her own head around things, and certainly she did not want to tell him over the phone. ‘I’m fine.’ And it wasn’t a lie; she felt better about things today than she had since she’d found out, and did not want to disturb that fragile ground.
‘That’s good,’ Dante said, except when the call had ended he was left unsure about whether he believed her.
Dante told himself he had no reason to be concerned. Mia had surely taken the emergency contraception.
Yet, despite her assurance, he had heard her brief hesitation prior to answering him and Dante had been left with that feeling he knew only too well: that he was being lied to.
No!
For once Dante tried to quash his eternally suspicious nature and believe the words that had been said. After all, Mia had not contested the will. In fact, she had left Luctano when she could have stayed on for three months. There had been no interviews given to the press, no demands made. If there were consequences to that night, he was more than certain either he or his legal team would have been informed by now.
Perhaps it was time to start trusting her?
And, if he did, then why couldn’t they be together one more time? Discreetly, of course.
Yes, Dante wanted Mia to come to the ball.
They were a fire that needed to be put out for, by ignoring the sparks, a real burn had started to take hold.
CHAPTER SEVEN
OF COURSE MIA had no idea that she was about to get the full Dante Romano treatment.
Even as the plane landed at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, Mia did not know if she was right to be here. She had been so unsure, right up to the last minute, whether she would attend the ball that she’d decided against calling Sarah to arrange tickets and had taken the precaution of booking her own. She arrived in Rome somewhat frazzled after her budget flight, and nervous about facing Dante and, despite her brave words, facing the rest of his family too.
Certainly, she was not sure if she was ready tell Dante about the baby. And though she had been spared morning sickness, on arrival in Rome Mia felt drained and nauseous, both from flying and from nerves. She wore a lavender shift dress that she hadn’t worn in ages, but it was both loose and smart enough, teamed with her stilettos, for her arrival at the hotel. She added a slick of lipstick before heading out to the waiting taxis, her decision made.
If Dante was back to treating her with that slight disdain and certain contempt then, no, she would not be sharing her news. That was the best way she could both describe and justify it to herself—right now, while she wasn’t visibly pregnant, it was her secret to keep and to reveal when she so chose.
Despite her nerves as she took a taxi to La Fiordelise, the hotel where the function was being held, she could not help but smile. Mia hadn’t been in Rome for a very long time. With Rafael’s deteriorating health, they had mainly been tucked away in Luctano. Rome in spring was amazing indeed, and less crowded than when she’d been there a couple of summers ago. The sight of wisteria cascading like a lilac waterfall down the walls of ancient ruins was beautiful indeed and had her craning her neck in the back of the taxi that took her to her hotel.
Mia would have loved to explore, but there simply wasn’t time. She had left it too late to get a hair appointment—it would seem that all were booked out on this day—and her make-up she would do herself. There was also an appointment to be had with a razor!
The taxi pulled up outside a most gorgeous white marble building, which was to be her home for the night.
‘Signora Romano!’ The doorman greeted her as he opened the taxi door and Mia was startled that he knew her name, but then surmised that the staff would have been heavily briefed on the guests for the ball, and she was, after all, Rafael’s widow.
Once inside the hotel she saw the opulent surroundings, with deep red carpets and vast marble columns. She swallowed nervously as a worrying thought occurred.
Her gown was red.
Oh, God!
She was attending as Rafael’s widow and her gown was red!
But there wasn’t time to dwell on it.
Instead of checking in, as Mia had expected to do, she was personally greeted by the exceptionally good-looking Gian