The Italian’s Rightful Bride by Lucy Gordon Page B

gym in the city, said it was time to take proper care of her figure. Her instructor wascalled Leo. I only saw him once, all greasy hair and gigolo smile.
    â€˜Suddenly she was pregnant. I even thought that perhaps we might have some hope after all, especially when it was a boy. But then I heard her talking on the phone to Leo, and it all became clear. I confronted her. She called me every name she could think of, packed her bags and left for good, with the baby, but without Renata.’
    â€˜Suppose she’d wanted Renata?’ Joanna asked. ‘Would you have let her go?’
    â€˜Yes. I’d expect to have her back for long visits; after all, she’s my child too. But I’d let Renata do whatever would make her happy.’
    He leaned back and ran his hand through his hair, leaving it slightly ruffled. Joanna regarded him tenderly, and reached for the phone to call Room Service. In a few moments a waiter had arrived to remove the remains of the meal. When the door had closed behind him Gustavo moved to the large, comfortable sofa and sat down in a way that was almost a collapse.
    Joanna came over to an armchair near him, and poured him a large whisky.
    â€˜Are you trying to get me drunk?’ he asked with a grin.
    â€˜Possibly. I think it might do you good to let your hair down for once. I won’t tell on you.’
    He took the tumbler and drained it. It pleased her to see him more relaxed, although whether it was the whisky or the relief of confiding in her, she couldn’t tell. But she found that she didn’t care. It was sweet to reach out to him and feel that she’d brought him some relief, even perhaps a little contentment.
    She found that he was smiling at her, a strange smile that seemed to be sizing her up.
    â€˜Of course,’ he said lightly, ‘I blame you for everything.’
    â€˜Me? How?’
    â€˜Because it was entirely your fault that I married Crystal.’

CHAPTER SEVEN
    â€˜Y OU were crazy for her,’ Joanna reminded him.
    â€˜But I was engaged to you. If you’d held me to that we’d have married and lived happily ever after. Instead, you released me with quite indecent haste, abandoning me to my fate.’
    â€˜Oh, really?’ she said, catching his ironic mood. ‘So I should have been your nanny, should I?’
    He sighed. ‘Some men need nannies to stop them making fools of themselves. The melancholy truth is that I may be one of them.’
    They laughed together.
    â€˜If I had held you to the engagement, would you really have married me?’ she asked. ‘You’d have let me coerce you?’
    â€˜You wouldn’t have coerced me,’ he said quietly. ‘But you might have reminded me where my honour lay.’
    â€˜Love or honour,’ she mused. ‘It’s an unequal contest. Anyway, where does honour lie?’
    â€˜That’s the last question I expected you to ask.’
    â€˜You abandoned my large fortune for her small one because you really wanted to marry for love,’ she pointed out. ‘I call that honourable. I admired you for it. Truth to tell, I admired you for marrying Crystal more than for proposing to me. And if you’d let me force you into marriage, I’d have lost all respect for you.’
    He was silent. What she was saying amazed him.
    â€˜But actually,’ she went on, ‘I don’t think I could have held you to our engagement, whatever you think. I thinkyou’d have followed your heart anyway. At least, I hope you would.’
    He stared at her. ‘Do you mean that?’
    â€˜Of course I mean it. You put your love first, as a man should. It’s not as though we were actually married. If we had been, and had children, that would have been different. You’d have had a duty to them. But you had none to me.’
    He made a helpless gesture.
    â€˜I don’t know how to answer that.’ He thought for a moment. ‘I never