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Maria had started to serve dinner in the smaller dining room, several fragrant dishes that made Allegra’s mouth water. Then she noticed the place setting for one.
‘Is Rafael not eating?’ she asked, hating how small her voice sounded.
Maria made a face. ‘Signor Vitali said he needed to work tonight.’
So the feast was for her alone. Allegra sat at the table and nibbled course after delicious course, feeling sorry both for herself and for Maria, who had gone to so much effort for her employer. Why had Rafael refused to come down for dinner? Surely his work couldn’t be that important. Was he avoiding her on purpose, setting the pattern for their married lives?
Loneliness swamped her at the thought. Already she was losing that sense of independence she’d maintained for so long. She wanted Rafael with her, needed his presence in a way that made her feel unsettled. She wasn’t used to needing people. Depending on them. Perhaps it was better this way...except it didn’t feel better.
At the end of the meal she took her decaf coffee out onto the terrace, curling up on a lounger as she watched the stars appear in the sky, like diamond pinpricks in a bolt of black velvet. He was avoiding her, she acknowledged with leaden certainty. He had to be. To absent himself all afternoon and then through the evening... He was telling her how he intended things to be, and Allegra didn’t like it. If he was going to leave her alone, she might as well have stayed in New York.
She liked it even less when she woke up the next morning to an empty-feeling house. Maria was in town at the market and Salvatore was outside, working in the garden. Rafael was nowhere to be found.
She decided to go for a walk—only to be told, regretfully, by Salvatore that Signor Vitali had forbidden her from leaving the formal gardens, as the mountainside was steep and dangerous. Allegra looked at the high stone walls, the whole world shimmering out of reach, and realised she was truly trapped.
She stalked inside the villa, fury rising in her like a tidal wave. So she’d been brought to this beautiful estate to be kept as a prisoner. She didn’t know what hurt most—Rafael’s controlling attitude or his deliberate absence. She stewed for most of the morning while Rafael kept his distance, and then finally she’d had enough. She’d find him, and, by heaven, she’d tell him what was on her mind.
‘Where is Signor Vitali?’ she asked Salvatore, who looked shocked by her strident tone.
‘He is working...’
‘Where?’
‘In his study, but he does not wish to be disturbed.’
‘Perhaps he needs to be disturbed,’ Allegra answered. ‘Could you please tell me where his study is?’
‘I don’t think—’
‘Tell her, Salvatore,’ Maria said quietly, coming into the room behind Allegra. ‘She is carrying his child. She deserves to talk to him. And Signor Vitali...he needs company too.’
With a shrug of his thin shoulders Salvatore pointed upstairs. ‘The top floor. A room on its own.’
Allegra stalked upstairs, her anger giving her a boldness she hadn’t known she’d possessed. A narrow, twisting staircase at the end of the corridor led to a single room on the villa’s top floor, its heavy, oak door shut fast. She knocked on the door hard enough to bruise her knuckles.
After a pause she heard Rafael’s gruff voice. ‘Salvatore?’
‘No. Allegra.’ She turned the handle, gratified when it opened, and walked into the room.
Rafael’s study was spacious, with wide windows on three sides offering stunning views of the mountains. A huge mahogany desk took up the centre of the room, and Rafael sat at it, his eyes narrowed, his mouth compressed.
Allegra planted her hands on her hips as she faced him. ‘If I’d known you were going to imprison me here, I wouldn’t have agreed to come.’
‘Imprison?’ Rafael arched one eyebrow. ‘I’d hardly call this a prison.’
‘I’m serious, Rafael. Since we’ve arrived you haven’t shown your face once—’
‘I have much work to catch up on.’
Allegra hesitated for a second, wondering if she was overreacting. Wondering why she wanted his company so much, why she felt so hurt. Then she took a deep breath and ploughed on. ‘So why can’t I even take a walk?’
