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His worst fears were confirmed when the limo drew up outside the club.
‘No more punters tonight,’ the tough guy on the door told him. ‘There’s been some trouble inside the club. The police have been called. Sorry, sir—’
‘My girlfriend’s in there—I’m here to get her out.’
A look and a firm handshake, during which the transfer of money took place, assured Luca’s smooth passage into the club. It wasn’t entirely trouble free, as he was the only one trying to get in, while a flood of people were fighting to get out. Once inside, he took in the scene at a glance.
A gang of drunken youths had surrounded one of the waiters and were baiting him with cruel gags. To Luca’s horror, everyone had deserted the waiter, with the exception of the female manager, whom he remembered from his first visit to the casino, the maître d’ and Jen—a heavily pregnant Jen—who, to his horror, was shielding the waiter with her body while screaming blue murder at the men. One of the bullies, blinded by drink, looked as if he was about to take a swing, regardless of the fact that there was a vulnerable woman in his way—
In a couple of strides he took the bully by the scruff of the neck. Putting himself and the thug between the gang and their victims, he was ready when the rest of the men attacked. Their mistake. He was heavily outnumbered, but a ferocious father hadn’t trained Luca to fight when he was a boy only for Luca to let that training go to waste now. Unarmed combat was his speciality. At one time it had been his pleasure. He felt some of that satisfaction tonight.
Using the bully as a battering ram, he drove off the squealing men with the addition of a few well-aimed punches. It was all over when one of them came at him from behind. He turned to land a punch, but the waiter got there before him.
‘Good shot,’ he approved as the bully collapsed to the floor at his feet.
‘Are you all right?’ He swept a still-steaming Jen under the protection of his arm as he went to check the other victims of the gang. The maître d’ and the female manager were both shaken up, and breathless with shock, but otherwise unharmed. The waiter—Jay-Dee, Jen explained when she introduced them—was nursing a badly bruised knuckle.
‘I didn’t know I had it in me,’ Jay-Dee commented with surprise, frowning as he checked his manicure.
‘Well, thanks for your help,’ Luca said as he shot a glance around the club to make sure they’d swept up all the gang. ‘You saved the day.’
‘Oh, I think you did that,’ Jay-Dee argued, raising a brow as he glanced at Jen.
‘Well, thank you for your assistance anyway—much appreciated,’ Luca stated as they exchanged a firm handshake.
‘And hello to you too,’ Jen murmured dryly as he ushered her away. ‘That was quite an entrance.’
‘In the nick of time, it seems to me,’ he said grimly. ‘Why are you still working?’
‘Why are you still patronising me? I’m pregnant, not sick. You can’t march back into my life and start telling me what to do.’
‘You’re in no state to take on a team of drunks,’ he argued, drawing Jen into the office.
‘And what would you do if your friend was threatened and insulted?’ Jen challenged with passion as soon as the door was closed. ‘Would you walk away? Would you turn your back?’
‘I’m not seven months pregnant,’ he pointed out, as his fears for Jen’s safety vied with the way he felt being close to her again. ‘I’ve missed you,’ he said gruffly.
There was a silence during which he thought his world might come to an end, and then she whispered, ‘I’ve missed you too.’
His relief was indescribable. It filled him, overwhelmed him, and made sense of life, giving him a reason to live, not on his own now, but with this woman and their child—if she’d have him, which was by no means certain.
‘Thank you.’
His head lifted as she spoke.
He held her stare through the knock on the door.
‘Aren’t you going to answer it?’ she said.
Frustration to be alone with Jen was eating him alive, but it was Jay-Dee, the heroic waiter, asking for a meeting before he left the club.
‘Of course. Come in.’
‘I’ve confirmed with Tess that we can use her office,’ Jay-Dee explained to Luca, shooting a glance at Jen. ‘Tess has assured us that we won’t be disturbed.’
They sat around the pockmarked desk beneath the reluctant glimmer of a tacky chandelier. Jay-Dee sat behind the desk. Luca was fine with that, because it meant he could sit close to Jen on the other side.
‘This might come as a shock to you,’ Jay-Dee began. ‘I don’t know how much you knew about your brother, or what his last wishes might have been?’
‘I’ve seen the will,’ he said succinctly. His heart leapt in expectation of understanding the mystery surrounding Raoul’s last testament.
‘Raoul was sick,’ Jay-Dee revealed with matching economy. ‘He didn’t have long to live,’ he added bluntly.
Luca felt such a jolt that it took all he’d got not to show his shock, or his horror at the knowledge that his brother had been suffering, while he had been standing on his pride. There was no hint of recrimination in Jay-Dee’s voice, and certainly no pity; he deserved none.
‘He was ashamed of his illness,’ Jay-Dee revealed in the same emotion-free tone.
‘Ashamed?’ He couldn’t hide his shock this time.
‘He’d contracted the illness before he met me. He told Jen and me about it, but Raoul didn’t want anyone else to know. We kept the faith,’ Jay-Dee finished quietly.
They both had, he thought, glancing at Jen, whose concerned gaze was fixed on Jay-Dee.
‘Raoul didn’t want to be a burden to any of us,’ Jay-Dee continued, and with a slight break in his voice, he added, ‘We loved each other.’
There was silence as the three of them turned over their thoughts, and then Jay-Dee said in the same candid tone, ‘Even I didn’t know everything about your brother’s intentions, until after what would have been Raoul’s thirtieth birthday, when I received a letter from his lawyer. Your coming here has saved me a trip to find you in Sicily,’ he told Luca, attempting a laugh that ended up sounding more like a sob. ‘Don’t be angry with Jen,’ he added in a shaking voice. ‘She’s been loyal to a fault.’
Jay-Dee and Jen exchanged a look so full of trust and love that Luca instantly envied it above all things.
‘Raoul left me a letter, which his lawyer sent on,’ Jay-Dee explained. ‘He was worried that if he left his money to me the truth about our relationship would come out. He thought this would cause more pain for his family,
and that it might put me in danger from his father. He understood his father’s prejudices, and he didn’t want you to be involved in yet another family conflict. I’m sorry to be so blunt about this Luca, but I owe you an explanation.’
‘You don’t owe me anything,’ Luca said quietly.
He couldn’t feel worse, knowing he’d deserted his brother. He could only be glad that Jay-Dee had been there for Raoul. He welcomed the man’s candour, as he had always welcomed Jen’s honesty. These were people he could work with, he thought.
‘Your brother asked me to head up a summer camp for young people on the island,’ Jay-Dee continued, ‘but I don’t have the business know-how to use his money in the way he would want. I knew none of this when you came to the club that night. I thought Raoul had left me. I didn’t want to mention it, or him, or think of it again, because it hurt too much. Now I know he was only trying to protect me. Yes,’ he added, seeing Luca’s surprise. ‘Raoul left everything to Jen so that when he died, I would be protected. He believed his father would come after me, all guns blazing, quite literally, if he knew about us.’
‘You could have put Jen in danger too,’ Luca said sharply.
‘I knew nothing about Raoul’s will, any more than Jen did,’ Jay-Dee explained. ‘I had no idea what he intended until I received that letter from his lawyer.’
‘Luca, please—’
Jen pacified him with a look long enough for Jay-Dee to admit bluntly, ‘I’d like to work with you, and so would Jen.’
His heart banged in his chest as he looked at her. ‘Is this true?’
‘If you’ll have me.’ A tender smile hovered hopefully around her mouth.
‘I’m already planning to open a camp on the island that carries my brother’s name,’ he admitted, frowning.
‘But do you have a scholarship programme?’ Jen interrupted. ‘Jay-Dee and I would like to use your brother’s money for that. That’s why I haven’t touched it. I think it needs all three of us on the board, so we can work together in Raoul’s name.’
