Second-Best Wife

by Rebecca Winters

  A cigarette dangled from Gina’s full Italian lips as she stopped at their seat. “Gaby, there is no easy way to say this, but you will have to get off the bus and accompany the police to their bureau.”

  “What?”

  Gina shrugged her shoulders coolly. “I must admit I am shocked by what the police have discovered in your luggage. Whatever the outcome, you will require help from the American Consulate in Rome. Here is their number. I have written it on my card.”

  She handed it to Gaby who took it with trembling hands. “I don’t understand,” she cried.

  Gina rolled her eyes. “You look as innocent as the Virgin herself. I, for one, would never have picked you to get into this kind of trouble. For now, I suggest you save any questions or explanations until you retain an advocate.”

  Panic welled inside her. “But I have to go home!”

  “When you have straightened things out, call the main office in London. I will tell them what has happened, and you can proceed from there. The police want your passport.”

  Gaby couldn’t believe this was happening. “It’s tucked inside my money belt underneath my clothes,” she whispered.

  A trace of a smile curved Gina’s lips before she turned to the policemen and translated. Both men stared at Gaby with icy contempt. She saw it in their eyes. On top of her crime she was an idiot American, which made her sin a thousand times worse.

  “They say you can turn it over to them when they take you to the precinct. It’s my opinion that what they found in your luggage was planted by a professional.” Gina spoke out of the corner of her mouth, giving her encouragement. “Unfortunately, the burden of proof will rest on you.”

  Of necessity, Joan had to move so Gaby could get past her. Humiliated and red-faced, Gaby moved out into the aisle.

  “If they let you, call me at the hotel in Lucerne tonight and tell me what happened,” Joan murmured beneath her breath. “Otherwise, write me.”

  Gaby pressed her friend’s hand before walking down the aisle with the police trailing her footsteps.

  “Good luck, Gaby,” both Gina and Mikaele called to her as she got off the bus.

  An hour later, Gaby found herself at police headquarters in Lugano. She surrendered her passport and was booked and finger-printed. No one would tell her details about her arrest. She could make no phone calls. They informed her that the consulate in Rome would not be available until the next morning.

  That’s when she broke down and begged them to call the palace in Urbino, convinced that one word in her defense from the House of Provere would do more to exonerate her than all the red tape the American Consulate could accomplish.

  But the police ignored her entreaty. To her horror, Gaby realized she would have to spend the night on a cot in a jail cell like a common criminal.

  Only the knowledge that she knew she was innocent of any wrongdoing kept her from losing her sanity. That and the fact that as soon as she could do anything at all about her situation, she’d phone Signora Provere. Surely Luke was back home by now. With his power and influence, she’d be freed in an instant.

  How ironic that this morning she couldn’t get away from him fast enough. He’d ordered her to stay with his mother until his return. If she’d done his bidding, she wouldn’t be locked up with no hope of being freed before morning.

  A shudder racked her body. All the ifs in the world wouldn’t change what had happened. She had run away from him, and tonight she was paying the price.

  Dear God—what she’d give to see him standing outside the bars of her cell!

  Defeated for the moment by her situation, she lay facedown on the cot in the dark, burying her face in the crook of her arm. Unfortunately other thoughts, all negative, began to creep into her psyche, paralyzing her with new fear.

  It was possible Luke might not be available right away. If he were still looking for Giovanni, it could be several days before he even knew about her situation, let alone had the time to do something about it.

  The more she considered what Signora Provere’s reaction might be, the more she worried that Luke’s mother wouldn’t be willing to help her. She wanted Gaby out of Giovanni’s life and wasn’t the least bit happy that Luke had spent any time with her.

  To make matters worse, Gaby was from Las Vegas, a place for the riffraff of American society in the older woman’s mind. No doubt she would consider it more than a possibility that Gaby had stolen something not belonging to her. She would endorse any punishment the Italian authorities chose to mete out to her.

  Exhausted from her ordeal, overwhelmed by all the emotions buffeting her body, she closed her eyes and gave in to the temptation to think forbidden thoughts about Luke.

  “Signorina? Holt?”

  Gaby thought she heard her name called and lifted her head, groggy because she must have fallen asleep for a while. A faint light at the end of the hall outlined two masculine silhouettes.

  “Yes?” she answered tentatively and sat up, aware there were marks on her cheek where she’d been lying on her braid. One of the policemen unlocked her cell to allow the other man inside, then locked it again and walked away.

  Gaby scrambled to her feet, suddenly frightened. “W-who are you?”

  “Shh, Gaby. Talk softly so no one can hear you but me.”

  She blinked in the darkness. The voice sounded so familiar, but it couldn’t be, could it? “Giovanni?” she whispered in shock.

  “Yes. Sit down, Gaby, before you faint.”

  She half fell against the cot. “What are you doing here when you’re supposed to be recovering from your accident? What’s going on? Why have I been arrested? Please tell me. Why did you disappear? Your family is frantic.”

  “Be patient and I will answer all your questions. But we don’t have much time. I must be gone from here before Luca comes.”

  Luke was coming? Her heart began to pound outrageously. “All right. I’m listening.”

  She couldn’t imagine what Giovanni was about and wondered if she was in the middle of a strange dream.

  “First, I have to ask you a question and you must answer it with total honesty because God is listening.”

  This was Giovanni talking to her, but he was being so mysterious. More than that, he sounded different, older, so solemn…

  “W-what is the question?”

  “You were with my brother all day yesterday, isn’t that true?”

  Gaby moaned in turmoil. This was the hardest thing she’d ever had to admit to in her life because she would never have hurt Giovanni intentionally. “Yes,” she said with tears in her voice.

  “Tell me everything that happened from the moment you saw him until you parted company last night.”

  Obviously this was of vital concern to Giovanni or he wouldn’t be vetting her like this in a jail cell. Perhaps Luke was in some kind of trouble with church authorities because of her. Gaby was beside herself with anxiety.

  “He caught up with me in Assisi,” she began breathlessly. “He said that he’d p-promised you to escort me to the ball, and intended to take me back to Urbino so Luciana could do my hair.”

  “That’s very interesting, considering the fact that my brother informed me he could not carry out my wishes and had to be back in Rome without fail,” Giovanni murmured as if to himself. “Go on.”

  By now Gaby was shaking, consumed by guilt. Giovanni was a very intuitive person. He knew the truth about her and Luke. But for some reason she didn’t understand, he wouldn’t let it go until he’d wrung every detail from her. This was a nightmare in a new dimension.

  “I took the early bus out of town because I wanted to visit Assisi before I left Italy. H-he found me up on the ramparts of the castle and insisted that I return to the palace with him.”

  “Which means he followed you there,” Giovanni muttered.

  Gaby hid her face in her hands. “Yes.”

  “Did you spend the whole day in Assisi?”

  A little sob escaped her throat. “No
—We—We drove to an inn for lunch.” Every revelation damned them a little more in Giovanni’s eyes.

  “Tell me about it,” he persisted in a calm voice.

  “Why do you want to hear all this, Giovanni?” she cried, knowing this had to be bringing him excruciating pain.

  “Just humor me, please. Is that such a difficult thing to do for a brother? You told my mother that you loved me like one.”

  “I do!” She moaned the words once more. Hot tears trickled down her cheeks. He’d already been in touch with Signora Provere.

  In the next breath Gaby told him everything she could remember about their meal. “Afterward, we drove to Loretello, but he stopped at Arcevia first.”

  “Ah—to find your great-grandmother’s farm.”

  “Yes.”

  There was a slight pause. “And did you find it, Gaby?”

  She nodded, but no sound would come out.

  “Something happened while you were there.”

  “Yes.” She moistened her lips anxiously. “Through the parish records, L-Luke found out that my relative was probably born somewhere in or near Rome. She was brought to Loretello to be raised by the Ridolfi family and remained there until she ran off with her future husband.”

  “That is all very fascinating. But I’m talking about you and my brother.” The ghastly silence almost destroyed her. “Did he kiss you?”

  A groan came out of Gaby. She couldn’t stop the convulsions of her body.

  “All you have to do is tell me yes or no.”

  She sucked in her breath. “Yes.” The blood was pounding in her ears.

  “The way a man kisses a woman when he desires her?”

  Gaby jumped off the cot, holding her arms to her chest. “Yes.”

  “Gaby—” he whispered in a shaken voice. “Did you kiss him back the same way? It’s the last question I’ll ask of you.”

  She wanted to die. “Yes.”

  He crossed himself.

  “Oh, Giovanni.” She broke down weeping. “Please forgive me. Forgive us. It just happened. Luke is as tormented as I am. I swear we never meant to hurt you.”

  “You haven’t hurt me,” he murmured in a strange tone of voice. “Thank you for telling me the truth. You’ve heard the wise-old adage that the truth shall make you free.”

  “Yes, but I also know that deep down it has shocked you and caused you pain, whatever you say to the contrary. What are you going to do now?” she cried in real concern for his welfare.

  Instead of answering her, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “It won’t be long before Luca effects your release. As a last favor to me, please don’t tell him I was here and forced a confession from you. It would hurt him too much. He has always tried to protect me. Leave him that illusion, I beg of you, dearest Gaby.”

  His earnestness confounded her. “I promise,” she vowed in a choked voice, wiping her eyes. “But what if the guards tell him you were here?”

  “They won’t,” was all he would say on the subject.

  “Does he know you’re all right?”

  “I’m sure mother has told him. I know I can count on you to keep your word. Enjoy your trip home, Gaby.”

  “Wait—” she called as he turned and tapped on the bars of the cell. “I want to know where you’re going, what you’re going to do. Don’t shut me out!”

  “There’s no time,” came the cryptic reply before the guard reappeared to open the gate. She clung to the bars long after Giovanni had gone, pressing her head against the metal in despair.

  His niceness was terrifying because she knew it hid scalding pain. She would have done anything to prevent him from learning the truth. Now that he’d heard the words from her own lips, she would never be able to forgive herself.

  But she’d made a promise not to tell Luke about his brother’s visit. It was a promise she intended to keep for Giovanni’s sake. There could be no point in wounding Luke who would always carry the pain of their betrayal of Giovanni in his heart.

  At least he could return to Rome believing that his brother knew nothing about their romantic interlude. All three of them would go on to pursue their separate lives. It was the way it had to be.

  She went over everything in her mind, trying to put the pieces together. Whatever the reason for her arrest, the Provere family had known about it in time for Giovanni to come all the way to Lugano.

  But he was leaving it to Luke to help her out of the mess she’d unwittingly gotten herself into. Now that he assumed they were lovers, Giovanni was too much of a gentleman to ever interfere.

  Just the thought of Luke coming to the jail sent her heart tripping out of control. She felt like jumping out of her skin, but there was no place to go. After pacing back and forth waiting for the first sight of him, she finally gave up the vigil and flung herself on the cot.

  It was probably close to midnight. Something had to be holding him up. Maybe he’d decided to wait until morning to do anything about her situation.

  Heaving a forlorn sigh that resounded in the cell, she turned toward the wall, confused and broken. It was when her limbs started to grow heavy that the overhead light went on.

  She heard her name cried out, followed by a burst of Italian invective delivered in a deep voice that sounded so fierce it couldn’t possibly belong to anyone but Luke.

  Gaby rolled over on her back in time to see the intimidated guard who had trouble undoing the lock. Then Luke came striding toward her like an avenging prince, his handsome features darkened by lines of fury.

  “Per Dio!” he raged. In his anger he was truly magnificent. She caught a few words like barbaric and criminal, and there was something said about it not being the fourteenth century. Then he got down on his haunches and cupped her face in his hands.

  “Are you all right, Gabriella?” His glittering black gaze seemed to devour her. She watched his sensual mouth twist into a white line of anger. “Have they given you anything to eat or drink?” All the while he was emoting, she could feel his thumbs following the delicate mold of her cheeks.

  Gaby was so happy to see him, she couldn’t talk or think. All she could do was shake her head. Another shocking epithet escaped his lips. It produced a guard who immediately brought her a glass of cold water.

  Once Luke helped her to sit up, she needed no urging to drink thirstily. “Oh, that tasted good,” she murmured after draining the contents.

  A nerve throbbed along his jaw. “Have they allowed you to use the restroom?”

  “No.”

  “Mio Dio!” he thundered once more. “No matter what they think you’ve done, they had no right to treat you in this despicable manner.” His eyes narrowed. “Before I’m through, someone’s going to pay heavily for this.”

  “I—I’ve heard about foreign jails. Maybe ours at home are just as bad. This is my first experience.”

  His chest heaved. “When I couldn’t find Giovanni, I arrived home to discover many shocks. You’d not only disobeyed my instructions about leaving, but the police had contacted Mother to let them know you were in custody. You were falsely arrested, but I’ve straightened it out.”

  Relieved, Gaby admitted, “I begged them to call you.”

  “Considering the way you’ve been treated, it’s a miracle they followed through to reach me.”

  “The police wouldn’t tell me anything, but my tour guide, Gina, said something valuable was found in my luggage. She suspected it was planted there.”

  Gaby heard his sharp intake of breath. “Your guide was right.” He was obviously trying to control himself and didn’t realize his own strength. The hand on her shoulder tightened almost painfully, but heaven forgive her, she craved his touch, the warmth of his strong chest where her head rested. She’d stay in this condition forever if it meant being this close to him.

  “Gina told me to call the American Consulate in Rome, but the police sergeant said they couldn’t be reached until tomorrow.”

  Perhaps he wasn’t aware that one o
f his hands slid up and down her braid, bringing every cell in her body alive. “They lied to you,” he muttered in contempt. “There is an emergency number for someone in your circumstances. But no matter now. If you’re ready, we’ll go to the office and gather up your things.”

  Basking in Luke’s strength and protection, Gaby had no desire to move. If she could spend the night on this cot with him, it would be all she ever asked of life. But of course that wasn’t possible.

  Because of the precariousness of her situation, they’d both let down their guard. She had to remember that if it hadn’t been for the arrest, they would never have seen each other again. The thought produced a low moan he must have heard because he continued to steady her once she was on her feet.

  “If you need food, I’ll send one of the guards for something to eat.”

  “No, no. I’m fine. Honestly. I—it’s just that I was asleep when you came in and I’m still trying to wake up.”

  His jaw hardened. “This airless room isn’t healthy. Come.” With his hand at the back of her waist, he ushered her out of the cell and down the hall to the main office where the balding police sergeant sat at his desk.

  At Luke’s approach, he stood up, his manner totally deferential. Luke fired several questions in Italian. A volley of comments followed. Then the other man undid a safe and handed him a large manila envelope which Gaby assumed contained the stolen item.

  Luke didn’t bother to unseal it. Instead, he escorted her to another room where she saw her two suitcases sitting on the floor. The contents were dumped on top of a rectangular wooden table. Other than three chairs, the room was as bare as the jail cell. The sergeant excused himself and shut the door.

  Gaby was upset about the cavalier handling of her things, but she was more curious about the stolen property. Her eyes appealed to Luke. “A-aren’ t you going to open it?”

  His dark gaze searched hers for endless moments. “I don’t need to. The sergeant told me the tip-off about the jewelry came from the palace.”