The restaurant was an old restored barn with a high, pitched ceiling lined with ancient oak beams. Sound bounced off the vast tiled floor and the floor was packed with tables, every one of which was taken. There was an open kitchen at one end and Santino had been right about the noise. The chefs were yelling at each other and the waiters were yelling at the chefs and everyone else had to yell to be heard above the yelling. Because the studio party was a last minute affair the room hadn’t been closed to the general public, though the film crew had commandeered one of the long, refectory-style tables and lined it with ice buckets and jugs of iced water and wine …
‘Kate, you’re here!’ Caddy raced to the door to greet them with a hug for Kate and a big grin for her producer. ‘We’ve only just arrived. You must have driven like the wind, Santino. Isn’t this fantastic?’
For a moment Kate couldn’t answer. She was shell-shocked by the chaos and it seemed as if teams of children were weaving between the tables, which made her miss Francesca more than ever.
‘Nectar,’ Santino murmured in her ear. ‘And I really don’t blame them.’
Kate looked at him in bewilderment, and then realised Santino thought her attention had been drawn to a group of extras exchanging bottles of the studio’s Dom Perignon champagne for the local wine.
‘I’ll make sure you taste some before we leave.’
‘Thank you.’ She had to relax, but for some reason she couldn’t.
‘I thought you’d like it here,’ Santino went on, unaware of Kate’s growing tension. ‘It’s a perfect fit with your love of the local culture.’
‘Yes,’ Kate murmured distractedly, glancing around, looking for something, she hardly knew what.
She was being silly. Santino was right. It was nice here. And how could she not like it when his hand was planted in the small of her back as he began to steer her across the room? If only his hand didn’t fit quite so well … If only it weren’t such a struggle to keep her thoughts confined to business.
She wasn’t here to flirt with Santino, she was here to meet Diane Fox and look after Caddy, Kate reminded herself firmly. But where was Diane Fox, and where had Caddy got to?
They had almost reached the table the film company had commandeered when Caddy appeared out of nowhere at her elbow. At the same moment Kate froze.
‘Don’t you like your surprise, Kate?’
Kate heard Caddy’s question, but was unable to answer. She could only stare transfixed down the room to where a little girl, having spotted her mother, was racing to greet her …
It took him a moment to put his brain into gear when an older woman came to stand between him and Kate. She was vaguely bohemian in appearance and her soft grey eyes were kind and full of concern. She had to be Kate’s legendary Aunt Meredith, he realised.
‘Oh, Kate,’ she exclaimed softly, putting a hand on Kate’s arm, ‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to shock you. I should have rung to warn you we were coming, but it was so last minute there wasn’t chance. It was Caddy’s idea. She said you were feeling down. I hope I’ve done the right thing?’
He was still staring at the woman when the bottom fell out of his world. A beautiful dark-haired child of about four years old threw herself at Kate, and as she swept her into her arms and met his gaze above the black glossy curls he knew.
Kate paled as she clutched the child closer to her chest, and it ripped out his heart to see the terror in her eyes, but that was nothing compared to the feelings inside him.
Instantly aware, instantly curious, the child lifted her head to study him. Lodging her thumb in her mouth, she nestled closer to her mother while Caddy and Meredith melted away. He was vaguely aware of the demands on him pulling him this way and that, but as Kate remained frozen in a tableau he couldn’t tear his gaze from he knew that nothing else mattered but this.
Kate planted a fervent kiss on her daughter’s black curls. His daughter! There wasn’t a shred of doubt in his mind. The child was his, every inch of her a Rossi … the high colour, the cheek-bones, the jet-black hair, the curls, the luminous brown eyes that stared straight into his soul. She was his child, his daughter, his baby, the first and only member of his family. He went cold to think of all the years that had been stolen from him … from both of them. And he didn’t even know her name.
‘Mummy …’ She tugged at Kate’s sleeve. ‘Who is this man? I like him.’
His heart shattered and fell in pieces at his daughter’s feet. Anger, anger such as he had never known, was rising deep inside him. He should have known that this was the reward you got for even thinking about trusting a woman.
‘Say hello to your daddy, Francesca.’
Francesca … Francesca … Francesca …
‘Hello,’ his daughter said solemnly.
Kate was desperate for him to look at her, for him to offer her some reassurance, but he only had eyes for the child … the child reaching out to him.
To him.
CHAPTER NINE
KATE’S heart was pounding so hard she could barely breathe, but she had to make everything seem completely normal for Francesca’s sake. ’Shall we sit down?’
This was the worst of all possible outcomes, and, however well he handled it, it had to have been a terrible shock for Santino. Without preamble, or explanation, he discovered they had a daughter together. But she could hardly blame Caddy or Meredith for doing what they believed was in her best interest.
Kate made for a free table, conscious that Francesca was leaning over her shoulder wanting Santino to carry her, but Kate wasn’t ready for that yet.
‘Is that why you came to Rome, Mummy … to find Daddy?’ Francesca asked Kate as they sat down.
‘Not exactly … ‘Kate couldn’t lie. She hadn’t lied to Francesca yet, and she had no intention of making this the start of some new regime. ‘Remember what I told you?’ Kate swung Francesca onto her knees so she could look into her eyes. ‘I came to Rome to see Aunty Caddy—’
‘So did Aunty Caddy find Daddy for me?’ Francesca turned and levelled a long, considering stare on Santino.
‘No, I found you,’ Santino said, smiling as he came to sit down beside Kate.
Kate felt a chill run through her. Santino wouldn’t meet her gaze. She was dead to him. His attention was focused on his daughter to the exclusion of everything else and Francesca was equally intent on him. For the first time in Francesca’s life Kate felt shut out, which frightened her and made her think it was a terrible foretaste of the future.
Francesca chattered on and when she paused for breath Santino suggested they call Meredith over. It was the moment Kate knew had to come, but had been dreading.
‘I’d like to speak privately with your mummy,’ he told Francesca, ‘and then afterwards you and I will have chance to get to know each other a little better.’
Francesca smilingly agreed, but Kate couldn’t lose the feeling that Santino’s words contained a threat aimed in her direction. She was loath to leave the table to go and look for Meredith, but Santino had left her with little option. The moment she stood up to leave the table Francesca climbed up on Santino’s knee.
Hovering close to the table, Kate felt numb as she watched the two of them together. Father and daughter … dark hair, dark eyes, even the same smile, it was uncanny. Everything had happened so quickly, too quickly, before she’d had chance to consider whether Santino might make a suitable father for Francesca. And now it was too late. Francesca was instantly besotted with her father, and Santino was equally enchanted by his beautiful daughter. There