Second-Best Wife

by Rebecca Winters

  She averted her eyes. Something told her Giovanni knew about her secret attraction to Luke. With those cryptic words, he intended to crush any thoughts she might be entertaining about his brother whose heart embraced a higher form of love.

  She wondered if this had happened before—Giovanni bringing home a girl, only to have her fall in love with Luke. It was a horrifying thought. She felt so ashamed and so helpless.

  “Good night, Giovanni.”

  “Buona notte, Gaby.”

  She slid from the car, shut the door and waved until he’d left the alley.

  The happy girl who’d left earlier in the evening to enjoy the Renaissance Fair was not the same troubled woman who entered the back door of the pensione, wondering how life would ever hold the same meaning for her again.

  She could return home to live in Nevada, surrounded by her loved ones. She could even find a way to move to this region of Italy, a part of her heritage. There was no more beautiful spot on earth. But either way she would be empty because of a man she’d only known three hours.

  Whatever it was about Luke, meeting him had altered her life drastically. He was a man whose mere presence defined the role of woman in her as no one else had ever done or would do. A man to whom she felt bonded though his destiny lay in an entirely different direction.

  Perhaps Scott was right and she had more of her great-grandmother in her than she had supposed. Gabriella Trussardi had lost her heart to a vagabond artist and had followed him literally to the ends of the earth.

  Gaby Holt would do the same thing for the love of one Luca Provere. But where he went, she couldn’t follow. Even if he weren’t a priest, she had no right to love him. Not when his brother had met and loved her first.

  Intense pain propelled her up the stairs to her room. Most of the students were still enjoying the fair. With sleep out of the question, she could get her house cleaning done for the next occupant without disturbing anyone.

  After changing into a baggy T-shirt and cutoffs, she plunged in. The key was to keep busy until she dropped from exhaustion.

  A half hour later, Gaby needed to escape the heat and went to the study-hall-cum-salon for an Orangina. There was no such a thing as ice, but at least it would be wet and quench her thirst.

  To her surprise she found a roomful of students who lived at the pensione. They were huddled together in serious conversation, gesticulating back and forth. She heard smatterings of German and French.

  Celeste motioned to Gaby the second she saw her. “You have heard the news, oui?”

  She came to a standstill. “No.”

  “Aie… An accident down the street. You know? Une auto, écrasée. Mon Dieu, c’est affreux.”

  Perhaps she was being paranoid, but Gaby found herself asking, “What color was the car?”

  “Noire,” Lise supplied. “Black. It came from le palais.”

  Not Giovanni… “That’s my friend’s car. Where did it happen?” Gaby cried in alarm.

  After a discussion, the girls decided it would be easier to show her. Frantic, Gaby dashed from the room following the others to the front door of the pensione.

  But once she gained the outside, her progress was blocked by a cobalt blue Maserati which had just pulled up to the entry. The bricked street was too narrow for cars to park, which meant she and her friends had to walk around it.

  Gaby tried to dodge the person getting out of the driver’s side and found herself face to face with the man who had transformed her life.

  “Luke!”

  Only the most tragic news would have brought him here. She felt the blood drain from her face. On cue, her legs started to give way.

  With a fierce explanation he gripped her shoulders to prevent her from falling. “Gabriella,” he said her name for the first time in the Italian way, giving her a little shake.

  She tried to talk coherently. “The girls—they just told me about Giovanni—They were taking me to the scene of the accident.”

  His eyes penetrated the darkened blue of hers. “There would be no point. I’ve just come from the hospital. He’s had a concussion, but he’s going to be all right.”

  His words brought blessed relief. Gaby sagged against him. “Thank heaven his injuries weren’t more serious,” she cried softly, not realizing what she was saying or doing until her lips grazed the gold cross hanging around his neck.

  The metal, warm from his hard body, scorched her. She sprang apart from him, guilt ridden and humiliated by her lack of control.

  “I—I’m sorry. Please forgive me,” she begged, her emotions in utter chaos. “I didn’t mean—”

  “There’s nothing to forgive.” His voice grated. “My brother has given us too many surprises for one night. Is there anything you need before I drive you to the hospital? Giovanni wants to see you.”

  Trying to think, she backed away from him, still unsteady. His gaze lowered to take in her attire. The blood returned to her cheeks with alarming swiftness.

  She would never have worn this outfit in front of a man, let alone Luca Provere. Loose as it was, the thin cotton T-shirt revealed far too much of her figure. The cutoffs accentuated her long, elegant legs.

  “I need to change,” her voice trailed before she disappeared inside the pensione, only to face a barrage of questions from her friends. They followed her to her room.

  While she put on the clothes she’d worn to dinner, they commiserated over Giovanni’s accident. But what they really wanted to talk about was the gorgeous male specimen sitting outside in the Maserati.

  The questions flew, but Gaby was too overwhelmed by Luke’s appearance at the pensione to satisfy their curiosity. All she knew was that he made an unforgettable impact on anyone who met him.

  She would never have wished for more time alone with him at the expense of Giovanni’s physical wellbeing, but her heart didn’t seem to know that. She couldn’t remember her feet touching the ground as she made her way out the door to his car.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  GABY could hear the motor idling as she slid inside the luxury sports car. Luke had left the passenger door open and reached across her body to shut it once she was seated.

  As he fastened the lap belt, his arm accidentally brushed against her midriff. The disturbing contact sent a prickle of expectancy through her system. Before directing his attention to the road, he slanted her a probing glance that left her dazed.

  She linked her fingers together. “H-how did the accident happen?” Giovanni hadn’t seemed upset when he’d left her, but now she knew differently. She’d been riddled with guilt since the moment the girls had told her about it.

  “He had to swerve to avoid a group of students and crashed into a wall. I expect there’ll be bruises, but on the whole, he was lucky to escape without getting himself killed.”

  “Your poor mother must be frantic.”

  He geared down to take a curve, controlling the powerful engine with practiced ease. “That’s one way of putting it. Giovanni never was a good driver.”

  “Did—did you see the car?”

  His jaw hardened. “If you mean what was left of it, yes. We can thank God it happened after he brought you back to the pensione.”

  The words he left out created a horrifying picture in her mind. Gaby shivered convulsively. “I-it’s my fault he’s hurt,” she said in a tortured whisper.

  With a grimace, Luke maneuvered the car to the casualty parking area of the hospital and shut off the motor. “So you did confront him.”

  She bent her head. “Yes.”

  “Did he admit to wanting to marry you?” Luke demanded in clipped tones.

  Gaby wiped her eyes with the palms of her hands. “H-he said that if he did marry, I was the woman he would choose, but he knew I didn’t feel the same way about him. He’s h-hoping I’ll miss him and come back next summer.”

  The man next to her stirred restlessly. “And what was your response?”

  “I told him I cared for him very much, but beyond
that, I—I didn’t know what to say.”

  She heard a harsh intake of breath. “He’s still in the denial phase of your rejection.”

  Her head jerked toward him. “What do you mean?”

  “He asked me to bring you to him. You’re the only person he wants to see.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Luke flexed his hand. “He refuses to talk to Mother or me.”

  She was staggered by the revelation. “This is a nightmare. Luke, you have to believe I never meant to hurt him. He’s a good friend. That’s all!”

  “You and I both know that,” he rasped, “but love can change a man beyond recognition.” The timbre of his voice revealed new layers of pain.

  “If I’d had any idea—” she cried, shaking her head in disbelief.

  She heard his muttered imprecation. “I thought I knew my brother, but I returned home to find a stranger inhabiting his body.”

  “I—I don’t know what to do. The last thing I want is to make the situation worse. If I refuse to seeh-”

  “You won’t refuse,” he asserted the avowal. “His doctor says he mustn’t be upset right now. Once more I’m going to have to ask you to play a part.”

  She let out a groan. “For how long?”

  His dark eyes impaled her. “For as long as it takes,” came the grating voice. He levered himself from the driver’s seat.

  She knew his hand at her elbow was an impersonal gesture to assist her from the car. Yet despite the precarious circumstances of Giovanni’s accident, her body felt electrified by his touch. Somehow he must have sensed her reaction because he reeled away from her the second she was on her feet.

  Following a few steps behind him, she entered the emergency room. The place swarmed with friends and relatives of victims brought in for treatment. She supposed the fair had produced an influx of casualties. When she thought of Giovanni’s brush with death, another shudder attacked her.

  “This way,” he murmured. Together they proceeded past various cubicles to the end where a blue curtain had been drawn. With every step, the sounds and smells started to get to her and she felt sick.

  “Wait—” She grabbed his forearm for support.

  “Mio Dio!” he importuned before putting his arm around her shoulders. “You’ve gone white as alabaster.”

  “Just give me a moment,” she whispered. For a time she was out of control of her actions. Until her ears stopped buzzing, she clung to him. Slowly the warmth and reassurance of his hard body seeped into hers. She became aware of other sensations which had no place at a time like this, let alone with a man like Luca Provere.

  Beneath his black silk shirt, her cheek registered the strong pounding of his heart. Like a person under water, all her movements were slow as she reluctantly began drawing away from him. When her hands slid from his chest, she felt the tremor of his powerful body with a sense of wonder.

  He stared at her balefully. “You’re not up to this. I’m going to take you back to the pensione.”

  Out of self-preservation, she put some distance between them. “No—I—I’m all right. Giovanni is the one we have to think about right now.” Without waiting to hear what his response would be, she moved to the edge of the curtain and pulled it aside.

  “Gaby!”

  “Oh, Giovanni. What have you done to yourself?” His forehead was wrapped to hold some gauzy pads over the spot where he must have hit the windshield. He couldn’t have been wearing as seat belt. But other than the injury to his head, he looked in surprisingly good shape.

  She rested her cheek tenderly against his for a brief moment, then raised back up. “You look younger dressed in that hospital gown. I can picture you the way you must have been as a boy.”

  He laughed. Thank heavens he still could. “I feel like a little boy with the staff waiting on me.”

  Tears stung her eyes. “I’m so grateful you’re all right. When Lu—” She stopped, then started again. “When your brother came to find me and told me what happened, I was shocked. Are you in a lot of pain?”

  “Not very much. Mostly I am ashamed to have wrecked the car. This is not my first accident.”

  “Compared to your life, a car means nothing. Giovanni—” She lowered her voice. “What’s wrong? Your brother tells me you’ve refused to talk to him or your mother. Don’t you know how much that hurts them?”

  “Are they both here?”

  “I haven’t seen your mother, but Luke is right outside.”

  A sleepy smile broke out on his face. “Do you really call him Luke?”

  She colored. “I—I didn’t mean to, especially when I know he’s about to become Father Luca. It just sort of slipped out. I’m afraid I’m very typical of my nationality. We don’t often stand on formality.”

  “It’s a refreshing change, Gaby. I’m sure he thinks so, too. Tell him to come in.”

  She blinked. “Now?”

  “Yes.”

  Relieved for Luke, she murmured, “I’ll get him.”

  Patting his arm, she slipped outside the curtain. Luke stood a little ways off, his head bent in deep concentration. It gave her immense satisfaction just to look at him. What would it be like to feast her eyes on him forever, and have the right to do it?

  “Luke?” she called his name softly. At the sound of her voice he turned. His eyes were dark and brooding on her face. “He wants to see you.”

  A stillness came over him as he continued to study her without giving away anything of what he was thinking. She grew uneasy before he indicated that he was coming. When she returned to Giovanni’s bedside, Luke wasn’t far behind. He walked around to the other side of the bed so he was facing her.

  Giovanni stared at his brother with a look of such love, Gaby’s heart swelled with emotion. “Fratello —You know Mama. She asks so many questions. Tonight I’m too tired to answer them. That is why I didn’t want her here. At times like this, you are the only one who can help calm her down.

  “As for Gaby, I thought if you brought her to the hospital, then I would only have to say things once to the both of you.”

  Luke’s face was grim with concern. “Has the doctor found further injuries? Tell me!” His voice rang with love. Theirs was a rare, special bond between brothers.

  “No. But he says I must stay in the hospital for observation at least two days. Gaby—” His heavy-lidded brown eyes slowly shifted to her. “I am sorry I won’t be able to take you to the ball. I know how much you were counting on it.”

  Her hands spread apart emotively. “How can you even think about it at a time like this? I couldn’t care less, Giovanni. All that matters is that you get well.”

  “What ball are you talking about?” Luke muttered in a low voice.

  Gaby shook her head. “It’s nothing. Forget it.”

  “The Renaissance ball held at the university,” Giovanni persisted. “It’s the culminating activity of Gaby’s art history studies. Everything will be authentic. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her. I wanted her to wear an authentic hair piece in honor of the event.” Giovanni spoke to his brother as if she weren’t in the room.

  “It’s over there in a bag the ambulance people brought in. The porcelain box was smashed at impact, but the jewelry wasn’t damaged.”

  Like someone in slow motion, Luke found the bag sitting on a chair and lifted out the contents. When he examined the elaborate pearl headdress, she didn’t think his eyes could go any darker, but they did.

  Clearly shocked, his gaze flickered immediately to his brother, sending him an unspoken message she couldn’t decipher. Giovanni didn’t appear in the least affected by Luke’s reaction.

  “I planned to bring Gaby to the palace in the morning so Luciana could arrange it in her hair. It goes perfectly with the dress I’d picked out for her.”

  “What dress?” Gaby was nonplussed.

  His eyes closed. Fatigue had taken hold of him.

  “It was going to be another surprise.”

&nb
sp; She hugged her arms to her body. “I think there have been enough of those for one day.”

  “If only you weren’t going back to Rome in the morning, Luca, you could take Gaby in my place. Then I wouldn’t have to disappoint her when she has been looking forward to tomorrow night since her arrival in Urbino.”

  “That’s not true!” she cried, aghast at such a suggestion. “Do you honestly think I could enjoy myself knowing you are lying hurt in a hospital?”

  “I am not on my death bed, Gaby. In two, three days, I will be up and around again. But you will never come back to Urbino. Deep down in my heart I know that now. That’s why I want your last night here to be one you’ll remember forever.”

  In the most gracious way possible, Giovanni had just told her in front of his brother that he’d accepted her rejection of him.

  Luke’s eyes captured hers, the throbbing nerve in his jaw clearly visible. “Tomorrow night is your last night?” he inquired in his deep voice.

  “Yes. School is over. My tour bus leaves for Belgium day after tomorrow. I’ll be flying from Brussels to the States.” I’ll never see you again, Luca Provere. Why does that fact hurt me so much? she groaned inwardly.

  Breaking eye contact with him, she leaned over Giovanni and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll call tomorrow to see how you are getting along. Since your brother is leaving in the morning, I’m going to go now so the two of you can enjoy the precious little time you have left together.”

  “I’ll drive you, then come back,” Luke announced as if it were a foregone conclusion.

  “No.” She shook her head emphatically. “I’m so relieved Giovanni is all right, I feel like walking.”

  Luke’s features looked chiseled. He wasn’t used to being dictated to. “It’s getting late. You shouldn’t be out on the streets alone.” He didn’t let up in order to emphasize the point.

  She smiled bravely at him. The way she was feeling about him right now, there was much less danger mixing with the crowd. “Tonight everyone is out! My pensione is only ten minutes from here. I need to walk off that fabulous dinner and I’d like to stretch my legs.”

  Giovanni sighed. There were purple smudges beneath his closed lids. “Do not argue with Gaby, my dear Luca. She is an independent American woman who knows her own mind and can protect herself. When a scoundrel tried to pick her pocket two weeks ago, she did a trick that made him double over, then run off. Something her brothers taught her.”