by Nina Singh
“Did you get a chance to freshen up, dear?” Nonna asked with a warm smile.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Come sit. Shall Violetta bring you some tea? I know how much you enjoy it in the afternoon.”
She shook her head. “I’ll just run down to the kitchen and get some later.”
“The kitchen,” Nonna said and smiled. “I’ll have you know, Marisa made sure all your cooking tools remained exactly as they were. Wouldn’t let anyone touch them. Kept saying you’d want them where you’d left them when you returned.”
Brianna forced a weak smile. “That was nice of her.”
“We’re just glad you’re back to use them again.”
Brianna gave Marco a sharp look, waiting for him to say something. The newspaper remained where it was.
“I must thank her,” she said.
In a gesture she wasn’t sure what to make of, Enzo gave her leg a hard squeeze, then ran back to Nonna. He scampered up to her lap, the photo book once more in his hands. He opened it up and pointed to one of the pages.
Nonna laughed indulgently. “I take it that’s my hint to get started again.”
Brianna watched the two of them as she pulled out a chair at the table and dropped herself into it. Enzo certainly did seem happy. Rarely had she seen him act quite this enthusiastic. Sure, he’d always been an energetic, loud, rambunctious little boy. But the grin between his chubby cheeks right now and the pleasure radiating from his eyes were altogether new.
Something squirmed in the bottom of Brianna’s belly. She had taken Enzo away from all this. Was that separation really the true source of his issues today?
Enzo let out a squeal of laughter in response to something his great-grandmother said. It had been a while since Brianna had heard him laugh like that. He pointed to something on the page. “Mama.”
Nonna nodded. “That’s Mama, yes.”
He moved his pudgy finger an inch. “Papa.”
“Yes, that’s right,” Nonna answered.
Enzo looked up at Brianna. Then he switched his gaze to his father. “Wuv Mama. Wuv Papa.” He started to clap.
Brianna’s heart gave a thud. Marco finally lowered the newspaper. What in the world was she to do now?
* * *
Marco watched the myriad of emotions that drifted over Brianna’s face. He watched her features tighten, the way she sucked in her lower lip.
She looked so wistful, so sad. So alone. Was that how she’d felt before she left six months ago?
...wasn’t the same as having one’s husband around.
He stood and extended a hand to her. “Here. Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?”
“I could use a walk. There’s been several additions to the vineyards. I’ll show them to you.”
Brianna stared at him a moment, then finally stood without taking his hand. Marco took her gently by the elbow and led her off the veranda.
“Be right back, Nonna,” he said over his shoulder.
“Those two are getting along splendidly, aren’t they?” Brianna asked after they’d walked a few steps.
“Nonna’s always enjoyed his company.”
“He’s always so well-behaved around her.”
“Unlike with all his nannies?”
“All except for—” Brianna stopped.
Marco sighed. “You were going to say Curtis, weren’t you?”
She gave him a sideways look and nodded.
“Don’t worry,” Marco replied. “I’m not going to go rabid at the sound of his name.”
“Back in the States, you said he might be trying to manipulate me. What does that mean, exactly?”
“Is it so hard to understand? You’re a mature woman, fairly established. He must know you have financial resources. I’d say it was fairly obvious.”
“In other words, he may be a gold digger?”
“He wouldn’t be the first one I’ve encountered in my lifetime. I was going to allow you to hire Curtis back, remember?”
“Only after I managed to convince you Curtis would never take money he hadn’t earned.”
“Yes, well he’d be the rare exception.”
She huffed out a small laugh. “Are you saying some of the ladies you’ve dated were only after you for your money? I find it hard to believe. Handsome and charming as you are.”
A childish surge of male pride went through him at her words. Immature as it may be, he liked it that she saw him that way. “I wasn’t referring to my past dalliances.”
Her eyes grew wide as fire ignited in the green depths. “Then who? You can’t mean—”
“Of course not, cara. I’ve never entertained that notion.”
“Nor should you.” She hesitated before continuing. “Do you mean your mother?”
Marco looked off into the horizon. Thick fluffy clouds glided slowly across the sky. “Even as a child I could see my mother was only in it for the money. The lifestyle.”
“She was?”
He nodded. “It was no coincidence that her frequent absences started right around the time the company started floundering.” His chest tightened with anger. “The funny thing is, she’s partly the reason for the company’s financial woes at the time.”
“How so?”
“My father was so distracted by his new bride, he sorely neglected his duties as head of Dirici Foods. Not to mention all the money he spent on her. It was a vicious cycle. The more he tried to appease her, the worse things got. Till one day she left for good.”
Brianna started to reach for him. For one insane moment, he waited for her touch, yearned for it. To feel her soft skin against his. She pulled back and brought her fingers to her lips instead. “I’m sorry. For what you had to deal with. As a child.”
He shrugged. “Don’t feel sorry for me. I had Nonna. My dad was the one who never really recovered. Continued to pine for her. Like a lovesick fool. For years.” He grunted in disgust.
“So Nonna came to care for you.”
Marco leaned forward on the gate and rested his chin on his forearms. “There was no one else to do it. My father was barely functioning at that point.”
“And he withdrew from his only child.” She blew out a breath. “You never told me if she ever came back to even visit.”
“At first she did. And for those brief moments it felt as if the world was right once more. For me, anyway. She was refreshed, joyous almost. She’d actually get down in the dirt and play with her child. As if she’d found her true nature again.”
“That must have been so confusing for you as a small child.”
“In any case, what happened with my mother has nothing to do with what’s going on with Enzo.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
Whatever she meant by that, he was in no mood to delve into it. What use was it to wallow in the past? It was all water under the bridge. Muddy, filthy water.
“At least you had Nonna,” Brianna said, with a wistful hitch in her tone.
Thank the heavens. “And Nonno, for a good while.” A pressing thought suddenly occurred to him. What a selfish dolt he could be. Brianna was an orphan, abandoned at birth. She’d never even known her biological mother and father. So while he’d had loving grandparents to bear the load and lessen his pain of abandonment, Brianna had had no one that he knew of.
“It couldn’t have been easy for you either, cara. Growing up the way you did.”
She looked away. “The worst part was just moving from household to household as a foster kid. None of those places had a stable enough environment to last long. And I was hoisted away once again. A different town, a different school. It was impossible to make friends.”
Marco plucked a grape and pretended to study it. He waited; she would continue if she wanted. But he was beginning to understand
Brianna’s fierce desire for independence, to provide stability and grounding for herself and her child.
“There was one home that actually felt safe. Loving. My foster mom was pretty young at heart, so to speak. It was like living with a loving older sister.” After a while, she took a deep breath. “She was a former dancer.”
“You mean she was in the ballet?”
She laughed. “No, her form of dancing was a bit more, um, exotic than the ballet.”
Marco’s brows lifted to his hairline. “You’re kidding?”
Brianna had to laugh. “No. She’d cleaned up her act and had procured more traditional employment by the time she applied to foster children. But she still had connections to that world. Enough so that she still danced occasionally to make ends meet. Once that tidbit was discovered we were removed.”
“I see.” Marco still looked shocked at what she was revealing.
“Foolish really, the most loving home they’d put me in but they deemed it inappropriate.” Brianna said the last word as she gestured with hand quotes. She was smiling, but Marco could see the hurt underlying her casual words. “Ironically, it was really the only place I felt like I fit in. Like I belonged.”
That included this home too, Marco had no doubt. Brianna had never felt like she fitted in here with him at the Dirici estate. He had to acknowledge that. And the pain it must have caused her.
She reached for a grape and threw it in the air, catching it in her mouth. The innocent gesture gave him a glimpse of the child she must have been. A terribly lonely and solitary one apparently. Yet that unfortunate history had done nothing to diminish her spirit.
Silly really, to be finding out so much about his wife this late in the game. He looked at her carefully; her brow was creased, a troubled frown framed her lips. She was beautiful. An enchanting princess. She brushed past him further into the fields. He wanted to stop her, to pull her toward him, to kiss that frown away until she was moaning beneath him, until she forgot everything but Marco Dirici. The buzz of his phone with an incoming text snapped him out of the senseless thought.
“Looks like Nonna might be our most preferred parenting guide,” Marco said dryly, ignoring the message on his phone. “Perhaps we should formulate our own parenting scheme then. Not proceed by example.”
“I’ve been thinking along those lines myself.”
“Yeah?”
Brianna wiped her brow with the back of her hand. The afternoon had grown fairly warm for this time of year. “Well, maybe we should take Enzo to see someone. You know, a professional.”
“You want to take him to a, how do you Americans say it, a shrink?”
“I think we should consider it.”
“I fail to see what good that would do.”
“It would help to chart any progress.”
Suddenly Marco understood. “And it might let you know when it’s safe to take him back to New York.”
She was silent. For several moments, neither of them spoke. Finally, she looked away, out into the distance. “I can’t stay here forever, Marco. There are things back in New York waiting for me.”
Marco remained where he was though he wanted to go grab hold of her and shake her, demand to know exactly why. She hadn’t been in his house a full day yet and she was already figuring out how and when to leave. What was he supposed to do? Beg her to stay with him?
Out of the question. There was no point in prolonging the inevitable.
“It’s hot and my appointment is approaching,” he said. Even as he made the statement, his phone went off with a series of texts and buzzing sounds. Someone was desperately trying to get a hold of him from the corporate office. He swore as the signal dropped. Reception out here was spotty at best. “We should probably head back,” he said, begrudging the intrusion.
A cloud of disappointment washed over Brianna’s features. “I’d like to stay awhile longer, if you don’t mind.”
He didn’t feel right leaving her. But the calls and texts were coming in fast and furious now. And he hated to take her away from the serenity of the vineyard. Shame he couldn’t stay longer himself.
He would have to make a point of it to come out here more often. With Brianna.
“I trust you haven’t been gone so long that you can’t find your way back.”
She nodded. “I won’t be long behind you.”
An insane urge to ignore the calls tempted him. But in the end discipline won out. After all, she’d said he was free to go. One of them should be able to enjoy the day out here. And the walk back alone would give him some time to process everything he’d just learned. Not only about his wife, but about himself.
He gave Brianna a small nod and turned to go.
CHAPTER EIGHT
BRIANNA BLEW A tuft of hair off her face as she watched Marco walk away. As much as she would have preferred he stayed, she didn’t want to push. Some of what he’d said on the plane about being established financially fell into place now. She’d had no idea just how insecure he was about finances. Just went to show, sometimes even a vast amount of money wasn’t enough.
He’d revealed quite a bit, in fact. A lot of it rather surprising.
They’d been so guarded with each other all this time. So distant. But now their little boy’s well-being was at stake. They had to make peace with each other, if not as man and wife then as co-parents. Understanding one another better would make significant strides toward that end.
She walked further into the vineyard. It was so peaceful out here, so serene. She had to enjoy it awhile longer. Enzo was in fine hands with Nonna. It was a beautiful afternoon and Brianna had nothing to do, really. She would just stay out here, walk along the property, take in all the beauty of this enchanting land.
A solitary stroll would help clear her mind. That was the most she and Marco had ever confided in each other. It was a small start, but it was something.
Marco had seemed genuinely disappointed at having to leave her.
His expression before he left reminded her of the night of Enzo’s nightmare. How vulnerable Marco had looked when he’d held and rocked Enzo as he comforted him.
That was dangerous territory. Seeing Marco as vulnerable or weak in any way would be a mistake on her part.
So she wouldn’t think about how boyish his eyes had appeared beyond the hardened masculinity of his face as he spoke of his childhood. And she absolutely refused to think about the way he’d made her feel in the field earlier, nor the scent of him wafting up to her, or the hardness of his thigh when it had rubbed up against her leg mistakenly during the plane ride.
She squeezed her eyes shut. As a matter of fact, she wouldn’t think about anything at all. She’d just enjoy her surroundings. This area of the property was very new. She’d just stay here and see how Marco had expanded the varieties of grapes, what new vintages he was experimenting with. In a couple of years, she was certain he would be a prime supplier of Italian wines to fine restaurants all over the world. He was already one of the leading suppliers of fine Italian olive oils and specialty vinegars. And Dirici Foods was also a top company serving as middleman in acquiring and distributing fine cheeses and premade desserts. To think he’d done it all as practically an orphan, with a mother who’d left and a father too broken to care. The new knowledge added another dimension to the man she’d married but hadn’t really ever known.
Brianna had no doubt he would be just as successful when the wine was ready. He would start small, providing a few bottles to local restaurants. And in no time, he’d grow that aspect of the business too. He was smart, dedicated—
She huffed out a breath.
So much for taking him off her mind. She had to figure out a way to wipe Marco out of her brain. She’d rather focus on the beautiful afternoon air, the wonderful smell of the grapes, the acres and acres of lush green grass that stretched out far into
her line of vision.
Too far.
She paused and looked around. And come to think of it, the smell of the grapes was no longer nearly as pungent. She looked up to see she wasn’t even in the vineyard anymore.
Brianna turned. The house was no longer visible. The time had passed quickly. She had to turn around or she’d never have enough time to get cleaned up before dinner. In this part of the world, the evening meal was a nightly event one didn’t simply just show up for. Particularly not after strolling through dusty fields and working up a sweat.
She started walking toward the road. Within no time, the fashionable sandals on her feet felt like torture devices. Definitely not shoes meant for long trails through the Italian countryside. She was so busy cursing her lack of a decent sense of direction that it took a while to notice the distant whir of a car engine. Behind her. She turned around as the car drew alongside her, breathing a sigh of relief when she recognized the person in the driver’s seat.
Leonardo Soldaro. Marco’s business associate and childhood friend. She’d met Leo several times. He was funny and charming, one of the people who had made her feel at ease when she’d first married Marco and moved out here.
Brianna couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. The car stopped a few feet in front of her and Leo got out.
“Brianna. Is that you?” He walked toward her, the car still running.
“No other.”
“You’re back then.” He was a foot from her now and leaned in to give her a small peck on both cheeks.
“Just a few hours ago.”
“What in the world are you doing out here?”
She laughed. “Quite foolishly, I wandered too far after Marco and I parted ways back at the vineyards.”
Leo’s smile deepened. “I can’t believe that fool of a man lets you out of his sight at all.”
“Still as charming as ever, I see.”
“Yes, perhaps you could persuade others, particularly those of your fine gender, of the extents of my charm.”
“I certainly will. Who would you like me to start with?” she asked, just to humor him. Leo had a reputation throughout this whole side of Italy when it came to women. It rivaled only Marco’s. That thought ebbed the tide of her pleasure so she pushed it aside.
