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Sam laughed, ‘I know Rafaele can do most things, but I’m not sure his influence extends to that.’
‘Not sure my influence extends to what?’
Sam tensed and looked up to catch Rafaele’s green gaze. She blushed and said, ‘Nothing... Milo should eat now. He’ll be hungry.’
Bridie stood up and took Milo from Rafaele. ‘I’ll have a word with the stewardess and we’ll get him sorted.’
Rafaele sat down in Bridie’s vacant seat when they were gone and extended his long legs into the aisle. He was the epitome of Italian masculine elegance today, in a dark grey suit, white shirt and tie. But all Sam could think of was the raw magnetism lurking under the surface of that urbanity.
‘It’s rude to talk about people behind their backs, you know,’ he observed without rancour.
Sam was immediately suspicious of this more civil Rafaele. He was undoubtedly happy to be returning to his own milieu.
She smiled tightly and avoided his gaze. ‘Don’t worry. Your number two fan only has good things to say about you.’
‘Unlike you...’
In a bid to break the sudden tension Sam asked quickly, ‘Your father...he knows about us coming?’
Rafaele sat back a little further. Milo could be heard chattering happily further up the plane.
The reserve that came over Rafaele’s features at the mention of his father didn’t go unnoticed by Sam.
‘I spoke to him on the phone and explained.’
‘How did he take the news of...of a grandson?’
Rafaele’s mouth thinned. ‘He’s looking forward to meeting the next generation.’
‘You’re not close to him, are you?’
Rafaele looked at her and asked almost accusingly, ‘How do you know?’
She shrugged minutely. ‘You never spoke about him much...and I know you didn’t grow up with him.’
‘No,’ he conceded. His mouth was even thinner, making Sam want to reach out and touch him. She curled her hands into fists in her lap.
With evident reluctance he said, ‘My mother left him when I was three and took me with her. He was in no state to care for me even if she’d wanted to leave me behind.’
In an instant Sam remembered the day they’d told Milo who Rafaele was and Rafaele had made that enigmatic comment about being three years old. He must have been referring to this.
‘Your mother wouldn’t have done that, surely...?’
Rafaele arched a dark brow. ‘No? So why did she abandon my older half-brother? Her firstborn son?’
Sam’s mouth opened and closed. ‘You have another brother?’
As if regretting saying anything, Rafaele said briskly, ‘He turne
d up out of the blue at my mother’s funeral. Alexio and I had no idea he even existed... Well, I had a memory of meeting him briefly when I was small but I thought it had been a dream.’
Half to herself, Sam said, ‘So Milo has two uncles...’
Rafaele emitted a curt laugh. ‘Don’t worry, it’s not likely we’ll be getting together as one big happy family any time soon. Alexio is busy running his empire and Cesar wants nothing to do with us.’
Just then Milo came running down the aisle and grabbed Rafaele’s hand, pulling him out of the seat. ‘Lunch is ready!’
Rafaele let himself be pulled up and held out a hand to Sam.
