside lay the most fabulous set of diamonds that she had ever seen. A necklace of three strands, earrings, bracelet, brooch. All of the very best. Rebecca’s experienced eye told her that there was nearly a hundred thousand pounds’ worth of jewels here.

The small card bore only the two words. Per adesso. For now.

She sat down, alarmed to find that she was trembling.

For now? It was almost a threat, implying that he would not accept her dismissal.

Why couldn’t he leave her to her hard-won peace? Didn’t he want peace himself?

At last she pulled herself together and headed out of the door. It took her five minutes to reach the penthouse suite, and her anger rose with every step.

‘How dare you?’ she said when he opened the door. ‘Please take this back, and don’t ever do such a thing again.’

He backed away from her, forcing her to come into the room to find somewhere to set the case down.

‘I mean what I say. I don’t want these things. Luca, what were you thinking of? You can’t send something like this to a stranger.’

‘You’re not a stranger. You can’t be.’

‘I must be after all these years. Too much has happened. We’re different people. I don’t accept this kind of gift.’

‘You mean not from me, because I’m not good enough?’

‘Don’t be absurd. Of course you’re good enough. How can you say such a thing to me, after our past?’ She lost her temper. ‘I think I’ve earned better than that from you.’

‘All right, I’m sorry,’ he said gruffly. ‘Maybe I’m not so different from what I was. Maybe, inside, I’m still the bumpkin your father looked down on. I can change the outside but not in here.’ He pointed to himself. ‘I hear the sneers, even when they’re whispered.’

‘But I never sneered at you.’

‘So what’s wrong with me giving you something?’

‘This isn’t “something”, it’s a fortune.’