Public Marriage, Private Secrets - By Helen Bianchin Page 0,22

day into the first week of her two-week sojourn that Teresa announced the imminent arrival of some family members.

‘They’re staying with my aunt Rosita in her Palma apartment for a few days, and I’ve invited them to lunch today.’

Family numbered five, comprising Teresa’s sister, Emilia, and her husband, Jorge, their adult children, Pablo and Cristina, and elderly Aunt Rosita. Together with Teresa and Gianna it added up to seven…eight, Gianna corrected as Raúl joined them.

Except his presence didn’t make for relaxed enjoyment, and she could tell he knew from the faint amusement evident in his dark eyes.

Ignoring him wasn’t possible, and she didn’t even try.

‘Teresa tells me you own a successful boutique,’ Emilia began politely.

‘Yes,’ Gianna acknowledged with a smile. ‘I stock speciality gifts. Venetian glassware, crystal, decorative bowls in various shapes and colours. Beautifully scented triple-milled soaps, exotic handmade candles…’

‘Situated in a tourist holiday town, I believe?’

‘It’s true the Gold Coast is a holiday destination,’ she acknowledged. ‘However, it’s a bustling cosmopolitan city, with a large population, multi-million-dollar homes with river and ocean frontages, beautiful beaches, shopping complexes, theme parks.’

‘The climate is good?’ Pablo queried. He was close to Gianna in age.

‘Sub-tropical,’ she relayed. ‘Long summers and short mild winters.’

‘You have family there?’

‘My brother, Ben, and his family live in Sydney.’

‘And your parents also?’ Raúl’s aunt questioned.

‘Gianna’s mother died several years ago,’ Raúl informed her. ‘Her father remarried and resides in Paris.’

‘I see.’

No, she didn’t. Who could comprehend the loss of a dearly loved mother, then too soon afterwards witnessing a father remarry and move to the other side of the world? It had felt like abandonment at the time…although with hindsight that wasn’t strictly true. Their father had gifted Ben and Gianna the family home in equal shares. Ben, had already been a lawyer with excellent prospects, while she’d had steady part-time work while she studied business management.

Together they’d shared the home for three years, until Ben had married Eloise and bought out Gianna’s half-share, whereupon she had purchased a flat and taken in a friend to help share expenses.

The same friend who had suggested Madrid as a holiday destination…except holiday had extended into a longer stay when Gianna had been offered a temporary position by one of Ben’s associates based in Madrid.

It was where she had met Raúl, at an event she’d attended at the request of her employer. Glitz and glamour, Gianna recalled of the night in question, where, as corny as it sounded, she’d met Raúl’s faintly hooded gaze across the crowded room and become momentarily transfixed by him, aware even then that tangling with him in any way would consign her way out of her depth, floundering in previously unchartered waters.

He’d played it cool, engaging her attention, then dazzling her with practised charm. Putting in the groundwork, she attributed wryly. On one level the sexual chemistry had intrigued her, and she had been tempted to explore it. Yet there had also been the intrinsic knowledge that if she did she’d become totally lost in the fallout.

Except her fears had been unfounded, and following a whirlwind courtship she’d agreed to move in with him.

A leap of faith, Gianna concluded, that had begun so well…

‘Pablo has tickets for the opera at the Teatro Principal tonight,’ Cristina ventured. ‘Would you like to join us?’

‘Oh, please do,’ Teresa encouraged quickly. ‘Raúl?’

He met Gianna’s faintly desperate glance, divined it, and challenged her. ‘Thank you. We’ll meet you there.’

Wretch, she silently cursed him.

Teresa clapped her hands together in delight. ‘It will be lovely for you to have an evening out together.’

You think?

Yet how could she deny an arrangement that appeared to give Teresa such pleasure?

‘We have reservations to dine first,’ Cristina added, and named a restaurant.

Oh, joy.

Teresa’s family had to know of their estrangement. Surely an absence of three years conveyed they were living apart? On opposite sides of the world, for heaven’s sake.

So why this evening’s invitation? A covert attempt to bring them together?

Some chance.

Words which seemed to echo in her head as she put the final touches to her make-up, added jewellery and slid her feet into stilettos.

Formal wear meant she chose a sophisticated halter-neck gown in deep aqua silk, which flowed over her slender curves and highlighted her flawless skin. A matching silk wrap completed the outfit, and she silently thanked her instinct to pack it. She left her hair loose, collected her evening purse, crossed the suite to open the door and saw Raúl in the process of exiting his suite.

A dark evening suit shaped his