Claimed by the Italian: Virgin: Wedded at the Italian's Convenience / Count Giovanni's Virgin / The Italian's Unwilling Wife. Kathryn Ross

Suspicion solidified into certainty.

      She rose, collected her bag. ‘Have you been following me, Mario?’

      ‘Certamente. The signor instructed it.’ He grinned widely, lifting narrow shoulders. ‘You are precious to him. No harm must come to you.’

      Fuming, Lily stalked across the piazza to where the gleaming car was waiting, Mario trailing in her wake. So much for her hours of freedom! In spite of what Mario thought, this was not about caring, anxiety for her well-being. It was all about Paolo’s control. She had become his property, she realised with a sinking feeling. Followed. Watched. And no doubt he would demand a detailed report of what she’d been doing, she thought with ire.

      But it wasn’t Mario’s fault. He had only done what he’d been told to do by the all-powerful Paolo Venini. So she was able to keep up a light-hearted conversation as they journeyed back through the Tuscan countryside, her mind working on another level as she formulated exactly what she would say on the subject of people with nasty suspicious minds who put minders on the tail of other people!

      More than ever convinced that her only option was to return to England as soon as she’d done her duty by Fiora and been put on show at the wretched party, she decided, with deep reluctance, that she would have to compound her sins and lie again. Say Great-Aunt Edith was ill and really needed her.

      It was utterly distasteful, but it was the only thing she could think of that Fiora would understand. She would be disappointed that her visit was to be cut short, the plans for the wedding put on hold for a while, but she would understand and sympathise with the need.

      And it would be up to Paolo to confess that the wedding was off at a time of his choosing!

      The high she experienced at having thought herself out of the mess lasted until the car drew to a well-bred halt in front of the villa.

      Then crumbled into hopelessness as she saw Paolo, looking heart-stoppingly gorgeous in slim-fitting denims and a white T-shirt, emerge from the open doorway, an all too healthy Great-Aunt Edith smiling fit to split her face at his side.

      Her last escape route had been well and truly blocked by that dramatically handsome grinning devil!

      CHAPTER NINE

      IT WAS almost as if he’d read her mind even before she’d worked out her escape strategy, Lily thought, near to hysterics as she advanced on suddenly shaky legs towards the now broadly grinning pair, asking baldly, ‘How did you get here?’

      ‘What a welcome, child!’

      To her astonishment Lily found herself crushed against her great-aunt’s stout bosom in a rare show of open affection. ‘By private jet and helicopter! Just imagine—I felt like royalty! Paolo arranged everything!’

      ‘We couldn’t celebrate our engagement without her,’ came his unwelcome cool assertion.

      Extricating herself from the bear-hug, Lily shot him a look of loathing. He gave her back a smile of simmering amusement, shot through with the satisfaction of a male who made things happen to get what he wanted.

      No wonder he hadn’t raised any objections over her awayday—he’d just put one of his staff on her tail and set about finalising the arrangements for the transportation of her elderly relative, in doing so making sure she, Lily, was put into an even more difficult situation! Ruthless and manipulative wasn’t in it!

      ‘I’ve been so excited since dear Paolo phoned with the news of your engagement!’ Edith exclaimed warmly. ‘And I don’t think I’ve slept a wink since he invited me to come here and stay for the wedding!’

      Oh, yes, he had her thoroughly outmanoeuvred.

      ‘Why don’t we go round to the terrace? Agata will provide us with cold drinks,’ Paolo slid in, velvet-smooth. ‘Mamma is resting before dinner. She might believe she is one hundred per cent fit, but she is still frail,’ he added, with a detectable note of warning aimed at her, Lily realised with helpless rage.

      He had no need to remind her of Fiora’s delicate health, Lily thought darkly. She had grown genuinely fond of his mother, and if it hadn’t been for her own unwillingness to distress her unduly she would have left Italy the moment she’d acknowledged she’d done the unthinkable and fallen in love with a man who was so wrong for her—valid excuse or not!

      Fiora’s continuing recovery from her life-threatening illness was his strongest bargaining tool. And now he’d brought her great-aunt in on the act, giving him another. She could kill the manipulating devil!

      Her eyes boring into his broad back as they walked round to the side of the immense villa, she barely registered Edith’s, ‘I hope I didn’t tire her. We had such a long and interesting chat after I arrived. Forgive me if I kept her too long.’

      Arrested by the anxious note, Paolo turned, his smile warmly sincere as he swiftly reassured her. ‘You are Lily’s family, Edith—and Mamma prizes family relationships above all. Her retirement had nothing to do with your more than welcome presence, I promise. Carla, her companion, and I always insist that she rests each afternoon. Meeting you, having you here, makes her happy. And happiness is the best medicine, yes?’

      Another none too subtle warning for her, Lily fulminated as they passed beneath the long pergola, festooned and dripping with wistaria, and headed for the steps that led up to the broad terrace.

      As soon as she got her great-aunt on her own she would have to confess that the engagement—as far as she was concerned—was a total sham. Explain what had led up to this sorry situation. She wasn’t looking forward to it. There was no one more upright and straightforward than her relative, and she would rightly deplore the deceit and make no bones about saying so!

      But the opportunity was lost when Paolo left them to go in search of the housekeeper. Edith immediately turned to her, her eyes over-bright with emotion, and declared, ‘I can’t tell you how happy your news has made me, child! Such a weight off my mind! I must confess that I have worried about your future well-being for some time now. No—hear me out,’ she demanded, as Lily opened her mouth to protest. ‘I won’t be around for ever, and who knows what has become of your feckless father. I hated to think of you being left alone in the world.’

      She gravitated to a table in the shade and ordered, with just a hint of her old asperity, ‘Sit. Don’t hover, child. I have worried about you,’ she stressed. ‘Working all hours for little reward save that of knowing you were helping people who needed it. No opportunity or time to meet a suitable young man or embark on a financially rewarding career. I blamed myself for being so bound up in Life Begins and not giving a thought to your future. Not doing nearly enough for you.’

      ‘Don’t talk like that!’ Lily cried emotionally. ‘You’ll be around for ages yet! And you did everything for me,’ she protested with vehemence, distressed at what she was hearing, adding with heartfelt sympathy, ‘It can’t have been easy.’ At a time when most women would have been thinking of slowing down, taking things a little easier, Edith had taken in a baby that had been as good as abandoned. ‘You gave me family, a feeling of belonging, a happy and secure childhood.’

      ‘It was never difficult, child. Never!’ Edith’s eyes grew moist with rare sentiment. ‘And now I need no longer worry. News of your forthcoming wedding has taken a huge weight off my shoulders, believe me! Such a strong, caring man—so much wealth …’ She waved an expressive hand at their surroundings. ‘Mind you, were he as poor as a church mouse I would still heartily approve. Whatever his financial situation he would make any woman a fine husband. As it is, his generosity means that we can safely leave the future of Life Begins in capable hands, so that’s one more anxiety laid to rest.’

      Paolo didn’t rejoin them. Agata, bringing iced fresh orange juice, imparted that the signor sent his regrets. He had work to do and would see them at dinner.

      Leaving her great-aunt in her room, exclaiming over the amenities and deciding which of her two dresses was more suitable for