The Devil to Pay (18 page)

“When was that?”

“Oh, let’s think. About a couple of years now? He used to come over more regularly, but I guess he decided it was time to ease up a bit.”

“Something like that.”

Rianna swept away a strand of hair that had blown across her face. “He doesn’t like Barbados?”

“Mmm?”

She smiled indulgently at her fiancé. He seemed distracted by something, work probably. “He’s not on holiday with your mum. Doesn’t he like the Caribbean?”

“Oh. No,
Mamma
needs her space.” Daniel leant round and adjusted the thick cushion at the back of his chair. “Papa’s got to the stage where he prefers to be in his own home with people he knows. It gets a bit too much for her sometimes, so she has frequent breaks. If she doesn’t, she ends up taking more antidepressants than is good for her.”

“I see. If it works for them...” Rianna could never imagine a day when she’d want to be apart from Daniel. “Is it a big age gap between them?”

“Big enough in the circumstances,” he replied and smiled enigmatically. “But that’s them, not us. I’m never going to let you out of my sight once you’re Rianna Bracchi.”

Rianna Bracchi.

Could this be real? Could she dare to let down the last threads of defence and allow herself to fall head first and wholeheartedly into this impossible dream? Her head spun with excitement, wonder and a love so strong, she feared her heart would fail with the strain. Her breathing was shallow and fast as she was fixed by the suggestive look Daniel was sending her over his coffee cup, and for the first time, she noticed a tiny scar just underneath his left eye. She’d have to ask him how he got it. Her nerve endings began to sizzle as he spoke very quietly. “I think we rushed into breakfast,
cara
. All of a sudden I feel an overwhelming urge to go back to bed.”

She was powerless to disagree.

****

Rianna trailed her hand along a marble console as she passed by it in a shady corridor, relishing the cool feel of the stone floor on her bare feet. She’d learnt to stay out of the midday heat, but had a spring in her step as she explored the villa. It was the first time she’d wandered around it entirely on her own, and a thrill shot through when she remembered this incredible place was now her home, and she would be the mistress of the house, Signora Bracchi!

Daniel had left the choice of a wedding venue entirely up to her, whatever her heart desired, and there were so many options available when you had money that her brain was fit to burst. She paused for a moment, captivated as she always was by the arched windows, which fed the villa with a honeycomb of light. Shining like a beacon at the end of the dark corridor, the gold and blue shimmer of Portofino blazed inwards like an illuminated, stained glass window, a glittering chancel without the confines of a musty, forbidding church.

They could marry at Villa Gabbiano! It would be perfect! The ceremony could be performed on the terrace, intimate, but not cramped, and then they could hold a reception party in the Roman Room afterwards. Rianna’s fingertips flew to her mouth with excitement before she began skipping down the corridor toward the stateroom in question.

She took hold of the huge brass door handles and pushed against the heavy wooden doors until they opened to reveal a large circular room. The floor was inlaid with a mosaic sunburst pattern in shades of cream and gold and a highly polished antique table stood in the centre, decorated with a simple glass vase of lilies. Thick marble columns supported a domed ceiling decorated with a painting of a fisherman mending his nets by the sea, and a huge potted cactus by the door took the edge of the grandeur off. Daniel had told her he often dined in there when it was too inclement on the terrace.

She took note of the huge, square mirrors positioned at intervals around the curve of the room. They’d reflect candlelight fantastically...

“So there you are,” purred a female voice. “I came to find you.”

Rianna’s heart throbbed with adrenaline. “Isabella...what are you doing here?”

“Lucia let me in,
piccolo.
She’s such a darling.”

Rianna swallowed. “I’m afraid Daniel’s not here right now—”

“No matter, it’s you I wanted to see. I’ve brought you a little something. A small gift to mark your
impegno
.”

“
Impegno
?”

“Your alleged engagement. Rumours spread fast in Portofino. So is it true?”

Rianna could feel her cheeks blaze under her cold scrutiny and her nerves jangled like Isabella’s heavy gold bangles. “It is true. We are to marry.” Her voice echoed harshly around the room. “But we’d like to keep it quiet until Daniel can tell his parents properly.”

Isabella’s laugh was like a thunderclap. “Is that what he’s told you?”

“Yes, his mother is in Barbados. He wants to tell both his parents at the same time, in person.”

“And what Daniel wants, he always gets,” Isabella hissed, her scarlet lips curling with a false smile. “Tell me, are you pregnant?”

“Of course not! How dare you suggest it!”

Isabella’s eyes crackled with black ice. “I suggest it because that’s all Daniel really wants out of life, an heir, and he’ll never be settled until he has one, whatever it takes.”

Rianna could hear the blood pounding in her ears. This wasn’t going to end well. She just knew it. “I think you’d better go.”

“You’re going to have to get used to me I’m afraid
, piccolo
. I’m family.” She turned to face the mantelpiece behind her and ran a blood-red fingernail over the edges of a wooden photo frame. “Do you recognise this pair?”

“It’s Tomos and I guess that must be Eliza as it’s a wedding picture.”

“Correct. The heads of the family.” Her long pale hand moved to the next picture and her bracelets tinkled against the stone fireplace. “And these people?”

“I—I’m not sure.”

“That’s Tomos’ eldest brother Aldo and his wife Maria. The
late
Aldo...”

“They look very glamorous,” Rianna replied, feeling more uncomfortable by the minute.

“We all are,” Isabella added sharply, and stared unsmilingly down on her. “And the next one here, is Eliza’s Welsh brother Ron on
his
wedding day with Rhoda.”

“It’s lovely, too,” Rianna replied unenthusiastically.

“So you see, Rianna, you have a lot to learn about this family, so much history, so many secrets. And marriage is for life with the Bracchis. There has
never
been a divorce.”

Rianna glared back at her tormentor. “Just as it should be, when you marry for love.”

“Love!” Isabella cackled and flicked her ebony curls over her shoulder. “Daniel doesn’t believe in
love
! He’s incapable.”

“I really would like you to leave now, please.”

“You haven’t looked at the last picture, the present I bought for you both.”

Rianna’s gaze followed the sweep of Isabella’s arm to the final frame on the mantelpiece, a newer and more modern one made of silver. She reached out a hand to hold back the sweeping fronds of a floral arrangement partially obscuring the picture behind it. Her blood stalled in her veins for the moment it took for her brain to register what she was seeing.

Daniel.

Daniel smiling.

A blur of white, grey, black and deep red, the deep, unctuous, visceral red of an enormous ruby ring. And lips. And sharp nails, splattered like blood against the purest of backgrounds. It was Daniel and Isabella. Their wedding photograph.

Rianna was too shocked to speak and then, pushing her hair harshly back along her scalp choked out the only words she could muster. “What are you trying to do?”

“Pretty, isn’t it?” Isabella whispered, stroking a fingernail up and down the glass of the frame. “I’d hate to see you hurt and humiliated, darling. I felt it my duty to tell you that Daniel will never marry you, because he can’t. He hasn’t got it in him to do anything the right way.”

Rianna’s stomach churned. “I don’t believe you. He loves me.”

“How absurd!” Isabella grabbed her hand and pulled it sharply toward her. “He loves you so much he hasn’t even bought you a ring? How stupid and naïve you are.”

Rianna’s heart plunged helplessly into the depths of despair. Their relationship had been doomed from the start. It had all been too perfect, too wonderful, too much of a dream come true. She didn’t deserve it. The dream she thought had become reality had actually turned into a hideous irresolvable nightmare. But she wouldn’t give Isabella the satisfaction of knowing her world had been shattered. “Get out of here before I do something I’ll regret!”

“A cat fight perhaps?” Isabella sneered. “You don’t have the claws for it,
dolcezza
. You’re his brood-mare, not his sex kitten, remember?”

Everything turned as black as Isabella’s dress as Rianna watched her leave the room. The clicking sound of her designer heels echoed from the corridor, fading eventually like the last pulse before death.

Was she so naïve?
Could
she have foreseen this? Daniel said he loved her and that he wanted to marry her, so why had he done so when he was already married to Isabella? What did she have that Isabella didn’t? And why this appalling deception? A glass shard of enlightenment suddenly cut through her as she pulled the puzzle together, and it tore her apart inside. He’d promised her “forever” so they could have unprotected sex. So she might conceive the heir Isabella couldn’t. The heir everyone wanted
without
the need for a divorce. He’d obviously known that one occasion without contraception would probably not be enough, hence the supposed three-week marriage delay for legal reasons, and his reluctance to tell his parents straight away about their engagement.

He needed more time to bed her senseless and ensure a pregnancy. Anger usurped the acute pain of his betrayal. So what was he planning next? Was he expecting her to hand over her baby for him and Isabella to adopt as their own? Or would he somehow forcibly take his Welsh-Italian bastard and then just give it his name?

Like bloody hell he would.

****

“
Ciao
!” Daniel called out through an open window toward the terrace. He could see Rianna sitting there, staring out to sea, and his bad mood improved immediately. “There were bloody road works, can you believe it?” he continued as he abandoned his briefcase and went outside to join her. “Did you miss me?”

“I missed you like hell.”

Her voice was unusually flat and she wasn’t looking at him. “Very funny.” He planted a kiss on top of her head. “So did you have a good day?”

“No. Really, I missed you like a hole in the head.”

“
Scusi
?”

Her expression was deadly. “I think you have something to tell me.”

“About what?” Something serious had happened while he’d been out. He’d not seen her look like this since the day of the board meeting.

“A wedding.”

“Sure!” She was getting nervous that’s all. “I had a crap day in the office, but at least the wedding stuff went to plan—”

“I mean
this.
”

Daniel stared at the silver photo frame she had slammed on to the table. The light had gone from Rianna’s eyes and her skin looked like parchment. What had happened while he’d been away? “Where did you get that?”

“Isabella came round personally. Wasn’t it sweet of her?” She shot him a saccharine smile. “She’d heard rumours about an impending act of bigamy, and thought it only fair to warn me.”

“
Dio
...”

“To warn me her husband was busy trying to impregnate me with the heir she can’t provide.”

“She said
that
?”

“She didn’t need to spell it out, Daniel. She’s a vile bitch, but she was dignified enough not to rub my nose in your abhorrent scheme.”

He needed to get things under control quickly. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

“Of course it isn’t,” she hissed and threw her hands into the air. “That’s why I’m wearing a massive engagement ring and the whole world besides Lucia, Isabella and your lawyer knows we’re engaged, including the paparazzi and your extended family.”

“You want paparazzi?”

“I was being sarcastic, you stupid man.” Her breathing was so rapid, he was afraid she might pass out. “All I want now is the truth, before I pack my bags for the second time and leave for good. You can’t treat me like this anymore, Daniel.”

“The truth you say?” It was his turn to get angry. “You’re very fond of the concept. Sometimes the truth hurts, Rianna. Sometimes it causes more pain than it’s worth, but if that’s what you want—”

“Too often I’ve been lied to by people I loved,” she replied in a shaky voice. “Now I need to toughen up or give up. I’ve lost almost everyone I truly loved and now it seems someone is waiting to steal my yet to be conceived child.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” This day was going from bad to worse, he thought, and the woman he loved was about to go off the rails. “This is madness!”

“Is that right? It all makes perfect sense to me now. Isabella can’t have children—you told me that—but she’s still your wife. No Bracchi has ever divorced and you stopped using protection the minute I foolishly agreed to marry you.” She took a deep breath and glared at him. “You’re just using me to get a baby.”

He shook his head in disbelief and took a step toward her. “Calm down and listen—”

“So you’re not even going to deny it?” Rianna stood up abruptly, her chair scraping harshly on the stone floor. “Your arrogance is unbelievable!”

“And so is your lack of trust,” he ground out. “I find it unbelievable you would believe a pack of lies from Isabella, without even giving me a chance to defend myself!”