‘So there is something?’ her grandfather probed.
Allegra had to ball her fist to keep from sliding her hand over her stomach. She’d caught herself making that unconscious gesture a lot lately, once she’d finished the book that tracked the growth of her baby in minute detail. Her baby might be the size of a bean, but the very idea that life grew inside her was a phenomenon she hadn’t quite come to terms with six weeks after discovering that, against all odds, she carried Rahim Al-Hadi’s child in her womb.
‘Allegra?’
Everything inside her wanted to spill her secret. But how could she admit to carrying such a responsibility when she didn’t feel worthy of it?
‘I have a lot on my plate, that’s all. The women’s rights conference in Geneva’s coming up and preparations are frantic as usual. You know how making speeches turns me into a blubbering wreck.’ She laughed, and her grandfather cracked a smile, but she saw the lingering speculation in his shrewd eyes.
‘Bianca is assisting you with it, right?’
Allegra nodded, relieved her grandfather had chosen not to pursue the subject. ‘She’s handling publicity through Lucia PR, but the keynote speech is my responsibility.’ A responsibility she’d barely given her full attention to since the severe bouts of morning sickness had hit exactly two weeks after she’d confirmed her pregnancy. It was hard enough to concentrate when thoughts of the many ways she could screw up her child’s life multiplied with each waking hour that passed. Add the terrifying thought of how and when she’d break the news to Rahim, and what his reaction would be, and the task of putting together a rousing speech on empowering women fled from her mind.
With the conference a short seven days away, she’d finally given in and solicited her sister’s help. Bianca had jumped at the chance to add the Di Sione Foundation to her growing high-profile clients and had taken charge of publicising the event.
Now all Allegra had to do was write the speech. And come up with a plan for the future of the child growing inside her.
She felt the blood drain from her face as nausea rose in her belly. Swallowing hard, she looked up to find Giovanni staring intently at her. ‘It’ll be fine, I’m sure.’
He nodded, but his eyes remained serious. ‘Sì, it will be. You’ve never failed in anything you’ve undertaken, nipotina. You will overcome this too. I have faith in you.’
Allegra tried selfishly to hold on to those words, despite knowing that her grandfather hadn’t been in possession of all the facts when he’d made the statement. She hadn’t failed in retrieving his box because she’d stolen it, and shattered any chance of being seen as anything but a common thief in Rahim’s eyes.
By the time she packed her bags to head to Geneva, her grandfather’s reassuring words had dwindled to nothing, annihilated by looming fear and doubt that warned her she was condemning her child to a life of uncertainty and insecurity.
How could she offer her child love when her own experience with it had been a twisted version, often fuelled by bouts of heartbroken wailing on her mother’s part, and volatile cocktails of drugs and booze with a healthy bout of rage thrown in from her father?
How could she trust herself to do the right thing for her child when more than once she’d feared the blood that ran through her was tainted somehow? Alessandro, her oldest brother, had buried himself in the family business from very early on, and her twin brothers had borne all the hallmarks of turning into their father, despite her grandfather’s repeated intervention. As much as it broke her heart to admit it, her failure to adequately sustain her family when they’d needed her most had left flaws entrenched too deep to ever make them whole.
But...the alternative was inconceivable.
She laid her hand over her still-flat stomach, and for the first time, Allegra’s heart leapt, not with fear, but with a tiny geyser of joy. She held on to it through another bout of morning sickness once she got to her hotel. Then through the hours of polishing her speech in preparation for the conference the next day.
It had gone ten p.m. by the time she saved the finalised version on her laptop and called to check on her grandfather. About to turn in, she frowned as her phone buzzed.
Reading the message, she groaned and slid back out of bed.
She opened the door to her sister, eyeing Bianca’s fresh-as-a-daisy look with a tiny bout of envy. In a monochrome dress suit and stylish platform shoes, she looked ready to powwow her way through a power meeting, not wind down for the night.
‘Wow, you look like hell run over by a truck.’
‘Oh, thanks.’ Allegra shut the door and leaned against it with her arms folded.
Bianca grinned, the confidence she radiated so effortlessly lending her a vivacity that turned heads wherever she went. It was the reason she’d become a success in the public relations industry so quickly. ‘Can I order room service? I’m starving!’
‘And I need to sleep. Don’t you have your own suite?’
One of the reasons Bianca remained the sibling she was closest to was because of their similar tastes in a broad range of things, including food. But since Allegra couldn’t stomach foods she’d once loved, she couldn’t risk Bianca guessing her state if she ordered the same turkey sandwich that had disagreed with Allegra earlier this evening.
‘I do, but I wanted to go over a few things with you before things got crazy in the morning. So here I am, killing two birds blah-blah-blah.’
Allegra regarded her sister with one sceptical eyebrow raised.
After a minute, Bianca shrugged. ‘Okay, fine. The last-minute stuff with the conference can wait.’
‘But?’ Allegra prompted.
‘But I spoke to Grandfather half an hour ago. He sounded worried about you. Everything okay? Seriously, you don’t look great. And you’ve lost weight since I last saw you.’
Allegra waved her sister away, moving from the door and from Bianca’s direct gaze, which was so reminiscent of her grandfather’s. When her sister followed her into the living room, Allegra suppressed a weary sigh.
‘I’m fine. I ate something that didn’t agree with me earlier, that’s all.’ That much was true. The cold turkey sandwich had stayed in her stomach less than five minutes before it’d come straight back out.
‘That would explain how you look now, but it doesn’t explain the weight loss.’
Striding to the fridge, Allegra took out a bottle of water, and toyed with it. ‘Enough with the third degree. Did you need something else besides the desire to bug me?’
Bianca pursed her lips, then strode over to face Allegra across the tiny drinks bar in the living room. ‘Grandfather asked to see me last week,’ she blurted.
Thinking her sister was intent on getting to the bottom of her weight loss, Allegra tensed. ‘And?’
‘He asked me to find something for him.’
Allegra’s relief was overlaid with surprise. ‘What?’
‘A bracelet. He sold it years ago, but now he wants it back...’ Her voice trailed off and then she sucked in a quick breath. ‘Matteo was asked to find something too, wasn’t he?’
Allegra nodded. ‘A necklace. Grandfather sent me to find something as well.’
Her sister’s eyes widened. ‘Really? Did you find it?’
‘Yes, it was a box, a Fabergé.’
Bianca’s eyes grew wider. ‘You think they’re all connected somehow?’
‘I don’t know. He wasn’t very forthcoming when I asked.’
‘Same