LITMIR.BIZ

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dealt with everything. With her.

      ‘The problem is you’re being aggravatingly bossy.’

      ‘I am caring for our child.’

      ‘Which is very important to you, I know. I get that, trust me. But you can’t...you can’t be in control of everything.’

      Rafael bit back a response and then looked away. ‘This is important to me, Allegra,’ he said after a moment. ‘I don’t want to fail in my duty as a father. Please...indulge me.’

      A bleak look had come into his eyes, and it made her wonder what hidden hurts Rafael was keeping from her. Or was she just being fanciful, and he was simply an arrogant, autocratic, domineering man? From the obdurate look on his face Allegra knew she’d get nowhere pressing the point now.

      ‘Fine, I’ll indulge you,’ she said wearily. ‘At least in this.’

      * * *

      Several hours later she woke from a deep sleep and stretched languorously. Long, golden rays of late afternoon sunshine slid across the floor. She’d been asleep for hours, so clearly she’d needed the rest.

      Allegra got out of bed and went to explore the huge en suite bathroom, enjoying the enormous marble walk-in shower. Dressed in a strappy sundress, her hair damp and curling about her shoulders, she headed downstairs in search of Rafael.

      She didn’t find him, but she did see Maria in the kitchen, and the housekeeper bustled around to have Allegra sit at the round kitchen table and then plied her with iced tea and fig cookies.

      ‘Something smells delicious,’ Allegra said.

      ‘Ah, it is a welcome feast for Signor Vitali and his lovely lady,’ Maria said with a smile. ‘It has been a long time since I have been able to cook so much!’

      ‘Is it?’ Allegra nibbled a cookie, wondering how much she could press the housekeeper for information. ‘Has Rafael not had...guests here before?’

      Maria gave her a shrewdly knowing look. ‘Signor Vitali has never had anyone here before. He has always been a very solitary man. Salvatore and I have served him for more than ten years.’ She smiled fondly. ‘He worked so hard, he had little time for anything else.’ She nodded meaningfully towards Allegra’s bump. ‘Perhaps now that will change.’

      ‘Perhaps.’ Although Rafael had certainly immersed himself in work since he’d come back into her life. Despite his insistence that he wanted to be an involved father, Allegra wondered if he simply wanted to be in control.

      Replete with cookies and tea, she wandered out of the kitchen to explore the villa—and find Rafael. She discovered the lounge she’d seen earlier and a media room with a huge flat-screen TV and a state-of-the-art sound system. A dining room with a table that easily seated twelve was empty, as was a smaller room with a cosy table for four. She slipped through the French windows onto the terrace that overlooked the infinity pool, breathing in the scents of bougainvillea and rosemary. The sun was setting, painting the sky with livid violet streaks, and she heard birds chirping in the tall, stately firs that surrounded the villa on most sides, the mountains towering above them.

      But where was Rafael—and why did she want to find him so badly? Perhaps he intended for them to live separate lives here in Sicily, a prospect that filled her with a treacherous disappointment. She wanted to know what their future was going to look like...and, she realised, she wanted to know Rafael. It had been all right to maintain a holding pattern while they’d waited for the amnio results, but now they were meant to have some kind of life together. Rafael was insisting they marry, and while that prospect still filled her with fear, it also made her want to get to know the man she might be spending the rest of her life with, at least a little. So where was he?

      Maria had started to serve dinner in the smaller dining room, several fragrant dishes that made Allegra’s mouth water. Then she noticed the place setting for one.

      ‘Is Rafael not eating?’ she asked, hating how small her voice sounded.

      Maria made a face. ‘Signor Vitali said he needed to work tonight.’

      So the feast was for her alone. Allegra sat at the table and nibbled course after delicious course, feeling sorry both for herself and for Maria, who had gone to so much effort for her employer. Why had Rafael refused to come down for dinner? Surely his work couldn’t be that important. Was he avoiding her on purpose, setting the pattern for their married lives?

      Loneliness swamped her at the thought. Already she was losing that sense of independence she’d maintained for so long. She wanted Rafael with her, needed his presence in a way that made her feel unsettled. She wasn’t used to needing people. Depending on them. Perhaps it was better this way...except it didn’t feel better.

      At the end of the meal she took her decaf coffee out onto the terrace, curling up on a lounger as she watched the stars appear in the sky, like diamond pinpricks in a bolt of black velvet. He was avoiding her, she acknowledged with leaden certainty. He had to be. To absent himself all afternoon and then through the evening... He was telling her how he intended things to be, and Allegra didn’t like it. If he was going to leave her alone, she might as well have stayed in New York.

      She liked it even less when she woke up the next morning to an empty-feeling house. Maria was in town at the market and Salvatore was outside, working in the garden. Rafael was nowhere to be found.

      She decided to go for a walk—only to be told, regretfully, by Salvatore that Signor Vitali had forbidden her from leaving the formal gardens, as the mountainside was steep and dangerous. Allegra looked at the high stone walls, the whole world shimmering out of reach, and realised she was truly trapped.

      She stalked inside the villa, fury rising in her like a tidal wave. So she’d been brought to this beautiful estate to be kept as a prisoner. She didn’t know what hurt most—Rafael’s controlling attitude or his deliberate absence. She stewed for most of the morning while Rafael kept his distance, and then finally she’d had enough. She’d find him, and, by heaven, she’d tell him what was on her mind.

      ‘Where is Signor Vitali?’ she asked Salvatore, who looked shocked by her strident tone.

      ‘He is working...’

      ‘Where?’

      ‘In his study, but he does not wish to be disturbed.’

      ‘Perhaps he needs to be disturbed,’ Allegra answered. ‘Could you please tell me where his study is?’

      ‘I don’t think—’

      ‘Tell her, Salvatore,’ Maria said quietly, coming into the room behind Allegra. ‘She is carrying his child. She deserves to talk to him. And Signor Vitali...he needs company too.’

      With a shrug of his thin shoulders Salvatore pointed upstairs. ‘The top floor. A room on its own.’

      Allegra stalked upstairs, her anger giving her a boldness she hadn’t known she’d possessed. A narrow, twisting staircase at the end of the corridor led to a single room on the villa’s top floor, its heavy, oak door shut fast. She knocked on the door hard enough to bruise her knuckles.

      After a pause she heard Rafael’s gruff voice. ‘Salvatore?’

      ‘No. Allegra.’ She turned the handle, gratified when it opened, and walked into the room.

      Rafael’s study was spacious, with wide windows on three sides offering stunning views of the mountains. A huge mahogany desk took up the centre of the room, and Rafael sat at it, his eyes narrowed, his mouth compressed.

      Allegra planted her hands on her hips as she faced him. ‘If I’d known you were going to imprison me here, I wouldn’t have agreed to come.’

      ‘Imprison?’ Rafael arched one eyebrow. ‘I’d hardly call this a prison.’

      ‘I’m serious, Rafael. Since we’ve arrived you haven’t shown your face once—’

      ‘I have much work to

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