Loving Venus (Sally-Ann Jones Sexy Romance)

by Sally-Ann Jones

  “What a good idea,” Annabella said, smiling at them.

  “And we’re going home to bed,” Claudia said, clutching her husband’s hand. He’d just informed her that he’d made several billion lire on the stock market the previous week.

  So, Alessandro, Annabella, Eduardo and Tonia celebrated the big win with a wonderful home-cooked meal under the fig tree, downing bottle after bottle of Alessandro senior’s beautiful wine.

  “Do I have to go back to Florence, Alessandro?” Eduardo asked before they all retired to bed.

  Alessandro looked across the table at him. He saw his gentle, loving face in the flickering candlelight, the trusting brown eyes, the thin body.

  “Of course you don’t, Eduardo. Never again,” he said.

  Annabella woke with a start. She had heard a cry. Eduardo was in trouble! She leapt from her bed and grabbed the top sheet to cover her naked body as she ran down the corridor to his room.

  Alessandro, too, heard the shout and, pulling on the boxer shorts he tossed on the floor, dashed to his brother.

  They almost collided at Eduardo’s door and, suddenly shy, seeing him in nothing but the brief underwear, his chest gleaming in the moonlight, Annabella was lost for words.

  “You go in first,” Alessandro urged. “You’re best with him.”

  “Fulmine!” Eduardo was screaming. “Fulmine!”

  Annabella cradled him in her arms, rocking him back to sleep and crooning, “Fulmine’s okay, Eduardo. Nobody’s going to hurt him. You and he won a great race. Sleep now.”

  Sitting on the end of his brother’s bed, Alessandro watched her. Her red-gold hair was in a tumble on her shoulders and down her back, spilling over Eduardo’s black curls. His nightmare subsided as she held him and Alessandro wished, with a little spat of envy, that he’d been the one with the bad dream. Would she run to help him, too?

  He knew she would – nothing had been too much for her when he was ill. How he longed to be in her arms now, to feel the warmth of her hair, the steady beating of her heart.

  But he promised himself that he’d leave, as soon as he was better. And he was better now. This would be his last night at Casa dei Fiori.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Eduardo was soon asleep again, despite a storm brewing outside, and Annabella and Alessandro tip-toed to their own rooms, barely acknowledging each other’s presence.

  Alessandro woke early and packed all the paintings in pine cartons, foam between each one. These he placed in the cottage’s small bedroom, ready for the removalists who would freight them to Florence in a week’s time, when he’d settled in. He’d found a small apartment to rent through the internet and had already paid for his first month’s occupancy. With a heavy heart, he let Tonia dish him an enormous English breakfast, which he toyed with alone in the kitchen, the dogs lying at his feet, waiting for tidbits. The housekeeper was in the kitchen garden, tying up her tomato vines, which were damaged during the unusually windy and stormy night.

  Annabella woke with a feeling of dread, reluctant to get out of bed although she’d promised Sassy she would go riding with her. She wondered if her friend’s and Umberto’s dinner the previous evening had been a success and remembered Eduardo’s nightmare and the way Alessandro had looked at her, his eyes full of … What? Anger? Lust?

  She shrugged. She loved him with all her heart and soul but he remained cold towards her. Occasionally she’d seen him put an arm around his brother’s shoulders and wished he’d show her just a fraction of that affection.

  Then she heard Eduardo again. He was crying in his bedroom. Had he hurt himself during the Palio and not told any of them? It would be easy for a hand or a leg to be crushed in the crazy stampede. Forgetting her own unease, she again wrapped herself in the sheet and ran to his room. He was pale, with black circles under his eyes.

  “I’m going to call Dr Esposito,” she told him. “He’ll make you well.”

  Leaving him, she ran to the telephone in the kitchen, startling Alessandro, who had been staring into his coffee. “Eduardo seems really sick,” she told him. “I’m worried about him, Al.”

  As they waited for Umberto, Alessandro realized he couldn’t leave until his brother was better. He’d ridden a champion yesterday – he couldn’t abandon him.

  Sassy, who was staying in one of the upstairs guest rooms, joined them at the table. Blonde and healthy-looking, Sassy was the epitome of an Australian girl. And this morning she looked radiant.

  “How was last night?” Annabella asked, grinning.

  Sassy’s face lit up. “It was fantastic,” she enthused. “Umberto and I had dinner in the café in the village and then he took me for a walk all around the dear little houses. People were all out in their gardens or sitting on their front porches and everyone wanted to stop him to talk to him. I met Carlo and Tomasina and goodness knows who else. She asked when you’d be going to visit her and I told her you’d been very busy with the estate but had promised you’d go as soon as you could. I’ll never remember all the villagers’ names. Umberto’s obviously very well liked in the district,” she finished proudly.

  “I’m glad it went so well,” Annabella said with a smile. “I knew it would.”

  Alessandro was too lost in thought to listen to the women’s conversation, or to see the way Sassy jumped up and ran to the door when Umberto entered. They exchanged a discreet kiss before Annabella and Alessandro took him upstairs to where Eduardo lay.

  They explained to the patient that the doctor wanted to give him a check-up and waited outside the door while Umberto did so. The doctor’s face was grave when he emerged about twenty minutes later. “I’m very concerned,” he said. “I’d like you to take him to the hospital in Siena for some tests. I’ll ring a colleague there and ask him to see Eduardo as soon as you can get him there. I think it would be best if you both could go. He’s very attached to each of you. I believe he needs a lot of support right now.”

  “Of course,” Alessandro assented while Annabella nodded her agreement.

  Again the Bentley was brought out of the garage and driven to the villa, Eduardo ushered into the capacious back seat with a blanket and a pillow.

  “I want to take Rosa!” he whimpered.

  “Not today, Eduardo. Rosa will be here when we all get home again.”

  Only yesterday they had been bowling along these very roads, bound for Siena with a crowd of happy, excited passengers in the car. Eduardo, especially, had been buoyant with happiness. He could have been a different young man just a day later, he was so subdued and pale.

  Tonia, Umberto and Sassy waved to them as they rolled down the hill and past the cottage but Eduardo hadn’t waved enthusiastically back as he would normally. Instead, he rested on the seat, too tired to even open his eyes.

  Umberto’s colleague, Professor Ecco, spent a long time with Eduardo while the others waited in the hospital waiting room, flipping through old magazines and making instant coffee because there was nothing else to do and the waiting seemed interminable.

  Finally, he found them and sat down beside them. He was a giant of a man, with flowing steel-grey hair tied back in a pig-tail by a black ribbon, a handle-bar moustache whose ends were waxed into dangerous-looking spikes and a long beard streaked with brown and gold that almost reached his navel. He wore a bright yellow plaid blazer over green corduroy trousers and sported old-fashioned two-toned shoes. Neither could imagine anyone who looked less like a professor.

  “Bad news, I’m afraid,” he began in his deep, mellifluous voice. Despite his words, the honeyed tones were soothing. “Eduardo has leukaemia and the only way we can help him is if we find a suitable bone marrow donor. Would either of you be willing to be tested to see if your marrow might save his life?”

  “Of course,” they both said at once.

  “That’s good,” the professor pronounced. “I must warn you, however, it isn’t a comfortable operation and, like all surgical procedures carries an element of risk. Would you still be
willing?”

  “Yes,” they agreed.

  “Eduardo’s too ill to go home today. I think his victory in the Palio, which Doctor Esposito told me about, has well and truly sapped all his supplies of energy. He needs complete bed rest for the near future. You may see him briefly and then I’d like to run the test to see if either of you has the right marrow.”

  Eduardo was deeply asleep when they went into his ward. His was one of four beds, the others occupied by men of different ages, all of whom acknowledged their entrance with a smile. They stayed only long enough to kiss him and whisper a few words of endearment. The professor was waiting for them in the corridor to take them to the department where they would be tested.

  “Are you quite sure you are willing to donate some of your marrow?” Alessandro asked his second cousin as they negotiated the road back to Casa dei Fiori. “You do know it’s risky, don’t you?”

  “Of course I’m sure,” she assured him. “And I know you would have been, too, if your marrow had proved a good match. I love Eduardo, Al, although I’ve only known him for a short while.”

  And I love you, too, she wanted to say.

  But his eyes were on the circuitous road and its stream of heavy lorries and fast cars, some of whom overtook the slower Bentley with barely a coat of paint between them.

  “You’ll have to spend at least a day in hospital,” he cautioned.

  “I know, Al. The professor has already explained it all to me. You don’t have to go through it all again.”

  Tonia and Sassy had been watching for the car and ran outside to greet them. They were very upset when they heard about Eduardo’s illness, and more so when they discovered that Annabella had to go into hospital the next morning.

  While they were on the gravel drive-way discussing the professor’s findings, Claudia teetered across from Villa Claudia on another pair of high-heeled shoes to ask Alessandro if he’d like to come for dinner.

  “My husband has flown to Rome in his private helicopter for a shareholders’ meeting,” she simpered, her talons, purple today, digging in to Alessandro’s arm. “I wondered if you’d care to join me for one of our old favourites – lobster thermidore. Or would you prefer to slum it at the place you once called home?”

  “Claudia, sometimes you’re rude beyond belief,” Alessandro said. Despite his quiet, measured words, Annabella knew he was furious. “Can you not see we have a guest? Whom you have ignored. And do you not wonder about Eduardo? Even if you haven’t caught up with the news that he’s dangerously ill, you could ask after him. You must have noticed that he’s not here with us. After all, he won the Palio yesterday. Surely he deserves a little consideration, even from someone as lofty as you.”

  “I take it your answer is no?” Claudia inquired, as if he hadn’t spoken at all.

  “It most certainly is,” he said in his quiet, seething way.

  “By the way,” she flung over her shoulder as she wobbled away. “I was talking to our friends, the Ferri family, this morning. Somebody in Siena has some news for you. Perhaps you should ring Mario and find out what it is.”

  They watched as she disappeared into her house, then walked desultorily into the kitchen where Tonia poured them each a big glass of vin santo.

  “Why don’t you have a chat to Mario,” Tonia suggested to Alessandro. “If nothing else, it might cheer you up.”

  “All right,” he conceded. “Just to satisfy your curiosity, Tonia.”

  He left them around the table for nearly half an hour, then returned, a contrite look on his face.

  “Well?” Tonia asked the question for all of them.

  “Mario told me something amazing,” he said, taking a gulp of his wine. “He said a family had been trying to track down the young woman who saved their son at the first Palio.”

  Annabella let out a gasp of air. Perhaps now he knew what really happened? She hoped so. More than anything, she wanted him to know she had not deliberately cost him that race. And hadn’t she worked so hard with Eduardo precisely to help win back the de Rocco family honour?

  Alessandro looked at her directly, as if she were the only person in the whole world, when he continued, “Apparently the parents were completely oblivious to what happened. But an elderly couple had been admiring their little boy and were horrified when they saw him wandering out into the Campo. They were relieved yet aghast when a young woman ran out to save him from the galloping horses. When the crowds surged towards the victor at the end, they stopped the parents and told them about her bravery. But by then they had lost sight of her. All they knew was that she was a red-head, with a blue T-shirt and jeans. And they remembered that she wore a pretty scarf to tie back her hair.”

  He went on, still looking only at Annabella. There was complete silence in the kitchen, apart from his voice and the dogs’ low snoring. “The parents of the little boy were desperate to find their son’s saviour. He’s their only child, a miracle boy they never thought they’d be lucky enough to conceive. So they placed an advertisement in one of the Siena newspapers, hoping somebody would help them find the young woman. And Signora Ferri read it and remembered what you were wearing. So she tried ringing you but there was no answer – perhaps Tonia was in the garden – and rang Claudia instead. It was you, Bella, wasn’t it, who saved the boy?”

  When she didn’t answer, he said softly, looking deeply into her eyes “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  She bit her lip, unable to speak.

  “Was it because I wouldn’t listen? Because I was so arrogant and angry that I didn’t let you tell your side of the story?”

  Still she didn’t answer.

  He took her hands in his and a frisson of longing powered through her whole body.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Will you accept my apology?”

  “Yes,” she murmured, pulling her hands away. He’d despise her if he knew how much she wanted him and her shaking hands would betray her.

  He too, pulled away, as if she’d slapped him. “I suppose you want to be with Umberto,” he commented bitterly. “He would’ve believed you from the start. They want to give you something – a present, a reward. It’s too late now for you to ring them and arrange to meet them and see their child again and tomorrow, early in the morning, I have to drive you to the hospital in Siena for the transplant. Perhaps …” his voice wavered and he swallowed hard before continuing, “Perhaps … when you are better, we can organize something.”

  “All right,” she agreed. She knew she should have been glad that she’d been vindicated. But his gentleness, his warm, brown eyes and full lips so close to hers for a few seconds only reminded her of what she wanted so much and couldn’t have.

  “I think you need an early night,” Sassy said, getting up from the table and resting a hand on Annabella’s shoulder. “Come on. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

  Feeling dazed, Annabella leant on her friend as she helped her up the stairs.

  “You’re crazy about him,” Sassy commented, amazed, as soon as the two young women were safely ensconced in the bedroom. “I had no idea until just then that you’re in love with Alessandro. I can understand why you love him – he’s absolutely divine – but why haven’t you told him? Or anyone? Because I’m pretty sure he feels the same way about you. He’s certainly concerned about your operation tomorrow.”

  “He knows how I feel,” Annabella said despondently. “We spent the most incredible and beautiful night of my whole life in the old Bentley and…”

  “You mean you and he…?” Sassy’s eyes were wide.

  Annabella nodded.

  “And you haven’t spoken to him about it?”

  “He’s as cold as ice sometimes,” Annabella murmured, her eyes brimming. “It’s as if he despises me.”

  “But he didn’t despise you that night, did he?” Sassy urged.

  “No,” she said passionately. “Not at all. We really did make love. I can understand why it’s called making love when it’s like that
. There was no question, then, about how he felt.”

  Sassy sighed. “Men. I’m glad Umberto isn’t like that. He calls a spade a spade. Right from the beginning, when we started e-mailing each other more than a year ago, he’s been completely honest with me. And my coming to Italy to see both of you, him and you, my best friend, has only confirmed what I thought of him right from the start.”

  “I’m glad it’s going so well for you both,” Annabella said, genuinely glad.

  “Thanks,” Sassy smiled. “It’s wonderful to be in love. And such a surprise, really. Our emails were always chatty and full of news about works and friends and so on. I suppose because we are both country GPs we understand each other’s life-styles. I knew we’d be good friends, that we’d get on well. But I had no idea until I got here that the chemistry for falling head over heels in love would be exactly right.”

  “And it is exactly right, isn’t it?” Annabella asked.

  “Oh yes,” breathed Sassy.

  The last thing Annabella remembered was Alessandro’s concerned face above hers, then blackness.

  When she woke in the recovery room, he was there again. She felt his warm hand around hers and the scent of yellow roses. Opening her eyes, she looked straight into his and he smiled.

  “You’re fine,” he whispered. “The operation was a success and Eduardo will soon be well, they hope.”

  “I can smell great-grandpapa’s roses.”

  “His old bush has got a new lease of life since you came to Casa dei Fiori,” Alessandro said, holding up a massive bouquet of them so she could see them from her pillow. “So I drove back to pick you some.”

  “You drove back since this morning? But it’s miles!”

  “I wanted you to have them when you woke. The old man would have wanted that too. Now, Bella, I must go and see my brother. And you must sleep some more. I’ll come back in the morning to bring you home.”