The Arranged Marriage by Emma Darcy Page A

”
    He frowned. “Did she say anything?”
    “Do you expect a young lady of any dignity to blurt out that my grandson had seduced her?”
    “There was no seduction,” he curtly protested.
    “That he used her on the rebound from breaking up with another woman?”
    “No!” His fist crashed down on the table as he pushed up from his chair. “Just stay out of this, Nonna! I’ll fix it!”
    “See that you do, Alessandro,” she fiercely retorted. “I do not like to feel ashamed of my grandson.”
    Ashamed?
    It stung him more than anything else she could have said, stung him into a more sober re-appraisal of his conduct, stung him out of the anger that had surged at her accusatory assumptions. His grandmother was trying to see through Gina’s eyes, read her reasons for leaving as she had. The reasons weren’t right. But it was clear his grandmother’s sympathy was very much on Gina Terlizzi’s side.
    He stood still, understanding the attack on his character, though to his mind it wasn’t warranted. “You like her,” he said quietly.
    “Yes, I do. She has solid worth. It pains me that she should be hurt through any association with my family.”
    He nodded. Solid worth. His grandmother had never really taken to Michelle. He’d excused it on the grounds that she was old, old-fashioned, not in tune with today’s world and Michelle was very much the modern woman. As it had turned out, perhaps he was old-fashioned, too. Certainly solid worth now had more appeal to him than superficial glamour.
    “It wasn’t seduction, Nonna. Nor was it a rebound reaction on my part. It was mutual attraction. Which I intend to pursue,” he declared, wanting the murky air between them cleared.
    His grandmother closed her eyes and breathed a deep sigh of relief. “You’ll find Gina Terlizzi’s telephone number and address in my office diary.”
    “Thank you. If you’ll excuse me?”
    She nodded. “Please take care, Alessandro.” Her lids lifted, her eyes delivering an eloquent look of warning. “No one can sing like that without a feeling heart.”
    “Do you think I don’t know it?” he answered with considerable irony. “My judgement may have been astray with Michelle but I’m learning, Nonna. I’m learning.”
    He left the breakfast room, intent on learning more.
     

CHAPTER TEN
    Gina stood at the kitchen sink, idly washing the breakfast dishes as she watched Marco through the window. He was wheeling his little trolley around, pausing at chosen places to set a plastic block on the lawn, creating a pattern that satisfied his eye for whatever game he had in mind.
    It was a good backyard for him to play in, securely fenced, with a small vegetable garden adding the interest of watching things grow and picking them when they were ready to be picked—tomatoes, capsicum, cucumbers. Gina grew the flowers she loved in the front garden, ensuring they wouldn’t be damaged by bouncing balls.
    The house itself was an old wooden Queenslander, built high to catch breezes, verandas providing shade from the hot sun. It was nothing grand or flash—certainly no castle—but it was a home, a home of their own which both Angelo’s parents and hers had helped them buy to start off their marriage. Except she no longer had a husband and Marco didn’t have a father.
    Was it a wild fantasy that Alex King might fill those roles?
    Last night...caring for Marco...loving her...
    She heaved a sigh loaded with all the inner miseries that had been building up over his connection to Michelle Banks. Maybe Alex and his fiancée had been at odds with each other at the wedding, ending with a big argument, passions erupting. People could go off the rails at such times, but given a day or two to cool down...
    The telephone rang.
    Gina lifted her hands out of the soapy water and hurriedly dried them on a tea-towel as she moved to pick up the receiver. It was probably her mother calling, wanting to know how the gig had gone at the castle— such an