‘In the safe…in my study…give her Isabella’s ring.’
‘It will honour our commitment to each other. Thank you.’ Dante’s voice was more furred this time.
‘You have my blessing. Both of you.’
He patted Jenny’s hand.
She couldn’t speak over the huge lump of emotion in her throat.
‘You’ll always be with us, Nonno,’ Dante said.
‘Good boy.’ A last benevolent smile, then, ‘Go now. I must rest…for Sophia and Roberto.’
Dante stepped forward, leaned over and kissed both his grandfather’s sunken cheeks. ‘Rest easy,’ he murmured. ‘And thank you for all you have given me.’
The dark eyes he turned to Jenny as he straightened up were shiny wet, pleading eloquently for one last effort from her. She swallowed hard to clear her throat, stood up and kissed Marco as Dante had, pouring her own genuine fondness for the old man into what were probably her last words to him.
‘Thank you for letting me be Bella. It made me wish you were my grandfather. And thank you for giving me time with Dante. I will always love you for that, Marco.’
No matter what, she thought.
Dante’s arm around her waist scooped her away from his grandfather’s bedside, swept her quickly to the door the nurse opened and closed behind them. Once outside in the corridor, he swung her into his embrace, tucking her head into the curve of his neck and shoulder, his chest heaving against hers, his cheek rubbing over her hair as he fought to bring his churning emotions under control.
Jenny held him tightly around the waist, hugging this final closeness to him, wanting him to take comfort from it. At least he now knew her confession had not been a mistake. Marco had wanted it. And what had ensued from it was not her fault. She had carried through what Dante had asked of her, and he would not be holding her like this if he didn’t feel a mountain of grateful relief.
‘Dio!’ Lucia’s shrill voice rang out again. ‘You two are absolutely disgusting! Right outside Nonno’s door!’
Dante lifted his head. ‘Oh, shut up, Lucia!’ he barked at her. ‘Jenny is not Bella. She was only pretending to be for Nonno’s sake, for my sake. He knows that.’
‘Not Bella?’
Jenny turned her head and saw Lucia in a frozen pose of utter incredulity.
‘Not Bella,’ Dante repeated emphatically. ‘Jenny Kent, the woman I’m going to marry. And Nonno has just given us his blessing, so you might as well go away and sulk over your failure to get me.’
‘Marry!’
Jenny empathised with Lucia’s shock. What was Dante thinking to make such a public announcement? He couldn’t really mean to marry her, could he?
‘You’re looking at my future wife, so be careful how you treat her, Lucia.’
The warning was loaded with threat. Dante’s emotions were still running high. He dropped his embrace, hugged her shoulders again, and walked her straight towards his meddling cousin. Jenny’s own emotions were in chaos. Her mind was clogged, incapable of making sense of anything. Her feet went with him, letting him be the puppet-master again.
‘That’s the helicopter arriving now,’ he threw at Lucia as the distinctive sound came from overhead. ‘Go and meet your mother and Uncle Roberto. Jenny and I have other business to attend to for Nonno.’
Lucia’s face contorted with rage. ‘You…’ She threw her hands up in the air in furious exasperation. ‘You get away with everything!’ Then she spun on her heel and marched off ahead of them, her back rigidly rejecting any congratulations on an engagement she could never have envisaged.
Neither had Jenny. Was Dante now determined on carrying out his grandfather’s wishes—his deathbed wishes? He was certainly set on it while Marco was still alive. Maybe afterwards, as well. They reached Marco’s study before she could sort through her feelings about what was happening. Dante released her and moved to a painting on the wall, swinging it aside to reveal a safe.
‘Stop!’ The word croaked from her throat, driven out by a desperate need to understand the situation.
He looked back at her, resolute purpose carved on his face, the dark eyes burning up the distance between them, shooting a debilitating bolt of heat through her, weakening her own resolve. She loved him. She wanted to be with him for the rest of her life. But was this real or just another deception?
‘You can’t marry me just because your grandfather wants you to, Dante,’ she cried.
His chin jerked up as though she had hit him. Aggression flared. It pumped through every stride he took back across the room. Her heart kicked into a gallop as she felt the overwhelming power of the man directed straight at her.
She didn’t move.
Couldn’t move.
He cupped her face, strong hands holding her captive, his eyes blazing into hers. ‘I want to,’ he declared with vehement passion. ‘And you are not going to run out on me, Jenny Kent.’
It almost killed her to say it but she had to. She would not go along with another deception, not one that involved her whole life. ‘It’s over, Dante. Your need for me has no basis anymore. Your grandfather…’
‘This has nothing to do with my grandfather.’
‘Of course it has! You said what he wanted to hear. You asked me to say what he wanted to hear.’
‘Did you lie, Jenny?’ he shot at her point-blank, his eyes drilling hers with such penetrating force, all her insides felt pummelled.
Her mind flew into a chaotic whirl. If she admitted the truth, would he wield it like a weapon, beating her into submission to his will?
His fingers pressed at her temples, demanding entry to her thoughts, feeling the wildly leaping pulse under his touch. ‘You said you loved me,’ he bored in. ‘I don’t believe that was a lie. All this time with you…I’ve felt your love in so many ways, you can’t deny it. I won’t let you deny it!’
But he hadn’t said he loved her. Not once had he said it or even implied it. ‘I won’t be a puppet wife for you!’ she cried in desperate protest. ‘I want the man I marry to love me, Dante.’
‘You think I don’t?’ His brows jagged together. His eyes fiercely challenged any disbelief on her part. ‘I love everything about you. Mind, heart, body and soul…everything! I love you. I need you in my life. I won’t let you go.’
Mind, heart, body and soul… A fountain of joy exploded inside her.