The Italian’s Miracle Family

closed. Alysa glanced over, taking in the sight of them, contented in each other’s arms, then she turned away to stare unseeingly out of the window. She needed a little time to take in what she’d done.

She had told Elena that she was coming to Italy for good, speaking on impulse with no time to consider all the implications. But they were huge. In one moment she’d tossed aside the partnership she’d striven so hard to win, and possibly her whole career. Who knew what use her qualifications would be in this country?

And she, a woman who’d always prided herself on thinking every problem through, had done it without a moment’s thought. Was she mad?

Turning slightly, she looked again at Tina and Drago, both with their eyes closed, Tina with her head against her father’s chest, Drago with his head resting on his child’s hair. And she knew the answer to her question.

Yes, she was mad.

Wonderfully, gloriously mad. Mad in the way only the most fortunate on earth were mad. Heroically, blissfully mad, with the madness that lay at the heart of creation.

If her qualifications were useless here, then she would learn Italian properly and start all over from the beginning. She would do anything rather than say goodbye to Drago. No effort was beyond her, no task too great, as long as she was with him.

When had it all been decided? Long ago? Or tonight, when Drago had looked at her, imploring, putting his whole life at her mercy?

And did it matter when the decision had been made, as long as it was the right one?

As they entered Florence Tina awoke and began to look out at the streets, where the Christmas lights were still on.

‘We’ve got lots of decorations up in the villa,’ she confided to Alysa. ‘And a crib. You’ll like it.’

She closed her eyes again, but her hand was clutching Alysa’s as though she feared to let her go.

As they reached the villa Tina opened her eyes again, looking quickly at Alysa, checking to make sure she was there.

They put her to bed together and kissed her goodnight. She was already asleep as they crept out of the room.

‘What will Brian do when you don’t come back?’ Drago asked quietly.

‘Aren’t I going back?’

‘You’d never have said those things to Tina if you hadn’t meant them.’

‘That’s true.’

He led her into his own room and took her into his arms. Despite everything that had gone before, she knew that this was the first kiss of their love, the first time everything had been clear between them.

Except for one thing, her mind nudged her. But he must never know about the letter. She would keep that secret all her days, and if that meant being second best she would live with that rather than let him be hurt.

But she was strong. She would make him so happy that he would forget Carlotta. If she had still wanted revenge, that would have been the perfect way. But revenge was far from her heart now.

‘Thank you for making Tina happy,’ he said softly.

‘Did I do the right thing?’

‘You did the only thing possible to stop her heart breaking. She may have to know the truth one day, but by then she’ll be strong enough to bear it.’

‘I hope so,’ she murmured.

‘I think I knew something like this would happen, that’s why I wanted you and nobody else. You see, I’d already discovered how good you were at protecting people from truths they couldn’t bear.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Did you think I didn’t know that you did the same for me?’

She stared at him.

‘The letter,’ he said. ‘The one in which Carlotta admitted she’d been unfaithful often before, a letter that mysteriously vanished.’

‘But you-how did you-?’

‘I looked in while you were reading it. I saw your face, and I saw how quickly you shoved it away to avoid showing it to me. When you’d gone to bed, I found it and I read it. Next morning it had vanished. I guessed that you’d taken it to protect me.’

‘You’ve known since February?’

‘I think in my heart I always knew about Carlotta before that, but I wouldn’t admit it. I was hiding from the truth, and when I had to face it, it was almost as though something inside me grew quiet. I’d tormented myself with wondering. Now I didn’t have to wonder any more, and there was a kind of peace in that.’

‘I thought it would break your heart,’ she said.

‘And you tried to protect me, which was more than I deserved. All this time I’ve wondered if you’d change your mind and would tell me everything, but you never did. Last time you were here I tried to provoke you into an admission, but you held firm. I hadn’t known such generosity existed. It gave me hope of winning your love.’

‘How could I have let you see that letter, after what you said about clinging to your memories? It would have hurt you unbearably.’

‘But you never understood my love for you, or you wouldn’t have spoken of being second best. You could never be second best, don’t you realise that?’

‘Maybe I do now,’ she whispered.

A great load had gone from her heart, leaving her free to love him totally without the slightest fear or reservation. Joy possessed her whole being.

‘Could you really have gone through our life thinking of yourself as second best?’ Drago asked.

Her smile was a mysterious enticement.

‘If I had to,’ she said. ‘But there are ways to make you completely mine. I have my plans. You’ll find out in time.’

‘What better time than now?’ he said, drawing her to the bed.

They made love drowsily, not frantic with urgency, but with the leisurely pleasure of people who knew they had all their lives. They were both tired after the long, dramatic night, but they needed this union to reaffirm that they belonged to each other heart, body and soul.

Dawn was beginning to creep around the blinds when he said, ‘I need you as much as I love you. You’re stronger than I am.’

‘I’m stronger in some ways,’ she murmured. ‘You’re stronger in others. It works out just fine.’

‘Only if you stay with me.’

‘Always-always.’

Later he said, ‘When did you decide to stay?’

‘When I knew that if I went back I’d have abandoned you to whatever life did to you. I couldn’t do that. Would you have let me go?’

‘Not for long. If this hadn’t happened, I was going to call you anyway, about James. I’ve been doing some investigating for you. We can have him sent to England, but it would be a lot simpler to have him reburied here in a larger plot in the same cemetery. In fact…’

He seemed to become awkward and a suspicion rose in her.

‘What have you done, Drago?’

‘Well, you know me-the way I arrange things first and consult people afterwards, like a bulldozer. I made a few preliminary arrangements, just to get things started, and will continue only if they meet with your approval,’ he finished hastily.

‘What kind of preliminary arrangements?’

‘I’ve found a good plot. He’ll have a proper stone with all his details, and you can put James’s photograph on it. You see, I thought-’ He stopped, tongue-tied.

‘Go on,’ Alysa said with a little smile.

‘I thought, if he was there, you’d want to visit him so you’d keep coming back. The plot isn’t far from Carlotta, so even if you didn’t tell me you’d arrived I could visit her at the same time and we’d bump into each other.’

‘But how would you know what the right time was? Oh, of course. Silly question. You’ve got them all in your