When Rachel had packed her things and come out he was leaning against the bar with a drink in his hand. From the slight flush high on his cheeks it hadn’t been the first drink he had consumed in her short absence.
‘I’m going now,’ she announced.
‘Fine.’ He raised his shot glass and drained it, putting it down on the bar again with a snap.
‘Aren’t you going to see me out?’
‘I think you can find the door on your own.’
Rachel felt her heart go into a painful spasm. ‘It doesn’t have to be this way.’
He refilled his glass. ‘Yes, it does.’
‘You could stop me from leaving with a word,’ she said.
‘I don’t want you to stay,’ he said, addressing his empty glass. ‘It’s over, Rachel. I should never have started it. It was a moment of madness.’
A silence fell like a curtain.
‘Will you say goodbye to Lucia for me?’ Rachel said when she could get her voice to work without breaking.
‘Of course,’ he said. ‘She will be very sad to see you go. She liked you. She liked you a lot.’
‘I liked her too,’ Rachel said. She waited for a moment but his back was still stiffly turned against her. ‘Goodbye, then. I probably won’t see you again.’
‘No,’ he said, refilling his glass.
Alessandro waited until the door closed on her exit before he pushed the untouched drink away. He wanted to chase after her and beg her to stay but how could he tie her to him now? It was better this way. She would move on with her life soon enough. He didn’t want to see her looking at him with pity. He could bear anything but that. ‘Damn it,’ he said dropping his head into his hands. ‘Damn it to hell.’
It was four weeks before he was back on his feet and even then it was with a limp that his specialist had hinted might be permanent. Alessandro had not anticipated a relapse but apparently it was a feature of Guillain-Barré syndrome. He vaguely remembered being informed of that the first time but he had dismissed it out of hand. He had absolutely refused to accept it as a possibility. He hadn’t for a moment contemplated not returning to full health and mobility. He had only focused on getting well. He had worked so hard to regain his strength. Weeks and weeks of physical therapy and after that week in Paris he had gone back to square one. But he was finally getting better and the time in rehab had taught him much more than accepting his limitations.
Rachel had once pointed out to him that his life was full of success but no happiness. Even Sheikh Almeed Khaled on a surprise visit to the hospital had reiterated what he had said about her being perfect for him, that the love she felt for him was a rare thing and should be treasured. It had made Alessandro realise that love should not have conditions attached. The greatest gift he had ever been given was Rachel’s love and he had turned it down out of fear.
The flight to Melbourne had been arduous irrespective of the private jet he had organised. He wanted to see Rachel and he would not be able to rest until he did. He hoped she hadn’t hooked up with someone else. He hoped her feelings for him were genuine, that in spite of everything she would take him back. He had never felt so insecure and vulnerable before but he could not get on with his life without knowing if Rachel wanted him with all his faults and failings.
He stood outside the building that housed her label. At least he had been able to save that for her. Her designs had attracted a lot of interest over the last few weeks. A major department store had signed her up for an exclusive showing that would open up other doors for her both here and in Europe.
A model-thin young woman blinked owlishly at him from behind the counter. ‘Can I help you?’ she said.
‘I was hoping to see Rachel,’ he said. ‘I’m an … an old friend.’
‘I’m sorry,’ the girl said. ‘But Rachel has gone home sick.’
Alessandro frowned. ‘Is she all right?’
‘I don’t know,’ the girl said. ‘That’s the third day in a row she’s left early. Must be a stomach bug or something. She hasn’t been well since she got back from Italy.’
Alessandro took the address the girl had scribbled down for him. He closed his fist over it and limped to where his hire car was parked. He knew he should probably phone first but he wanted to see her so badly he didn’t want to waste time. He got behind the wheel and drove to her suburb, parking outside the modest apartment with his heart lodged in his throat. Would she agree to see him or slam the door in his face? He patted his pocket where he had put the ring he’d had specially designed for her. Would it be enough to convince her he wanted her in his life for ever?
She opened the door after what seemed a very long time. Alessandro felt his chest cramp at the sight of her. She looked as if she hadn’t slept in the whole time they had been apart. Her eyes were underscored with shadows that looked like thumb-print bruises and her skin looked deathly pale.
‘Alessandro …’ she said, her colour fading even more. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I wanted to see you.’
‘Um … Now’s not such a great time,’ she said, looking back over her shoulder nervously.
Alessandro felt a pain unlike any he had felt before. ‘Just five minutes,’ he said. ‘Surely you can give me that?’
She pressed her lips together. ‘I’m busy right now.’
‘I can wait.’
She looked at him with a stricken expression. ‘You have to go away and come back some other time.’
‘I’m not leaving,’ he said implacably. ‘I should never have let you go the way I did. I spent almost a month in hospital berating myself for letting you go.’
Her eyes rounded in shock. ‘You were in hospital?’
‘I was admitted the night you left.’
Her face fell. ‘Why didn’t you tell me? I asked and asked but you insisted everything was fine.’
‘I didn’t want you to feel obligated,’ he said. ‘It seemed wiser to let you go.’
She looked at him in frustration. ‘Do you have any idea of how much you hurt me?’
‘I know and I’m sorry.’ He took out the ring box. ‘I have something for you.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Tell your secretary to enrol in some taste classes.’
‘My secretary had nothing to do with it,’ he said, handing her the box. ‘I designed it myself.’
Rachel opened the velvet box to see a brilliant diamond sparkling there. ‘You designed this?’
‘Do you like it?’
She ran her fingertip over the exquisite setting. ‘It’s beautiful.’
‘It’s an engagement ring,’ Alessandro said, ‘just in case you hadn’t noticed.’
She looked up at him. ‘You’re asking me to marry you?’ ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Will you?’
Rachel handed him back the ring. ‘I need some time to think about it.’
Alessandro swallowed tightly. ‘Don’t do this to me, Rachel, even if I deserve it.’
‘You won’t say it, will you?’ she asked, her eyes misting over.
He suddenly realised the step he had overlooked. ‘Cara, I love you,’ he said. ‘I love you more than words can say, which is probably why I find it so hard to say it in words. But it’s true. I love you. I loved you five years ago and I love you now.’
Her expression brightened with joy. ‘You really mean it?’
He brought her close. ‘Yes, but I think you should know something from the outset,’ he said. ‘I’m probably always going to have this wretched limp.’
She gave a shrug. ‘So what? I can walk and run for both of us.’
‘I also have a business in Italy that I can’t leave,’ he added.
‘I have a business that is in need of an Italian outlet,’ she said. ‘I can leave Caitlyn in charge of this end of things and base myself in Italy. It’s a perfect solution.’
His brow furrowed. ‘You’d do that for me?’
She smiled at him. ‘I would do anything for you. Don’t you realise that by now
?’
Alessandro touched her face, hardly able to believe what he was hearing. ‘I have wanted you for so long. I didn’t realise how much I loved you until Sheikh Almeed Khaled told me how perfect you were for me at that dinner we had that night.’
Rachel’s expression brightened. ‘He said that?’
‘Yes, but I panicked,’ he said. ‘I kept trying to hold you aloft all that week, reminding you of that stupid contract whenever I could, hoping you wouldn’t see how much I loved and needed you.’
She looked back at him with shining eyes. ‘You really don’t hate me for what I did when I chose Craig instead of you?’
He brushed his thumb against her bottom lip. ‘I thought I did for a time, but just lately I have realised how I misjudged you. You tried so hard to do the right thing. You gave up your own happiness to please your father. He was the one who warned the financial backers about you, by the way.’
Rachel frowned in dismay. ‘He did that?’
Alessandro cupped her cheek. ‘Yes, but not for the reasons you think,’ he said. ‘I called him about it a couple of weeks ago to confirm it. Right from the start I suspected it might have been him. He wanted you to come to me for help. It was his way of atoning for what he had done by insisting you accept Hughson’s proposal.’
Rachel was astonished. ‘He wanted me to come to you?’
He gave her a rueful look. ‘I was wrong about him too, cara,’ he said. ‘He does want you to be happy and successful, but even more than that he wants you to have a happy marriage. And children too, at least two, or three.’
Rachel swallowed. ‘Did you say … children?’
Alessandro smiled. ‘What’s the point of having all this success if you have no one to share it with?’
‘But I thought—’
He put his finger across her lips. ‘I want what you want, tesoro mio,’ he said. ‘I want it all: marriage and babies and happy ever after. How soon do you think we can get going on the baby thing?’
Rachel smiled radiantly as she slid her hands around his neck. ‘There’s something waiting in the bathroom that should tell us one way or the other on that. That’s what I was doing when you came. I think the three minutes is up by now.’
His eyes melted as they held hers. ‘You’re pregnant?’ ‘I don’t know,’ she said, squeezing his hands in excitement. ‘Shall we go upstairs and see?’
EPILOGUE
AS IT turned out Rachel missed her much anticipated debut at the Milan Fashion Show but she wasn’t one bit disappointed. She looked up at Alessandro after the safe arrival of baby Leonardo Tristano Vallini. ‘Not bad for a first effort, don’t you think?’ she said with a tired but happy smile.
Alessandro was still unashamedly wiping away tears from his eyes as he cradled his infant son. ‘Stupendous, cara,’ he said. ‘But then everything you do is magic.’
Rachel leaned against him in blissful satisfaction. Their life together was about as perfect as she had hoped. Alessandro had made a steady recovery, and his limp was hardly noticeable, or so she insisted. Their wedding day had been a romantic and emotional event that people were still talking about all over Europe. Rachel had designed her own dress and the buzz about it had kick-started her wedding design branch of the label in Italy. Her father had flown over with his new partner Jane, a no-nonsense, steady type of woman who brought out the best in him. Rachel had never seen her father so settled and happy and because of his happiness he was able to be a much better father than he had ever been before.
‘Are you very disappointed about missing your first fashion show?’ Alessandro asked, gently brushing back the damp strands of hair off her forehead with his free hand.
Rachel looked up at his loving expression. ‘No,’ she said. ‘Caitlyn will tell me all about it later. This is much more important: being a family for the first time.’
‘A family … ‘Alessandro’s voice cracked over the words. ‘I never thought I would ever have one of my own. You have made me such a happy man, cara mio. Do you have any idea of how much I love you?’
She smiled at him with tears of happiness in her eyes. ‘I think I’m getting used to the fact, but just to be sure you probably should tell me every day for the next fifty or so years. Is it a deal?’
He leaned down and kissed her soundly. ‘It’s a deal.’
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
® and TM are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
First published in Great Britain 2011
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Melanie Milburne 2011
ISBN: 978-1-408-92604-8
Table of Contents
Cover
Excerpt
About the Author
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
Copyright
His Poor Little Rich Girl Page 16
