One Last Night (12 page)

Maya felt a wave of envy go through her. How she longed for a child of her own to do exactly that, not to mention a husband as loving and devoted as Luca was to Bronte.

'This young lady needs a sleep,' Bronte said, smiling ruefully at Maya. 'Do you want to go shopping with me tomorrow? I can come and pick you up. I found this great maternity boutique.

There was a pink and white top and trousers with an expandable waistline that would look fabulous on you with your gorgeous colouring.'

Maya smiled. 'I would love that. I haven't got anything planned.'

'Great,' Bronte said, cupping Ella's sleepy head against her shoulder. 'I'll pick you up about eleven, OK?'

Maya watched as Luca put a loving arm around his wife as they left the room together, the bond of their child and the new one they were expecting cementing them together in a bond that was unbreakable.

The door had barely swung shut when it opened again, roughly this time, with a stormy-looking Nic striding in, ready for some sort of showdown. 'Oh, scusi,' he said, pulling up short when he saw her. 'I thought you were someone else.'

'Sorry to disappoint you,' Maya said, unable to remove the tartness from her tone in time.

Nic's expression lost some of its hardness. 'Look, Maya, I know you think I belong under a rock some place but, for Giorgio's sake, can we try and get along? I'm really happy about you being back together. Giorgio needs the stable influence. He's not been the same since you left him.'

'I might not be able to give him the family he wants,' she said. 'It's still early days.'

'You're doing a great job so far,' he said, his eyes flicking to her belly and back with a green-flecked twinkle in them.

'I'm really sorry about your grandfather,' Maya said to fill the awkward little silence.

The hardness came back into Nic's face, making him look older than his thirty-two years. 'That old conniving bastard has just tried to screw up my life,' he bit out. 'But I am not going to roll over for him or for anyone.'

'You sound exactly like your brother,' she said with a touch of wryness.

'Yeah, well, I'll take that as a compliment, even though right now I swear to God I could bloody his nose for him. I just bet he put the old man up to this.'

'Up to what?' Maya asked.

'Never mind,' he said, shoving open the door. 'See you around.'

GIORGIO was silent on the drive home and Maya refused to try and nudge him out of it. She was still a little angry with him, but even angrier at herself for not having the strength to call his bluff over his threats. She could leave him before the baby was born and spend the next six months just as miserable as the six months she'd spent when she left him the first time. But, for the baby's sake and her own, she decided to stay. She was just starting to feel the bloom of pregnancy everyone always talked about, the higher level of energy, the glow of the skin and the rush of hormones that made her feel gloriously alive as a woman. It would be crazy to jeopardise all of that by living in a rented flat with Gonzo, who would no doubt lounge about mirroring her misery every day.

Besides, this had been a tumultuous and very difficult time for the Sabbatini family. They were all feeling the loss of Salvatore and it would be selfish of her to complicate things at such a raw emotional time.

And then, of course, there was the fact that she simply didn't want to miss seeing Giorgio every day. She was only just beginning to understand his character. He often showed an air of aloof indifference when something was troubling him. In the past she had taken that as cold dismissal of what was important to her, but now she could see he needed a little more time to process things before he revealed what he felt about them.

Bronte's revelation about his reaction to her sitting with Salvatore for so long had surprised her.

Giorgio had made no mention of it, although she seemed to recall he had employed another nurse soon after that day. But maybe that was because the baby was his main priority. It was the only reason their marriage was continuing, after all.

But, in spite of everything, Maya didn't want him to miss seeing their baby grow inside her.

Bronte had told her a couple of weeks back how hard it had been to have no one by her side, apart from her mother, when she was carrying Ella. Bronte had longed for Luca to have been there, witnessing every subtle and not so subtle change in her body, as he was doing now for this new baby.

She placed her hand on her abdomen protectively, wondering if the baby could sense how much love she had for it, how much she longed for it to grow to full term and arrive safely. If will alone could achieve such a miracle, she felt she was in with a very good chance.

'Are you feeling all right?' Giorgio asked, glancing at her. 'You're not in pain, are you?'

Maya put her hand back in her lap with her other one. 'Is it the baby you're worried about or me?'

she asked, longing for reassurance.

His mouth tightened as he turned the car into the driveway. 'I have a lot of worries in my life right now and you are certainly one of them,' he said.

'Thanks,' she said. 'That makes me feel a whole lot better.'

He blew out a breath as he turned off the engine and swivelled in his seat to face her. 'I am sorry for taking a hard stand with you over this issue of divorce you keep raising. It's not that I don't believe in ending a miserably empty marriage; I just think we could make things work for us if we stick at it.'

Maya looked into his eyes, wondering if she had the courage to ask him outright what his feelings for her were now. But then she wasn't sure she would believe him if he said he did love her. How easy would it be for him to pretend so she fell in with his plans?

Celebrity divorces were ugly. They were also very public and a lot of mud could get thrown back and forth. He would want to avoid it just as much as she would.

He reached out and brushed the back of his bent knuckles along the curve of her cheek in a faineant movement that sent all her nerves dancing in delight. 'I promised my grandfather I would look after you,' he said in a husky tone. 'You were like another grandchild to him. I think he saw you as a replacement of the granddaughter he lost.'

Maya put her hand over his, holding it to her cheek. 'You never talk of her-of Chiara,' she said softly. 'I don't think I've even seen a photo of her.'

His eyes became shadowed and he pulled his hand out from under hers. 'She would have looked just like Ella,' he said, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly, even though the car was not in motion. 'Luca showed me some photos of when Ella was the age Chiara was when she died. It was like looking at a mirror image.'

'It must have been a terrible time for you, finding her like that,' she said, imagining the tragic scene in her head and feeling sick with anguish for him.

There was a silence that lasted only a few seconds but it felt much, much longer.

'It was,' he said, his expression darkening as if he were walking back through to that tragic day in his mind. 'I went into her room and it was so silent, so terribly, eerily silent. And then I realised she was too still, too pale, waxy, just like a doll.'

Maya swallowed against the tennis ball of emotion that clogged her throat. 'Oh, Giorgio…'

'We should go inside,' he said, swiftly changing the subject. 'You have been on your feet way too long and I too am exhausted. It's been a hell of a long week.'

Maya followed him into the villa, glad of his supportive arm around her waist, the feel of that strong band of flesh reminding her of all the passion that simmered between them, even when they were angry with each other. He had opened up to her, just a little bit, just enough for her to see how deeply he felt about things even though he gave no outward sign of it. He was obviously trying to connect with her for the sake of their baby. It clearly wasn't easy for him. She had seen the struggle played out on his face as he had spoken of finding his baby sister and she loved him all the more for it.

Once inside, Giorgio turned her into the circle of his arms. 'Why don't you go upstairs and run a bath? I will join you in a few minutes. I have some calls and emails to see to first.'

Maya felt her heart trip in excitement. Sharing a bath with Giorgio was an experience that was totally unforgettable. They hadn't done it since their reconciliation but she knew it would be every bit as thrilling as the last time they had, if not more.

She was sitting soaking luxuriously in a deep pool of warm bubbly water when he came in. He was totally, gloriously naked. She feasted her eyes on his body: his broad chest with its dusting of coarse hair, his flat brown nipples, his even flatter abdomen, and lean hips and strongly muscled thighs, and the most intensely masculine part of him rising proudly between them.

He came over and stepped into the bath, sending a wave of rippling water over her partially submerged breasts. 'How's the water?' he asked with a smouldering look.

'Getting hotter by the minute,' she said with a deliberate arch of her spine to showcase her breasts, swollen with hormones.

His eyes went straight to them, his nostrils flaring like a proud stallion. 'You become more beautiful every day,' he said, sinking into the water and spreading his legs so she was encased between them.

Maya sat up to run her hands teasingly down his hair-roughened thighs, feeling him tense in response. She held his dark gaze, mesmerising him with the sultry promise of her eyes, knowing he would be throbbing with want within seconds of her reaching for him under the water. She tiptoed her fingers up and down his legs, stopping just short of his erection. 'You like that?' she asked.

'You know exactly what I like,' he said, lying back as she came forward.

Her breasts brushed along his chest, her nipples tingling with pleasure at the friction of his hair.

Belly to belly, it was the most erotic sensation, feeling his desire for her burgeoning against her, seeking entry, aching for release, twitching with the need to do so as quickly as possible.

But she wasn't going to let him until she had teased him some more. She wanted him begging and she would not stop until he did so. So far, he had dictated all the terms in their relationship.

Now it was her turn, using her feminine power to remind him that they were equals, at least when it came to physical desire. Sex was another way to connect, a deeply intimate way to show how compatible they were when other things were not taking centre stage.

She pushed a finger to the middle of his sternum, making him go down further into the water.

'Down, boy,' she said in a sexy tone. 'I'm not quite finished with you yet.'

'I thought you were tired,' he said in a kind of strangled voice.

She stabbed playfully at his chest again and fluttered her eyelashes at him. 'You said that, not me. I am not in the least bit tired. In fact, I am just warming up.'

'Dio', he groaned as she bent her head to his chest and licked each of his nipples in turn.

Maya kept going, lower and lower, slowly, tantalisingly so, stringing out the anticipation, making him quiver with each sweep and glide of her tongue and gentle playful nip of her teeth.

The water was too deep for her to do what she really wanted so she deftly pulled the plug, smiling as the sound of the water gurgling away filled the pulsing silence.

Giorgio's dark brows lifted. 'Bath's over?'

She was on all fours and coming dangerously closer. 'Definitely all over.'

'So…' he snatched in a breath '…what happens next?'

She gave him a come-hither look as she stood amongst the retreating bubbles, her hands sliding down over her breasts and belly and to the naked heart of her sex. 'I think you know what comes next.'

He did and he could barely wait.

He had never seen her in quite this mood before. She was like a sultry temptress, luring him into a sex game that was unlike anything he had experienced with her before. He was ready to come, just looking at her touching herself like that.

He got to his feet and followed her to the bedroom, not even caring about the wet slap of his footsteps on the marble floor and the bubbles that trailed in their wake.

He wanted her and he wanted her now.

Urgently, passionately and endlessly.

She turned at the bed and tilted one hip in a pose that said come-and-get-me. 'What are you waiting for?' she asked.

Giorgio came down on top of her, thrusting into her moist core, making every hair on the back of her neck quiver in response. Her tight warm body clutched at him, drawing him into her, making it impossible for him to slow things down. He was rushing headlong into a climactic release, only just managing to control himself long enough to make sure her needs were met first. He played her with his fingers, the swollen heart of her so ready for him she gasped and cried out loud with the pleasure it evoked. Within seconds she was convulsing around him, triggering his own earth-shattering response.

Her fingers worked their way up and down his spine in the aftermath, her soft little caressing movements making his body react to her all over again.

Giorgio propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at her cheeks, which were flushed with pleasure. 'You know, when the baby gets bigger we won't be able to make love like this,' he said. 'We'll have to be a little more creative.'

He saw the flicker of worry in her eyes. 'Sometimes I feel like it's not happening…that it's all a dream and someone is going to wake me up and say you're not pregnant. There is no baby.'

He brushed the damp hair away from her face. 'I know you are, cara, but look how well you are doing. Everyone is remarking on how wonderful you look. You are positively glowing. It won't be long now and you will feel the baby moving inside you.' He placed his hand on her belly. 'I can't wait to feel him or her kicking its little feet.'

'Bronte said it will be another few weeks before I feel the first flutters of movement,' she said.

'You will tell me the first time you feel something, won't you?' he asked.

'Of course,' she said, lowering her gaze as she traced a finger over his collarbone.

In spite of everything, Giorgio was still worried she might leave him. He had left himself wide open for a financially crippling settlement by not organising a prenuptial agreement before they married. But, with his father's accident and then his rapid decline, there hadn't been time.

He wasn't comfortable making threats about taking sole custody, but he wanted this baby and he wasn't going to allow her to take it to the other side of the world, or in fact even to England, where he couldn't see it daily and have a positive influence on its life. He was not going to join the band of divorced fathers he knew, men who hardly ever saw their children, men who spent lonely weekends and Christmases and holiday periods while their children were with their mother and her new partner.

He wanted to give this child a stable and happy childhood. His childhood had been perfect until Chiara had died. It had taken him decades to be able to think of that time in his life without flinching. His parents had become shadows of themselves; it had taken years before they came out of the abyss of grief that had consumed them. But they had come out. They had worked at their marriage, even in spite of his father's couple of affairs, which had seemed more a product of Giancarlo's grief than any malicious desire to inflict hurt on his already suffering wife. Giorgio's mother had forgiven him and they had moved on and, up until his death, had enjoyed a close and loving relationship.

But then Giorgio's mother had always loved his father. She had loved him in spite of her pain over the loss of their daughter; she had loved him in spite of his betrayal with other women, she had loved him right to the end, when he had closed his eyes for the last time, lying in her arms.