SARA WOOD - A Husband's Vendetta

And then he must walk away, as she had walked out on him. Okay, he was talking stubborn Neapolitan pride here—but until he felt justice had been done, he wouldn’t be able to put the past behind him.

Slowly he turned around. She was slipping her feet into a pair of very feminine sandals. He swallowed, remembering how he used to coax off her shoes very slowly and…. Hastily he closed his mind to what happened next. He needed to stay in control every step of the way. “I have a suggestion.” He spoke calmly. “You come to my hotel and stay for the week. It’s an exclusive hideaway for VIPs and celebrities….”

“Sounds terrific…but who’s paying?” Ellen asked cautiously.

You are, he wanted to say. But not in the way she might think!

Childhood in Portsmouth, UK, meant grubby knees, flying pigtails and happiness for Sara Wood. Poverty drove her from typist and seaside landlady to teacher until writing finally gave her the freedom her Romany blood craved. Happily married, she has two handsome sons. Richard is calm, dependable, drives tankers, Simon is a roamer—silversmith, roofer, welder—always with beautiful girls. Sara lives in the Cornish countryside. Her glamorous writing life alternates with her passion for gardening, which allows her to be carefree and grubby again!

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

IT WAS a Wednesday, so they were talking English. Although his daughter had a good grasp of the language, Luciano chose his words carefully as he admired the picture she had presented to him.

‘Thank you, sweetheart! How handsome I am!’ he marvelled, with a theatrical astonishment calculated to make her laugh.

Gemma obliged with a burst of giggles. Shyly she drew his attention to the figure of a woman in the doorway of a house she’d drawn. Although he smiled and nodded approvingly, he felt his stomach churn. Poor kid. She wanted a mother. Definitely not her own mother—they both loathed her—but a new one. Much to his dismay, Gemma had begun to suggest potential candidates almost daily, and her desperation was unnerving.

Luc’s finely shaped mouth dived down at the corners. Living with Gemma was like being in an emotional minefield.

‘Look. I put the picture by my heart,’ he said, forcing a cheerful tone.

Gemma’s eyes glowed with pleasure when he slipped the drawing into the inside pocket of his finely tailored suit and she happily turned her attention to her ice cream. Luc smiled and relaxed a little. He’d bought it as an after-school treat—and a downright bribe.

Sipping his espresso at the table of their favourite café, he allowed his mind to drift. Idly he watched the tourists and celebrities wander through Capri’s elegant little square as they explored the delights of the ultra-chic island. He felt a flash of fierce pride that many of them would have travelled over on one of his hydrofoils, either from Naples or Sorrento on the Italian coast.

In the morning he’d be travelling to Naples on his way to England, an urgent trip to check out a new venture. Edgily he squared his broad shoulders, knowing he must tell Gemma—but dreading her reaction. Emotional mine-fields had a habit of exploding, as he knew to his cost.

‘This is nice,’ he murmured, speaking slowly. Shamelessly he descended to yet more bribery. ‘We will do this every day after school…’ He hesitated, and took the plunge. ‘After I come back from my trip to London tomorrow.’

He watched her whole body stiffen. She gazed stonily ahead, as if denying his existence, and his stomach muscles contracted. He’d seen that expression before. Gemma’s English mother, Ellen, had produced it often, and it chilled him to the bone that his daughter had mastered it so well.

‘Olà, look at me!’ he urged gently, shaken by her icy stare.

‘I want to come!’ She virtually flung the words forcibly through her small white teeth.

For ‘want’, read will, he thought with a sigh. ‘You hate England. Stay here with Maria,’ he coaxed. ‘She makes you laugh.’

But the mention of their friendly maid didn’t do its usual trick. He could see hysteria in Gemma’s eyes and it made him feel unusually helpless.

Now what? he wondered. Did he give in, or play the stern father? He’d always been particularly careful to ensure that his daughter didn’t always have her own way. And yet… His heart softened at his daughter’s sullen face. He couldn’t be too strict on the child. She had good reason to feel insecure.

Her mother had abandoned her as a baby.

Moodily he pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head. Beneath the perfectly groomed, panther-sleek exterior, a surge of murderous anger was sweeping through him. Hatred for his estranged wife wiped the lazy smile from his affectionate mouth and replaced it with a savage snarl. Suddenly the sharp planes of his face and the slightly sinister angle of his broken nose became strikingly prominent and the darker side of his nature surfaced.

Ellen. He muttered a heartfelt curse under his breath. The woman had ruined the most precious person in his life and turned her into a complex mass of neuroses. He scowled, hoping with all his heart that his estranged wife was in her own hell somewhere.

With an effort, he clawed back his composure, only the steep angle of his pitch-black brows showing the strain he was under. He pushed away his coffee, planning how to win Gemma around quickly. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that his mobile was flashing, announcing that he had a bank of calls waiting.

‘Sweetheart,’ he began persuasively, his neatly manicured forefinger turning her small, set face to his.

Perhaps mistakenly sensing surrender, she smiled like an angel. The breath caught in his throat. Even in her starched school pinafore she was the loveliest child he’d ever seen. Tenderly he reached out and caressed her creamy skin, admiring the symmetry of her face and the luxuriance of her blonde hair…

So like her mother! A sense of dread spilled into him, obliterating every ounce of fatherly pride and pleasure. Maybe his Gemma had inherited all of Ellen’s flaws. Maybe she’d be selfish and spoilt and would use and discard people too, as if they were worthless, broken toys!

Shadows darkened the inky depths of his eyes and pain distorted the high arc of his mouth. Here was a sweet and innocent child. He couldn’t bear to think of her growing up to be vindictive and cruel. Not his baby.

Somehow, he vowed with silent passion, he would teach her to be kind and considerate and to think of others. She had to learn that life didn’t revolve around her. It pained him to deny her because he loved her more than anything in the world. But he had to steel himself to do so.

‘I love you. You know that,’ he began, kissing both of her peachy cheeks in reassurance.

She instantly rewarded him with a joyful hug. ‘I love you, Papà!’ she cried in triumph, clearly expecting victory.

Luc groaned inwardly. He was handling this badly! ‘Listen. I am sorry, Gemma. You can’t come,’ he said, his eyes warmly adoring as he tried to soften the blow. ‘You are a big girl of six and have started school—’

‘No school!’ she cried in alarm.

‘Sweetheart, I can’t look after you in England. I will be too busy working. Occupato. Understand?’

‘Ellen!’ she cried, wriggling in agitation. ‘I go to Ellen!’

He froze, astounded by her suggestion. All her life she’d hated her mother. The last time he’d prepared Gemma for a visit to England, she’d cried all the way to the airport! What the hell was going on here?