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Tipping her head back, she stared at him. Slowly a smile grew, softening those lush lips, lightening the intense green in her eyes. ‘This I want to see.’
He laughed, some of his tension dissipating. His parents had been shocked to learn about his child. Not that their shock had registered nearly as high as his when he’d first set eyes on Aimee. Now they’d had time to absorb the sparse facts he’d given there’d be endless questions for him, and for Elene. He’d protect her if it got too relentless and personal. Elene wasn’t the enemy here. No one was. This was about family and doing the right thing. And loving his girl. Which one? Air whizzed across his tongue. Aimee, of course. But his eyes were on Elene.
‘Your niece and nephew are here?’ She glanced up at him and his heart thudded. She was beautiful, and definitely getting to him. ‘I can hear young children,’ she added.
‘I’d say the whole tribe’s turned up.’ No such thing as a quiet introduction to the Ricco family for either of these two. ‘It’s normal for everyone to come together for Sunday lunch, but two of my brothers are meant to be in London attending a business conference.’
‘They still could be.’ Hope laced her voice.
‘Not likely.’ Pressing his hand more firmly against her back and absorbing her softness, he said, ‘Maybe I should’ve gone about this another way, but I figured it best to have everyone here while I tell them the facts.’
‘Say it once?’ Elene nodded. ‘I understand. But couldn’t I have stayed in Sorrento while you did it?’
‘You’d really have done that? Let me take Aimee to meet my family without you there to comfort her if she gets upset?’
‘You know I wouldn’t.’
He’d hoped that would be her reply, would’ve bet on it even, but he was still grappling with getting to know her and could be horribly wrong about a lot of things. Relying on instinct had got him into trouble before.
‘In here.’ They’d reached the large family room where loud voices interspersed with children’s shrieks were coming from. ‘Ciao, everyone.’
Silence fell instantly as all eyes turned towards him and the child in his arms, and then to the woman at his side. Introducing anyone, even a woman he was dating, to this lot had never been so awkward. The questions and rebukes were flying back and forth from him to Elene. Nothing like his usually happy and welcoming family, except for his sisters-in-law. They were relaxed and intrigued.
Mattia squared up to the room. ‘Everyone, I’d like you to meet Elene Lowe. Elene, this is my mother and my father.’ He went on to introduce his brothers and sisters-in-law.
His father stepped forward and kissed Elene on both cheeks before giving her one of his soft dad smiles. ‘Welcome to our home, Elene.’
On that the room erupted, with everyone wanting a piece of the action and flinging hugs and kisses in all directions. All except his mother, whose kisses for Elene were more formal. He wouldn’t have expected any different, but it still stung. For Elene. Yeah, and for him.
Mattia leaned close to Elene and muttered, ‘This is more like it.’
Her returning smile hit him in the belly. ‘Just like home.’ There was a modicum of worry in those riveting eyes, but she was coping with the onslaught. Then she turned away and said in flawless Italian, ‘Hello, everybody. It’s lovely to meet everyone.’
Mattia dragged his gaze away and sucked in a breath. His mother was watching them too closely. If Elene had noticed, she wasn’t letting it get to her, was returning an embrace from one of his sisters-in-law with enthusiasm. This might work out fine. Then he glanced back to his mother and knew there was a way to go yet. Starting with the reason they were in this predicament. He lifted Aimee around on his hip, holding her protectively. Protecting her from what? His family adored children, and no one would hurt her. But at this point she was an unknown. He hadn’t realised how difficult today might be. ‘And this is Aimee.’ He barely got the sentence out without choking on the lump that suddenly lodged in the back of his throat. ‘My daughter.’
Arms and kisses were flying again. Elene stood back from the fray, out of the way of everyone wanting their first touch of his daughter. His hands were gentle yet firm as he held her, aware of how Aimee’s eyes were widening in shock. Dropping a kiss on her forehead, he murmured, ‘There, there, little one. It’s all right.’
It wasn’t. A shrill cry erupted. ‘Ma-ma-ma-ma.’
In an instant Elene was there, reaching for her, tucking her against her breast, rubbing soothing circles on her back. ‘Shh, sweetheart, I’m here. It’s okay.’ Her eyes were full of love and completely focused on Aimee, ignoring his family completely.
He liked that. Elene’s priority was his daughter. Their child. While at times he struggled to believe she wanted nothing from him that wasn’t to do with Aimee, he knew with absolute certainty she would always put Aimee first, regardless of her own needs.
Aimee quieted immediately, snuggled further into Elene, adding a dash of slobber mixed with tears to the new dress.
Elene must have noticed, but did she care? Not at all, Mattia decided. It was all about keeping Aimee happy. Another knot of worry unravelled. Right from the start, Elene’s love for Aimee had never been in doubt, and that had become a problem for him to find a way around. If she loved the child that much then how were they going to resolve who was the constant parent and who was the part-time one? Watching her bringing a goofy smile to Aimee’s face, he understood Elene would never leave her life. He could relax on Aimee’s behalf. Where that left him was something else, but right now, amongst his family who’d willingly step up to help him out as a solo parent, he still wanted Elene to be in the picture permanently. In his picture, in his life in some way. Didn’t he mean in Aimee’s life? Not his?
Shock rattled him. He wasn’t falling for Miss Green Eyes. He mustn’t. He’d decided long ago that if he was going to marry and have children it would be with a woman from his background, who knew what being wealthy meant and how to live the life with class—not someone who only saw the possessions and endless stream of toys and friends and what was in it for her. Not a woman like Elene, who could steal his heart and leave him in a mess if he was too vulnerable, as Sandy had done.
Except he was coming to believe Elene could live his way. She certainly wasn’t overawed by his background, more like his sisters-in-law, who’d come from middle class families. So was there hope for him and Elene? Could he risk getting his heart broken again? Hell, if not for Sandy’s deceptions, he wouldn’t have gone off down under to New Zealand, wouldn’t have met Danielle and Elene, certainly wouldn’t be the father of the cutest, noisiest little girl he’d ever laid eyes on. Maybe he owed Sandy for that. Not likely.
Small hands were pulling at his trousers, reminding Mattia he belonged to more than his parents and siblings. ‘Hey, Giulia, Marco. Got a kiss for Uncle Mattia?’ He scooped them up in his arms and blew loud, noisy kisses on their cheeks. ‘Want to meet someone special?’ Mattia turned to Elene. ‘See that little girl? Her name’s Aimee and she’s your cousin.’ He’d put it out there. No taking it back. Not that he’d ever do that, but still. The old urge to protect himself had risen to the fore, despite being amongst his family, and it was hard to ignore.
Elene stepped closer, her smile for him full of encouragement. Then she focused on his daughter. ‘Aimee, sweetheart, look who’s here.’ She shifted her bundle of arms and legs to look across at her cousins. ‘Do you want to play with them?’
Mattia gave both his girls a smile. ‘Giulia’s got some dolls and Marco likes playing with trucks. What do you think, Aimee?’
Her little legs were kicking into Elene, her need to get down apparent to everyone. The moment Elene placed her on the carpet she was crawling towards him, her focus entirely on her cousins, whom he set down beside her. Giulia raced to get her dolls while Marco got down on his knees and reached over to touch Aimee on the arm. Then he t
ouched her back, her curls, her face.
Everyone gasped, and laughed, and there were a few tears in some of the gazes Mattia observed before looking to Elene. Happiness brightened her face, followed by a sharp intake of breath. Seeing how easy it was for Aimee to fit in, did she worry about when it came time to take her away again? Did she wonder if she’d be able to return to New Zealand with Aimee? He did not want to let them go. Intended for them to live with him permanently, as friends with a daughter.
When Elene turned to him a look of awe was reflecting out at him. ‘I can see how alike the three of them are. No wonder you—’ She stopped.
‘The Ricco genes are strong,’ he said, glad she hadn’t finished that sentence. He didn’t want his family learning how he’d guessed his role in Aimee’s life. He didn’t need to share that particular meeting with anybody. It was between him and Elene. He hadn’t been as welcoming and kind as he could’ve been and it still made him uncomfortable. Offering her somewhere to stay might’ve been generous but he’d done it for mostly the wrong reasons, which cancelled any generosity he thought of claiming.
Giulia returned with an armful of dolls and plopped down with the other youngsters, totally unaware of all the adults watching every move they made. No longer shy or upset, Aimee took the doll her cousin offered and started pulling off the dress.
The underlying tension went out of the room, everyone suddenly talking non-stop, as per normal, and his father headed to the table where glasses and bottles of wine stood. ‘Elene,’ he said as he passed her. ‘What would you like to drink?’
Papà had accepted her, no matter what. He could do worse than to follow his father’s example. He owed Elene better than he’d managed so far. ‘Papà, is the company plane booked for the end of April?’
