MAGGIE COX loved to write almost as soon as she learned to read. Her favorite occupation was daydreaming and making up stories in her head, and this particular pastime has stayed with her through all the years of growing up, starting work, marrying and raising a family. No matter what was going on in her life, whether joy, happiness, struggle or disappointment, she’d go to bed each night and lose herself in her imagination. Through all the years of her secretarial career she kept on filling exercise books and her word processor with her writing, never showing anyone what she wrote and basically keeping her stories for her own enjoyment. It wasn’t until she met her second husband, the love of her life, that she was persuaded to start sharing those stories with a publisher. Maggie settled on Harlequin as she had loved romance novels since she was a teenager and read at least one or two paperbacks a week. After several rejections, the letters that were sent back from the publisher started to become more and more positive and encouraging, and in July 2002 she sold her first book, A Passionate Protector, to Harlequin.

The fact that she is being published is truly a dream come true; however, each book she writes is still a journey in courage and hope and a quest to learn and grow and be the best writer she can. Her advice to aspiring authors is “Don’t give up at the first hurdle, or even the second, third or fourth, but keep on keeping on until your dream is realized because if you are truly passionate about writing and learning the craft, as Paulo Coelho states in his book The Alchemist, ‘the Universe will conspire to help you’ make it a reality.”

The Italian’s Pregnancy Proposal

~BOUGHT FOR HER BABY~

Maggie Cox

MILLS & BOON

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THE ITALIAN’S PREGNANCY PROPOSAL

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

BLISS knew she really ought to resist, but she couldn’t help stealing another surreptitious glance at her watch to check on the time when her dragon of a supervisor’s back was momentarily turned. The store was hot and crowded and the overpowering scent of perfume from the counters arranged around hers was making her feel as though she’d wandered into an opium den. Besides that, her eyes itched from the shadow she was forced to wear to promote the make-up, and she longed to be able to scrub it off along with the foundation cream, blusher and lipstick that transformed her into someone she almost didn’t recognise. It was too bad she’d have to endure another two hours of this torture before she could give in to such a rebellious desire.

What on earth she’d been thinking of when she’d decided to work in the plush department store that catered mainly to fashion-conscious women with more money than sense, she didn’t know. Well, yes, she did know. She’d been between jobs yet again and as inspiration about what she really wanted to do had been in appallingly scant supply, she’d let her best friend Trudy persuade her to apply for a post in the same store that she worked in. For Trudy, who loved all things retail, it was heaven. To Bliss, it was increasingly turning out to be just the opposite.

‘Excuse me…I would like to purchase a lipstick.’

‘Certainly, madam. Do you have any particular shade in mind? I can show you the—Oh, Lord!’

Bliss watched in alarm as the striking brunette in front of the counter slid weakly down to the floor, almost like a slow-motion replay of an actor fainting in a soap opera. Beside her, an apple-cheeked toddler with big brown eyes and curly dark hair ensconced in a pushchair cried out in distress. Her actions automatic and concerned, Bliss flew round the counter to crouch beside the woman who had passed out, at the same time taking a brief moment to stroke the baby-soft cheek of the toddler and murmur something soothing. A small crowd quickly gathered and Bliss took immediate charge, urging them to stand back while she loosened the collar of the woman’s silk shirt beneath her expensive suede coat, then gently smoothed back the wavy dark hair from her olive-skinned forehead.

‘I don’t…I don’t feel well.’ Momentarily the woman’s surprisingly blue eyes fluttered open and her lush mouth trembled slightly as she stared dazedly up at Bliss. ‘Look after my baby,’ she said beseechingly in her accented voice before she fainted dead away again.

‘Don’t worry. I will.’ Her teeth clamping down worriedly on her soft lower lip, Bliss glanced across at the now-quietened toddler, who stared back at her with wide-eyed interest, as if wondering what might be going to happen next.

‘Now, what’s happened? Do you know this woman?’ Her supervisor pushed her way through the small knot of curious bystanders and knelt down beside Bliss in anxious distaste—as if she really didn’t need or want this untidy disruption to her working day. Fighting down the little spurt of annoyance that burst like a bubble inside her chest, Bliss briefly shook her head.

‘She’s a customer and she’s just passed out. We’re going to need an ambulance; can you organise it? Oh, and can somebody please get this little girl a drink? She looks hot. Hardly surprising when there’s enough heat in this place to compete with the inside of a volcano!’

After that, things happened fairly quickly. It seemed a mere matter of moments before the familiar sound of an ambulance siren wailed in the distance, then came to an abrupt halt outside the store’s entrance. Having checked the woman had no foreign objects in her mouth, was still breathing normally and was as comfortable as she could make her, Bliss was relieved to have the two highly competent ambulance men take over. Remembering her promise to the child’s mother, Bliss took charge of the toddler in the pushchair, fed her a drink in a plastic lipped cup, then, when she began to whimper at the surrounding mayhem, lifted her out of the pushchair and safely into her arms for a cuddle. One of the ambulance men glanced over his shoulder at her as he and his colleague lifted the unconscious woman onto a stretcher.

‘That her child?’ he asked.

Bliss nodded. ‘I’ve got her bag too.’ She grabbed up the expensive-looking tan leather shoulder bag she’d thrown onto the empty pushchair for safekeeping before someone either squashed it underfoot or, more worryingly, absconded with it. ‘It might have some ID inside it.’

‘You’d better bring it along with the child. You can ride in the ambulance with the mother. What’s your name, love?’

‘Bliss Maguire.’

‘So you’re Irish like meself?’

‘Half,’ Bliss muttered, thinking it was bizarre to be having such a conversation about roots under the circumstances. ‘On my father’s side.’

‘Ah, well, we’ll get along just grand, then, you and I.’ With a teasing grin, the man turned his concentration firmly back to the woman on the stretcher.

It soon became apparent that the child needed to eat. After informing the nurse behind the hospital desk that she was going to the canteen if anyone should come looking for her, Bliss followed the arrows to the dining area. Glad that she’d had the foresight to bring her purse with her before getting into the ambulance, she purchased a sandwich and a cup of tea, then sat at a corner table with her charge on her lap, feeding her small bites of bread, cheese and cucumber. By the obvious eagerness with which she ate, it was clear the little girl was ravenously hungry.

‘Probably all the excitement,’ she said out loud, ‘poor lamb.’ Her heart turned over in sympathy for both the child and her mother. Being separated from each other in such an unexpected and frightening way must be torment. She could only pray that the woman would make a speedy recovery. She also hoped that her next of kin would arrive soon to look after this beautiful child and give her the opportunity of seeing a familiar face. Momentarily Bliss rested her chin on the silky dark head, laughing when the little girl handed her a piece of soggy sandwich, the child watching entranced as Bliss began to chew with exaggerated emphasis to amuse her.

‘Miss Maguire?’

She glanced up at the accented enunciation of her name into the glittering green-eyed gaze of the most stunning-looking male she’d ever seen outside the pages of a high-fashion glossy magazine. She’d once glimpsed a well-known Hollywood movie star shopping with his entourage in the store, but even he—noted heartthrob that he was—couldn’t hold a candle to this particular male specimen. As her gaze skimmed over his gleaming, slightly longish black hair, then helplessly detoured to take in a tall, well-muscled frame dressed in the kind of clothes that gave off an aura of comfortable wealth beyond what most people could possibly dream of, her heart felt in danger of going into arrest, so violently did it jolt.

‘Who wants to know?’

Unconsciously protective of the beautiful child in her arms, she tightened her hand round the tiny waist in her pretty velvet dress. Silently she vowed that she would not be handing her over to anyone without the right credentials as verified by the proper authorities…no matter how well dressed or impossibly handsome he was.

‘My name is Dante di Andrea. I am the brother of the woman you accompanied in the ambulance to the hospital. The child you are holding is Renata Ward—my niece.’

The child gazed blankly up at the man, with no discernible sign of recognition. Bliss felt something in the pit of her stomach tighten warily.

‘Really?’

The handsome brow crinkled with annoyance. ‘You do not believe me?’ He looked as if the mere idea of anyone disbelieving anything he said was tantamount to gross bad manners or derangement on their part. How dare you question my authority? his emerald eyes silently blazed.

‘Why would I lie about it? Come, Renny. I will look after you now.’

‘I’m afraid I can’t just hand the child over to you just like that.’ Affecting her best ‘head girl’ voice, Bliss ignored the outstretched arms of the dark-haired pin-up in front of her and dared to meet his disbelieving glare with a decidedly cool and firm one of her own. ‘We’ll go back to Casualty Reception and I’ll ask them to verify that you are who you say you are.’

‘Your diligence is commendable, Miss Maguire, but how do you think I came to find you if my credentials have not already been verified by the proper authorities? Did you speak to my sister before she passed out? If you did, you must know from her accent that she is Italian, like me. My name and cell phone number were in her purse; that is how I come to be here now.’

All that might be so, Bliss thought defiantly. But she still wasn’t taking any chances. She was more unwilling than she could have believed to release the little girl into anyone’s arms but her mother’s. She’d never forgive herself if anything untoward happened while this precious child was in her care.

‘I did speak to the lady before she fainted, and it’s because of that that I am going to double-check you are who you say you are.’

‘What did my sister say to you?’ Clearly struggling with his temper, Dante di Andrea narrowed his sizzling verdant gaze on Bliss like a sniper about to take a pot shot at a target he detested, and scowled.

‘She told me to take care of her baby and that’s exactly what I’m doing.’ Rising to her feet with ‘Renny’ now snuggled up tiredly against her chest, Bliss tried not to be intimidated by the fact that the man hovering over the pair of them like some royal bodyguard was at least a good six inches taller than she was. In fact he made her average height seem positively short.

‘So…we will return to Reception and we will speak to someone in authority who will assure you that I am Dante di Andrea, the brother of Tatiana Ward, and then you will hand over my niece to my care. Sì?’

Feeling her face flame red as his furious glance swept almost dismissively across her features, Bliss bit back an equally provoked retort and decided to say nothing. The last thing anyone needed was a row under the circumstances. All she wanted to do was make sure that Renata would be released into safe hands. Holding the child tight, she strode into the long corridor outside the canteen ahead of him, secretly wishing that the man had not been quite so speedy in his arrival at the hospital as he had. Renata smelt so sweet, was so snuggly, warm and delicious in her arms, that all Bliss’s usually determinedly buried maternal instincts were given full and free rein to an almost alarming degree.

‘I can definitely assure you, Miss Maguire, that Mr di Andrea is indeed the brother of Mrs Ward who is at present undergoing observation by the head doctor on duty. The little girl is his niece, Renata Ward.’ The very efficient-looking middle-aged receptionist with her steel-framed spectacles and ash-blond hair smiled patiently at Bliss as though she were addressing a confused child.

‘Oh.’ Bliss’s violet eyes blinked twice in succession, as though she’d just been rudely woken from a peaceful slumber. She heard the harshly relieved breath that Dante di Andrea released beside her before holding out his arms once again for the little girl. The provocatively sensual scent of sandalwood floated up to her nostrils as he did so and something in her deepest feminine core reacted as violently as though he’d kissed her. ‘Your uncle will take you now, sweetie. Be a good girl, won’t you? You’ll see Mummy soon.’

It was the oddest thing, but Bliss suddenly felt as if she might burst into tears. What stopped her was the fact that Renata had started to cling to her in alarm when Dante had reached out, making little sounds of protest against Bliss’s white silk shirt that tore at her heart as powerfully as any heartbreak could.

‘All right, honey…all right. There’s nothing to be frightened of, I promise.’ Except that when Bliss’s accusing stare met Dante’s across the little girl’s dark head, the sheer frustration and rage in his eyes made her doubt that promise greatly. Something told her in that short, unsettling exchange that this was a man unused to being defied in any way, and so far Bliss had not capitulated to his authority one iota. Her wild imagination suggested he looked about ready to tear her limb from limb.

‘Give me my niece, Miss Maguire. I thank you for taking care of her in her mother’s time of need, but now I want to go and see my sister and I would like to take her daughter with me.’

‘She’s acting like she doesn’t know you.’ It was hard to believe the strength with which Renata was holding onto Bliss’s shirt, her little chubby fists clinging on as though her life depended on it. Did her uncle have to look quite so fierce? That scowl would put the fear of God into a wild cougar! Maybe his anxiety for his sister was putting him under a strain, but he could soften a little for the child’s sake, couldn’t he? ‘How am I supposed to hand her over to you when she clearly doesn’t want to go?’

He cursed beneath his breath in a barrage of fluent Italian. Even the outwardly unruffled receptionist looked alarmed. But Bliss was adamant that, however effusively Dante di Andrea gave way to temper, all it would achieve would be to make her more determined not to hand Renata over until he had calmed down.

‘The baby is very shy and not used to me.’ Shaking his head, he seemed to suddenly struggle with finding the right words, as if he wasn’t used to having to explain or justify his emotions. Against her will, Bliss couldn’t deny the spurt of sympathy that bloomed inside her. ‘She has recently lost her father. That is why Tatiana—her mother—is ill.’

Bliss went very still. Sensing the change in her posture, Renata glanced up into her eyes, her bottom lip quivering. ‘I’m very sorry to hear that. Look, Mr di Andrea, I’m not trying to make things difficult for you. I just want to make sure that the little girl is all right…for my own satisfaction, you understand?’

For a very surreal moment, Dante was so drawn by those ravishing violet eyes with their curling sable lashes that he forgot he usually concurred with his father’s view that the English were a cold race. The warmth and concern that this unknown Englishwoman was expressing for a total stranger’s child took him aback and made him reassess his former prejudice in a way that was definitely unsettling.

‘Perhaps we should sit down for a moment, sì?’

They moved to a long bench seat a little way off. When Dante sat down beside her, Bliss couldn’t help feeling slightly overshadowed by his awesome male beauty and she withdrew her gaze to the child because focusing on that remarkably handsome visage was making it almost impossible to concentrate.

She’d heard it said that an Italian man’s face told the story of his life. If that was so, Dante di Andrea had a lifetime of experience and confidence and knowing written across his. Along with his smooth bronzed skin and piercing green eyes, he had an allure that could captivate a woman in an instant, and no doubt an inbuilt arrogance that he took as his God-given right. Yes, Bliss had already seen ample signs of that arrogance. She sighed.

Renata was asleep. When Bliss experienced the full weight of that little warm body sagging against her, she capitulated to an instinctive urge to smooth those whisper-soft curls away from her velvet forehead, then planted a tiny kiss on the child’s dampened cheek. If she didn’t hand her back to her intoxicating uncle very soon, Bliss would be in danger of being charged with kidnapping. Why did her maternal instincts have to kick in now with a child who was completely unrelated to her? Why couldn’t they have waited until she was in love and expecting a child of her own? Feeling an almost overwhelming upsurge of emotion inside her, she swallowed to ease the sudden painful cramping in her throat. Where is your head, Bliss Maguire? You know that will never happen!

‘What happened to your sister’s husband…if you don’t mind me asking?’

Dante didn’t want to talk about that now. The pain of Tatiana’s loss was so great that it had affected every one of them like the aftermath of an earthquake. Dante, his brother Stefano, and their parents, Antonio and Isabella—they were all disorientated, like shocked survivors dazedly picking over the remnants of what used to be their homes. One minute Matt Ward had been celebrating a considerable promotion at work, and the next he had been ploughed down by a drunken driver while on his way home to Tatiana and his baby. II mio Dio! His baby sister had been so happy and in love.

Dante had been envious of the joy she had found with the young Englishman, and considered it highly unlikely that he would ever find the same joy with a woman. Not when his considerable fortune and dedication to his work threw up obstacles that seemed insurmountable. Dante wasn’t interested in women who were attracted by his wealth and position as head of the family business. But it seemed gold-diggers were the only type of women who came into his sphere. It had made him wish sometimes that he could have been as carefree as Tatiana, allowed to come to the UK to study and live an ordinary life that didn’t require great responsibility and the level of commitment that Dante had had to contend with. But now he had no cause for envy, only pain and regret that the great happiness Tatiana had enjoyed had been cruelly snatched away and this lovely child would never know her father.

As he momentarily dug his fingers into his brow to try and stifle his distress Dante was startled to feel the consoling press of the Englishwoman’s hand through his suit sleeve. Along with the scent of vanilla and honey, her touch sent ripples of seductive sensations along his already highly sensitised nerve endings.

‘You don’t have to tell me,’ she said softly. ‘You must be anxious to see your sister. Here, take the baby. She’s asleep now.’

Wordlessly Dante took the child, tucking her in close to his broad chest in his exquisitely designed jacket and shirt, feeling his heart swell at the soft, warm body and dreading the anxiety on his sister’s face when he appeared at her bedside. Tatiana had always been so open and so trusting. Now her joy in life was gone. Dante longed for a way to bring it back.

Suddenly distracted by a pair of shimmering eyes the astonishing colour and vivid hue of violets, he willingly focused all his attention on the beautiful girl seated beside him. Her white silk blouse was damp and crumpled at the front where Renata had lain her head against her chest and her rich black hair was slipping strand by silky strand loose from her ponytail. The hotly sensuous charge that surged through his body like a streak of sultry summer lightning as a result of his intense examination was too disturbing for words.

‘Grazie. I was told that you work in the store and that you travelled in the ambulance with my sister. You must allow me to pay for a taxi so you can return.’

‘I can get myself a taxi, but I really don’t want you to pay.’ Bliss got to her feet and, disturbingly, Dante did likewise. As he towered over her once again she couldn’t help feeling consumed by his presence. The man was so attractive and so impossible to be ambivalent towards that it wasn’t funny. To counteract the effect, she deliberately focused all her attention on the sleeping child in his arms, secretly thinking that they made a touching tableau—the handsome, indomitable uncle and his beautiful baby niece. It cut her to the quick to realise she would probably not set eyes on either of them ever again.

‘At least leave me your address, Miss Maguire. My sister will no doubt want to get in touch with you to thank you for all your help.’

Bliss shrugged to hide her sudden awkwardness. ‘She doesn’t have to thank me. It was my pleasure to be able to help. If I want to ring and find out how she’s doing, it’s Mrs Ward, isn’t it?’

‘Tatiana.’

‘What a lovely name.’

‘And Bliss? Where did that come from?’ Raising one dark eyebrow with an almost roguish air, Dante smiled. A wave of heat sailed through Bliss’s body and back again.

‘Maybe it’s what my parents were looking for at the time.’ Her deadpan humour clearly didn’t amuse him. His raised eyebrow was replaced by a distinct frown.

’Felicità.’

‘Pardon?’

‘That is “Bliss” in my language. Felicità. But I think I prefer it in English.’

Oh, my Lord! Do you have to smile at me like that? Bliss felt as if she’d been locked in a pitch-black room only to be let out blinking into the blinding gaze of the sun. What on earth was God thinking of when he made a man as devastatingly irresistible as Dante di Andrea? What he’d said was perfectly innocent, but in that sexy Italian intonation it had sounded to Bliss as if he were making love to her with words. Crossing her arms in front of her shirt, she anxiously strove to conceal the fact that her nipples had shockingly peaked to shameful steel buds inside her bra and the sharp tingling sensation that ensued in them was almost bordering on pain. ‘Well. I wish both you and your sister and little Renny all the best. I’ll be going now.’

‘Your address, Miss Maguire. Please?’ He’d juggled the child against his chest and produced a small notepad and pen from his inside jacket pocket. Wordlessly Bliss took it and scribbled down her address and phone number, though it was only after she handed back the notepad that she wondered why she’d capitulated so easily. She’d told him thanks weren’t necessary and she’d meant it. Now she’d gone back on her word and maybe Dante would think that she expected something because of it? She hoped not. She’d hate him to imagine that she’d helped his sister in the hope of some kind of reward.

‘Well…goodbye.’

With an awkward little smile that a shy teenager would surely have despaired of, Bliss allowed herself one final glance at the stunning Italian and the equally beautiful little girl, then turned and walked quickly away towards the double-doored exit.

CHAPTER TWO

ALTHOUGH Bliss was convinced that the repetitive ringing sound that permeated her subconscious was a referee blowing the half-time whistle on a soccer match, it quickly transformed into the more insistent peal of a ringing telephone, and she rubbed at her eyes and dazedly sat up in bed. Reaching for the cordless receiver on the small oak cabinet beside her, she stifled a yawn before uttering a weary ‘yes’ into the mouthpiece.

‘Bliss Maguire?’

All drowsiness was banished in an instant and her violet eyes pinged wide open. If she wasn’t mistaken, that deeply knee-trembling pronunciation of her name belonged to the Italian hunk she’d met yesterday in the hospital. Dante di Andrea. Pushing her fingers shakily through her hair, Bliss concentrated hard on getting her jaw to work in order to reply. ‘This is she.’

‘It is Dante di Andrea speaking…you remember? From yesterday at the hospital?’

Did she remember? She’d replayed their meeting over and over in her head like a videotape stuck on rewind. Especially when she’d rung the hospital only to be told that Tatiana Ward had been discharged to go home and was not being admitted as an in-patient or even transferred to a private hospital.

‘I remember.’ Somehow her voice had acquired a disturbingly husky quality and Bliss coughed a little to clear her throat. ‘Excuse me,’ she quickly apologised. ‘I found out that your sister was sent home. How is she today?’

‘Depressa ed afflitta. I am sorry…depressed and heartsick. I have ordered her to stay in bed for today. She has not been getting a lot of sleep lately under the circumstances. That is why she passed out in the store. Her husband died only six weeks ago and she is finding life very difficult at the moment.’

‘I’m so sorry to hear that.’

‘Can we meet?’

‘I beg your pardon?’ Her heart had started to throb alarmingly and Bliss wondered for a moment if her brain were so addled, she’d simply misheard him.

‘I will be blunt with you, Miss Maguire. My sister needs some help. Matt—her husband—had no living parents and until my mother can get here from Italy again, she will be on her own with Renny and myself. I have taken some time off from my business to be with Tatiana, but I am no expert with children and until she fully recovers, she will need some help taking care of my niece.’

Pushing up the defiant shoestring straps on her silky cotton nightie, Bliss took a few moments to absorb what he was saying, surprise and trepidation vying equally for precedence inside her chest. Where was this leading? Was he asking her to come and help take care of Renata? Did he not realise she already had a job? Of course he did! He knew she worked at the store where his sister had fainted, which was how she had come to be at the hospital in the first place.

‘Mr di Andrea, if you are asking what I think you are asking, I’m afraid it’s impossible. Much as I think the little girl is utterly adorable, I have to work for my living. If your sister needed some help in the evening I might be able to—’

‘If you come and stay with Tatiana and Renny for a while until my mother comes from Italy, I will pay you a more than generous fee for your services and the disruption to your schedule. If your place of work will not grant you time off, then I will endeavour to acquire a better position for you somewhere else. I have lots of contacts in the business world, Miss Maguire. It will not be difficult.’

Bliss didn’t doubt that he had contacts, and that he could get her any job he damn well pleased. One brush with Dante di Andrea’s confident, self-assured persona and you knew straight away that he was a man who could move mountains if he had to. But did she really want to give up her job and her livelihood on the word of a man she had only just met, albeit only briefly? If things didn’t work out she could always temp, she supposed. She was used to using temporary work as a fall-back when things didn’t turn out as she’d hoped. If she was honest, retail really wasn’t her thing anyway, and if push came to shove she had just about enough money in the bank to tide her over for a very short while until she found another position. Her palm felt clammy where it clung too tightly to the phone.

‘You said “stay” with your sister. Could I not just come over in the mornings and stay until the evening, and then go home?’

‘Since her father has been gone, Renny wakes in the night sometimes. Tatiana is not in a fit state to see to the child properly on her own. Therefore it would be best if you packed a few things and came to stay indefinitely.’

‘Mr di Andrea…this may sound obvious, but have you thought about approaching a child-care agency for help?’

‘I do not want a stranger taking care of my niece!’ came back the vexed reply.

Puzzled, Bliss frowned. ‘But I’m a stranger. You only met me yesterday, remember?’

‘I could tell from the moment I saw you with her that you are a person my niece feels drawn to. Because you comforted her yesterday, she will remember you.’

‘But she didn’t seem to remember you, if you don’t mind my saying.’

There was a harsh indrawn breath at the other end of the phone. ‘I have not spent a lot of time with Tatiana since she had the child and therefore, yes…I am a virtual stranger to Renny. I have been busy with my business in Italy. Yesterday was the first time we were together since the funeral a month ago. I had to return almost immediately to Milan, along with my parents. My father is not in good health himself and my mother worries about leaving him on his own. None of us like the fact that Tatiana has basically had to cope with this tragedy by herself and I am working on finding a solution to that, believe me. In the meantime, until my mother can arrange acceptable nursing care for my father and travel to England, Renny and Tatiana need all the help I can provide for them.’

‘So you want to know if I will help?’ Shoving off the mulberry-coloured duvet, Bliss restlessly swung her legs off the edge of the bed and pushed her feet into her sheepskin-lined moccasins, still holding firmly onto the phone.

‘Sì. Will you help us, Miss Maguire…Bliss?’

He really didn’t have to ask again because Bliss had already made up her mind to accept the task. And if they made things difficult for her at the store to take the time off, she would see it as a clear sign that she really wasn’t meant to be there in the first place. God only knew what she was meant to be doing and she hoped that one day soon she would get a clue. In the meantime she would look forward to seeing the adorable Renata again. And if her thoughts leaned longingly towards seeing her handsome uncle again as well, then Bliss made no apology for that.

Tatiana Ward lived in a ground-floor apartment in Chelsea Harbour. When Dante had given her the address, Bliss had sucked in her breath and released a long, low whistle. It was a location that had at least a million-pound price tag just to sniff the air in that hallowed place—never mind live there! Thinking of her own one-bed flat in a notoriously run-down area, Bliss was suddenly struck with trepidation at the idea of accepting this unexpected job of nanny to a little girl whose connections were clearly in a different stratosphere from her own humble origins.

Bliss’s parents had never had much money. Her mother had suffered from serious bouts of depression all her life that had impeded her ability to work, and when Bliss was just sixteen her mother’s depression had finally shockingly driven her to take her own life. With her father already drinking his own life away, Bliss had gone out to work at sixteen to help support the two of them, but one day not long after her eighteenth birthday he had packed his bags and gone. He’d left no forwarding address, just a scrappy little note saying he was sorry for not turning out to be the father Bliss deserved and begging her not to try and find him. She’d long ago decided she had to make some sort of shaky settlement with her devastating past, but situations like the one she now found herself in were apt to test that decision to the hilt where her self-confidence was concerned. Her childhood had been an unmitigated disaster and nearly every memory she had of it hurt.

Now standing outside the front entrance to the apartment in Chelsea Harbour, Bliss determinedly reached down inside herself for some fresh courage, flicked an imaginary speck of dust from the sleeve of her short leather jacket, then, without further ado, pressed the button on the intercom.

’Ciao!’

‘Mr di Andrea? It’s Bliss Maguire.’

‘Wait a minute, will you?’

Even though he’d answered the intercom, she was unprepared for the sight of Dante di Andrea with a serious-faced toddler hoisted on his hip, answering the door with what looked like a very strained smile. Noting some kind of cereal congealing on the front of his beautiful white shirt where the lovely Renata had obviously decided to share her breakfast with her uncle, Bliss seriously struggled to prevent the twitching of her lips into becoming a full-blown grin. She was pretty sure Dante would not appreciate it. But even though he was a little less than immaculate this morning, with his arresting green eyes and darkly brooding male beauty, the man could still engender a small riot of appreciation from the opposite sex just by walking down the street.

‘Hello. Clearly a fan of oatmeal, I see. Shall I take her?’ Adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder, Bliss reached out for Renata. When the child willingly went into her arms, Dante murmured something in Italian that could have been either surprise or relief or both. ‘Come in, Miss Maguire. You have not arrived a moment too soon.’

The apartment was lovely—flooded with natural light, with maple wood floors and some very tasteful antiques that Bliss knew would have to look out once Renata really started getting into her stride. Leading her to a pair of long low leather couches with a glass coffee-table with wrought-iron legs positioned between them, Dante bade his visitor sit down. ‘I will change my shirt, then I will be back.’ With a wary glance at the little girl who was coiling her chubby fingers into Bliss’s shoulder-length dark hair with obvious fascination, he went out of the door again and left them alone.

Bliss occupied herself with amusing the child while she waited for Dante to return, her heart rate a little calmer now that she didn’t have to contend with glancing into those daunting green eyes. Lifting Renata onto her hip, she strolled across the wide expanse of beautiful maple floor to the window, gazing out at the vista of yachts and cruisers bobbing on the water with a soft sigh of appreciation.

‘What a lovely view you have, Renny. Aren’t you a lucky little girl?’ Then immediately remembering that the child’s father was dead, Bliss silently cursed her own tactlessness. But Renata was smiling up at her with those big innocent brown eyes, totally unaware of any dilemma, her chubby cheeks dimpling adorably as Bliss smiled back at her. Unable to resist, Bliss dropped a small butterfly kiss at the side of her pretty rosebud mouth and sighed.

‘It was good of you to come, but where is your suitcase? I understood from our telephone conversation that you were coming to stay.’

He was sporting another immaculate white shirt with his tailored black trousers, his dark hair glistening with blue-black lights as fiercely as a midnight sky with the light of the moon reflected on it. Looking vaguely perplexed, he focused his gaze with concern on Bliss.

‘I thought I’d bring my things over later. I wanted to come and talk to you first about the…about the arrangements.’ Her voiced trailed off because she was suddenly struck by acute self-consciousness in the intimidating presence of Dante di Andrea. Much more so than she had previously anticipated. She’d dressed in well-worn jeans and a fitted black tee shirt beneath her leather jacket—casual clothes she was comfortable in—only all of a sudden she had doubts about what was expected. Was she too casual? In view of the effortlessly stylish and handsome man in front of her, she couldn’t help but feel decidedly underdressed. Scruffy, even.

Dante was silently casting his eyes over Bliss’s considerable slender curves in her tight jeans and tee shirt, musing that she resembled a young Claudia Cardinale with her wide-spaced brows, beautiful eyes and unknowingly sexy smile. For a moment her beauty distracted him. He wouldn’t be true to his blood if he didn’t notice and appreciate a beautiful woman, but it had been a while since he’d experienced the fierce heat of arousal simply by gazing at one. Sensing the smouldering fire of attraction stirring in his loins as he stared at her, he thought how soft and inviting her rich dark hair looked floating loose against her shoulders and how much he would enjoy the privilege of touching it and letting it slide through his fingers.

‘I didn’t know…wasn’t sure what to wear. I’m probably unrecognisable without all that make-up, aren’t I? It’s unfortunate, but they make you put it on with a trowel if you work on the beauty counter. I can’t wait to take it off most days.’

As Bliss’s almost breathless voice petered out Dante forced himself to concentrate his thoughts more appropriately. He couldn’t afford to start lusting after the woman he had reached out to for help with Renata and her mother, no matter how aroused she made him feel. That would not be appropriate at all under the circumstances. He was a businessman, a hotelier with a respected reputation, and he wanted to show this young Englishwoman that she could trust him when he was around her.

‘You look fine.’ He wanted to tell her that beauty like hers would win her many admirers even without the dubious aid of make-up. In the end he curtailed his natural inclination and decided not to make things more awkward by complimenting her. As a result his tone was perhaps more curt than he meant it to be. ‘I am learning that one cannot be concerned about protecting one’s clothes when there is a little one around. The more casual you are, the better.’

‘You’re right.’ Smiling back at him, Bliss couldn’t deny her relief. She wasn’t exactly looking for his approval of her appearance, but it was nice to know that he didn’t think it might mean her level of commitment was as casual as her clothes. ‘Would you like me to clean her up? Wash Renny’s face and hands for her?’

‘I will show you to a bathroom.’ Dante’s smile was brief and all too quickly gone. Once more Bliss detected strain behind the gesture. It reminded her of the reason she was there. ‘How is your sister today?’

‘She is sleeping right now, because she did not have a good night. She was restless with weeping.’ His bronze skin seemed to turn momentarily pale and Bliss experienced an unexpected tug on her heartstrings. ‘The doctor is coming out to her in a little while to give her a check-up. When you have cleaned up the baby we will talk business, sì?’

Sensing he was much more comfortable with discussing something of a less personal nature than his sister’s well-being, Bliss followed him out into the corridor and into an exquisitely marbled bathroom that looked as if it belonged to some Hollywood movie star instead of a young, recently widowed single mum. Gesturing towards some shelves stacked high with perfectly folded, freshly laundered white towels, Dante lingered in the doorway as Bliss ran hot and cold water into a marble basin with Renata happily chattering baby talk into her ear.

‘Everything you need should be here. If there is something you cannot find, just ask.’

He seemed to hesitate as his glance drank his fill of the charming picture of tender domesticity that she and his niece made together, and Bliss felt her cheeks suddenly burn beneath his unsettling scrutiny. ‘What is it?’ she asked, violet eyes wary.

‘You are so natural with the baby. I am thinking that you perhaps grew up with lots of brothers and sisters, sì?’

‘No.’ Smiling as she dipped a face-cloth into the warm water, then squeezed it out, Bliss sat Renata down on the high chrome stool beside the sink and carefully and lovingly started to clean up the little girl’s breakfast-stained face. ‘Just the opposite, in fact. I’m actually an only child. I’ve just always loved children.’

‘But you are not married?’

‘No.’ Briefly glancing up at the frown currently drawing his dark brows together, Bliss shook her head. ‘And neither do I intend to be. Marriage doesn’t interest me much, Mr di Andrea. As far as I’m concerned all marriage does is engender false hope in a happy outcome that very rarely manifests itself.’

Dante’s frown grew even more pronounced. ‘So you would have children out of wedlock?’

Clearly recognising that he disapproved of such a course of action in a big way, Bliss couldn’t help laughing. ‘That’s probably not on the cards either. I shall just be happy being auntie to my friends’ children.’

He murmured something with feeling, in Italian, and Bliss glanced up at him reprovingly as she finished cleaning Renata’s face. ‘You’ll have to remember that I don’t speak Italian. I wish I did, but I don’t.’

‘Forgive me. I just said that it was a terrible waste that a woman with such natural maternal instincts should look forward to a life without a husband and children of her own.’

‘Well, that’s as may be, but I can assure you that nothing would induce me into marriage.’

‘That is a pity.’ His eyes darkened as Dante reflected that it truly was.

‘You are not married yourself, Mr di Andrea?’

‘Dante.’ Her question was so surprising that for a moment he struggled to marshal his thoughts together on the subject. The fact that his mother had been berating him for his single status for so long now came back to remind him what a disappointment he must be to her on that score. Business-wise he was one of the élite of Italian hoteliers, adding to the family fortune year by year with his natural and almost frightening ability to make money—but personally…? While his younger brother Stefano—his right-hand man in the business—had already fathered three children and had been married for almost eight years now, and Tatiana of course had Renata, Dante was still a confirmed bachelor with not a prospect of a bambino in sight. And nor would there be unless the most exceptional woman came along—one whose first interest wasn’t in how much money he had.

‘No, I am not married. I am—how do you say it?—married to my business.’

‘Oh.’

Just, ‘Oh.’ Not, ‘What do you do?’ or, ‘What business are you in?’ Just, ‘Oh.’ Did he hold such little appeal to this surprising woman that her curiosity wasn’t even provoked the smallest bit about what he did for a living?

Her attention already straying to a still-chattering Renata, Bliss drained the water from the basin, rinsed it out with some cold, then lifted the toddler cheerfully onto her hip again. For some reason that he couldn’t quite explain, Dante’s proud male ego felt ridiculously bruised.

‘All done. We can have that talk now, if you like.’

He nodded gravely. ‘Sì. If you come into the kitchen I will make some coffee for us. You have eaten breakfast, I presume?’

‘I had a cereal bar on the way over here. I never eat much in the morning.’

‘That is not good. Eating should not be such a casual affair.’

‘Of course, you would say that. You’re Italian, aren’t you?’ Her prettily shaped mouth curved into a playful smile as Dante scowled and he experienced the full force of her teasing with a wave of heat that frankly stunned him.

‘By that you are implying what—that we eat too much?’

‘No.’ Reining in another teasing smile, Bliss carefully weighed up her words. ‘I just meant that food is a big part of your culture, isn’t it? Food and family and…’ She was just about to add ‘love’ when she saw the corner of Dante’s too-appealing lips quirk upwards into a lazily amused smile. She was dumbstruck; her gaze was helplessly hypnotised by that sensually stimulating little gesture, so much so that a deliciously affecting shiver shuddered down her spine like little sparkles of coloured light shimmering from a firework.

‘La dolce vita. A love of life, sì?’

The way he said it sounded too sinful for words and Bliss couldn’t help musing that he was the epitome of all the things Italian men were renowned for and more. Sexy, stylish, charming, strong, definitely arrogant and jaw-droppingly beautiful…

‘Yes. That’s it.’ Embarrassed at being caught staring, she slid her violet gaze guiltily away. When Dante smiled at her again as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, Bliss wished the floor would open up and swallow her.

‘Come and have some coffee and some food, then we will talk.’

He turned his back on her and left the bathroom, his tall, broad-shouldered frame moving with a lithe grace that beautifully complemented the undoubted strength in every taut and sinewed muscle that rippled beneath his shirt. Bliss could only trail behind in awe.

’So, we have an agreement? You will go back home and collect your things and stay here with Renata and my sister until my mother arrives from Italy.’

‘As long as your sister is in agreement that I stay in her house and help take care of Renny. If she is, then, yes, I agree to stay.’

Dante sighed as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Glancing towards his little niece, who was playing with some crayons and paper on the floor, his green eyes turned visibly soft. ‘It is bad enough she has lost her father, no? And now her mother cannot take care of her.’

‘But this is only temporary,’ Bliss hastened to assure him. ‘Tatiana will recover soon, I’m sure.’

‘Yes, you’re right.’ If he was honest, Dante was very glad to have Bliss to talk to. There was an air of calmness and maturity about her that was very appealing and right now he needed that. He prided himself on his efficiency and aptitude in almost every other arena of his life except personal relations. There was always a discernible distance between himself and his parents and siblings, no matter how hard he tried to let his guard down. It had been that way since he was small—because his mother Isabella was not his natural mother.

Dante had been the result of an affair his father Antonio had had with an Irish girl whom his father had been forbidden by his own parents to marry. She had died of breast cancer shortly after giving birth to their child. Heartbroken, Antonio had broken all allegiance to his parents after Katherine died and looked after his baby son himself with the aid of his sister-in-law Romana, until he had met and married Isabella Minetti when Dante was six years old. A year later, Stefano had been born, followed only eighteen months after that by Tatiana. Isabella had never treated Dante any differently from his brother and sister, yet Dante had always felt somehow cheated because he wasn’t her natural-born son. Particularly so when his aunt Romana had often reminded him that it was his fault that Antonio and his parents were not speaking any more. She had also reminded him, on an almost daily basis, that he was lucky to be even tolerated in the family because of what had happened, and behind his father’s back had sneered at him, ‘Irish brat.’

If Antonio had guessed what had gone on when he was out at work trying to get his business off the ground, Dante had no doubt his father would have taken him from Romana so fast her head would have spun. But Antonio had never known what his sister-in-law was truly like, because Dante had never told him.

When the boy Dante had finally found himself with two loving parents, he had still felt himself an outsider—always the one with something to prove. It had been easiest to concentrate all his energies on the business. But now his sister had suffered this terrible tragedy and there was a real opportunity to demonstrate his allegiance and his love, and do everything in his power to help Tatiana. Perhaps it would help him let down a few of those painfully erected barriers he’d built so diligently round his heart…with his sister, at least.

‘This afternoon if Tatiana feels like talking, I will take you in to see her yourself. Perhaps she will open up a little to another woman? My mother rings her every day, but it is not the same as having her here with her, is it?’

‘No, it isn’t,’ Bliss agreed, her heart full at the troubled expression crossing Dante’s extraordinarily captivating face. Her own relationship with her mother had never been as close as she would have liked it to be, but she could certainly understand Tatiana’s sense of loss at not having her mother nearby under the circumstances. ‘But I will gladly talk to Tatiana if you think that might help. By the way, don’t forget to leave me your telephone number so that I can contact you when you leave.’

Dante’s green eyes glimmered a little as he treated Bliss to the full, unsettling force of his concentrated gaze.

‘That will not be necessary,’ he said curtly.

‘Why not?’

‘Because I am staying here as well. I thought you realised that?’

CHAPTER THREE

IT WAS a possibility that had not even remotely crossed Bliss’s mind. Now her thoughts culminated in a crescendo of panic as heat cascaded through her body like a sudden tropical storm, battering down defences and raising unbidden fears about sleeping under the same roof as this breathtaking, beguiling Italian. She desperately wanted to help Tatiana and her lovely little daughter—of course she did—but that desire was now complicated by the fact that she was starting to harbour what could only be ultimately a futile attraction to Dante himself. It was so unlike her to react like that to a man—any man, no matter how attractive. Now this out-of-the-blue, violent attraction for one who was practically a stranger was enough to make her question her own reason.

Seeing the startled look in her pretty eyes, Dante sensed her mind working overtime. He realised that there were things he hadn’t said. Important things that she should know about him so that she would be reassured that this wasn’t some elaborate game he was playing to take advantage of her in any way. With a gargantuan effort, he dragged his gaze away from the sweetly perfect curve of her hips highlighted by her tight denim jeans as Bliss stood up from the kitchen table with Renata in her arms, holding the little girl close as her head drooped tiredly against her shoulder.

‘It is natural you should be wary, but I need to stay here so that I can keep an eye on Tatiana and the baby. My family would never forgive me if anything should happen to either of them. I couldn’t forgive myself should such a terrible thing occur.’ He too got to his feet, towering above Bliss from the other side of the table so that she had to look up to meet the fiercely protective blaze in those breathtaking eyes of his. ‘I do not know how to handle a small child such as Renny. I am too inexperienced. I am not a family man in the sense that I have a wife and children. That is why I need your help, Bliss. My brother Stefano and I are hoteliers. As well as hotels in Italy, Sardinia and Paris, we have a small select hotel here in London, in Belgravia, where we have a suite in readiness for whenever the family should visit. But I do not want to stay there while my sister is clearly in need of my help. Please tell me you understand my dilemma?’

Bliss let out a breath and her previously tense shoulders dropped a fraction. Dante di Andrea was clearly an extremely wealthy and attractive man with a strong sense of familial duty and love. It was totally absurd to imagine that he would be remotely attracted to an ordinary, unremarkable girl like her and put them both in a compromising position when she was only there out of the goodness of her heart. Anyway, he probably had a string of gorgeous girlfriends back in Italy—each of them no doubt more beautiful than Aphrodite herself. Oh, well, Bliss, you can breathe a sigh of relief. He won’t be lusting after you the minute he sees you in your chain-store dressing gown. The thought made a severe dent in her ego, even though it was absolutely ludicrous to entertain it in the first place.

‘It’s all right, Mr di Andrea.’

He immediately frowned and she quickly realised he wasn’t entirely happy with her formal use of his name. ‘Dante.’ Despite feeling that addressing him informally was a liberty that was far too intimate, Bliss rallied. ‘I’m cool about the situation if you are. As soon as your mother gets here from Italy I’ll go home and that will be that. Right now I’m just glad to be able to help out. The little darling’s asleep. Can I put her down somewhere?’

‘Of course.’ Swiftly moving ahead of her into the living room, Dante cleared some cushions from one of the stylish leather couches and indicated to Bliss that she should lay the sleeping child there. When she had done so, he fetched a soft crushed pink cashmere throw from an armchair and draped it tenderly over the little girl. Watching the look on his face as he did so, Bliss felt her heart swell with warmth. He wasn’t experienced with children, he’d said—yet he gazed at Renata as though the miracle of her existence touched him to the very depths of his soul.

‘I think I’ll take the opportunity to go home now and fetch my things. Can I phone for a cab from here?’

‘That will not be necessary. I have a driver at the hotel who will come and pick you up and take you home. I will ring him now and he will be downstairs in just a few minutes. Please do not be long. If you are too long I may fear that you are not coming back at all.’

The way he said this made Bliss feel as though she had just agreed to a secret tryst with him in the moonlight. His tone held a surprisingly possessive note that made all the fine hairs on the back of her neck sit up straight. How was she supposed to maintain a very necessary emotional distance from this man when such a riot of forceful feeling was flooding through her? She had to get a grip, that was what she had to do, and remind herself that she was here to do a job and that was all. There was no place in her life for futile crushes or romantic attachments of any kind.

Bliss might not be sure exactly what she wanted out of life, but she was certain of one thing—it wasn’t a relationship. Experiencing the tragedy of her parents’ marriage at first hand, seeing two people who’d started out loving each other withdraw into their own private hell, unable to even care for their child because they were so wrapped up in their own misery, Bliss had seen just how bad relationships could get. Who needed the heartache? Her mission right now should be to focus on her career and stop going down old roads that held no prospects and no opportunity of improving her situation.

‘My bag is already packed. All I have to do is pick it up and bring it with me.’ Although her voice was even, her gaze pulled away from Dante’s with more difficulty than he would ever know.

When she returned in the black limousine that had been her ride back to Chelsea Harbour, Dante led Bliss straight into the living room where Renata was seated on a cushion in front of the big wide-screen television, watching children’s programmes. Catching her completely unawares with a guilty but lethally sexy grin, Dante shrugged his magnificent shoulders and dropped his hands to his tight lean hips. ‘We have been watching cartoons together. Such a simple pleasure, but one I have been enjoying immensely. It is a joy to spend time with my niece and have the pleasure of hearing her laugh. It is the best thing that has happened to me in a long time.’

She felt like a ninepin just knocked down by a bowling ball. For several seconds Bliss could do nothing but stare at him. Her jaw went slack, and her rising sense of panic made her seriously wonder if he’d put her into some kind of trance, because she couldn’t have torn her gaze away from the joy in that beautiful face if someone had paid her with gold bars. With his strong, accentuated jaw line, straight, aquiline nose, a mouth that hinted equally at arrogance and strength and now humour, and those intensely disturbing emerald eyes, his sensual power alone packed such a punch that Bliss was amazed she was still standing. Team such a weapon with his clearly passionate kinship to his sister and her little daughter and—well, resistance was useless, wasn’t it?

‘Spending time with children, sharing the kind of things that they enjoy doing…it can remind you of what it was like to be a child.’ Dropping her leather holdall onto the maple wood floor, Bliss smiled up at him, thoroughly disconcerted when his expression seemed to grow more serious and his eyes all but made a meal of her on the spot. That look wasn’t anything to do with memories of being a child. On the contrary, it was a look that was everything to do with a virile adult male at the height of his sexual prowess, and who could blame Bliss for feeling as if she’d mentally been stripped naked by an expert?

‘You brought your things, that’s good. Come, I will show you where you will sleep tonight.’ Dante broke away before Bliss did, his manner suddenly abrupt and businesslike, and she was left staring at his back as he exited the room, her heart pounding. In fact it was pounding so hard that she told herself she was this close to needing medical help. Irritated with herself for behaving so completely out of character around an attractive man, Bliss combed her fingers impatiently through her hair, took a deep breath, picked up her bag and obediently followed him out into the light airy corridor, warning herself to pull herself together as she did so.

‘Chocolate, yummy.’

Back in the living room a few minutes later, Bliss lay on the floor with Renata seated astride her chest, dropping chocolate buttons one by one into her laughing mouth. Dante had disappeared somewhere else in the apartment to make some phone calls, he’d told her, and so for now at least Bliss could relax. She was having fun with her small charge, relieved to be spending her time playing rather than working at a job she’d rapidly been growing to hate, and worrying about what she was going to do next.

When she experienced a sudden tingling of awareness at the back of her neck, she realised that she and Renata were not alone. Quickly pushing up into a sitting position, she clasped the child firmly around her small waist and smilingly declined any more chocolate buttons. Then she gave her small charge a peck on the cheek and rose carefully to her feet, taking the little girl with her. Leaning an arm against the doorjamb, Dante stood in silent contemplation of them both.

‘You might have indicated you were there!’ Bliss said accusingly, unsettled by the fact that he’d been watching her when she hadn’t known it. Seemingly unconcerned by her outburst, Dante parted his lips in a surprisingly unperturbed smile.

‘Bliss, do you not know that to deny an Italian male the opportunity of gazing at such sublime beauty is like starving a deep-sea diver of oxygen?’

Her embarrassed blush the same eye-catching hue as raspberry jam, Bliss took refuge in the sweet baby scent of the toddler in her arms rather than concentrate her attention on her uncle. ‘Yes, the baby is lovely. Of course you’re allowed to gaze at her. When she grows up she’s going to be a real heartbreaker, aren’t you, sugar? I only wished you’d warned me you were there. You took me by surprise, that’s all.’

‘I did not just mean the baby.’

This time Bliss did drag her gaze back to Dante and as his words lit up her insides like the fifth of November she silently warned herself of the folly of being flattered by them. Dante was Italian. Italian men were famous for their flirting—they learned it at their mother’s breast. He was only doing what came naturally and probably acted the same with all women whether they were nineteen or ninety. She most definitely shouldn’t take it personally.

‘Anyway…you look like you wanted to tell me something.’ Anxious to change the subject, she jiggled Renata up and down against her hip, deciding to concentrate purely on the child and only speak with Dante when she absolutely had to. That way he would see that she was completely professional about the job he had hired her to do and would not be seeking to ingratiate herself in any way with him.

‘I thought you might like to come in and say ciao to Tatiana. She is awake and wants to see you and little Renata.’

Relieved more than she could say for such a timely intervention, Bliss nodded immediately. ‘I would like that very much. Thank you.’

Tatiana Ward lay propped up against a pile of crisp white pillows, her shoulder-length dark hair left softly loose around her shoulders. Her face, devoid of make-up, was pale and fine-boned, her riveting sapphire eyes commanding both admiration and attention in their jewel-like intensity. As Bliss followed Dante into the lovely room with its calming décor and riverside views she saw Tatiana pull up the embroidered cream counterpane over her blue silk nightdress and knew that she wasn’t the only one who was nervous about being introduced. Murmuring something in Italian for his sister’s ears alone, Dante leaned across to place a small kiss at the side of her head and Bliss saw Tatiana reach out briefly to squeeze his hand as if to thank him for his support. Then she lifted her gaze to Bliss and held out her arms for her little daughter to come to her.

Bliss immediately passed Renata over, taking the bag of chocolate buttons and laying them on the lacquered Chinese cabinet beside the bed, her heart swelling at the sight of mother and child holding each other close. Then, almost shyly, Renata pulled away to sit up in her mother’s lap, grinning disarmingly up at the new female who had appeared in her life.

‘You are very kind to help me, Bliss. When I saw you behind the beauty counter I thought to myself that you had a kind face. Compassionevole, sì?’ She glanced at the tall, commanding figure of her brother standing beside the bed as if searching for confirmation.

‘Sì.’ Dante disarmed Bliss with a studied little smile. ‘Compassionate.’

‘I was glad to help. Please, think no more of it. How are you feeling today?’

‘Tired. I cannot seem to get my body to do what I want it to do. You must think that I am not a very good mother, Bliss, when I cannot even care for my little one.’

Her brilliant blue eyes clouded over with despair and tears quivered on her curling dark lashes like crystalline pearls. Not giving her actions a second thought, Bliss dropped down on the side of the bed beside Tatiana and gently stroked her arm. ‘You are grieving, Tatiana. You have every right to feel tired and depleted and that certainly doesn’t make you a bad mother! All you need is some tender loving care and some time to heal. I will stay and help as long as you need me—that’s a promise.’

‘Grazie. I am very lucky to have found you. It is clear my daughter is quite at home with you. It does my heart good to know that.’

At that moment, Dante was privately echoing his sister’s feelings on the matter. When he saw Bliss reach out to comfort his sister, as if giving solace to others was a natural and integral part of her make-up, he couldn’t stem the tide of pleasure and need that pulsed through him at the sight of her small, perfect hand against Tatiana’s arm. So much so, he almost wished it were him she was administering to. What was it about this pretty English girl with her mercurial violet eyes that tugged on his affections and desire more than any woman he’d known in ages? He’d barely been acquainted with her for five minutes and yet he was craving her attention like a lovesick teenager pining after the prettiest girl in the classroom. With a colossal effort he banished such thoughts as well as he could, knowing his first priority was to his sister and her little daughter. As soon as his mother arrived from Milan, Dante would go back to his work and put every thought of the arresting Bliss Maguire far from his mind.

But as Bliss returned to the living room later on that evening after bathing Renata and putting her to bed Dante’s hungry gaze followed her slim, denim-clad figure with unapologetic thirst, a quiet but explosive tension criss-crossing his taut midsection and making his body too unsettled to sit. Her feet were tantalisingly bare and the sweet tip-tilted curves of her breasts beneath her tight black tee shirt were all too evident to his appreciative male gaze. As she moved fluidly across to one of the couches, picked up a satin cushion and sat down with it clutched to her chest Dante was perturbed at how forcibly desire banished every single thought in his head except his very primeval need to make love to her.

‘Your niece is fast asleep. Poor little thing just couldn’t stay awake. Don’t worry if she wakes in the night—I’ll easily hear her from the room next door.’

For a long moment words were a commodity that Dante could no longer count on. Her eyes were so ravishing and her voice so soft that he was caught up in the spell of her. Pushing out of his chair, he stood by the armchair he had just vacated, the tension in him totally annihilating the possibility of keeping still right then. Mamma mia! What was this woman doing to him? He had hired her to help with Renny—not become an object of his suddenly unquenchable lust!

‘Dante?’

‘I hope she will not wake and that you will get a good night’s rest. I have become only too aware that looking after children is very tiring. In a good way, of course, but still tiring.’

His concern warmed Bliss more than it had a right to. ‘It must also take a lot out of you, doing what you do.’ Her interest in this man overriding her vow to keep as professionally distant as possible, she hugged the cream satin cushion to her breast and waited for him to answer.

‘Being a hotelier is not hard.’ Shrugging one wide muscular shoulder beneath his white shirt, Dante didn’t seem to consider it to be that big a deal. But running, not just one, but several international hotels must require a lot of business acumen as well as flair and dedication, Bliss imagined. Either he was being overly modest, or he simply had so much talent and ability that he didn’t view problems in that arena as other people might. Observing the coolly self-possessed and confident demeanour he presented, Bliss had no doubt it was the latter.

‘My father bought the lease on a hotel when I was only small. He worked hard to make it a success and eventually was able to buy it outright. By the time my brother Stefano and I were grown, he owned several other hotels as well. It was really not so difficult to join the business and help increase its success.’ What Dante didn’t reveal to the interested young woman seated on his sister’s couch was that when he had first stepped in to join his father, Antonio had already lost two of his hotels in investments that hadn’t come off and had been close to losing another. After studying accountancy and business management on a part-time basis in the evenings as well as learning the business firsthand from his father, Dante had acquired a distinct flair for doing exactly what was required to turn things around. In less than two years after he had officially started working with his father, they had not only regained the two hotels they had lost, but acquired another two as well. By the time Stefano had come along to swell the ranks, the di Andrea hotels had gone from strength to strength, earning an international reputation for first-class service and what Antonio proudly called ‘old-fashioned style and comfort’. The customers were always right and nothing they required was too difficult or impossible to get. With such a motto, as far as Dante was concerned, they could not lose.

‘And do you enjoy your work?’ Bliss wanted to know.

‘I am passionate about it.’ One corner of Dante’s intriguing mouth lifted ever so slightly at the edges as if he was amused she even had to ask such a question.

Bliss couldn’t help but sigh enviously. ‘I wish I could find a job or career I was passionate about.’

‘You do not like working behind the beauty counter?’

‘Are you joking?’ She made a face and moved the satin cushion to one side. ‘Sometimes I think I’d rather dig roads! At least I’d be out in the open in the fresh air instead of almost choking to death beneath the fumes of perfume.’

Dante couldn’t imagine a more preposterous scenario if he tried, and nor could he understand the suddenly overwhelming urge to protect this woman from such circumstances that she would be willing to consider such an outrageous option—even if she was only joking. Those small, perfect hands of hers were not made for hard manual labour. No, he could think of much better uses to put those hands to, and none of them involved digging up concrete.

‘You did not go to college or university?’ he asked her, at a loss to know why she was doing a job she clearly disliked so much. A defensive look darkened her eyes and she crossed her arms in front of her chest as if subconsciously seeking protection from unhappy memories.

‘No, I didn’t. My family’s circumstances weren’t conducive to me going. I went out to work to support myself when I was sixteen.’

‘You did not live at home?’

‘Yes, I lived at home.’ Swallowing down the almost intolerable ache inside her throat, Bliss made a snap decision to throw caution to the wind and tell this man the truth. It was a first for her. Hardly anyone knew the real circumstances of her family life, not even her best friend, Trudy. ‘When I was sixteen, my mother took her own life. My father already had a drink problem and it simply got worse. I had to look after him as well as myself…then two years after Mum died he just walked out. All he left was a note telling me not to look for him. I haven’t seen him in over seven years.’

Dante fell thoughtfully silent for a moment before speaking. ‘That must have been…very difficult.’

Glancing up at him, her violet eyes flashing like little shards of coloured ice, Bliss shook her head.

‘No. It was horrible and it was hell but it wasn’t “difficult”. Difficult means troublesome or perplexing and losing both my parents in the space of two years far exceeded that. Anyway…I don’t know why I told you all that. I’m not generally known for spilling my guts to a complete stranger.’

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