They nodded in perfect empathy.
A noise made her turn around to see Drago just coming into the room. The others seized on him at once, giving her a moment to look without being seen in return.
For the first time she saw him dressed formally in a dinner jacket and black bow-tie, whose elegance had the perverse effect of making him seem taller and more powerful than she remembered. Now she could perceive him as other women did-a deeply attractive man, made even more attractive by a touch of harshness-except that she had seen past that veneer and knew how thin it was.
At last Drago looked up and saw her, and a slow smile spread over his face. There was a look of satisfaction in his eyes, as though his best hopes had come true, but there was also an astonished question:
Seeing that surprised admiration, she knew she’d been secretly hoping for just this. The months apart vanished. He was the same man who had supported her and leaned on her at the same time, and when he came across the floor with his hands outstretched she reached out to him.
‘I was afraid you wouldn’t come,’ he said softly.
‘And miss your moment of glory?’ she teased. ‘Never.’
He didn’t speak, but the pressure on her hands increased slightly.
‘At last you’re here,’ Elena’s voice broke in. ‘I thought you’d never join us.’
Drago released Alysa and turned to smile politely at Elena.
‘A potential client turned up without warning. I had to see him briefly, but I’ve put him off for a few days, so now we can have dinner. Shall we go in?’
‘Of course. You’re sitting next to Leona, and Tina is sitting next to me.’
‘I want to sit next to Alysa,’ Tina said at once, adding in a confiding voice, ‘She’s a guest.’
‘And you are her hostess,’ Drago said at once. ‘So of course you must sit beside her and look after her for me.’
Elena looked displeased but was unable to protest. Tina took Alysa’s hand and led her into the dining room, while Drago went unprotesting with Leona.
A suspicion was growing in Alysa’s mind, which was increased as she saw Leona seated firmly on Drago’s right. Elena regarded them both with the complacency of a match-maker who saw things working out.
She was deluding herself, Alysa thought. There was no sign of the lover in Drago’s manner to Leona. He was charming, considerate, but slightly detached. If Leona claimed his attention, he turned to her with a smile, but he seldom made the first move.
And yet, perhaps Elena knew what she was doing. Drago wasn’t in love, but he wouldn’t have been the first widower to marry a sensible woman to give his child a mother. An old family friend would be a logical choice, and help to keep Tina close to her grandmother.
But not this woman, Alysa mused. For reasons she couldn’t explain, she wasn’t sure that Leona was what he needed.
When the meal was under way, Tina confided, ‘I wanted to ask you about Poppa. You did look after him, didn’t you?’
‘I think I did. I tried. He looked after me too.’
‘Because you both had someone who died?’
‘Yes, just so.’
By the time the meal ended, Tina’s eyes were drooping, and Drago gently suggested that it was time for all the children to go to bed.
‘Leona and I will take care of that,’ Elena said at once. ‘Come, children, upstairs.’
Alysa leaned down so that Tina could give her a peck on the cheek. Then the child was whisked away by Elena.
‘Come with me,’ Drago said, taking Alysa’s arm.
He led her out onto a terrace at the back of the house, overlooking the moonlit garden.
‘Let me look at you,’ he said.
He held her away from him, surveying her, while she did the same-both silently asking how their previous encounter had changed them. Alysa held her breath, wondering what he would say. At last he spoke.
‘You’ve put on weight.’
‘What?’
‘Good. I like it. You were far too skinny before.’
Alysa burst out laughing. Trust him to say something no other man would have said.
‘All right,’ he said hastily. ‘I’m not known for my tact.’
‘You amaze me.’
‘But I mean what I say. You were like a ghost before. Now you’re alive again.’
‘And what about you? Are you alive again?’
‘In some ways, not in all. I have so much to tell you, my dear friend.’
‘And I have things to tell you,’ she said eagerly. ‘You said I looked alive again, and I’m almost there, but there’s still something I need badly and you’re the only person who can help me.’
His eyes grew warmer and he seized her hands.
‘But of course I’ll help you-anything you ask. Who knows you better than I? Tell me now, what it is that you need?’
But before she could speak there was a call of, ‘Drago,’ and they looked back at the house to see Leona waving to him.
‘Elena wants to talk to you,’ she said.
‘Will you be kind enough to tell her that I’ll return in a moment?’ he said.
‘I think she wants you now. She says you’re neglecting your guests.’
Drago groaned softly.
‘You’d better go,’ Alysa said.
‘Yes, I suppose I must, but we must talk before you leave.’
He drew her hand through his arm and they went in together, Leona watching them like a hawk.
For the rest of the evening Alysa stayed in the background. Her moment would come later. At last she murmured to him, ‘I should be going.’
‘Fine, I’ll drive you home,’ Drago said.
Elena started to protest that that was the chauffeur’s job, but Drago silenced her with a deadly smile.
‘I know I can rely on you to be the perfect hostess while I’m gone. Alysa, are you ready?’
When they were on the road, safely away from the house, he said through gritted teeth, ‘My mother-in-law!’ Then, when Alysa gave a soft chuckle, ‘Yes, I suppose you find it funny.’
‘Well, she’s so blatant about it. She’s very determined to marry you to Leona, isn’t she?’
‘You saw that too? I hoped it was just my imagination.’
‘It’s obvious. She’s like a general going into battle, with everything worked out.’
‘How dreadfully true. When I invited her for tomorrow’s ceremony, she somehow turned it into an invitation for Leona too.’
As they reached the outskirts of Florence, he said, ‘Let’s find somewhere to sit down and talk.’
He chose a small cafe in a side street and settled her in a corner where the light was poor and few people would notice them.
‘Is that why you invited me here?’ she asked. ‘To protect you from Leona?’
‘Not really, I just needed to see you. What happened seems so unreal. I wanted to be sure you really existed. But now you’re here I’m glad, because of Leona too. I don’t know what’s got into Elena.’
‘I suppose for her Leona would be the ideal choice because she wouldn’t try to separate her from Tina as another woman might.’
‘I gather they’ve got it all sorted. Don’t I get a say in this arrangement?’
‘Not much. After all, you might well decide to remarry for Tina’s sake.’
‘Never,’ he said fiercely. ‘Not just for Tina’s sake, and not-Well, anyway.’ He sighed. ‘I don’t want them choosing a wife for me. I rely on you to shield me from their intrigues.’
‘Don’t worry,’ she assured him. ‘I’m your best friend, and when the time comes I’ll take a hand in choosing your
