An Innocent's Surrender

by Penny Jordan

  Not for herself, of course, but Gabi could pick out the right wedding gown for a bride at fifty paces.

  And they needed this to be sorted today!

  Bernadetta was on leave and so it had fallen to Gabi to sort.

  It always did.

  The bigger the budget, the trickier the brief, the more likely it was to have been put into the ‘Too Hard’ basket and left for Gabi to pick up.

  They were in the lull between Christmas and New Year. The wedding boutique was, in fact, closed today, but Gabi had many contacts and had called in a favour from Rosa, the owner, who had opened up just for them.

  Rosa would not push them out, but they had to meet Marianna, the functions co-ordinator, at the Grande Lucia at four.

  ‘Why don’t you try Gabi’s suggestion?’ Fleur, the mother of the groom, said.

  It was a little odd.

  Usually this trip would be taken with the mother of the bride or her sister or friends, but it would seem that it was Fleur who had first and last say in things.

  Fleur was also English, which meant that, in order to be polite, Gabi and Mona did not speak in Italian.

  Yes, it was proving to be a long, tiring day.

  And they would be back tomorrow with the bridesmaids!

  Reluctantly, very reluctantly, Mona agreed to try on Gabi’s suggestion and then disappeared with the dresser.

  As Rosa hung up the failed gown she saw that Gabi was looking at another dress.

  Silver-grey, it was elegant and simple and in a larger size, and when Gabi held it up she saw the luxurious fall of the fabric. Rosa was a talented seamstress indeed.

  ‘It would fit you,’ Rosa said.

  ‘I doubt it.’ Gabi sighed wistfully. ‘It’s beautiful, though.’

  ‘The order was cancelled,’ Rosa said. ‘Why don’t you go and try it on? It would look stunning, I am sure.’

  ‘Not while I’m working.’ Gabi shook her head. ‘Anyway, even if it did fit, when would I get a chance to wear it?’ Her question went unanswered as the curtains parted and a smiling Mona walked out.

  ‘Oh, Mona!’ Gabi breathed.

  The dress was perfect.

  It showed off Mona’s slender figure, and the bright white was indeed the perfect shade against her olive skin.

  ‘If only she had listened to you in the first place,’ Fleur muttered. ‘We are going to be late for the hotel.’

  ‘It’s all taken care of,’ Gabi assured her, checking her list on her tablet. ‘We’re right on schedule.’

  Ahead of it, in fact, because now that the dress had been chosen, everything else, Gabi knew, would fall more easily into place.

  Measurements had already been taken but fitting dates could not yet be made. Gabi assured Rosa she would call her just as soon as they had finalised the wedding date.

  They climbed back into the car and were driven through the wet streets of Rome towards the Grande Lucia but, again, Mona wasn’t happy. ‘I went to a wedding at the Grande Lucia a few years ago and it was so…’ Mona faltered for a moment as she struggled with a word to describe it. ‘Tired-looking.’

  ‘Not now it isn’t.’ Gabi shook her head. ‘It’s under new management, well, Alim has been…’ It was Gabi who now faltered but she quickly recovered. ‘Alim has been the owner for a couple of years and there have been considerable renovations; the hotel is looking magnificent.’

  Even saying his name made her stumble a little and blush.

  Gabi saw Alim only occasionally but she thought about him a lot.

  Their paths rarely crossed but if Gabi was organising a wedding at the Grande Lucia and Alim happened to be in residence at the time then her heart would get a rare treat, and she was secretly hoping for one today.

  ‘Let’s just see how you feel once you’ve actually seen the Grande Lucia for yourself.’ Gabi suggested. ‘Remember, though, that it’s terribly hard to get a booking there, especially at such short notice.’

  ‘Fleur doesn’t seem to think it will be a problem,’ Mona said with a distinct edge to her voice, and Gabi watched as she shot a look towards the mother of the groom. From all Gabi had gleaned, Fleur had agreed to finance the wedding on the condition that it was held there.

  ‘It won’t be,’ Fleur responded.

  Gabi wasn’t so sure.

  Marianna, the co-ordinator, was rather inflexible at the best of times and they wanted this wedding to be held in just over two weeks!

  They made good time as the streets were comparatively empty. The rush of Christmas was over and even the Colosseum was closed to visitors.

  Gabi stifled a yawn, wishing that she could put up her own Do not disturb sign to the world for a while.

  She had hoped to spend the Christmas break going over the plans for starting her own business. Instead, she had again been called in to work through her leave. She was tired.

  Almost too tired to keep alive the dream of one day owning her own business.

  She had started working for Matrimoni di Bernadetta when she was eighteen and had hoped that it would provide the experience she needed to one day go it alone.

  Six years later, at the age of twenty-four, that prospect seemed no brighter.

  Bernadetta had made very sure of that—there was barely time to think, let alone act on her own dreams.

  Still, she truly loved her job.

  Gabi looked up as the gorgeous old building came into view and they soon pulled up at the entrance.

  The car door was opened for them by the doorman, Ronaldo.

  ‘Ben tornato,’ Ronaldo said, and Gabi realised that it was Fleur and not she he was welcoming back.

  Fleur must be a guest. And a favoured one too from the attention that Ronaldo gave her.

  As Gabi got out there was a flutter of excitement at the thought that she might soon see Alim.

  He was always polite, even if he was somewhat aloof. She didn’t take it personally. Alim was the same with everyone and maintained a certain distance. There was just an air of mystery to him that had Gabi entranced. An entire floor of the Grande Lucia served as Alim’s residence when he was in Rome, and so, through the hotel industry grapevine, Gabi knew more than a little of his reputation. He loved beautiful women and dated as many of them as he could—though one night with him was all they would ever get.

  Breakfast was definitely not included in this particular package. In fact, according to Sophie, a friend of Gabi’s and a maid at the Grande Lucia, cold and callous were the most frequent words used to describe him by his lovers after they had been discarded.

  That didn’t seem right to Gabi for she always felt warm in his gaze, and when it came to business, his professionalism was never in doubt.

  Still, Sophie had told her, for all the tears there were perks for, rumour had it the reward for time spent in Alim’s arms came in the shape of a diamond.

  It sounded crass.

  Until you saw Alim.

  He was completely out of her league, of course, and that was not her being self-effacing. He veered towards slender blondes of the supermodel kind, and women who definitely knew the ropes in the bedroom.

  Apparently he had no inclination to teach.

  Gabi didn’t mind in the least that Alim was utterly unattainable, for it made it safe for her to dream of him.

  There was no sign that he was there when she walked through the brass revolving doors and into the magnificent foyer of the Grande Lucia.

  It was almost perfection.

  Stunning crimson carpet and silk walls were elegant—even sensual, perhaps—and worked well against the dark wooden furnishings. The space was vast and the ceilings high, yet there was an intimate feel from the moment you walked in, alongside the lovely buzz of a busy hotel.

  As a centrepiece, there was a huge, crimson floral display.

  Yes, almost perfect.

  Gabi had an eye for detail and this arrangement irked her. It never varied, or moved with the times. Instead, there was a perpetual display of deep red ros
es and carnations and it had become a slight bone of contention when Gabi had negotiated on behalf of her brides.

  Marianna came to greet them and took the trio for coffee at one of several intimate lounges just off the foyer.

  There they went through a few details and though Marianna was delighted to announce that there was an opening in just over two weeks, she was not going to make it easy for the bride.

  ‘I do need to verify dates with the owner,’ Marianna said. ‘We’re expecting some VIP guests at the hotel in January so security will be particularly tight. I’m not sure we’ll be able to accommodate you then. Alim has asked to be informed before any dates are locked in…’ She paused and looked up. ‘Oh, there he—’

  Marianna halted, causing Gabi to glance up. Alim had just entered the foyer with the requisite stunning blonde.

  Gabi guessed, and rightly so, that Alim did not like to be disturbed with minor details every time he made an appearance so Marianna did not alert Mona and Fleur to his presence.

  Yet such was his charisma, both women looked over.

  And while Marianna might be doing her best not to disrupt Alim’s day, Gabi’s had just been turned on its head.

  In the nicest of ways.

  He wore a slim dark coat and there was such an air of magnificence about him that he simply turned heads.

  Not just for his dark looks—there was more to him than that—but they were rather wonderful to dwell on. His hair was black and glossy and swept back. He stood tall and his posture was so upright he always made Gabi want to pull back her own shoulders.

  There was a shift that ran through her body whenever he was near, an awareness that made it difficult to focus on anything other than him, for all else seemed to move to the periphery of her consciousness to allow Alim centre stage.

  ‘Quanti ospiti?’

  Marianna’s voice was coming from a distance and as she asked how many guests for the wedding, it was Mona who answered instead of Gabi.

  For Alim had looked over and met her gaze.

  He was beautiful.

  Always.

  Effortlessly elegant, supremely polite, he was the calm, still water to Gabi’s fizz.

  She was a dreamer, which meant that though he was out of her league, he was not out of bounds to her thoughts; innocent in body she may be, but not so in her mind.

  And as for those eyes, they were a dark grey with silver flecks that spoke silently of the night.

  His gaze was a dangerous thing to be held in, Gabi knew, and she was trapped in it now. There was a fire crackling in the grate and there was heat low, low in her stomach and rising to her neck.

  She wanted to excuse herself from the conversation and walk over in response to his silent command. She wanted work to be gone, for his lover to disappear, and for Alim to lower her down onto a silken bed.

  Just that.

  ‘Gabi…’ Marianna intruded.

  ‘Alim,’ his lover called.

  But he was making his way over.

  ‘Va tuto bene?’

  He asked if everything was okay, and though his Italian was excellent, it was laced in his own rich accent and rendered Gabi incapable of response, for she had not expected him to come over.

  It was Marianna who responded and told him the preferred date for the wedding.

  ‘That would be fine.’ Alim nodded to Marianna and to the other guests and then he looked directly at Gabi; she found herself staring at his mouth as he spoke, for it was just a little safer than to stare into his eyes. ‘How are you, Gabi?’

  ‘I am well.’

  ‘That is good.’

  He turned and walked away and she held her breath.

  It was nothing—just an exchange so tiny that the others had not even noticed its significance, yet Gabi would survive on it for weeks.

  He knew her name.

  ‘Perhaps you could take Mona to see the ballroom while I discuss details with Fleur,’ Marianna suggested.

  Details being money.

  ‘Of course.’

  Gabi stood and smoothed her skirt.

  Oh, she loathed the black suit with a gold logo and the heavy, cowl-necked cream top. It was the perfect outfit for a funeral director, not a wedding planner.

  If it were her own business she would wear a willow-green check with a hint of pink. Gabi had already chosen the fabric.

  And she would not wear the black high heels that Bernadetta insisted on, for she felt too tall and bulky as she walked through the foyer alongside the future bride.

  And then she saw Alim and Ms Blonde stepping into his private elevator, and Gabi scowled at his departing back, for she envied the intimate experience they were about to share. Ms Blonde was coiling herself around him and whispering into his ear.

  Thank God for gated elevators.

  They were excellent for regaining self-control, for they slammed shut on the couple and as the world came back from the peripheries Gabi recalled that there was a wedding to be arranged.

  There were large double doors to the ballroom and Gabi opened them both so that Mona could get the full effect as she stepped in.

  It truly was stunning.

  Huge crystal chandeliers first drew the eye, but it was a feast in all directions.

  ‘Molto bello…’ Mona breathed, and it was a relief to slip back into speaking Italian. ‘The ballroom is nothing like I remember it.’

  ‘Alim, the owner, had it completely refurbished. The floor was sanded back, the chandeliers repaired. The Grande Lucia is once again the place for a wedding.’

  ‘I know it is,’ Mona admitted. ‘It is actually where James and I met. I was here for my grandparents’ anniversary. James was here, visiting…’ Mona stopped herself from voicing whatever it was she had been about to say. ‘I just don’t like it that Fleur is calling all the shots just because her…’ Mona clapped her lips together. Clearly she didn’t want to say too much.

  Gabi, curious by nature, wished that she would.

  Fleur was being very elusive.

  From the draft guest list, the groom’s side seemed incredibly sparse. Just a best man from Scotland would be flying in and that was all. There was no mention of James’s father.

  Gabi wondered if Fleur was widowed.

  But Gabi wasn’t there to wonder and her mind turned, as it always did, into making this the very best of weddings.

  ‘Imagine dancing under those lights at night,’ Mona said.

  ‘There is nothing more beautiful,’ Gabi assured her, and then pointed up to a small gallery that ran the length of the westerly wall and imagined the select audience watching the proceedings in days long gone.

  ‘The photographer can get some amazing overhead shots of the dance floor from up there. A photographer I…I mean Matrimoni di Bernadetta regularly uses does the most marvellous time-lapse shots from the gallery. They are stunning.’

  She could see that Mona was starting to get excited.

  ‘When you say you were here for your grandparents’ anniversary,’ Gabi probed, because the thought of time-lapse photos had got her thinking…

  ‘My grandparents were married here,’ Mona told her. ‘Sometimes they take out the record they danced to on their wedding night.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘I even recognise the floor from their wedding photos. It’s like stepping back in time.’

  Yes, even the ballroom floor was stunning—a parquet of mahogany, oak and redwood, all highly polished to reveal a subtle floral mosaic.

  ‘Your grandparents still dance to their wedding song…’

  Mona nodded and Gabi could see she that she was already sold on the venue.

  There would be a string quartet, but Mona loved Gabi’s suggestion that she and James dance their first dance to the same record that her grandparents had.

  And a wedding, a very beautiful one, was finally starting to be born.

  It was a rather more glowing bride-to-be who returned to the lounge area and now chatted happily with Fleur
and Marianna about plans.

  And it was a bemused Gabi who looked up and saw Ms Blonde angrily striding through the foyer; she didn’t know why, but she would bet her life’s savings that Alim had uncoiled her, unwilling, from his arms.

  Then later, much later, when plans were starting to be put more firmly in place, Gabi called Rosa with the official dates.

  ‘I’m already working on the dress,’ Rosa said. ‘She’s cutting it terribly fine to wear one of my gowns, even ready-to-wear.’

  And, after a long, tiring day taking care of others, Gabi did something for herself.

  She was all glowing and happy from that tiny exchange with Alim. Of course his lover’s departure could have nothing to do with her, but Gabi was a dreamer, and already her mind was turning things around.

  ‘Can I come and try on the silver dress?’ she asked.

  It was wonderful to dream of Alim.

  Copyright © 2017 by Carol Marinelli

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  ISBN-13: 978-1-488-03198-4

  AN INNOCENT’S SURRENDER

  Originally published as A SAVAGE ADORATION by Harlequin Mills & Boon in 1987

  This edition published 2017

  Copyright © 1987 by Penny Jordan