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Not on my watch, Jemima conceded fierily

CHAPTER TEN

SOMETHING VERY LIKE panic sent chilling tentacles travelling deep to pierce Luciano’s usually rock-solid sense of security He completed the phone call to his future relative, which had been preceded by one fronese He had ed with a sinking heart, and now he had to pray that he had sufficient tiht And if he didn’t?

Santa Madonna, that option could not even be considered!

Why the hell had he valued his pride above every other thing in his life for so many years? How on earth had he allowed a past bad experience to cast such a dangerous shadow over the present and potentially destroy his future?

And you thought you were so cool, so clever, he reasoned in a daze of growing shock at the mess he had created But the creed of silence as a form of protection had been bred into his very bones at his father’s knee Never tell, never explain, never apologise And before he had experienced that one weak moment with Jemima he had never broken that rule He had kept his secrets He had kept them from the media too Indeed he had buried those sleazy secrets deep and had refused even to think about them, for that was the safest, wisest way to hold on to sanity

He had never dwelt on his mistakes because he was a rational man and it came naturally to him to move on past and not look back at car wrecks Even so, those mistakes had seriously influenced the choices he had made, he conceded belatedly Further or his inhibitions and she would not understand

The helicopter ca breakfast with everyone in the shaded loggia on the ground floor Nicky dropped his toast as he waved his hands with exciteet a better view of the craft as it dropped down out of sight to land in the castle grounds

‘Is that Luciano co back?’ Ellie asked uncertainly

‘I doubt it He’s not due until tomorrow,’ Jemima said a little tiredly because she had not slept well ‘And he’s a stickler for his schedules’

‘I suspect,’ her father murroom missed you more than you know because here he is now’

Jemima twisted her head round so fast she risked a whiplash injury and she thrust her chair back and stood up to stare in surprise at the ardens towards them It ithout a doubt, Luciano Sheathed in a dark business suit teamed with a white shirt and silvery tie, he looked both formal and formidable His lean, darkly handso A jolt of dish Je if she had done so

His stunning dark golden eyes i and then he quickly turned his attention on to their guests and his first physicalwith her parents To a backdrop of Nicky’s squeals of excitement and loud vocal appeals to be noticed, Luciano responded smoothly and pleasantly to the tide of introductions before stooping to detach Nicky from his harness and lift him into his arms

‘Hush,’ he said softly to his son while ruffling his hair ‘You can’t always be the centre of attention’

‘Well, when he isn’t he likes to let us know he doesn’t like it!’ her father quipped cheerfully ‘He’s a terrific little scene stealer’

‘Letout her arether in peace’

Nicky co arms and then sobbed Carlotta came out of the house to help while Jemima hovered, her attention anxiously pinned to Luciano, for all her nervous antennae were still telling her that so, lean, powerful body was incredibly tense, hisface taut with self-discipline

Oh, ht in sudden consternation Maybe he had returned early because he had changed his htuests and her fa at the castle, but it was perfectly possible that he had got cold feet and come back early to tell her Jemima was quite convinced that such disasters had occurred to better women than her and it was surely more likely to happen when a man wasn’t in love with the woman he had asked to marry him

Luciano shot another veiled glance at Jemima She was pale and there were shadows below her beautiful pale eyes and he could see that she looked nothing like a happy bride on the brink of her wedding Inwardly he cursed hiain and he reached for her hand