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She listened for a moment and then laughed dismissively.
‘Oh, do stop worrying Michael, it’s fine,’ she told him. ‘Just a stupid misunderstanding.’
So she really did have a brother and one she seemed to be close to; Dante blinked when he heard her calm, upbeat tone.
Now she was reassuring him. ‘Michael, I’m completely fine. In fact, I’m just heading to Dante’s now. I’m going to turn my phone off, but you can call me on the landline if you need me.’ If Dante had not seen her pallor and heard her moan just moments ago, he would have believed her when she said, ‘Absolutely. I’m fine.’
It took the angry wind from his sails.
Had Mia been like that when he’d called her about the reference and prompted her about the ball?
Who was Mia? he pondered. She was like a chameleon. Seductive, yet reticent and shy, upset at times and the next icy calm. A wife, a virgin...pregnant.
‘Let’s get home,’ Dante said.
Dante drove towards the sprawling Romano residence but as they approached the lake Mia thought of the grave, and knew there was no way she could stay there tonight.
‘I want to stay at the hotel.’
‘Mia, the whole point of being here is so we can have some privacy. There is no one but my father’s—I mean,mystaff here...’ They were his now. ‘The hotel has its own helipad, the press will soon be there...’
‘You have your own helipad,’ she pointed out.
‘Yes, but if they dare land on my property they’ll be charged with trespassing and they know it. As well as that, the hotel is going to be full of paparazzi—the very people we are trying to avoid.’
‘Dante, Ireallydon’t want to stay here.’
‘I’ve told you, the press can’t get to us.’ He assumed that was what concerned her. ‘There are guards on the perimeters.’
It wasn’t the press that concerned her, though; it was the grave inside the perimeter.
‘It’s creepy,’ she attempted.
But Dante had never known fear and gave a half-laugh. ‘If things go bump in the night, you know where to find me...’ Then he halted.
No flirting, Dante reminded himself.
Arriving at the residence, Sylvia greeted them warmly, except she flushed a little when she spoke. ‘It is good to see you, Signora Romano...’ Her voice trailed off and Miaknewshe had seen the salacious articles. ‘How have you been?’
‘Very well, thank you.’
‘Should I take your case up to Suite al Limone? Or...?’ Her eyes flicked to Dante.
‘I’ll be staying in Suite al Limone,’ Mia responded quickly, feeling exquisitely uncomfortable. ‘I’ll take my own case up.’
‘Mia,’ Dante suggested, ‘why don’t you have a rest, then freshen up and get changed for lunch...?’
‘Get changed?’ Her laughter was slightly hysterical. ‘It’s this or a ballgown, Dante. I didn’t exactly come prepared to be hidden away in Luctano.’
But Luctano was a little more prepared than she was.
‘You left a few clothes in the laundry,’ Sylvia said as she followed Mia up the stairs to the suite. ‘When Dante called, I remembered them, and I have put them in the cupboards and drawers. You can give me any laundry you have.’
‘Thank you.’
‘What happened to your leg?’ Sylvia asked.
‘It’s nothing.’ Mia blushed and glanced down to the foyer where Dante was still standing, but then she caught Dante’s eye and he gave her that gorgeous slow smile that said he knew it was hard for the wife of Rafael Romano to be back, mired in scandal with his reprobate son, and he could be kind when he chose.
