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looked at the angry jut of her chin and the glitter of contempt and disappointment in her eyes. Guilt raced through him, but he couldn’t help wondering if such anger was born out of the attraction they had both been almost powerless to resist four years ago and felt again now. Did the fact that she knew of all the women he’d dated in a bid to draw attention from Eloisa mean something?
He stepped closer to her. ‘I didn’t know you were carrying my child, Sadie. You believe that, don’t you?’
‘I had thought that after our weekend together you would have at least seen me, heard what I had to say, even if you didn’t want a child.’ Hurt sounded in her voice—hurt he’d caused.
He closed the distance between them and took her hand in his. ‘I wish I had got the letter and messages.’
Her raggedly drawn-in breath gave him the strength to continue, to reignite the passion they’d shared. She had been the only woman who’d made him feel, made him want more, and now she was the mother of his child. He gently caressed her face, but she pulled away.
‘So do I.’ Hurt cascaded from her like a river in flood plunging over the rocks of a waterfall.
‘I know that you saw my mother.’
‘She turned me away, Antonio. An illegitimate child would only sully their ancestry.’
‘You told her about Leo? That you were carrying my child?’ He knew what he was hearing was true and recalled what she’d almost told him when she’d believed he was Toni Adessi. He’d never have believed his mother could be so vile that she would deny the existence of her own grandchild.
‘About two seconds before the door was slammed in my face.’ She lifted her chin indignantly and looked at him, daring him not to believe her. ‘I wrote one more letter after that.’
Anger bubbled inside him. How different his, and Eloisa’s, life could have been if he’d been told of Sadie’s visit. Fate had dealt him a blow with such a disastrous marriage, but it had also brought Sadie back into his life and that wasn’t so bad after all. Not now he knew he had a son.
SADIE’S HEART FLUTTERED with nerves. Today she would marry the man she’d once loved.
Doubts careered around in her mind, the truth of how it was actually going to be colliding with what she’d always dreamt of. It wasn’t about the white dress and veil, or the fun of having all her friends there to witness the occasion. For her, the idea of marriage had never been about that. It had always been about love and now she was marrying a man she was in danger of falling for all over again, a man who’d coldly informed her love didn’t exist.
Sadie looked down at the skirt of the white knee-length dress she’d selected for her wedding, her fingers tracing the pattern of navy blue embroidery. It didn’t really matter how or where she got married, or even what she wore, but the wedding she’d always dreamt of would be to a man who loved her—unconditionally. A man she loved with all her heart. This was so very different.
She had loved Antonio once, before he’d shown his true colours, but it was painfully clear that not only had he not loved her, but he never would. This marriage was a deal for his child. A bargain struck after a deceitful two weeks pretending to be someone he wasn’t. Someone he never really could be, not when he had such a ruthless disregard for anyone else.
‘Are we going to see Antonio?’ Leo’s question dragged her back into the here and now as the car Antonio had arranged to take them to the town hall for the civil ceremony negotiated the busy streets of Rome.
‘Yes, Leo, we are.’ She hadn’t explained anything to him yet and certainly hadn’t told him she was about to get married to Antonio. She’d taken extra care over her appearance, but, as was to be expected, Leo hadn’t noticed. Guilt made saying anything else impossible for the moment. She was doing this for him, yet being cooped up in an apartment more in keeping with Antonio’s family roots wasn’t good for Leo.
Maybe Antonio would allow her to find a small apartment, one more suited for bringing up a child. No sooner had the thought entered her mind than she dismissed it. Antonio wanted Leo and she suspected nothing other than living with him would be sufficient. Thank goodness he hadn’t pushed the boundaries of separate rooms in the two weeks since they’d arrived in Rome and she hoped that exchanging vows today wouldn’t change that.
‘I like Antonio.’ Leo once again centred her thoughts.
‘That’s good, darling.’ She was on the verge of telling him she and Antonio were to be married and that he’d be his father when Leo cut forcefully across her words.
‘I want Antonio to be my daddy.’
Sadie blinked in shock and looked down at her son, his dark eyes, so very like Antonio’s, looking up at her, the happiness in them almost breaking her heart. If only Antonio wanted that as much as her little boy did.
‘Do you?’
‘Yes, and he said I can call him padre.’ The excitement and happiness in Leo’s voice constricted her heart. She’d denied her son his father for three years, but Antonio had no right to force her hand on how or when she explained things to her son.
A dart of fury for the man she was about to marry surged through her. Why had he said that and, more to the point, when? What else had he told Leo?
‘Would that make you happy, Leo?’ she asked tentatively, wondering if the circumstances meant that now was the time to tell him exactly who Antonio really was. That the man he wanted to be his father was just that.
‘Yes. And he has a surprise for you—to make you happy.’ Leo’s voice bounced with excitement and she could see he was bursting with it, but she guessed that, whatever this surprise was, even her son didn’t know yet.
The car stopped and Sadie looked around her. So this was it, the moment she married the man who had stolen her heart four years ago and made it impossible to love any other man. The father of her son. This was the moment she would say I do to Antonio Di Marcello.
Nerves skittered down her spine and beside her Leo became restless, itching to get out of the car. She looked down at him—was she doing the right thing? For Leo, yes, but what about her? After taking a deep breath she stepped out of the car and took Leo’s hand as he stood with her outside the tall and imposing building that was the town hall.
‘Antonio!’ Before she could focus her mind, Leo pulled free from her hand and ran to Antonio as he came out of the large wooden door which must have witnessed many such marriages. She watched as Leo ran to Antonio and without a moment of hesitation Antonio scooped him up. Antonio laughed as he settled his son into his arms and looked at her.
His dark grey suit hugged his body and long legs, making him look as if he’d stepped from her dreams. The expression on his face as his gaze met hers left her in no doubt that the simmering tension which had leapt to life between them last week was still very much alive, despite his contrived distance over the last week.
She walked towards him, her heels making each step feel precarious, like those of a newborn fawn. Her heart was thumping hard as she reached him and looked up into his handsome face, mesmerised by the dark depths of his eyes.
‘You look beautiful, mia bella.’
* * *
Antonio watched the hint of a blush caress Sadie’s cheeks and he wanted to reach out to her and kiss her as he had last week. The white dress with navy embroidery clung to her slender frame, highlighting her tiny waist as the skirt flared out. It was just a dress, which he never really took note of on a woman, but on Sadie it was more than that.
She looked stunning and, as she took Leo’s hand, he knew he was doing the right thing. She was the mother of his son and the one and only woman who had captivated him so instantly. On top of that there was a mutual attraction,