Convenient Brides Read online

  “Gina often comes this way. I’ve watched her, and even followed her once, but I lost her. Sometimes, she’s almost too smart for me,” Clemente said, an admission that left Gina snorting on a giggle.

  Paolo cleared his throat, rather loudly, Callie thought. “We’d better double back, then. They might have run behind the hedge and are already waiting at the gate. If they’re not, we’ll look in the atrium. There are all kinds of places they could hide in there.”

  Their voices faded as they hiked back toward the villa. “Boys are so easy to fool,” Gina crowed, once silence descended again. “They’re not a bit like us, are they, Zia Caroline?”

  “No,” she said, tearful emotion still swirling dangerously close to the surface. To hold her daughter like this, to share confidences, and private jokes, were gifts beyond price, and she wouldn’t have traded them for all the riches in the world. “Should we make a run for the gate now, do you think?”

  Gina shook her head. “I quite like just sitting here with you,” she said shyly, and just like that added the touch of perfection to an already extraordinary day.

  Later, over predinner drinks, Paolo cornered Callie, and under cover of the general buzz of conversation, murmured, “Did you enjoy hiding out with your niece in the grotto?”

  She laughed, taken aback. “You guessed we were there?”

  “Of course I guessed! Even if I didn’t know this island like the back of my hand, I’d have been hard-pressed not to hear the tittering filtering through that convenient screen of shrubbery.”

  “Then why didn’t you call us on it?”

  Warming her to the core with his slow smile, he said, “The two of you seemed to be bonding. I decided it was best not to disturb you.”

  Flustered at the way his gaze lingered on her, she averted her eyes and said, “You do that rather often lately, you know. Your parents will begin to notice.”

  “Do what?”

  “Smile at me, look at me, as if we’re up to something wicked.”

  “But we are, Caroline. We’re secretly engaged.”

  “The way you’re behaving, it won’t be a secret much longer.”

  She wasn’t exaggerating. He frequently locked glances with her—across the dinner table, or while they were taking morning coffee with his parents in the solarium, or during an evening game of chess between him and his father—and the look in his eyes, the curve of his mouth, would send the heat rushing to her face. They were the smiles, the glances, a lover bestowed on his lady—the kind that said he couldn’t wait to undress her.

  And it seemed that he couldn’t. Every night without fail, after the rest of the household slept, he’d come to her. She’d lie in her bed, her body naked beneath the sheet and trembling with expectation. The door would open, and she’d see his silhouette outlined briefly against the night light shining in the upstairs hall before he stepped, silent as a shadow, into the room. A second later, the lock would snick softly in place, and he’d cross to the bed.

  She’d rise up on the mattress to meet him, and they’d come together in a flurry of eager hands, and hungry lips, and labored breathing. He’d kiss her all over, bring her to orgasm with his finger, his tongue. Then, while she was still shimmering with ecstasy and he was thick and heavy with desire, he’d plunge inside her, and rock so urgently that she sometimes wondered how the condom he always used didn’t split apart.

  Oh, yes! Regardless of whatever else might occur during the day, she could always count on the nights!

  “Let’s take a walk on the beach,” he suggested, catching her as she finished lunch, toward the end of the second week. “We need to talk.”

  Overhearing, the twins chimed in. “Us, too, Zio Paolo?”

  “Not this time,” he said. “What I have to say to Caroline is private for now, but I promise to share the secret with you soon. In any case, you have to spend the afternoon catching up on your studies, otherwise when you go back to class, you’ll find yourselves behind your school friends.”

  The minute they were out of earshot of the villa, Caroline asked, “Is there a problem?”

  “Yes,” he said, curbing a grin at the anxiety printed all over her face. “I’ve been thinking about what you said, the other day—about my parents figuring out what we’re up to—and you’re right. I don’t seem able to stay out of your bed, and sooner or later, I’m going to get caught. Quite apart from the indignity of such an occurrence, I resent having to sneak around like a teenager.”

  “So what do you want to do about it?”

  He clasped her hand and helped her over the low wall separating the gardens from the beach. “Announce our engagement and make it official.”

  Her fingers tightened around his. “Do you think the children are ready to hear it?”

  “I think there’s only one way to find out.”

  She chewed the corner of her mouth uneasily. “What about your parents?”

  “I don’t consider their reaction to be particularly relevant, cara. We did not reach this decision lightly, and hardly need their blessing.”

  “It would be nice to have it, though,” she said wistfully. “It’s been a long time since I really felt part of a family.”

  “You’ll be a crucial part of the one we make together, Caroline. The children and I will be your family. And you must know my mother will welcome you as a daughter.”

  “It’s not your mother I’m worried about.”

  This time he did laugh at the expression on her face, which reminded him of a child being forced to swallow bad-tasting medicine. “I’ll deal with my father. He won’t give you any trouble.”

  She kicked at the sand, sending it spraying up around her ankles. She had very nice ankles. Very nice everything. “When are you thinking of telling them?”

  “Tonight, before dinner. I’ve instructed Jolanda to prepare something special. We’ll toast to the future with champagne, although the children will have to make do with sparkling fruit juice.”

  “And you’re absolutely sure you want to go through with the marriage?”

  “Absolutely.” Surprised at the note of apprehension in her voice, he slowed to a stop. “Aren’t you?”

  “Yes, Paolo,” she said. “After the way things have been between me and the children this last while, I think I have a fighting chance of making it work with them.”

  “And with me?”

  She lifted her shoulders in a faint shrug. “I want to make you happy.”

  “You already do, cara mia.”

  “I do?”

  “Why else do you think I can’t keep out of your bed?”

  Her blue eyes all at once alight with impish laughter, she said pertly, “Because you’re afraid of the dark?” and danced away from him when he tried to grab hold of her.

  Prompted by a burst of desire as fierce as it was unexpected, he chased her behind a jutting pillar of sandstone and caught her to him, reveling in the feel of her body, pressed warm and soft against his; in the scent of her hair, her skin.

  The idea of claiming her as his wife now seemed to him as natural as breathing. Without knowing exactly when or how it had happened, she’d wormed her way so thoroughly into his heart that he couldn’t imagine life without her.

  Could it be that he, whom a previous mistress had tearfully dismissed as “unable to commit to anyone who wasn’t family” had finally met his match? It seemed so to him, because if what he felt for Caroline didn’t amount to love, then how else to describe the light that filled his spirit at the mention of her name, or whenever she walked into the room?

  Unsure that she was ready to hear the words he longed to speak, he adopted a teasing tone and said, “Running away isn’t acceptable, Caroline. Now that you’ve agreed to make our engagement public, you officially belong to me.”

  “Oh?” She lowered her lashes, flirting shamelessly with him. “Am I in trouble, then?”

  “Most definitely. I shall have to devise some kind of punishment, to keep you in line.”
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  “Will you accept this as an apology, instead?”

  Without warning, she rose up on her toes and kissed his jaw, then ran her tongue down the open neck of his shirt to the base of his throat. The response which jerked through him, sending the blood rushing to his loins, was so powerful and instantaneous that he almost came.

  Shaken that his control could be so suddenly and severely tested, he glanced back along the beach. Assured they were well out of sight of the villa, he spun around and bracing himself against the pillar of sandstone at his back, pinned her to him.

  She wore a pleated skirt with a hem that just covered her knees. It took but a moment for him to lift it, and inch his finger inside the elasticized leg of her panties.

  She was hot and swollen and wet. Already whimpering with need, and reaching for him.

  Another moment and she had the fly of his blue jeans unsnapped. He sprang into her searching hand, fully erect and pulsing on the brink of explosion.

  Heart thundering, fingers fumbling, he ground out, “Your underwear’s in the way.”

  “Rip it, then,” she panted, “but for God’s sake, hurry up!”

  Sliding his hands beneath her sweet, slender buttocks, he lifted her until her legs were twined around his waist. “This is craziness, tesoro! I don’t have a condom with me.”

  “I don’t care!”

  Nor did she! Reaching down with her free hand, she tore at her cotton panties until she’d uncovered herself, and could guide him home. Her flesh welcomed him, hot and tight as a silk glove. He drove into her, filling her completely.

  “Ahh!” Her head fell back, and she closed her eyes, the first ripples of orgasm already taking hold. “Faster, Paolo…harder…deeper…!”

  They could make a baby, and his conscience cared that he was taking such a risk. But his body belonged to her, and he could no more reclaim it than he could count the grains of sand beneath his feet. She possessed him without mercy, and when he came in a hot, shuddering burst, she clamped her legs more tightly around him and milked him of every last drop of seed.

  Spent, he buckled at the knees, and taking her with him, sprawled on the beach in a tangle of limbs. Sand trickled over them, cool, impersonal, nonjudgmental. But he could not so easily exonerate himself.

  Stroking the hair back from her face, he said, “You realize I could have impregnated you? That we could already have placed our marriage in jeopardy?”

  “Because of a baby?” Her eyes stared back at him unfocused, still glazed with the residue of passion. “How could an innocent baby possibly do that?”

  “By placing an impossible strain on all of us. Already, we are stand-in parents to two children in need of security. They should not have to compete with a third who is our own blood child.”

  Her gaze flickered, slid away from his.“ They wouldn’t have to, if we made them feel just as loved,” she said, feverishly attempting to restore order to her clothing—a hopeless task where her underwear was concerned, but she seemed determined to try to repair it. Seemed determined to do anything, however hopeless, rather than acknowledge his very real concerns.

  Catching her hands, he forced them to be still. “Look at me, Caroline, and stop trying to fix something as insignificant as a pair of cotton underpants, when we have bigger problems facing us. You say we’d love our niece and nephew as much as a child of our own, but how can you guarantee that would be the case? Think of it, cara! A baby you carried in your womb for nine months which, once it was born, would demand all your attention. How could you possibly divide yourself fairly among three, when your heart truly belonged to only one?”

  “How could I not?” she whispered, her eyes swimming in sudden, inexplicable tears. “Gina and Clemente are my own…sister’s children.”

  He could have kicked himself. Vanessa’s death was never far from her thoughts, and all he’d accomplished by airing his concerns was remind her of her recent loss. “Forgive me,” he said contritely. “I didn’t mean to make you cry, nor do I blame you for my carelessness.”

  “You should,” she replied, her mouth trembling uncontrollably. “I’m the one who insisted we make love.”

  Smiling despite himself, he said, “In case you haven’t noticed, cara mia, no woman can seduce a man unless he’s willing! Protecting you from an unplanned pregnancy is my responsibility, and I let you down.”

  “Well, you’re probably worrying for nothing,” she said, pulling herself together a little. “It’s the wrong time of the month for me to conceive.”

  “But we can’t rely on that as a foolproof method of contraception,” he pointed out gently.

  “What are you suggesting, then? That if I’m pregnant, I sneak back to Rome and find a back-street abortionist?”

  “Dio, no!” he exclaimed, shocked almost speechless. “Caroline, tesoro, I would never permit you to have an abortion. All I’m saying is that, in view of what happened between us this afternoon, making a formal announcement of our engagement has become that much more imperative. Should it turn out that you are, in fact, pregnant, a wedding arranged to take place quickly would eliminate any suggestion that we married for the sake of an unborn child. It’s the least we can do for the twins, to let them be assured they’re not an afterthought in the arrangement.”

  Subdued, and seeming still too embarrassed to look him in the face, she sifted sand between her fingers and mumbled, “Oh…yes…I see your point.”

  “Then we’re agreed. We’ll move forward without delay. Will two weeks give you enough time to prepare?”

  “More than enough,” she said, at last meeting his gaze. “We’re in mourning, Paolo. A big wedding would be inappropriate.”

  “It doesn’t have to be a grand affair, to be memorable. But if I have my way, this will be your only shot at being a bride, and you deserve something more than a brief ceremony crammed in between the many other things we have to do in order to set up house together. One thing at a time, however.” He climbed to his feet, put his own clothing to rights, then extended a hand to her. “Comealong, my love. Let’s return to the house and prepare for an eventful evening ahead. Wedding details can wait until after we’ve broken the news to the family.”

  “Engaged?”

  Paolo’s announcement, delivered during the cocktail hour, brought the entire room to a standstill. Lidia’s mouth fell open and she clasped her hands at her breast, a ray of pure joy lighting her face for the first time since the funerals. The children merely looked mystified, but were sufficiently impressed by the sudden electricity charging the atmosphere to stop bickering over the puzzle they were working on, and slink closer to each other on the sofa.

  Poor lambs, Callie thought, watching them. They’d learned at far too young an age that life could deal some vicious blows on the innocent, and were obviously afraid another was in the offing.

  Salvatore, however, the only one who’d responded verbally to the news, and not very agreeably at that, said again, with more emphasis this time, as if Paolo had spoken in foreign tongues, “Engaged? To Caroline?”

  “That’s right,” Paolo said. “I proposed to her, and she accepted. Congratulate me, Father.”

  Salvatore scowled and favored her with a look loaded with such suspicion that Callie halfexpected him to accuse her of entrapment. “When did all this take place?”

  “Several days ago.”

  “And you wait until now, to spring the news on us?”

  “Caroline needed some time to decide if she wanted me for a husband.” Paolo smiled at her over the rim of his aperitif glass. “I’m very happy to say that, after due consideration, she decided she does.”

  Clemente spoke up, his brow furrowed in confusion. “How can you and Zia Caroline get married? Uncles shouldn’t marry aunts.”

  “Especially not in this case,” his grandfather muttered in an aside.

  Shooting his father a quelling glare, Paolo explained, “They can if they’re not related to one another, Clemente.”

  “I don�
��t understand how.”

  “Well, when you’re grown up, you and Gina might be aunt and uncle to each other’s children, but you could never marry her because she’s your sister and you’re her brother.”

  Clemente digested that information quickly enough. “I wouldn’t marry her even if I could,” he declared. “She’s too bossy!”

  Ignoring him, Gina appealed to Paolo, her little face anxious. “Does that mean you’re going to live in America with her, Zio?”

  “No. We plan to live in Rome, quite near your old house.”

  “Oh, this is wonderful!” Lidia exclaimed, setting down her vermouth and embracing first Callie, then Paolo. “The best news in the world! When is the wedding to be?”

  “As soon as you and Caroline can put one together,” he said. “Preferably within the next two or three weeks.”

  “So soon? Paolo, a wedding takes time to arrange.”

  “Not this one,” Callie interjected. “We want something small and private.”

  “What’s the big rush?” Salvatore asked, his radar still obviously on high alert. “We are a family in mourning.”

  “Which is exactly why we want to keep the fuss to a minimum.” Paolo turned to the twins. “But there’s more. Zia Caroline and I would like to make a home for the two of you. We want you to come and live with us.”

  “So that’s what this is really all about!” Salvatore blew out a breath of undisguised relief. “I was beginning to think you’d taken leave of your senses.”

  Paolo fixed him in a severe look. “If you cannot be happy for Caroline and me, Father, then at least have the good grace to keep quiet.”

  By then oblivious to the mounting tension, Gina bounced up and down on the sofa in excitement. “Can I be a bridesmaid? My friend Anita was a bridesmaid when her uncle got married, and she wore a pretty dress, with flowers in her hair.”

  Callie was about to say no, it wasn’t going to be that kind of wedding, but Paolo spoke up first. “Of course you may. Every bride should have a maid to help her on her wedding day, just as every groom should have a best man.” He eyed his nephew. “Are you willing to take on the job, Clemente, or do I ask someone else to do it?”