One Last Night (10 page)

OVER the coming weeks Maya saw less and less of Giorgio. Salvatore's illness had progressed to the point where he needed around the clock care. Giorgio had to divide his time between keeping the intrusive press at bay, as well as seeing to his grandfather's affairs on top of his own workload, which was considerable at the best of times. Maya began to see for the first time since they had married that the frenetic fast-paced life he lived was not perhaps his choice, but rather something he did because so many people relied on him. It made her more committed to trying to support him in the background, making sure the villa was a comfortable and quiet refuge when he came home, sometimes well after she had gone to bed.

She was still getting used to being back at the villa. It was a different environment without the crew of household workers that had worked there previously. The new sense of space gave her time to think. She was too frightened to plan too far ahead, but she was content for the time being to support Giorgio as much as she could through the difficult time of facing his grandfather's passing. She even spent long hours with Salvatore in order to give some of the other family members a break. She enjoyed sitting there with the old man, chatting to him if and when he felt up to it, or simply reading the paper to him or from one of his favourite novels.

In spite of his long absences from the villa, Giorgio still shared Maya's bed at night. She looked forward to those passionate interludes, when he would silently reach for her, gathering her into his arms and showing her a world of sultry hot delights that made her flesh hum and sing for hours afterwards. He still refused to have penetrative sex, which she found frustrating, but she was hopeful now that she had passed the danger zone of her pregnancy he would soon change his mind.

She was now close to twelve weeks pregnant. She still could barely believe it. Even seeing the baby on the follow-up ultrasound she'd had earlier that week seemed like a dream. As each day passed she felt a fraction less terrified that this too would end in despair.

That Giorgio was thrilled about the progress of her pregnancy was unmistakable, but what was less certain was what he felt about her. To be fair to him, she understood he had a lot on his mind at present, so his air of distraction at times had probably very little to do with her but more to do with the stress he was dealing with. He was gentle and solicitous towards her. No one looking in from the outside would take him for anything but a loving husband, proudly awaiting the birth of his surprise baby.

Giorgio's family showed no signs of thinking anything different. Maya and Giorgio had joined them for dinner at Giovanna's invitation only the week before. Although, of course, everyone was feeling rather subdued because of Salvatore's deterioration and because he was too unwell to join them downstairs, the event proved to Maya that the family took it for granted she was back in the Sabbatini fold and was not going anywhere in a hurry.

Bronte, Luca's lovely wife, was fast becoming a friend. Maya had offered to help her learn Italian and they had enjoyed a couple of sessions at the villa with little Ella joining in with much enthusiasm. Maya had loved being with the little toddler, who seemed to be blossoming as each day passed. Bronte too, who was fourteen weeks pregnant now and glowing with it, helped Maya to feel a little less worried that things would go wrong this time around.

The persistent and rather hideous nausea Maya was still experiencing, Bronte assured her, was a fantastic sign, similar to what Giorgio had said, which the doctor too had confirmed only that afternoon when she had gone in for a check-up.

Maya was sitting curled up with a book waiting for Giorgio to come home when she heard the front door of the villa open and close. Gonzo whined as if he sensed something was wrong even before Giorgio walked into the room.

Maya felt the book she was holding slide out of her hands; she barely registered the little thump as it landed on the carpeted floor at her feet. 'Giorgio?' Her voice came out as a whisper of dread.

His eyes looked hollow as they connected with hers. 'He's gone,' he said in a flat emotionless tone. 'He died two hours ago. He went very peacefully.'

Maya felt her lip quiver and her eyes filled with tears. She scrambled to her feet and half stumbled, half fell into his arms. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, as if she could take some of the pain away from him and carry it for him. 'I'm so sorry,' she said, struggling to keep her emotions in check. 'He was such a wonderful person. He will be missed so much.'

Giorgio rested his head on the top of hers, his arms going around her to hold her close. 'Yes, he will,' he said. 'But he wanted us to move on. He didn't want us to feel sorry for him or wallow in grief. He wanted us to live life to the full, like he did.'

If only life wasn't so capricious, Maya thought. Living it to the full was fine for some people, but once you had been hit from the left-field a couple of times it made one rather cautious about living in the moment.

Giorgio put her from him after a little while, still anchoring her with his hands curled around her upper arms. 'So how are you feeling, cara?' he asked. 'What did the doctor say? I am sorry I couldn't come with you. Did you get my text message? I got caught up with my grandfather's palliative care doctor. I couldn't really get away in time.'

Although Maya was a little surprised by his rapid change of subject, she was starting to see it was his way of coping, to move on with life as if nothing had happened. He would grieve but he would do so in private. 'Yes, I got your message and I totally understand. It was just a check-up, in any case. Everything is fine. Dr Rossini thinks the nausea should settle in another few weeks.'

He smiled and placed his hand on her still flat belly. 'No one would ever know you are carrying my child in there,' he said. 'How soon before you will start to show?'

'Bronte said it might not show for another month or two,' she said. 'She said she was almost five and a half months before she did with Ella.'

'I think we should make an announcement to the press once my grandfather's funeral is over,' he said. 'Look at how much attention Luca and Bronte got over their love-child and then the wedding and now a second pregnancy. It's what people want to hear. They thrive on it.'

Maya frowned at him. 'But I thought you wanted to keep the press out of this for as long as possible?'

He dropped his hands from her and moved across to the bar area. He poured some iced water in a tall glass and handed it to her before he made himself a brandy and dry. 'My grandfather wanted the Sabbatini name to be associated with growth and success, not illness and death,' he said. 'We owe it to our investors and the staff and guests in all of our hotels to remind them life goes on, business as usual. The announcement of our much anticipated child will draw attention away from the family's loss at this time.'

Maya was incensed. She hated the thought of the press hounding her, chasing her, perhaps even putting her life and that of her baby in danger as they shoved and crowded her for a photo. 'So this is all a business strategy to you, is it?' she asked.

Giorgio took a deep draught of his drink before he answered. 'You are overreacting, as usual, Maya. I am merely saying we need to stay focused on the positive, not the negative. I manage a huge global corporation. I don't want anything to have a negative impact on it and nor did my grandfather. Those were some of the last words he spoke to me.'

Maya turned away, putting her glass down with a loud thud on the coffee table. 'I will not agree to have the news of my pregnancy splashed over every paper and gossip magazine in the country, if not all over Europe, just so you can make money out of it.'

'Maya-'

She turned on him like a snarling cat. 'Don't patronise me with that I'm-the-one-in-charge tone.

You know how much I hate the intrusion of the press. It's one of the reasons our marriage crumbled.'

His mouth became tight-lipped. 'The reason our marriage crumbled was because you were not mature enough to face the reality that life doesn't always go according to plan. You acted like a spoilt child who couldn't have what she wanted right when she wanted it. You stormed out of our marriage pouting all the way.'

Maya's mouth dropped open in outrage. 'You're calling me a spoilt child? What about you, with your private jet and Lamborghini and Ferrari, for God's sake. You know nothing of what it's like to struggle. All your life you've had everything handed to you on a silver family crest-embossed platter.'

He put his now empty glass down. 'I am not going to be drawn into an argument with you. You are upset over my grandfather's death. I shouldn't have even brought up the subject of the press announcement.'

Maya refused to be mollified. She folded her arms and glared at him.

Spoilt child, indeed.

Pouting all the way out of her marriage.

What the hell did he mean by that? He would have divorced her as quick as a wink if it hadn't been for what he stood to lose in a settlement.

She watched as he poured himself another drink, a double this time. He wasn't a huge drinker, which made her realise with a little jolt that he was feeling his loss rather more deeply than he was letting on. He had said she was upset about his grandfather's death but, as usual, he had not said anything about how he was feeling.

'Giorgio…' She curled her fingers around each other, uncertain how to progress.

'Leave it, Maya,' he said, raising his tumbler to his lips.

She waited for a beat or two. 'How is your mother taking it?' she asked.

He didn't even bother to turn around to face her to answer. His left shoulder hiked up and down in a shrug. 'She is upset, of course. It will no doubt bring back the pain of the loss of my father, but she has her family around her. Luca's with her now and Bronte and gorgeous little Ella. She will be the best distraction for Mamma-for all of us, actually. Nic's due to fly in tomorrow. He's in Monte Carlo, probably gambling or sleeping with some wannabe starlet or both.'

'You disapprove of his lifestyle, don't you?' Maya asked after another little pause.

Giorgio turned around and looked at her, glass in hand. 'You think I have had every privilege and certainly, compared to you, that is indeed the case, but don't for a moment think I don't appreciate or value what I have been given as a birthright. Luca had to grow up and grow up fast when he almost ruined his own and Bronte's life. Nic has yet to learn to take responsibility for his actions. But I have a feeling he is about to.'

'Oh?' she asked. 'What makes you say that?'

He gave her a grim look. 'My grandfather talked to me briefly about his will. Nic is not going to like some of the terms, let me tell you. If he doesn't toe the line within a year he will be disinherited.'

Maya flinched in shock. 'Salvatore stated that in his will?'

Giorgio nodded and took another generous mouthful of his drink. 'The feathers are about to fly, or at least they will when Nic finds out when the will is read. If he wants to contest it he will have a lengthy and very expensive fight on his hands. I am hoping he won't go down that path.

The press will make a circus of it, for one thing. Also, it could mean trouble for the Corporation if Nic defaults.'

'I'm not used to these sorts of things,' she said. 'When my mother died she hadn't even left a will.

She didn't have anything to leave in it, even if she had gone to the trouble of writing one.'

Giorgio put his glass down on the bar. 'You must have missed her when she died so suddenly.

You've hardly ever talked about it.'

Maya tried not to think of that time. She hated being reminded of her lonely childhood, how much of a burden she had been made to feel by her penurious great-aunt, how much she had longed for a cuddle or a word of praise and encouragement from a woman who loathed all forms of affection and who thought words of affirmation would unnecessarily inflate a child's ego.

Maya's school days had been the worst. Watching as all the other kids had one or both parents come to assemblies or end of school prize nights. Her great-aunt had not attended a single event.

Eunice Cornwell didn't believe in competition of any sort, so when Maya had taken out the Headmaster's Prize for Outstanding Academic Achievement at her Leaver's Assembly no one had been there to see it.

'It wasn't a great time in my life,' Maya said. 'My great-aunt resented having me thrust upon her.

I resented being there. I left as soon as I possibly could.'

'Poor little orphaned Maya,' Giorgio said, coming over to where she was standing so stiffly. 'No wonder you were attracted to me with my big family.'

'I was attracted to you, not your family,' Maya said.

He lifted the hair off the back of her neck, sending the nerves beneath her skin into a frenzy of delight. 'Ah, yes,' he said. 'And you still are, aren't you, tesore mio?'

'I can hardly deny it when I am currently carrying the evidence in my belly,' she said in a wry tone. Long may it continue, she tacked on silently.

His other hand went to her abdomen, pressing against it gently but possessively. 'I want to make love to you,' he said, his voice deep and sexy and irresistible. 'Now.'

Maya felt her insides flip over. That dark smouldering look in his eyes sent her heart racing and when he traced a fingertip down over the curve of her breast, even though she was still fully dressed, she felt her nipple instantly engorge with blood. 'Are you asking me or telling me?' she said in a voice that wobbled with anticipation.