One Last Night (8 page)

The doctor's waiting room was almost full but Maya and Giorgio were led straight through to the doctor who had treated Maya in the past.

Dr Rossini was surprisingly optimistic about the pregnancy progressing to full-term this time around. 'You are in excellent health, Signora Sabbatini,' he said. 'You are perhaps a little underweight but that will soon change with a better diet and more rest. I will do a full blood test screen. The home test you used is very reliable so if you like we can do an intravaginal ultrasound in my examination room next door to make sure everything is as it should be, given your history.'

'Do you want me to wait outside?' Giorgio asked Maya.

Although the procedure was more invasively intimate than an abdominal ultrasound, Maya shook her head. She did not have it in herself to deny Giorgio the first glimpse of their baby and she felt in very great need of his support. 'No, please stay.'

'Come through.' Dr Rossini directed them to the room next door. He left them for a few minutes while Maya got on the examination table, undressing her lower body and covering herself with a blanket in preparation.

She sent Giorgio a worried glance but he gave her a reassuring smile. 'Try not to worry, cara,' he said. 'The doctor seems pretty confident you and the baby will be fine.'

Dr Rossini came in and gloved up, talking them through the procedure, as well as pointing out the tiny embryo, which was just four centimetres long. 'You can see a tiny heartbeat just there.'

He showed them on the screen. 'The C-shaped curvature is developing and those little buds there in the next few weeks will become legs and arms. Your baby looks a healthy little one so far.

Congratulations.'

Maya could do nothing about the tears that rolled from her eyes as the doctor put away his equipment. Giorgio silently handed her a crisp white handkerchief, his own eyes suspiciously moist. It was too soon to hope, she kept saying to herself. She'd had early ultrasounds before and still lost the baby, but she couldn't help thinking that something felt different about this one. Was she imagining the tiny shape on the screen looked more robust than the previous ones in the first two years of their marriage?

The drive to Giorgio's villa was conducted in a silence that was tense but not antagonistic. Maya wondered what he was thinking, whether he was nervous, excited or worried or all three. She glanced at him now and again, searching for some clue to what he was feeling, but he was concentrating on the traffic, a small frown bringing his brows together over his eyes.

They arrived at the villa and Maya had to blink a couple of times as he had changed the colour scheme of the outside. Extensive work had been done in the gardens too, and he had installed an infinity pool on one of the terraces that in spring and summer enjoyed full sun.

Inside was just as transformed. Fresh curtains and festooned pelmets hung at the windows, the marbled floors were polished and the grand staircase was recar-peted in an ankle-deep runner that wound its way up like a river. The smell of fresh paint was prominent in the air but it gave the villa a new, hopeful and revitalised atmosphere.

'What do you think?' Giorgio asked as he showed her through the downstairs rooms.

'It's…it's amazing,' Maya said, turning in a full circle to take all of the changes in. 'The colours are lovely. I couldn't have done better myself. Did you employ an interior designer?'

He gave her a wry look. 'A whole team of them. I wanted to freshen up the place. I felt it needed a change.'

Maya wondered again if that had had more to do with removing every trace of her presence, but she had cause to rethink that opinion when he showed her the upstairs bedroom they used to share. He had knocked down a wall to create more space and installed a walk-in wardrobe along with a brand-new en suite bathroom that was twice the size of the one they had had before. It had a deep bowl-like bathtub set in the middle of the room and a double headed glass shower unit in one corner. Twin basins with gilt-edged mirrors above and cupboards beneath completed the transformation.

The walk-in wardrobe off the bedroom suite was almost as big as the kitchen at her rented flat.

But what was more surprising was that all of the clothes and other accessories she had left behind were hanging in neat rows or folded in the drawer section as if she had never left.

She turned from inspecting it all to look up at him. 'Why didn't you toss out all of the stuff I left behind or send it to a charity or something?'

He gave a movement of his lips that was the equivalent of a dismissive shrug, but behind his eyes a glint of triumph gleamed as he handed her the engagement and wedding rings she had left next to her departure note all those months ago. 'It's called hedging your bets,' he said. 'I took a gamble. It paid off. I had a feeling you might change your mind once you realised what you were throwing away.'

IF IT hadn't been for his grandfather's illness and the precarious state of his health, Maya would have walked out right then and there, just to prove him wrong.

'Your confidence is misplaced, Giorgio,' she said with a tart edge to her voice as she shoved the rings on her finger. 'You know I am only here now because of your grandfather and the baby, both of whom could be gone within a matter of weeks.'

His brows snapped together. 'Stop talking like that. It's almost as if you want to lose this child.

You heard what the doctor said. There is no reason to be so negative. You are in good health and the baby looks healthy for its age and stage.'

She glared back at him with her arms crossed over her middle. 'Don't tell me what I can and can't say or what I can and can't feel.'

Giorgio raked a hand through his hair but it did little to restore any order to it. If anything, it made Maya want to run her hands through it as she used to do. The temptation to do so was suddenly almost too much to bear. She needed his touch for reassurance. Coming back to the villa, as changed as it was, still affected her deeply. Just a few metres down the hall was the nursery she had so excitedly prepared all those years ago. Had he stripped it until it too was unrecognisable?

She was too frightened to ask.

'Maya.' He came over to where she was standing so stiffly and placed his hands gently on the top of her shoulders. 'Forgive me,' he said gruffly. 'I am forgetting you are in the midst of a hormonal turmoil, let alone worrying about what's happened in the past. I am worried too. I am desperately worried I won't do or say the right thing, just like I did before. I am still learning how to do this.

It's all new to me. This time I want things to be perfect for you and the baby. Believe me, cara, I don't want to upset you now. I don't want to fight with you. I want to look after you.'

She took a steadying breath as she looked into his dark gaze. 'What did you do with the nursery?'

she asked.

His hands tightened for a nanosecond on her shoulders before he removed them to hang by his sides. His expression threatened to lock down as usual, but then she saw a tiny fist punching beneath the skin at the edge of his mouth, as if trying to push its way through. A war was going on within him; the effort to override his instinctive response was clearly taking a huge toll. 'I had it redecorated,' he said. 'It's a spare bedroom now.'

She disguised a quick apprehensive swallow. 'Can I see it?'

He stepped aside to hold the door open for her. 'Of course.'

Maya walked down the hall, unable to shake off the feeling of walking back through time. She had been so excited during that first pregnancy. She had shopped and shopped, filling the villa with baby things, from teddy bears to teething rings. She had bought clothing: tiny all in one suits, booties and nappies and bibs. She had even taught herself to knit and in the evenings she would make some very odd-shaped booties until she finally got the hang of it. She had insisted on choosing and then papering the walls of the nursery herself. She had made it a project, to make the most beautiful nursery with everything ready and waiting for their precious baby.

And then she had miscarried.

The nursery had seemed to mock her with its array of baby goods each time she walked past it.

After a few months she conceived again and, buoyed up with renewed hope and the optimism of youth, she had started nesting again.

By the fourth miscarriage she had learned her lesson and learned it well. She had closed the door and had never opened it since.

Opening it now was like opening a wound that had not quite healed. The sound of the handle turning felt like someone picking at the scab, pain sliced through her-the pain of loss, of disappointment, of failure and hopelessness.

The room was decorated in a duck egg blue and cream. It looked nothing like a nursery. It was just a spare bedroom, a rather beautifully appointed one with Parisian-style furniture.

'It's very…nice,' she said as the silence swirled around her. She turned and faced him, pasting a smile on her face that made her muscles ache. 'You've done a good job. No one would ever think it was once a…' she forced the word out '…a nursery.'

Giorgio reached for her and she stumbled forwards into his arms, burying her face against his chest. He cupped his hand at the back of her head, holding her to him, knowing there were no words that could take away the hurt of the past. He stood with her in the circle of his arms for several minutes, breathing in her scent, enjoying the neat fit of her body against his.

After a while she eased out of his embrace and swiped at her damp eyes with the backs of her hands. 'Sorry,' she said with a self-conscious grimace. 'It must be the hormones. I feel uncharacteristically weepy.'

He brushed the hair back from her cheek with a gentle finger. 'It's understandable,' he said. He paused for a moment before he continued, 'It was so difficult when I gave the go-ahead to redecorate that room. I felt like I was giving up on everything we had both wanted. It intensified my sense of failure.'

She tried to smile but it came out lopsided, making her seem much younger than her years. 'I hope Gonzo doesn't put his dirty paws on all the new furniture,' she said.

'I am sure he will behave himself once he is back in his old routine,' Giorgio said. 'He should be here soon, along with your things. By the way, I have dealt with the lease on your flat. I paid a couple of months extra to keep the landlord sweet about terminating the lease ahead of time. I've also sorted out the London premises you had lined up.'

'Thank you,' she said, shifting her gaze out of the range of his. 'It seems you've thought of everything.'

'It's my job to see to details, Maya,' he said. 'Now, if you are not too tired, I think it would be good to call on my grandfather and tell him our news. Do you feel up to it?'

'Of course,' she said with another not-quite-all-the-way smile.

Salvatore had not long informed the rest of the close members of his family about his prognosis.

Giovanna was weeping but seemed to collect herself once Giorgio and Maya came in. She kissed her eldest son and then turned to Maya, her greeting a little warmer than the night before. 'I am so glad you are back with my son,' she said. 'This is such a sad time but at least I can be assured now that you and Giorgio will not make things any worse by divorcing.'

Maya answered something non-committal.

Luca was looking shell-shocked but resigned and Nic was looking bored, leaning indolently against a bookcase as if he had better things to do and see, but Maya knew it was probably a mask covering what he was really feeling. More like Giorgio than he wanted to admit, Nic didn't like to show his emotions too freely.

Giorgio assembled everyone together once he made sure his grandfather was comfortable. 'Maya and I have some news,' he said. 'It's very early days and we don't want any of you to rush off and buy gifts or anything, but we have just had Maya's pregnancy confirmed.'

Giovanna's mouth fell open. 'So soon? But you've only spent one night back together. How can you know if it's-'

'Mamma…' Giorgio began sternly.

'Was it the night of my wedding?' Luca asked with a twinkle in his eye. 'I know you were putting on a reasonable show of civility for Bronte and I on our special day, but I saw you looking daggers at each other every now and again when you thought no one was looking. The air was crackling like an electric current. Everyone was commenting on it.'

Maya felt herself blushing to the roots of her hair. 'I'm sorry if it was that obvious…I hope we didn't offend you and Bronte.'

'Not at all,' Luca said, still grinning. 'If this is the outcome, I couldn't be more thrilled.'

Giorgio reached for Maya's hand and enfolded it within his. 'We are thrilled as well,' he said.

'This baby is very special to us. We have been given a second chance and this time we are not going to waste it. Whatever happens, we are staying together.'

Giovanna, to her credit, came over and hugged Maya, expressing her delight in a mixture of Italian and English. It reminded Maya of the early days, when she had felt a tentative closeness to her mother-in-law, before the death of Giancarlo and the loss of her babies had ruined everything.

Luca swept Maya up into a brotherly hug, congratulating them both, before rushing off so he could tell Bronte, who had stayed back at their villa with Ella, who was sleeping.

Nic sauntered over with a mocking smile on his face, his green-flecked hazel eyes flicking to Maya's belly and then to his brother's face. 'Nice job,' he said. 'I knew you had it in you. Now all you have to do is keep her with you…oh, and make sure it's actually yours, as Mamma hinted at earlier.'

Giorgio swore at his youngest brother, his fist clenching at his side as if he was tempted to use it.

'There is no doubt in my mind this is my child,' he said through gritted teeth.

'Maya…' Salvatore's voice broke up the tense scene.

She went over to where he was sitting and took both of his outstretched hands in hers. 'Are you happy for us, Salvatore?' she asked, trying to keep her voice from cracking with emotion.

His eyes were glistening with moisture and his grip on her hands was almost crushing in his joy.

'I can now die a happy man,' he said. 'I know this baby will survive. I have prayed for this. God gives one life and takes one away. It is the order of things, si?'

Maya wasn't too happy with God over taking away her previous pregnancies, but she wasn't going to do or say anything to take away from the old man's faith. 'I'm very happy too,' she said.

'I still can't quite believe it. It seems like a miracle.'

'It is a miracle,' Salvatore said. 'And now all I have to do is see my youngest grandson settled and my life's work will be complete.'

Nic muttered something under his breath and Giorgio shot him a reproachful look.

Having grown up without siblings, it had taken Maya a while to get used to the way the Sabbatini sons related to each other. There was certainly a pecking order and Luca, though strong, did not often contest the top position. Nic, on the other hand, was too like Giorgio to want to bow down to his command just because he was the younger by four years. They often had power struggles that went on for days, sometimes weeks. Giorgio thought Nic needed to grow up and take more responsibility for his life. Nic thought Giorgio was a control freak who needed to get a life instead of trying to control everyone else's.

'I want champagne,' Salvatore announced. 'Not for you, Maya, mio piccolo, but we must toast this baby. Giorgio, call one of the staff to send some up.'

A few minutes later, with glasses clinking and happy laughter ringing, it didn't seem possible that the family had been gathered together to be told of Salvatore's illness. It was like another party.

Salvatore was in his element, enjoying the moment for what it was: the celebration of the continuation of the Sabbatini dynasty.

But, like all good parties, this one had to come to an end. Salvatore started to look tired and pale and Giorgio immediately swung into action. With the live-in nurse's help, he escorted his grandfather upstairs to his bedroom and made sure he was settled and comfortable before he left.

'Giorgio,' Salvatore said from the bed just as Giorgio was about to leave, 'I want you to do something for me.'

'Anything, Nonno,' Giorgio said.

Salvatore took a breath that rattled inside his damaged lungs. 'I want you to send for Jade Sommerville, my god-daughter in London. I want to say goodbye to her before it's too late.'

Giorgio frowned. The last he had heard, the wild-child daughter of his grandfather's business associate Keith Sommerville had yet again disgraced the family name by having an affair with a married man. But Salvatore had always had a soft spot for the wilful Jade. Over the years he had always made excuses for her appalling behaviour, insisting she was damaged by the desertion of her sluttish mother at a young age. Giorgio was more of the opinion that Jade was exactly like her sleep-around mother and should be left to self-destruct, just as Harriet Sommerville had done some twenty-odd years ago. 'If that is what you wish,' he said. 'I will see if I can get her to agree to fly over for a few days.'

'Thank you…' Salvatore's breathing became even more laboured and the nurse bustled over to place an oxygen mask over his face to assist his breathing.

Giorgio moved forward to help but Salvatore waved him away, mumbling through his mask,

'Leave me now, Giorgio. I will be fine. Just make sure you contact Jade for me.'

'How is he?' Maya asked when Giorgio rejoined her back downstairs in the salone.

'Not good,' he said grimly. 'I don't think he's got as long as the doctors have said. Perhaps they were trying to give him hope, to help him remain positive.'

Maya felt a tight hand curl around her heart. 'If only he doesn't have to suffer…I couldn't bear that…'

He trailed his finger down the under curve of her cheek. 'He has morphine on demand,' he said.

'The nurse is with him twenty-four seven. It's all we can do at this stage.'

Maya didn't move away from Giorgio's closeness. She could feel his body heat and wanted to lean into him as she had done before. How wonderful it had been to feel the warm comfort of his arms around her, to pretend, even for a moment, he cared for her. 'You are a wonderful grandson, Giorgio,' she said. 'In fact you are wonderful to all of your family. I sometimes think they rely on you too much. They expect such a lot from you.' Her gaze dropped as she bit down into her bottom lip and added, 'Maybe I expected too much of you too.'