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She blinked in surprise. ‘I’d rather be out there looking.’
He nodded once, then glanced around until he located Chloe, who looked slightly startled to find herself pinned by his intense gaze. ‘My son knows you well, yes?’
Chloe nodded.
‘Then you will stay so that if Annah’s not here when he’s brought back, you can reassure him,’ he said, assuming command of the situation with such ease, nobody, not even George, questioned his authority. ‘Annah and I will join the search.’
In less than a minute, Annah donned her jacket and walking boots, slid her phone in her pocket, and grabbed two torches.
At the bottom of the steps, something made her reach out and grab Luca’s arm. He stopped and stared down at her, his eyes glittering with an intensity that sent a flood of warmth through her veins. She opened her mouth, compelled to say something, but the wild tangle of her feelings defied words.
He set his hand against the side of her face. ‘We’ll talk afterwards,’ he said softly, his thumb caressing her cheek. ‘First, we find our son.’
* * *
Thirty minutes later Luca had just bellowed Ethan’s name for the hundredth time when he heard an electronic chirping sound.
He swung his torchlight in Annah’s direction and saw her scrambling to pull her phone from her pocket and press it to her ear.
He sucked in a breath, his throat so raw it was painful to inhale.
This was not how he’d envisaged spending this evening when he’d departed from Sicily earlier today. For once he’d left Mario behind in Palermo and picked up a rented SUV from the private airstrip. When he’d finally remembered to check his phone and then pulled over to listen to Annah’s message, he was almost here.
Mud and grass squelched under his boots as he moved closer, scrutinising her features in the pale moonlight, trying to gauge her expression. When her hand flew to her mouth, stifling a sound that was half gasp, half sob, his heart jack-knifed in his chest.
She lowered the phone, and for a second he couldn’t breathe. Then she flung her arms around his neck. ‘They found him, Luca,’ she whispered. ‘He’s okay.’
Relief hit so hard, his legs quivered as if he’d just crossed the finish line of a marathon. He held Annah tightly against him. ‘Where?’
‘In a barn. On the other side of the woods. Someone’s taking him home now.’
She pulled back and looked at him, her eyes glistening with joy and relief, and for a crazy moment Luca wanted to pull the diamond-encrusted ring from his pocket, drop to his knees in the mud, and declare his love right there and then.
But he summoned restraint. A muddy field was no place for a proper marriage proposal. And more than anything else right then, they both needed to see their son.
Back at the flat, relief shook Luca to his core all over again when he set eyes on Ethan. Although cold and tearful, he appeared unhurt, but Luca insisted on a house call from the local doctor to check him over nonetheless.
After an interminable hour Ethan was safely tucked up in bed and the police, the volunteers, the doctor, and Annah’s friends were gone.
Finally, Luca had her to himself.
Except now that they were alone and the rush of adrenaline from finding Ethan had abated, those big blue eyes of hers regarded him warily.
‘Why are you here, Luca?’
They stood in the kitchen, facing each other across its width, the space so small a single stride would bridge the gap and set his body flush against hers.
For a moment longer, he resisted moving. ‘Because we need to talk.’
‘We could have talked on the phone.’
‘Not for this,’ he said. ‘What I need to say has to be said in person.’
* * *
Annah’s palms were damp and her heart was beating too fast as she stared at Luca. ‘Why?’ she asked.
He pushed away from the bench behind him. When he stepped towards her, her pulse leapt and her brain urged her to move, to put distance between them, but her legs didn’t get the message.
