MELANIE MILBURNE - Innocent Wife, Baby Of Shame

Keira looked down at her paint-splattered clothes. ‘I need to get changed…’

‘There are still some of your clothes at my house.’

Her eyes came up to meet his. ‘You mean you haven’t thrown them all out?’

He gave her one of his unreadable looks. ‘Marietta insisted they were to stay in the wardrobe until the divorce was finalised. I think she has always hoped you would come back.’

She looked down at her hands again. ‘Did you tell her you wouldn’t have me back?’ she asked.

It seemed a long time before he answered. Keira could hear the clock on the wall behind her counting out the seconds; they seemed to be out of time with her thumping heart.

‘I told her what we had was well and truly over,’ he said. ‘I did not discuss the details with her or with anyone, although she could hardly have avoided hearing about it in the press. The journalists are still having a field day with it, no doubt because of your father’s bid for the Senate.’

Keira knew she should be feeling grateful that he hadn’t revealed the sordid details of her betrayal with all and sundry. He had had every right to do so—what she had done had been unforgivable. She could only assume that he had remained silent out of a sense of male pride. He would deem it below him to reveal the particulars of his private life, although she couldn’t help wondering why he had all those magazines in the waiting room. Perhaps, like the wedding photo on his desk, he wanted to remind himself of how he had been let down by someone he had once trusted and loved.

He passed the phone to her. ‘I think you should call your brother at school,’ he said. ‘It would be better for him to hear it from you rather than read it in the papers tomorrow.’

Keira stared at the phone in her hands. Could she lie convincingly to her younger brother? Although eight years separated them, she and Jamie had always been exceptionally close.

She pressed the numbers and waited for him to pick up his mobile.

‘Hello?’

‘Jamie, it’s me, Keira.’

‘Hi, Keira, how are you doing? How are the paintings going for the exhibition?’

‘Not so bad,’ she said, trying to lift her tone. ‘How are you?’

There was a tiny pause.

‘OK, I guess…’

‘Jamie,’ she began, ‘I have something to tell you.’

‘You’re not going to marry Garth Merrick, are you?’ he asked, the edge of panic unmistakable in his tone.

Keira had to turn away from the quirked-brow look Patrizio sent her as her brother’s voice carried across the room. ‘No, of course not. We’re just…friends.’

‘What is it, then?’

She took a calming breath. ‘Patrizio and I have decided to get back together,’ she said, mentally crossing her fingers that he would buy it.

‘The divorce is off?’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘The divorce is off.’

‘Wow, Keira, that’s great!’ he said excitedly. ‘What brought this about?’

‘I guess we both realised we were making a big mistake,’ she said, adlibbing as she went along. ‘We both still love each other, so a divorce is pointless.’

‘I’m so glad, Keira,’ he said. ‘You haven’t been happy since…well, since it all fell apart. What do Mum and Dad think? Have you told them yet?’

‘Not yet, but I’ll call them next.’

There was another little silence.

‘Does Bruno Di Venuto know?’ Jamie asked.

Keira met Patrizio’s eyes across the desk. ‘No,’ she said. ‘But Patrizio is about to ring him.’

‘I saw him in the common room a few minutes ago,’ Jamie said. ‘He was his usual obnoxious self.’

‘Has it been very difficult for you, Jamie?’ she asked. ‘You haven’t mentioned a thing in any of the calls we’ve had lately.’

‘I can handle him, Keira,’ Jamie said. ‘He’s got a chip on his shoulder about you and his uncle divorcing. He thinks it’s all your fault but I told him you only did what you did because you thought Patrizio was having an affair. You weren’t to know you were being set up. Anyone could have made the same mistake.’

Keira inwardly cringed. ‘I’m sorry you’ve had to suffer because of me,’ she said. ‘I wish I could have avoided dragging you into my problems.’

‘Don’t be daft,’ he responded. ‘You always stuck up for me when Mum and Dad got angry about some stupid little issue. But I must say I’m glad to hear your news. I really want to do well in the finals and the way Bruno has been carrying on was making life pretty difficult. He’s got some influential mates. My grades have been falling but I should be able to pick them up if he lays off a bit.’

Keira met Patrizio’s dark unblinking gaze across the desk. ‘Patrizio assures me Bruno will,’ she said. ‘Take care of yourself, Jamie. I love you.’

‘Don’t go all soppy on me now,’ he said gruffly. ‘I am really pleased you and Patrizio are having another go at it. I like him, Keira. I always did. He’s one really cool dude.’

Keira handed the phone back to Patrizio a short time later. ‘Apparently, in spite of your nephew’s behaviour, my brother still thinks you’re one really cool dude.’

He gave her an indifferent look. ‘So I heard.’

She listened while he made a call to his nephew and, even though it was issued in staccato Italian, she more or less got the drift. Patrizio’s brows snapped together as he ranted and railed, the gestures of his hand indicating that he was extremely angry.

He put the phone down on the desk a few minutes later with a brooding frown. ‘That boy needs a firm hand. I should have seen this coming. I could have stopped it getting to this.’

‘It’s all right, Patrizio,’ she said. ‘Jamie is coping with things.’

He got to his feet and stood with his back to her, looking out over the city below. ‘I cannot be the father figure Bruno needs,’ he said, clenching and unclenching his fists by his sides. ‘I have tried to take Stefano’s place but it is not good enough. No one can replace his father. Bruno is angry and resentful and is no doubt looking for a target.’

‘You have done your best,’ she said softly. ‘It’s been hard for everyone, Gina especially.’

He turned around to look down at her. ‘We should get going,’ he said after a stiff little silence. He scooped up his keys from the desk and added, ‘The sooner we get this over with the better.’

Keira followed him out of the office with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Spending the evening with him was going to be bad enough, but sharing his house as his wife again was going to take all the courage she possessed and more.

Patrizio’s house was a modern mansion set in a private garden in the exclusive suburb of South Yarra. Large windows made the most of the view over the city on one side and the lap pool and beautifully manicured formal garden on the other.

Italian marble lined the impressive foyer, leading to a sweeping staircase which led to the upper floor where each of the beautifully decorated bedrooms had an en suite bathroom attached. Soft-as-air taupe carpet covered the living and entertainment areas, the luxurious leather sofas just begging to be sat upon.

Keira forced her gaze away from them, not wanting to recall the many times she had felt and tasted his passion while lying entangled with him there.

‘I will leave you to get changed,’ Patrizio said as he put his briefcase down. ‘I have a couple of emails to send. Make yourself at home.’

This used to be my home, Keira thought sadly as she took the stairs to the upper floor. Every room contained a memory of her time with Patrizio. It seemed strange to be here again, walking up the stairs as if she had never left.

She paused outside the master bedroom, taking a little shaky breath as her hand pushed open the door.