Chapter Three
CHAPTER THREE
The door of the grand villa opened behind them, and she turned around to see a woman of about seventy looking at them as if they were angels who had arrived to rescue her from being left alone with a rabid monster.
She spoke in rapid Italian that Addie couldn’t follow at all, but could sense she was agitated, tired and overwrought.
Vic responded to her calmly and reassuringly, his air of command-and-control reassuring to Addie too.
But as soon as they entered the villa, she could hear Katerina wailing from upstairs.
Addie didn’t have time to take in the imposing surroundings.
She barely noticed the works of art on the walls or the high ceilings with their heavy crystal chandeliers hanging with sparkling grandeur.
She was hardly conscious when her flying footsteps left the cold, echoing marble of the foyer and landed on the ankle-deep carpet on the winding staircase.
She gave the second floor a cursory glance without taking anything much in other than it looked a little faded, like an olden days Hollywood film star that had let herself go now the spotlight was no longer centred on her.
The piteous cries tore at her heart like sharp claws, and she bolted upstairs, not waiting to ask directions or permission.
Something about those desperate cries called out to her wounded inner child.
The child that had spent hours crying alone without anyone coming to comfort her.
Nothing and no one were going to stop her going to Katerina.
That child needed comforting, and she needed it now.
She found her three floors up, standing up in a cot that looked like it might once have belonged to Vic or Isabella.
Her eyes were streaming, and her face was bright red, her dark curls mussed around her head like a black halo.
She was sobbing but as soon as she saw Addie the sobs stopped and only her little chin quivered.
She reached her pudgy little arms and starburst hands out, and Addie scooped her up and held her close, breathing in the sweet warm human smell of her.
‘It’s okay, sweetie, I’m here now. I’ve got you.
’ She stroked her little back and snuggled her face close to hers.
‘You’re missing your mummy and daddy, aren’t you?
But they’ll be back soon, and Uncle Vic and I’ll take good care of you until then.
’ She rocked from side to side in a soothing manner.
‘I’m sorry I couldn’t get here any sooner, but I’m here now.
There, there, precious. I’ve got you now. ’
She heard a footfall and turned with the child still in her arms to see Vic enter the nursery. Her heart almost stopped at how handsome he looked standing there with concern etched on his dark features.
‘Lucia said Katerina has been awake and upset for hours. She wasn’t able to settle her once the nanny left.’ He spoke quietly but it made his voice sound even sexier.
Addie could sense the child relaxing a little against her and kept her voice to a whisper.
‘Is it any wonder? The poor little darling must’ve been so scared to be left with a virtual stranger.
’ She kept rocking from side to side and was pleased and immensely relieved to feel Katerina nestle further into her, a little sigh escaping her tiny mouth.
If she had been screaming for hours, then she would be exhausted and would hopefully soon fall asleep in her arms.
‘Lucia is hardly a stranger. Katerina has been here several times in the last year.’
‘Maybe, but did she look after her? Play with her? Babysit her?’ She didn’t know why she was firing such rapid questions in a fierce undertone at him but something about the whole situation irked her.
The child was clearly not used to being left alone with Lucia.
And from the brief glimpse she’d got of Lucia when they arrived, it was clear the housekeeper wasn’t that comfortable around small upset children.
It didn’t matter how many children or grandchildren a person had, they had to have patience and understanding and compassion for little kids who were missing their parents.
Some people didn’t have the skill set. She should know.
She could write a PhD thesis on feeling abandoned by supposedly well-qualified minders.
Vic scraped a hand through his hair in a distracted manner and she got the feeling he was feeling as uncomfortable as she was about poor little Katerina’s crying jag. He came closer and stood looking down at the toddler in her arms.
‘Is she falling asleep?’ His voice too was a low whisper.
‘Getting there, I think, but I might wake her if I put her down straight away.’
He reached out and touched the toddler’s plump little tear-stained cheek with his finger, but the child didn’t stir.
Addie was intensely conscious of how close he was standing to her.
She could see the individual pinpricks of dark stubble on his face—the bone-tingling reminder of the potent male hormones that surged in his blood.
Her blood was surging too, making her heartbeats rapid and uneven like she’d just run up three flights of stairs…
well, she had just run up three flights of stairs, but still.
Being anywhere near Vic Jacobetti was enough to send her pulses racing off into the stratosphere.
She looked at his mouth while his gaze was focussed on Katerina.
It had a soft wistful curve that she had never seen there before.
‘You like kids, huh?’ she whispered.
His eyes met hers and a jolt went through her like a lightning bolt. ‘Of course, but it doesn’t mean I want them myself.’ His lips moved in a flat and firm way that suggested the decision was one he made a long time ago and would not, under any circumstances, be reversed.
She stroked a gentle hand down over Katerina’s silky head of black curls, rocking from side to side to comfort her in case she was still awake. At least she had stopped crying. Who knew she was a such a fabulous toddler whisperer? Maybe animals weren’t her only forte. Yay for her. ‘Why not?’
‘The short answer is I’m a selfish man who likes his freedom too much.
’ He moved a step or two away towards the cot and straightened the rumpled bed linen.
His back was to her, but to be honest, his back view was almost as delectable as his front.
Strong muscles framed his upper body and tapered down to a trim waist and lean hips and a taut behind.
Oh, man, she wished she could stop being such a hopeless romantic at times like this.
She knew in her bones he was not interested in someone like her.
No one was interested in someone like her.
Well, if they were, it was only so they could get an introduction to her mother and/or her agent or her money or all three.
‘And the long answer?’ she prompted.
Vic turned to face her again and she had to remind herself to take a breath.
Even though it was close to dawn outside, the low light of the nursery with the blackout blinds pulled and only the nightlight on gave him a look that was straight out of a Regency romance.
Irresistibly handsome and brooding and yet inscrutable too.
‘Is a conversation for another time. Do you want me to take her for you? She’s not very big but then, neither are you. ’
She blinked at him owlishly for a heartbeat or two. She, tiny? She knew lots of young women had body issues due to unrealistic photos on social media and so on, but she’d had body issues since she was six. ‘I wish my mother could hear you say that. She thinks I need to go down a dress size.’
‘You mother needs to grow a brain.’ He said in such a way that made her wonder if he was one of the few—the very few—people on the earth who didn’t worship at the shrine of her stunningly beautiful and impossibly slim mother.
He came back over to her and gently took Katerina from her arms. Now, this sort of manoeuvre always looked so easy and effortless when parents did it, even grandparents.
But when two almost strangers did it, it was almost impossible to do without touching the other person.
She was so close she could see his chocolate-brown eyes and the thick and long lashes that fringed them so attractively.
She could smell his citrus and sage and woodsy aftershave, and she could feel the warm waft of his breath on her face as gentle and fresh as a summer breeze.
She could feel the strength of his arms as he took Katerina from her and held the sleeping toddler against his broad chest.
‘You look like you’ve done this before,’ she said.
He gave a half-smile. ‘It’s my first time putting a kid to bed.’
‘You’re a natural.’
‘Let’s see if I manage to get her to stay asleep first.’
He laid Katerina down on the mattress with such care that Addie found herself choked with sudden emotion.
Of course, she didn’t remember much about her early infancy, but she knew as a young child she was rarely put to bed by either of her parents.
And she didn’t have loving and involved godparents or grandparents either.
Vic covered the toddler up with the light cotton duvet and stood back, looking down at her.
‘So far, so good.’ His voice was still a husky whisper that sent shivers down her spine.