“Papa.”

Matteo’s voice cut through the maelstrom of emotions whirling around inside him, and Luca jumped.

Turning, Luca realized Kelly was standing, stock-still, in the middle of the driveway.

“Whose house is this?” Her voice was so low that it sounded as though all the life had seeped out of it, and his fear intensified.

“Mine,” he said simply. “This is where I live.”

Her eyes closed for a moment, before she opened them again and stared at him. “If this is your house, then who is Matteo? Where are his parents?”

Luca had promised Sophia that he would never tell anyone the truth about Matteo’s birth, and he never had. Matteo was his son, and that was what everyone must continue to believe. Including Kelly…especially Kelly.

“Matteo is my son, Kelly.”

Dear Reader,

My husband and I love to travel, so when I came up with the idea of writing two books about twin sisters, it seemed the perfect opportunity to use two of our very favorite places as settings for the stories. Bill and I spent our honeymoon in Sardinia, so that had to be one of the places I chose, and then last year we went to Cyprus for our wedding anniversary and had a wonderful time there, so I chose that as the second location. We’ve had great fun looking through all the photographs together.

Katie and Kelly Carlyon have a lot in common, along with being twins. They both work in the world of medicine, and they have both fallen in love with men who live in Mediterranean locales. While Katie flies to Cyprus to be with the man she loves, Kelly moves to Sardinia to forget about the man who has broken her heart. However, as they soon discover, life doesn’t always work out the way you hope it will!

I really enjoyed writing the two books in this miniseries, and hope that if you liked reading Katie’s story in DR. CONSTANTINE’S BRIDE, you will enjoy Kelly’s story here in DR. FERRERO’S BABY SECRET, too.

Love,

Jennifer

www.jennifer-taylor.com

Dr. Ferrero’s Baby Secret

Jennifer Taylor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CONTENTS

COVER

LETTER TO READER

TITLE PAGE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

EPILOGUE

COPYRIGHT

CHAPTER ONE

SHE had made her decision. She would hand in her notice and leave at the end of the week. She had spent the night thinking about it and realised it was the only rational solution. Getting this job might have been the fulfilment of all her dreams, but no job was worth this amount of heartache.

Kelly Carlyon felt her heart start to pound whan she heard the office door open. She knew what she should do, yet the irrational part of her couldn’t bear to think that Luca might believe she was too scared to work with him. She had got over him a long time ago, as soon as she had found out that he was going to marry another woman, in fact.

Admittedly, it had been a shock when she had arrived at the hospital to take up the post of junior registrar and discovered that he was her new boss, but she had made up her mind that she would deal with the situation professionally. However, after the argument they’d had yesterday, she was less confident of that. Could she really work with Luca Ferrero when there was so much history between them?

‘Buongiorno, Kelly.’

Luca swept into the office and closed the door. Kelly felt a wave of resentment rise up inside her as she watched him walk over to his desk. There was no sign of discomfort on his handsome face, no hint at all that he found the situation as stressful as she did. Luca didn’t give a damn that he had turned her world upside down again. If he had cared then he would never have treated her the way he’d done two years ago.

Kelly’s mouth compressed as she recalled what had happened. Luca had spent six months as visiting consultant on the paediatric unit where she’d been working as a senior house officer and that was how they had met. The intensity of her feelings for him had taken her completely by surprise. She’d been too busy establishing her career to get romantically involved with anyone, yet within a week of them meeting she and Luca had been lovers.

She’d been devastated when he’d returned to Rome at the end of his tenure. Even though he had sworn that they would always be together, she’d been so afraid of losing him. When he had telephoned her a week later to say that he was back in England and needed to see her, she had been elated. She had rushed home after work, sure in her own mind that he was going to ask her to go back to Italy with him, but she’d been wrong.

When Luca had arrived, he had refused her invitation to sit down. He had stood in the middle of her living room and had told her simply that he was getting married. Oh, he had tried to break it to her gently, said that he had never meant to hurt her, but she had stopped listening. The truth was that she had served her purpose and he’d had no further use for her.

She had ordered him to leave and that had been the last she’d seen of him until she’d arrived in Sardinia. Now, as the newly appointed head of clinical care at the Santa Margherita Ospedale, a hospital devoted to the care of sick children on Sardinia’s northern coast, Luca must be more determined than ever that she wasn’t going to stand in his way.

‘So, Kelly, have you decided what you intend to do?’

Luca pulled out a chair and sat down. Kelly took a deep breath as she blanked out the unhappy memories. Luca had given her twenty-four hours to decide if she wanted to continue working at the hospital and he wouldn’t allow her a second more. She opened her mouth to tell him that she had decided to leave when he interrupted her.

‘Before you say anything, I believe I owe you an apology.’

‘An apology?’ she repeated uncertainly.

‘Si.’ He leant back in his chair and studied her across the width of the desk. ‘It was wrong of me to speak to you that way in front of the team. I apologise for it.’

‘Oh! I see.’

Kelly bit her lip, hoping he couldn’t tell how emotional she felt. She’d been bitterly upset by what had happened yesterday. Luca had been extremely abrupt with her when she had suggested a change of treatment for one of the children. It wouldn’t have been so bad if he had taken the time to consider her idea, but he had dismissed it out of hand. She had been furious about the way he had spoken to her and had told him so in no uncertain terms. If he hadn’t been called away, she knew that a full-scale row would have erupted and that would have been reprehensible. It was bad enough that Luca had felt it necessary to advise her to consider her position at the hospital before he had left. Maybe Luca wasn’t the only one who needed to apologise?

‘I think I owe you an apology too. I should have accepted what you said and not argued with you.’

‘Then we were both at fault, it seems.’

He shrugged, his broad shoulders moving lightly beneath his suit jacket. He was always impeccably dressed and the black suit he was wearing fitted him like a glove, moulding itself to the lean lines of his body. He had chosen a plain white shirt to go with it and the colour was the perfect foil for the olive tan of his skin. With those deep grey eyes and that lustrous black hair, he looked more like a film star than a doctor, yet it hadn’t just been his looks that had attracted her when they had met. It had been everything about him: his vitality; his commitment; his intelligence. Luca Ferrero had seemed like the embodiment of all her dreams and it was little wonder that she had fallen in love with him. The hardest thing of all had been discovering that her idol had clay feet.

It was painful to recall again what had happened so she pushed the memory to the back of her mind. It wasn’t relevant now, anyway. The days when she and Luca had been lovers were long gone and a lot had happened since, her move to Sardinia to work at the Santa Margherita hospital being one of the major events.

Moving abroad had been a big step for her and her twin sister, Katie. When she had moved to Sardinia, Katie had gone to live in Cyprus. Kelly had been worried in case things didn’t work out for her twin but, after speaking to Katie the previous night, and discovering that she was getting married, Kelly was confident the move had been a success for one of them at least. It was one less thing to worry about if she had to give up her job here.

Kelly frowned when she realised that an element of doubt had crept into her mind. She had decided that she must leave and that should have been the end of it. However, part of her was still reluctant to give up the job and life she had dreamed about for so long.

‘So, Kelly, you were about to tell me what you have decided to do.’

Kelly felt panic well up inside her again as Luca prompted her for an answer. All of a sudden she wasn’t sure what she was going to tell him. Should she hand in her notice, or should she stay? But if she stayed, she was going to have to work with him on a daily basis. Could she treat him as just another colleague, or would the memory of the past always affect her judgement, as it had done yesterday? She had never argued with someone senior to her before, yet she’d had no compunction when it had come to squaring up to Luca.

‘I know how difficult this is for you, Kelly. It’s not easy for me, either.’

Luca’s tone had softened, stroking along her raw nerves like a velvet-gloved hand, and she shivered. She had always been highly responsive to him. Just a word or a touch and she’d been like putty in his hands. That was another reason why she should leave—she didn’t want to feel like that again. Luca was a married man now and he was strictly off limits. However, even though she knew that, she couldn’t help the feelings that were trickling through her, hot little shivers which she hated yet couldn’t control.

‘I can’t see why it should upset you, Luca,’ she said sharply, trying to quell the treacherous response of her body. ‘You forgot all about me the moment you left England. After all, you had other things on your mind, didn’t you?’

‘If you mean that my life changed dramatically after I returned to Italy, I won’t deny it,’ he said quietly. ‘However, it doesn’t mean that I forgot what we shared while I was in England. You played a very important role in my life during the time I was there, Kelly, so this situation is just as difficult for me as it is for you. However, we’re both adults and I honestly believe that we can find a way to work together if we put our minds to it.’

‘Does that mean you want me to stay on here?’ she asked in surprise because she had never expected him to make such an admission. Luca had been cool to the point of indifference since she’d arrived. He’d given no hint that he remembered the time they had spent together. Although it shouldn’t have made a scrap of difference to discover that he considered her an important part of his past, she knew that it did.

‘Yes. But only if it’s what you want, too.’ He leant forward and his eyes were very intent all of a sudden. ‘I won’t try to persuade you to do something you don’t feel is right for you, Kelly. I have too much respect for you both as a person and as a doctor.’

‘Thank you.’ Kelly took a quick breath when she felt her emotions see-saw once more. ‘I would like to stay. It’s always been my dream to work in a children’s hospital. I couldn’t believe it when I was told that I had the job.’

‘Me, too.’ A sudden smile curled his sensual mouth as he leant back in his chair. ‘I knew there were dozens of candidates for the post and that they came from all over the world, too. I could scarcely believe my good fortune when the board offered me the job of clinical director.’

‘Stop being so modest.’ Kelly smiled back, feeling some of her tension ease when she saw the laughter on his face. This was the Luca she remembered best, the warm, caring man who took such delight in even the smallest success. No wonder everyone had adored him when he’d worked in Manchester. He could have had his pick of all the single women in the hospital, but he’d chosen her.

The thought sent a frisson scudding through her but she ignored it. She laughed, wanting to keep the mood light because it was safer. ‘You know very well there are few paediatricians who can match you, Luca.’

‘Hmm, I think I should hire you to do my PR. You are very good for my ego, Kelly.’

He returned her smile before he abruptly sobered. She had the impression that he was deliberately drawing back and couldn’t help feeling disappointed before she realised how stupid it was. She should be glad that he was keen to keep their relationship on a strictly platonic footing.

‘You are an excellent doctor, Kelly. The proof of that is the fact that the board offered you this job. Whilst I hadn’t taken up my own post when you were interviewed, I wouldn’t have had any hesitation about endorsing your application if I’d been consulted.’

‘Thank you. That means a lot to me. I thought…Well, you can probably guess what I thought.’

‘That if I’d had the chance I would have found a way to stop you working here?’ He sighed. ‘It’s speculation at this stage, but I’d like to think that I would have considered your application on its own merits. You have a very promising career ahead of you, Kelly. That was obvious when we worked together in Manchester. I know how committed you are and I wouldn’t want to do anything that would prevent you achieving your potential.’

There was something about the way he said it that bothered her. Kelly had a feeling that her career really mattered to him and that he wasn’t just saying so for appearances’ sake. However, before she could reply, the phone rang. She waited while Luca took the call. It was obviously bad news because he looked grim when he hung up.

‘Alessandro Alessi—the boy we saw yesterday during ward rounds—has suffered a convulsion. I’ll make my way straight to the ward. Can you tell the rest of the team to meet me there, please?’

‘Of course.’

Kelly stood up as he came around the desk. She followed him out of the office but soon got left behind. She headed for the staff lounge and relayed the message, trying to ignore the speculation on everyone’s faces as they made their way to the ward. They were obviously wondering if she was going to stay after what had happened yesterday so should she tell them that she had decided to leave, or should she wait until she was sure it was what she really wanted to do?

She pushed open the ward door and felt her heart scrunch up inside her when she saw Luca talking to the sister. Whether she stayed or went, it was going to hurt and there was no point pretending otherwise.

‘Grazie.’

Luca handed the chart to the sister and walked over to the bed. Ten-year-old Alessandro had been admitted with a severe headache and fever ten days earlier. Luca had immediately suspected bacterial meningitis and had had him rushed to the intensive care unit without waiting to do a lumbar puncture to confirm his diagnosis first. By the time the characteristic rash had appeared a short time later, Alessandro had been receiving intravenous antibiotics, and they had undoubtedly saved his life. That the child should have suffered this setback now was a blow.

‘How long did the convulsion last?’ he asked, his gaze centred on the boy. He knew that his team was gathering around him but he didn’t look up because he didn’t want anything to distract him…

His pulse leapt when someone brushed past him. He didn’t need to look to know it was Kelly. His internal radar had been working overtime since she had arrived. He could pinpoint her position in a room with complete accuracy, and the thought troubled him deeply.

He couldn’t afford to feel like this—it wasn’t fair to Kelly or to himself. He had promised Sophia that he would love and care for Matteo for the rest of his life, and that’s what he was going to do. There was no room in his life for anyone except his son, and he certainly didn’t intend to jeopardise Kelly’s career prospects by involving her in his affairs.

‘How long did the seizure last?’ he reiterated, clearing his mind of everything else.

‘Only a few minutes,’ Sister replied. ‘One of the junior nurses alerted me. By the time I got here, Alessandro was fine, but I thought I should let you know immediately, dottore.’

‘You did exactly the right thing. I want to know about any changes that occur as soon as they happen,’ Luca said firmly, wondering how long it would take him to drum that into his staff. Some of the nurses in particular were loath to call him in case it appeared they couldn’t cope. However, he didn’t care how many false alarms he was called to if it meant a tragedy could be averted.

He smiled at the boy. ‘So how do you feel now, Alessandro?’

‘All right, I guess,’ Alessandro muttered.

‘Bene.’ Luca nodded, although he could tell that the child wasn’t as alert as he’d been the last time he’d seen him. Taking a pen torch out of his pocket, he checked the boy’s response to light. If he wasn’t mistaken, the right eye hadn’t reacted as quickly as it should have done. The delay was infinitesimal but enough to make him decide that he would value a second opinion.

He glanced around the group, pleased to see that everyone was present. He’d made it clear when he had taken over that he expected them to turn up on time for ward rounds. The team had grown a little lax after his predecessor had left but Luca wasn’t prepared to accept less than one hundred per cent commitment from every single one of them. His gaze skimmed over his senior registrar, Carlo Baldovini, an earnest young man in his thirties. Next to Carlo was Letizia Sentini, one of the two junior registrars on the team. Letizia smiled at him, although he didn’t respond. He wasn’t interested in Letizia’s less than subtle attempts to flirt with him.

His gaze came to rest on Kelly and he felt a sudden tightening in his chest. He knew how difficult it was going to be to keep their relationship on a professional footing if she stayed at the hospital. Of all the women he had known, Kelly was the one who had touched him most. When he’d met Kelly, he’d found his soul mate, but once Sophia had told him about the baby she was expecting, he had realised that he would have to let Kelly go.

He knew that if he had to make the decision again, he would do exactly the same thing. However, as he looked at Kelly’s face, he couldn’t help wishing that circumstances had been different. If he’d not had to care for Sophia and her unborn child, he and Kelly might still be together.

CHAPTER TWO

‘THERE’S a hint of sluggishness about the way the right eye reacts.’

Kelly carefully erased all expression from her face as she turned to Luca. She hadn’t expected him to solicit her opinion after what had happened yesterday, although she wasn’t going to let him know that.

‘Si. That is what I thought as well.’

He took the light from her and bent over the child once more. Kelly breathed a sigh of relief. At least it appeared they agreed on something and that had to be a step in the right direction. If they could carry on this way then she might be able to stay on here.

Her heart gave a little flutter at the thought but she damped it down. She wasn’t going to rush into making a decision now it appeared that Luca had given her a stay of execution. She glanced round in surprise when Letizia suddenly stepped forward and rudely elbowed her aside.

‘Perhaps there is a blockage,’ the registrar suggested as she took Kelly’s place. ‘If an excess of cerebrospinal fluid has been collecting inside the skull, it could have caused the child to have a seizure. We shall need to operate to relieve the pressure.’

‘It is one option,’ Luca agreed calmly. He looked at Kelly and raised his brows. ‘Do you agree with Letizia, Kelly? Should we opt for surgery?’

‘I don’t think it’s possible to say for certain at this stage,’ Kelly replied, ignoring the venomous look the other woman gave her. She directed her answer to Luca, refusing to be deterred from making her point. ‘It will need a CT scan to prove if there is a blockage or not.’

‘Indeed it will, which is why we should not be too hasty.’ Luca glanced at Letizia. ‘If you could arrange for Alessandro to have a CT scan we shall decide how to proceed once we have seen the results.’ He shrugged. ‘It could be that there is infection still present so we need to check on that, too.’

‘You wish to do a lumbar puncture?’ Letizia suggested immediately.

‘No. A lumbar puncture should never be performed if there is a chance that intracranial pressure has been raised,’ he said reprovingly. ‘Blood tests will suffice for now.’

He moved away from the bed, indicating that he needed a word with the ward sister. Kelly followed the group as they all trooped to the next bed. Letizia gave her a look of loathing as she swept past her and went to the phone. Kelly sighed. She had a nasty feeling that she had made herself an enemy even though she had never intended to do so. Still, she could hardly have gone along with Letizia’s suggestion when she hadn’t agreed with her.

The rest of the round passed smoothly, although Kelly took care to keep out of Letizia’s way. There was a morning clinic after it was over so she made her way to the outpatients department on the ground floor. Aldo, one of the cleaners, was mopping up some orange juice which had been spilled on the floor and he paused to speak to her. He was learning English and loved to practise whenever he had the chance.

‘It is a beautiful day, dottoressa,’ he said, smiling shyly at her.

‘Si, Aldo, molto bello,’ Kelly replied. She knew from her own experience of learning Italian how important it was to practice and was more than happy to help. She left him to get on with his work and carried on to the office. Serafina, one of the reception staff, smiled when Kelly went in.

‘Buongiorno, Kelly. You have a long list today, I’m afraid. There are several children whom Dr Ferrero asked specifically to see as well so do you know if he will be along soon?’

‘He shouldn’t be long now,’ Kelly assured her, picking up the list. As Serafina had said, it was a long list and she doubted if she would be finished in time for lunch, not that it worried her if she had to work through her break. Her patients came first and they always would.

She put the list back on the desk and picked up the stack of files the receptionist had prepared for her. ‘I’ll make a start,’ she began, then glanced round when the door opened as Luca arrived. He reached past her and picked up the list, and Kelly felt her breath lock in her throat when his arm brushed her shoulder. She couldn’t seem to breathe so that it was left to him to speak.

‘There is a case I would like to discuss with you, Kelly.’ He glanced at her and she realised that he had no inkling what was happening to her. His tone was perfectly level when he continued and contrarily she couldn’t help the feeling of disappointment that swept through her. ‘It will be easier if we do it after clinic is over so come to my office when you have finished your list.’

He didn’t wait for her to reply before he left—didn’t need to, either. He was in charge and she was there to carry out his instructions. However, as the door closed behind him, Kelly knew that their working relationship had nothing to do with the way she was feeling right then.

She hurriedly left the office and went to the consulting room the registrars used. A plastic strip bearing her name had been slotted into place on the door and she stopped to look at it, needing to remind herself who she was: Dr Kelly Carlyon. Junior Registrar. Clinical Care.

She was a member of Luca’s team now and nothing more. She had to forget that he was the man she had loved with all her heart if she intended to stay here. There must be no more looking back at the past, and definitely no repeat of what had happened just now.

Heat suffused her as she recalled the way his arm had brushed against her. It had been the most fleeting contact yet she could feel her skin tingling as it had always done whenever Luca had touched her. Luca had been the most wonderful lover. She’d had little experience when they had met, but he had taught her to how to give love and how to receive it as well. She had come alive in his arms, but she mustn’t make the mistake of thinking it could happen again. Luca was a married man now and even if she stayed, he could never make her feel like that again.

A sob rose in her throat as she hurriedly entered the office but she forced it down. Dropping the files onto the desk, she took off her jacket and put on a clean white coat. She smoothed down the collar then checked her appearance in the mirror over the handbasin, wanting to be sure that everything was in order before her patients arrived.

Her dark red hair was neatly coiled at the nape of her neck in the style she favoured for work. She’d decided to wear a touch of make-up that morning to bolster her courage and the slick of lip gloss and coat of mascara added to the overall picture of a woman in control of her life. On the outside, at least, she looked much the same as she always did. It was only her eyes that betrayed her inner turbulence.

Pain lanced through her as she studied the shadows that clouded their sea-green depths. The fact that Luca had been completely unmoved when they’d touched just now hurt unbearably. Once, she would have confidently claimed that he’d loved her as much as she had loved him, but she’d been wrong. Luca hadn’t loved her then and he most certainly didn’t love her now.

‘Come in.’

Luca steeled himself as the door opened but it was only Serafina with some messages for him. He thanked her, shaking his head when she asked him if he wanted a cup of coffee. ‘No. Grazie.’

He managed to hold his smile until she left but the tension was starting to tell on him. All morning long he had tried to forget how it had felt when he had brushed against Kelly but he’d failed. He could still feel it deep inside him—her softly yielding flesh, her smooth firm skin, her heat.

He swore softly, fluently, using the language he had learned as a child growing up in one of the poorest parts of Italy. The people in charge of the children’s home where he had been sent to live had called it gutter language and had washed out his mouth with soap and water, but even that hadn’t stopped him. It had been the only way he had been able to release the pain and anger that burned inside him.

It hadn’t been until he had finished his degree that he had taught himself not to say the ugly words out loud. The anger had still been there, of course, along with the painful memories of his childhood. It had only been when he had met Kelly that they had started to fade. She’d made him see that he was no longer that ragged, unkempt urchin but a man whom a woman could love. The man Kelly had loved.

How it hurt to know that he could have had a lifetime of her love if things had been different. It wasn’t that he had thrown it heedlessly away—he’d had no choice. Sophia had needed him and he couldn’t have lived with himself if he had abandoned her and her unborn child. He had traded one kind of love for another and he didn’t regret his decision. He had loved Kelly with all his heart, but she hadn’t needed him like Sophia had done.

Luca jumped when there was a second knock on the door. ‘Come in,’ he called, picking up the bundle of messages so it would appear as though he had been doing something useful instead of sitting there, daydreaming.

He heard the door open and footsteps cross the room but he didn’t look up. He didn’t need to. He knew it was Kelly, he could smell her scent, hear her breathing, feel her presence in every fibre of his being. He allowed himself a single, glorious second to savour the sensations that washed through him then banished them to where those memories resided. He had indulged himself enough for one day.

‘How was clinic?’ His tone was cool, distant, polite, the voice he used with all his staff. Luca Ferrero, the physician, gave away nothing about himself, neither the man he was today nor the child he had been. He didn’t fraternise with his colleagues because he didn’t have the time. Every second of every day was devoted either to his work or his son and that’s how he intended it to continue, especially now that Kelly was here. Kelly was the one person who could make him question the path he had chosen, the only one who could make him want more than he had.

‘Fine. Most of the children were follow-up cases so there were no problems.’

‘Bene.’ He glanced up at last, felt his heart lurch, and swiftly recovered. So maybe she was standing in a patch of sunlight that was setting her glorious hair alight but it made no difference to him. He was centred, focused wholly and exclusively on his job.

She shifted slightly and his heart jolted again as he watched her slender body move beneath the white coat. He knew that he would never actually do it, but he longed to get up and walk around the desk, unbutton that coat and peel it off her then set to work on that prim little blouse which she wore underneath.

His vision blurred as he pictured his hands moving down the row of tiny pearl buttons until the very last one had been unfastened. He knew from experience that her skin would be barely darker than the fabric—milky-pale, smooth, unblemished—and shuddered. He would slowly open her blouse, breathe in her scent, feel the warmth of her skin, pull her to him and…

‘You said that you wanted to discuss a case with me.’

Her voice was sharp; it cut through the image that was playing in his head with rapier-like speed so that he almost gasped out loud. He managed to quash the sound before it emerged, but it shook him to know how close he had come to disaster. What the hell was he doing, playing such dangerous mind games?

‘That’s right.’ He stood up and went to the filing cabinet, waving her to a chair as though he didn’t care where she sat or what she did. It wasn’t true because he cared a lot, cared deeply about whether she was going to stay or leave, and how much time he could spend with her.

He slammed the drawer, wishing he could lock his thoughts away as easily. ‘The patient’s name is Domenico del Pietro, a fifteen-year-old boy who lives in Palau with his parents.’ He handed her the file and sat down. ‘He was referred to us following a number of consultations with his own doctor.’

Kelly frowned as she read through the case history. ‘Fever, headache, muscle pain, tenderness, nausea. A general feeling of tiredness and malaise.’ She looked up. ‘There’s nothing here about his mental state. How did he appear when you saw him?’

‘Somewhat depressed,’ Luca replied, inwardly smiling. It seemed that Kelly was already thinking along the right lines, not that he was surprised. She’d always been extremely sharp, quick to diagnose and accurate, too, which was more important. He carried on feeding her information, wondering how long it would take her to reach the same conclusion he had arrived at. ‘His teachers have also noticed a definite loss of concentration in recent months. Domenico is usually an A-grade student but his work has suffered of late.’

‘Any panic attacks or sleep disturbance?’

‘None reported.’

‘Has a full neurological assessment been carried out?’

‘Not yet. Domenico is due to come into hospital tomorrow and we shall do it then.’

‘I imagine you’ve ruled out mononucleosis. He’s the right age for it so it must have been your first thought.’

‘It was, but the tests came back negative.’ He leant back in his chair. ‘So, Kelly, have you any suggestions?’

‘ME.’ She placed the file on the desk. ‘The symptoms are all indicative of myalgic encephalomyelitis.’

‘And you ascribe to the school of thought that says ME is an actual illness and not the result of a psychiatric disorder like depression?’

‘Yes, I do.’ She met his gaze across the desk. ‘I don’t doubt that anyone who suffers from ME also suffers from depression—who wouldn’t when you’re feeling ill all the time? However, I’m convinced there is a physical cause for it. Most people who present with symptoms of ME have had a viral infection, haven’t they?’

‘Domenico had an upper-respiratory tract infection six months ago.’

‘And it was after that his symptoms appeared?’ she said.

‘Si,’ Luca agreed, enjoying watching her piecing together the puzzle.

She nodded as she picked up the file and glanced at the lab results. ‘Recent tests show everything is normal, which is what I would have expected. It’s rare that the lab comes up with anything in a case of ME.’

‘It is. So what do you recommend?’

‘That we wait for the results of the neurological tests and go from there,’ she said promptly.

‘Which is exactly what I have decided to do.’ Luca smiled, unable to hide his satisfaction. It was good to know that his faith in her hadn’t been misplaced. ‘Maybe you would like to be involved in this case, Kelly. It will be good experience for you to follow the boy’s progress.’

‘I’d like that. Thank you.’ She briefly returned his smile then stood up. ‘If that’s all, I’d better get back. We overran this morning and Serafina has rebooked a couple of cases for this afternoon. I want to read through their notes before I see them.’

Luca frowned as he checked his watch. ‘Surely you’re due for a break.’

‘It doesn’t matter. I’d rather be prepared than left floundering when a patient arrives.’

She went to the door, not giving him a chance to object. Luca sighed as she left because what could he have said? That she should stop work and take a break? He wouldn’t dream of saying that to any other member of his team and he mustn’t single out Kelly for special treatment. If she wanted to work through her break that was her decision. He understood. How many times had he missed a meal—several meals—because he’d been too busy to stop?

He put the file away then settled down at his desk. He phoned his housekeeper first to check that Matteo was all right then pulled out the report he was working on. If Kelly was going to work through her lunch-break, he would too. In a funny way it made him feel less guilty about her working so hard.

He caught himself up short. He had to stop worrying about Kelly and let her get on with her life. Once he started interfering, he might not be able to stop.

CHAPTER THREE

‘CIAO.’

Kelly waved goodbye to a couple of nurses who worked on her ward and headed along the path to the staff quarters. It had been a busy day and she was glad it was over. Once she had finished in the clinic, she’d had notes to write up and that had taken the best part of the afternoon. She’d barely finished in time for the afternoon ward round, in fact.

Letizia had made a point of drawing everyone’s attention to her when she’d rushed into the ward with just a couple of minutes to spare, but Luca hadn’t said a word. In fact, he had ignored her for the next hour and that had been far worse than any reprimand. Even a cutting remark about her tardiness would have been better than the indifference he’d shown her.

She groaned when she realised how stupid she was being. Keying in the security code, she let herself into the building. The air-conditioning was switched on full and she groaned with pleasure when she felt the cool air playing over her skin. The weather had been extremely hot ever since she’d arrived in Sardinia. The temperature regularly hit the mid-thirties and she would have found it very uncomfortable in her apartment without air-conditioning. As she made her way up the stairs, Kelly couldn’t help thinking how lucky she was to have been offered an apartment here. From what she could gather, there was a waiting list for staff accommodation, and she had no idea how she’d managed to jump the queue. Unless Luca had arranged it for her?

Her heart lurched at the thought of him going to so much trouble on her behalf before she battened it down. She doubted if he even knew where she lived let alone had played any part in getting her a flat here. She let herself in and went straight to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of mineral water then took it into the sitting room and sat down.

All the apartments were decorated in the same neutral shades of grey and cream. The furniture was standard too, light beech built-in cupboards and cabinets, a small sofa plus an armchair. She’d added a few personal touches—some photos of her and Katie with their parents, a couple of ornaments—but the place still didn’t feel like home. It was just somewhere she came to sleep after a busy day. Until she found a place of her own, she would continue to feel like a visitor, although it might be wiser to forget about setting down roots until she decided if she was going to stay.

Kelly sighed when she realised that she was going round in circles. She would have to make up her mind soon about what she intended to do but she was too tired to think about it right now. One of the nurses was celebrating her birthday that night and she had invited Kelly along. They were meeting at a restaurant near the harbour so once she had showered, she changed into white cotton jeans and a black vest top. Her hair always took ages to blow-dry so she scooped it into a ponytail and left it to dry on its own rather than waste time toiling with the hairdryer. Half an hour later she was on her way out again.

She left the hospital and headed towards the harbour, taking the road that overlooked the bay. It was a beautiful evening and the sun was glinting off the azure blue sea. There was a cruise liner anchored in the bay and she could see a flotilla of tenders scurrying back and forth as they ferried the passengers ashore. The air was redolent with the scent of the pine trees which lined one side of the narrow, twisting road. There were a number of luxurious villas built into the hillside, although they were well hidden behind the trees.

It was wonderfully peaceful after living in the centre of busy Manchester and she hated the thought of going back there, but she might have to if she couldn’t find a way to work with Luca. Although the day had gone better than she’d feared, she’d felt extremely tense whenever he’d been around and that was hardly conducive to a healthy working relationship. All she could do was wait and see if it got any easier.

Kelly was halfway down the hill when she heard a motorbike roaring along the road behind her. There was a bend coming up so she decided to let the motorbike pass her. A lot of the young men in the area rode motorbikes and they usually rode them at a breakneck speed, so it was safer to keep out of their way.

She’d just stepped onto the grass verge when a movement suddenly caught her eye. A little boy had appeared from the drive of one of the villas and was riding his tricycle down the middle of the road. He was oblivious to the danger he was in and Kelly realised that she would have to do something if she was to avert an accident.

Hurrying forward, she swept the child into her arms just a moment before the motorbike came careering down the road. There was a squeal of brakes as the driver tried to stop, but she didn’t wait to see if he succeeded as she hurled herself and the child onto the verge. Pain shot through her when her elbow struck a lump of rock but she barely registered it because she was more concerned about the child. Her legs were trembling as she scrambled to her feet and hurriedly checked him over.

‘Good boy,’ she said as she ran her hands over his chubby little limbs. Apart from a small graze on his cheek, he appeared unscathed so that was something to be grateful for, although she dreaded to think how the driver had fared.

Picking the child up, she ran over to the young man. He was lying at the side of the road, moaning. Crouching down beside him, Kelly could tell immediately that his right arm was broken. It was an open fracture, too, and she could see a section of bone sticking through the flesh. Setting the little boy on the grass beside her, she took a clean handkerchief out of her bag and placed it over the wound to prevent any infection getting into the tissue. Once that was done, she quickly examined the young man, but he didn’t appear to have broken anything else. However, the fact that he wasn’t wearing a safety helmet meant that she couldn’t rule out the possibility of him having suffered a head injury.

‘I’m going to fetch help,’ she told him, knowing there was very little else she could do for him. The most important thing now was to get him to hospital as quickly as possible.

He broke into a torrent of rapid Italian and she shook her head. Although her grasp of the language was more than sufficient to deal with the patients she saw at the hospital, he had a thick local accent which made it difficult to follow what he was saying. ‘I don’t understand.’ She pointed towards the villa. ‘I’m going for help—aiuto.’

Thankfully, he understood what she meant and nodded. Picking up the little boy, Kelly ran back up the road. Hopefully, there would be someone at the villa who would allow her to use their phone to ring for an ambulance.

‘Matteo!’

Kelly ground to a halt when a man suddenly appeared from the driveway leading to the villa. She gasped when she recognised Luca because he was the last person she’d expected to see. He came racing towards her and swept the child into his arms.

‘What happened?’

‘There’s been an accident,’ she explained as she watched the little boy cling to him. The child obviously knew him, although she had no idea what their relationship was.

‘An accident,’ Luca repeated, staring at the child in concern.

‘Yes, but he’s fine. There’s just a graze on his cheek—see.’ She brushed a dark curl off the little boy’s face so that Luca could see what she meant then hurried on. Determining Luca’s relationship to the child really wasn’t important at the moment. ‘This little chap was riding his trike down the road when a motorbike came along. The driver managed to avoid him but he’s broken his arm. I was on my way to fetch help when you appeared.’

‘I see.’ Luca’s mouth thinned as he digested what she had told him. Kelly could tell that he was angry and didn’t blame him. The child couldn’t have been more than two years old, far too young to be out on his own.

‘Go up to the house and ask them to phone for an ambulance,’ he instructed tersely. ‘I’ll take a look at the driver while you do that.’

‘Right.’

He started to hurry away but Kelly stopped him. ‘Do you want me to take the child with me? I expect his mother is wondering where’s he’s got to.’

Something crossed his face, an expression she found impossible to decipher. ‘Thank you but no. I’ll keep him here with me.’

He didn’t waste time debating the issue as he strode over to the injured motorcyclist. Kelly watched him kneel down beside the man then turned away. She had a feeling that she was missing something but there was no time to worry about it at the moment.

She hurriedly made her way up the drive to the villa. It was a beautiful house, built all on one level, with a small turret at one side and a low-pitched terracotta tiled roof, characteristic of the houses in the area. Crimson bougainvillea spilled down the walls and surrounded the huge oak door with its gleaming brass knocker. At any other time, she would have loved to explore the house and its grounds but it was more important that she sought help for the injured motorcyclist.

She knocked on the door and waited. She could hear footsteps inside and a moment later an elderly woman appeared.

‘Si?’

‘I’m sorry to bother you,’ Kelly began, ‘but there’s been an accident outside in the road. Can you phone for an ambulance, please?’

‘An accident?’ The woman pressed a hand to her mouth. ‘Is it Matteo? Has he been hurt?’

‘No, no, he’s fine,’ Kelly assured her. ‘It’s the driver of the motorcycle who’s been injured. Dr Ferrero is with him and he said that you would phone for an ambulance.’

‘Si, si. Immediatamente, signorina.’

‘Grazie.’ Kelly smiled her thanks then hurried back down the drive. Luca was examining the motorcyclist’s left ankle when she went back to them.

‘I think he’s damaged his ankle as well, possibly sprained it or even torn a ligament,’ he told her, glancing up.

‘I must have missed that,’ she admitted, crouching down beside him. ‘I was more concerned about his arm, I’m afraid. Sorry.’

‘There is no need to apologise. From what he has told me, the accident could have been a lot more serious if it weren’t for you.’ He looked over at the little boy, who was happily playing with some pebbles, and she could hear the emotion in his voice when he continued. ‘Matteo could have been killed if you hadn’t got him out of the way in time, Kelly. I don’t know how I can ever thank you.’

‘I’m sure the driver would have managed to avoid him,’ she said lightly, because she didn’t want Luca to think that he was beholden to her in any way.

‘Perhaps.’

He didn’t say anything else. Maybe he was relieved to have been let off the hook, she thought. She understood if he felt that way because she felt the same. If she was to work with him then she had to maintain her distance—if it was possible to do that, of course.

Fortunately, there was no time to dwell on that thought as the ambulance arrived just then. Luca told the crew what had happened and politely asked Kelly if she wanted to add anything but she shook her head. There was no need, he was too much of a professional to allow anything to get in the way of him doing his job, even his obvious concern for the child.

A frown pleated her brows when she saw the tenderness on his face as he picked up the little boy. Just who was Matteo? And why was he so important to Luca?

Luca could feel his heart thundering as he watched the crew load the injured man into the ambulance. The terror he’d felt when he’d realised that Matteo was missing was impossible to describe. It had felt as though his guts had turned to liquid when he’d seen the open gates and heard the squeal of brakes.

His stomach lurched as he cuddled the child to him, drawing comfort from the feel of his solid little body. Matteo immediately began to squirm in protest at being held so tightly and Luca forced himself to relax his grip. He smiled at him. ‘Shall we go home and have a drink?’

‘Si, si.’

Matteo clapped his hands in delight. He seemed oblivious to the danger he’d been in and Luca was grateful for that. No child should have to suffer the way he and Sophia had suffered when they’d been children. A child’s life should be filled with happiness and love, and certainly not with the terror he had known when he’d been little older than Matteo was now. Cruelty had been a daily part of life at the children’s home. There’d been physical beatings and, worse still, mental torture. Being told repeatedly that you were worthless had caused far more damage than the physical abuse had done. Luca knew that he would happily forfeit his life to protect this precious child from that kind of harm.

The thought unlocked a door in his mind usually kept securely locked and he swung round. He wasn’t in a fit state to handle the memories at the moment. He had a final word with the paramedics then turned to Kelly, hoping she couldn’t tell how emotional he felt. He needed to be in control when he was with her, keep his feelings locked away as securely as those memories of his childhood. It was the only way he was going to cope.

‘Would you like to come back to the villa for a cup of coffee?’ he offered, hoping she would refuse. Having Kelly in his home would be a mistake. Once she’d been there, he would never be able to rid himself of the memory. He couldn’t bear to imagine how hard it would be to sit in the house each night on his own and recall her visit.

‘No, thank you,’ she said quickly. ‘I don’t want to be a nuisance.’

‘You aren’t being a nuisance,’ he countered curtly, stung by the speed of her refusal. Did she have to make it quite so obvious that she didn’t want anything to do with him?

‘I’d still prefer not to come in.’ She shrugged, drawing his attention to the fact that the vest top she was wearing had left her shoulders bare apart from two thin little straps.

Luca felt the emotions suddenly gush up inside him again like the bubbles in a champagne bottle once the cork was drawn. He couldn’t seem to drag his gaze away from her. Soft evening light was filtering through the trees, painting her milky skin with a golden lustre. She looked like a gilded statue as she stood there, yet he knew that if he touched her it would be flesh and blood he felt, not stone.

His hand half lifted before he realised what he was doing. He couldn’t touch her, couldn’t smooth his palms over her skin and feel its warmth, and he certainly couldn’t dip his head, open his mouth and taste it.

Desire rushed through him, heated his blood, pooled in his loins, and he groaned. He wanted her so badly but it would be wrong to give in to his urges. Even if she felt the same way, it made no difference. He had nothing to offer her now but sex and it wasn’t enough, not for him and definitely not for her. Kelly deserved to be loved, wholly and completely and for all eternity. She deserved a man who could give her his heart, his mind and his soul, and he was no longer that man, although he had been once.

‘I’m supposed to be meeting some of the staff down at the harbour. It’s Catarina’s birthday and we’re going for a meal. I’d better get off otherwise I’m going to be late.’ She lifted her arm to check her watch and Luca frowned when he heard her gasp.

‘What’s the matter?’ he said sharply, because it felt as though he’d been knifed straight through his heart. He could never be the man that Kelly needed and he couldn’t begin to describe how wretched that made him feel.

‘Nothing. I banged my elbow and it’s a bit sore, that’s all.’

‘Let me see.’ Luca put Matteo on the ground and took hold of her arm, frowning when he saw the bruise on her left elbow. ‘You need a cold compress on that to reduce the swelling.’

‘I’m sure it will be fine,’ she said, quickly removing her arm.

‘If you want to run the risk of not being able to move your arm for the next week, that’s up to you,’ he said harshly, even though he knew it wasn’t fair to speak to her like that. It wasn’t her fault that he felt this way, neither was it her fault that she didn’t want to be anywhere near him. After all, he’d been the one who had ended their affair.

The thought set light to his temper and he glowered at her. ‘However, I should warn you that I shall take a dim view if you are unable to do your job because you were too stubborn to accept my advice.’

Her face flushed with angry colour. ‘Then it appears I don’t have a choice, do I?’ She shot a derisory glance at the villa. ‘I only hope your friends don’t mind having a stranger foisted on them so you can play the big tough boss, Luca. It’s probably a side of you they haven’t seen before. Aren’t you afraid it will spoil your image?’

‘Not at all. I have never allowed anything to get in the way of doing what I know is right.’

It was nothing less than the truth, but it didn’t help him to know that. He could tell that Kelly was furious with him as he led her back to the villa but he didn’t care, couldn’t allow himself to care. Matteo was chattering away, but for once in his life he was barely listening to what the child was saying. He was too keyed up, too angry, too upset, too…too everything.

‘Papà.’

Matteo’s voice cut through the maelstrom of emotions whirling around inside him and Luca jumped. ‘What is it, caro?’ he asked, ashamed of his selfishness.

He listened carefully while Matteo solemnly told him about the big motorbike that had come down the road and how the lady had picked him up. It was only when he had finished his tale that Luca realised Kelly was standing, stock-still, in the middle of the driveway. There was an expression of shock on her face that scared him when he saw it.

Instinctively, he stepped towards her, but she backed away. Her face was the colour of parchment now that the angry colour had faded and for a moment he wondered if she was going to faint. What if she’d done more than merely bruised her elbow? he thought sickly. What if she’d banged her head and injured herself badly?

‘Whose house is this?’ Her voice was so low that it sounded as though all the life had seeped out of it, and his fear intensified. Something was seriously wrong and he had no idea what it was.

‘I asked you who this villa belongs to,’ she repeated in a tone that made him wince.

‘Me,’ he said simply. ‘This is where I live.’

Her eyes closed for a moment before she opened them again and stared at him. ‘If this is your house then who is Matteo? Where are his parents?’

Luca felt a wave of sadness wash over him. He knew that his answer was going to hurt her and that there was nothing he could do to prevent it. He had promised Sophia that he would never tell anyone the truth about Matteo’s birth and he never had. In the eyes of the law, Matteo was his son and that was what everyone must continue to believe, including Kelly…especially Kelly.

She’d never made any secret of how important her career was to her. She had told him two years ago that she intended to get to the very top and he had believed her. He’d understood her need to succeed because he’d felt the same way. Proving that the people at the home had been wrong to say that he would never amount to anything had spurred him on. It had been a long, hard struggle to reach his present position and he wouldn’t have got there if he hadn’t remained completely focused.

If Kelly was to achieve her ambitions, she needed to be equally committed. However, if he told her the truth about Matteo then he knew that she would want to help and that was the last thing he could allow to happen. Juggling the demands of parenthood with a career was extremely hard as he knew from experience; some days he wondered how he coped. He certainly wasn’t going to put that kind of a burden on her at this stage. The next few years were crucial; she needed to concentrate on learning all she could and couldn’t allow anything to distract her. Even though he knew that what he was about to tell her would destroy any good memories she had of their time together, he refused to jeopardise her career.

‘Matteo is my son, Kelly. Mine and Sophia’s.’

CHAPTER FOUR

‘IF YOU’D wait in here, I’ll make sure Matteo is all right and come straight back.’

Kelly didn’t say a word as she walked into the sitting room—she couldn’t. She wasn’t even sure how she had got to the villa. She’d just put one foot in front of the other and kept going. Now she could feel herself trembling as she stopped in the middle of the room.

‘Sit down and make yourself comfortable. I’ll get my housekeeper to bring you a drink. What would you like—tea, coffee, or something cool perhaps?’

‘Nothing.’ Her voice sounded cracked and thin, like the voice of a very old woman. She cleared her throat because it was important that she maintain her dignity. ‘I don’t want anything to drink. Thank you.’

‘If you’re sure…?’

Luca let the question trail off but she didn’t answer him. She’d used up every scrap of strength and had nothing more to give. She sat down on the sofa after he left the room and closed her eyes. She could feel her heart beating, hear herself breathing and knew she was alive. It was just the core of her that had died, the vital spark that made her who she was. It had been snuffed out by those words: Matteo is my son. Mine and Sophia’s.

Pain welled up inside her and she bit her lip. The only positive thought she’d had to cling to these past two years was that there’d been nothing premeditated about the way Luca had treated her. Now she could see what a fool she’d been to believe that. Luca had carried on an affair with her even though he must have known that Sophia was pregnant.

Tears swam to her eyes but she blinked them away. By the time Luca reappeared, she had herself under control. She obeyed without question when he placed a small table in front of the sofa and told her to rest her arm on it. He’d brought a basin of water and a towel with him, and she didn’t object when he bathed her elbow. She didn’t care if he touched her. She was numb, immune to him now, inured against any future pain by his past betrayal.

‘This should help to reduce the swelling.’ He wrung out the towel and wrapped it around her elbow. ‘You’ll still have a bruise in the morning but this should alleviate some of the stiffness at least.’

‘Thank you.’ Kelly barely glanced at him as she stood up. ‘I’ll let you have the towel back tomorrow.’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said dismissively.

‘I would prefer to return it,’ she said, walking to the door. She crossed the marble-floored hallway without glancing either to left or right. Any desire she’d had to explore the house had disappeared. She was no longer interested in it or its owner.

She stopped when she reached the front door and turned to look at him. Ever since she’d discovered they would be working together, she had been afraid that she wouldn’t be able to separate Luca, the man she had loved, from Luca, her boss, but it was no longer a problem. The person standing before her was a stranger, someone who had lied and cheated to get what he’d wanted. She couldn’t even feel angry about what he had done; she just felt numb.

‘Are you sure you feel all right? You don’t have a headache, do you?’

‘I’m fine,’ she said flatly. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’

‘Of course.’

He didn’t say anything else as he let her out. Kelly didn’t look back as she made her way down the drive. She had no idea if he was watching her, but it didn’t matter if he was. He meant nothing to her now. He was just someone she worked with, someone she could learn from so she could improve her skills. The children she treated would benefit from her knowing Luca, but for her, personally, it was a matter of indifference.

It was only when she reached the end of the drive and discovered that she couldn’t see where she was going that she realised she was crying. Tears were pouring down her face, blinding her so that she stumbled and had to grab hold of the gate to steady herself. Luca had had a child with another woman. Sophia had been carrying his baby while he’d been making love to her. What kind of a man slept with another woman when his girlfriend was pregnant?

‘Kelly? Are you all right? What’s happened?’

All of a sudden Luca was there and she rounded on him in fury. ‘How could you, Luca? How could you sleep with me when Sophia was expecting your child?’

‘Because I had no idea she was pregnant!’ He caught hold of her arms and held onto them when she tried to pull away. ‘I only found out about the baby when I returned to Italy.’

‘You really expect me to believe that?’ she scoffed.

‘Yes, because it’s the truth.’ His grey eyes flashed as he gripped her even harder and she winced as his fingers bit into her bruised arm. He uttered something harsh as he swiftly released her. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, Kelly.’

‘Didn’t you?’ she said brokenly.

‘No.’ He ran a gentle finger down her cheek and wiped away a tear. ‘Not now and most definitely not then. You were far too precious to me.’

‘Don’t,’ she pleaded, because she couldn’t bear to hear him say such things when they weren’t true. ‘Please, don’t say anything else, Luca. I don’t want to hear it.’

‘I know and I don’t blame you, either. But you have to believe that I never meant any of this to happen. All I’ve ever wanted was to protect you, Kelly.’ He cupped her cheek with his hand and his eyes were filled with sadness. ‘I know I failed in the past, but I swear that I won’t fail again.’

She wasn’t sure what he meant and didn’t care. She twisted her head to the side so that he was forced to release her. ‘I don’t want you to protect me. I suggest you concentrate on your wife and your son from now on and leave me alone.’ She laughed harshly, whipping up her anger rather than give in to the despair that threatened to overwhelm her. ‘I wonder what Sophia would say if she found out that you were making promises like that to another woman. Or maybe it’s something you do on a regular basis and she’s used to it? Perhaps I should ask her.’

‘That isn’t possible,’ he said roughly.

‘No?’ She shrugged. ‘I can understand you not wanting us to meet but don’t worry, Luca. I’ll be very discreet. I won’t say a word about the fact that you were sleeping with me when she was pregnant.’

‘Sophia is dead.’

The words cut through the still evening air and Kelly gasped. She stared at him in horror. ‘Dead?’

‘Yes. She died eighteen months ago.’

‘But Matteo must have been only a baby,’ she said blankly.

‘He was six months old.’ Luca took a deep breath, but the pain in his voice was so raw that it brought fresh tears to her eyes. ‘She had a highly aggressive form of breast cancer.’

‘And there was nothing anyone could do for her?’ she whispered.

‘If she’d received treatment as soon as it was diagnosed then she might have had a chance, but the odds were always stacked against her.’

‘What do you mean, if she’d received treatment sooner? What was to stop her having it immediately?’

‘Sophia found out that she had cancer the same week she discovered she was pregnant.’ He ran his hand over his face and Kelly could tell how much it hurt him to talk about what had happened. ‘She refused to undergo any treatment in case it harmed the baby. Her consultant pleaded with her, but she refused. In her eyes, it would have been tantamount to killing her child.’

‘And did you know about this?’ Kelly asked, appalled. ‘Did she tell you that she had refused treatment?’

‘No. I had no idea that Sophia was pregnant let alone that she had cancer until I returned to Italy. She was eight months pregnant by then and I managed to persuade her to have a Caesarean so she could begin chemotherapy. However, we both knew it was unlikely to help very much. In the event, it gave her a couple more months to spend with Matteo.’

‘I don’t know what to say…It must have been awful…for both of you.’ She tailed off and he sighed.

‘It was much, much worse for Sophia. She knew that she wasn’t going to live to see her son grow up and that’s what scared her more than anything else. Once she was sure that Matteo would be cared for, she accepted what was happening. She was extremely brave right until the end. It was humbling to watch the way she coped with her illness.’

‘Is that why you got married so soon after you returned to Italy?’ Kelly said quietly. One of the things that had hurt her most had been the speed with which Luca had married, but now she understood why it had happened so quickly. He must have been desperate to save Sophia from any more heartache.

Her heart lifted as she realised that it cast a different light on the events of the past. However, it would be wrong to get too carried away. She must never forget that it had been Sophia he’d loved, not her.

‘Si. There was no point waiting when it was the one thing that would set Sophia’s mind at rest.’ He stared at the ground for a moment and when he looked up, she could see the plea in his eyes. ‘I meant what I said, Kelly. I never intended to hurt you. I just didn’t have a choice.’

‘So, Alessandro, how do you feel today?’ Luca stopped beside the boy’s bed. It was the start of the morning ward round and Alessandro Alessi was the first patient on his list. He reviewed Alessandro’s notes while the boy explained that he was feeling much better that day.

The CT scan had shown no sign of an obstruction and Luca had concluded that the excess of cerebrospinal fluid had been caused by a fresh bout of infection. He’d prescribed another course of antibiotics and they appeared to be working, although he had no intention of rushing things. Alessandro was due to be discharged the following day, but he decided that he would keep him in hospital while they monitored the situation. There was no point taking any chances at this stage.

‘I’m glad you’re feeling better,’ he told the boy with a smile. ‘However, I think it would be wise if you stayed in the hospital for a few more days. Hopefully, you’ll be well enough to go home after the weekend.’

Alessandro’s face fell. ‘But it’s my birthday on Friday. I was going to have a party and all my friends were coming.’

‘I’m very sorry,’ Luca said sympathetically, knowing how important birthdays were to children. ‘Maybe you can have your party another day?’

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