Italian Tycoon, Secret Son

CHAPTER SEVEN

‘SHALL we go through to dinner now?’ Ferrini asked Mandy.

At once his two grown sons stepped forward, inviting her to take the arm of one or both of them.

‘Be off,’ their father commanded, laughing and crooking his own arm. ‘Age has its privileges.’

‘But you don’t need to claim privilege,’ Mandy said lightly. ‘You are the one I would have chosen.’

This raised a cheer and a smattering of applause, led by Ferrini’s much entertained wife. Mandy accepted his arm, glancing triumphantly around at her audience. Then she froze with shock.

Just for a moment she thought she’d seen Renzo, standing in the far corner of the room, watching her intently. But surely it was her imagination. One blink and he was gone.

‘Are you all right?’ Ferrini asked gallantly.

‘Perfectly,’ she said brightly. ‘Except that I’m famished, and longing for this splendid meal.’

‘Then let us depart on the instant.’

Signora Ferrini prided herself on having the best cook in Milan, and it showed. With every course, several dishes were on offer-saffron-coloured Risotto alla Milanese, Frito Misto, a mixed fry of seafoods and meat, Osso Buco, veal shank garnished with parsley, garlic and lemon rind, followed by Lombardy apple fritters and paradise cake.

While eating she took the chance to glance along the table, seeking the face that she might-or might not-have seen earlier. But it was some distance and the people at the far end were indistinct.

I’ve got to stop this, she told herself. Of course he can’t be here. He’s not well enough.

Then she saw him, sitting at the far end, deep in conversation with a vivacious young woman who was clearly straining every nerve to hold his attention. He wore a black dinner jacket and bow tie, just as he had the night he’d leapt into her room, certain of his right to do as he pleased whether it was to seduce one woman or comically throw himself on the mercies of another.

It was a shock to see that he could still look like the old Renzo-handsome, confident, basking in female adoration.

So that was why she’d been ignored, Mandy thought indignantly. Renzo had learned all he wanted to from her, decided it didn’t interest him and turned away, leaving her sitting, waiting in the hotel like an idiot. No doubt he thought that by now she’d have given up and left Milan. The last thing he’d expected was to see her here, which was why he’d been trying to escape her notice.

Angrily, she focused on her host and asked about the work he wanted her to do. He explained that he was writing a history of his family, whose activities over the generations had been colourful.

‘We have long had a connection with England. Many Ferrini wives have come from there, some from notable political families, and it is this that I would like you to work on.’

‘Pooh, politics!’ said the young man on her other side.

Turning, Mandy saw Luigi, Ferrini’s younger son, in his early twenties and one of the most dazzlingly handsome young men she had ever met. His eyes were dark and lustrous, gazing into hers with a fervour that made her want to laugh.

‘Dottoressa,’ he said, taking her hand, ‘our history contains many great love stories that are far more important than politics. The Ferrini men have gone out and conquered.’ He carried her hand to his lips. ‘I’m sure you understand me.’

‘I understand you perfectly,’ she said with meaning.

‘Behave yourself, Luigi,’ Ferrini commanded. ‘You will embarrass our guest.’

‘Not at all,’ Mandy said lightly, recovering her hand. ‘I’m very good at coping with over eager little boys.’

This caused a general laugh. Luigi smote his forehead.

‘She calls me a little boy. Dottoressa, this will never do. I must have my revenge.’

‘Perhaps I will also take mine,’ she murmured.

‘Is that a promise?’

‘No,’ she said, smiling provocatively. ‘It’s a threat.’

This caused another laugh. Under the cover of looking around her, Mandy managed to dart a quick glance down the table. She might as well not have bothered. Renzo was totally absorbed in his lovely companion. There was nothing to suggest that he’d seen what was going on at the other end.

The meal was coming to an end. People split into groups, drifting out into the beautiful gardens.

‘Perhaps we could now go into the library,’ Ferrini said.

‘Let us all go,’ Luigi added, drawing Mandy’s hand through his arm.

Together, the three of them headed out of the dining room, Luigi talking non-stop, both to her and the other guests as he passed them.

‘Of course we all think our own family is interesting, but ours has produced more scoundrels than most-Elena, how lovely to see you again-plus a few who can claim royal blood-unofficially. Of course that’s shocking but-ah, my friend, Renzo, I was wondering where you were. Do you know Signorina Jenkins?’

‘I have that pleasure,’ Renzo said, rising to his feet and nodding politely at Mandy. ‘Good evening, Dottoressa. I trust you’re enjoying yourself.’

‘More than I would have believed possible,’ she replied. ‘I can’t tell you how glad I am that I came.’ She added significantly, ‘I’m learning so much.’

It would have been a pleasure to see him discomfited, but his face was blank as he gave another brief nod before Luigi swept her away.

A man standing just behind Renzo gave an envious sigh.

‘So Luigi’s in love again, but you can’t blame him this time. She’s a pearl among women, don’t you think?’ Receiving no answer, he peered closer. ‘Renzo, are you with us?’

‘Forgive me,’ Renzo said with an effort. ‘What were you saying?’

‘I asked what you thought of Luigi’s latest little playmate.’ His voice trailed off at the murderous look he found turned on him.

‘Be silent if you know what’s good for you,’ Renzo said softly. ‘Do you understand me?’

‘Yes…yes…no offence meant…I only…’

‘Get out of my sight.’

The man backed away, exchanging a glance with the pretty young woman beside Renzo, who’d been determinedly flirting with him. Now she gave a shrug and a resigned sigh. Another hope gone.

Mandy’s hosts escorted her across the marble hall to a pair of ornate double doors, which Ferrini pulled open to reveal a huge old-fashioned library with books going up to the ceiling. It also boasted a top-of-the-range computer, but the predominant impression was of another century. She was charmed.

She was also slightly puzzled when she examined papers and heard Ferrini’s detailed description of what he wanted her to do. The notes were extensive and the ground seemed to have been well covered already. But the fee he was offering was considerable, and she had no other work in prospect.

At last the door opened to reveal Ferrini’s elder son.

‘Papa, Signor Marucci wants to speak to you urgently-’

Her host said something very impolite about Signor Marucci.

‘Don’t worry,’ Luigi said. ‘I’ll look after the Dottoressa. There are many things you haven’t told her.’

‘Can you endure this bad character?’ Ferrini asked her, grinning.

‘He doesn’t frighten me,’ Mandy said. She waited until the other two had left, then said firmly to Luigi, ‘Shall we get to work?’

She had to admit that when he got talking he was serious and interesting, giving her insights that his father had overlooked. But he also gazed at her like a lovesick puppy, making it hard for her to keep a straight face.

‘I think we should join the others now,’ she said.

‘Haven’t I earned a reward?’ he asked plaintively.

‘You’ve certainly earned my thanks.’

‘Is that all? Not one little kiss?’ He began to advance on her.

‘Listen to me, Luigi. You’re a very nice person, but I’m several years older than you and I don’t play games with children.’

‘I’m not a child. I’ll show you.’

He managed to get an arm around her waist but she fended him off with a hand pressed firmly against his chest.

‘I’m warning you, Luigi-’

‘But now I simply must kiss you,’ he said winsomely. ‘It’s a matter of honour.’

In the brief tussle that followed he succeeded in planting the tiniest possible peck on her cheek before she managed to get free and head for the door. Then she froze.

Renzo was standing there.

‘Our host asked me to fetch you,’ he said tonelessly. ‘There’s going to be dancing.’

‘Good,’ she said a little breathlessly. ‘I enjoy dancing.’

‘Yes, I remember.’

‘Splendid,’ Luigi declared, unabashed. ‘Now I can dance with you.’

But now the game had palled.

‘I don’t think so,’ she said. ‘You have other guests. I mustn’t monopolise you.’

He tried to get close again, but Renzo forestalled him, extending his arm for Mandy to take.

‘Well, don’t let Renzo monopolise you,’ Luigi said blithely. ‘He won’t dance with you. He can’t. He’s a dead man these days.’

Mandy heard someone draw a sharp breath. It might have been Renzo or herself. She couldn’t be sure because a red mist had descended on her.

‘What a rotten thing to say!’ she flashed. ‘You should be ashamed of yourself.’

‘All right,’ he said, backing away. ‘Don’t eat me. I’m just warning you that he’s not the man he was.’

‘He’s still ten times the man you are,’ she raged. ‘Let me go, Renzo.’

He’d settled his arms around her tightly enough to withstand her struggles.

‘Let me go.’

‘Hush,’ he said, holding on. ‘You can’t murder him in his own house. It wouldn’t be polite. Luigi, clear off or, I swear, I’ll set her on you.’

Luigi fled.

When he was out of sight, she stood for a moment, breathing hard, shattered by her own reaction. She’d thought she was in command until Luigi had insulted Renzo. Now she was in a blazing temper, and turned it on him for lack of any other target.

‘Why did you do that?’ she blazed. ‘Did you hear what he said about you?’

He nodded. ‘I heard what you said too. There was a time when you’d have gone to the stake rather than pay me a compliment.’

‘I wasn’t complimenting you,’ she said quickly. ‘I just said it to put him down.’

‘Ah, yes, I should have realized that.’

‘I was annoyed at his callousness. Didn’t it make you angry when he said you were a-’ She stopped, unable to say it.

‘A dead man?’ Renzo finished for her. ‘Why shouldn’t he say it? It’s true. I’ve been a dead man for two years, but perhaps-Who knows?’

The stab of pleasure this gave her made her doubly conscious that he was still holding her firmly against him. His grip was strong, not at all like an invalid, and the warmth from his body seemed to envelop her.

‘Will you please let me go?’ she asked in a shaking voice.

‘I don’t think I should. You’re not a safe person to be on the loose. You never were. The first time we met, you threatened to thump me.’

‘No, our meeting in the office wasn’t the first meeting. There was one before that.’

He nodded. ‘Yes, there was. I behaved very badly, didn’t I?’

‘Shockingly.’

‘And you were wearing that towel robe that kept falling open.’

‘I don’t remember,’ she said, trying to dismiss the pictures that flashed through her brain.

‘Neither did I for a long time, but I’ve remembered now.’ His smile came from the old days and told her that his memory contained every detail of that night. To her intense annoyance, she found that she was blushing.

‘Nothing to say?’ he asked wryly. ‘That’s not like you. You were always waiting to catch me out.’

‘I liked my fun,’ she said defiantly.

‘Not that night. We could have had fun together-’

‘I’d barely met you.’

‘You’d barely met Luigi tonight but it didn’t stop you egging him on.’

‘I didn’t-How dare-’ She was speechless.

‘Let’s go out into the garden, where we can have a drink and talk.’

Renzo began to lead her out of the house, still his prisoner, and now she found that the desire to escape had mysteriously faded.

The sound of music reached them from the garden and they wandered out to find it lit with fairy lights. There was a small orchestra and a patio where couples were dancing. Beyond it, people were wandering among the fountains, drinking champagne, talking softly.

‘Let’s dance,’ he said, adjusting his hold so that she was completely in his arms.

‘Can you dance?’

He gave her a wry smile. ‘That bit of me is still alive.’

He danced slowly, but seemingly without difficulty, which puzzled her. Only recently he’d been in such pain that he’d needed a wheelchair. Now it was hard to tell that there was anything wrong with him.

One thing was clear to her. He’d been wrong that time when he’d said women stared at him only out of cruel calculation. They were staring at him now, and their expressions were the same ones she’d seen in the Alps: curiosity, desire, anticipation. But no pity.

With her high heels she could almost look him in the eye, something he seemed to appreciate, for he held her gaze steadily and his mouth was dangerously close.

She tried to remember that she was angry with him for ignoring her for days, but the pleasure of his presence had made everything else retreat into the distance. He’d always had that effect and it was as annoying now as it had been then. She wanted to tell him to stop his nonsense. She wanted to kick his shins-very gently. She wanted to kiss him.

‘I’m suspicious of you,’ she said at last.

‘No change there, then,’ he murmured, so that she felt his breath softly touching her face.

‘I mean, I want to know what’s brought about this miracle recovery.’

‘I’m a genius, hadn’t you heard?’

‘Yes, you’ve told me. I never believed it, then or now.’

‘That’s what I was afraid of.’ He sighed.

‘Will you be serious? Have you done something stupid? Yes, of course you have. You’ve got no sense.’

‘True. There’s a lot going through my head just now, but none of it’s sensible.’

‘Does it matter?’ She chuckled. ‘Common sense is for wimps.’

‘I couldn’t agree more.’

‘If I were being really sensible, I’d wonder at the coincidence of us both turning up here tonight.’ When he didn’t reply, she cocked her head on one side and challenged him. ‘It’s not an accident, is it?’

He eyed her warily. ‘What do you think?’

‘I think you’re the most devious, unscrupulous…If I really told you what I thought of you, we’d be here all night. You set it up, didn’t you?’

‘I admit nothing.’

‘You don’t have to. If ever a man appeared guilty-’

‘No, no, you misunderstand,’ he said with a grin. ‘That isn’t guilt. It’s conceit at getting my own way.’

‘Of course it is.’

At that moment Ferrini danced by. He was amazed at the sight of Mandy.

‘Mio dio! I meant to send someone to fetch you and I completely forgot. Never mind. Here you are.’

He danced away. Mandy stared indignantly at Renzo, who was looking sheepish.

‘You told me he sent you to fetch me,’ she accused.

‘Did I? I forget.’

‘You’re a rotten liar.’

‘No, actually, I’m a very good liar,’ he said outrageously. ‘I can produce a hundred witnesses to testify to my skill at being most convincing when I’m most dishonest. Look, you were on your own with Luigi. You might have needed help.’

‘You were protecting me?’

‘Didn’t you protect me back there?’

That silenced her just for a moment, until she recovered enough to say, ‘Don’t get all offended and full of male pride.’

‘Oddly enough, I wasn’t,’ he said softly. ‘I just never thought of you taking up the cudgels on my behalf.’

‘I don’t like people having a go at you,’ she muttered.

‘You mean, you reserve that privilege for yourself?’

‘Something like that. Anyway, we’re even now. Though why you thought I needed help to deal with that silly boy, I don’t know.’

‘I know what he can be like.’

‘Like you at the same age,’ she ventured.

‘I was much worse,’ he said with a grin.

‘Why do I find that so easy to believe?’ she asked of the air.

‘Because you know me better than I know myself, which is alarming. I keep wondering, What did I do that she knows and I don’t?’

She gave him an impish smile which came and went in the fairy lights.

‘If you’re hoping I’m going to tell you,’ she murmured, ‘think again.’

‘Little cat. Don’t torment me-tell me.’

‘No. There are some things a man must remember for himself, or they weren’t important.’

‘And it was important, wasn’t it, Mandy?’

‘Oh, yes.’

‘Tell me.’

‘Be patient. It’ll come to you.’

‘And if it doesn’t?’

‘Then I’ll just have to go away.’

His arms tightened. ‘I won’t let you. I’ll keep you prisoner.’

‘You won’t find that easy. I’ll escape.’

He leaned down so that his mouth was close to hers. ‘Give me a clue.’

‘Let’s think-what do you want to do, right this minute?’

His eyes gleamed, but he seemed puzzled, as well.

‘Mandy-are you telling me-it wasn’t just my imagination?’

She lifted her head a little and laid her lips against his. ‘Remember,’ she whispered.

The next moment she’d slid free of him and glided away. Before he could follow her, she was in the arms of another partner.

Renzo went to sit at the edge of the patio, where he could watch her. His mind was reeling with the impressions chasing through it. Had he understood her properly? Would any woman tease about such a thing if it wasn’t true? Did he dare to believe her?

A dead man, Luigi had said. But not any more. Even the thought of making love to her was bringing life back to a body resigned to a half existence. It was strange and thrilling in a way he’d thought never to experience again. And his pretty little cat had done it with the merest flick of her tail.

Now the sight of her dancing with other men was as electrifying as it had been the first time. Did she know that? Of course she did.

She glided past, giving him a challenging look that he couldn’t mistake. He returned it in full measure, then moved determinedly among the dancers to claim her.

‘Hey,’ protested her partner. ‘You can’t do that.’

‘Watch me,’ Renzo said simply.

‘Don’t tangle with him,’ Mandy advised the young man. ‘He knows what he wants.’

As she said it she smiled at Renzo in a way that made him grasp her firmly and swing her away.

‘You never said a truer word,’ he told her. ‘And what I want now is to know where you’re leading me.’

She stopped, giving him the same look as a few minutes before, full of promise, daring, provocation.

‘All right,’ she said, taking his hand. ‘Let’s find out together.’

She moved him away, keeping hold of him, making him her prisoner as he’d threatened to make her his. But no prisoner had ever been more content. She could sense that, just as she could sense the jealous stares of the other women as they passed. They knew she’d secured the most desirable man in the place. They knew where she was taking him, and what they were going to do. And every one of them was burning with envy.

She had never enjoyed anything more.

Ferrini appeared, laughing, understanding.

‘My car will take you home,’ he said. ‘Look after him, signorina. He very much needs it.’

‘I know he does.’

The car was ready to take them on the short journey. She fell into the back and reached for him, kissing him eagerly.

‘I’m leading you there,’ she whispered, ‘and here, if that’s where you want to go.’

‘Mmm,’ he said.

‘Renzo?’ she said as a disturbing dread rose in her. ‘Renzo? Oh, no, I don’t believe this. It can’t be happening.’

But it was happening. Renzo’s eyes were closed and his head slumped forward.

‘Are you daring to fall asleep?’ she demanded, outraged.

‘No,’ he said, hastily opening his eyes.

But they closed again at once. He was dead to the world.