Wife By Arrangement

attention. Then he turned to her.

‘Welcome to my sister,’ he said, placing a hand lightly on her shoulder and kissing her cheek. She had a moment’s intense awareness of his spicy male scent. Then he moved away and greeted Lorenzo with a mock punch to the chin. Lorenzo returned the compliment and for a moment the two brothers engaged in a light-hearted tussle, as lively as young stallions, their voices rich with laughter. It ended with them thumping each other on the back in a way that suggested their mutual affection.

Baptista met Heather’s eye, inviting her to share her pride and pleasure in her magnificent sons. Heather nodded, thinking that one day it would be her turn. At least, she hoped so.

At last Renato seated himself opposite her, smiling self-consciously. He was dressed informally, in fawn trousers and a short-sleeved shirt. Against the white material his skin, tanned to dark brown, showed up sharply. His black hair was tousled, and grew more so when he ran his hand through it after brushing the damp from his forehead. Heather had the feeling that everything else had grown pale. Just by being there, leaning back, half sprawled in his chair, he made everything revolve around him.

The light was fading. Someone asked where Bernardo and Angie were, and Lorenzo went to find them, amid good-natured laughter. Heather recalled Angie’s laughing words on the plane, and hoped her friend hadn’t been carried away by her impulsive romantic tendencies.

When it was time to get ready for dinner Heather went to her room and Angie appeared a moment later, her eyes shining. ‘Have a nice time?’ Heather asked.

‘Lovely, thank you,’ Angie said with suspicious innocence.

Just as they finished dressing there was a knock on the door and Baptista swept regally in, carrying a black box.

‘Perfect,’ she said, smiling at the wedding dress which Heather had set up on a stand near the window. ‘And this will go with it.’ She opened the box, revealing a tiara made of flawless pearls. ‘Legend says that it once adorned the head of Queen Marie Antoinette,’ she said. ‘Later it passed to the Martelli family, and for generations it has been given to a bride for her wedding veil.’

‘But-it’s kind of you-but this is too much for me. What about when Renato marries? Won’t he expect-?’

‘That is no matter,’ Baptista observed imperiously. ‘If he’s so stupid and stubborn about marriage he has only himself to blame. Come, try it on.’

The tiara was perfect when set on Heather’s luxuriant fair hair, but best of all was the way Baptista accepted her. She thanked her but was relieved when Baptista offered to keep the jewels in her safe until the wedding.

Seeing the glories of the Residenza, Heather was glad she’d splashed out on some expensive clothes-or, at least, they would have been expensive if she hadn’t bought them at Gossways, heavily discounted. She was popular, and friends on many floors had slashed prices to the bone for her.

As a result she was able to appear in the medieval dining room in an off-the-shoulder pale yellow silk that followed the contours of her body without being obviously seductive. For sheer splendour she was outdone by Angie, a sizzling peacock in blues and greens that seemed almost to flame. But Lorenzo had eyes only for her, and Renato too seemed struck by the sight of her.

Baptista took her by the hand and led her forward, saying, ‘Here is our guest of honour,’ to be introduced to some local dignitaries. Then she was seated at the head of the table, between Lorenzo and Baptista, becoming uneasily aware that everyone was deferring to her, like a queen.

It was delightful but it made her nervous to have every dish presented for her approval. The meal was practically a banquet, and Baptista explained that the kitchen was practising for the wedding reception. The finest Sicilian cuisine was on offer. To start with, a choice of stuffed baked tomatoes, orange salad, stuffed rice ball fritters, bean fritters. Then the rice and pasta dishes, Sicilian rice, rice with artichokes, pasta with sardines, pasta with cauliflower, and the main dishes still to come.

By the time they reached the braised lamb, stuffed beef roll, and rabbit in sweet and sour sauce Heather was running out of appetite. But she knew that to say so would cause offence to those who had laboured to bring forth this feast in her honour, so she ploughed on valiantly.

‘Perhaps you would rather have no more,’ Baptista suggested gently, seeming to understand.

‘But I must try those sweet dishes,’ Heather said. ‘They look so delicious.’

Watermelon jelly, fried pastries with ricotta cheese and candied fruit, pistachio cakes, nougat-she took a mouthful of each, and was rewarded by the looks of approval from every direction.

But the reward that touched her heart the most was when Baptista whispered, ‘Well done, my daughter.’

She couldn’t help being struck by the three brothers. All elegantly dressed in dinner jackets, they made an impressive sight: Lorenzo, the tallest, the most handsome; Bernardo, lean and dark with a gravity that made his rare smiles breathtaking-and Renato, dour, forceful, with his air of giving no quarter and asking none. He would be a difficult man to get to know, she thought, despite his evident intention of making her welcome.

Twice during the meal Renato was summoned from the table to take a phone call. In the gathering that followed Angie murmured, ‘Bernardo says that Renato is the worker of the family and Lorenzo the charmer.’

‘And what is Bernardo?’ Heather wanted to know.

Angie’s eyes twinkled. ‘Tell you later.’

As the guests began to leave Lorenzo took her hand, whispering, ‘Come with me,’ and drawing her out of the room.

Hand in hand they ran up the stairs and along a corridor, until he reached a pair of oak double doors. He flung them open, revealing a large austerely beautiful room, hung with tapestries. ‘There are going to be three uncles sleeping in this room,’ he said. ‘But after that-oh, come here!’

He pulled her into his arms and in the tenderness of his kiss she forgot everything else. It felt so good to be here, knowing that she’d come home.

‘Excuse me,’ came a voice from behind them. They jumped apart and saw Renato in the doorway, grinning. ‘Sorry to disturb you,’ he said. ‘How do you like your apartment?’

‘Our what?’

‘This set of rooms is almost self-contained,’ Lorenzo explained. ‘It would be just perfect for us.’

‘You mean-live here, instead of having a home of our own?’ Heather asked, dismayed.

‘But this will be a home of our own.’

‘No, it won’t. We’ll be right next to your brother.’

‘A terrible fate,’ Renato agreed.

‘It’s nothing personal-’ she started to say.

‘Oh, I think it is,’ he said, meeting her eyes.

‘If we’re here, Lorenzo will be at your beck and call. I dare say that’s how you prefer it-’

‘But will you have time to arrange a house before you marry in just over a week?’ Renato asked reasonably. ‘Of course Lorenzo could have chosen something already, but I thought you’d prefer to do that yourself. Why do you assume the worst of me?’

‘Instinct,’ she said, not mincing matters.

He grinned, unashamed. ‘You wrong me.’

‘No, I don’t.’ But she couldn’t help smiling back at him. He was a devil, but he could be a disastrously engaging devil.

‘You can start househunting later,’ Renato assured her. ‘Meanwhile, these rooms will be comfortable.’

It all sounded so reasonable, but her warning signals were flashing. Renato liked to keep people where he wanted them, and sounding reasonable was just another way of doing it. His teasing look showed that he followed her thought processes perfectly.

‘Just for a little while, then,’ she said at last. ‘As soon as we return from honeymoon-’

‘Not quite that soon,’ Renato said. ‘Lorenzo has a trip scheduled for New York-’

‘Oh, really-’ she began, up in arms again.

‘And I naturally assumed that you’d want to go with him.’

Her weapons clattered uselessly to the floor. She would die for a trip to New York.

‘That only leaves your honeymoon,’ Renato said.

‘Don’t tell me you’ve arranged that too!’

‘I thought you might borrow my boat for a couple of weeks’ cruising. The crew will do the work; all you need do is enjoy yourself.’