Secret Wedding

‘No sign of rogue cells?’

‘No. They’re cautiously optimistic that the leukaemia won’t return.’

‘Good. She’s in bed?’

‘Bed? No. Sicily.’

‘Sicily?’ she exclaimed in astonishment. ‘What on earth is she doing in Sicily?’

He hitched one shoulder in a minuscule shrug. A very irritating shrug.

Striving for patience, she persisted. ‘She invited me to stay for a few days and now she’s in Sicily?’

‘Yes,’ he agreed, as though his mind was not fully on what was being said.

Great. Nerina had gone away and left him holding the—baby? Was that what this was all about? Furious with his sister, he was now furious with her for coming? ‘I’d better find a hotel. . .’ she began wearily.

His laugh was—discordant. Why?

‘I know her offer was impulsive. . .’ she began—and impulse should be genetically removed at birth, she thought disgustedly. ‘You didn’t know I was coming?’ she guessed. ‘Didn’t want me to come?’

‘No,’ he agreed quietly.

Deflated, she gave a muffled sigh. ‘And brevity is your middle name is it?’ He merely glanced at her, his expression unreadable. ‘Did she say when she would be back?’

‘A few days—three at the most.’

And did she send an apology? Gillan wondered tartly. Say she was very sorry for putting her in this position, with a brother who didn’t want her here? ‘I’ll find a hotel. . .or go home.’

‘No.’

No? Because Nerina wanted her here? And Nerina must not be upset? ‘When did she go?’

‘This morning. Yesterday morning,’ he corrected himself in that same, quiet, flat voice. ‘Because, of course, it’s now tomorrow.’

‘Yes.’

‘Your command of the English language seems a little diffident,’ he observed with suspect dryness.

‘What? Yes,’ she agreed as she reflected on half-finished sentences, daft questions—because of tiredness, confusion, because of you, she wanted to add, and didn’t, because, of course, he knew that. He’d told her not five minutes ago of the impact he had on women. He must surely, therefore, know that he had the power to rob them of thought, of intelligence.

Aggravated, irritated, she leaned back, stared out at the dark sky, at old buildings that looked ghostly by moonlight. Rough roads, open spaces, small towns. She felt the silence in the car to be oppressive as they drove towards Valletta. It had been named for Grand Master Jean de la Vallette, Gillan remembered, and although Malta’s history was rich and varied it was mostly associated with the Knights of St John, and the islanders’ courage in World War II.

And she shouldn’t have come. She had known that, but Nerina’s insistence was so very hard to counter. So why wasn’t she here? Why rush off to Sicily the moment Gillan was due to arrive?

The car stopped, but it wasn’t until he switched off the ignition that she blinked, turned to look at him.

‘I can’t take the car any further,’ he said quietly—mockingly? ‘It’s only a short walk.’

‘Oh, right.’

‘Welcome to Malta,’ he offered belatedly.

‘Thank you,’ she murmured with the same offhandedness.

His smile showed faint in the moonlight, but she couldn’t see if it was echoed in his eyes.

‘I’m sorry,’ she offered again, even more helplessly, and hated herself for sounding so meek.

He nodded, unlatched his door and climbed out. Oh, Nerina, Gillan thought despairingly, why are you doing this to me? I’m tired. I don’t need this hassle, even if your brother does look like a Greek god. Or a Maltese one. Did the Maltese have ancient gods? She didn’t know.

The stars, the moon, the echo of their footsteps brought an intimacy that was laughable as they walked through the quiet streets overhung by intricately wrought balconies. Clumsy on the cobbles beneath her feet, feeling divorced from reality, she felt foolish when he halted and she didn’t.

‘Miss Hart. . .’

Turning, she blinked, gave a rueful grimace, and walked back. ‘Sorry. Daydreaming.’

‘Yes.’ Opening the door of the tall, narrow house, he ushered her inside. The clock was just striking four. ‘Is there anything you’d like before I show you to your room?’

Punctiliously polite. She wondered what his reaction would be if she asked for a three-course meal, then gave a humourless laugh. He’d probably arrange for one to be delivered. All in that very polite, flat voice, of course. ‘No,’ she replied. ‘Just to sleep.’

Without answering, he led the way upstairs and along to a room, put her belongings tidily inside. ‘I hope you’ll be comfortable.’

‘I’m sure I shall.’

‘Your bathroom is through there,’ he added, with a nod towards a door recessed beside the wardrobe. ‘Goodnight.’

‘Goodnight,’ she whispered, but he’d already gone. Slumping down on the side of the bed, she stared blankly at nothing, felt her eyelids droop, and roused herself to go and wash, slip into her nightie and climb thankfully between the sheets. Things would look better when she’d had a sleep. Tiredness had heightened her senses, interpreted things wrongly—that’s all it was.

But it wasn’t, because she was woken with a start at seven-thirty by what sounded like the clattering of tin cans. And she had no more clarity of thought than three and a half hours previously. Hands behind her head, she lay for a moment in the beautiful bedroom and tried to understand something she had laughed about in others. Instant impact, instant attraction—to a man who was so arrogantly sure of himself—it was frightening.

Another few hours’ sleep would have been nice, she thought ruefully, but if she didn’t get up, would that be another black mark against her?

Reluctant to face him, she nevertheless showered and dressed in comfortable long shorts and a T-shirt. Her cap of hair still damp, she made her way downstairs. It was a beautiful house—small, and interesting. She vaguely remembered Nerina saying that her brother had bought two houses that backed onto each other. Two front doors, she had laughed, two different addresses.

Searching for the dining room, she entered a short, glassed-in walkway, creating one side of a quadrangle, she saw, and encompassing what, in England, would have been the back garden—or two back gardens, if it was indeed two houses back to back. A tree, a fountain and a lounger casually abandoned on the flagstones. The patch of sky she could see was a bright, unclouded blue.

Hearing the soft pad of footsteps behind her, she tensed, slowly turned, felt the same alarming sensations as earlier.

‘Breakfast is this way,’ he informed her quietly.

With searching eyes that were kept carefully empty, a face that showed no emotion, she nodded and followed him to the dining room. Coffee and warm rolls had been set out for her.

‘Across the passage. We’ll talk when you’ve eaten.’ He left as quietly as he’d arrived.

Talk about what? The rules of the house? Letting out a breath which she hadn’t been aware she’d been holding, she poured her coffee, eased her dry throat. He was a man who jangled nerves, reproved with a look, made her feel tense and defensive, babble apologies for deeds not even recognised. The sort of man she had never encountered before. The same aura of authority clung to him this morning as it had the night before, and she wanted to go home.

Two cups of coffee and a massacred roll later, she stood, tried for composure, and walked into the room across the passage. He was standing at the window, staring out. A man of enormous power.