New Arrivals: One Secret Child: Mistress, Mother...Wife? / Wealthy Australian, Secret Son / Her Prince's Secret Son

For answer, Dante scooped the little girl up into his arms and planted a loud, affectionate kiss at the side of her cheek. ‘This is our house in Italy, mia bambina.’ He grinned. ‘But we have other homes around the world too.’

Mentally, Anna gulped. Having called her cosy basement flat in Covent Garden home for the past eight years, it was quite some dizzying leap to realise that if she and Tia were to live permanently with Dante they would be moving around quite a lot. And if the other properties he owned had anything like the stunning architecture and formidable size of this one then Anna could possibly be feeling overwhelmed for a very long time indeed!

‘Let’s go inside, shall we?’

‘What do you think of the place now that you’ve had a couple of hours to acclimatise yourself?’

Dante walked up behind her as Anna stood on the balcony off the drawing room, gazing out at the stunning lake view. With a breathtaking vista of the Alps in the distance, it was guaranteed to capture all her attention. Even breathing in the warm Mediterranean air acted like a soothing salve. It made her realise how much in need of a holiday she’d been for ages.

After kissing Tia a loving goodnight, and tucking her into bed in her new bedroom, she’d been standing here ever since Dante had gone upstairs to read her a bedtime story. Now her heart leapt as he walked onto the balcony to join her. Gesturing in disbelief at the lake, with its perfectly serene surface and the twinkling lights reflected on the water from some of the surrounding buildings now that night was falling, she slowly shook her head.

‘Sometimes words are inadequate, and this is one of those times. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more stirring or sublime scene.’

‘Well, it’s yours to enjoy for however long you want… you know that.’

She fell silent.

‘Come inside and sit down,’ he invited—but not before Anna registered what might have been uncertainty in his eyes.

Re-entering the elegant lamplit room, which was full of stunning antiques and sublime paintings, with a huge fireplace inlaid with white marble at its head, Anna smiled.

‘I feel like I’m on the movie set of a film about some sophisticated Italian noble. There’s so much beauty here that I can hardly take it in.’

‘You are right. There is so much beauty.’

His low-voiced comment was loaded with meaning—meaning that Anna couldn’t fail to comprehend. She couldn’t glance at him without wanting him, and knew that no matter how much she tried to contain her desire he must see it in her eyes every time their gazes met.

Gesturing, she sat on the sumptuous sofa. Dante joined her. Gathering her slender palm into his, for a while he just simply turned it over and examined it—just as if it were some priceless jewel he was contemplating purchasing.

‘I don’t know how you can ever bear leaving this place,’ she remarked, her heart quietly thudding. ‘It’s like paradise on earth.’

‘For a long time I couldn’t see it that way. But lately I’ve begun to see how lucky I am being able to have a home here.’

‘Is this where you’re from? Como, I mean? ‘

He let go of her hand.

‘No. I bought this house because my mother loved Como and had a home here. When I was young she always fantasised about living here one day…but the truth is that she was a very simple and contented soul, and would have been happy anywhere as long as she knew I was happy.’

‘She sounds wonderful.’

Dante smiled. ‘She was.’

‘So where were you raised, if not here?’ Anna prompted him gently.

CHAPTER TEN (#ulink_aeafe93c-e22e-56b5-83f6-11a563e20b3f)

‘I WAS raised in a small village inland, far away from the mountains and lakes. It wasn’t anything like here.’ He pushed to his feet as though the memory made him restless and uneasy. ‘It didn’t have the cultural delights or beautiful vistas of Como, and the people who lived there were neither rich nor privileged. But there was a strong sense of community, so I’ve been told. However, we didn’t stay. When my father walked out on her, my mother had no choice but to move to the nearest town to try and make a living.’

‘Your father walked out on you and your mother? ‘

‘He did.’ Only briefly did Dante meet Anna’s gaze and hold it. ‘It was a long time ago. I don’t even remember him.’

‘So…you don’t know much about him, then?’

He grimaced. ‘Only that he was British and an archaeologist. He’d been working on a dig nearby, looking for Roman ruins, when he met my mother. As far as I’m aware archaeologists aren’t exactly high earners. At least I’ve far exceeded anything my father could have made, and my mother didn’t die impoverished—as he left her!’

The strained silence that fell after his reluctantly voiced confession made Anna’s heart sore. Dante had become a man without the love or guidance of a father, or even close male relatives, and bereft of that important bond had had to forge his own way in life. He’d had to bury what must have been a deep-seated need for love and connection from his male parent, papering it over with material pursuits and the seemingly glamorous but ultimately not permanently fulfilling rewards of success.

All Anna had yearned for as a child was the unconditional love and support of her parents. No amount of money would have made her dire situation any better. It probably would have made things worse, because more money would have meant her father had had more income to spend on drink. But right now it was clear to her that no matter how wealthy or successful Dante had become a big part of him still yearned for the father’s love he’d never had.

Moving over to where he stood, she touched her palm to the strong heart beating beneath his fine linen shirt.

‘I think you’ve done an amazing job of turning your life around after such a challenging start, Dante,’ she told him. ‘But more than what you’ve achieved materially, you’re a good man…a man any father would be proud to call his son.’

‘Am I?’ For a disturbing few moments his glance was tortured. ‘You only say that because you don’t know what I’ve done to get where I am today.’

Anna’s dark-eyed gaze didn’t waver. ‘If you’ve done anything wrong, in my opinion it’s only that you’ve become too hard on yourself.’

‘You’re just naive—that’s why you say that.’

‘I had to grow up too fast—just like you, Dante—and I’ve learned that we don’t help ourselves when we constantly criticise what we’ve done in the past. We did the best we knew how to do at the time. How can anyone—even you—do more than that?’

‘You learned when you started to look for me that I had a “ruthless reputation”. The papers did not lie, Anna. I did whatever I could to make my fortune. I had no scruples as long as I won the deal—as long as it meant more money and power. I was so driven I didn’t even care that I helped people to lose their jobs. I certainly didn’t have sleepless nights worrying about how they would support themselves or their families afterwards! Even my mother started to despair of me. She warned me against alienating good people. One day I would need trustworthy friends, she said—not phoney ones who were driven by fear and greed like I was.

‘Well…it took my mother’s death and then meeting you, Anna, to make me wake up to the truth of my life. To make me want to work and live with more integrity. to make me want to help people instead of exploit them for what I could get. It took me a while to change things, but when I realised that the changes I had to make had to be quite radical one of the first things I did was to revert back to my Italian name. I only used my father’s name because, coming from a poor background, with only the most basic education, I wanted to distance myself from Italy and all that it meant to me. Ironic, really, when I didn’t even know the man and he didn’t stay around for long—’

‘Oh, Dante… What an incredible journey you’ve had to come back to yourself.’ Anna’s heart was so full it was hard to keep her tears at bay.

He shook his head, as if he was uncomfortable with the tenderness in her voice, as if his painful story couldn’t possibly warrant it. ‘There are shadows beneath your eyes, innamorata.’

His hand glanced softly against her cheekbone, his blue-grey eyes as hypnotically mesmerising as the moonlit lake outside the window, and Anna wanted to lose herself in those fascinating depths for a long time.

His next words robbed her of the chance.

‘We’ve had a long day’s travelling. You really should take the opportunity of having an early night. In the morning the housekeeper I hire to look after the villa when I’m here will arrive with her daughter, who also helps out. They’ll prepare breakfast for us, and also find out if there’s anything we need.’

‘What are their names?’

‘The housekeeper and her daughter?’ Dante shrugged, as though surprised by the question. ‘Giovanna is the mother and Ester the daughter. No doubt they’ll immediately fall in love with Tia when they meet her—both of them adore children, and Ester has a little son of her own. Anyway…like I said, you look tired. You should have a leisurely bath, then an early night. I’ll join you later.’ He turned away from her.

‘I hope you don’t regret sharing what you just shared with me?’ Concerned, as well as disappointed that he seemed intent on spending the rest of the evening without her, Anna restlessly coiled a long strand of her bright hair round her finger. ‘Do you?’ she pressed.

‘Go to bed, Anna. We’ll talk again in the morning.’

‘Why don’t you answer me? I don’t want to go to bed and leave you brooding here on your own.’

A faint smile appeared on his fine-cut lips as he turned to survey her.