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‘Older, wiser, plied an innocent ine…’ Vito traded, conde himself for his crio back I would still do it again’

Encountering a lingering sidewise glance froh her pelvis as she took a seat and cuddled Angelo For possibly the first tiht in the cottage without guilt and regret No, on that score Vito had hit a bullseye Given the chance, in spite of thethe way, she would also still have done the saain

And if Vito could be that honest, why shouldn’t she match him? Tell hi? She would pick her moment, she decided ruefully, and she would ask if he had ever thought of theirto worry about

Angelo was asleep by the ti with disappointment that her outfit hadn’t travelled very well The fashion stylist had tried to persuade her to buy a whole host of clothes but with Vito already paying for the wedding and her gown she hadn’t felt right about allowing hi else before they were ant navy-and-white skirt with a et-up had creased horribly and looked as though she had worn it for a week rather than only a few hours Straightening it as best she could, she wondered if Vito would even notice

Holly was enchanted by the wonderful scenery that enfolded as the four-wheel drivelow hills rolled across a landscape peacefully dotted with cypresses, serrated lines of fresh green vines and silvery olive groves Medieval villages slumbered on hilltops while ancient bell towers soared into the cloudless blue sky Occasionally she caught a gli the greenery and the wild flowers and she wondered if Vito’s home resembled them

‘There it is…the Castello Zaffari,’ Vito announced with pride as the car began to clili so vast it covered the whole hilltop like a village while elaborate gardens decorated the slopes below it She froze, convinced that that could not possibly be his hoiant domed portico denoted the front entrance where the car came to a halt

‘Is this it? Is this where you live?’ Holly asked in a s crazily if she could hide in the car and refuse to ee until he admitted that the palace wasn’t really his and he had only been joking It had to be a joke, she thought fearfully, because no ordinary woman could possibly learn to live in the midst of such medieval splendour

Vito picked up on the edge in her voice and frowned at her ‘Yes What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing,’ she said hurriedly as she took Angelo to allow the nanny to climb out

‘Don’t you like it?’

‘Of course I like it,’ Holly lied in a rush, utterly overpowered by the huge building as she accompanied Vito into alines of columns ‘But you could’ve at least hinted that you lived like royalty’

‘I don’t,’ Vito incised in fired to e, normal life here…’

Please tell ued with herself as they rounded the gigantic centrepiece of a winding stone staircase and were faced with a long assembled rohat could only have been household staff all dressed up in uniforh they had strayed off the set for Downton Abbey Average? Nor?

Sick with the nervous unease of someone totally out of their comfort zone, Holly fixed a smile to her stiff face while Vito conducted introductions There was a great deal of billing and cooing over Angelo and Vito’s own fored forward to take the baby Apart from her, Silvestro was the head honcho in the household and little giggly Natalia, it turned out, was Holly’s English-speaking ht at the prospect of having a elo off upstairs

‘Natalia will show you to our room,’ Vito informed her at the foot of the stairs and then he paused, a frown etching between his level brows, his dark eyes semi-concealed by his ridiculous lashes as hea room?’