Michelle Douglas - Surrender To The Single Dad

She turned on her radio to some light rock music. The cat wandered in her room and probably thought she was out of her mind as she danced around filling her two suitcases.

“Alfredo? You should see his gorgeous villa.”

“Whose villa would that be?” asked a familiar female voice.

Alessandra spun around. “Dea!” After being caught off guard, she hurried over to her sister and hugged her. “I didn’t know you were coming.” With Rini coming for her, she couldn’t believe the bad timing.

“Evidently not. Papà told me about your accident so I came home to see how you are. I thought you’d still be in bed recovering. I never expected to find you flying around your room having a conversation with the cat. What’s all the packing for?”

“I—I’m going on a trip,” she said, her voice faltering.

“I gathered as much.” Dea’s eyes looked at the bags on the bed. “I do believe you’ve emptied your drawers and closets. Are you finally giving Bruno Tozzi a chance? He’s been after you for over a year.”

“Not Bruno. I’ve never been interested in him that way. Actually I’m going to be a guest at Rini Montanari’s villa.” She’d had no choice but to tell her sister the truth.

At the mention of his name, any goodwill Alessandra had hoped could be resurrected between her and Dea on this visit had vanished. Her sister paled. Rini really had hurt her by not asking her out again. “Are you talking about the one in Naples or Positano?”

Of course her sister would know all about Rini. She’d danced with him on his friend’s yacht. “I assume Positano.”

“Is this because you showed him around the property for Papà?”

“Dea? Please sit down so we can talk.” Alessandra closed the lids on her bags. “He’d been scuba diving with me. It’s a sport we have in common. When he heard about the earthquake, he flew down. Yesterday he came by the castle to invite me to stay with him for a week.”

“You mean he hasn’t been here all month?”

“No. He’s been gone for weeks on business. I was surprised to see him again.” So surprised she’d thought she’d been dreaming when he came to her hospital room.

Dea’s eyes followed her around while she packed her cosmetics. “I was shocked to learn he had business with Papà in the first place.”

“Let’s agree it was a shock all the way around.” Alessandra was so uncomfortable she could hardly bear it.

Her sister studied her for a minute. “Be honest with me. Are you going with him because of what happened with Francesco?”

“No, Dea—not at all! How can you even think that?” Alessandra cried. “Whatever happened is long since buried in the past.” She sank down on the end of the bed. “What do you want me to say?”

“Have you fallen for him?”

“I care for him very much.”

“As much as you did Francesco?”

“You can’t compare relationships. Francesco was my first boyfriend. I was young. As you reminded me, he ended up being a loser.”

“Don’t you know why I told you that?”

Alessandra frowned. “What do you mean?”

“He wasn’t interested in me. Within a day of his arriving in Rome, he was chatting up another model.”

“Oh, Dea—I didn’t know that.”

“I thought Mother would have said something. I’m telling you this to warn you about Rinieri Montanari.”

Alessandra didn’t want to hear it.

“On the yacht, his best friend’s father, Leonides Rossano, confided in me that Rinieri was Italy’s most eligible bachelor—as if my best friend, Daphne, and I didn’t already know it. I read between the lines and deduced he’d been a player for years. Alessandra—he might end up breaking your heart after he gets what he wants from Papà.”

“You’re wrong about that, Dea. He doesn’t want anything from him,” she replied, defending Rini. “He withdrew his proposal weeks ago and has been looking elsewhere for oil in the southern part of Italy.”

“I didn’t know that. Sorry.” Dea stood up, but Alessandra could tell the revelation had shaken her. “How soon is he coming for you?”

“At noon.”

She looked at her watch. “It’s almost that time now. I don’t want to be around when he arrives, so I’ll join the parents while you get the rest of your packing done. I’m glad you’re recovered. Even gladder that I wasn’t the one under the water when the quake struck.”

A rush of warmth propelled Alessandra toward her sister. She put her arms around her again. “Thank you for coming. You don’t know how much it means to me.”

Dea hugged her back. “You’ve always been the brave one.” She kissed her cheek before disappearing from the bedroom. Alfredo followed her out the door.

The brave one?

An hour later those words were still chasing around in Alessandra’s psyche as Rini helped her out of the limo to board the Montanari jet.

Once they’d attained cruising speed, his steward served them an incredible lunch of lobster pasta with sfogliatelle for dessert. The shell shaped pastry had a divine ricotta filling with cinnamon. The wonderful flavor was beyond description.

They sat in the club area by the windows. His dark eyes never left hers. “I’m glad to see a smile. When I picked you up, you seemed preoccupied. For a moment I was afraid you still didn’t feel well enough to come. We could have left tomorrow.”

“I’m fine, Rini, but I have to admit I’m still a little tired.”

“After what you experienced, that’s understandable. When we get to the villa, you can rest all you want.”

She looked out the window, wishing she felt the same excitement he’d engendered in her when she’d told him she would accept his invitation. But Dea’s unannounced arrival had taken her by surprise. Though touched that she’d come to see her after her scuba-diving accident, her sister’s questions about Rini had put a damper on this trip.

He was doing everything in his power to make her comfortable and had no idea Dea had been at the castle when he’d picked her up. She didn’t want him to know, let alone tell him what her sister had said. Dea hadn’t been unkind. Alessandra had been grateful for that, but she couldn’t help feeling that her sister was suffering in some way.

Alessandra remembered how she’d felt when she’d first talked to Rini in the castle foyer. The immediate, overpowering attraction she’d felt for him had to be swallowed in the knowledge that he’d already been with Dea. She’d wondered then if she’d ever be able to get over him.

Yet today, her sister had to handle the news that Rini wanted to be with Alessandra enough to invite her to his home. If Dea had felt the same overwhelming attraction to him that night on the yacht, then who knew how long it would take her to get over Rini, especially if he ended up being in Alessandra’s future. The thought haunted her.

“I think you really are tired.” Rini got out of his seat and adjusted hers so she could lie back. “Our flight won’t last long, then we’ll put you to bed in the guest bedroom until you’re feeling your old self.”

“Thank you.” But she no longer knew who her old self was. Life had taken on new meaning since she’d met him.

* * *

Something was wrong beyond Alessandra’s fatigue. Rini had sensed it the moment she’d met him outside the castle doors with her suitcases. He’d expected to be invited in to speak to her parents, but she’d whisked them away as if she was in a great hurry. Rini hadn’t questioned her about it. In time he’d get answers. They had a whole week. Today was only the beginning.

Once the jet touched down, the helicopter flew them to the villa. He carried her luggage while she made her way along the path that led to the back patio. She looked over her shoulder at him. “You truly do live in a garden. At home I smell the sea air. Here, I’m assailed by the most heavenly scents.”