Lucy Gordon - Italian Tycoon, Secret Son

She had to pause for a moment to choke back her tears, before managing to say, ‘I have belonged to you from the first moment, though it took me a little time to understand it. But, when I did understand, I knew that there was no going back.’ She paused for a moment before repeating to him the words he’d spoken to her in what might have been their last hours. ‘You are everything to me, and you will be everything, for however long we have-and afterwards.’

He nodded, showing that he remembered. Then he kissed her before the whole congregation.

She recalled little about the rest of the service. She only knew that now she was his wife, a part of him as he was part of her, as fate had always meant her to be.

By the time they left the church the solemn mood had lightened. Looking at the photographs afterwards, she saw Renzo and herself, alight with triumph at having ‘held hands and jumped’ together. His smile was the one she’d seen two years earlier and hadn’t dared hope ever to see again.

The best picture of all showed Renzo with his son in his arms, the two of them exchanging knowing grins.

At the reception everybody toasted everybody, accompanied by witty speeches. Teresa was toasted for producing a splendid meal. Sue was toasted, thanked and wished a pleasant journey for the next day.

But for the most important toast of all there was no speech, when Renzo silently raised his glass to his bride, unnoticed by anyone except themselves.

It seemed an age until they could be alone together, but at last everyone had gone and they lay in each other’s arms.

‘You were wonderful with Danny,’ she said, marvelling. ‘When I think how I used to worry about you two.’

‘No need. I knew we were going to be all right that night when I sat by his cot. And I knew it again today when he put his tongue out. Nonno and I used to play that game when I was a child, and suddenly there I was, playing it again. We just needed time to find each other.’

‘It’s just a pity about your mother.’

‘Forget her. She doesn’t matter any more. Only you and Danny matter. There was a time when even the thought of her was painful, as though a bleak, empty place had opened up inside me.’

His voice was suddenly filled with wonder. ‘But now it’s all gone, the darkness, the emptiness. I look into what used to be a void and I see only you-the one I love, the one I will always love.’

He took her tenderly into his arms.

‘And where you are,’ he whispered, ‘there can never be darkness.’

Lucy Gordoncut her writing teeth on magazine journalism, interviewing many of the world’s most interesting men, including Warren Beatty, Richard Chamberlain, Sir Roger Moore, Sir Alec Guinness, and Sir John Gielgud. She also camped out with lions in Africa and had many other unusual experiences which have often provided the background for her books. She is married to a Venetian, whom she met while on holiday in Venice. They got engaged within two days.

You can visit her website at www. lucy-gordon. com and look out for The Italian’s Passionate Revenge which will be available in May!