‘Lucia, don’t!’ he shouted at her, galvanised into action, wanting to grab her, shake some sense into her.
She laughed as she leapt into the corridor and shut the door in his face. By the time he wrenched it open again, she was running, putting distance between them too fast for Dante to catch her before she reached their grandfather’s suite. Even if he did, he knew she would make a scene, and with him stark naked…
No. He had to get dressed, present himself to Nonno as fast as he could with a measure of calm dignity, minimise the damage. His mind jagged to Jenny. She must have heard Lucia. She’d be in shock, worried sick about this outcome from their intimacy. But he didn’t have time to go to her. Nonno had to come first.
Clothes on, hair combed, mind tumbling through replies to Lucia’s accusations, heart pumping hard as he strode towards a showdown he’d been unable to avoid. The door to his grandfather’s suite was open. He could hear Lucia reeling off a string of outrage, pretending to be appalled at his moral transgression.
‘Having sex with his first cousin…it’s disgusting, Nonno. Incestuous.’ She loved rolling out that word. ‘Dante has no morals at all. He has the arrogance to believe he can get away with anything. You have to—’
‘No!’ Dante thundered as he stepped into the room, jolting Lucia into turning to him.
‘You can’t order me around, you dirty beast!’ she jeered.
‘You’ve said your piece. Now get out.’
‘I will not.’ She folded her arms in defiant righteousness. ‘I’m not going to let you lie your way out of this.’
‘I have no intention of lying.’ He shot an anxious look at his grandfather, who, surprisingly, did not appear to be upset or agitated, his wasted body lying completely still, his dark sunken eyes regarding Dante with the same trust he’d always shown. No shock in them at all.
Did he think Lucia had been lying?
‘Leave me with Dante, Lucia,’ he commanded in a wheezy whisper.
She instantly wheeled to him in protest. ‘But, Nonno…’
‘You heard him. Go!’ Dante cut in fiercely, advancing on her, prepared to throw her out bodily if she refused to move.
‘Go…’ their grandfather weakly echoed.
Lucia huffed her displeasure at this second dismissal. She hated missing the fun, but had to accept that she couldn’t push her presence any further. ‘I’ve told you the absolute truth, Nonno. It’s only right that you know what he’s really like,’ was her parting shot as she flounced to the door.
Dante shut it behind her, knowing she would eavesdrop if she could. He wouldn’t give her that satisfaction. It was impossible to pretend that she had been lying, impossible to betray the trust in his grandfather’s eyes, though he had been betraying it these past two months, presenting Jenny as Bella, maintaining the fiction. He couldn’t do it anymore, not now at the end.
He sucked in a deep breath, walked over to the chair at his grandfather’s bedside, drew it close, sat down, reached out and took his hand, pressing it gently, his eyes begging for understanding as he said, ‘I’m sorry, Nonno.’
The almost skeletal hand squeezed back. There was no criticism in his eyes, no judgement, only trust. ‘No need…for apology.’
‘There’s a lot I must tell you.’
‘No…only one thing.’ He struggled for more breath.
Dante waited, his mind racing in search of the one thing his grandfather wanted to know—the one thing that was more important to him than all of Lucia’s vitriolic accusations.
He wasn’t expecting the question that came. He hadn’t ever asked it of himself. Nor had Jenny. It completely bypassed the deception they had played and bored straight into his heart. A simple question, loaded with the implicit demand for a truthful answer.
‘Do you love her?’
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
JENNY stopped her fretful pacing at the sound of the connecting door being opened. Was it Dante or Lucia? Driven by the frightened need to hide her own nakedness and look presentable, she’d thrown on some clothes, pushed her feet into sandals, brushed her hair into reasonable order, and tried to apply some makeup, though her hands had been shaking too much to attempt more than basic stuff. She had no idea how many minutes had passed since Lucia had confronted Dante in his bedroom, but her heart was still racing so hard, her hand instinctively lifted to cover its wild beat as she whirled to face whoever came into her room.
Dante!
She sagged with relief.
Though the relief was short-lived.
His grim face told her he’d been unable to stop Lucia from doing her worst, running to his grandfather with the news that they were lovers. Her heart sank. The deception they’d played successfully right up to this eleventh hour had surely come unstuck. Dante could not carry the horrible stigma of sleeping with his first cousin.
‘You’ve been alone, Jenny?’ he asked, sharp concern in his eyes as he crossed the room to where she stood.
‘Yes.’
‘I’m sorry. I’m grievously at fault for not locking my door, allowing Lucia the chance to—’
‘Tell me what’s happened,’ she cut in, only too aware that what was done was done and couldn’t be undone.
He drew her into his embrace, held her tightly for a few moments, then eased back, his eyes begging her to understand and support whatever he’d put into place.
‘Lucia got to Nonno before I could. She told him I’d been sleeping with you. He ordered Lucia out. He didn’t want to listen to any explanations from me. He was concerned about you. He asked me to bring you to him now, Jenny. Can you handle this?’
No escape.
There never had been from the moment Dante had walked into her life.
She was tied to him for as long as he wanted her.
‘I’ll do my best,’ she said.
Worry lines drew his brows together. ‘If you’ll just give him the answers he wants, Jenny, give him whatever he needs from you…’
‘I understand,’ she said, trembling inside at the prospect of facing Marco and having to set his mind at rest.
‘Thank you. Let’s go then. I told the nurse to lock his door and keep Lucia out. He’s waiting for us.’
He dropped his embrace and hugged her shoulders as they began to move, assuring her they were together in this, right to the end. He wouldn’t abandon her in Marco’s room, though what either of them could do there was very much up in the air.