He was the hottest guy she’d ever laid eyes on. Always had been. And that was what made this situation so much harder.
His gaze flicked to hers, those slumberous eyes darkening as he read her mind. Despite the presence of their child, the brief moment they shared was wholly adult.
Desperate to break the connection, Fia blurted out the first thing that came into her head. ‘My phone battery has died. May I use yours to call the hospital?’
The sardonic curve of his mouth told her he knew she hadn’t been thinking about phones or hospitals. And neither had he. Just being in the same room created something so intense that it was almost tangible. It crackled the air between them and snapped the atmosphere tight.
‘I’ve already called.’ He placed coffee on the table without asking her how she took it. ‘Your grandfather had a good night. He’s still asleep. The consultant will be at the hospital in half an hour. I’ve said we’ll meet him there.’
We?
She watched as Luca slid off his chair and wrapped his arms around his father’s legs. Santo scooped him up. ‘I’m starting to understand why you were worried last night,’ he drawled. ‘He’s extremely active.’
‘But you’re coping well,’ she said quickly, ‘so he can stay with you while I go to the hospital.’ She needed respite from the unrelenting stress of being with him. Most of all she needed respite from the constant assault on her senses and the memories that kept replaying in her head. Her heart was going crazy. She was so conscious of him that she couldn’t breathe properly.
He lowered Luca to the floor. ‘I’m coming with you.’
‘I’d rather go on my own.’
‘Of course you would.’ His eyes glinted with deadly mockery. ‘You’d rather do everything on your own, but you’re never going to learn differently if you don’t practise, so you can start this morning. We’ll go together. Say the word after me, Fia. Together.’
Fia stared at her coffee. ‘Do you have milk? I like milk in my coffee. Not that I’d expect you to know that because you don’t really know anything about me, do you? Just as I don’t know anything about you. And that is why this is so ridiculous.’ But the heat had gone out of her argument. Last night she’d been certain, now she was just confused.
‘Stop trying to pick a fight. I’ll win.’
She breathed, ‘All right, we’ll go together. But in that case I need to use a phone. I’ll call Ben and ask him to pick up Luca. He’s too little to be in a place like that for more than a short time.’
The change in him was instantaneous. Any trace of humour was wiped out. It was like watching a cloud suddenly pass over the sun, darkening the land beneath. Those eyes went from burnished gold to deadly black, the threat in them unmistakable. ‘You will not call Ben.’
‘I don’t want Luca at the hospital. It’s exhausting for my grandfather and stressful for him.’
‘I agree. Which is why I’ve arranged—’ He broke off as they both heard a commotion at the entrance of his apartment.
‘Santo?’ a female voice sang out and then a beautiful dark-haired girl strode confidently into the room. Clearly familiar with the layout of the place, she kissed Santo soundly. ‘You,’ she purred, patting his cheek with her hand, ‘are a very naughty boy.’
Fia sat still, frozen to the spot by the sight of this beautiful creature and the ease with which she interacted with Santo. And, to make her pain even worse, he didn’t even have the gall to look embarrassed. Instead he simply unpeeled the woman, gave her a smile and kissed her on both cheeks.
‘Ciao, bellissima.’
Wounded by his lack of sensitivity, Fia stood up abruptly and was about to snatch her son and leave them to it when the woman turned to look at her.
Braced for bared teeth and female jealousy, Fia found herself suddenly wrapped in a tight, effusive hug.
Apart from Luca, no one ever hugged her. The shock of it kept her rigid, but before she could work out who the woman was she’d released her and turned her attention to Luca.
First she covered her mouth with her hands as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Then she scooped an unsuspecting Luca up and showered him with kisses, talking in rapid Italian as she danced round the kitchen with him.
And, instead of howling, Luca seemed delighted by the attention, responding to the woman’s infectious smile with gurgles of laughter.
Fia wanted to snatch her son out of the woman’s arms.
Which one of Santo’s many women was she?
She racked her brain to recreate all those media images of Santo she’d tried to obliterate from her mind. Santo Ferrara and a lean brunette at the opening of the Taormina Filmfest, dining out with a sleek blonde on his arm, leaving his private jet at the airport with a redhead in tow. She’d tried to blot out the female faces, not commit them to memory.
She was just about to make a taut comment when a small girl, a little older than Luca, rocketed into the room and slammed into Santo’s legs.
‘Up!’
‘I think you mean, “up, please”, but your wish is my command, of course.’ His amused drawl suggesting that this was a frequent request, Santo scooped the child up. ‘You need to put in some overtime on the manners here.’ He glanced at the woman and his expression softened. ‘Thanks for coming.’
‘Anything for you.’ With a cheeky smile the brunette put Luca down, dropped her bag on the chair and looked at Fia. ‘I’m really sorry to hear about your grandfather. You must be worried sick, but honestly the hospital is just brilliant. And I expect Santo has them hopping around because he always puts a bomb under them. And you’re not to worry about Luca. We’ll keep him with us until you’re ready to pick him up. I can’t wait to get to know him better.’
Fia felt a flash of fury. Santo expected her to leave her son with one of his women? ‘There is no way—’
‘Dani is my sister, yes? Daniela Ferrara. Although technically she’s no longer Ferrara since she married Raimondo.’ Interrupting smoothly, Santo put the little girl down on the floor. ‘This is Rosa, her daughter. Luca’s cousin.’
Cousin?
Startled, Fia looked at Dani, who looked right back. ‘Er … you didn’t know I was Santo’s sister?’
‘I didn’t recognise you.’ Fia’s voice was a croak and Dani’s eyes widened in contrition.
‘Oh, no! You must have thought—’ Looking at her brother, she gave an exaggerated shudder. ‘Nightmare. We’d kill each other in two minutes. I like to be in charge in my relationships. Talking of which, Raimondo is parking the car. We thought we’d take Luca back home with us because we have all Rosa’s toys there so it’s easier.’ She caught Fia’s anxious look and smiled. ‘You’re thinking you can’t let him go with a stranger, I know you are because I’d be thinking the same thing in your position. But honestly, he’s going to have a great time and better with us than in that vile hospital or here. Santo’s apartment is a deathtrap. You two can spend as long as you need to at the hospital and then go out to dinner or something. Don’t rush. Do something romantic.’
‘Cristo, you are like a one-woman talk show. Breathe, Dani!’ Santo cast his sister a look of raw exasperation. ‘Give someone else the opportunity to speak! You accuse me of being controlling and then you steamroller people with words. Conversation