Read the book: «The Italian Surgeon's Secret Baby»

CHAPTER ONE

‘WHAT DO YOU MEAN? Double-booked my room?’ Only the twelve-month-old in Elene Lowe’s arms kept her from crumpling to a heap on the garish red carpet. Landing in a tangle of arms and legs would only exacerbate their distraught mood, and give the receptionist reason to be happy she had missed out on a room. Missed out? Elene slapped the printout of her confirmation lying on the counter. ‘Booked and paid for. Six weeks ago. I am not going anywhere else.’ If only her voice held the conviction required to back that statement, but she was all out of strength and energy. ‘I need this room.’

‘I understand, signora.’ A quick glance at Elene’s ring finger had the receptionist changing tack. ‘Signorina, I’m sorry, sometimes mistakes are made. The other people who booked and paid for the room arrived three hours ago and have signed in. We cannot ask them to leave now.’

‘Yet you can ask me to go away.’ Elene’s hand tightened around her cherished bundle. All she wanted was to get Aimee settled so they both could fall asleep for hours. ‘What am I supposed to do?’

Aimee began kicking her feet, a precursor to waking up. Long overdue. She’d woken when they’d disembarked at Naples International Airport, and instantly fell asleep again once in the taxi that brought them down to Sorrento, an expense well worth the money after more than thirty-four hours travelling from Wellington.

The receptionist seemed particularly interested in her fingernails as she muttered, ‘There are no hotel rooms available in town. I know this from other people coming here looking for accommodation.’

Full of good news, wasn’t she? ‘I have to find somewhere.’ Careful. Don’t let the anger out. ‘Can you suggest somewhere close by? Another town? My d-daughter.’ She still tripped over that word. ‘She’s tired after a long journey and I need to settle her.’

‘Sì, I understand, signorina. I will try the hostels, though you might have to share a room with other women.’ The girl was already picking up the phone.

Hostels? As in backpackers’ accommodation? With a toddler? Oh, that would be absolutely wonderful for everyone. Then again, what choice did she have? Sleeping outside the train station wouldn’t be a good look; it’d probably scar Aimee for ever, and it would be a negative addition to the pros and cons list a certain doctor would no doubt draw up when he learned why they were here.

A high-pitched shriek reverberated in Elene’s ear. Little legs kicked and hands pummelled her back and chest. Aimee had had enough.

‘Shh.’ Elene kissed her forehead. ‘Shh, we’re nearly there, sweetheart.’ Lying to her girl was not good, but some people out there reckoned positive thoughts brought positive results. Lifting the writhing body above her head, she stared up and found a smile. ‘Aimee, Aimee, wee, wee, wee.’ Wonderful, even her singsong voice was off-key.

Another shriek bounced off the walls. Tears dripped down Aimee’s red, scrunched-up face.

‘Oh, baby, I know.’ It was hard not to join in the crying. Digging into the backpack lying at her feet, she found the bottle of milk and tried to placate Aimee, but it was cold, and only achieved raising the noise level to extreme. Anyone would think she was murdering her little girl. Elene’s heart swelled for this trusting little soul. None of this was her fault.

The receptionist had turned her back on them and was talking rapidly into the phone. Finding a bed in a hostel wasn’t sounding promising either.

A bitter gust of breath crossed Elene’s bottom lip. There was no avoiding it. She was going to have to front up early, unprepared, and on the back foot right from the start. Face it—she would never be prepared, didn’t possess the elegance and sophistication required to look Mattia Ricco squarely in the eye as an equal, but she did have right on her side. And the backing of a loving, caring family in New Zealand. If only they were here. Except she had herself to blame for that one, having turned down every offer from both sisters and her mother to accompany her on this life-changing trip.

She tapped the counter. ‘Mi scusi—taxi?’

No, be strong.

‘Please call me a taxi.’ This time her voice wasn’t a whisper.

The receptionist turned to point outside the front entrance. ‘Dietro l’angolo.’

‘Grazie.’ If only she had the energy to get around the corner.

‘Ma-ma-ma-ma.’ Aimee’s tiny fist banged Elene’s shoulder and the bottle went flying, spraying a stream of white droplets over Elene’s crumpled shirt and down to the carpet.

‘Yes, baby girl, you’re right. I need to get a grip.’ She looked across to the receptionist with an apology. ‘Excuse me.’ Why hadn’t she booked a hotel room in Naples for the night? Back in New Zealand, it had seemed such a good idea to get to Sorrento and settle in, catch up on sleep before tracking down her adversary. They hadn’t stopped any longer in the places they’d landed on this endless journey than it took to catch the next flight because, back in the comfort of her cottage in Wellington, getting to the end and holing up until fit and ready for the upcoming confrontation had seemed the best way to go.

The receptionist came around the desk and picked up the bottle. ‘Come on. I’ll help you get a taxi. Where do you want to go?’

‘The hospital.’

The young woman’s eyes widened as she glanced at Aimee, remorse instantly filling her expression. ‘I’m sorry we made a mistake with your booking. I’ll heat the milk for your bambino.’

Elene couldn’t lie. ‘It’s all right. Aimee’s not sick. I know someone who works there who will help me out.’ He’d have no choice. ‘But if you can heat the milk I’d be very grateful.’ Thank goodness Italian was her second language. How she’d manage otherwise didn’t bear thinking about.

‘My sister has a baby too.’

Aimee’s not really mine. Make that not only mine. Because Aimee was hers in a complex kind of way. There was paperwork to prove it. Elene managed to keep the words behind closed lips. Having to explain was too complicated and time-consuming—and irrelevant. ‘Aimee’s had to put up with a lot of flying. She’s been a champ.’

Finally settling into a taxi, she clicked the seatbelt into place, relieved there was a child’s seat since she hadn’t brought one with them, being too bulky and heavy with their other luggage. ‘Don’t go to sleep now, baby girl. Drink your milk instead. We’re nearly there.’ With every turn the taxi took her heart rate quickened. Should’ve stayed at home. Too late now. Or was it? Mattia had no idea she was in Italy, let alone about to knock on his door and burst his over-inflated bubble. She could still run away and forget all about keeping her promise to her best friend.

Aimee’s little chest fell on a sigh as she scoffed the milk.

Elene’s heart squeezed. ‘Love you, baby girl. We’re doing the right thing coming here.’ What if Mattia—?

Don’t go there. Take this one step at a time. This was what Danielle wanted, and what she’d promised to do for her. But she didn’t plan on getting her heart broken. She was thinking about Aimee here, not Mattia’s sexiness, which she’d not managed to forget as she should’ve.

So fight hard for Aimee, for both of you.

It could be a costly battle. Her family had money, but Mattia’s was loaded to the point of being obscene. The smart thing would have been to stay in Wellington and pretend she hadn’t made the promise of her lifetime. The smart thing, also amoral. Being abandoned by her biological father before she’d been born had skewed her thinking until she’d finally met him as a teenager. That was when she’d totally accepted as her father the man who’d raised her after marrying her mother and knew how lucky she’d been. Everyone needed, was entitled to, the unconditional love of good parents. ‘Everyone, baby girl.’

The taxi stopped outside Sorrento’s hospital all too soon. After settling Aimee into her stroller, Elene moved towards the lift that would take them up to Mattia’s office, tugging their bag behind her. Despite the spring heat, her skin lifted in cold bumps. The time had come. Her hand tightened around the stroller handle. ‘Please say I’m doing the right thing. It’s what your mother wanted but I can’t deny the fear of losing you to him blocking my throat.’ She had to trust all the kind things Danielle said about him.

The lift must have been boosted by a rocket launcher. Ping, floor three. Then the doors slid open so fast she was spilling out into a corridor bustling with medical staff, orderlies pushing beds and patients on crutches. Sucking in her stomach, lifting her chin, she stepped into the office with the sign declaring ‘Dottore Mattia Ricco’ and up to the woman behind the desk and said, ‘My name is Elene Lowe. I am here to see Dr Ricco.’

‘You don’t have an appointment,’ responded the woman in a don’t-fool-with-me voice.

‘I don’t, but I can wait until he is finished for the day.’ Any time soon, surely? The clock outside the door had read eighteen-oh-five.

‘The doctor doesn’t see people without an appointment. He’s a very busy man.’

‘Please tell him I am here and let him decide if he’ll see me.’ Because if he refused she had his home address on her phone, and right about now she’d do whatever it took to find a bed for Aimee.

The woman glanced at the closed door to the side. ‘I can’t do that.’

Just then Aimee let out a shriek and began pummelling her thighs, pushing her little body against the stroller restraints.

‘I think my baby needs changing.’

‘There are public toilets on this floor.’

Elene’s eyes suddenly stung. It was all too much. ‘Please.’

‘Sorry.’

Typical of Mattia to have a heartless lioness guarding his patch. Not that she had any right to complain, but there was no accounting for exhaustion and worry. ‘I am going in to see the doctor now, and taking my child with me.’

The woman rose. ‘You can’t. He’s unavailable right this moment.’

Of course. He’d be with a patient. She lifted Aimee out of the stroller. ‘Then I’ll sit here and wait. I am not going anywhere until I’ve talked to Mattia.’ She wasn’t risking him leaving while she was in a bathroom.

‘I’ll call Security.’

‘That won’t be necessary, Sonia,’ came an annoyed command from behind Elene. ‘I will see to this lady. You can go home. It is late for you to be here.’

‘But—’

‘No buts, Sonia. Please do as I say.’ Mattia might be talking to his secretary but his gaze was fixed on Elene when she twisted around to face him. Those almost black eyes were wide with surprise. ‘Elene.’

So he hadn’t recognised her from behind. Nor her voice. Or he had and hoped he was wrong. ‘Mattia,’ she acknowledged. Let the show begin. Better yet, could it wait twenty-four hours? She might be more prepared.

‘This is an unexpected pleasure.’

‘I’m sure pleasure is the last thing you’re feeling.’ They had rarely got on well enough to have more than a professional relationship, and when he’d dumped her best friend in preparation to swan out of Wellington onto his next adventure they’d drawn battle lines.

‘Still blunt, I see.’

‘Only way to go,’ she snapped, before remembering she was supposed to get on with him or there’d be no hope for her or Aimee. ‘Sorry. It’s been a long and arduous couple of days and my tongue’s getting the better of me.’

His gaze alighted on her mouth, his eyes widening almost imperceptibly. She was hallucinating. Could he be remembering that awkward moment back in Wellington? But why would he? It wasn’t as though he’d have been celibate in the intervening year after leaving Danielle. He asked, ‘You’ve come all this way to see me?’

The disbelief was so tangible she could almost see it hanging in the air between them. She could certainly feel it. Not that she blamed him. Turn the situation around and she’d be reacting exactly the same. ‘Can we talk in private?’ Her arm tightened involuntarily around Aimee. Here we go. The stress expanded, spread through her like wildfire in a pine tree plantation.

The dark gaze that had been focused on her lowered to her precious bundle, and Mattia rocked on his feet. His wide mouth flattened, and all that arrogance she remembered rose to the fore.

‘We should take this somewhere else,’ she managed through a dry mouth.

Mattia raised his head to stare at her, shock beginning to shadow that gaze.

He knows. Without a word being said, he’s seen what’s before him.

Mattia stepped back from them—way back. ‘Congratulations on your child. How old is she?’

Denial to the fore. ‘This is Aimee. She’s twelve months old.’ Do the sums. Believe your gut reaction.

But Mattia wasn’t playing that game. He had one of his own on the go. ‘Twelve months, eh? You kept your relationship quiet. I thought you were sworn to a single life.’

She still was. Which was none of his business. Careful, you have to talk with Mattia about some serious stuff in the coming days. ‘I wasn’t dating anyone when you were with Danielle.’

‘How is Danielle?’ His gaze flicked to Aimee, immediately looked away.

Oh, no. She was about to leap right into the middle of the deepest pool without a lifebelt. Her heart was already diving. Inclining her head towards the door that led into his office, she whispered, ‘Can we?’

‘I think we must.’ He turned to his secretary, who hadn’t done as requested and left. ‘Sonia, I’ll see you tomorrow.’ His tone brooked no argument, yet the woman didn’t leap up to leave. Brave lady. Or did she have something on him?

Could she share it with me? Gathering strength from Sonia’s attitude, Elene stepped past Mattia. Then faltered. He had never seemed so tall, nor his frame so solid and imposing. Not even when he’d held her, been about to kiss her. Then, when the office door clicked shut behind them, the air evaporated, leaving her lungs struggling to do their job. Without invitation, she sank onto the nearest chair and settled Aimee on her lap, an arm around her tiny waist.

Mattia crossed purposefully to his desk but didn’t sit, instead staring down at her. At them.

Too late, Elene realised she should’ve remained on her feet. Down here, she was at a disadvantage. No change then. But, for a moment, under that unnerving gaze locked on her, she’d forgotten how to fight her corner.

Two words cracked across the silence. ‘So? Danielle?’

No easy way to say this. ‘Died. Cancer.’ Two months down the track, it hurt like yesterday. The pain was a rock behind her heart. She missed her friend so much. There was anger at Danielle being taken so young, when she had so much to look forward to and a daughter who needed her and who’d barely got to know her mother.

A breath hissed over Mattia’s lips. ‘That I did not expect.’

‘Who would?’ Danielle had been thirty-four, fit, supposedly healthy, with everything ahead of her.

His fingers raked his dark hair. ‘Can I ask what type?’

‘Cervical. It was rapid.’ And brutal. A familiar nausea soured her mouth. Caring for her best friend in those last months had been the hardest thing she’d ever done.

Aimee squawked.

Grateful for the interruption, Elene lightened her grip and kissed Aimee’s cheek. ‘Sorry, darling.’ When she looked up there was no avoiding that dark, inscrutable gaze fixed on them. She had to get this over with. ‘The cancer was discovered before Aimee was born.’

One abrupt nod. ‘So the child is Danielle’s?’

You’ve already figured that out. ‘Aimee. Her name is Aimee.’ Elene leapt up and strode across to stand right in front of him. ‘Get it?’

She had to give him credit. He didn’t back away or make a dash for the door. ‘Yes, I get it.’

That stole her thunder. Did he really understand what she’d been saying without putting it into words? Probably not. Why would he? It wasn’t as though Danielle had rung and told him the instant she’d found out. She hadn’t told him at all. But there’d been that moment of recognition in Mattia’s eyes. Could be she’d misinterpreted it.

Returning to the chair, Elene sat down and tried to relax. Getting angry or upset wasn’t going to achieve a thing, and she hadn’t been kicked out—yet. ‘Aimee’s nearly one, was born on the third of May last year.’

‘Taurus.’

‘What?’ This man with a scientific mind knew his star signs? She’d thought she was beyond being surprised.

‘The bull. Deliberate in actions, methodical. Likes luxury.’

Surprise got the better of her. ‘You know this how?’

‘I too am Taurus. You’ve got your hands full with this one.’

‘We have.’ I want Aimee full-time, but I can’t deny your role.

‘Now we’re getting to the crux of your visit.’ Mattia parked his honed butt on the corner of his desk. ‘Tell me exactly why you’re here.’