Penniless Virgin to Sicilian's Bride

by MELANIE MILBURNE

  Frankie made a move towards him but he held up his hand like a stop sign.

  ‘Nothing you can say will make me change my mind.’ His tone was underlined with steel.

  How could she reach him? How could she dismantle the fortress that imprisoned him? Or was she a fool for even wanting to try? Frankie took a steadying breath as the realisation hit her like a punishing slap. She knew what she had to do. A part of her had always known it would come to this sort of showdown. The clash of their worlds, their needs, their ghosts. ‘Then there’s no point in us continuing with our marriage.’ She was surprised her voice came out as determined as his had done. Determined and yet defeated.

  A flicker passed through his gaze like the twitch of a muscle. ‘What are you saying?’

  Frankie swallowed a thickening in her throat. ‘I can’t do this any more. I can’t stay in a loveless marriage. Downstairs with Carli yesterday morning... Do you know how hard it was for me to lie to her? To act as if we’re a loved-up couple who want to spend the rest of our lives together? I can’t do it. I can’t be a robot and turn off my feelings just because you insist on it. I want a normal life. I want a family. I want to be loved and give love in return. But you can’t or won’t do that for me so I have to leave.’

  ‘Do you know what you will lose if you walk out on our agreement?’ His features were etched in stone. Hard, unfeeling, impenetrable stone.

  ‘I lost my family home a long time ago,’ Frankie said on a ragged sigh. ‘I lost it the day my mother and twin brother died. It’s time for someone else to live there now. Someone who will fill it with love and joy and happiness. You and I aren’t that couple. We never were.’

  Gabriel strode to the other side of the room near the windows. His back was like a brick wall, every muscle pulled tight. ‘This seems rather sudden.’ He turned back to look at her, his expression so cold he could have been discussing an employee unexpectedly handing in their notice. ‘Especially after the other night.’ His gaze ran over her body as if he was mentally undressing her as he had done when he had made love to her so passionately.

  Frankie stiffened her shoulders, embracing her anger because she would rather be angry than burst into tears. Better to show anger than to show how much she cared. That would be the ultimate in humiliation. ‘Do you have to be so insulting?’

  ‘I think it’s reasonable for me to ask why you’ve suddenly decided to renege on our agreement.’ His gaze glittered with resentment. ‘Don’t you think that’s fair?’

  ‘Life isn’t fair, Gabriel. You of all people know that,’ Frankie said in a weighty tone. ‘I hope this doesn’t jeopardise your business deal. Or upset your sister in any way.’

  ‘What would you care about that?’ His lips were so tightly compressed a slip of paper wouldn’t have got through. ‘One could even think you’ve planned this all along.’

  ‘If that’s what you really think of me, then my decision to leave is all the more warranted,’ Frankie said, taking off her engagement and wedding rings and placing them on the chest of drawers. ‘I’ll leave in the morning for London. I hope you don’t mind me spending one more night here? In the spare room, of course.’

  ‘Of course.’ His mouth had a cruelly mocking twist that made her heart give a painful spasm.

  And without another word he walked out of the room and left her there, surrounded by her shattered hopes.

  * * *

  Gabriel couldn’t face watching Frankie leave the next morning. He had spent a sleepless night, torn between blackmailing her to stay and the need to distance himself from a host of spiralling emotions he wasn’t sure he could recognise, much less handle. He was disappointed in her decision, of course he was, but that didn’t mean he was devastated or heartbroken. He didn’t feel that depth of emotion for anyone. He didn’t allow himself to. Would not allow himself to get so close to someone and then have them walk away.

  Seeing Frankie with that pregnancy test in her hand had been like slamming into a wall at high speed. He had forgotten to take his wallet with him when he’d left with his sister. He didn’t like to think too hard about how he would have felt if that test had been positive. Didn’t he have enough worry about with his sister without taking on fatherhood?

  The cold hard dread of finding Carli upstairs with a packet of narcotics next to her had almost given him a heart attack. That’s what fatherhood would be like—the fear of not being there when your children needed you the most. Not being able to keep them out of danger. Not being able to keep them safe. Not being good enough. That was the world he would be entering and he wasn’t interested.

  Not one bit.

  * * *

  Frankie stayed in a hotel for a couple of weeks until she could organise a place to live. She had sold her apartment as soon as she’d found out about her father’s debts. She had texted Gabriel to inform him of her whereabouts in case there was anything of a legal nature to see to. He had responded with such brevity and formality, it only reinforced her decision to leave their marriage. She wasn’t able to go back to her job, because someone had already been appointed to her position, since she had requested a year’s leave.

  The days were long and lonely and the savage start to winter didn’t lift her spirits. The rain and sleet fell like the tears she had shed in private. It was particularly heart-wrenching watching other couples going about their business. Huddled under a shared umbrella, dashing under cover into a cosy café to escape the weather. Holding hands across the table, gazing into each other’s eyes as if no one else existed.

  Frankie sat in the same café every day, it was a form of self-torture but she couldn’t seem to help it. She was punishing herself for not being enough for Gabriel. For not being the perfect person—a person without a lifelong curse—to finally unlock his guarded heart. She wondered now if she should have told him she loved him. If she should have taken that chance, that impossibly slim chance to openly express her feelings.

  But then she berated herself for even thinking there was a chance he might return them. Hadn’t his tone and expression and body language told her everything she needed to know? He wasn’t in love with her. She was nothing more than a cog in the machine of his wealth-making enterprise. In his attempt to rid himself of all his shameful background represented. Sure, it had been nice of him to offer to rescue her from financial ruin, but that had been because of his relationship with her father, not because of her. He was too ashamed of his past to open his heart to her or to anyone. He had let her go so easily. As if she had been a house guest who had overstayed their welcome.

  And yet she wondered what he would have done if she had indeed been pregnant. But wasn’t that why she had to leave? The longer she stayed with him the more she would crave what he insisted he could never give. What she wanted more than anything.

  His love.

  * * *

  Gabriel came home from yet another brute of a day at work to find his sister parked in the sitting room with a pizza box open in front of her. He hadn’t seen or heard from her since Frankie had left and he hadn’t had the heart to tell his sister by phone or text. He hadn’t wanted to say it out loud or write it. To hear those words, to see them in print would be too much to bear.

  It made it too permanent. Too painful.

  He was still getting used to the silence. The emptiness. The loneliness. Before Frankie had come into his life, he had been happy in his own company. Coming home after work had been a respite after dealing with business and demanding people and pressing deadlines. But now his villa was like a cold and quiet museum once all the tourists and security staff had left for the day. Even the portraits and marble statues seemed to be passing judgement on him, staring at him with accusing eyes. Why did you let her go? The air seemed to ring with their accusations, their disappointment—the same disappointment he had in himself.

  Disappointment and his old friend shame.

 
‘Where’s Frankie?’ Carli asked.

  He glowered at her and strode over to pour himself a stiff drink. ‘Don’t ask.’

  She dropped the pizza slice as if it had suddenly burned her. ‘You mean she...left you?’ Carli’s expression was so gobsmacked he felt the perverse need to congratulate himself on his acting ability. He had done the husband-in-love gig so well he was almost starting to believe it himself. Almost.

  ‘Yep. And that’s all I’m going to say on the subject so don’t—’

  ‘But that’s crazy.’ Carli jumped off the sofa and came over to him, frowning so hard her eyebrows met over her eyes. ‘Why did you let her leave?’

  Gabriel was starting to think it was a fair enough question to ask. Why had he let her go? He was miserable without her. He couldn’t concentrate on anything. He couldn’t eat or sleep. He was a walking zombie with an emptiness inside his chest that nothing would fill. And his office staff were all on the verge of walking out on him because of his foul temper. ‘Look, I’d rather not talk about it.’

  ‘Well, I do want to talk about it,’ Carli said, planting her feet and crossing her arms. ‘She’s perfect for you, Gabriel. You know she is. I knew it as soon as I met her.’

  ‘I thought you were rude to her when you first met?’

  She shrugged as if that didn’t matter. ‘So? That’s not the point. The point is she loves you. She told me.’

  He let out a heavy sigh. ‘It was an act. We were both acting. I paid off her father’s debts in exchange for a year of marriage so I could nail an important business deal.’

  Carli dropped her arms from her across her middle and put them on her hips instead, her expression scathing. ‘You what?’

  Gabriel grimaced. ‘Yeah, well, I know it sounds a little clinical.’

  ‘She wasn’t acting, you know,’ Carli said. ‘And neither were you. You’re just too blind to see it or too damn stubborn to admit it.’

  Had he been too blind? Too stubborn? Gabriel wasn’t used to acknowledging his feelings. He’d always shoved them aside, ignored them until they faded away. But they weren’t fading now. They refused to be ignored. They were getting stronger, more insistent on being accepted and validated and celebrated. The emotions he had locked away were flooding into his chest so fast he could barely draw breath.

  He had to go to Frankie to tell her how he felt. How he had felt right from the start. Wasn’t that why he had waited four long years to claim her? But did she love him? Really love him? How could it be possible she could love him even half as much as he loved her?

  Gabriel grasped his sister by the arms. ‘Will you be all right if I go to London overnight? There’s something I have to do.’ He was surprised he got his voice to work without blubbering like a heartsick fool.

  ‘Of course I’ll be all right,’ Carli said, eyes suddenly sparkling. ‘You have to stop worrying about me all the time. I have a nice boyfriend now. We met on the train a couple of weeks ago. He’s stable and caring and I can’t wait to introduce you. But not until you sort yourself out.’

  ‘I can’t help worrying about you, mio piccolo.’ He gave her a bone-crushing hug and kissed the top of her head. ‘I couldn’t bear to lose you. You do know that, don’t you?’

  Carli pulled out of his hold and gave him a playful punch on the arm. ‘Better hurry. Frankie might have fallen in love with someone else by now.’

  Not if I can help it.

  * * *

  Frankie was doing her people-watching thing in her usual café. She had ordered a meal but she had barely touched it. She pushed the bowl of bouillabaisse away in disgust. What was she doing torturing herself with constant reminders of her time with Gabriel? She could barely think of him without a pain seizing her in the chest. She couldn’t remember when she last slept more than a couple of hours without turning in the bed to search for him. The loneliness was weighing her down, dragging at her spirits, making ache from head to foot. She hadn’t thought it possible that unrequited love could have such a physical as well as emotional effect on her. It was like a disease, taking every bit of energy and vitality out of her.

  ‘May I join you?’

  Frankie’s head jerked up and she blinked to clear her vision. Was she imagining Gabriel standing next to the vacant chair on the opposite side of her table? ‘How on earth did you know I was here?’

  He gave a wry smile. ‘You don’t get to grow up in a criminal family without learning a few tricks on how to track down a target.’

  Her lips were so dry she could barely move them to speak. ‘But why are you here? I thought we said all that needed to be said back in Milan.’

  He pulled out the chair and sat, his knees bumping hers under the table. He reached for her hands and encased them in his. ‘I didn’t say anywhere near what I should have said. I was a fool to let you go without telling you how much I love you.’

  Frankie’s heart kicked against her breastbone. ‘You love me?’

  His smile was so tender it made tears form in her eyes. ‘I love you to distraction. You only have to ask my staff to know that. They’re all threatening to walk out on me. And my sister. I’ve been so miserable without you, tesoro mio. You have no idea how miserable.’

  ‘I think I do,’ she said, gulping back a happy sob. ‘I’ve been so lonely without you. I spend hours in this café torturing myself watching other couples and wishing I could be happy like them.’

  ‘I will make sure you are happy from this day forward,’ he said. ‘Nothing will bring me greater satisfaction than making you happy for the rest of our lives.’ He stood and pulled her to her feet, holding her in the circle of his arms, not one bit concerned the other diners were watching them with avid interest. ‘Come back to me, cara. Please? Let’s build a life together, a family.’

  Her heart leapt again. ‘Do you mean it? You want children?’

  His eyes shone with moisture. ‘I can live with the shame of my family’s name. I can live with the shame of having half my family locked away in prison. But I can’t live without you.’ He smiled and continued. ‘Anyway, I reckon I’ll be a pretty awesome father. I’ve had plenty of practice, right? Just ask Carli.’

  Frankie hugged him hard enough to pop a rib. ‘Oh, darling, I can’t believe it. I’m so happy I can barely express it.’ She gazed up at him again. ‘I was so disappointed when the pregnancy test was negative. All my life I’ve felt like I had a curse on me. My mother, my twin brother, my sad father who could never get his life back on track. The negative test seemed to be another confirmation of my failure.’

  ‘You’re not a failure,’ Gabriel said. ‘You’re the most wonderful person in the world. The most perfect woman for me. I can’t imagine loving anyone the way I love you. We will build a life together that will erase whatever sadness that has gone before. We will be a great team. I know it in my heart. The heart you and only you have the key to.’

  Frankie wound her arms around his neck, standing on tiptoe to press her lips to his. ‘I didn’t think it was possible to love someone as much as I love you. Do you really love me? Please tell me I’m not dreaming this.’

  ‘Un centinaio di cuori non sabrebbero abbastanza per contenere tutto il motr per te,’ Gabriel said. ‘A hundred hearts would be not enough to contain all my love for you.’

  And his mouth came down to claim hers in a kiss that sealed his promise for ever.

  * * *

  If you enjoyed Penniless Virgin to Sicilian’s Bride by Melanie Milburne you’re sure to enjoy these other Conveniently Wed! stories!

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Keep reading for an excerpt from Wedding Night Reunion in Greece by Annie West.

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  Wedding Night Reunion in Greece

  by Annie West

  CHAPTER ONE

  ‘CONGRATULATIONS, CHRISTO.’ DAMEN grinned and gripped his friend’s arm in a hard clasp. ‘I didn’t think I’d ever see the day.’

  ‘You didn’t think I’d invite you to my wedding?’ Christo smiled. Who else would he ask to stand up as his best man but Damen, his friend since childhood?