‘I look forward to getting to know you, Gianlucca.’
Lucca nodded, then gasped as he saw what Romeo held in his other hand. ‘Did you come to feed the ducks, too?’
Romeo nodded. ‘Sì...yes,’ he amended and started to rise. His body bristled with a restlessness that made Maisie’s pulse jump. ‘That was my intention, but I’m not an expert, like you.’
‘It’s easy! Come on.’ He tugged at Romeo’s hand, his excitement at having another go at his favourite pastime vibrating through his little body.
Maisie stayed crouched, the residual apprehension clinging to her despite the sudden, throat-clogging tears. As meetings between father and son went, it had gone much easier than she could’ve hoped for. And yet, she couldn’t move from where she crouched. Because, she realised, through all the scenarios she’d played in her mind, she’d never really thought beyond this moment. Oh, she’d loftily imagined dictating visitation terms and having them readily agreed to, and then going about raising her son with minimal interference.
But looking at Romeo as he gazed down at his son with an intense proprietary light in his eyes, Maisie realised she really had no clue what the future held. Her breath shuddered out as Romeo’s words once again flashed through her brain.
There’s nothing more to discuss. If he’s mine, truly mine, then I intend to claim him.
She slowly rose and looked over her shoulder. Sure enough, the two black-clad bodyguards prowled a short distance away. About to turn away, Maisie froze as she spotted two more by the south gate. Two more guarded the west side of the park.
Heart in her throat, she approached the duck pond, where Romeo was throwing a piece of bread under her son’s strict instruction.
His head swung towards her and his expression altered at whatever he read on her face. ‘Something wrong?’
‘I think I should be asking you that,’ she hissed so Gianlucca wouldn’t overhear, but she placed a protective hand on his tiny shoulder, ready to lay down her life for him if she needed to. ‘Do you want to tell me why you have six bodyguards watching this park?’ Her voice vibrated with the sudden fear and anger she couldn’t disguise.
His face hardened and the arm he’d raised to throw another bite into the pond slowly lowered to his side. ‘I think it’s time to continue this conversation elsewhere.’
ROMEO WATCHED SEVERAL expressions chase over her face.
‘What does that mean?’ she asked, her blue eyes narrowing before she cast another alarmed glance at the burly men guarding the park.
He followed her apprehensive gaze and indicated sharply at his men when he saw that other parents were beginning to notice their presence. The men melted into the shadows, but the look didn’t dissipate from Maisie’s face. When her hand tightened imperceptibly on Gianlucca’s shoulder, Romeo’s insides tightened.
‘My hotel is ten minutes away. We’ll talk there.’ He tried not to let the irony of his statement cloud the occasion. He’d said similar words to her five years ago, an invitation that had ended with him reeling from the encounter.
That invitation had now brought him to this place, to his son. He had no doubt in his mind that the child was his. Just as he had no doubt that he would claim him, and protect him from whatever schemes Lorenzo had up his sleeves. Beyond that, he had no clue what his next move was. He didn’t doubt, though, that he would find a way to triumph. He’d dragged himself from the tough streets of Palermo to the man he was today. He didn’t intend to let anything stand in the way of what he desired.
He focused to find her shaking her head. ‘I can’t.’
Romeo’s eyes narrowed as a hitherto thought occurred to him. ‘You can’t? Why not?’ He realised then how careless he’d been. Because Lorenzo’s pictures had shown only Maisie with his son, Romeo had concluded that she was unattached. But those pictures were four years old. A lot could have happened in that time. She could’ve taken another lover, a man who had perhaps become important enough to see himself as Gianlucca’s father.
The very idea made him see red for one instant. ‘Is there someone in your life?’ He searched her fingers. They were ringless. But that didn’t mean anything these days. ‘A lover, perhaps?’ The word shot from his mouth like a bullet.
Her eyes widened and she glanced down at Gianlucca, but he was engrossed in feeding the last of the bread to the ducks. ‘I don’t have a lover or a husband, or whatever the au fait term is nowadays.’
Romeo attributed the relief that poured through him to not having to deal with another tangent in this already fraught, woefully ill-planned situation. ‘In that case there shouldn’t be a problem in discussing this further at my hotel.’
‘That wasn’t why I refused to come with you. I have a life to get on with, Romeo. And Lucca has a schedule that I try to keep to so his day isn’t disrupted, otherwise he gets cranky. I need to fix his dinner in half an hour and put him to bed so I can get back to the restaurant.’
He stiffened. ‘You go to work after he’s asleep?’
Her mouth compressed. ‘Not every night, but yes. I live above the restaurant and my assistant manager lives in the flat next door. She looks after him on the nights I work.’
‘That is unacceptable.’
Her eyes widened with outrage. ‘Excuse me?’ she hissed.
‘From now on you will not leave him in the care of strangers.’
Hurt indignation slid across her face. ‘If you knew me at all, you’d know leaving my son with some faceless stranger is the last thing I’d do! Bronagh isn’t a stranger. She’s my friend as well as my assistant. And how dare you tell me how to raise my son?’
He caught her shoulders and tugged her close so they wouldn’t be overheard. ‘He is our son,’ he rasped into her ear. ‘His safety and well-being have now become my concern as much as yours, gattina.’ The endearment slipped out again, but he deemed it appropriate, so he didn’t allow the tingle that accompanied the term to disturb him too much. ‘Put your claws away and let’s take him back to your flat. You’ll feed him and put him to bed and then we’ll talk, sì?’
He pulled back and looked down at her, noting her hectic colour and experiencing that same punch to his libido that had occurred earlier.
Dio, he needed this added complication like a bullet in the head.
He dropped his hand once she gave a grudging nod.
‘Lucca, it’s time to go,’ she called out.
‘One more minute!’ came his son’s belligerent reply.
A tight, reluctant smile curved Maisie’s lips, drawing Romeo’s attention to their pink plumpness. ‘He has zero concept of time and yet that’s his stock answer every time you try to get him away from something he loves doing.’
‘I’ll bear that in mind,’ he answered.
He glanced at his son and that sucker-punch feeling slammed into him again. It’d first happened when Gianlucca had slid his hand into his. Romeo had no term for it. But it was alive within him, and swelling by the minute.
Unthinking questions crowded his mind. Like when had Gianlucca taken his first step? What had been his first word?
What was his favourite thing to do besides feeding greedy ducks?
He stood, stock-still, as a plan began to formulate at the back of his mind. A plan that was uncharacteristically outlandish.
But wasn’t this whole