Chapter 6 #2
The urge to pull Enrico close and hug him soundly almost overwhelmed her, but she caught herself in time to avert a drenching.
“You’ll be as tall as your mother soon.” Enrico beamed back, turned, and did a running dive into the pool, checking when he bobbed up to see that his showing off had been observed.
The three women seated in the shade rose as she approached the table. Katarina held out her arms. Dante’s mother’s eyes welled with emotion. It seemed the most natural thing on earth for Abby to walk into her open arms.
“I’m so thankful you’ve come home. My son needs you as much as you need him. The family needs you. Whatever Dante did, I’m pleased you’ve forgiven him. Anger’s not healthy.”
“I have never hated your son. I have always loved him.”
Katarina drew back and patted Abby’s cheek. “Of course you have. That’s why you’ve come home where you belong.”
Abby was silent. Katarina had kept in contact while her son had not. She’d forever made not-so-subtle hints that a wife should be by her husband’s side and that marriage took work.
She couldn’t meet Katarina’s gaze. What would Katarina or any of them think of her if they knew the truth?
That Dante had blackmailed her back into his bed to ensure he saved Katarina’s home and memories.
They probably would find some excuse for him.
He was, after all, Conte Dante Lombardi.
The family’s lineage was hundreds of years old.
If Dante has no son, the title reverts back to the state.
Every Lombardi would want to protect their heritage.
“Pietro, can you please ask Rachele to bring us a fresh pot of coffee?” Katarina called into the house.
It was Marcia’s turn to hug her. “Come sit down. Tell us what you’ve been doing while you’ve been away. As you can see I’ve been keeping busy. This is Antonio, he’s almost one year old, and this little bambino is Ronaldo.”
“Not bambino, big boy!” The enraged terror barreled across the paving slabs back to the pool.
Salice laughed. “It’s been like a baby factory in the three years you’ve been away. I’ve had Caprice.”
“I met her this morning. Hello gorgeous!” Abby leaned over and tickled the baby in Salice’s arms. Caprice giggled and reached for Abby. It was an automatic reaction to pull the squirming bundle into her lap.
“She likes you,” Katarina said. “You’re a natural. Now that you are home, I expect it won’t be long before you’ll be adding to my list of grandchildren. Dante needs an heir. My daughter’s children cannot inherit. It has to be a child from the male line.”
Salice groaned. Katarina rounded on her. “Don’t start, Salice. You know that’s how it is. Only a son’s children can inherit the title and the estate. If Dante does not have a son, the family loses the title. Admittedly, only Dante seems to care about this. Tradition means a lot to him.”
“It’s so old-fashioned, and it puts too much pressure on him. He takes his role as head of this family far too seriously. He does nothing but work. If he’s not careful, he’ll find an early grave like Papa.”
Katarina crossed herself. “Don’t even joke about that, Marcia. Your brother works for this family. For his wife.” She smiled encouragingly at Abby. “For his children.”
“Give her a chance to breathe, Mamma. She’s only just arrived back. Are you back for good?” Salice asked casually while pouring her a coffee.
“Or will you bolt at the first sign of trouble again?” added Marcia.
Katarina spoke harshly in Italian and Dante’s sisters looked at her sheepishly.
But Abby’s mind was on Katarina’s last statement.
She knew Dante’s father had died at a young age but had never discussed the actual details.
Was Dante working himself into an early grave?
Was he ill? Is that why he had insisted on this arrangement?
Fear clawed at her stomach, and Caprice gave a little cry as Abby’s hold tightened.
Abby’s eyes swept across the three women. “Dante’s not ill, is he? You’d tell me if anything was wrong, wouldn’t you?”
Dante’s mother slapped Marcia’s hand. “Look what you have done. You’ve worried Abby.” She gave Abby a reassuring smile. “My son is as fit as an ox and as stubborn as a mule. He is not ill. My husband died of cancer.”
Abby’s stomach tightened further and she could feel smothering darkness begin to engulf her. There was medical evidence that cancer could be hereditary. “What type of cancer?”
“He had prostate cancer. Very aggressive in a man so young.”
Think. Yesterday she’d asked Dante if he were ill and he’d denied it. No, wait, he hadn’t. He’d asked her if he looked ill, avoiding an answer to the question altogether. Is this why it was so important that she return to his life and his bed?
Katarina leaned over and hugged her so hard Caprice wiggled and squealed in her arms. She whispered in Abby’s ear, “He is fine, cara. A mother knows these things. I would know if he was sick.”
Abby’s dread did not fade with Katarina’s reassurance. It sat like ice in her stomach.
Even though she’d left him, she would hate to ever learn of a world without Dante in it.
If Dante were ill, he wouldn’t want his family, especially his mother, to worry.
His mother and sisters had no idea why she had returned.
They didn’t know he’d blackmailed her back into his life.
She wondered if Katarina would be so sure of her son’s health if she knew the truth.
“So what have you been doing all these years?” Marcia asked again.
She gave Caprice her little finger to tug on, wondering what Dante would have told them about her return. She cleared her throat. “I went home to my grandmother.”
Katarina smiled in understanding at her daughter-in-law. She showed no surprise that Abby had returned after such a long absence. “You have set up own bookstore, isn’t that right?”
Abby nodded.
Salice and Marcia shared a look. “Then why are you back?”
“That is between Dante and Abby. I’m simply thrilled that you’re back.” Katarina patted her hand. “You’ve been looking after your grandmother like a good granddaughter should. Dante told us she is not well. Her heart, isn’t it?”
Embarrassed, Abby bent her head, pretending Caprice had drawn her attention for the moment.
Trust Dante to do the groundwork. They all knew she hadn’t gone home to nurse her grandmother.
Still, now it was at least a half-truth.
She gave a nod of consent. “Yes. My grandmother arrives later this afternoon. She’s to have an operation tomorrow. Dante organized everything yesterday.”
“Si. He has organized a welcome-home lunch with just the family before he escorts you to the hospital to visit with your grandmother. We’ll take care of her. You’ll see. She’ll be fine. I’m looking forward to seeing her again.”
Caprice began to grow fretful, and Salice took her from Abby.
As Abby watched mother and daughter, and the obvious power of the bond between them, she knew that she’d love a child.
Dante’s child. But she wanted the loving husband to complete the picture.
That wasn’t wishing for a fairy tale—most couples, she was sure, married for love.
Abby sat in baffled silence. She looked around her.
This family knew how to love. It was filled with love.
Therefore, it followed that Dante knew how to love.
She would get these women to help her. There had to be a way to get Dante to forgive her for deserting him and make him see what happiness they would share if he gave their marriage a proper second chance.
If she had a child with Dante, she could never walk away.
It wouldn’t be fair on their child. All her life she’d wanted to be part of a large, loving family.
How could she deny her child such a life?
A life with siblings, cousins, and so much love.
She had to make this marriage work. For everyone’s sake, even Dante’s.
Salice and Marcia moved to the edge of the pool with the children and Katarina excused herself to see to the luncheon.
But what if he was ill? She felt her stomach begin to churn.
Grief washed over her as the realization of what it would mean if she lost Dante made her light-headed.
Stupid, really, because their divorce would have cut him out of her life as surely as death.
Still, the thought of such a vibrant man ceasing to live struck at her heart.
She still loved him. She was still in love with her husband and he might be ill.
She looked up to find Dante studying her across the patio. As if sensing her distress, he was quickly at her side, and he took her hand as he crouched at her feet.
“What has upset you, Tesoro mio?”
Abby swiped a tear that threatened to run down her cheek at the endearment.
My sweetheart. Did he mean it? She looked down on his noble face, as proud and sculpted as a Roman statue.
His eyes were the warm blue of the sky today, not hard and icy.
Concern was taking the sharp edges off his features.
She wanted to massage the lines of strain off his forehead and make his sensuous lips turn up in a smile.
“If I ask you a question, would you tell me the truth? We promised each other that there would be no more lies.”
He looked at her hand tightly gripping his and smiled warily. “What is it?”
“Are you ill?”
He pulled his hand from her grasping fingers and straightened until he towered over her. His face formed a grin recalling that of a painted clown, false and exaggerated.
The blood in her veins ran cold.
Dante inwardly fumed while trying to manage the injection of warmth her concern sent racing through his veins. That was unguarded concern he saw etched on her pale face. Her very kissable lips were drawn tight as if she were trying to hold in a sob.
“You asked me this question yesterday. What has gotten you so upset today?”