Love Islands: Swept Away

The need to get her and Lucca away from here, as quickly as possible, smashed through the civilised barrier he’d placed on himself so far. ‘A Michelin-star chef will be here at nine to take over the day-to-day running of the restaurant. Once Lucca is awake, I have a team of movers waiting outside to pack your things. You can keep the apartment or I can arrange for it to be sold, that’s your choice. We’ll stop over in London, where we will be married at four this afternoon. After that we’ll fly straight from London to my island in Hawaii.’

She’d stilled as he spoke, her eyes growing wider with each plan he laid out. ‘But...we can’t get married that quickly,’ she blurted. ‘We need a special licence and that takes—’

‘It’s taken care of.’

She shook her head. ‘This is going too fast, Romeo.’

He folded his arms. ‘The sooner this layer of protection is in place, the sooner I can concentrate on dealing with Lorenzo.’

Apprehension crept into her eyes and he cursed under his breath.

She abandoned her coffee and folded her arms. Romeo willed his gaze to remain above her neckline, not to watch the tail of hair trail across her breasts with each breath she took. ‘Do we at least have time to discuss what sort of marriage we’re going to have?’

He tensed. ‘Excuse me?’

‘Well, this isn’t going to be a traditional marriage, is it? As you said, we’re only doing this to ensure Lucca’s safety, so I presume the physical side of things won’t be part of the marriage.’

Despite having told himself precisely the same thing after his control slipped last night, something moved through his belly that felt very much like rejection. He gritted his teeth.

‘If that is what you wish, then it will be so.’

Her lashes swept down. ‘Yes, that’s what I want. I think you’ll agree, sex tends to cause unnecessary confusion.’ A flush crept up her neck and Romeo was struck by how innocent she looked.

‘Sì, Lucca is the most important thing in all this.’ Why did the words feel so hard to get out?

She gave a brisk nod. ‘I’ll go and get changed. He’ll be waking up any minute now.’ She started to walk towards the door, then stopped and turned with a grace that hinted at balletic training.

Romeo frowned. He knew next to nothing about the mother of his child. All he had were the basic facts produced by his private investigators. He’d been so focused on his son that he’d only requested information from Maisie’s pregnancy to date.

He hadn’t really paid attention to their random conversations five years ago. He’d gone seeking oblivion of the carnal nature and had fallen head first into a maelstrom of emotions he still had a hard time reliving. He’d tried afterwards to explain it away as his grief talking, but that hadn’t quite rung true.

The idea that he’d been burying a lonely yearning that had chosen his mother’s death to emerge had shaken him to the core.

It wasn’t a place he wanted to visit ever again.

He mentally shrugged. He didn’t need to know any more about Maisie, other than that she would continue to remain devoted and invested in keeping their son safe.

‘I’d like to keep Bronagh as assistant manager. She’s been a huge support and I don’t want this new manager tossing her out after I’m gone, okay?’

‘If that’s what you need to put your mind at rest, then it will be done.’

She opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say more, but nodded and left.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out before it started to ring. Anger throbbed to life when he saw the familiar area code. Strolling out of the kitchen, he answered it.

‘You may be used to not taking no for an answer, but if you want to have any dealings with me, you’ll listen when I say I’ll be in touch when I’m good and ready.’

‘You have the benefit of youth on your side, Brunetti, but I’m reduced to counting the minutes.’

‘Perhaps you should remember that before you test me any further,’ he grated out.

Lorenzo gave a barking laugh. ‘You think I don’t know what you’re up to? You may secure your figlio a layer of protection, but your legacy will still need to be claimed.’

Romeo’s rage built. ‘My legacy doesn’t involve indulging a handful of geriatric old men, desperate to hang on to the old ways. I’m better at this game than you give me credit for. Being forced to live in the gutter has a way of bringing out a man’s survival instincts.’

For the first time, Lorenzo seemed to falter. ‘Brunetti...’

‘Do not call me again. I’ll be in touch when I’m ready.’ He hung up and turned at the sound of his son’s laughter.

The sound moved through him, and he froze in place for a second.

Gianlucca was his legacy. One he intended to guard with his life, if necessary.

He swallowed and got himself under control just as his son burst excitedly into the living room.

‘Mummy says we’re going on a plane today!’

‘Yes, you’re coming to live with me for a little while.’

‘Do you have a big house?’

The corner of Romeo’s mouth lifted. ‘It’s big enough for my needs, yes.’

Lucca’s head tilted pensively. ‘Does it have a duck pond?’

‘Not yet,’ he replied, then gave in to the compulsion to offer more; to make a little boy happy. ‘But I will build one for you.’

His eyes rounded. ‘My very own duck pond?’ he whispered in awe.

A peculiar stone lodged in Romeo’s throat, making it difficult to swallow. ‘Sì...yes. Your very own.’

A giant smile broke over his son’s face. ‘Wow! Can I also have a bouncy castle?’

Romeo opened his mouth, but Maisie shook her head. ‘We’ll discuss it later.’

Lucca continued to beam. ‘It’s going to be the best adventure ever!’

Unable to speak on account of all the tectonic plates of his reality shifting inside him, Romeo could only nod.

CHAPTER SIX

MAISIE FOUND OUT just how much of an adventure when she was ushered into an exclusive Mayfair boutique five hours later with a team of stylists. As per Romeo’s imperious request, the shop had been shut so the attendants could focus solely on her. He sat in the large reception room, flipping through a document while keeping an eye on Lucca, who was getting his own special outfit for the wedding.

Wedding...

She was getting married. To the father of her child. The man she’d thought she’d never set eyes on again after waking up alone in a hotel room in Palermo. The dizzying turn of events threatened to flatten her. But as she’d taken to reminding herself in case any fanciful thoughts took over, all this was happening for the sake of her son.

This was a wedding in name only; it would be a marriage in name only. And once this whole business with Romeo’s dark past was over with, she would resume her life.

All the same, she couldn’t stop a bewildering shiver as the wedding dress she’d chosen was slipped over her head.

Made entirely of cream silk, the calf-length dress had the scoop-neck design both in the front and back, and lace sleeves covering her to the elbow. The material hugged her from bodice to thigh, with a slit at the back for ease of movement. It was simple, elegant and businesslike enough to not portray any of those fanciful thoughts that fleeted through her mind every time she so much as dropped her guard. Dress on, she slipped her feet into matching cream heels and moved to where a hair and make-up expert had been set up.

Maisie had lost the ability to keep up with how fast Romeo had moved once things were set in motion. There’d been no time to get sentimental once she’d summoned the staff, especially with Romeo’s overwhelming presence at her side reassuring them that nothing would change in the running of the restaurant.

Her staff knew and respected Bronagh. It was that alone that had made temporarily stepping away from the place she’d poured her heart and muscle into bearable.

And then Romeo had floored her by inviting Bronagh to London to act as witness at their wedding.

The surprises had kept coming, with her first, brief trip in a private jet, hammering home to her just how powerful and influential the man she would be marrying shortly really was.

‘There, I think you’re set.’

Maisie refocused and examined the chic pinned-up hairstyle and subtle, immaculate make-up, and forced a smile. As much as she’d told herself this marriage wasn’t real, she couldn’t halt the horde of butterflies beating frantically in her belly. ‘Thank you.’

‘And I hope you don’t mind, but we sent out for a bouquet. It seems a little wrong that a bride should get married without one, you know?’ The owner of the boutique, an elegant, fortyish woman, said. ‘Especially when you’re marrying Romeo Brunetti.’ The clear envy in her eyes and the awe in her voice echoed through Maisie.

She was saved from answering when the door opened and Bronagh entered holding a stunning cream-and-lilac rose arrangement bound with crystal-studded ribbon. ‘I’d say this bouquet is the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen, but I think you take the prize for that, Maisie,’ she said, her soft brown eyes widening as Maisie rose and she looked her over. ‘You’re going to knock that man of yours dead.’ There was a faintly querying note in her voice, but the reason Maisie had become fast friends with Bronagh Davis was because she’d offered friendship without prying just when Maisie had needed that. And although the other woman had probably guessed that Romeo was Lucca’s father—the similarities between them seemed to grow with each passing second—she hadn’t questioned Maisie.

‘You win all the points for flattery,’ Maisie replied, surreptitiously rubbing her palms together to keep them from getting any more damp.

Bronagh smiled and handed over the bouquet. ‘You can award me the points later. Your men are getting impatient, and from the way the older one is pacing, I wouldn’t be surprised if he storms in here and claims you.’

The butterflies’ wings flapped harder. Maisie swallowed down her absurd nervousness and any lingering sadness that indicated she wished this were real, that she were marrying a man she’d taken the time to meet, fall in love and ultimately join her life with.

That was a pipe dream she’d long ago abandoned, even before she’d been faced with an unplanned pregnancy and the sheer dedication she’d needed to take care of her child. She’d been exposed too many times to the ruthless indifference inherent in loveless relationships to believe that she would be the exception to the rule. The love she’d felt for Lucca the moment he was born had been a miraculous gift she intended to guard with everything she held dear. So she’d driven her energy into providing a home for her child, despite her parents’ icy disapproval.

Maisie reminded herself that this situation wasn’t in her control, that even in this she was putting Lucca’s needs first.

Her needs didn’t matter.

That particular thought took a steep dive when she emerged from the changing room and was confronted with Romeo Brunetti in a three-piece suit. Immaculate, imposingly masculine and utterly breathtaking, he was impossible to ignore. From the top of his neatly combed, wavy black hair, to the polished toes of his handmade shoes, he reeked irrefutable power and enough sexual magnetism to make kings quake and women swoon in his presence. And that look in his eyes...that brooding, almost formidable intensity that had made her tingle from head to toe the first time she’d seen him...

Yes. Maisie was reminded then how very needful she could be. And how some needs were impossible to suppress even with an iron will. She stared. Tried to pull her gaze away. Failed. And stared some more. At the back of her mind, a tiny voice said it was okay to stare because he was doing the same to her.

The look in his eyes was riveting, as if he were seeing her for the first time. A part of her thrilled at that look, the way it made her feel sexy and desirable...until she reminded herself that nothing would come of it. Nothing could.

Her attention was mercifully pulled away when Lucca rushed towards her. ‘You look beautiful, Mummy!’

Her smile wobbled when she saw his own attire—a miniature one of his father’s, right down to the buttoned-up waistcoat. ‘So do you, my precious.’

Romeo seemed to unfreeze then from his stance. ‘Come, the car’s waiting.’

Everyone snapped to attention. Two guards appeared at the shop door and nodded. They exited and slid into the back of the limo and were driving the short distance to the register office at Marylebone when he reached into his jacket, pulled out a long, velvet box and handed it to her.

‘What’s this?’ she blurted.

One corner of his mouth lifted. ‘I thought your absence of jewellery should be addressed.’

Her hand went to her bare throat. ‘I...I didn’t think it was necessary.’ Which, in hindsight, sounded a little foolish. She was marrying one of the world’s richest men. Whether the marriage was real or not, she was about to be thrust into the limelight the proportions of which she was too afraid to imagine. The women Romeo had dated before were all raving beauties compared to her.

A flush rose in her face when his eyebrow quirked. ‘You may not, but we don’t wish to attract unnecessary gossip,’ he murmured, his voice deep but low enough to keep Bronagh and Lucca, who sat on the far side of the limo, from overhearing. ‘Open it.’

Fingers shaking, she prised the box open and gasped. The three-layered collar necklace contained over two dozen diamonds in different cuts and sizes, the largest, teardrop gem placed in the middle. The stunning jewels, along with a pair of equally breathtaking earrings, sparkled in her trembling hand. Maisie realised her mouth was still open when Romeo plucked the necklace off its velvet bed and held it out.

‘Turn around.’

Still stunned, she complied and suppressed a tremble when his warm fingers brushed her nape. She turned towards him to thank him and froze when he leaned forward to adjust the necklace so the large stone was resting just above her cleavage. The touch of those fingers...there...sent her blood pounding through her veins. She looked up and met dark hazel eyes. The knowing and hungry look reflecting back at her stopped whatever breath she’d been about to take. They stared at each other, that intense connection that seemed to fuse them together whenever they were close sizzling between them.

‘Wow, that’s stunning.’

Maisie jerked guiltily at Bronagh’s awed compliment. Another blush crept into her face when she realised she’d momentarily forgotten that her friend and son were in the car. To cover up her embarrassment, she hastily reached for the earrings and clipped them on. Then exhaled in a rush when Romeo produced another ominous-sized box.

‘Romeo...’

His eyes flashed a warning and she swallowed her objection. This time he opened it. The large diamond-and-ruby engagement ring defied description. And probably defied any attempt to place a value on it. Silently, Maisie held out her left hand, absurdly bemused to take in the fact that between one heartbeat and the next she’d been draped in jewels that cost more than she would earn in a lifetime.

She smiled through further gasps from Bronagh and just willed herself to breathe. She might not have fully absorbed what she was letting herself in for publicly by agreeing to marry Romeo Brunetti the billionaire, instead of Romeo Brunetti, father of her child, but she’d faced tougher challenges and triumphed. She could do this.

* * *

The marriage ceremony itself was shockingly brief.

Whatever strings Romeo had pulled to secure a special licence had pressed home his importance. They were ushered into an oak-panelled room that reeked history and brevity. The registrar read out their commitments in a deep but hushed voice and announced that they were man and wife within twenty minutes of their arrival.

Romeo’s kiss on her lips was swift and chaste, his hands dropping from her shoulders almost immediately. She told herself the wrench in her stomach was nerves as she followed him to the desk where their signatures formalised their union.

As she signed her name, Maisie reaffirmed that she was taking the necessary steps to keep her son safe. It was what kept her going through the lavish Mayfair meal with Bronagh, after which Bronagh was driven to the airport to catch a flight back to Dublin, and they were driven straight to a private airport south of London.

Unable to stand the thick silence in the car now that Lucca had fallen asleep, she cleared her throat.

‘I didn’t know Italians could marry in London without jumping through bureaucratic hoops.’

Romeo switched from looking out of the window. The brooding glance he sent her made her wish for a moment she’d let the silence continue. ‘I’ve lived in London for over ten years. Other than two days ago, the last time I was in Italy was when you and I met.’

Surprise lifted her brows. ‘I thought you were a resident. You seemed to know your way about where...where you were staying.’

His mouth twisted. ‘I was, once upon a time. But in a much more inhospitable part.’

‘Inhospitable?’ she echoed.

That brooding gaze intensified. ‘I wasn’t always affluent, gattina. I can probably go as far as to say I’m the definition of nouveau riche. I know the streets where we met well because I used to walk there at night in the hope that I would find leftover food in bins or a tourist who was willing to part with a few euros for a quick shoe shine. Barring that, I would find an alleyway to sleep in for a night, but only for a night because inevitably I would be sent packing by the polizia and threatened with jail should I return.’

Maisie wasn’t sure which was more unnerving—the harrowing account of his childhood or the cold, unfeeling way in which he recounted it. Either way, the stone-cold horror that had wedged in her stomach grew, until she was sure her insides were frozen with pain at imagining what he’d been through.

‘You said you only met your father twice,’ she murmured, unable to erase the bleak picture he drew in her mind, ‘but what about your mother?’

Lucca stirred in his sleep, and Romeo’s eyes shifted to his son before returning to hers. ‘My mother is a subject I don’t wish to discuss, especially on my wedding day.’ His smile mocked the significance of the day.

But Maisie couldn’t dismiss the subject as easily. ‘And child services? Surely there was some support you could’ve sought?’

He blinked, his nostrils flaring slightly before he shrugged. ‘The support is the same in Italy as it is in England. Some fall through the cracks. And if one tried hard enough to evade the clutches of a system that was inherently flawed, one could succeed.’

Despite catching his meaning, Maisie couldn’t fathom why he would choose to live on the streets. ‘How long did you sleep rough for?’ she asked, her heart bleeding at the thought.

His mouth compressed in a cruel line. ‘Two years until the authorities got fed up with hauling me away every other night. A do-gooder policewoman thought I would be better off in the foster system.’ He gave a harsh, self-deprecating laugh. ‘Unfortunately, she couldn’t have been more wrong. Because then it was really driven home that my kind wouldn’t be welcome in a normal, well-adjusted home.’

‘Your kind?’

‘The bastard children of violent criminals.’

Her hand flew to her mouth. ‘Oh, God!’

Romeo’s eyes once again flicked to his sleeping son and he shook his head. ‘Don’t worry, gattina. I got out the second I could. Now look at me.’ He spread his hands in mock preen. And although his voice was even, Maisie saw the shadows of dark memory that blanketed his eyes and hardened his mouth. ‘According to the media, I’m every woman’s dream and every parent’s ideal suitor for their wholesome daughter. Consider yourself lucky for bagging me.’ His teeth barred in a mirthless smile.

‘Romeo—’

He lunged close so quickly, filled every inch of her vision so spectacularly, her breath snagged in her chest. His fingers pressed against her mouth, forcibly rejecting any words she’d been about to utter. ‘No, gattina. Save your warm-hearted sympathy and soft words for our son,’ he rasped jaggedly. ‘You be there for him when he scrapes his knee and when the goblins frighten him at night. I require no sympathy. I learnt to do without it long before I could walk.’

He sat back and for a full minute remained frozen. Then his chest rose and fell in a single deep exhalation before he pressed a button next to his armrest. A laptop slid from a side compartment and flickered on. Strong fingers tapped the keys, flicking through pages of data with calm efficiency.

As if he hadn’t just torn open his chest and shown her the raw wounds scarring his heart.

* * *

Romeo tapped another random key, stared unseeing at the stream of words and numbers filling the screen.

What in the name of heaven had he been thinking?

Had he not sworn only last night to keep his past locked in the vault where it belonged? Through all the voracious media attention that had exploded in his life once his first resort had achieved platinum-star status, he’d kept his past safely under wraps. Besides Zaccheo Giordano, the only man he considered a friend, and his wife, Eva, no one else knew about the desperately traumatising childhood he’d suffered. Many had tried to dig, only to accept the illusion that his secret past made him alluringly mysterious, and left it at that. Romeo had been more than glad to leave things at that.

So why had he just spilled his guts to Maisie O’Connell? And not only spilled his guts, but ripped off the emotion-free bandage he’d bound his memories with in the process?

He tried to think through it rationally; to decipher just what it was about this woman who let all the volatile, raw emotions overrun him.

Their meeting hadn’t been accompanied by thunder and lightning. There’d been nothing remotely spectacular about it. To the contrary, he’d walked past her that night at the waterfront café in Palermo with every intention of continuing his solitary walk.

Lost in thoughts of bewildering grief and hoping the night air would clear his head, he’d walked for miles from the cemetery where Ariana Brunetti had found her last resting place. He’d barely taken in where he was headed, the need to put distance between the mother whose only interest had been for herself and how much she could get for selling her body, a visceral need.

When he’d finally reached the stone wall overlooking the water, he’d stood lost and seriously contemplated scaling the wall and swimming away from the city that bore only harrowing memories. The sound of tourists drinking away the night had finally impinged, and he’d had the brilliant idea of drowning his sorrows with whisky.

He’d walked past her, barely noticing her.

It was only as he’d ordered his third whisky that he’d caught her staring. Even then, he’d dismissed her. He was used to women staring at him. Women coming onto him since he’d been old enough to shave.

But he’d caught her furtive glances, those bright blue eyes darting his way when she thought he wasn’t looking. Romeo wasn’t sure why he’d talked to her that night. Perhaps it’d been that lost look she’d been trying so hard to disguise. Or the fact that a group of male tourists had noticed her and were placing bets on who would buy her the next drink. Or the fact that his mother’s last words to him had left him raw, feeling as if his very skin had been peeled off.

You’re just like him...just like him...

In the hours and days that had followed, he’d been able to stop those words ringing in his head.

Having that drink in that café had been a last, desperate attempt to drown out the words.

He’d raised his glass to her in a silent toast. She’d smiled shyly and asked what he was toasting. He’d made some smart remark or other he couldn’t recall. He’d kicked out the seat opposite in brusque invitation and she’d joined him.