One Passionate Night's Miracle: One-Night Baby / The Surgeon's Miracle Baby / Outback Baby Miracle

He was still staring at the woman when the bottom fell out of his world. A beautiful dark-haired child of about four years old threw herself at Kate, and as she swept her into her arms and met his gaze above the black glossy curls he knew.

Kate paled as she clutched the child closer to her chest, and it ripped out his heart to see the terror in her eyes, but that was nothing compared to the feelings inside him.

Instantly aware, instantly curious, the child lifted her head to study him. Lodging her thumb in her mouth, she nestled closer to her mother while Caddy and Meredith melted away. He was vaguely aware of the demands on him pulling him this way and that, but as Kate remained frozen in a tableau he couldn’t tear his gaze from he knew that nothing else mattered but this.

Kate planted a fervent kiss on her daughter’s black curls. His daughter! There wasn’t a shred of doubt in his mind. The child was his, every inch of her a Rossi … the high colour, the cheek-bones, the jet-black hair, the curls, the luminous brown eyes that stared straight into his soul. She was his child, his daughter, his baby, the first and only member of his family. He went cold to think of all the years that had been stolen from him … from both of them. And he didn’t even know her name.

‘Mummy …’ She tugged at Kate’s sleeve. ‘Who is this man? I like him.’

His heart shattered and fell in pieces at his daughter’s feet. Anger, anger such as he had never known, was rising deep inside him. He should have known that this was the reward you got for even thinking about trusting a woman.

‘Say hello to your daddy, Francesca.’

Francesca … Francesca … Francesca …

‘Hello,’ his daughter said solemnly.

Kate was desperate for him to look at her, for him to offer her some reassurance, but he only had eyes for the child … the child reaching out to him.

To him.

CHAPTER NINE

KATE’S heart was pounding so hard she could barely breathe, but she had to make everything seem completely normal for Francesca’s sake. ’Shall we sit down?’

This was the worst of all possible outcomes, and, however well he handled it, it had to have been a terrible shock for Santino. Without preamble, or explanation, he discovered they had a daughter together. But she could hardly blame Caddy or Meredith for doing what they believed was in her best interest.

Kate made for a free table, conscious that Francesca was leaning over her shoulder wanting Santino to carry her, but Kate wasn’t ready for that yet.

‘Is that why you came to Rome, Mummy … to find Daddy?’ Francesca asked Kate as they sat down.

‘Not exactly … ‘Kate couldn’t lie. She hadn’t lied to Francesca yet, and she had no intention of making this the start of some new regime. ‘Remember what I told you?’ Kate swung Francesca onto her knees so she could look into her eyes. ‘I came to Rome to see Aunty Caddy—’

‘So did Aunty Caddy find Daddy for me?’ Francesca turned and levelled a long, considering stare on Santino.

‘No, I found you,’ Santino said, smiling as he came to sit down beside Kate.

Kate felt a chill run through her. Santino wouldn’t meet her gaze. She was dead to him. His attention was focused on his daughter to the exclusion of everything else and Francesca was equally intent on him. For the first time in Francesca’s life Kate felt shut out, which frightened her and made her think it was a terrible foretaste of the future.

Francesca chattered on and when she paused for breath Santino suggested they call Meredith over. It was the moment Kate knew had to come, but had been dreading.

‘I’d like to speak privately with your mummy,’ he told Francesca, ‘and then afterwards you and I will have chance to get to know each other a little better.’

Francesca smilingly agreed, but Kate couldn’t lose the feeling that Santino’s words contained a threat aimed in her direction. She was loath to leave the table to go and look for Meredith, but Santino had left her with little option. The moment she stood up to leave the table Francesca climbed up on Santino’s knee.

Hovering close to the table, Kate felt numb as she watched the two of them together. Father and daughter … dark hair, dark eyes, even the same smile, it was uncanny. Everything had happened so quickly, too quickly, before she’d had chance to consider whether Santino might make a suitable father for Francesca. And now it was too late. Francesca was instantly besotted with her father, and Santino was equally enchanted by his beautiful daughter. There was no going back now. But in fairness she couldn’t fault Santino’s behaviour. Even though he had to be at breaking point no one would ever have guessed it.

‘Are you going to find Meredith?’ he prompted, and as he turned to look at her Kate jerked back to full attention.

‘Yes, of course.’ His voice had been carefully pitched not to alarm Francesca, but the expression in Santino’s eyes, which Francesca could not see, chilled Kate to the bone. ‘I’ll go and look for her now …’ But the truth was, she didn’t want to leave them alone for a moment. She felt instantly threatened by the closeness that had sprung up between them within moments of them meeting.

‘Francesca will be quite safe with me.’

Santino’s words held a threat, but Kate knew she had to remain calm. She mustn’t let Santino see how intimidated he made her feel. ‘I’ll only be a moment.’ She directed the words at Francesca. ’Stay there and Mummy will be back before you know it.’

It was the best she could do without causing an unpleasant scene, and what hurt most of all was that Francesca hardly noticed her leaving. She had already turned away to Santino and was chatting to him as if all the years that divided them had simply melted away.

Would Santino ever allow Francesca to leave his side again? Kate wondered fearfully as she rushed about the room searching for Cordelia and Meredith. Every second was a second too long for her to be parted from her precious daughter. Kate felt as if her life depended on finding her cousin and her aunt and getting back to Francesca, which it did, because Francesca was her life and always would be.

She was so adept at finding solutions to other people’s problems, but here in the middle of a crisis in her own life she was floundering, Kate realised with agonised frustration. The future was a blank canvas upon which only Santino could draw, while she couldn’t see her way past this nightmare. The only certainty was that everything would change now that Santino was part of her life again. The enmity springing off him had been both a warning and a foretaste of the future.

She found Caddy chattering away in the centre of an admiring crowd, blissfully unaware of the crisis she had created. Kate didn’t want to disturb her when she could see Caddy was talking to an older woman Kate realised must be the director Diane Fox. But thankfully Meredith, having spotted her, quickly extricated herself from the group.

‘Kate?’

‘Meredith, I’m so sorry … I haven’t even said hello to you.’ She’d hardly acknowledged her at all, Kate realised, giving her favourite aunt a distracted hug. ‘Do you think you could look after Francesca for me for a few minutes while I talk to Santino?’

‘I’d be pleased to …’ Meredith took a closer look at Kate. ‘Kate, what’s wrong?’

‘Nothing,’ Kate lied shakily. ’Santino wants to speak to me in private.’

‘That’s good news, isn’t it?’ Meredith put a comforting hand on Kate’s arm.

Meredith was so naïve; she always thought the best of everyone and Kate couldn’t ever be angry or impatient with her. ‘Yes, I’m sure it’s an excellent sign,’ she said with a smile to reassure her aunt.

When Kate and Meredith arrived back at the table they found Francesca asleep in Santino’s arms. The sight stunned Kate. She wondered if she had ever felt quite so cold, or so heartsick and threatened.

‘The travelling must have exhausted her,’ Meredith exclaimed fondly, holding out her arms to take Francesca.

‘We have a lot of catching up to do, piccola,‘ Santino murmured as he handed a sleeping Francesca over with the greatest care to Meredith.

Catching up to do … Santino’s words echoed eerily in Kate’s head, and made her fear for the future. He was right—Santino did have a lot of catching up to do and so did Francesca. And how could she deny them time together? She couldn’t forget the influence Santino wielded, or the fact that she had no contacts in Rome or in London. She had no one she could call on in a tug of love situation. She would have to pick a lawyer out of a book like pinning the tail on a donkey … taking her chances that she picked a good one like the rest of humanity.

Kate couldn’t fail to be moved by the depth of emotion on Santino’s face as he watched Meredith carry Francesca away, but it was that same reflection of possession and entitlement that filled her with dread. She wasn’t frightened of Santino in a physical sense, but as he rose to his feet and towered over her she felt herself shrink inwardly.

He stood looking down at her in silence, and when he spoke his voice was low and full of menace. ‘How could this happen, Kate?’

‘Please, Santino, not here …’ She found it hard to vocalize, her throat had seized up so badly with fright. She wasn’t even certain that Santino heard her as she started for the door.

‘Kate …’

Sensing Santino behind her, Kate was suddenly consumed by a primeval fear. She started running, her feet drumming on the wooden floor, adding to the noise in the room, and that noise reverberated in her head, driving her feet, stealing her breath until she was almost blind with panic by the time she reached the exit. She had to fight her way through the crowd to get out, but people coming into the restaurant hardly noticed and were still smiling as she jostled them. They had a party to go to, friends to meet, food to eat, wine to drink, while Kate was lost in a nightmare without end.

As she burst through the door she was sobbing and had to pause for breath before she could set off again and run down the path. Clutching her throat, she gulped in the warm clean air, but Santino caught up with her too quickly before she could compose herself.

‘Please, Santino, please …’ His grip on her arm was remorseless.

‘Let’s get one thing straight before we go any further.’ He thrust her in front of him and his eyes were molten with rage as he stared down at her. ‘Francesca is my daughter.’